“What is that?” Tirah asked, eyeing the golden liquid.
“It’s called wine. I discovered it on Earth many years ago.” He raised his flute and sipped. After a moment, Tirah raised her own and did the same. A slight smile lit her lips and then grew wider at the dragon scene. “Pretty.” Then she set her flute down. “That’s different … but good.”
“It is,” Saber agreed, and loaded his plate with food. As he took a bite, he wondered how long it had been since he’d eaten. Tirah watched as if waiting to see if he’d keel over. When he didn’t, she filled her own plate. Then she ate and ate.
Saber kept his satisfied smirk to himself, secretly pleased when Tirah helped herself to more food. He kept her flute topped up with wine. Maybe if he could loosen her up, she’d be more inclined to tell him what he wanted to know. As an immortal dragon shifter, he couldn’t get drunk unless it was infused with Nectar. But Tirah was Ilyium—Human, so getting her tongue to loosen shouldn’t be a problem.
“Why did you do it?” he asked when she set her eating utensil down on her plate and sat back.
“Do what?”
Saber could tell she knew exactly what he was asking.
Tirah sighed sadly. “I didn’t know what we were going to do.”
He just stared at her. How was that even possible? As if uncomfortable under his gaze, she shifted in her seat. “Or, not really, anyway. I knew they wanted to capture a dragon. They said it was a dangerous one, not some—” She stopped speaking and stared down at her plate.
Not sure he even believed her, Tirah’s words brought back all the helplessness and guilt he’d experienced that night. Sharp-edged fragments sliced through his head once more as his rage spiked. “You did capture a dangerous one.”
“No, the female. I could tell she wasn’t dangerous, and I’m sorry—” She stopped speaking when Saber glared and let out a low growl.
Tirah’s fingers curled inward.
“What happened to your hands?” Saber asked with a burning need to know as he rose and went over to the food cooler.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Spell Smell
Saber felt Tirah’s gaze on him, though she didn’t answer his question. Saber grabbed an ale and started to close the cooler door.
“Can I have one, please?”
Surprised, Saber got her one. “Didn’t think you liked this stuff.” He cracked the lid off before handing her the bottle.
“I never tried that kind, but usually I don’t,” she said.
“It’s infused with Nectar,” he warned.
Tirah accepted the bottle with a shaking hand, then immediately raised it to her lips. Saber frowned as a momentary twinge of worry shot through him. Humans didn’t normally drink anything with Nectar, so he had no idea what kind of reaction she’d have. Surely it couldn’t be that bad, could it? Then he remembered tales of Humans passed out for days under the table after only one sip.
Saber sat down and watched Tirah. “Ah, maybe you shouldn’t drink that.”
“No. I like it, it’s actually good.” Surprise lit her eyes, and he was about to caution her again, when she raised the bottle back to her lush red lips. His breath hitched as he imagined those lips on his own.
Tirah drank the whole thing. Then, looking just as surprised as he, she set the empty bottle down on the table.
Saber took a drink of his own ale, shocked she wasn’t out cold. Maybe she could handle it. Maybe she wasn’t entirely Human …? Then she popped a piece of fruit into her mouth.
“Tell me how to undo the spell,” he said.
Tirah reached for more and paused. “You’ve asked me about that before, but what spell? I don’t understand. I thought you were after me for the death of—”
“It was murder.”
Tirah sighed with obvious frustration and Saber studied her. Her face was flushed, yet she wasn’t drunk. Then she sucked another piece of fruit in her mouth, and her pink tongue came out and licked the juice from her lips
“I want to know about the spell that sent my brother to Hades.” It was impossible to take his eyes off her tongue.
Then Tirah flinched at the anger in his voice, breaking the spell. Saber met her gaze, she appeared confused.
“Your brother?” She blinked and reached for a slice of cheese, only to nibble painstakingly slow, while she studied him.
Saber wanted to groan, but nodded instead, his eyes drawn to her perfect, pearly white teeth. If only they were nibbling on something else. Something of his …
He cleared his throat and met her gaze. “Yes, the one in the circle that night. Adariasthorn.”
Her saw her eyes widen in surprise. “I knew he was your brother, but I didn’t know anything happened to him.”
“How did you do it?” he asked, not believing her.
Tirah shifted in her chair and scowled. “How did I do what?”
Saber drew in a deep breath and exhaled. Was she purposely being obtuse? “How did you send him to Hades?”
Tirah’s mouth dropped open. “That’s what happened when all those fissures opened and that … that nasty fire… green … that smelly green fire shot up?”
“Hellfire,” Saber said.
Tirah shook her head. “It tried to eat me.”
Saber waited, and Tirah swallowed, then she reached for the wine and finished it. “I … ah, really don’t know, but I sure didn’t do it.”
Saber narrowed his eyes on her. “I interrogated all the others, none of them knew what happened. The one thing they did say, was that it had something to do with you.”
Anger flashed in Tirah’s eyes. “Well they lied, obviously.”
“Why would they lie?”
She pursed her lips and stared at him, and Saber could see her thinking. Then she looked at his ale. “Can I have another?”
Caught off guard, he raised an eyebrow. “You want another ale?”
“Yes, please.”
About to tell her she should be careful drinking the stuff, she popped out of her chair and hurried over to the food cooler. “You want one?”
“No, I’m good, but I’m not sure if you should drink another,” he said, watching her.
“I’ll be fine.” Tirah grabbed a bottle, closed the door, and leaning back, cracked the top. Then she tilted the bottle to her lips. “I love this stuff.” After a good long swig, she hiccupped and giggled.
Pissed at the laugh that bubbled up inside of him in reaction, Saber held it back and glowered instead. “You are one of them, why would they lie?”
Tirah snorted and anger blazed anew in her eyes. “Really?” The flames died and a deep sadness that spoke of years of loneliness filled her eyes. “That’s what you’d think, isn’t it?” Without explaining, she took another long chug before setting the empty bottle on the counter. On her way back to the table, he saw her sway.
Saber was out of his chair and at her side immediately. He reached out to steady her and hissed as heat shot through him. He bit back the groan, as the deep, burning need he constantly fought to take her, grew stronger. Then Tirah grabbed his arm and the torture and fog in his head completely disappeared.
“Whoa, I … I think maybe I should … no, shouldn’t have had that last bottle. Think me … I … has … too much.” She giggled again as he helped her back over to her chair.
“Tell me the spell.” Saber released her, then ground his teeth against the throbbing onslaught as his pain immediately returned.
Tirah tilted her head and studied him. “Spell, smell. You said that already.” Then she frowned. “For a bad guy, you sure are pretty.”
Pulling his chair closer, Saber snorted. “The spell, tell me.”
Tirah licked her lips. “I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
Tirah ran a hand through her hair. “I don’t know. There was someone else … someone evil, hiding … behind the rocks.” Then she dropped her head on her arms that were resting on the table.
Saber waited, but she
didn’t move. Damn. Feeling the effects of the Nectar himself, he stood and glanced around. He could put her on the couch to sleep, but that didn’t sit right with him. She needed a bed. Ha, yeah right. You just want her in your bed, a voice in his head mocked.
He gently picked her up and sighed when the agony in his head let up. He made his way to his room and then carefully laid her on his bed. After pulling a blanket over her, he drew in a breath, knowing the torment would be back. Then he let go and winced. White noise throbbed in his skull.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Surprise
Saber watched Tirah’s chest rise and fall for a very long moment. Yeah, she definitely had too much to drink. Body and head aching, though for two entirely different reasons, Saber sighed. Just the sight of Tirah in his bed did something to him. Made him want what he refused to take. Then he drew in Tirah’s scent and wondered how long she’d be out. He was tired, but there was no way he’d get any sleep in the condition he was in. Finally, he peeled his clothing off, and hoping a cold shower would help, made his way over to the large bathing room.
Turning the taps on cold, he stepped under the spray. The shock helped for a moment. Then he thought about Tirah in his bed. He was getting nowhere. What the fuck was he doing treating her like she was his woman? He should have just let Cass interrogate her. At the idea, a dark pit filled his gut.
Desperate to retrieve Adarias from Hades, Tirah was his last hope. Everyone else from that night had been killed at his hands. Well, claws actually. But first he had delved into their minds and interrogated them until they begged for mercy. What was that she had murmured about someone else being there? He hadn’t caught any other scents. Could he have missed someone?
His skin chilled under the icy onslaught, yet jagged shards continued to pierce his skull like white-hot bolts of lightning. Saber closed his eyes and raised his face to the water. Memories of all he’d done, rushed through his mind. Little by little his soul had begun to disappear and now, the darkness inside had awoken. It was wasting no time in taking over his determination for answers, a solution, anything to get his brother back. Saber leaned his forehead against the water-polished rock wall. No, not now, please.
But it was coming. A dark labyrinth within his fractured mind, and there was nothing he could do about it. Saber only hoped he didn’t hurt the woman in his bed while he blacked out. As he struggled to remain sane, the water began to warm. Part of him noticed and understood that this was odd, while the other part didn’t care. Then a gentle hand landed on his bicep, and fire rose inside of him.
How had she gotten so close without him noticing? His dragon senses should have warned him. It just went to show how far gone he was. That the very abilities keeping him alive were failing.
He really should take her back to civilization and disappear before he did something he’d regret.
Tirah’s touch heated him up, and the torment and confusion in his mind cleared. Surprised, Saber turned and blinked the water out of his eyes. Tirah stood gloriously naked, right in front of him.
“What are you doing here?” His voice was rough as he imagined being inside of her. Fuck, why did he have to react this way around her? He swallowed and fought to keep his eyes on Tirah’s. It was a battle he lost as she moved closer. His aching arousal strained, ready and willing.
“Tirah?” Saber ground his teeth as her eyes slid all over him, widening as she saw how hungry he was for her.
“You are really, uh, big.” She worried her bottom lip as she stared at his cock.
Saber groaned. “Tirah?”
“Huh?” Finally, amber eyes sparkling, she met his gaze. “I heard you in here.”
“How did you change the temperature like that?” Saber asked, trying to buy some time before the inevitable. He hadn’t touched the controls, and neither had she. Nor had he felt any draw of magic or heard her murmur a spell.
Tirah scrunched up her face. “It was too cold.”
As she moved closer, Saber fought for control, not sure how long he could hold off. He was afraid that with the state he was in, he’d hurt her. “Tirah, don’t.”
“I don’t know why, but ever since I first saw you, I’ve wanted you,” she said, eyes luminous as she stared up at him.
Saber groaned again, then his lips found hers. Her mouth opened under his onslaught with a ragged cry, and her arms came around him. Tirah pressed up against him and the heat of her skin against his made Saber’s body tremble. Needing, wanting, his tongue delved deeper, exploring, tasting, consuming. He’d waited ten long years for this, and she tasted every bit as succulent as he’d imagined.
With an iron will, Saber tried to hold still, but the feel of her breasts pressed against his chest, and his cock sandwiched between them, made it a battle. He’d wanted her, dreamed of her for so long, forsaking all other females who no longer interested him. Now that it was happening, the one segment of his mind still sane and aware, screamed at him to go slow. To take it easy or he’d hurt her badly. The other, much darker part hungered to take her until she screamed his name and came in his arms, while he savored her body and slaked his desires.
He pushed her up against the polished wall, held her hands above her head, and ravaged her mouth. Tirah met him, her tongue every bit as eager as his. His senses swirled, lost to desire and longing. Hunger to taste every inch of her took over. Wanting more, Saber nibbled her lips, then her chin. Reveling in the torture it took to go slow, he moved down her neck and gave into the desire to lick, before working his way to her ear. Tirah fought against his grip on her hands with a cry as he suckled her lobe, and Saber felt her pulse race just as fast as his own. Then he made his way down to one large, rosy globe.
Tirah whimpered when he took her breast into his mouth, then he let her go, and moved on to the other. He had wanted to do this for so long.
With a moan, Tirah managed to free one arm and her hand tangled roughly in his hair. “I never imagined it would feel like this,” she cried as his hand moved down her belly and to the V between her legs.
“Oh,” Tirah cried out, suddenly shaking.
Saber sucked in a breath at how wet she was, and inserted a finger inside her, checking to see if she was ready for him. Then he felt a barrier. With a frown, he pulled his finger out and looked at her. “You’re a virgin?”
“Not for long,” she said and giggled as she drew her own finger down his chest.
A breath burst from him, and Saber caught her hand before it could explore lower. “Tirah, no.”
No matter how badly he wanted her, he wasn’t about to take advantage when she was drunk. Oh, so you can kill her, just not fuck her? the voice in his head taunted. Saber growled.
“You are so prickly.” Tirah giggled again and pulled her hand from his grasp and ran her fingers down his side. “Please. I don’t care how we do it, but I just need to have sex once before I die—” She hiccupped and slapped a hand over her lips. “Oops.”
Saber shut the water off and led her out of the shower stall.
“Oh, you want to do it out here?” she asked, staring around the bathing room.
“No,” Saber growled.
“Why n-not?” she asked.
“Because, you’re drunk.” He wanted to kick himself.
“I know. I neber been drunk before.” She giggled.
“I’m not taking advantage of you while you’re like this.” Moving away, Saber grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist.
Tirah pouted. “Why’d you do that? I liked you naked.” Then she attempted to pull the towel away. Without a word, Saber grabbed her hand and led her back into his bedroom.
“Oh!” Tirah let go of his hand and hurried over to flop facedown on his bed. She let out a huge sigh and then looked back at him, fiery eyes full of invitation. “So … you want me like this?”
Saber fought his desire. Though the sight of her backside and the urge to touch, to see if her skin was as smooth as it appeared, drew him forward anyway.
He shook his head. “No, go to sleep.” You are really turning this down? Needles lanced his skull and he winced.
“Sleep is boring, I dreamed of all the ways we would do this. I want you to make sex to me.” Tirah’s words slurred as she flipped over onto her back. “We can do this way firsts.” The sight of her plump, rosy-tipped breasts and her smooth belly, which led to an enticing V, drew a ragged groan from Saber. His breath was coming in gasps as bolts shot into his brain, pelting him, one after the other.
Tirah sat up. “What’s wrong with the head with you?” Then she scowled at her own words. “I mean—I feel lightning.” She patted her own head, and Saber frowned at her. She was feeling his suffering?
Saber strengthened his mental shields as questions raced through his mind. How was she even still awake? And how had she made the water warm in the shower? He never heard her murmuring a spell, and all the Ilyium he’d ever met had to speak aloud any spell they performed. No, there was something different about her, as if she weren’t entirely Human.
“What are you?” he asked gruffly, trying to take his mind off how badly he wanted to be inside of her. Yet, she completely mesmerized him, and he knew he wouldn’t shake the urge to fuck her hard and fast anytime soon.
Tirah shook her head. “I’m Human, that’s all.”
Saber didn’t quite believe her.
“You aren’t going to … ah.” She waved her hand indicating her body and swallowed. “I’d going to die a virgin, aren’t I?” A tear slipped from the corner of her eye.
Saber wanted to groan. Instead, he bit down on his tongue hard—happy when he drew blood—grabbed the blanket from where she had shoved it to the bottom of the bed, and covered her. “Get some sleep.”
But when he attempted to move away, she grabbed his hand. “Please, stay with me?”
Saber stared down at her, wondering what he was getting himself into, yet, she sounded so alone and lost that he couldn’t bring himself to say no.
Saberthorn (A Paranormal/Fantasy Dragonshifter Romance): Dragonkind ~ 52 Realms Page 11
