Broken Slumber: A Darkhills Romance

by Elizabeth Greene

  She wasn’t kidding anyone; the dragon was still terrifying. He might be friendly towards her, but she wasn’t foolish enough to believe he was a harmless gecko. He still had deadly talons, a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth and the ability to breathe fire. Instead of feeling fear, she felt comfort in its company. Despite the dragon’s huge bulk, Etienne was always meticulously careful with her, showing her a gentleness she simply wouldn’t have thought such a creature could possess. But then he was Etienne, just the bigger, more indestructible version of him.

  She looked at the creature again as it folded itself into the space, avoiding a low hanging column of dripping stone. He was magnificent and she had just flown upon his back. Once she had gotten over her sense of mortality and allowed herself to trust him to keep her alive, the experience had been one of the greatest of her life. Nothing would ever come close to how free she had felt as she had spread her arms wide parallel to his wings and felt the sun on her face.

  If she were a dragon, she would spend every waking hour soaring through the sky. Nothing mattered up there, every worry and trouble just melted away, replaced by calm acceptance of her place in the world. She had her dragon to thank for that.

  She walked over to him where he was crouched, watching her with kind and patient eyes. She smiled up at him and beckoned him down to her level. His head bowed and she raised her hand to his snout and waited. He blinked slowly by way of permission and she lightly touched the cool smooth scales. Brianna felt her smile spread wider as she watched how the colours flexed in response to her touch. As she moved down along his huge muscular shoulder, she felt a vibration beneath her fingertips as the dragon almost purred. She laughed and stepped back to rub at his snout once again, the small tendril of smoke that curled out of his nostrils carried with it the scent of campfire and she sighed happily. Etienne opened his mouth and puffed out a smoke ring that passed through her making her gasp. The playful wink he gave her had her rolling her eyes.

  “No one likes a show-off,” she tutted, with an amused shake of her head.

  The dragon rumbled out a quiet growl in a sulking response, making her tip her head back and laugh. She may have lost days’ worth of memories, but if that hadn’t happened, she wouldn’t be standing in a mountain cave with her dragon now. She supposed that sometimes things happened for a reason and perhaps she needed to stop concerning herself with what might have gone on in the past and focus on what life had in store for her now.

  What she was experiencing was something truly magical, and it wasn’t purely because of the dragon standing in front of her, the man also had a lot to do with it. Her recent experiences had taught her a valuable lesson, it was important to appreciate and be grateful for what blessings were in her life, and Etienne was certainly one of those blessings.

  She reached up on her toes and placed a small kiss on his smooth, scaled snout.

  “Thank you, Etienne, for saving me,” she ran her hand along his jaw and pulled him into her to hug his huge head, “for being kind and patient with me. For welcoming me into your home and showing me so much generosity and gentleness.” She pulled back and looked him in the eyes and smiled at the warm violet glow. “And thank you for sharing the most incredible evening of my life, with me.” She pressed one more small kiss on his snout before releasing him and turned to walk towards the tunnel that led into the inner cave.

  A flash of bright light lit the cave momentarily and she felt his hand take hers, pulling her back to him. As she turned, he pulled her against his hard chest, and fiercely took her lips with his.

  His kiss was firm and certain, his mouth demanding she submit to his seduction. Brianna opened her mouth and lightly licked at his tongue as he cradled her head in his hands. She moaned as his tongue dove in deeper, tasting every corner of her mouth, exploring and conquering. It was easy to just relax into the kiss and let him take what he wanted, she was more than willing for him to have all of her, but she was just as curious to explore him, so she began to move her tongue against his in a hot, slick rhythm.

  Their kiss became hurried and harsh, the sounds of their heavy breathing echoed off the walls of the cave as they began to fight each other for dominance. Finally, when Brianna felt her head spinning, did she push herself away from him, they stood just inches apart, both breathing heavily, their lips swollen.

  Etienne’s eyes shone fiercely, and his pupils narrowed to elongated slits. A thrill of danger chased up her spine, as she locked eyes with the reminder that she was playing with fire. She wanted nothing more than for him to make her burn. His nostrils flared and a pulse throbbed at his neck, the growl that came from him was cut short as Brianna launched herself at him. His hands were beneath her thighs the moment she wrapped them around him, her hands clung onto his shoulders and she let out a small growl of her own as she claimed his mouth hungrily. Etienne lifted her higher up his body and squeezed her ass tightly in his hands.

  She broke the kiss again with a gasp and glared at him,

  “Take me to bed, dragon,”

  He growled in response and strode with her pressed against his body into the tunnel while she kissed, sucked and nibbled on his neck, the rumble of his dragon’s purr filled the tight space making her grin. As soon as they entered the cave, Etienne lifted her to the side and blew out a fireball that lit the remaining firewood in the pit, casting them in a warm orange glow.

  Brianna grinned and traced her fingertips over his lips, they were warm but not hot as she would expect. “Amazing,” she murmured right before he slammed her back up against one of the furs covering the cavern walls.

  It was his turn to let his hungry mouth taste every inch of her skin that he could find, and when that wasn’t enough, he pulled at her jacket in frustration.

  “Take this off before I tear it from you,” he growled.

  Brianna wasted no time in yanking it off and pulling her shirt over her head leaving her in just her bra and jeans. She didn’t even care that her soft stomach was on display as Etienne held her firmly pressed against the wall and was looking at her like she was the most desirable woman on the planet. She couldn’t remember any of her past boyfriends ever looking at her like that.

  “They were fools,” Etienne answered her thoughts, making her frown.

  “You in my head again, B?”

  “I will be everywhere inside you, possess every delicious inch of your body, know your every thought and desire and you will feel my fire flow in your veins,” he growled pinning her to the wall with his hips, freeing his hands to bare her breasts to him with a rip and snap of fabric.

  “Why does that sound so hot?” She gasped as his tongue lapped at one nipple, teasing it instantly into a small dark peak while his other hand cupped, massaged and gently squeezed her other breast.

  “You have not felt my fire yet, Little One, you’ll know it when you do,” he replied before switching his mouth to her other breast.

  She threw her head back and closed her eyes as he continued to pleasure her breasts, licking, sucking and biting her into a hot mess. She wasn’t sure when she began rocking her hips against him but the answering rhythm from her dragon made her insides clench in anticipation. Already, she could feel her orgasm building. She rubbed herself shamelessly against the hard swell that pressed against her clit and cried out as Etienne tugged at her nipples while rocking against her in steady purposeful thrusts.

  “Oh, fuck,” she choked out as her orgasm finally broke with a quick flash of pleasure that almost stung with its intensity. “Oh, B… that was-”

  “Not enough,”

  He quickly pulled her from the wall and in a few swift strides, tossed her down upon the thick, soft furs. His eyes were ablaze as he tracked her body from her feet to her head. She couldn’t help but do the same to him. He was surely the most perfect male specimen ever created, so muscular and strong, trim waist, thick thighs and the most eye-watering package that was looking, oh so happy to see her. Brianna wet her lips and smiled.

  “
You know, I’m not a rag doll, Etienne, just because you’re bigger and stronger that doesn’t mean you get to throw me around,” his eyes blazed at her words, “I believe I said, ‘take me to bed’ not, ‘throw me on the bed’,” Brianna sat upright and crossed her arms over her chest, hiding her breasts from view.

  “Do not toy with me, Little One,” Etienne warned in a rough voice that caused her whole body to tingle, “Do you desire me or not? Your body and your mind tell me that you do but I want to hear you speak the words.”

  “And what if I’m shy?” She teased, keen to see how much restraint he had. She stood up and unbuttoned her jeans and began slipping them down her legs, never taking her eyes off his.

  “I do not believe you are, but I will not touch you again, Brianna until you tell me it’s what you want,” he said, his lips in a firm line.

  Oh, this should be fun, she mused as she kicked off her sneakers and socks and stood out of her jeans.

  One thing was for sure, the friendly wolf in the store had been right about the choice of panties. As she stood before Etienne in just the lacy dark purple thong, Brianna watched his eyes shift to slits and back multiple times as she saw him fight with his animal instincts.

  “Maybe you’re right, maybe I’m not shy,” she said casually as she turned her back to him and sashayed back to the centre of the bed. The groan and vibration beneath her feet made her smirk. Etienne might be the dominant creature in the room but that didn’t mean he was going to get what he wanted so easily.

  Slowly, she bent down and crawled into the furs keeping her back to him. The air smelled like someone had just blown out all the candles on a birthday cake and Etienne cursed under his breath. She had never heard him curse before and she found having that effect on him make her giddy with confidence. She turned and lay back on the animal skins, keeping her legs demurely tucked tightly together and an arm draped over her chest.

  “Little One, I know what you’re doing, and you won’t win,” Etienne warned his eyes never leaving her body.

  “What am I doing exactly, B?”

  Brianna smiled sweetly at him as she slowly opened her legs in front of him and traced her fingertips over the lacy material of her panties.

  His nostrils flared and his throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. “You are teasing me.”

  “No,” Brianna corrected as she gently shook her head, before sliding her hand underneath her underwear, “I’m teasing myself, I’m not touching you.”

  “You are teasing me by making me watch while-”

  Her own soft moan interrupted him making his eyes blaze and his fists clench at his side. She continued to gently stroke up her folds and lightly circle her aching and swollen clit. She watched in rapture as Etienne’s hard shaft bobbed in response and the way his scales began to show across his broad chest and shoulders.

  Seeing the desperate and hungry need in his eyes, made her little game even more tantalizing and before she knew it, she was no longer teasing him, she was eagerly sliding her fingers over herself in a steady tempo, her other hand toying with her own breasts as he watched her with harsh, panting breaths.

  As her pleasure mounted with a little flare, she threw back her head and moaned unapologetically. A loud thud by her feet had her looking back up to find Etienne on his knees before her, his eyes fixed on where her hand rubbed circles beneath her panties. Brianna looked down his body and saw his own hand wrapped around his long, thick shaft. Her insides clenched greedily at the sight. She wanted it. She wanted him deep inside her, pounding into her while she came hard on his cock.

  Etienne cursed loudly, his jaw tense as she felt her orgasm coiling tight, and she began to moan with every tremor of pleasure that climbed higher within her.

  “Brianna, please,” he begged,

  Yes! She won.

  “Etienne, I want you.”

  The moment the words left her lips, she found her panties ripped from her and her body hauled onto his mouth, her legs pulled over his shoulders. She cried out as her body exploded against his tongue and wave after wave of hot pleasure rolled over her. Etienne growled and feasted on her like he was a starving man, lowering her back down onto the furs and using two long fingers to pump into her. Every time he hit her G spot, she’d cry out again, and he would reply with an answering grunt.

  “My mate’s pleasure is exquisite,” he murmured against her, “It is mine, all those who would dare seek to take it from me will know my wrath,”

  Brianna’s befuddled mind couldn’t make sense of what he had just said, all she knew was he was demanding she come again against his mouth and hand and she really was not in the mood to argue. With another keening cry, she climaxed again, her insides clenching at his fingers. Every hungry groan of appreciation from her lover caused aftershocks of pleasure to ripple through her.

  “I need you inside me,” she rasped, her voice sounding huskier than she ever thought possible.

  She was quickly pulled up by her waist and spun around, she planted her hands and knees down to brace herself a second before he thrust hard and deep inside her. She cried out at the sudden stinging intrusion, but the pinch of pain soon disappeared as she relaxed into the sublime feeling of fullness. Etienne’s hands began tracing over her back. What started as a tickle, soon became an intense and overwhelming trail of pleasure that caused her spine to bow and her hips to undulate of their own accord. His hips began to move against her and the tight, drugging friction pulled her under into a dizzying rhythm of pleasure.

  Her skin tingled all over and she lamented the loss of Etienne’s fingertips stroking along her back as he gripped her hips tightly and began to thrust harder. The delicate tickles of pleasure quickly became more persistent, more demanding, more like an itch that she needed him to scratch.

  She screamed loudly as she felt as though she were drowning in a strange combination of pleasure and pain. His harsh grunts filled the air as Etienne pounded into her from behind in hard and punishing thrusts and Brianna was eagerly bouncing back on him, desperate for more of what he had to give her. She wanted it all, wanted all of him, wanted for this feeling of an excruciating burning need to break over her so she could breathe again. She needed to be claimed by him in every way imaginable. Something primal inside of her told her it was the only way she would gain the satisfaction that she craved.

  “Mine.” Etienne growled, his voice filling her ears, her mind and her entire body.

  He was right, there wasn’t a single part of her that he didn’t possess, and she loved it.

  “Yes, Etienne, yours,” she panted as she ground herself back against him.

  Heat flowed over her and she screamed in relief as it burned away the itching stinging sensation on her skin, it didn’t stop there, however. The hot waves of her orgasm seemed to pour through her veins, spreading through her body, limb by limb, down to her toes and back up to her core where it burst inside her like an inferno of ecstasy.

  Etienne’s roar thundered around them and her vision began to swim in front of her eyes as she felt his thick length swell and release into her. Brianna desperately sought more air for her lungs while unrelenting pleasure continued to ripple through her. She wanted respite but at the same time felt a loss as each swell of bliss seemed to recede.

  She struggled to bear her own weight any longer and slumped forward only to be caught up by strong hands and laid down against a hot hard surface. Brianna blinked a few times and tried to breathe but she could already see the darkness creeping in. Her skin seemed to ripple with a kaleidoscope of colours right before she lost consciousness.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Etienne

  Not long after Brianna had fallen into a deep healing sleep, Etienne forced himself from her side to feed the fire and prepare his grotto for her to bathe.

  He had claimed her. It hadn’t ever been his intention but in the heat of the moment his mating drive had consumed his senses and she was now bonded to him. He had taken a mate. Not many dragons did, most lived
solitary lives and males performed their duty as reproductive partners as part of a queen’s hoard.

  If he were truthful, he couldn’t be certain how the mating bond would affect Brianna as a human. For dragons it meant each partner bore the mating marks of the other, their abilities merged and combined they lived their long existences in companionship and shared their treasure hoards with each other.

  She bore his mating marks over her shoulder blades and down to where her back curved into her delectable rump. But he had received no marks from her. Her skin had rippled with the multihued colours of his dragon’s scales, making him believe she would receive some of his abilities, but he was not certain what he would receive from her if anything.

  He didn’t mean to think of her as inferior, but there wasn’t much by ways of special abilities that humans could add to what a dragon already possessed. Perhaps her gift to him would be a human’s sense of wonder, curiosity and the drive to live a full life. Living for as long as a dragon could, his species were prone to disengaging from things happening around them. He himself wished to enter The Long Sleep, it would give him peace from the endless monotony and pointlessness of his existence.

  He had to admit, all thoughts of The Long Sleep had disappeared from his mind ever since Brianna had been with him. Maybe with her as a companion, he would not need to turn away from the world.

  His dragon agreed and puffed out a contented plume of smoke from where he lay curled up deep within his subconscious. He had his mate now.

  A small smile lit Etienne’s face as he stepped out of the tunnel leading to his grotto and looked at the sight of his little Brianna, sprawled out on the furs, her face obscured by her perfect dark and fierce curls. Her back was open to the air, allowing her mating marks to settle without irritation. He had carefully positioned her so that she wouldn’t cause herself any unnecessary suffering by lying on them.