“You’re my Fire Mate,” he murmured as he gently stroked her chin. “This—all this isn’t right, not the way I’d planned it. I didn’t want to claim you under these circumstances, but you’ve left me no choice.”
“What circumstances?” Julia stubbornly crossed her arms. “What the hell are you talking about?” She raised a brow. “What. Am I fired or something?” She threw her arms up in the air. “Of course. That’s why you’re here. To fire me.”
Angus chuckled softly. “No, my sweet, Julia.”
His sweet Julia? Surely she’d lost her mind. Why the hell was he using the word claim? Angus must have fallen down and hit his head on the way over to her house.
“I think you’re sick,” she muttered. “You’re also a monster.” There, she’d told him what she thought of him.
“Far from it,” he murmured. He pressed his body against hers, pushing her against the door. She thought she’d fall through the floor when his hands cupped her face.
“What the hell are you, Angus McNamara?” Her nipples tightened into hard peaks as he brushed his fingers against her neck. She craved his touch. Why? She inhaled his male fragrance until her pussy throbbed. Her knees became weak. She’d never noticed this scent before. Not at this intensity. She looked him in the eyes. “You’re not human, are you?”
He grinned. “You know I’m not.” He nipped her ear before planting fiery-hot kisses along the crook of her neck. “Neither are you.”
“Why are you doing this to me?” Suddenly, she felt like he was playing games with her. He just had to be. What did he mean she wasn’t human?
“I came to this realm in search of my mate. Now I’ve found you. From the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were mine. You felt the same, too, only you didn’t know it at first. If I don’t claim what is mine, I’ll place you in danger. You needed my protection, and I need your acceptance—of my true nature, and yours.” He looked deeply into her eyes. “You don’t even know what you are, do you?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Exactly what are you, and what am I? What do you think I am? See, you’re crazy as a bedbug. And I’m not yours to claim.”
Julia noticed that scales appeared and disappeared, which made her blink in disbelief. Still, her mind refused to accept it. No way. She didn’t just see what she thought she saw.
Her mind raced. Her grandmother often told her as a child of otherworldly creatures—dragons claiming women in the human world. She could no longer deny her dreams or the visions she saw, even though her mind fought to do so. She stared Angus in the eyes in search of truth.
“Accept it, Julia,” Angus said softly. “I can hear your thoughts. If you weren’t my true mate, I wouldn’t be able to hear what you’re thinking. For as long as you can remember, you’ve dreamed of places unknown to most humans.” He paused momentarily as though his words would discourage her.
Before she could speak, Angus crushed his mouth to hers. He kissed her long and hard. His tongue parted her lips with such force she creamed herself—again. He sucked her tongue hard as she pressed her cunt against his leg.
“You’re my Fire Mate,” he seemed to hiss as his fingers weaved their way into her hair. She barely winced as he fisted a large amount and jerked her head backward, baring her neck to him.
“I’m confused. I . . . don’t understand!”
Releasing her hair, he lifted her into his arms and carried her over to the couch. “No need to understand,” he spoke huskily. “You need to observe with your instincts.” He tossed her onto the sofa and began stripping the clothes from his body.
He reached for her, almost ripping the silk robe off her. Something seemed to push the air from her lungs as she fought to breathe and struggled against his strong grasp. “Let me go,” she ordered.
“Oh no you don’t!” Angus snarled. “You need to be restrained,” he suggested in an animalistic voice.
“I’ll scream!” Before she realized it, a silk sash appeared, and then tied her hands together. An invisible force soon had her arms above her head. Did she want to stop him? She didn’t recognize her voice as her own. Her spirit sought dominance; however, her body had other intentions.
“My darling, I’m going to fuck you hard and fast! All night long!”
His gaze fell upon her naked body, as he studied her intensely. As he explored her firm, plump thighs, she shuddered. She tried breaking free of the ties as his hands continued their shameless exploration of her body.
“Don’t do that,” he murmured against her ear. He continued the seductive exploration of her body. “By the dragon gods, you’re so beautiful.”
Forgetting her inhibitions, Julia lifted her hips as he touched her most delicate treasure. Shouldn’t she be fighting him? She looked into his eyes, but all she saw was his desire heightening.
Julia’s hips lifted off the couch as he kissed and licked her rounded belly. Pleasure shot through her entire body. “Angus,” she crooned. She watched as the man continued to work his way down her body. She gasped as he reached her pussy. His gaze captured hers as his tongue caressed her clit. Julia almost leaped off the sofa. “Angus!”
He quickened his pace as his tongue darted in and out of the soft folds of her pussy. She thought she’d die when he slipped one finger—then two—inside her cunt. Julia fucked his fingers as Angus continued eating her. Her arousal only increased when he growled, making her think of three words. Sexy. Hot. Inhuman.
She gasped, and a howl broke loose from her lips. Julia’s body began to shake as the orgasm formed in the pit of her stomach. She balled her hands into fists as liquid gushed from her pussy.
His eyes twinkled as he lapped at her cream and swirled his tongue around her clit before drawing the nubbin into his mouth. He sucked it, scraped his teeth against it, and sucked it again. Julia struggled against the silk ties as moans slipped past her lips. All she wanted to do was bury her fingers in his thick, red mane, holding him against her body until she baptized his face with her juices.
Angus moaned against her cunt, which sent a tingling sensation at her toes, a feeling that shot straight up her legs and to the center of her stomach. She screeched in pleasure as the sensation grew stronger. To intensify it, he slid a finger inside her and wiggled it. He repeated his actions several times until she broke beneath him. He added another. She trembled as he continued the skillful finger-play.
Julia sighed as she rocked against Angus’s fingers. “Stop teasing, Angus,” she demanded as she rocked harder against his fingers and lips. “Please!”
Angus withdrew his face from her pussy. She loved seeing her juices coating his face. Ignoring her plea, he added a third finger inside and pumped faster in and out of her.
“Angus!” Julia rolled her head back and forth as her body reacted. The maddening sensations were threatening to consume her. She’d never experienced anything as intense as she was experiencing now.
He bent down, catching her clit between his teeth as he continued stroking the powerful digits in and out of her.
The gripping orgasm claimed Julia, causing her body to convulse. She needed him, and needed him now! She opened her eyes, and his hungry gaze met hers. “Make love to me,” she urged. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from his.
With ease, he slid his fingers out of her and quickly removed the remainder of his clothing. Slowly, he slid his cock inside her. Julia wailed like a banshee as another orgasm shot through her body.
Angus caressed her breasts as he fucked her with slow, steady strokes. He pulled out and thrust himself deep inside her cunt. His fingers tweaked and tugged at her nipples as his pace quickened.
Julia’s body burned with each maddening stroke. Increasing his thrusts, Angus buried his hands in her hair. Heightened passion sizzled through her body as she heard herself growl. His hands slid to her neck, then to her breasts before finding her clit and stroking the flesh into submission. With a throaty growl he squeezed it, making her almost jump out of her skin.
“Angus
!” Her body and her reactions were out of control, and she shuddered beneath his. Her body felt like it would erupt, spiritually and mentally, as well as physically. His appearance wavered and changed right before her eyes. He looked like a mad animal. So sexy. So hot. This experience was better than the fantasy by a long shot.
“Mine!” Angus snarled. “So fucking sweet, so tight! I wanna fuck you all night long! Wanna suck the cream from your cunt and hear you moan, begging me for mercy—begging me to stop!” His nostrils flared with every word he spoke.
Julia whimpered before crying out. “Oh, dear God!” Her muscles tensed, then clamped down around his cock.
“Tell me how much you love my fucking cock buried deep inside your cunt!” His voice was harsh, and his body shook violently. Every muscle in his body rippled. “Show me—tell me you never want me to stop fucking you!”
“Unnhh!” she screamed, struggling against the silken ties as Angus thrust harder, deep inside her. Their bodies slapped together in unison as his dick hit her cervix, making her body vibrate.
“Oh, fuck! So fucking tight. So fucking wet. Hot!” Angus bit the side of Julia’s neck as he fucked her, until her head was hitting the arm of the sofa.
Julia’s cries echoed throughout her home, and it sounded like he was murdering her. With the rising orgasm and his brutal beast-fucking, she wished she could claw his back. She howled as the orgasm scorched through her body. This man or beast—her boss—she’d dreamed about for so long had just given her the best sex she’d ever had.
“Hrumpph!” The veins bulged in Angus’s neck as hot come squirted inside her pussy. She rode her orgasm until she collapsed on the sofa. “Julia!” His inhuman voice washed over her like molten lava as he collapsed on top of her.
“Oh, oh, my God,” she whispered, as a large surge of energy swept through her body. Every nerve ending tingled as her body shook when a strong euphoric feeling entered her.
“Angus,” she crooned as he untied her hands.
“Mine!” he growled, pulling her close to his body.
The declaration made her mad, knocking her off cloud nine. “What the hell do you mean, mine?” Julia challenged as she pushed him away. Dammit all to hell! Why did men always have to ruin a perfectly good moment?
“What’s with the caveman bullshit?”
“You belong with me.”
Julia placed distance between her boss and her own body while slipping into her robe. After tying the sash, she crossed her arms. “You need to leave—now.”
“I can’t do that,” Angus confessed after quickly getting dressed and edging closer to her. “I’ve come to claim you. Now you will accompany me to Pyreer.”
Julia flinched as his physical appearance wavered between human and something else.
“Claim? Pyreer? What the hell is a Pyreer? Right. Fix your lips to say claim one more time, and it will be the last thing you speak,” she threatened, hoping to scare him off. “Now, please be so kind as to get the hell out of my house.”
She wanted nothing more than to place distance between her and the madman who used to be her boss. That’s right. Used to be. Making a spur-of-the-moment decision, she swore on her life she’d never set foot in Draguun Inc. again. Thank God tomorrow was Friday and she had the weekend to salvage some of her sanity.
“I’m quitting, Angus. I’ll write a formal letter tomorrow. I’ll give you only one week’s notice.”
Angus’s face twisted in torment. “No, Julia. You don’t know what you’re saying. Please, if you’d only listen to reason. I . . . ”
In a fit of confusion and agitation, she held her hands on either side of her face and shook her head while massaging her temples. “Look, I need some time. I . . . can’t do this. Not sure what’s going on with you.” She looked at him and frowned even though images from the tapestry flitted through her mind. “Angus, I think you need some psychiatric help, or something.” She turned her back to him because at the moment she felt like she was the one in serious need of psychiatric treatment. “Please get out now.”
Angus’s jaw tightened in determination to stay and have her hear him out. “I’m not leaving you. Not like this.”
With a loud exhale, she spun around and looked him dead in the eye to get her point across. “Get out now, or I’m calling the police!” Julia had had enough and realized she needed space now more than ever. This matter was too complicated.
She watched as he threw his hands up in disgust before thundering toward the door. “Fine. But you’re making a mistake. I’m not giving up on you. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he growled.
“No. My mistake was sleeping with your crazy ass.” She followed him to the door, and as soon as he was over the threshold, she slammed the door shut and secured the deadbolt. After closing her eyes, she rested her back against the door and slid down to the floor.
Since when had her life become so complicated? Angus had never appeared to suffer from any mental problems while at the office. Now, he was so different. It figured. After sex, why did men have to change all of a sudden?
There was something she was definitely missing, she thought to herself as she began experiencing a burning, vibrating sensation on her left hip where her birthmark rested. She rubbed at the thing as the burning sensation heightened and became painful. “Shit!” Julia jumped up and ran into her room. She rushed over to the mirror and pulled up her nightgown.
There in the light, the small, dragon-shaped birthmark began to take on a life all its own.
“Oh, my God,” Julia whispered. “Granny, this can’t be.” She looked up to the heavens and called out. “If there was ever a time I needed your guidance, it’s now,” she spoke out loud as she recalled her fourteenth birthday and thought that perhaps there was some truth to what Angus had said.
* * * *
“Grandma, this itches!”
“Oh, child, you make such a fuss over the smallest things. Stop rushing me! I told you I’d be up after I got off the phone with your uncle!” the little, barrel-shaped woman insisted as she strode into Julia’s room with rubbing alcohol. “This will take away the itch,” the woman insisted while pouring alcohol on a cotton swab and dabbing it on the afflicted area.
“What is this?” Julia asked, pointing to her birthmark. “It seems to change every now and again.”
“You know that you’re a very special child, don’t you, Julia?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“It’s no secret that your momma was unfaithful to her boyfriend.” The woman looked on as the girl nodded in agreement. “The man your momma saw was no ordinary man but a dragon lord that has been around for many centuries.”
“How do you know this?”
“Oh, child. Your mother confided in me about so many things. I knew you were very special before your mother’s boyfriend left. I’m just so sorry she wasn’t strong enough to stick around and see the beautiful woman you’ve transformed into.”
“Me, too, Granny.”
“This birthmark will tell you one day when you’ve found the one who you’re meant to be with for the rest of your existence. It will vibrate and burn when he is near; that is, once you’ve coupled for the first time. If you pay close attention, you’ll know in your heart he’s the one.”
“I don’t want a mate. Not after seeing how Momma and Bruce were.”
“Oh no, baby. Don’t you ever think your relationship will turn out to be like theirs. You can and will find happiness. I know you will one day. I promise.”
“Well, what about my father? The dragon?”
“Baby, he was a good man, or so I was told. He treated your mother very well.” The elderly woman held her head down in regret. “She sent him away, asked him never to return. I couldn’t tell you where he is to this day because I just don’t know, baby.”
“I’d like to meet him one day.”
“I know, my feisty little dragon, but that’s impossible. Now, remember what I said.”
Julia chimed in. “I know,
never let anyone know my secret. I promise . . . ”
* * * *
Frozen, Julia continued staring in the mirror in astonishment at the dragon birthmark. She never paid attention when she and Angus crossed paths. She listened with her body, not her heart.
Hurt bubbled in her chest when she recalled the day her grandmother informed her of her mother’s passing. Julia thought it may have been of a broken heart. It had to have been.
Even though Angus’s behavior and words frightened her, the overwhelming feeling of loneliness loomed over her like a black cloud.
Realizing that she may have sent the one true love of her life away earlier caused Julia much regret as she sat down on the side of the bed. For the first time in her life, she realized just how lonely she really was.
Chapter Four
Angus arrived at work around seven o’ clock to try and take his mind off Julia. His senses were dulled from her rejection, so he hadn’t realized Bjorn was in the office.
“Hey, look what the cat dragged in,” Bjorn said with a chuckle as he stepped out of his office—until Angus turned and looked him in the eye.
“You okay, man?”
“I’m in no mood for jokes today. I feel like shit, so back off,” Angus muttered while unlocking his office door. He entered quickly. “No one else is here, right?”
Bjorn followed him, closing the door behind them. “No, I’m the only one.” He paused for a few moments to allow his old friend to speak his mind. “What’s happening?”
“I’m tired, old friend. For the first time in my existence, I don’t know what to do. Perhaps I should return to Pyreer by myself after I turn the company over to you.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’ll be a miserable bastard. Worse off than you are now.” He crossed his arms. “What about Julia?”
Angus smiled flatly and shrugged. “What about her?”
Claiming Julia Page 4
