by Ophelia Bell
Every sensitive inch of her inner flesh rejoiced at the pleasure. It swelled inside her, growing more potent with each caress, each kiss, each plunge of Sterlyn’s invading cock and fingers. He let out a desperate groan and slammed hard, the head of his cock reaching so deep she imagined she could taste him. With that last thrust, hot fluid flooded into her along with a familiar tingling current of the sweetest magic. Evie flew to pieces then, coming hard and slamming back against the cock that filled her.
Evie clenched her eyes shut tightly, bewildered at the sensation of the magic that was so similar to Marcus’s, yet so different. The fact that Sterlyn had shared it with her at all meant he was even more like Marcus than she’d realized.
Then it clicked—all three of them were Blessed. All three altered in the same way. It had to be dragon blood that had changed them, and from Naaz’s story of how he came to be here, how old he really was, it had to be immortal dragon blood.
Still dazed at the realization, she found herself being pulled off the small bed into a pair of strong, comforting arms. Naaz cradled her against him, stroking her gently while she came down from her orgasm and her revelation. He bent his head to kiss her, and she responded with ardor, wrapping her arms around his neck and moving against him, eager for more. She wanted to feel his power filling her now, to confirm her belief as much as for the pleasure of it. The magic made her feel alive for the first time in years. It reminded her of who she was and what her purpose was. This was only a piece of her journey and as inevitable as the sunrise, which she knew still occurred daily, even though she hadn’t seen it in what seemed like eons.
She let Naaz shift her and moved straddle his hips with his huge cock sandwiched between them. She lifted up and gazed into Naaz’s perfect face as she slid down onto him, her pussy slick and dripping with the combined juices of both Sterlyn and herself.
“You’re a genius,” she whispered.
Naaz looked too enthralled to even answer, his expression lost. “You’re the genius,” he whispered as he thrust into her. “This is the first time I’ve come close to forgetting that I can’t save her.”
Evie pressed her tender lips against his and stroked his cheeks as she fucked him. “We will,” she whispered. “If it’s the last thing I do, we’ll save them all.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ked
Dragon Monastery, Sunda Islands
Present Day
Ked gritted his teeth in outrage over what she had endured. The memories of the pleasure did nothing to overpower the despicable nature of what they had all been compelled to do. Nikhil had outdone himself and Ked’s darkness surged forth again with the desire to rip the man to pieces.
Evie’s aura of bittersweet arousal sank into him with every word of her retelling of the event and only made him ache more deeply to bond with her. To mark her so that she would feel completely safe and loved once and for all. He had to hold back until all the pieces fell into place. Marcus was the biggest piece, which became glaringly evident after Evie’s latest telling of their history, and of the intense reaction of Marcus pulsing in Ked’s mind.
“You said you’ve been pregnant twice before.” Ked squeezed her arm to capture her attention again, to bring her back to him. “I take it that was only the first time?”
Evie let out a shuddering sigh and shook her head. “If I don’t count all the times before that barely even lasted a day, yes. After that first night with Sterlyn and Naaz, I became pregnant, and it almost seemed like it would be viable. I can’t say any of us were particularly happy about it once we found out, but they’d done their job as far as Sayid was concerned, and I started to have hope, if you can believe it.”
“But it didn’t last.” In the shadows of his mind, he felt Marcus withdraw again in shame and anger, erecting a new wall between them.
Evie looked up at him with wide eyes glistening with unshed tears. Her eyelids slid closed and she shook her head. “No. Nearly two months later, I miscarried. And the second time was the same, but the pregnancy failed sooner.”
“Did they come to you any other times without their leader’s instructions? Together or apart?”
“After the first time, yes, but only once. They didn’t want to risk Sayid starting to think they had a soft spot for me, or I’d wind up collateral just like Neela and Zamirah.”
Evie grew quiet and sank limply in his arms, as though she were exhausted. She’d been wound so tightly Ked found it difficult not to lay a comforting hand on her, but if he had, he’d distract her from the telling and from Marcus’s reciprocation of his own part of the story.
Now that she was done, Ked’s body was on high alert. His cock raged to take her, yet he simply held her, happy that she was in his arms. She wasn’t fully his, though, if her distant look was any indication. As comfortable as she was resting against him, her gaze out over the high balcony told him she was imagining something else.
He brushed his palm over her cheek and urged her to look at him.
When her dark eyes met his, her instant recognition struck hard inside him, triggering his power before he could control it. The room went black except for the two of them. Evie glowed brightly, her aura a stark contrast to the shroud of his power, and her shock was apparent.
“What the fuck did you do?” she asked.
Ked let out a low grumble. He needed to keep better control if he was going to be able to wait until Marcus came around before he marked her.
“You do this to me, Evie. But it isn’t just you and me in this little bubble right now. Marcus is too important to deny. If it were just you and me, I would make love to you now, mark you and make you mine. You still need him, though, because he’s the biological father. Your child carries my blood mixed with his. It is part dragon through the part of me that infuses his body, and unborn dragons need their parents’ energy to survive until birth.”
Evie smiled absently. “That’s your secret, isn’t it? That’s why I’m so drawn to Marcus.” Her eyes widened and she looked at him. “The other two Elites, what about them? I always felt a spark with them, but it was never as strong as it was with Marcus. Do they have your blood, too?”
“Yes, just not as much of it. Judging from what I’ve learned through Marcus’s memories, each of them has a different ratio of blood from myself and my brothers. Doubtless if you had been fated for Gavra or Aodh, you would have bonded with one of the other Elites instead. But it was Marcus, and it is his natural, human energy the child needs as much as mine.”
Her eyes clenched shut and he regretted the pain he saw on her face. “I need him, too,” she whispered. “I would rather die than lose him. I don’t care how close my bond is with you.”
When she opened her eyes, Ked knew she wasn’t lying.
“He isn’t making it easy on us, but we can change his mind together, especially if he knows the baby is his.”
“Are you sure that’s all the baby needs?” Evie asked, squeezing his arm. “I don’t think I can bear it if I lose another child.”
Ked hadn’t wanted to broach that issue with her so soon, but it wouldn’t be able to wait long. If there was even a drop of his brothers’ blood running through Marcus’s veins, it would be enough to pass on to the child. The baby may not need a lot from Aodh and Gavra, but it would need some. Still, he should wait until Marcus was healed and they could discuss the issue together.
“The baby will live, I promise you.”
If Ked had his way, this baby would live to be the bane of the Ultiori leader’s existence.
He slid his hand inside her robe and pressed his palm against her naked belly. The softness of her skin enticed him to trace his fingertips across her hips, trailing up and down her sides, over the tops of her thighs. She was so warm in his arms, so relaxed and pliant, so accepting that the darkness slipped away from him and the light of the rising sun illuminated them both again.
Even though she’d been talking all night, telling her story, her aura pulsed with fresh energy.
Evie responded to his touch with a sigh.
“Please,” she said, even as her legs parted and his hand cupped the top of her thigh. His fingers brushed the delicate skin of her inner thigh, slick and wet with her arousal.
“Please what?” Ked murmured against her ear. “Please stop? Please go on? You need to tell me what to do. I want you more than I can say.”
“Please don’t leave me hanging,” she said. She shifted in his arms and her robe fell open, her perfect, pale skin gleaming in the growing light
Ked let his hand venture farther up her thigh and beyond the triangle of dark curls that lay between. Evie tilted her hips up and his fingers found her soft, wet center and slipped between, sinking deep inside her. She clenched around him so tightly he nearly groaned. He’d give her this small release now because he sensed her need, but he needed to take her to Marcus, not give in to his burning ache to spend the next week making love to her. If everything worked out, both he and Marcus would spend the next week making love to her.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Marcus
Marcus simply couldn’t hear another word. Her tale of her encounters with his fellow Elites had been a bright spot, and so arousing he wished again that he had been there to witness—or to join in.
The deeper connection to Evie was what destroyed the illusion. The deep grief over the loss of those babies, and understanding for the first time what she had meant that first day so long ago. She wasn’t able to carry his child—or any child—that wasn’t sired by her true mate.
That man wasn’t him, and had never been. Now that she had Ked, she could heal from those earlier losses that Marcus’s actions had resulted in.
His saving grace was that he had ultimately succeeded in his plan to find a way to get word to her brothers that she was alive.
* * *
Shanghai, China
Six Years Ago
Finding the dragon hadn’t been easy, but Marcus had eventually tracked the elusive Blue to a smoky night club in Shanghai. He should have signaled to Naaz and Sterlyn to meet him so the three of them could pool their power to capture her. Yet this time, he hesitated. The other two Elites were not nearby, so this would be the perfect opportunity to test his plan to get word to someone about Evie’s whereabouts. Besides, the last thing he wanted to do was let his master destroy another Blue.
The Blue dragon’s aura was like a lure to him, and he spiraled closer to her like a moth to a flame. She was a beautiful woman with straight, black hair that reminded him of Evie’s. She was as petite and bird-like as his lover, too, except with sweet Asian features and glimmering blue eyes.
He sensed her awareness of him, and yet she didn’t even send him a glance when he sat down at the bar next to her. To her, he was merely an unmarked Blessed human. He had learned over the years that to a dragon, that was the most enticing bait, even more so than a sexually aroused human. It helped that the reminders of Evie had put him in that state. He pushed it a step farther, imagining Evie in the same slinky dress and him peeling it off her before he dropped to his knees for a taste.
The bartender took his order and while he waited, he felt the cool tickle of a breeze blow across his face. The female dragon had taken the bait, her breath a curious test to learn more about him. He inhaled, and increased the detail of his fantasy, making sure the woman believed the images in his mind resembled her more than the woman he wished she was.
As he reached for the tumbler of whiskey on the bar, her hand slipped across the slick wooden surface and halted over his.
“Bring your drink and come with me,” she said in perfect English.
Marcus affected surprise, turning his head to look at her with raised eyebrows. He let a slow smile curl his lips and gave her an appreciative once-over that seemed to please her.
“It would be my pleasure,” he said.
Satisfied, she slid off the bar stool, still clutching his hand. With his free hand, he grabbed his drink and let her lead him through the crowded room, past the dance floor, and through a curtained doorway in the back. Beyond that lay a hallway with a pair of human bouncers guarding another door. They nodded silently to the woman and opened the door for her, revealing a dimly lit staircase beyond.
On the second floor, she led him through another door which she closed and locked behind them. The room was decorated luxuriously in pale lavenders and blues, with an entire wall of windows that overlooked the dance floor and bar on the lower floor. Comfortable chairs and sofas were arranged around the room, and there was a bar along one wall.
“We’re alone,” she said.
“I see that.” Marcus tossed back his drink and finally let his gaze meet hers. She stood with her back pressed against the door, her breasts rising and falling rapidly and her eyes twinkling with inner light no normal human would be able to see. He set his empty glass down and strode back to her. She was ripe and ready for him, no doubt eager to learn what it was like to make love with a Blessed human.
She wouldn’t get the opportunity, however. He wasn’t here for sex, after all.
He threaded his fingers through her sleek hair, gripping the side of her head and tilting her face up to press his lips against hers. She let out a soft moan as he claimed her mouth, thrusting his tongue deep. Christ, she even felt like Evie in his arms, and his erection was enough to lend credence to the ruse. He pulled her tighter against him, just to emphasize how much he wanted her, and enjoyed the way her slender arms wrapped around him, her fingernails digging into his back.
Gripping her backside, he lifted her and carried her to one of the sofas and laid her down. Just as he’d imagined earlier, he hooked the straps of her gown with his fingers and tugged them down her shoulders, peeling the slinky fabric off her perfect, translucent skin. Her bare breasts were small and round, with perfect pink nipples. Marcus bent and took one tip into his mouth, sucking expertly. He’d spent a few nights with Sterlyn’s Zamirah and learned that dragon females were every bit as pliant as other women, if he took his time.
Her fingers combed through his hair, yet another reminder of how Evie behaved when they made love. He decided he would enjoy making this female fall apart under his touch. It was the least he could do, considering he would wind up terrifying her afterward.
He tugged her dress all the way off, pleased to discover she was entirely nude beneath. He slid to the floor, kneeling before her, and urged her legs apart, pushing one up to drape over the arm of the sofa. Without further preamble he bent his head and kissed deeply between her thighs.
His tongue teased along the length of her slit and he reveled in the tangy flavor of the slick, velvety folds. The more he licked, the more her sweet fluids coated his lips. Her swollen clit burned with heat beneath his tongue and his cock raged with need to fill that slick channel.
Ignoring his need, he worked her deftly until her voice rose harshly and her hips bucked against his face. The sounds of her cries were the most brutal reminder that she wasn’t Evie. She wasn’t singing her love for him in the wake of her orgasm. The cry still resonated inhumanly in the room, and the power of her climax surged into him like a flood of cool water.
He chose that moment to act, sliding his hands up her torso to cup each side of her head and letting the dark power inside him surge forth from his palms and sink into her.
The dragon’s blue eyes went wide and she cried out, “No! Please!”
It was too late for her. He had her mind in the vise-like grip of that darkness, isolating her power and rendering it null, then preventing her from telepathically communicating with any other dragons who might be nearby.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said in a low voice. “I admit, I was sent to capture you—my master does love Blue dragons in particular, for some reason. My partners aren’t
far. I could easily take you with me now, but I need a favor instead. If you promise to do this for me, I will let you go. If you do not, then I will call my fellow Elites and we’ll lock you away with the others we capture.” He had no intention of carrying out the threats, of course. This was his best chance to get Evie out of her prison, and if it meant holding his power over this woman to ensure the message was delivered, then he would use it.
“Y-you shouldn’t exist,” she croaked. “There hasn’t been an Elite with your power in centuries. Only one dragon on earth has that power. The Void. Legends say he killed the Elite who mirrored his power.”
Marcus had heard the story countless times. Sayid loved to tell it, always with a particularly hungry, vengeful look in his eyes. The Elite in question had been the very first of them, a female who had been Sayid’s lover and the mother of his child.
The blue dragon’s admission gave him an idea, however. If this dragon was so powerful, he had to have some pull among the higher races.
“I need you to get a message to this so-called Void. Tell him to find Iszak and Lukas North. Their sister is alive.”
He continued, giving her the precise location of the facility where Evie had been held captive for nearly five decades.
“Do you understand?” he asked, shaking her when her eyes widened at his instructions.
“Yes, but it’s nearly impossible for a dragon ranked as low as I am to reach the Council. They aren’t even accessible until the Ascension.”
“When will that be?” Marcus asked, frustrated.
The woman closed her eyes and pursed her lips, her naked body still tense beneath him. Finally, she said, “Six years, give or take. I will do this for you if I can, but it will take time. Please, forgive me.”
Marcus released her and sat back with a sigh. It would have to be enough. They’d been trapped for so long already, a few more years wouldn’t kill them, at least he hoped. And the delay may help avoid suspicion.
