by Cecilia Lane
He raised his arms to the front of his face at the last second. The shift rippled through him, turning arms to scaled wings. The full force of her flames hit him. His flesh burned under her, but he was to be the Dragon King. Some maddened subordinate would not beat him.
He ignored the pain in his wings when the flames subsided and launched his bulk into the air. Dark red scales the color of blood glinted in the air. Fear glazed over Alexa’s black, faceted eyes and she tried to pull herself away from him. She managed to turn and flee.
She didn’t get far. His wings swept downward with power fueled by threatened rage. She would have killed his mate, then him, and she threatened his parents. Attempted regicide wouldn’t endear her to any of his kind even if she managed to survive. He would ensure she didn’t.
His large jaws snapped at her tail, her wings, anything that came near. She dodged him with quick tips of her wings, spinning upward to spit fire at him or angling downward to avoid having a chunk taken out of her scaled hide. They danced in the dark clouds of the storm, hidden from any who would try watching them from below.
He spewed a jet of flame in her direction and she was slow with her dodge. The flames grazed over her wings and bubbled blisters under the scales. She was tiring. He just needed to push her more and then he could end their battle.
His own dragon protested when he beat his expansive wings down and shot straight into the air. It was thinner at that height, but he also had the advantage of diving down onto his enemy if she couldn’t dodge him. He found her easily; the black of her body streaked toward him. He tucked his wings and dove, a blast of flame leading his way.
The fire hit her before his body did. They tumbled through the air and toward the ground far below. She clawed at him and roared. He snapped at her and snarled. They needed to part ways or they both would crash to the ground. Even a dragon wouldn’t recover from such a fall.
His hind claws got a purchase in her belly and he dragged viciously downward. Her roar of anger turned to a scream of pain. Luca pushed her away and unfurled his wings, letting the air catch him and slow his fall. Weak beats kept him aloft, but Alexa continued to tumble below him.
His heart heavy, Luca used drafts of air to carry himself lower while using as little energy as possible. He was cut, bruised, and burned in countless places in his dragon form and knew he had similar injuries in his human form. Even with increased shifter durability, he would need time and energy to heal.
But he didn’t think he would ever heal from the necessity of killing one of his own. He circled Alexa’s broken body and made sure no life lingered on. She had gone mad and no one noticed. If they had, no one tried to stop her. She needed to be put down, but he didn’t feel good about it. The dragons of the world had lost two in as many months with her death.
Luca let his wings and the air currents carry him higher. He turned back toward the cave, Penelope, and the future. Their future, should she still have him. Dragons needed their mates to have children, and the recent deaths drove home that need. He wanted to replace the loss with happiness. But more than anything, he wanted to hold Penelope in his arms and soothe away all the pain she’d ever experienced.
Chapter Ten
Penelope wasn’t happy to experience her second flight with a dragon so soon. But Luca’s tired eyes tore any objections from her throat. He needed to be home where he could heal, not in some cave where he’d likely get an infection. Did shifters ever get infections?
Instead of hauling her off in his claws, Luca lowered himself to the ground. She hauled herself up his back and settled between the ridges of scales and spikes that ran down his spine. Heat pressed against her legs and she was reminded that dragons were fire made flesh.
Luca jerked forward and she flung herself over his neck. Her hands scrabbled to hang on to his spines as his wings moved away from his body and he jumped into the air.
Rain slashed across her eyes and soaked her in moments. The clouds hid the ground below, but she wasn’t sure if she would be better off seeing her potential demise or simply imagining how far she’d fall if she slipped from his back.
It wasn’t long before she noticed the dragon between her thighs dipping downward. Her hands again clutched at the ridges. She didn’t want to even chance a fall. She shut her eyes when the buildings appeared from between the clouds. The structures were too close; surely they would fly right into them.
Luca landed while her heart thudded in her chest. She threw herself off him as soon as he was on solid ground. It wouldn’t be kind to throw up on her ride if her stomach went as far as that in its betrayal.
Pale, but keeping everything down, she turned back to the dragon and found he’d shifted back into a man. A very tired, very naked man. She jerked her eyes back to his face.
“Luca, what happened?”
His smile didn’t reach his eyes and quickly faded. “She’s dead. Come, we’ll talk when we get below.”
So she followed him. He held the door open for her, then led the way down the dark staircase. He pulled open the door at the bottom. It was as finely decorated as the rest of his apartment, but held all the necessities for an office: a computer, a chair ready to sink into and roll toward the heavy desk, lamps to brightly or softly light the room. A picture frame on his desk caught her eye and she picked it up.
The two men looked alike, though not entirely similar. One was taller by a few inches; the other had more smile lines around his mouth. Their eyes and noses were the same. She traced the lips of one. She was quite familiar with how those lips felt on her skin. There was no possible way that the second man was anyone but Luca’s brother.
“She killed him. Your brother. Luca, I’m so sorry.”
She turned to find him right behind her. She pressed her face into his chest and wanted to sink into the warmth of his body. Tears spilled over her cheeks as sobs overtook her. It wasn’t fair of her. She tried to dash them away. Luca had lost his brother. She’d only been scratched. He should be the one receiving comfort, not her.
His strong hands held her to him as her body shook. He stroked her wet hair and held the small of her back. She felt safe in his embrace. Safe, and selfish. She bit her lip. She didn’t want to be the one to fall apart. She wanted to be strong for him.
His voice was heavy when he spoke. “Shh. It’s over now. Let’s get you out of these clothes and into something dry.”
Her cries under control, she followed him into his bathroom. He opened the glass door of a shower stall large enough for a football team and fiddled with the knobs until hot water started steaming the room. The bench lining one wall looked too tempting for her tired body. She wanted to sit and let the steam soak every sore from her body.
She didn’t protest when Luca started slowly stripping her and checking the wounds left by Alexa. “Penelope, sweet… I’m sorry this was done to you.”
She winced when his thumb grazed over the cut on her collarbone. It was truly the deepest one. All the others were scratches compared to it. She took his hand in hers and pressed her lips to his palm. “It’s fine.”
With sorrow in his eyes, Luca pulled his hand away. A pit grew in her stomach. It ate into her with acidic worry. She didn’t like to see Luca defeated. He acted as if he’d be sent to the executioner at any moment. She swallowed hard. She would tear down the walls he was erecting inside himself if it was the last thing she did.
He urged her into the shower and followed after, shutting the door behind him. Steam billowed up from their feet and into the air, swirling around them as the clouds of the storm on the flight home. Penelope soaked under the stream of water and washed away everything wrong from the day. She was with Luca and that was what mattered.
She reached for him and pulled him to stand under the water with her. He reluctantly stepped forward. His soaked curls were straight under the hot stream, but it was his eyes that held her. They were darkening and eating away at the white of his eyes. His dragon was watching just as much as his human side
. She didn’t pull away. Even after what she’d suffered at the hands of shifters, she wasn’t scared of Luca. How many people in her life would come running to defend and kill for her as he had? He was good and honest and wonderful. Hers, if he still wanted her.
She pushed at his chest and forced him against the wall of the shower. Standing on her tiptoes, she pressed her lips to his.
She was hungry for him. He was fire and life. So much had happened in one day, in one week. She’d been a sad, lost woman before Luca. Then he ignited her life. She’d been crushed emotionally, physically beaten down, and thought she would die. She needed the reminder of what life felt like under her palms and in her heart.
She opened her mouth and swiped her tongue against the seam of his lips. He groaned but opened for her anyway. She devoured him, sliding and stroking her tongue against him and tasting every part of him she could. He warmed her from within.
Disappointment roared through her when he pulled away from their kiss and shifted their positions. Luca rested his chin on her head and pulled her close to his chest. “You can’t tease me like that.”
Penelope pushed at his chest so she could look him in the eyes. “Tease you? Luca, I want this.”
He shook his head. “I won’t let you lie to yourself. I shouldn’t even be in here with you. You’re too great a temptation. You won’t be able to look at me in the morning.”
Truly confused and dreading his answer, she asked, “What do you mean?”
He pulled her to his chest again. His arms closed around her and he dug his hands into her wet hair. “I let you leave and she took you. I failed you.”
She pushed at him again, but he held tight. For someone who was trying to turn her away, he was holding on strong. She mumbled into his chest, “You’re not to blame.”
It was his turn to step back. “I am. You were injured because I didn’t see the threat. I let my ma—”
She took a deep breath when he cut off words and looked away. Mate, that’s what he was going to say. She knew there was significance to the word. The Fated Hearts Club advertised finding fated mates to their customers. The word held loyalty and love in it, even if she didn’t know the specifics. He’d called her his mate during their night together.
She put her palm against his cheek and brought his attention back down to her. “Luca, I want you. I want to be with you. Even if you’re some sort of dragon king and I don’t know everything that’s involved. I want to learn and I want to be with you.”
It was as if a dam broke inside him. His eyes filled with heat as they stroked down her body. He stepped closer to her again, but instead of the crushing embraces before, he held her with the surety of a confident lover. He pressed long, lingering kisses along her neck. “You would be my mate and rule at my side.”
“Consort?” That was the word Alexa had used. It sounded unfamiliar on her tongue, but she’d need to get used to it if she was to be one.
“A type of queen. Our term for it.”
“And mate. What does that entail?”
“You’ll live as long as any dragon. Hundreds of years.” He pulled back and took her chin between his fingers. “Truly think of it. You’ll see all your human friends die while you barely age. It’s not an easy thing to do.”
She chewed on her lip and considered everyone she knew. Vera was her closest friend. She didn’t care for her family very much, but they were still her family. All her coworkers and acquaintances. She studied him from under her eyelashes. “You’ve done it? How old are you?”
“One hundred and three. I’ve seen many friends pass, yes. It doesn’t get any easier.”
“But you’d be there with me, through it all.”
“Yes. Never leaving your side.” He squeezed her hips to emphasize his point. His lips found her neck again and he dotted her skin with light kisses.
“Is that all? I won’t become a dragon?”
“So brave,” he murmured into her shoulder. His hot breath tickled against her skin and her eyes fluttered closed.
“I haven’t agreed yet,” she said, but she knew she had.
He nodded. “You won’t become a full dragon, no. But you’ll become dragon hearted. Part dragon. Age like us, like I said. In times of danger, your skin will become scales like dragonhide. Not much can penetrate dragon scales.”
She snapped open her eyes and glared at him. “That would have been damn useful today!”
“I didn’t think you would be in danger simply from my desire to be with you. I’m sorry. Truly. There’s nothing I can say that would undo what’s been done here, but I regret everything.” He swallowed hard, and she could feel the distance growing between them again.
“Luca, don’t blame yourself. She was insane.”
“I should have seen what lengths she was willing to go for power.” He spat through gritted teeth. His hands tightened and the veins stood out in long lines of tension.
She was quiet. She didn’t want him to check out again or try to push her away. She stood on her tiptoes again and planted a slow line of kisses along his jaw. She distracted him from his dark thoughts with roaming hands over his chest. Slowly his breathing returned to normal and fists unclenched. He was back with her in that moment, not reliving the previous horror.
She held his hand to her heart. “This is what you want? To...mate me?”
“Yes.” Heat flooded his eyes. “I wanted it from the moment I met you. I didn’t want to rush you.”
“I want to be your mate,” she told him softly. A blush rose on her cheeks, though she was sure the heat of the steam and water hid it. Would he still reject her and tell her she didn’t know what she was saying? She didn’t think she could stand the humiliation or disappointment.
His hand slid lower and cupped her breast, his thumb grazing her nipple to a hard peak. His other hand ghosted over the wound along her collarbone. “I would put my mark here, and cover over what she did to you.”
Penelope nodded, a smile lifting her lips. “Do it...my mate.”
***
Those were the words Luca craved to hear. My mate. She would belong to him.
His cock jumped to life as her words faded into the air. From limp to stiff as a post, he was ready for her. The witch had an undeniable power over him.
He slanted his mouth over hers and snared her lips. Slipping his tongue into her, he lapped at all her delicious flavors. Spicy cinnamon swirled on his taste buds and zinged awake all his nerves.
She was his. There was no doubt. She’d agreed to become his mate and carry his mark. Despite all that had happened, his failure to protect her, she wanted to be with him. It was more than he hoped when he caught her sweetly spiced scent in the club.
It made his cock pulse. He wanted to be deep inside her and slide his fangs into her skin. His.
He pulled her down to the bench with him. Her thick thighs straddled his lap and his hands slid up her milky skin to hold her hips. His cock was ready, but he wouldn’t force himself on his mate. He wanted her to enjoy herself as much as he did.
His lips didn’t leave hers. He drank from her and savored her. Penelope whimpered against him and the heat of her pussy burned against him. Her sweet musky scent drifted up to his nose, teasing and tormenting him until he thought he could take it no more.
His beast roared within him, growling and urging him to take her then and there. It was hard to resist when she ground her hips into him. Her moist heat pressed against him, begging him to sink deep inside her.
“Luca, please,” Penelope panted.
Who was he to deny a begging woman?
His hands at her waist, he lifted her. She reached between them and stroked his cock. “Need you.”
“Take what you need, sweet mate.” His breath caught when she fit the head of his cock to her slick pussy. She rocked against him, coating him with her cream. He groaned. When he opened his eyes, he found her grinning at him.
“Little minx,” he growled. He shifted and reached between the
m, closing his hand around hers. He squeezed just below his head and relished the extra bit of pressure. His other hand pulled at her waist roughly and he watched the first inch of himself disappear inside her.
“God, Luca.” Penelope moaned, all teasing tossed aside.
He grit his teeth and let her settle against him. His dragon snarled and rode his control. He wanted to pull her down, feel her surround him, but he wouldn’t cause his mate any pain. Not yet.
Inch by slow inch, she slid down his cock. He twitched inside her and murmured his lips against the skin of her neck and shoulder. His breath came in short pants. He wanted to flex his hips so badly.
His hands slid up her thighs, just wanting to touch something more of her. Her creamy skin was smooth under his palms, closer to silk than anything he’d ever felt.
Penelope brought her lips to his again just as she rose in his lap. Her sweet lips rasped against his cock and a growl leaked out of his chest.
His hands moved around to cup her glorious ass. He squeezed and kneaded at her flesh, mind invaded by the dark thoughts of when he could explore that forbidden part of her. She belonged to him and he would claim every inch of her before long.
Her every pant urged him closer to the edge. His balls thrummed and throbbed with the need to fill her pussy with his cum. His.
His gums ached as his teeth changed into sharp fangs. His dragon wanted to roar with triumph. She was his, finally. Soon to be marked and mated. They’d already proved what lengths they would go to protect her. Let another try to harm Penelope and see their bloody fate.
Her pussy spasmed around him and he groaned. Her inner muscles pulled and stroked him to perfection. Heat slithered down his spine and settled in his balls, drawn tight against his body. If she didn’t start to move...
He swore when she reversed her course and sank down him again.
He couldn’t wait to mark her. He couldn’t wait to make her come and push his fangs into her skin. The taste of her blood would hit his tongue and be the most delicious taste in the world, next to her cream. He wanted to lap at her for days.
