Bound by Thorns (The Dragon Soul Series)

by Sean Michael

  “I wanted to run. I would have, to save my leg.”

  “But you didn’t run even though you wanted to—that’s the opposite of cowardly.”

  “I couldn’t. There was nowhere to go. That’s what I dream about. Having nowhere to go.”

  “Now you do. No, now you don’t have to go anywhere. You’re home.” And so was he.

  “I would protect you, Luke, and I know you’re a dragon and you don’t need me, but I would.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. I do need you. And it means a lot, knowing you have my back. And that proves that you’re not a coward.”

  “I love you.” The words were simple, but everything he needed to hear.

  He hummed and took Grey’s mouth. I love you. As it was meant to be.

  Chapter Fifteen

  They’d been snowed in for a week and Greyson couldn’t stay in the cabin another second. The quiet, the heaviness—he had to get out. He opened the door and started digging with his hands. Snow was flying and his muscles began to burn.

  “Grey? Pet, what are you doing?” Luke asked, coming down the hallway from the bedroom, absolutely naked.

  “Digging.”

  “Well, I see that. But why? To what end?” Luke came and grabbed his hands, wincing, then putting them under Luke’s arms where it was very warm.

  “Oh...” His knees buckled. “I don’t know. Oh, you feel so good.”

  Luke wrapped an arm around him, tugging him close and keeping him from falling. “I do. And so do you. I still don’t know why you were digging.”

  “I couldn’t stay in here another second. I needed real air.”

  “The air in here is real, Pet. And the back door is clear. I never bother with the front because the wind usually blows that way and the snow keeps it from making the house drafty.” Luke took his hand and led him toward the other side of the house. “You’re freezing and bored, hmm?”

  “I’m not bored.” God, yes. Greyson was restless, but he didn’t want Luke to think it was him.

  Luke snorted. “You can be honest with me. I have ways of helping you deal with restlessness, you know? All you need to do is come to me.”

  “I don’t want to hurt your feelings. I don’t want you to think I want to leave you.” His heart was beating so hard.

  “You didn’t and I don’t think that.” Luke flung open the back door. Greyson hadn’t even known that was here beyond the living room. There was a large veranda off the door, which was mostly snow free, and four stairs that were cleared to the ground, which was covered in dragon-shaped footprints. “This is where I take off from. You should start doing my rounds with me. I promise you’ll stay warm on my back.”

  “Yes, please. I would love that.” He didn’t even hesitate. He needed out and flying was better than anything.

  Luke beamed at him and he felt his dragon’s happiness surging through him. Luke stepped out, and almost between blinks of his eyes, the dragon stood in front of him.

  “My dragon!” He went right to Luke, pushing in to hug the huge neck.

  Luke blew out a blast of air, warming him immediately, and one wing wrapped around him. My own.

  Yours. He melted against Luke, his soul soothed immediately. Fly with me? Please?

  Climb on. Luke took a step back and bent, making it easier for him to climb up.

  As soon as he had, Luke flapped his wings, lifting them up into the air. It was cold enough that he could see his breath with every exhale, but Luke was so warm that he didn’t feel the least bit cold.

  The sky was steel gray and full of snow, but Luke flew them up and up and up until they were in blue.

  Oh, it’s still here!

  A special place. That Luke was sharing with him. It made him feel special.

  Yes. Thank you. Oh, I needed this.

  Anything. I will always give you what you need.

  Luke flew up and up, then made spirals in the sky, twisting and turning.

  “Oh!” He wasn’t the least bit frightened; this was all he needed.

  He could feel Luke’s joy pulsing through him as they danced in the air.

  Love! Love! He was hard and aching.

  My own love. The happiness flowed over him as Luke soared and flew, moving them through the air like they were floating.

  He relaxed down on Luke’s back, warm and safe, his soul relieved.

  Eventually, they flew back down through the clouds, skimming the trees. Checking the forest.

  For what, Dragon? Danger?

  It’s my job to keep it safe. To make sure people get don’t harmed and leave safely. Make sure they leave everything the way they found it, too. Luke zigzagged across the tops of the trees, covering a lot of ground. Then they flew up into the clouds again, hitting the bright blue sky once more.

  So fast. It’s amazing.

  It’s even better with you. Luke flew upward, spinning and spiralling again. They did a one-eighty, twisting their way down toward, then through the cloud cover. When they went back up, the sun was setting, the sky running the gamut from a pale yellow through the blues and reds to a deep, dark purple.

  They landed on the ground and he rested a minute, listening to Luke’s huge heart beat.

  Then Luke shifted, turning into a human once more, and he found himself clinging to the broad back. Luke laughed, an arm coming around to hold him in place as Luke strode up the stairs and through the door into the warmth.

  “Oh, that was fun. So much. Thank you.” He didn’t want to let go. Luke didn’t ask him to, either.

  “You could come with me more often. Every day if you wanted.” Luke carried him to the living room and leaned over the couch. “Sit. I’ll stoke the fire.”

  “I’d love that, if I’m not too heavy.” He felt energized, alive.

  “You’re never too heavy, Pet.”

  Luke set him on the couch and went to the fire, crouching in front of it. Giving him a magnificent view of the strong back, the lovely ass.

  “Uhn.” His hand dropped to his cock and began to stroke it, waking it up.

  “You need to talk to me when you want to touch that,” Luke murmured. “It’s mine, you know.”

  “What?” He squeezed his cock hard.

  “No touching!” Luke laughed and turned, pouncing him on the couch and grabbing his hands. “This is mine. You’re supposed to come to me if you need anything.”

  “I know how to get myself off, Dragon.” He laughed along.

  “Of course you do. This isn’t about knowing how to do it. It’s about control. It’s about obeying me. It’s about us taking care of each other.” Luke touched him, stroking him, warming his skin.

  “I take care of you.” He tried to, anyway.

  “You do. Nobody’s ever done anything for me my whole life. Until you.”

  “No one?” He hated to think that. He stroked through Luke’s hair, straightening it.

  “Nope. No one. I’ve been on my own.” Luke nuzzled into his touch.

  “Lonely dragon.” He snuggled in, holding on to his lover.

  “I waited such a long time for you. There’s a reason I’m such a grumpy ass.” Luke breathed into his neck.

  The unexpected heat made him buck, his eyelids going heavy.

  “Now I have you. Now you’re mine.” Luke rumbled, the sound good as it vibrated through him. “And this is mine.” Luke grabbed his cock. “No touching.”

  “Are you sure it’s yours?”

  Luke wrapped his hand around Greyson’s cock and stroked a few times, growling as he did it. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

  God, that felt so good, so right.

  “You touch again and I’ll tie you up in ropes, attach your hands to the headboard.” Luke put images in his head of himself, lyi
ng on the bed with his hands bound up on the headboard.

  “Stop it...” He shivered, shook his head.

  “No, you’re enjoying it too much for me to stop. Hell, I’m enjoying it too much to stop.”

  “Are you?” That was a delicious thought.

  “Yes, I am.” Luke sent another image to him. In this one he was spread-eagled on the bed, each limb tied to a post.

  “My legs won’t do that, Dragon.”

  “Oh, please. Your legs are getting better every day. Very soon you won’t be able to use them as an excuse for anything.”

  “I’m not!” He gave Luke a pinch.

  “Hey!” Luke laughed and bit at his shoulder, teeth sharp, but not lingering. “I’m telling you, they’re almost healed. You can already do almost anything with them and soon that almost won’t factor in.”

  “That’s amazing, you know that? Magic.”

  “What’s amazing is that you are the magic.”

  “Nonsense.” He wasn’t or he’d have been on the ball with the whole healing thing months earlier.

  “It’s not nonsense. Maybe you need me, too, to make it, but you’re still magic.” Luke licked his right nipple, making him gasp.

  “Mmm. It’s all you.”

  “Nope, it’s mostly you.”

  He wished that were true, but one way or the other, he’d take it.

  Luke sent another image to him. In this one he was in a contraption, bound on his hands and knees, dildo attached to some machine, fucking him hard and fast.

  He shook his head, his mouth dry. Luke cupped his cheeks and moved his head up and down. “Yes.”

  “Stop it. That’s...” Too much. God help him, he wanted to try it, though.

  “We’ll work our way up to it, Pet. We’ll start with the easy stuff, the stuff that worries you but doesn’t make you panic.” The image of Greyson with his hands tied above his head hit his mind again. “I could leave you there for a week, take care of you.”

  “Not for a whole week.” That would hurt. And it would make him feel useless. He didn’t ever want to feel useless again.

  “No, no, of course not. I’ve heard of cage-play, though.” Luke sent images of him in a cage.

  He shook his head. “No. No, you promised I could fly with you.” He didn’t like the idea of being in a cage.

  “Got it, no cages. Binding you to the bed for the length of our play will be enough. And you can always fly with me. I have to go out every day to do a sweep and nothing will make me happier than having you with me.” Luke showed him another image, this one of them flying, only Grey was as naked as a jaybird.

  He laughed happily, that thought at once ridiculous and wonderful.

  “One day you’ll go out with me like that and you’ll never fly clothed again.” Luke made it sound like a vow.

  “You think so? My back would freeze and your scales would bite my balls.”

  “Nope. Wouldn’t happen. I’m made for you to ride. I’d keep you warm and your balls would be totally safe.” Luke fondled him. “Hmmm. I think you need something around your cock and balls. I’m thinking silk ribbon to catch them both and wrap them up in a pretty package.”

  He hoped that wouldn’t make him look silly.

  “It will make you look hot. Sexy. Infinitely desirable.”

  “You swear? I want to be. Hot.” For Luke.

  “Grey. Just the sight of you makes me need, you get me deep in my gut. Add in the rest of the stuff and I’m absolutely lost in you.”

  He reached up and brought their mouths together, arousal humming through him. It increased as Luke focused on the kisses, delving into his mouth, filling him with more heat. He was sinking into pure need, his entire body lit up.

  Luke grabbed his hands and drew them up over his head, laying them down on the arm of the couch. Then he drew his fingers down along Greyson’s body, the touch warm and leaving tingles even through the layers of his clothing. Greyson hummed, his eyelids going heavy. This was good, right.

  Too much clothing. Luke took care of that, grabbing his shirt and tearing it off him, the material ripping like it was nothing.

  “You’re going to leave me without a stitch!”

  “Works for me.” Luke sent image after image of him in the nude—on the couch, in bed, in the kitchen, at the computer.

  “Stop it! People don’t just sit around naked!”

  “You and I are not people.”

  “I’m a people. You’re a dragon.” Which was still the best thing ever.

  “You’re an extra-special human. Normal rules don’t apply.”

  “Extra-special human, huh?” He couldn’t stop grinning. “I’m glad you found me.”

  “I’m more glad that I found you.” Luke kissed him again, fingers exploring his skin, sliding along his arms, pressing his hands against the couch arm each time they were near.

  He understood. Hands up. He’d try.

  “Tell me if you need the ropes, Pet.” Luke straddled him, cock hot against his belly, his own trapped against Luke’s body.

  “Mmm. You feel good. What do you want?”

  “I want to make you fly.” Luke’s words were soft, moving over him with promise.

  “I want to. I love flying with you.”

  Luke’s eyes lit up. “Good. I have so many ways to show you how to fly.”

  “Do you?” He found that look, that eagerness, addictive.

  “I do. And only one of them involves you sitting on my dragon as we take to the sky.”

  He reached up, hugged Luke’s neck, and held on tight.

  “I’ve got you, Pet. I will always have you.” Luke rubbed his fingers across Greyson’s nipples. Then his thumbs, the touch firm. “Hands up, please.”

  “Right.” The stretch made his eyes cross.

  Luke’s fingers found his taut skin, dancing on it, making him shiver in the best ways possible.

  “Good. Good, just like that.” The low growl made him shiver.

  Luke bent and bit his shoulder, the sharp teeth sudden, quick, followed by hot suction.

  “Oh!” He managed to keep his arms up, barely.

  “Good job.” Luke’s happy rumbles sounded like magic. Then he brought up the ropes again. “If you need me to tie you down, I will.”

  “Do you want to?” he asked. It seemed like Luke did.

  Luke didn’t prevaricate or tease. He simply said, “Yes.”

  “Okay, but don’t leave me alone like that. Ever. Deal?”

  “I promise.”

  “Good. Because I wouldn’t like that. I’d get bored if I couldn’t use my hands.”

  “That’s because you’re not good at not having anything to do. I don’t know what you were thinking coming up to that little cabin in the middle of nowhere for the winter. You would have made yourself crazy in no time.”

  “I wanted to die, Dragon.”

  Luke made a pained noise and lay down on top of him, pressing him into the couch. “Shh.”

  “I was going to fade into the snows, but my dragon came with lasagna and firewood and he held me.”

  “You’re lucky I found you.” Luke tilted his head. “No, I don’t think luck had anything to do with it. Fate brought you to my woods to fade away so that I could find you.”

  “Thank you. I need you, Dragon.”

  “And I need you, Grey. You make my life complete.”

  The words warmed him, all the way to the bone. “Dragon.” He grabbed on to Luke again, holding on.

  Luke growled noisily for him, letting him hear it as Luke brought their mouths together, kissing him with ferocity.

  Going to bind you, Pet.

  Yes. Yes, Dragon.

  Luke broke the kiss and stood, then he grabbed Gre
yson up and carried him down the hall. “The bed is better for this.”

  He loved their bed, the way it cradled them.

  Luke laid him down in the middle of the bed. “Grab hold of the headboard.”

  His hands were trembling, but not noticeably. He wasn’t sure if he was more worried or excited.

  “I vote we go with excited.” Luke gave him a wicked smile. “You were thinking at volume five hundred.”

  “That loud, huh?” He knew Luke was right; he was far more excited than worried.

  “Lets me know what you’re thinking at times like this. That’s not a bad thing, Pet.” I’ll always know what you need no matter what you say or don’t say.

  “What about secrets, Dragon?” He knew this answer.

  “Who needs secrets when you have a soul mate?”

  “I don’t know, Dragon. Honestly.” Even if sometimes he dreamed or fantasized things that were embarrassing, Luke understood that.

  “I love the things you fantasize, my dear one.” The wicked look was back on Luke’s face.

  “Shh.” But his belly tightened at the expression in Luke’s eyes.

  Luke grabbed a couple of ropes and looped them around his wrists, taking his time doing it.

  “What do you see in my dreams, Dragon?”

  “I see us flying together. With wings and without.”

  “Do I dream that?” He couldn’t stop watching the ropes.

  “You know you do.” Luke tugged on his right hand, then looped the other end of the rope around the headboard.

  Greyson licked his lips and arched, his cock bouncing off his belly.

  “Look at you, at how eager you are for this. Your need makes you even more stunning than you already are.”

  The warm words burned Greyson up, making him ache.

  Luke secured his left hand to the headboard, too, then Luke fussed, making sure there was enough give, that he wasn’t being stretched too far, that he was comfortable. His legs were supported, so was his head.

  Luke slipped off his sweats. “That’s better. Now we need to dress up your nipples and tie a bow around your cock.”

  “Dress up my nipples! They’re little.”

  “So are the clamps. It’s finally time to include them. I’m going to get them, the ribbon for your cock, and a nice plug for after, so you don’t lose a drop of my come.”