A Dragon Revealed

by Dahlia Rose

  “I’m with you, my dragoness, my mate,” Mursi answered.

  Michelle’s pussy throbbed around his cock, pulling him deeper with her muscles. She lost her breath as the heat wave of her orgasm consumed her. Mursi threw his head back and roared following her into his own release. She felt his seed fill her, completing her and her dragon accepted it eagerly. He didn’t stop moving until he sent them both over the edge a second time. The aftermath of their loving was slick, hot bodies lying pliant in an entangled mass of arms and legs. She smiled as he nibbled at the soft skin of her nape and then moved to kissing her shoulders. It was very pleasant, she amended the thought to wonderful, being stroked in the aftermath of mind-blowing sex by her mate.

  “What do we do now?” Michelle yawned and stretched. She felt delicious after the things he had done to her body.

  “Sleep.” He chuckled softly.

  “I’m all for that, but my bed is very small you’ll have to snuggle close,” Michelle purred.

  “I can manage that,” Mursi said. “Larissa said I ran hot so we never lay close.”

  “And the mood has just swirled down the toilet…. go home.” Michelle rolled away.

  “Wait, what?” he said in confusion.

  She stood with her hands planted on her hips and glared at him before yelling, “Really? For future reference, no woman wants to have sex with a man she calls her mate and have him mention a previous love and their sleeping style in bed!”

  “I meant no offense.” Mursi sat up, combing his hand through his hair.

  The blanket dropped off his upper body and exposed his toned chest. Michelle almost forgot she was mad to climb into bed and take him for another ride. But her heart was involved and right now he’d bruised it. She was whom he was supposed to be thinking about.

  “Let me explain something to you. We just had an amazing experience, correct?”

  He nodded. “Yes of course.”

  “Now put yourself in my shoes. If I started talking about an old boyfriend or maybe Bior right after, what would you do?” Michelle demanded.

  “I’d kill the old boyfriend and fight with Bior,” he answered automatically.

  “Well, I can’t kill Larissa and I can’t fight a battle for your heart with a ghost,” she said softly. Her anger deflated and she sighed, feeling tears threaten. “Go home to the house in the Keys, Mursi.”

  “I wish I could say the words you need to hear,” he said gently. “I need time, Michelle. But being with you makes me feel more alive that I have in a very long time.”

  She smiled and felt a tear run down her cheek. “I think I know how my mother felt when she left, to love and not be on the receiving end of that love.”

  “Michelle.” He said her name with a plea in his voice.

  “I’m going to the bathroom, please be gone when I come out.”

  She turned and went inside. Closing the lid of the toilet she sat and let the tears fall. She heard him get up from the bed and move toward the door, heard it open and close. He was gone and a sob caused her breath to hitch. She’d gone and fallen in love with the most stubborn dragon she’d ever met. One who found comfort in her body but couldn’t treasure her heart. Her mother had the option to run and she couldn’t, she didn’t want to, because there was too much at stake.

  * * * *

  Mursi landed on the beach at the house in the Florida Keys. With Hawke’s diligence with their finances and the riches of Paladin they had bought a small island. A palatial mansion sat in the center and gleamed white as the moon shined on its white-washed walls. The rain lessened to a slow drizzle and Mursi barely noticed it while he took the path from the beach to the house. I’ve made a mess of it, he thought miserably. He stepped inside, his wet feet covered in sand, and he left tracks across the Spanish tiles in the foyer. Bior stepped out from the family room wearing jeans and a crisp white shirt with the sleeves folded up to the elbow and arched an eyebrow in his direction.

  “I didn’t expect you here tonight. While Michelle’s bed has to be small in that place she calls a house, I expected you to stay there tonight,” Bior said mildly.

  “Maybe I didn’t see her,” Mursi snapped.

  “Oh please,” Bior rolled his eyes. “I could smell your mating and her scent from the time you hit the beach in the rain.”

  “I can’t with you right now, Bior,” Mursi said tiredly.

  “Contrary to what you believe, Mursi, I am not your enemy and have always been on your side,” Bior said.

  “Yes, that’s why you went after Michelle so vigorously,” Mursi pointed out.

  Bior laughed. “If I had she’d be mine. No, I was gently nudging you in the direction you needed to be.”

  “Your gentle nudge was akin to being gored by a bull,” Mursi pointed out. “In any case I’ve managed to muck it up nicely once again.”

  “How about you go shower and find some clothes instead of standing there naked, sandy, and looking just… pitiful. I’ll find us a meal and commiserate with you,” Bior suggested.

  “Yes, thank you, I’ll do that,” Mursi said.

  “By the way, what did you say to cause her to kick you from her bed?” Bior called out as Mursi moved up the stairs.

  “I told her I look forward to lying close with her because I ran hot and Larissa didn’t like to be so close in our bed at night,” he answered.

  Bior laughed out loud. “Oh yes, royally fucked that up.”

  Mursi sighed and said under his breath, “You’re telling me.”

  He hoped to find some clarity under the hot spray of the shower and maybe a solution to the problem he had created. But at the end of it and as he dressed, he found no solution. Was he too stubborn or did he still crave his past life? That was an unequivocal no, because while he denied it, he began dreaming of Michelle, and his dragon clung to her and mentally voiced its contentment at the choice. There would always be a special place in his heart for Larissa. Their love had grown from childhood. But a new, poignant love grew for Michelle, it was undeniable and yet he still couldn’t say the words. What the hell is the matter with me? he groused to himself. The delicious smell of something frying in the kitchen propelled him forward. For the first time in a long time he was hungry as a bear.

  “I hope you made a lot. I’m starving,” Mursi said as he walked into the kitchen.

  “You’ll eat what you get, just because you had a night in the arms of a woman doesn’t mean I’m now your cook,” Bior said.

  “I’m not making that suggestion at all,” Mursi said. “My apologies if it came across that way.”

  Bior looked at Mursi with his mouth agape. “I know, I was teasing. I’m not quite accustomed to your being nice again, I wonder if you’re going to go back into bastard mode at any second.”

  “I’m done with that. I couldn’t stand myself, let alone the anger eating away at me.” Mursi stood and went around to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. It wouldn’t keep him awake because the dragon inside burned fuel quickly. “Trying to be angry all the time and not smiling is hard work.”

  “It seems some ‘good lovin’ as Kalv would say has improved your demeanor,” Bior commented as he slid a plate in front of him.

  Mursi looked at the breakfast foods and his mouth watered. A veggie omelet, sausage, bacon, and hash-browns. Bior played up on the fact that everyone knew his love of breakfast foods and meats, and Mursi was grateful. He felt more like his old self.

  He took the first few bites of his food eagerly before speaking. “It’s Michelle, and I mean...” He took a moment to center his thoughts. “The kids in Paladin came running up to me a few days ago. I sat there for hours, playing with them, watching them chase each other in those games they played, and it’s like something lifted off me. I still hurt, but it’s not the same as when she first died.”

  “It’s called healing,” Bior said. ‘We’ve all felt lost and your dragon has found the balm to soothe that missing place we all feel. Yours is Michelle and your whole heart kn
ows your mind is still playing catch-up.”

  Mursi pointed his fork at Bior. “That is a good way of putting it, thanks.”

  “I’m a man of sage wisdom,” Bior pointed out.

  “Uh-huh, let’s not go that far,” Mursi muttered.

  There was the sound of the front door opening and then a loud slam. Mursi shared a wary look with Bior. They were the only dragons staying in the house and they weren’t expecting any guests. It certainly wasn’t the Shen. They didn’t walk through the front door, they were more inclined to break things to get in. They both moved through the kitchen to the foyer. Michelle stood there, dripping wet and looking none too happy.

  “Where are you sleeping?” she asked Mursi.

  “I hadn’t decided on a room yet,” Mursi said slowly. “You weren’t too pleased with me when I left, can I ask why you came?”

  “Because apparently my dragon won’t rest unless she is resting beside her mate, she’s been growling at me and literally keening in my damn head.” She walked toward him and poked him hard in the chest. He winced as she punctuated each of her words with the painful action. “I followed some dumb invisible connection we have right to you. Don’t think I’m not still upset at you. I’m going upstairs and getting a hot shower and picking a room. You’ll be following me soon and we’re going to sleep together. Oh, bring me some of whatever you guys were eating, I’m starving. And some fruit.”

  “Okay, I can do that.” Mursi nodded.

  He felt like grinning like a fool but wisely curbed that action. Michelle didn’t look like she would take well to that reaction right now. His dragon was emitting low growls of delight that almost sounded like purring. He hadn’t felt this complete in a long time and it gave him a new sense of peace.

  She flicked a look at Bior. “Hey.”

  He inclined his head. “Hello Michelle.”

  “Make sure he doesn’t forget the fruit,” she called as she walked away.

  “It appears the problem has remedied itself,” Bior said as they walked back into the kitchen. “She is a bit demanding though, thank the gods she is not my mate.”

  Mursi grinned and began to prepare a tray with Michelle’s food. “Yes, she’s mine.”

  “Glad you’ve finally accepted that,” Bior said and placed a bowl of fruit close by for him to pick up. “Now go be with her and I shall see you both tomorrow.”

  “Thank you, Bior, I mean that,” Mursi said humbly. He meant it and knew he had a lot of apologies to make for all the times he inflicted misery on the rest of his warrior brethren.

  Bior clapped him on the shoulder. “This is the Mursi we all know and love. Goodnight.”

  He finished the preparation of food for his mate and went upstairs. He found her in one of the massive bedrooms under the covers, naked and patiently waiting.

  “Put the food down and come here,” she ordered gently.

  Mursi put the tray on the table, went to her and joined her in bed. She pulled him close and wrapped her arms around him, sighing as she did. They needed no words to convey what they were feeling. His dragon was instantly at peace, so he knew hers was as well. They made love and it started slowly but built to a frenzy until he took her with savage delight and she accepted each hard thrust, begging for more. They climbed to the heights of passion, falling off the precipice into an orgasm together.

  She shared her meal with him, feeding him bites of fruit or breakfast sausage while they lay in bed. With all aspects of their hunger sated, Mursi pulled her into his arms and she snuggled close. Unable to voice what he was feeling he laced his fingers with hers, hoping that would tell her exactly what was in his heart at that very moment. She squeezed his hand and murmured something he couldn’t understand, sleepily. He closed his eyes and was asleep almost instantly. There were no dreams, only darkness, but it was peaceful. It was as if his dragon knew who he held in his arms and was content. Both sides of his nature, the man and the beast, felt completion and he knew it was only Michelle that could bring him such satisfaction.

  Chapter Seven

  Michelle felt the grips of her heat more frequently over the next few days. She watched the calendar each day hoping it was the final one where she felt like she was immersed in lava and wanting to have sex like there was no tomorrow. The healer on Paladin said her heat could last three weeks to a month, especially a first cycle. She wanted it over because it was affecting everything. She patrolled with Mursi every night while Kiara rode on the back of Bior, much to her friend’s delight. But after every patrol or fight with any Shen they found scurrying through the night, she wanted to go home and take Mursi into her body and ride him to completion. He was more than willing but it felt like their new relationship was only based on sex. She knew what she felt but he still never said the words. They were mated, mind, body, and soul connected. If she wanted to find him all she had to do was close her eyes and follow the connection they shared back to him. But yet he never said he loved her.

  The next concern was the silence from the Shen. She had her human team follow them to Florida, and now it was as if the Shen had gone underground and into hiding. They saw a few looking for food or new female prey but for the amount they estimated the numbers were off. Either they moved quickly without detection to a new location, or something was coming that they didn’t know about. The few they managed to capture and interrogate said nothing. Everything was so frustrating that Michelle wanted to scream.

  “There’s nothing else we can do tonight,” Mursi said, tossing the body of the Shen he had just broken in half aside.

  She’d actually felt a jolt of arousal when he did that, the bones snapping under his massive grasp and at that moment covered in Shen slime. Mursi was definitely hot… Dear god let this end! Michelle thought. She wanted to feel normal again, without wanting to drop her panties in the middle of a damn fight.

  “You’re looking at me very oddly,” he murmured.

  “It’s this damn cycle I’m on, when does it end!” Michelle threw her hands up in the air and gave him a helpless look. “We both stink to high heaven and are covered in Shen blood and all I’m thinking is how you took me from behind and how hard I came.”

  “I’m up for doing that again and again.” His voice was a sexy rumble. “Thanks for reminding me, that’s number one on my list tonight.”

  Her lips twitched in amusement. “You’re not helping the situation by being cute.”

  Mursi stepped closer. “Honey, this cycle has to run its course and then you’ll go back to your old self, but I’m more than happy to take the journey with you into our forays of pleasure.”

  “Is that all we are, forays into pleasure and bed buddies so our dragons are sated?” Michelle turned away, hoping to hold back tears. She’d hoped being mated would bring her more happiness instead of only sexual gratification.

  “You know that’s not true,” he said, rubbing some dirt from her cheek. His hands were filthy so she knew he didn’t help. “You’re my mate and I am yours.”

  “Yet you can’t say the words I love you,” she pointed out.

  ‘You haven’t said them either,” Mursi said.

  “Because I don’t want to put you on the spot, because I don’t want to be stupidly in love with a man who can’t love me back,” Michelle retorted.

  “I need time Michelle,” Mursi said. “We’re doing good just the way we are right now, can that not be enough?”

  “That’s a complacent route and a line human men tell their women to keep them submissive,” Michelle said angrily.

  “I don’t feel that way and you know it,” he answered.

  “Do I Mursi, do I?” Michelle said. “Be careful. By the time you decide to love me it may be too late. My dragon may miss you but I’ll surely walk away.”

  She turned her back on him and walked back to the SUV they took into the city to search for the Shen cell Mike and two of her people had found. She got in on the driver’s side and waited patiently for him to get in on the passenger side.
She silently held out her hand for the keys and he dropped them into her palm. She drove away, and they were quiet the entire way back to the dragon house. She walked inside and heard Kiara and Bior in the kitchen and poked her head inside the door.

  “Hey, we’re back,” she said.

  Kiara looked up and smiled. “I’m making chili and yes, corn bread. How was the hunt?”

  Michelle frowned. “Found that small cell Mike tracked, but again it’s too small for the number we saw moving when he came to Florida. Something is up.”

  “I’ll leave word for Hawke and the others abut the developments, we’ll have reinforcements on standby if necessary,” Bior said. “Where is Mursi?”

  “Out soaking his head for all I care,” Michelle snapped and then sighed. “I’m heading upstairs to shower and stuff. Thanks for the chili, Kiara, I’ll grab some later.”

  She let the door close and heard Bior say, “Trouble in Paradise once more.” It wasn’t paradise if she was unhappy just as much as she was elated. It wasn’t paradise if she didn’t know where she stood. It wasn’t paradise if she couldn’t tell if he loved her or still mourned secretly for his lost wife. No, she was living in uncertainty and it was hell. Upstairs she went into the large shower stall and stripped off her dirty clothes. She began to wash the grime of their fight from her skin. There was no door to close in the large area built into sunken marble floors. It wasn’t necessary, it was built so water wouldn’t leak out and flood the entire bathroom. When he stepped in and took the soap from her and began to wash her back, she wasn’t surprised and didn’t fight him. God knew she was tired of fighting.

  She leaned her forehead against his chest. “Why do you make it so hard?”

  “I do not mean to,” Mursi said. “I’m not torn in my feelings for you, they are there. My… my fear is loss. To love again and lose would surely break this dragon soul of mine.”