Fire In His Kiss: A Post-Apocalyptic Dragon Romance (Fireblood Dragon Book 2)

by Ruby Dixon

  That’s okay, I tell him quickly as he swoops toward Claudia’s apartment for a landing. The fact that you remembered at all is incredible! You recall a lot more than Kael does, you know. I can’t help the pride that filters through my thoughts.

  Dakh is amused at my pride. There is nothing to be proud of, my mate. If he remembers less, he was probably more affected by the madness. It has eaten away too much of his mind.

  That’s terrible to think about. I feel a little guilty as we land and Claudia slides off Kael’s back, giving his nose a caress before looking over at me expectantly. I get down from Dakh’s back, albeit a lot less gracefully than Claudia does, and pull my goggles off.

  “What did you think?” Claudia asks. “Does anything need to be adjusted?”

  “It was great,” I tell her enthusiastically. “Much better than flying in his claws.”

  “So everything worked?” Claudia moves to the saddle, and she checks my cords again, and we talk about possible improvements and what gear I’ll need in the future. I’m only half paying attention to the conversation, though.

  I keep thinking about Dakh and his lost brother, and how much he’s lost overall. His home is gone, along with his friends, his family, and good chunks of his mind. It makes me feel guilty for even thinking humans were the only victims.

  Guess the flight did more than change just one perspective.

  37

  DAKH

  The day wears on, and as it does, I sense my mate beginning to droop. Her thoughts grow pleasantly fuzzy as they do when she is sleepy, and though she makes no attempt to get up and leave, I know she is exhausted. The other females chatter at her, and she listens to them talk, her smile constant. When they sit down to eat a meal, I nuzzle my mate’s hair. Finish your meal, I tell her, and then we will return to our home. You are tired.

  Oh, I hate to leave. I feel like I’ve been away for so long. She spoils her thoughts with a yawn and then a sleepy grimace. Okay, maybe I’m a little tired. And I need to see if Emma left a note. To the others, she says, “We should probably go soon.”

  They make sounds of protest, but Kael noses his own mate’s hair, and I can feel the current of his thoughts even if I cannot hear them. He is likely telling his mate the same, that she is tired and needs her rest.

  It has been a good afternoon. We hunted for the females and spent most of the day roosting in the sunlight, idly conversing as our mates caught up. Kael is content with his human mate, even if most of his thoughts of the past are gone. I cannot be unhappy, he tells me. I do not like this place, but I like what it houses—my mate.

  And I feel the same way. My Sasha has been trying to learn about our past. I cannot tell her much.

  I can probably tell her less, Kael agrees. Sometimes I think it is for the best. Perhaps we are meant to leave it behind and forge new lives here.

  Perhaps. But I am not entirely convinced.

  The females say goodbye, and the fire-haired one pulls my Sasha aside one more time. She asks her if she is truly happy.

  “Of course,” Sasha tells her, a curious note in her thoughts. “That’s the second time you’ve asked that today.”

  Through the mind-link with my mate, I can tell that Kael’s mate replies that she just wants to be sure.

  “I’m positive.” Sasha smiles at her and gives her another hug. “And we’ll see each other again very soon. I promise.”

  The females hug one last time, and then my mate sleepily straps herself into her contraption on my back. She double-checks everything before we take off, and I lift into the air as gently as I can. The skies are streaked with the pink and orange of sunset, the air filled with a hundred different scents. I can pick out the terrible, pungent smell of Kael’s mate’s sister, who is wearing the scent-disguiser perfume. And I can pick out the scent of another dragon nearby, though the smell is distant and grows more so with every moment that passes. He is uninterested in myself or my mate, and touching my mind to his reveals nothing but ravens.

  Did you think that was odd? my Sasha asks sleepily as we fly home. Her thoughts are of Kael’s mate—Claudia—and her questions. She kept asking if I was happy. It was almost as if she didn’t like—or expect—the answer she got.

  Mm. Perhaps she just worried over you.

  I guess. It just seems strange to me.

  She is pregnant. Those females are always strange.

  Laughter tinges her sleepy thoughts. I think you’re right about that. Maybe I’m making too much of things.

  I send her comforting thoughts. But you enjoyed yourself today?

  Oh yes. Her thoughts are filled with happiness. And this saddle is nice, too. And handlebars! She thought of everything.

  I am glad you like it. And I meant what I said—anywhere you wish to go, we will go there.

  I know, babe. Her thoughts are pleasant and dreamy. Right now I’m just happy to be where we are.

  By the time we make it home, I can feel the exhaustion pressing on her thoughts. It has been a long, emotional day for my Sasha, and she needs to rest. I wait, trying to hide my impatience as she fumbles with the straps on my back.

  “Sorry,” she whispers over the buzz of nighttime insects. “It’s dark and I can’t see so well.”

  I wish I could help, I tell her. Do you want me to flame something so you can see?

  “Nope, I’m good.” She tugs at the straps a bit more, and then everything is loose. “There we go.” She slides gently off my back, landing with a little hop onto the hard pavement. “Ooh, my legs always feel like mush when I get off of you, no matter how I ride.”

  I immediately shift to my two-legged form. The saddle and its straps fall to a heap at my feet, and I kick them aside.

  “Oh,” Sasha says, fatigue making her voice soft. She points at the mess on the ground. “We should pick that up and sort everything, make sure the straps aren’t knotted—”

  Later, I tell her, and put a hand behind her knees, pulling her into my arms. You are tired. For now, you will go off to bed. I will retrieve your saddle once you are under your blankets and comfortable.

  She rests her head on my shoulder. “Mmm. All right. I like how warm you are.” She buries her face against my skin. “So yummy.” Her tired thoughts drift absently between a few things, landing on nothing. “Check for a letter from Emma, will you?”

  I shall, I promise her. I enter the nest—the place Sasha calls a “store”—and flare my nostrils, looking for new scents. There are none but our own. Not even that of her Emma. No one has been by this day to visit, not even a stray bird. I carry my mate through the dark building and find her comfortable little nook she has made herself. I kick the covers back with one foot and then gently lay my mate down amongst the pillows and blankets. Rest.

  She reaches for me even as I straighten. “Don’t go, babe. Stay with me.” The smile she sends up to me is sleepy but full of promise.

  I will retrieve your saddle first, I promise her. And then… I send her a flurry of images.

  Her toes curl, and she gives a happy little sigh. And then you’re going to come back and lick me all over. You naughty, naughty thing. She pulls a pillow close and hugs it against her. Don’t take too long. I don’t want to fall asleep before I get to have sex with my dragon.

  I will wake you, I tell her fervently. I want to climb into the blankets with her, to push her sweet thighs apart and sink my cock into her warmth, but her saddle must be seen to. I do not want it to be ruined by weather—or curious creatures. Her safety is the most important thing. So I jog as quickly as I can back outside to where I dumped the gear and bring it in. I pass by the place where she leaves notes for Emma, but there is no fresh scent, so there is no need to check.

  I dump the saddle into one of the shopping carts that are scattered near the front and then head back to my mate’s side. She is already drifting into sleep, her thoughts distant and peaceful. I should let her sleep, I decide. She is tired. I can mate with her tomorrow morning, when she is rested. My c
ock aches at the thought, but it will subside soon enough. I climb into bed next to her and tuck her against my chest, like I always do.

  Her arms go around me, and she gives a happy little sigh. Her eyes stay closed. “My Dakh.”

  Sleep, I tell her.

  She rubs her face against my chest, and her lips graze my nipple. “Mmmm.” Her hand slides lower, and she finds my erect cock and strokes it. “Someone’s not entirely sleepy.”

  Pleasure bursts through my body, and it takes everything I have to pull her hand away. I am not tired, but you are. Sleep, my Sasha. I will claim you fiercely in the morning. You are fatigued.

  Not that bad. Her thoughts are already spinning toward arousal, and when she reaches for my cock again, this time I do not push her hand away. I let her stroke my hard length, loving the way her soft hand caresses me. I ache for my mate’s touch, and when she reaches for me, it always feels like a gift. Her mouth presses to my skin, offering little kisses to my chest as her fingers curl around my cock and she strokes me.

  I groan at the sensation and reach for one of her full breasts. Since becoming my mate, my Sasha’s curves have filled out and her small breasts have grown larger. I love her at any size, but her full breasts with their dark nipples are fascinating to me, and I roll the tip of one between my claws, careful not to damage her fragile skin.

  She moans, her head tilting back. “God, you have the most amazing hands for a dragon. Man. Dragon-man. Whatever.”

  A rumble of laughter rises in my chest. Her thoughts are still vague with sleepiness and are now being overridden with lust. I like that she loses herself to my touch so quickly. Even now, the scent of her arousal is filling the air. You like all of me, I tell her. Not just my hands. I push her back onto the blankets and lower my mouth to her throat. You like my lips and my tongue. I slide a hand between her thighs, seeking her wet cunt. You like my fingers.

  “God, I love your fingers,” she whispers, spreading her legs wider to receive me. She moans when I stroke a finger through her folds, dragging her wetness up and down, slicking her sensitive skin. Her thoughts grow excited when I carefully rub one finger in a circle around the nub of her clit, and then her fingernails are digging into my shoulders. “Dakh!” she cries out. “So unfair. I wanted to touch you.”

  And you did. I claim her mouth with my own, nuzzling her before plunging my tongue into her mouth and taking her with a sweeping stroke. And now I am touching you.

  She makes a soft little whimpering sound as I rub her clit with even, slow strokes. I know just how she likes to be touched now and what will give her pleasure the fastest. She bites at my lower lip, frantic, when I do not speed up. The endless, slow drag of my finger against her clit makes her writhe, arch, and then she comes a short moment later, with a frantic cry and a burst of wetness against my hand.

  I growl low in my throat, enjoying the pleasure that radiates from her mind. I push her thighs apart and slide my bigger body between her legs, fitting my cock at her entrance. My mate. Mine to claim. My Sasha.

  She’s slick with need, and I rub the head of my cock in her juices, wetting it so I can glide into her with ease. She moans and writhes as I draw it over her folds, back and forth. I want to sink into her, to claim her…but the sounds she is making are so sweet that I cannot help but drag out the pleasure a little longer. Do you want me inside you, my sweet fire?

  “Dakh. Please. Now.” She reaches for me.

  I capture her hands in mine, pinning her. It only makes her more aroused, and she begins to pant, her eyes heavy with desire. I keep her hands locked above her head as I slowly push my cock into her cunt. Her little moan of pleasure makes my body tighten, and I bite back the snarl that threatens to erupt.

  My mate. Mine to claim. Mine to take.

  Once I am seated deep inside her, I lean down and claim her mouth with another hard kiss. She meets it eagerly, squirming under me, and I thrust into her. She is tight, her fierce heat gripping my cock in a delicious grip. Over and over, I pump into her, my strokes growing more demanding with every little cry she makes.

  By the time she is crying out my name, I am near to losing control. I manage to keep it for a short time longer, though, focused entirely on her and her pleasure. I like that I can make her come again just by pushing her to her limits. I send her intense thoughts, of all the things I want to do to her, all the ways I want to taste her, all the places I want to put my mouth, and she comes with a low cry, her body arching underneath me.

  It is enough. Even as her cunt clenches tight around my cock, I find my release. As I pour my seed into her, I press my forehead against hers, my claws tangled in her hair.

  Seeing Kael and his mate today made me realize that while I have my Sasha, I still crave one more thing to have total contentment: I want her body rounded with my child.

  I want her to carry my young.

  I want a family.

  If that means I will take my mate hard and often, it is a task I will gladly perform.

  My Sasha is too sleepy to pick up on these thoughts, though. She gives a happy little sigh, and her eyes drift closed, tired. I slowly pull out of her and tuck her body against mine. After a moment’s thought, I push her legs together and slide a knuckle over the seam of her cunt, where she is wet with my seed.

  And I push the wetness back into her. I want her to take all of me. To be claimed by all that I am.

  Mine.

  38

  SASHA

  Over the next week, Dakh and I visit Claudia, Amy, and Kael three more times. Each time I go, I bring a bag full of presents for Claudia and Amy. They’re my friends, and I have a wealth of things, of course, but more than that, they’ve been kind. Claudia’s given me her spare saddle and spent countless hours teaching me how to rig the saddle and how to sit so I don’t get jerked around nearly as much. She’s been a great mentor.

  I wish I could shake the sense that something’s…not right.

  Everything is fine between me and Dakh. We’ve never been better. We make love all the time, I’m getting better at riding on his back, and I’ve never been so happy.

  It’s something about my reunion with Claudia that bugs me. There’s a weird undercurrent that I can’t put my finger on. It’s like she’s…waiting for something. It’s strange, and I can’t figure it out, and the longer it goes on, the more it unnerves me. Sometimes I tell myself it’s my imagination, that I’m mistaking mental conversations she has with Kael for something else.

  But the thought sticks with me and won’t go away.

  I pack a few pretty scarves and a pair of pajamas into a backpack for Amy. For Claudia, I found a copy of What to Expect When You’re Expecting. It’s not the drakoni version, of course, but it might ease some of her worries. They go into the bag, along with jars of my precious peanut butter and some pickles.

  Ready to go? Dakh asks, striding past me with the saddle gear slung over one shoulder.

  I watch him as he saunters away, his tight bronzed ass flexing. Mercy. He’s determined to distract the hell out of me, I think. You just walked past like that on purpose, didn’t you? I tell him, zipping the backpack shut.

  He just grins at me over his shoulder, his expression playful and oh so human. I know you enjoy watching my ass flex.

  I snort. I may or may not have bitten it last night in bed. Big deal.

  Oh, you did. You definitely did.

  No need to throw it in a girl’s face, I tease back. Or I might never bite it again.

  I rescind all that I said.

  I shake my head, chuckling to myself as I trot out the double doors after him. Out of habit, I check our “mailbox” for a note from Emma. The envelope was replaced a few days ago by a waterproof Tupperware container with a rock at the bottom, and I can leave items for Emma even if I’m not home.

  Today, just like every other day this last week, there’s no message. My last two are sitting at the bottom of the box, and I frown at them. Either Emma’s reading them and leaving them, or she
’s not even been by to check them. “Do you think she’s okay?” I ask Dakh as I put the lid back on it. “Can you smell her anywhere?”

  There are a lot of foul smells, but I do not know which one would be her.

  Har de har har. I sigh as I head over to his side. He’s bending over to put the saddle down, and damn it all if his ass doesn’t look super biteable. I just worry about her, I tell him.

  You worry over her, he agrees, and turns to cup my face. His thumbs stroke over my cheeks. You also worry over Amy. And Claudia. And if another female showed up on our doorstep, you would worry over her as well.

  I give him a little smile. Can’t help it. I like for everyone in my little family to be happy.

  I purse my lips, thinking as I consider the lack of communication from Emma. I’m not her mom, of course. She’s an adult and can do whatever she wants. But all this quiet is…strange. After the friendship we’ve built, it’s odd to just not hear from her at all. I hope she’s not mad.

  You worry too much, Dakh tells me.

  So I do. With one last glance at the “mailbox,” I go to Dakh’s side, where he’s waiting for me to buckle my saddle on. Maybe we’ll catch a glimpse of Emma as we fly over the city.

  Claudia’s happy to see me again, as always, though I still feel a bit of niggling guilt that I haven’t been ‘home’ much this week to spend time with Emma. We take another gliding flight over the city, circling wide around the distant Fort Dallas. I can smell smoke in the air and see the glint of red scales in the distance. It’s that time of the month, when all of the red dragons seem to have their targets set on Fort Dallas and are determined to destroy it. The sight fills me with mixed emotions. I worry over the people there, trapped in their homes as they wait for dragonfire to cease, and I also feel sad for the dragons, that are out of their minds with what this place has done to them.

  No one’s winning this situation.