by Heather Long
Nothing was allowed to harm him.
He dug his fingers into my ass as I drank and ground his cock deeper, even as he triggered another wave of orgasm with the pressure of his cock striking deep.
Lifting my head back, I screamed as I came, and then his teeth sank into me again. The light show around us left my eyes dazzled, but the heat of his seed shooting into me did something else to my insides. Molten fire in my belly spread out, like sunshine suffusing every single cell, and it was Fin crying out against my throat as his hips jerked, and I swore he came again.
We collapsed together against the surging side of Maddox’s scales.
Shaken, I looked up as Fin pulled the bloodied strands of hair from my face, and then he kissed me so fucking sweetly, my heart melted.
“Mine,” he whispered against my lips, and I would deny him nothing. “My perfect goddess of flame and spring.”
“Yours,” I agreed, and fuck if I could catch my breath.
“My blood angel,” he added, and I laughed at his poetry before I fisted his hair and dragged him down for a kiss.
This time when his blood touched my tongue, it was cleaner, earthier, and tasted of Fin and not poison. “You’re mine,” I reminded him.
“Always.”
I stretched out a hand to run along Maddox’s side. I hadn’t forgotten him.
My dragon.
My druid.
Mine.
CHAPTER 4
“We need the tonic of wildness.” - Henry David Thoreau
MADDOX
He canted his head at the next rush of guards and exhaled the fire he’d been holding in for the last several days. The whole point of their incarceration had been to learn more about which of the Seven were in league with the warden—the bastard who kept putting his hands on Maddox’s mate. Puffs of smoke and fire erupted from his nostrils as the dragon swung his gaze around.
The warden had fled before Maddox made it all the way in here. Fucker had better run. But he would find him. He was never touching her again, even if she had scalded him so beautifully. Triumph and pride twined within him. His mate had grown far more powerful during his absence.
That absence left an aching hole within him. He’d felt her approach to the prison in his soul. Every step she’d taken, he’d been torn between scolding her for risking herself and the savage sense of rightness that his mate would fight for him. His brothers had, but now his mate—their mate would.
The smell of sex wafting from beneath his wing had him grunting. He could taste her pleasure and Fin’s, but at least his brother’s scent had changed. His kitten had been right to feed him her blood and to pull the poison from him. For just a moment, Maddox had hesitated, but her scent hadn’t changed when she drained the poison. It didn’t touch her, and that was enough for him.
For now.
The stroke of her hand against his scales urged him to lift his wing to glance down at them. They’d shredded their clothing, and he had to snort at that. Fin hadn’t even pulled out of her, but her jewel-like green eyes locked on his and a pulse of love flashed along the bond.
He spared Fin a look. His brother’s color was no longer ashen, and the wounds on his back had all closed.
“Don’t growl,” Fin told him in a brighter voice than Maddox had heard from him in a while. “I dare you to want to pull away from her in a hurry.”
Fuck. You.
The focused thought landed well, because Fin threw his head back, laughing. “Yeah, yeah.” It took them a moment to stand, but Fiona was now pantsless, not that she seemed to care. The tail of her shirt just barely covered her ass. Lifting his head, Maddox swept the huge chamber. The room had definitely heated, the rock had blackened—scorched from his fire—and the bodies were all unmoving. Nothing was going to see her ass.
Satisfied, he waited until Fin at least closed his pants and was fully on his feet and ready to defend her before Maddox focused and let his scales slip away as his body compacted. Then he stood on two legs and barely had time to brace before Fiona launched herself into his arms.
The feel of her slick heat against his bare cock was a welcome sensation as she wrapped her arms and legs around him. The sting of contact on his recently changed skin sent sparks raking over his nerves, but he ignored every one of them because the press of her breasts to his chest, the heat of her legs around him, and the fact she fisted his hair in one hand before she nuzzled a kiss to his throat made him groan.
He wanted to kiss her properly, but she had rules and he could respect that. Grinding against her, he slid a hand down to cup her ass and keep her steady.
“Outside, Beautiful. You too, Maddox.” Fin slapped him on the back, and Maddox hissed at him with a scowl. The druid just gave him an unrepentant grin.
“Not yet,” Fiona argued, and then wiggled out of his arms. He didn’t let her go far, snaking a hand to her hip and yanking her back to him. Touching her settled his beast, and neither of them would be settled until they had her hell and gone from this place.
Fin swung around to look at her, but like Maddox, he scanned the room and kept a wary eye out. They were alone right now, but this reprieve wouldn’t last.
“Kitten,” Maddox said, and his voice came out rough and rocky. After weeks in his dragon’s form, he hadn’t had occasion to speak. Her sudden smile at him and the softening around her eyes had him dismissing the concern almost immediately. “We need to go.”
“Someone hurt him,” she said, the husky tone of hers wrapping around him like a caress. “I’m going to kill them.”
Fin’s grin was both savage and satisfied. Maddox didn’t blame him. The possessiveness radiating from her was not something he’d realized he needed or craved. Yet he soaked in every dramatic ounce of it.
“They don’t matter, Beautiful,” Fin told her and caught one of her hands. “Getting you out of here and taking what we know back to Alfred does.”
“Then you two go,” she instructed, recalcitrance etched into every stubborn inch of her gorgeous face. Even her eyes flashed, and for a split second, her skin began to glow. “I’ll find them and gut them all. No one treats you like that.”
Lifting her hand, Fin examined her arm and then slanted a look at Maddox. Are you seeing this?
He gave a slight nod. Fiona glowed. She’d burned the warden, and that sense of vicious vengeance in him unfurled. Hopefully, it stung the bastard for a long time. But even holding her, Maddox felt nothing beyond her.
Magic?
But Fin shook his head.
Fiona started to pull away again, but Maddox tightened his arms. “Kitten, they will wait. Unless Fin needs his vengeance now.”
His brother snorted, then cupped her face. “I’m fine, Beautiful. And I’d much rather be with you than here a minute longer.” Besides, they had information for Alfred and Rogue. It was better to get back.
A scoffing sound of protest fell from her lips, and Maddox pressed his mouth close to her ear. “Kitten, I need to get you out of here. I need you naked and wrapped around me for a few hours. Then I need to just feel you with me. More than all of that, I need you safe from this place. You have us, now take us home?”
It might have been fighting dirty, but some of the objection went out of her and she stole a look upward. “I’m coming back after them later.”
“And I’ll help.” It was a promise.
“What the hell,” Fin said before kissing her palm. “Field trip.” Then, linking his fingers with hers, he nodded to Maddox. For the most part, Maddox didn’t give a damn that he was naked or that his cock jutted out full and hard, as eager to be in her as he was. Still, he was more concerned about her lack of covering, not that either of them would let anything touch her.
Still, he should probably not have toasted all of the bodies. Outside, the cold air slapped against him and filled his lungs with something less charred. Fiona let out a laugh and glanced at him again. Speckled with streaks of blood, soot, and sweat, she was still the most beautiful woman
he’d ever seen.
“I had to break in,” she joked. “I’m afraid I wasn’t subtle about it.”
The magical wards pushed back against them, slowing them a step, but Fiona strode ahead, holding each of their hands in hers, and the pop of the magic fizzling out and away had Maddox raising his brows.
Yes, he could push through most magical fields and Fin could weave an opening into them, but Fiona had just erased it like it wasn’t there.
Not erased. Recoiled. It literally didn’t want to touch her.
He nodded to Fin. What the hell did that mean though?
And outside, under a night dark sky with no moon, Fiona’s skin did more than just radiate light. It pulsed with health, vitality, and a shimmer that couldn’t be mistaken for anything other than ethereal.
Suddenly, being out and in the open took on a new level of threat, and the urgency to get her to the keep and out of sight redoubled. As if reading his mind—and knowing Fin, he probably was—Fin picked up the pace. They had to get past the gates, then he could whirl them away.
The hum of the prison spells vibrated against his back, just as a scent he’d hoped to never smell again rushed him with the breeze. Digging his heels in, Maddox hauled Fiona—and by extension, Fin—backward and tucked her behind him.
“Stay, Kitten,” he growled when she started to move around him. Fin boxed her in though, pressing her right up to Maddox’s back.
He didn’t have time to appreciate the fact that she settled her hands against his back or that she didn’t struggle. Not when the forest just behind the edge of the barrier had gone preternaturally silent. No birds. No insects. No ground creatures. Not even the leaves stirred.
One crunch of leaves. A deliberate foot being placed to alert them to the new arrival. “Do you require assistance?” Cyril inquired. “Or clothing?”
Of all the fuckers, it had to be him. Of the Seven, Cyril held the most animosity toward Alfred. They had never been friends. Diametrically opposed in every way. Leanly built and tall, there was nothing soft about the man. He was a razor sharp weapon, and even the most casual of slips could leave a person sliced and bleeding.
Maddox studied the member of the Seven as he strolled out from behind the trees like he was just out for a casual walk. Dressed in a bespoke suit, he looked more like he was on his way to a board meeting than a hike in the woods.
Wait…the smells were off for the woods. There was car exhaust and the stink of humanity on the breeze. The portal to the prison must be in a city somewhere. That explained the suit.
Not trusting Cyril for a second, Maddox never lost his focus on him. “I was unaware you had business with the prison.”
It was a lie.
One that settled between them like a four-day dead fish, all rot gut and stinking.
Of course Cyril had business there. He and Eamon had both set the shadow demon on the hunt for her. Maybe he didn’t work for them directly, but they held some leverage over him.
Handling Cyril, however, was not Maddox’s forte. It required diplomacy. He was more a gut first and rip their head off kind of guy.
“Lord Cyril,” Fin greeted as he strolled out from behind Maddox. Despite the fact he wore a pair of loose pants only and blood spatter across his chest and arms added to his disheveled appearance, he was almost gracious. “I’m afraid you’ve caught us a little in flagrante delicto.”
Maddox made a note to drown Fin, later. He ran a hand down Maddox’s biceps, and it actually took force of will to keep his expression schooled and not roll his eyes.
“You two?” Cyril said with a snort. “Do I look like a fool to you, boy?”
“Do you really want me to answer that question, buidéal pox?” Butter wouldn’t melt in his saintly mouth, nor would it diminish his smile. “If you don’t mind, lover boy here is in a bit of a way, and he’s been suffering for me so beautifully.”
Definitely drowning the little shit.
Maddox gave a mock sigh, and if not for the feeling of Fiona’s nails digging into his back, he’d be worried. His kitten was fabulous, but shy and retiring weren’t anywhere in her personal lexicon.
Still, she didn’t move away as Fin gave him a teasing wink. “C’mon, big boy, let’s get home where I can take care of you.”
“You’re hiding the succubus.” Cyril’s cool tones held not a trace of amusement.
“We’re hiding what now?” Fin’s accent became more pronounced. “Have you gone daft, my lord? I know it’s been a while since you were up.”
Riding the edge between humor and insult suited Fin, until the moment it didn’t. Maddox braced himself, but he still didn’t take his eyes off Cyril. The weight of Fiona’s hands promised him she was right behind him, but there wasn’t a peep out of her, and all at once, it hit him.
He couldn’t smell her.
The stench of sex on Fin was still there amidst the blood, pain, gore, and magic. But not Fiona. He didn’t dare turn his head, but what the fuck had Fin done?
His brother didn’t supply any ready answers, but then Maddox didn’t expect him to. Not with Cyril so close.
“He turned a demon.” Cyril’s tone was so frigid, ice slicked every single word. “You can’t possibly want to protect the beast.”
Beast.
Maddox snorted then folded his arms. Whatever Fin had done, their mate was hidden. Maddox eyed him. “Be careful who you call a beast.”
Cyril pinned him with a look. “You should never have been made either, dragon. Don’t think I won’t still hunt you.”
Her nails dug into his back. Oh, his mate didn’t like that. So Maddox laughed, needing to defuse her temper. The last thing they needed was her shedding that protection to jump Cyril for him.
While the Seven were notoriously hard to kill…
They weren’t impossible.
Maddox would put his money on him and Fin.
“Lord Cyril, the only reason you’re still breathing at the moment is your treaty with Alfred,” Fin cut in smoothly, all dulcet tones and easygoing manner. His smile was all teeth. Yes, Fin was their charming bastard. It was a mistake to ever think him weak, which a lot of the Seven did. They saw him as the pet. A feeling not unfamiliar to Maddox, because they’d done the same to him.
The original paused and snapped his head away from them. A split-second later, Maddox allowed himself to smile. Alfred strolled in from beyond the trees, carrying with him the scent of the city. If Alfred was here, then so was Rogue. The lack of forest movement didn’t mean he wasn’t tucked away out there somewhere.
Cyril exhaled a low sound of disgruntlement. Aww, he didn’t like being caught stepping over the line. Maybe Alfred would let them kill him now.
One could only hope.
“Aelfraed.”
“Cyril.”
The tension in the air thickened as power gathered between them. It had been a long time since he’d been close to any gathering of the Seven. When all of them were in the same place, it could be downright unbearable.
Another reason Alfred tended to want them to wait for him and not attend. Of all of them, only Rogue had never issued a complaint about being in their presence.
“Coming to join your lovers?” Cyril asked. “They seem to have interesting choices for recreational fornication.”
“What they do that brings them pleasure is no concern of yours,” Alfred informed him without a hint of intonation or smile. “Why are you cornering them?”
“You know why. If they don’t have her, then you do or your other pet. I saw him recently, yet he’s not here now. You never slip his leash, even when you were letting him play at assassinating you.”
“If you have a point,” Alfred said, “I suggest you get to it.”
Cyril dismissed him and Fin entirely as he faced Alfred. “You know what I want.”
“I don’t really care.”
The other snorted. “No, you would rather just do things your way and ignore the rest of us.”
“I would cla
ssify that as a trait we all share, brother.” Hands in his pockets, Alfred looked remote, untouchable, and like he belonged in this forest about as much as Cyril.
Spitting, Cyril snapped forward, closing the distance between them in less than a blink of an eye. “Do not play with me, Aelfraed. You cannot turn a demon, yet you have. She should never have been made in the first place. The demons were going to take her back, and then you liberate her.”
Alfred’s smile was thin. “I did nothing.”
“Your pets did.”
“Standing right here,” Maddox reminded him. “And I bet I can still fry your wingless ass before you could get away.” He was done playing nice. With Alfred present, he didn’t have to pretend to be diplomatic. After all, he was the pet, right?
Alfred flicked him a look that said, really?
Yes, really. Maddox was tired of these games, and Cyril just confirmed their own information. It was indeed the others that had sent the shadow demon after her.
That alone was enough for Maddox to want to end him.
“You court war,” Cyril continued, ignoring Maddox. “Bring us the succubus, and we’ll consider the terms of our treaty satisfied. I’ll await your answer.”
He backed off a step, but Alfred said, “You don’t have to wait for it.”
Maddox stilled, and next to him, Fin seemed to turn to stone. If not for the continued weight of her hands on his bare back, Maddox would have twisted to find her and spirit her away now.
“I’m waiting,” Cyril stated, his whole demeanor suspicious.
“The answer is no,” Alfred told him, and while Maddox had believed Alfred wouldn’t betray her, it still settled him as Alfred firmly aligned himself. “She’s my queen. She goes nowhere.”
“Then you want war.”
“No,” Alfred said. “But if you bring it, you should understand that you will not walk away alive from it. If any of yours come after what is mine, it will be the end of you.”
Cyril took one step forward, and Rogue dropped from the trees, his whole body unfolding from his owl form to land in the grass without a whisper of sound escaping him.
