He'd felt the threads still tying them together when he'd arrived here three nights ago, even though he'd broken the mark almost a year ago, even though she'd resisted its renewal. But something held them together, and her using his true name tonight would bind them for eternity. Using a dragon's name to hurt him was one thing—that made an enemy. Using it to save him, that made a mate.
Saba broke away from the kiss, her beautiful face wet with tears. "Don't make me fall for you again. I don't want to fall for you again."
"Then stop me." His face hovered an inch from hers, his fists above her head on the wall. "Use my true name, and stop me. Bend me to your will."
"You're trying to make me prove that I'll hurt you."
"Yes."
But it was so much more than that. This was the second time she'd saved him, and he wanted her with intensity. He wanted to celebrate being alive and whole and celebrate it with her. He kissed her again, tasting her lips and delving into her mouth. She always tasted good, like a hint of cinnamon and vanilla. Her blouse was already unbuttoned from his haste in the bedroom, and he dipped his hand inside to find the full globe of her breast.
The nipple pebbled under his thumb as he stroked it to life. Her eyes, half-closed, gleamed with need. He smelled her desire and wanting, and his jeans-clad thigh discovered that she'd not bothered to replace her underwear.
Her brief skirt was no barrier, but how much better things would be if it were off. He fumbled with the button at her waistband, and her hands helped him open the catch and slide the skirt to the floor. He stripped off his own jeans and shirt again, wanting to be bare with her.
Her stockings pressed his thighs, the lace of them scratching his skin. He lifted her against the wall so her face was at his height, looping his arms under her knees. She made a noise of wanting, her head against the wall, black hair stark against cream white. Her fingers sought his shoulders, tracing muscles, thumbs finding his biceps, his hard forearms, the hands that held her.
He slid his tip inside her, finding her opening as slippery as before, her tight folds relaxing to ease him in. She opened her eyes wide, brown pools to drown him. He moved up inside her, a groan escaping him when her walls squeezed him hard.
Because I fell in love with you, she'd shouted. The words seemed to hang in the air, wrapped around the lingering notes of his name. He did not know what to make of them. The power of a dragon mark could make her think or feel anything he wanted her to, and what she'd decided then might not have been real.
He felt her nails in his back, her tongue trace his lips. Lush, beautiful woman. He was inside her to his full length and still wanting her. Her slick heat gripped him as he ground his hips to hers, breasts firm against his chest.
He'd started out wanting to punish her and segued into enjoying every grip of her fingers, every scent of her body. Soft, warm woman, strong enough to take what he gave her and return it threefold.
I want this for always.
You are bound to me.
My mate.
He made love to her hard, and from her groans of pleasure, she didn't mind a bit. Her body pressed into the wall, her eyes closing as her breathing started to come fast, faster.
At this angle and standing up, with her fitting around him so tight, it was hard for Malcolm to move. He could glide back and forth an inch or two at a time, but he was pushed inside her so far it didn't seem to matter. Her around him, him deep within her, a perfect place to be.
"Goddess, I'm coming," she moaned, sounding annoyed of all things. "Malcolm, why do you always do this to me?"
He could think of many answers: Pleasuring you is my greatest pleasure. When you come for me, you are truly and completely mine. I need you.
He said none of them, catching her cries in his mouth, suppressing his own need to come so that her climax could go on and on. Before she wound completely down, he withdrew from her and lifted her into his arms, carrying her down the hall to the bedroom. He laid her on the bed, she still warm from her climax, and stripped off her blouse and loosened bra.
She reached for him, and he entered her again in a single thrust. She smiled and wrapped arms and legs around him.
Part of him said, Go slow; but the rest of his body could no longer contain his need. He rode her hard and fast, and after the first few thrusts, he was no longer able to think. The cool mathematical being let his mind go blank to everything but the feel of her around him, her scent, her taste, her cries of delight.
He came in an explosion of emotion, unable to think or see or hear. His entire life spiraled to this one moment, pumping his seed inside Saba, his witch, who had braved death to rescue him one more time. She'd healed him with her magic, determination, and integrity. Without her he would be dead.
All this flashed through him as he sank into her body, his skin wet with sweat, her breath on his face. His groan was heartfelt as he fell onto her, his mouth seeking her.
"I know," she said in her soft voice, trying to soothe him. "Of all the incredible things that have happened the last few days, this is the most incredible."
Malcolm raised his head and found her smiling at him. Smiling at him for punishing her for using his true name. Smiling at him for losing himself in her. He'd snarled at her, shouted, mistrusted her, and made love to her to regain his power over her—and she smiled.
Her smile was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his long life.
"Saba," he rasped.
"Mmm?" She traced his swollen lips, touch light and loving. "I didn't tell you to do that, you know. You did it all by yourself."
His incoherent brain didn't follow her words, but he loved the sound of her voice. "Ride me," he said.
She sat up lazily, her small breasts moving, smile still in place. "My friend Mamie is right about you, you know. You're no good for me."
He didn't understand her. He tugged her to him, making a noise of relief when she slid her leg over his. "Please."
Her eyes widened in mock surprise. "The great dragon is saying please? You must truly be under my thrall."
Malcolm growled and pulled her down, and she laughed as she slid straight onto him and began the rhythm that brought them both to climax again.
* * *
Chapter 16
When Saba peeled open her eyes in the light of morning, she realized she would miss another day of work. Fresh sunshine poured into the room and slid along the bed, touching Malcolm's bare limbs tangled in sheets. A glance out the window told her the fog and rain had departed on the wind, the sun shining mightily to make up for it.
Malcolm slept hard. His skin bore bruises and raw abrasions, but he was flushed with health, his breathing strong and even. One hand lay clenched on the pillow as though he fought something in his sleep, his dark hair like a satin sheet over his bare back.
Mine to do with as I please, Saba thought.
He'd told her that last night, snarling the words, daring her to give in to the temptation to make him her slave. And the temptation was great. To have this beautiful, strong man under her power, to have him pleasure her and protect her at her whim was giddily seductive. To be able to love him without him stopping her would be heady, too.
And false. He'd hate her for it. Was that what she wanted? To bind him without remorse?
She groaned silently. Why couldn't I fall in love with a human being? Another computer geek maybe?
No, that would be impossible while she had Malcolm stretched out next to her like a Greek god. He made all other males insignificant.
One thing was for certain, Saba would not unbind him as long as the white dragon was still around. Her wielding Malcolm's true name would keep the white dragon at bay somewhat, though she worried that Malcolm was right when he said both of them inside him would tear him apart.
She touched his arm, loving the contained strength beneath the skin. He was beautiful as a dragon, all sable and silver, but as a man he took her breath away. She couldn't resist running her hand across his skin,
feeling the perfect flare of his rock-hard biceps, tracing the sharp lines of his dragon tattoo.
He opened his eyes, not moving, pinning her with his stare. He let her touch him for a few moments, his gaze following the path of her fingers, then he reached out and scooped her to his side.
The subsequent lovemaking was slow but deep, unlike the frenzy of the night before. She came quickly, profound pleasure hitting her in waves. He tried to keep his climax silent, closing his eyes and making only one muffled groan.
Saba kissed him, a slow, warm, afterglow kiss. If they could just be man and woman, nothing else between them, how beautiful it would be. Not witch and dragon, just Saba and Malcolm, drowsing in the sunshine, letting the day drift by.
The bedroom door banged, and a gravely voice said, "Geez, I thought you'd be done by now."
Malcolm had the sheet over Saba before she could move. Axel stood in the doorway, his hand on the knob, averting his gaze to the ceiling and looking annoyed at the same time.
"How did you get in here?" Saba gasped.
"Through the front door."
"There are wards all over this place. How did you just waltz in?"
Malcolm rolled off the bed and into his pants in one smooth motion. Saba remained under the sheet with it pulled up to her chin.
Axel shrugged. "The wards are for evil things, and I'm not evil. Good to see you're both all right. Of course, I figured that out last night when you were really going for it. I decided to let you get on with it and bring you the message today."
"You came in here last night?" Saba's face heated.
"Don't worry, I didn't watch or anything. Caleb found Lumi and me and told us he'd brought you here. We were worried, so I came up here to see if you were all right. When I heard what was going on in the bedroom, I figured you were healthy."
Malcolm settled a shirt on his shoulders, his face hard with anger. "What message?" he demanded.
Axel looked blank a moment. "What? Oh, yeah. Caleb called me again this morning and asked me to tell you to come to the hospital."
Saba's heart skipped a beat. "Lisa?"
"Sorry, should have said that better. She's fine, and the babies are cute, and she wants to see you. And Malcolm." His gaze fell on The Book of All Dragons, sitting square in the middle of the floor. "And that book. I have a taxi waiting—I figured neither of you would be in any shape to drive."
Malcolm felt the presence of the silver dragon the moment he walked through the doors of the hospital. Lisa's magic tingled through his body, touching the bands of his true name as though it explored them curiously.
As they rose in the elevator and walked along the corridor to the patient's rooms, the tingling increased. Malcolm had experienced the magic of the silver dragon before, but it had never invaded him as it did now. She was testing him, probing him, and he didn't know why. He carried The Book of All Dragons wrapped in a sheet, hiding its gem-encrusted surface from curious eyes.
Saba knocked on the half-open door, which was opened by a broadly grinning Caleb. He cradled against his chest a tiny bundle, which was nearly dwarfed by his broad forearm. The bundle had a face, small and squished, a dot of a nose and a tiny red mouth. A few strands of dark hair stuck out from under a knitted cap covering its head.
"Hello," Caleb boomed. "This is Li Na Singleton."
Malcolm studied the baby at a distance, looking it over as he would a new specimen of insect. Human babies were a mystery to him. Dragon mothers hid their young in their mouths for the first year and a half, to keep them from predators—mostly other dragons. Human mothers and fathers, in contrast, displayed their children proudly, a practice Malcolm had never become used to. Noticing another dragon's hatchlings always resulted in a fight to the death.
Saba and Axel obviously had no qualms. Saba's face softened as she pressed a small kiss to the sleeping child's forehead. "She's beautiful," she breathed.
Axel rubbed a blunt forefinger over the baby's chin. "Gooble gooble," he said.
Caleb moved slightly toward Malcolm, obviously waiting for his greeting. Malcolm gave Caleb a nod. "Very… nice."
"Is that all you can say?" Saba demanded. "This is the most adorable little girl who has ever lived. Where is the other one?" She sailed into the room and soon was at the bed hugging Lisa.
Malcolm gazed with alarm at the shadows under Lisa's eyes and the pinched lines about her mouth. He had thought her immune to all forms of attack, but the white dragon had found a way around that. Lisa was mostly human after all, more human than Malcolm or Caleb or the white dragon would ever be. They took human shape; the silver dragon had taken on human life—Lisa's life—and also human death.
Another too-small baby lay in a square crib drawn up to the bed. This baby's face was set in a belligerent scowl, and as Malcolm approached, he opened his eyes and bathed Malcolm in a brilliant blue glare.
Caleb said proudly behind him, "That is Severin. My son."
Malcolm's brows rose. Caleb had lost a son with that very name; he wondered why the golden dragon chose to remind himself by giving the next son the same name.
Caleb returned his look calmly. "To honor him," Caleb said, then he grinned. "He has already turned into a dragon."
"Thank Goddess the nurse had left the room," Lisa said, resting a fond hand on the little boy's belly. "My doctor is astonished at how strong they are for preemies. They've already grown and gained weight since yesterday and were taken off the incubators."
Saba laughed. "The doctors will worry when they start seeing wings and scales." She hugged Lisa again. "They are beautiful, Lisa, honestly."
Malcolm hadn't realized how much Saba loved children. Her brown eyes glowed as she bent over to give the boy a kiss "from Aunt Saba." She ought to have children, he thought, little witchlings to train and raise.
Lisa looked up at him, something in her eyes making Malcolm pause. Despite her exhaustion and lingering sickness, Lisa looked pleased and even at peace. Her ordeal was over, and she had a daughter through whom she could pass on the legacy of the silver dragon and a son to love.
Her gaze fell on the bundle Malcolm carried. "Is that it?"
Malcolm sensed all eyes, including the babies', turn to him as he removed the sheet from The Book of all Dragons. Axel plopped himself into the only chair in the room and stretched his long legs, and Saba curled up on the bed next to Lisa. Caleb seemed content to stand and bounce small Li Na on his arm.
Malcolm gently set the book on Lisa's lap. He'd rather have his skin peeled from his body than show the book to Caleb, but Lisa was different. She was a silver dragon, magical and powerful and, he sensed, beyond the restrictions of this tome. He hadn't had time to look through it, but he had the feeling the silver dragon wasn't even in it.
Saba unhooked the clasp for Lisa, and Lisa opened the book with a pleasant sound of crackling leather. The pages were made of the thinnest beaten gold, each containing an etching of a dragon on the right-hand leaf. The dragon's name, in swirls and notes, was etched on the left.
"So every dragon in Dragonspace is in that?" Caleb asked, pointing at it. "Even me?"
"Every one," Malcolm answered.
"Who puts them in?" Saba asked. "Wouldn't the person who made the book then know every dragon's true name?"
Malcolm explained. "No one writes in the book. It's a magical object—every time a dragon is born, a new leaf appears, and when one dies, it disappears. Don't ask me how."
"What's the purpose of it?" Saba continued. "Who wants to keep track of every dragon alive, and why? Especially since you keep it locked in your archive so no one can look at it."
"I do not know," Malcolm answered. "The Book of All Dragons is a legend that no dragon truly understands. But the book knows us."
Lisa flipped through the pages until she came to a page toward the end. "Including those born yesterday. Look."
Caleb elbowed Malcolm out of the way to bend over his wife. Malcolm saw a page with a small golden dragon on it before Caleb quickly
put his hand over the new dragon's name.
"That is Severin," Lisa conceded. "I sang both children's names in my mind as they were born—I didn't make them up—they seemed to come from some part of me."
"Perhaps that is how they get into the book," Saba suggested. "The mother sings their name, and voila."
"Is the white dragon in there?" Axel interrupted. "Seems to me we can save a lot of trouble if we find out the white dragon's true name."
"I thought of that," Saba said. "I was going to look, but…" She flushed suddenly, no doubt remembering how Malcolm had distracted her with lovemaking. They'd both been too exhausted to look at the book after that.
Axel's smile was knowing. "You thought of it, but you had other things on your mind." He waggled his brows at Malcolm.
Lisa winked at Saba. Caleb absorbed himself in tickling his baby as though he didn't notice, but Malcolm refused to be embarrassed by their teasing. Saba was a beautiful woman, why should he not take her to bed and pleasure her to his content? And hers? They were bound together now, in any case.
"Have you found the white dragon's page?" he asked, annoyed.
Lisa gave him another smile then quietly turned the pages of the book. Malcolm noticed that Caleb didn't object to her seeing the true names of every dragon alive, even though they both knew the silver dragon was siphoning up the knowledge. All dragons trusted the silver—or at least, they knew they could do nothing to stop her.
Lisa's smile vanished as she turned over a page in the middle of the book. Saba bent over to see, then both women looked up.
"It's blank," Saba said, staring at Malcolm. "The white dragon's name has been erased."
Malcolm strode to the bed and looked over Lisa's shoulder. The right-hand page depicted a dragon, his picture pure white against black, green eyes blazing cruelly. Lisa moved her hand across the golden page opposite, which was perfectly smooth, without a line to mar it.
The Black Dragon Page 19
