Blood Dragon

by Charlene Hartnady

Her fangs were still elongated. Still throbbing. If anyone noticed, they didn’t say anything. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as she thought. She took a syringe from her supply cupboard and headed back to the bed. Then she sucked up some of the liquid. “I’m trying to help you, Cooper.”

  The male continued to mumble and moan.

  “You need to drink this. It will knock you unconscious for a while.” She spoke clearly and concisely. She wasn’t sure whether he had heard her or not. “You may need to hold him.” She spoke to the males at the bed. Both were frowning deeply, looking greatly concerned over their downed friend. “Take his shoulders…carefully,” she added when she saw the burns there as well. Not as bad as his face, but still. “You need to lift him a little so that he can drink without choking.”

  “I know how he feels,” the dragon at the door said. “Poor bastard.”

  Once the males had him up slightly, Ceri put the syringe tip between the male’s teeth and slowly depressed the plunger.

  The male spluttered and choked but he also swallowed. “Another one,” she urged, placing another full syringe between his teeth and slowly pushing. They went through the process several more times. “That’s enough.” She motioned for the shifters to lower Cooper.

  “What’s wrong with your eyes?” the bear shifter asked.

  “Nothing,” she mumbled.

  “No really, they’re a little on the red side and don’t tell me they’re bloodshot because I’ve seen bloodshot and that’s not what it looks like.” The shifter narrowed his eyes at her, distrust evident.

  “It’s a tense situation. High octane, high adrenaline,” she said, looking away.

  The bear’s jaw tensed and then he nodded. “You seem calm enough.”

  “Like a duck,” she countered. “He’s unconscious.” Ceri pointed at Cooper.

  “I want that male punished.” The bear pointed at the dragon who was still at the door.

  “He will be.”

  “I mean it, Torrent!” the bear yelled. “And a public apology.”

  “They had a squabble. Some things were said. It happened in the heat of the moment.”

  “Bullshit!” the same shifter countered, pointing a finger at Torrent.

  “Stop!” She wanted to roll her eyes. This was probably how the initial squabble had started in the first place. “That’s enough.” The last thing she wanted was to have to treat any more burn victims. One was bad enough. At least the male was oblivious to the pain now. She needed to prepare another herbal tea, ready for when he woke up. She’d make it a little weaker this time. She also needed to dress the wounds in an aloe and tea tree salve.

  His scent hit her nostrils. Her nipples tightened and her fangs throbbed. “Out!” she shouted, panicking when she realized how close he was and how thirsty she had become. It was worse than ever. She could feel the last couple of weeks acutely. The longing, the hunger, the need. The lack of blood. Thirsty. She was so thirsty. Her mouth dry. Her throat raw and burning. Her stomach hollow.

  “I was about to—” He was coming closer. She was afraid of what she might do if he came too close. Her nails were long. Her fangs throbbing. Her eyes were probably all out red. She turned to her herb shelf, away from the males in the room. Away from him.

  “Out!” she yelled again. “Everyone. Get out now! He needs to rest.”

  “But—” the bear shifter began.

  “You can come back in two hours to check on him. Now go!”

  “Are you sure I can’t help?” Bay asked. That voice coupled with his scent. Need coursed through her.

  “I’m fine!” she snapped. “He’s asleep. I don’t need help.”

  “You said you had to dress his wounds,” Bay added.

  She glanced his way, noticing the look of concern on his face. “Thank you.” She swallowed again, her throat felt not just dry but raw. “I can manage on my own. I would prefer it.”

  “Are you alright, Ceri?” Brant asked.

  “Fine. I have a lot to do. That’s all.” She began to gather items she needed for the salve. “I need to cancel my next couple of appointments. Need to treat Cooper.” She gestured towards the shifter, all the while praying they would leave already.

  “Are you sure you don’t need help?” Bay asked.

  “Yes, I’m positive!” she tried not to sound angry and failed.

  “Let’s give the healer some space,” Brant said. “Under the circumstances, I think we should cancel the rest of today’s proceedings,” his voice grew softer as he turned his back and headed for the door, “give everyone a chance to calm down. We’ll pick back up where we left off tomorrow.”

  “Sounds like a good idea,” the dragon, Torrent said.

  She glanced over her shoulder. Bay had moved back but he was still looking her way. His eyes lit up and he stepped towards her, pulling in a breath. He was about to say something. The raging need inside her had become like a piercing scream. She’d do just about anything to stop it. She turned away, ignoring him. Praying with all her might that he would take a hint.

  She had to hold back a loud sigh as she heard him retreat. Ceri concentrated, instead, on gathering the items she needed to make the salve. Her heart beat rapidly and her mind raced.

  She was going to call Drago and organize to go out with him at the end of her shift. It was time to get over this problem of hers. What scared her more than anything was that she’d caught the scent of the male at the door, Torrent, and it had held no interest to her. The male was also a dragon shifter and yet, he held no interest at all. Panic welled. She needed to get over Bay as a matter of extreme urgency.

  Chapter 11

  “That was a fucking stupid thing to do,” Blaze chided Inferno. “I agree with the bear shifter, you will need to apologize to that male.”

  “Not a fuck!” Inferno growled, folding his arms. “He can forget it. He called us scaly assholes and said that all we wanted was the for rest of the species to do our bidding.”

  Blaze scoffed. “That’s exactly what we want,” he announced. “And technically we do have scaly assholes, at least some of the time. It was no reason to burn his face off.”

  “The male was being derogatory. He deserved what he got. He’ll think twice before mouthing off to one of us again.” Inferno puffed out his chest.

  “You will apologize and then we will proceed with the meeting,” Blaze commanded. He narrowed his eyes on Inferno. “I have made up my mind,” he added, there was a growly edge to his voice.

  Inferno’s jaw clenched but he didn’t say anything. The male was probably thinking what Bay was thinking, that Blaze had lost his temper and had done the same thing on more than one occasion. The Fire king had never apologized to any of the males he had burned to a crisp. Not even once. He’d never even hinted at an apology.

  “I want you to go back to your hotel,” Blaze continued, “and I want you to stay in your suite until we meet back tomorrow.”

  “What about dinner?” Inferno asked.

  “Use room service,” Blaze countered.

  “I had planned on rutting one of the vampire females. That will be difficult if I can’t go out and meet any.” Inferno looked sulky.

  “What?” Blaze snarled. “Head out of the gutter! You are not permitted to rut with anyone while here. Vampires are off limits. A hard no! This isn’t a Stag Run. And while we’re at it,” Blaze turned to Bay; the king’s eyes widened and he sucked in a breath. “Never mind,” he mumbled as he realized who he was talking to. When he remembered Bay couldn’t rut with anyone. That it wasn’t possible.

  Inferno looked completely affronted. He frowned and then looked as if he wanted to say something and then frowned again. Eventually, his shoulders slumped and he nodded once.

  “You are dismissed,” Blaze said. “Straight to your room,” he added.

  “I’m not six anymore. I’m not the young boy you used to pick on and tease. You might be my king, but—”

  “Stop acting like a whelp and I’ll stop treating you l

ike one,” Blaze growled back at his brother.

  Inferno stalked off. His face was red and his jaw clenched.

  “Why didn’t you intervene?” Torrent asked him. “You might have been able to stop the whole thing.”

  For a second, Bay couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I tried, but—”

  “Not hard enough.” Torrent looked pissed.

  Bay couldn’t believe he was getting the blame for this as well. He’d had nothing to do with it.

  “Can I trust you not to get yourself into any more trouble?” Torrent raised his brows.

  “With all due respect, my lord, I didn’t cause any trouble. I tried to intervene but they were going to fight no matter what I said or did. Both of them were looking for it. In answer to your question, yes, you can absolutely trust me because unlike, Inferno and Cooper, I’m not looking for trouble.”

  Torrent frowned. Shit! Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything? No, he should have. Sure, he’d made some mistakes, but he wasn’t a hothead troublemaker. He was well within his rights to stand up for himself.

  Torrent finally narrowed his eyes a little and then nodded. “Don’t let me down.”

  “I won’t.” Bay shook his head.

  “Blaze and I have a couple of things to discuss. I plan on ordering in tonight as well, so I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Bay nodded.

  With that, the two males turned and left. Bay felt both good and bad and all at the same time. Good because he had stood up to Torrent and ‒ in his opinion ‒ had won. Bad because he did plan on making trouble. Well, not exactly trouble. He planned on going to see Ceri.

  Ceri.

  He knew her name and it was beautiful. Suited her. Bay had almost fallen on his face when he had seen her. He all but forgot the shifter in his arms. A healer. Wow! That suited her too. It had been a struggle to contain himself. Not to give himself away, at any rate. She’d looked upset right from the start. Aside from one or two sideways glances, she’d ignored him flat.

  There were a couple of things he needed to know. By now she would be finished or almost finished with Cooper. If not, he was going to help her, whether she liked it or not, and then they were going to talk. She’d canceled all her appointments and had sent the alphas away for two hours. They had plenty of time.

  Once Bay made up his mind, he had to force himself to walk calmly. If it were up to him, he'd run and as fast as his legs could carry him. He'd found her, by some miracle, he'd actually found her. Bay walked quickly, making it back to her office in no time.

  He knocked twice and entered before she could say anything.

  Ceri dropped the bandages she had been carrying. Her eyes widened and she sucked in a breath. “What…?” she said, looking stricken. “What are you doing here?” Then she narrowed her eyes like she was angry with him. “You should leave,” she went on to say, before he could answer.

  “I just want to talk.” He put up a hand, wanting to placate her.

  Ceri was breathing quickly. It looked like she was breathing through her mouth. “Are you okay?” He walked into the office, closing the door behind him. Her dark hair was tied in a ponytail. She wore a white coat that did a good job of covering up her beautiful body. It didn’t matter, he could easily remember exactly how she looked under all the layers. Bay swallowed thickly. His coming here wasn’t about that. About sex. He swallowed again, feeling need coil inside him nonetheless. Of course, that’s where it ended. No blood flowed south. For once he was happy about the fact.

  “Why are you here?” She looked afraid. Why was she afraid? Surely not of him? He didn’t like it. “You need to leave right now.” She pointed at the door, taking a step back.

  Bay shook his head. He frowned. “Why? I don’t understand. I'm here to talk. Just to talk," he said as he walked towards her. It left him feeling…off-kilter that she was treating him this way. Like he had done something wrong. "I only need a few minutes of your time." He took another step towards her. "Please."

  It happened quickly. Her eyes turned blood red. Her canines elongated into long, sharp fangs. Ceri snarled as she leaped, closing the five feet between them with one single jump. He was so shocked, that when her feet hit his chest, he fell backward. She was on him in an instant. Her fangs sinking into his neck. Her claws into his shoulders.

  Ceri sucked hard. He felt the blood leave him on a hard pull…felt that pull all the way to the tip of his cock, right into his sac, which pulled painfully tight in an instant. Ceri moaned deeply as she sucked a second time. Long and hard. Bay grit his teeth, trying not to come. Thankfully she broke contact with a hard yell.

  Bay rolled her onto her back. Her eyes were still mostly red, hints of green had bled their way back into her irises though. Dark tendrils had broken free from her ponytail. She was still breathing heavily. Her fangs looked deadly. His blood on her lips. Bay was fucked if the sight of her like that didn’t turn him on more. He hadn’t thought it possible, but it happened.

  She reached up and palmed his cock. Any semblance of control left him then and there. He growled fiercely as he ripped her white coat. She yanked at his pants, grabbing his dick as soon as it was free. Her nails were long and sharp, but he was a sick bastard because it felt good. Bay groaned, feeling need coil in the pit of his stomach. His gums itched and his teeth sharpened some.

  One hard upward pull and her dress was torn on one side and yanked up around her hips, giving him access to her pussy. No underwear this time. Her legs folded around his hips, her shoes dug into his ass. Ceri made desperate little noises that were driving him insane. Her nails were digging into his shoulders.

  He thrust into her with a loud snarl. Her pussy was wet and tight.

  Shit!

  Shit!

  Shit!

  He struggled to hold it together, wanting so badly to come, then and there. With a rough grunt, he began to thrust. Fuck! He wasn’t going to last long. No chance! Not when he was this desperate.

  Thankfully, Ceri was moaning deeply. He found her clit and rubbed on it. Her moans intensified. Her pussy tightened some more around him, which made him growl. A deep vibration that ended in a snarl as he blew. Bay called her name. Her real name. He hadn’t meant to, it just happened. Her pussy all out strangled him and she screamed, bowing her back. Then she bit down on him, sucking another gulp of his blood.

  Bay roared. He felt such intense pleasure that it was on the verge of being painful. Every muscle pulled tight. Her pussy spasmed just as hard. Ceri groaned so loudly her throat had to hurt.

  Bay thrust slowly a few more times and then stopped moving. They were both breathing heavily. Ceri swallowed thickly. Her eyes were hazy when she opened them. Then she blinked a couple of times and they widened. She got this shocked expression and pushed at his chest. “Get off me!” she yelled.

  Bay pulled out and moved away. Looked like he had found trouble despite the fact that he hadn’t been looking for it. Ceri seemed upset. That, and pissed.

  Ceri scrambled up, pulling her dress down and yanking her coat closed. “Shit!” she cursed. “Why did you come back? I told you to leave.” She felt panicked. Only because she was still aroused. And maybe because she wanted more. Lots more! More sex. More blood. More of him. “Now look what’s happened. Dammit!” She paced away from him. Why had he come back? Why? This was going to make it more difficult to get over him. To move on. She barely knew him and— Arghhh, this was a mess.

  “I’m sorry!” he said, adjusting his pants and getting to his feet. He was even more attractive than she’d remembered. Those gorgeous blue eyes seemed to look right into the heart of her. His hair was tousled, his silver chest gleamed. His shoulders impossibly broad. So damned sexy. So delicious! What was she thinking? She couldn’t think like that about a dragon. Bay was still aroused as well, which wasn’t helping things.

  “Leave now!” Then she realized that if he left, everyone would know what had gone down between them. Brant would have a shit fit of epic proportions. She scrubbed a hand over her face. “No wait!” she said, not that he was going anywhere. “You can’t leave just yet, we need to get the scent of…what just happened off of our skin. Then you need to go. I can’t ever see you again!” She sounded downright nasty, but it couldn’t be helped.

  “Well, it’s nice to see you too.” His eyes clouded, making her feel terrible. No! It was for the best for both of them. This couldn’t happen again. It should never have happened in the first place.

  She pushed out a breath and shook her head. “I definitely can’t say the same. This should never have happened.” She shook her head.

  “You’re acting like this is my fault. You were the one who attacked me. Or was it all a figment of my imagination?”

  She ignored the comment, only because she couldn’t say anything back. It was all true. She had pretty much attacked him. Her face felt warm just thinking about it.

  “I came here to talk, that’s all,” Bay went on, “I wanted to ask you something and maybe say hi. Then you jumped me.”

  “And you hated every minute. That’s why you had me on my back in a second.”

  “You stuck your fangs into me first.”

  “Whatever,” she mumbled as she walked to the door, locking it. Then she closed the blinds all the way. Praying no-one had seen anything. Praying even harder that they would get away with this. “This is such a mess. I haven’t even finished dressing his wounds. What if someone comes here? One of those shifters? Your dragon buddies? My cousin.”

  She watched his eyes dart around the room. “Who is your cousin?” She could see his mind working.

  “Brant.”

  Bay swallowed thickly. “I would be in serious trouble.” He cleared his throat. “Make that, I’m going to be in serious trouble. They will be sure to smell it on us.”

  “Not necessarily.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She walked over to where she kept her herbs and spices. Instead of going to the shelving, she went to a plant growing in the corner. It was a succulent of sorts. Somewhere between a cactus and a regular plant. It had long thick leaves that grew three feet high. They were dark green with a waxy surface. She cut off one of the leaves and got to work, chopping and peeling. Using the pestle and mortar, she crushed the pieces into a gloopy pulp which she poured into a bowl. Crushing each piece until there was quite a substantial amount of the goo. Certainly enough for the two of them to get rid of each other’s scent.

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