He wanted to scream with rage. His choices had been stolen from him the moment her hand touched his chest. He didn’t want this. He didn’t want to settle down. Married men were men with weaknesses--they made mistakes. Look at Nic. He wasn’t sure if his friend was alive or dead, and for what? Because he was in love.
Aidan liked Jenna; he respected her. And he’d been dancing around something stronger than liking and respect for Rowan. He had no regrets about trying to rescue her from her butcher father. But, this? This, he wasn’t ready to deal with. His Dragon had tied him to this woman--a woman he didn’t even know--for the rest of his life. No other could accept his seed, bear his children. Fuck, he wouldn’t even be able to get hard for another female now.
Worse still was that Rowan had been hurt yet again. Maybe not in a physical sense but hurt nonetheless. Her choices had been stolen from her not by her father but by Aidan himself. He’d come to take her away from this hell, to give her the freedom every person should have. Instead she’d been beaten, abused, and was now bound to him. An honor he sure as hell didn’t deserve, and one he promised himself he wouldn’t hold her to.
No, if they ever got out of here he would let her live her own life. This was one hell of a time to find a conscience, but he had. Rowan would not be a slave anymore, to her father or to him.
Chapter Four
“What was that?” Rowan’s voice was as ragged as her breath as she pushed up against his chest. Burnt caramel eyes met his, and for just a minute he considered what this mating meant to her. He, at least, knew what had happened. Rowan had no clue how her life had just changed.
“That was my Dragon saying he likes you,” he muttered. “It means you are under my protection now.” It wasn’t a lie. As her husband and mate he was bound to protect her, and he would. The rest of it, the forever and babies part, he would explain later.
No reason to alarm her if they were just going to end up dead anyway. And, if he were being honest, he wasn’t ready to deal with the forever and babies part himself, let alone explain it all to her. He would tell her though; she had the right to know. He was not like her father and she deserved his honesty. No, it would be soon enough to deal with things once he got her free of this place and safe in his lair. Ah, fuck. Aidan never, ever took women to his lair. His closest friends weren’t even aware of where he resided. It was instinct to keep it a secret, to protect his home and make a safe nest for his mate. For his children.
He felt the anger threaten again, and choked it down. He and Rowan Stone were bonded. That was that. The bonding only happened for couples who were a genetic match. It had nothing to do with love or emotion; it was all about propagating the species, strengthening the clans. It was an awfully convenient coincidence that mere moments after telling him her father believed they were biologically compatible, they had bonded in his species’ version of a fertility guarantee. If he hadn’t known it was impossible, he’d almost have believed Stone had somehow engineered it.
But that was impossible. And while Stone was nowhere to be seen, Rowan was here, firm and warm against his hip. Her breathing was evening off, but her eyes still looked wild and a bit stunned.
Laying there, wrapped in chains, all he could think about was dragging her into his lair. Having her spread out before him, his cock driving into her, his seed shooting into her womb.
He imagined seeing Rowan there, lying across his huge bed, her naked skin calling to him. He would fuck her hard and fast, then take her slowly. He’d drive her mad with the need to have him, and only him, inside of her, claiming her over and over again. His dragon would never be satisfied, he knew. The image of her plump with his child made him moan out loud. Christ! This was how males reacted once mated, every protective instinct burned hot, desire became a raging beast of its own.
Aidan used his grip on her hand to yank her roughly against him. Pressing up on his elbows, he met her halfway, catching her mouth in a bruising kiss. His tongue plundered her hot, sweet mouth. Her taste filled his senses. He devoured her, claiming her lips and tongue as his own, thrusting into her in a promise of what he’d like to do to her body. What he eventually would do to her body.
Rowan kissed him back with just as much hunger. Her hands flattened on his chest, satin fire stroking over his skin. Her fingers curled, her nails digging into him. He nipped her bottom lip, then drew it into his mouth. He swallowed her moan, and gave back one of his own when her nails scratched over his nipples. He sucked at her tongue and let her push him down flat on his back and straddle him, her willing captive. He ached to feel her under him, but the chains weren’t long enough.
He was angry; at fate for putting him in this situation, at himself for needing to touch, and at Rowan for tasting so fucking sweet. His mouth slid to her cheek, down the long column of her throat. Her breath hitched, and he chuckled darkly. He nibbled the sensitive spot where her shoulder met her neck, and she cried out in pleasure.
His balls tightened. A primal instinct howled in his head, in his soul. He hadn’t asked for her, but Great Dragon, she was in his arms and in his blood like a fire. She was his, and he needed to see the proof of what he was feeling.
Unable to stop himself, he bit down on her shoulder, hard; piercing tender flesh, stopping just short of bone. She screamed and arched against his bound body, the soft globes of her breasts pressing against his pounding heart, and her body began to shake. He tasted her blood, and the hormone released in his saliva that would mark her as his. She would forever carry the scar he was leaving in her soft skin. It would always be a deep purple, the color of their merged auras. When the time was right, she would be able to mark him as well. His mind insisted that she may leave him in the end if they ever escaped, but his Dragon had other plans. The need to mark her was entrenched in his very DNA. It was an automatic response and while they were locked up here, he had no way of fighting the demands of his people. Yesterday the very idea would have driven him mad, but today with her in his arms it was a different story.
She was shuddering against him, pressing her pussy against his hard thigh and rubbing relentlessly against his cock where it strained against the fly of his jeans. It hurt. Aidan knew it hurt being marked, but the pain bled into a pleasure beyond anything known to humankind. He’d marked his mate, and she was coming apart all over him; coming in an endless cascade of pleasure.
It was too much. The taste of her, her scent. The thought of her marking him, her sharp little teeth on his chest, over his heart. With a strangled roar against her skin, Aidan exploded, his seed shooting hard against his jeans. Insane, dark pleasure swamped him as he pumped up into the cradle of her thighs, loosing pulse after pulse of hot cum.
He wanted to blame it on his physiology but he couldn’t, not really. While the bonding would make it impossible to ever take another female, it wasn’t necessary for his heart to play along. Feeling her on him, the way she felt so damn perfect in his arms told him he wanted to be with her and only her. She owned him now and he was oddly warmed by it.
He knew, he thought dazedly, he knew he would impregnate her as soon as she was fertile.
Before that happened, he would have to tell her of their marriage. She had the right to know. And even though neither of them had had a choice in their bonding, he would not take the choice from her when it came to carrying his baby.
He lifted his mouth from her shoulder reluctantly and placed his forehead against hers. Her eyes met his, dark and fathomless. Her lips were swollen and red. He wanted to bite them. Pulling back, he smiled weakly. “Rowan, we have to have a serious talk.”
* * * *
“Bravo, bravo,” praised a loud male voice from the door. Rowan’s head swung around and she flinched as her father strolled through the doorway. She’d been so engrossed in the feel of Aidan that she hadn’t even heard the door open.
Slowly she climbed off him, ignoring his hold on her hand and turning her back on him to face her father. Wouldn’t Erin be appalled? she thought. She felt sa
fe to turn her back on the monster, while she had to keep her father in her sights at all times. It literally sickened her to think he’d witnessed what had passed between her and Aidan. She might not understand exactly what it was, but she knew it was something profound and private.
William Stone sauntered into the room, his teeth flashing a dazzling white; it was the smile he wore for the media. She cringed inside every time she witnessed that smile. It meant he knew had triumphed in some fashion, almost always at someone else’s expense. What was he so happy about?
He advanced until he stood in front of her and reached out a finger to stroke her cheek. When she instinctively jerked away, his smile just got wider.
“Good girl, Rowan.” He pointed to Aidan, still strapped down to the bed. She glanced at him; he was stiff, staring at the man’s profile, destruction etched in his strong features. Heat flashed through her all over again. Even with murder radiating from every vibrating inch of him, Aidan was truly a breathtaking man.
William wagged his finger at his middle daughter with a big grin. “I knew! I just knew you would be able to tempt him. Your DNA profile indicated you should be compatible.” He walked around to stand behind her, his hands digging into her shoulders. “I got a little worried, though, when his little soldiers couldn’t fertilize your eggs in the lab. Just another instance of your defiance.” She winced as he dug harder into the fresh wound Aidan had left on her shoulder. “So imagine my surprise, my vindication, when you mated with him.”
“What are you talking about?” Confusion and dread settled over her. She glanced at Aidan and nearly gasped at his expression. His eyes were locked on William’s hands where they dug into her flesh. There was slow, bloody death in those eyes.
Sensing he’d lost her full attention, her father squeezed hard, surprising a cry of pain from her.
“My darling daughter, you are now bound for life to our pet Dragon.” He gave a satisfied sigh. “Just imagine; you will live your lives out down here, safe and contained. And when you birth his children, I will have a new generation to properly train in the art of killing the night filth that walks our streets.”
“What are you talking about?” she stammered in horror. “I don’t understand--”
William cut her off with a laugh. Her eyes darted back to Aidan’s, which were dark and cold as he looked at her.
“Foolish Dragon,” William continued. “Did you really think any daughter of mine would kiss you for no reason?” He stroked her hair in a sick parody of tenderness. She barely kept from retching, afraid of how he’d retaliate. “She knows where her loyalties lie, and it’s not with you or any of the other vermin out there.” Wrapping cruel fingers around her arm, William dragged her toward the door. “Don’t worry, Ghallager. I will send your bride back to you in a few hours. We want her to look pretty for you when you consummate your marriage.”
Horrified, Rowan struggled in his grip as he pushed her completely out of the room. A guard grabbed her roughly around the neck and shoved her forward, down the icy corridor.
She was going to kill her father, she vowed, even if it meant her own death in the process. She closed her eyes as she remembered the shuttered expression on Aidan’s face. He hated her now. He would never believe she wasn’t in collusion with her father. She’d just wanted to explain to him about the chip. To warn him about her father’s breeding plan. To steal a little of the warmth radiating from him.
Whether he believed her or not, though, her father spoke the truth about one thing. She was bound to the Dragon. There was nothing rational about the feeling, but she knew they needed each other in the most profound way.
It went beyond sex, although Aidan had given her the first orgasm of her life with nothing but his mouth against her neck. No, she felt different. Her skin itched and her muscles throbbed. The deepest part of her was wet and longing, for the first time ever, to be filled. To be filled by Aidan. His kiss had been rough, far from romantic, but she craved more. The deeper he’d invaded her mouth, the deeper she needed him to go. Then she remembered the frost in his eyes as William dragged her from his room, and had to fight the urge to weep. She felt like she’d lost her best friend, which was ridiculous. She’d known the Dragon less than a week.
* * * *
He ran the tip of his best whip across her chin.
“You know it kills me to hurt you, but you leave me no choice, Rowan. You will mate with the dragon, and after you have given birth to my grandchildren I shall dispose of you and the animal.”
“I hate you.” she said, trying to jerk her chin away from his grasp.
“True leaders are always hated, my dear. We have to make the hard decisions that no one else will.” William unfolded the long tails of the whip. They were about three feet in length, made of the finest leather. The very tips were encased in sharp silver barbs. Large enough to break flesh, but not enough to really dig into the skin deeply. Rowan would bleed tonight, but the bleeding would stop. She wouldn’t require the doctor to attend her.
“You will be my brood mare, Rowan, and if you do not fulfill your wifely duties I will have you whipped every night until you fall into his bed.”
“Why do you keep saying we are married?” she cried out.
“I think I will leave that explanation up to your husband. Just know that according to his customs you are now his. Forever, Rowan. You belong to him now.”
She hung her head in defeat; her father finally broken her with his manipulations. She would be facing Aidan; she knew he must hate her. Would he ever believe she was as much a victim as he was?
“Now remember, dear daughter, you must cry out for me. If not, I will be forced to have Karl take over. We don’t want another episode like that do we? I grow very tired of your stubbornness.”
She tensed as she waited for the first blow. He didn’t make her wait long. She heard the tails ride though the air with a crack a second before the metal hooks sliced through the first layer of scars on her back.
* * * *
Aidan woke with a start. He was getting bloody tired of being shot with tranquilizer guns. As soon as Stone had taken Rowan away, a guard came in and shot him in the side. The bastard stood next to the door, a smirk crossing his face, while Aidan fought whatever the narcotic was running amok in his blood stream.
But now he was alone, no longer bound by the heavy chains. He stretched his arms over his head, enjoying the burn of his protesting muscles as he forced them into movement, then stretched the lower half of his body as well. He was used to being on the move and it felt like paradise to have that ability once more.
He sat up in the bed and looked around. He wasn’t in the dingy cell anymore. In fact, this room looked like a bedroom you might find anywhere. There was camera in the top corner of the room, trained on the bed. Aidan lifted his hand and gave the spy device a one-fingered salute. Scooting to the edge of the bed, he planted his feet on the floor. Lightheaded for a moment he stopped, closing his eyes and taking a few deeps breaths.
He stood and realized he was cleaned up. The blood was gone and he was dressed in a plain white T-shirt and gray sweat pants. He felt his heavy hair in the traditional braid of his people down the middle of his back. It pissed him the hell off; a Dragon’s hair was sacred and was a focal point in many of their ceremonies. It really didn’t surprise him that someone had been messing with it, though. Of course Stone had it done just to prove that Aidan was his prisoner.
Bloody hell, man you have really gotten yourself in a fuckin’ pickle, he thought as he made his way around the room. The lights were on a dimmer and Aidan raised his eyes to the ceiling. Of course they were covered by something clear, and he bet it wasn’t made of glass.
Stone wasn’t stupid. He wouldn’t leave anything that could be used for a weapon lying around. There was no other furniture in the room, but a pile of extra clothing was folded neatly on the floor.
Her scent floated in the air. Rowan was back. There were two doorways, one led to Rowan and
the other was a bathroom. Aidan made his way to the second opening and looked inside. No mirror, only a sink, toilet and small shower stall, no curtain, no privacy.
What did he really expect? He was a prisoner of a psychotic fanatic, not staying in a five-star resort.
He left the bathroom. Only one more room to go. Aidan’s heart rate picked up speed, the hammering in his chest becoming harder at the mere thought of seeing Rowan again.
He’d never believe she was on her father’s side or that she’d set out to seduce him. Dragons were fairly good at reading people’s emotions through facial expression and body language, a gift each member of the clan was born with. Instinctively they could distinguish the smallest movement of the body, the slightest inflection in the voice. Many dragons were ambassadors to just about every county in the world. Despite their tempers, or maybe even because of them, dragonkind had learned to control their beasts and become great diplomats as a result.
Aidan knew he possessed none of his race’s greater qualities. What he did have had been torn out of him the day Fiona was taken from his arms by hunters, never to be seen again.
He held onto the anger of that day, held it tightly to him. He never forgot and he’d vowed to find those who had taken her and kill them.
Shaking his head, he stalked toward the door that led to Rowan. Now was not the time for a trip down memory lane.
The light in the room was dim. He recognized her shape on a sofa placed against the wall. He turned the dimmer up, wanting to see her face. He’d be able to tell if she held any guilt or deception.
She was turned away from him, her body huddled as close to the couch as she could get. Her breathing was slow and even. She was sleeping. He wasn’t sure if she’d been drugged as he’d been, and decided to leave her in peace. He could still smell the blood from her earlier wounds, but didn’t wake her. He fought the need to take her in his arms and pushed it aside.
Forever Rowan Page 4
