Deception_Paranormal Romance_Dragon Shifters and Immortals

by Laxmi Hariharan

He was going to kiss her. She thrust out her chin. Her eyelids fluttered shut.

  He trailed his finger down over her neck, to where the swell of her breasts pushed up.

  Her heart thumped against her rib cage, like it was going to leap out of her chest.

  The breeze rushed over her fevered skin.

  Her eyes flew open to see his broad back as he stalked off. “What the—?” She wasn’t the swearing kind or the getting-angry type.

  But right then, aroused as she was to fever pitch, knowing that this was the last opportunity she had of being with him, anger flared. Blood rushed to her cheeks.

  The glass dropped from her nerveless fingers. She lunged forward to follow him.

  21

  Rage

  Rage cursed himself as he hurried out of the courtyard, through the garden, then jumped over the small wall onto the beach. He ran up the sand, determined to get away from the empath who’d enticed him.

  One look at her and all his intentions of staying away from her had been reduced to dust.

  She spoke to his soul like no one before. On the psychic plane his beast swirled, glowing red and amber, asking him to return.

  He growled at the beast, asking it to calm down. His dragon twisted and shoved at him, demanding that he return to her. He hastened his steps to put distance between them.

  A tongue of fire licked over his arm. He raised his hand to find sparks of gold and green flickering from his fingertips. His dragon was coming alive. He had no doubt that it was because he was back in Mauritania and because she was in proximity to him.

  Another flicker of heat streaked across his legs. He looked down just in time to see a line of fire swirl around his leg then vanish.

  Someone plowed into him from behind. He fell face-first and hit his chest against the sand.

  “How dare you walk away from me,” she snarled in his ear.

  Her knee ground into the back of his chest.

  The breath rushed out of him, and white pain twisted in his side. He held his hands up, showing he wasn’t going to fight. He wanted to speak, but the back of his throat burned.

  His dragon pulsed, waiting for him to move, to take her in his arms.

  Her energy twined with his psychic shield, sending a pulse of such want that his breath caught in his chest. “At least speak to me.” She loosened her hold.

  He turned over to lay on his back, his arms flung to the side. “I want you, Pandora.”

  A heaving ball of emotion clogged his chest and made it difficult for him to breathe.

  The skin over her cheeks whitened, the green in her eyes leaching out until they looked like pools of silver sunshine. Her lips trembled, and she bit down on the lower one. The muscles of her legs flexed, and her eyes narrowed.

  She was going to run.

  He snaked his arm out and wrapped his hands around her waist.

  “You say you want me, yet you were going to leave me?” Her voice was anguished.

  His heart twisted. His mouth felt dry. He wasn’t good at sharing his emotions.

  He’d spent most of his life being angry.

  Now, without realizing it, the rage that gave him his name had lowered to a hum to reveal what he was.

  A man looking for his own to protect. It wasn’t just about his clan. It was her. He wanted to take care of her. To die for her. “Since I saw you in that Elysian prison cell, that twisted monster inside me knew you were important. It’s also why I can’t let myself have you. If we mated, I would only risk your life. I won’t allow anything to hurt you, not even me.”

  “You’re hurting me now.” Her silver-green eyes glinted at him.

  His chest felt like it was on fire. “Perhaps its better I cause you pain now than destroy you later.”

  “You think that I am weak? I survived just fine before you came along.” She struggled in his grasp.

  He loosened his hold.

  Breaking free, she jumped to her feet and gazed down at him. Just then, she looked proud and strong, every inch a powerful woman.

  His heart hammered. “You’re the strongest person I have met. You rescued me, Pandora. I wouldn’t be here if not for you.”

  Her hands jerked. “Then why are you pushing me away?” Her shoulders drooped.

  “I’m a dragon shifter. I can only mate with a dragon; no other species can take the impact of mating with a dragon. The psychic impact of this can only result in your death.”

  The beast inside him writhed. The thought of leaving her had the band around his chest tightening.

  She held out a hand, and he clasped it.

  Holding it for leverage, he pulled himself up. He didn’t let go. He rubbed his thumb over her wrist where her pulse thundered.

  “I am stronger on the psychic plane than on the physical. Perhaps I can withstand the impact of the mating bond.” She gnawed her lower lip. “Besides, you don’t have a choice.”

  “What do you mean?” He frowned. His heart thudded.

  “When I helped you fight the Elysians, we formed a fledgling psychic bond.” Closing the distance between then, she touched her lips to his.

  Liquid lust darted through his veins.

  He wanted to touch her, caress her skin. But if he did so he wouldn’t be able to stop himself. He’d want to make love to her and seal the fledgling mating bond, and that could only result in her death.

  She grasped his shoulders and raised herself on her tiptoes. Her breasts grazed his chest.

  A shudder of desire licked his nerve-endings. His fingers tingled with the need to touch her.

  She leaned in closer, and her hips brushed his hardness.

  That’s when he lost all control. “I’ve never needed anyone as much you, Pandora.”

  Grasping her waist, he lifted her up.

  She curled her legs around him, her arms gripping his biceps.

  He angled his head and nipped at her lower lip.

  Her nails dug into his skin, and her mouth opened.

  He darted his tongue in. The taste of her was cool and spicy and laced with something mysterious. He absorbed the sensations and knew it wasn’t enough. He wanted more.

  She moaned in her throat, and the sound only turned him on even more. His hand was large enough to span her waist.

  Holding her upright with one hand, he wrapped the other around her braid, pulling back her head.

  Tilting her head, he danced his tongue over hers, absorbing her tastes, pulling her scent around him.

  She shifted her weight and moved in closer, pressing her breasts against his chest. She was all around him, in his blood, in his head.

  On the psychic plane, a flare of silver-green energy swooped over his psychic shield, flowing through it. The red orb that was his beast’s energy streamed over to meet hers. The two twined. A shudder ran through him.

  A warning tugged his subconscious mind. He was too attracted to her. If he stayed, he wouldn’t be able to leave her.

  22

  Pandora

  Winding her arms around his neck, she yanked him close enough for her teeth to scrape against his.

  Her lips fused with his, and she clenched her thighs. Desire exploded in her gut, making her writhe in his grasp. She’d never felt this alive.

  She’d always hidden her emotions from the world, kept a barrier between her and the rest. She’d always worried about exposing herself, who she was, for fear that she would be ridiculed.

  Her empathetic abilities meant she could sense when people derided her for being different. It had hurt too much to expose who she was.

  There, in this man’s arms, one who thought he was a monster inside, she found a strength, a confidence she’d never had before.

  He made her feel wanted and powerful and every inch a woman. He was the most beautiful thing she had ever encountered in her life.

  She wanted him to live, to find himself; she wanted to free his dragon and see him fly. She couldn’t bear to see him in pain.

  She was going to die, but he w
ould live. He had to live.

  For her, for the future of her race, for he had the power that once unleashed could never be held back.

  She opened herself to him. Her fear, her hopes, her love for him, she poured everything into her kiss.

  His muscles quivered under her palms.

  Her insides clenched. Was he going to walk away from her again?

  The world tilted. The next moment, he was on his back, her body cradled against his chest.

  Her braid fell forward to sweep the sand next to his face.

  He dragged his fingers through her hair so it sprang free of the tie and poured in a golden cloud over his face.

  His shoulders rose off the sand. He licked her lips then kissed his way down to the pulse that beat at the hollow of her neck.

  It sent her half out of her head with desire. Catching hold of the two halves of his shirt, he pulled it apart. The buttons burst. The planes of his chest rippled. “What are you doing to me?” The cords of his neck bunched.

  There were so many emotions swirling inside her right then that she couldn’t put her thoughts into words. Instead, she licked the drop of sweat that had trickled down his throat and followed its trail to his nipples. She licked a nub, and it hardened. When she bit it, his back arched off the ground.

  Dense heat from his chest poured over her, and she gasped. Her throat went dry. The pulse between her legs beat faster.

  She couldn’t stop, not now. She needed him vulnerable and open and wanting her. If all she got were these few moments, then she’d take it.

  She kissed her way down his chest to where his stomach hollowed out. Following the line of hair that arrowed down, she licked the skin at the juncture of his waistband.

  His stomach muscles shifted under his skin, and his fingers tautened on her neck.

  It was the only urging she needed. Sliding her hands inside his waistband, she brushed the tip of his hardness.

  His body shuddered as if he were unable to stop himself from responding.

  Liquid lust licked her nerves. She’d never been so turned on as she was with the knowledge that she was giving him pleasure.

  When she slid down the zipper, his arousal pushed up against his briefs.

  A groan tore out of him. “Why are you doing this?”

  “Because I have to.” She licked her lips.

  He urged her head up and, dragging her close, gazed into her eyes. “What do you want?”

  “You, only you.” She swallowed, wanting to tell him everything, knowing if she did it would only mean he wouldn’t let her go through with this. And she wanted this, wanted him. “Let me in.” She felt her pulse in her throat.

  There was a fluttering in her stomach. If she went through with this there would be no turning back.

  His breath shuddered out, raising the hair on her forehead. “Anything for you.” He cupped his palm around her cheek.

  The muscles of her shoulders relaxed. “I love you.” Her breath hitched. Her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest. “Remember that, Rage.” She grasped his hair and tugged until his gaze fixed on hers. Until those amber eyes blinked and blazed with an inner fire that was just for her.

  She wanted to make sure he never forgot her.

  With him, she could be free.

  She could release the need churning inside her, that wanted to consume her, let it run wild and burn them both. He understood her. His beast knew she was as wild as him, just she’d hidden those parts of herself from the world. Now she could be herself with him.

  Letting go of his hair, she slid her fingers under the waistband of his pants.

  His muscles froze, and his fingers plunged into her hair. “Dora, stop.”

  She was beyond caring. For the first time in her life, she gave in to her most basic instincts, to the desire that was riding her. Letting it consume her.

  Sliding her fingers into his briefs, she closed her fingers around the length of his hardness.

  23

  Rage

  She grasped his arousal, and heat ripped through his veins. Saliva pooled in his mouth. A groan boiled out of him, and he widened his stance to give her better access.

  The heat from her fingers sent fiery strands of longing through his groin. His head snapped back; he was half out of his mind with wanting.

  The still-thinking part of his brain sensed an edge of desperation laced her desire.

  She acted as if time was running out. Dora was afraid. For him? For what she was doing to him?

  It sent a pulse of rational thought through his head that swept through his lust-fogged brain. Hand around her neck, he massaged her shoulders, urging her up.

  She came without a struggle.

  With his other hand, he tucked back the hair behind her ears. “What are you not telling me?” Desire tingled over his skin. When he stared into those silver-green eyes, he was lost.

  “Nothing.” Her lips twisted in a humorless smile.

  A cold trickle of ice crept down his spine. “What do you want from me?”

  “Everything.” The skin around her eyes bunched. There was a look of such need in them that his heart hammered.

  His chest felt like it was on fire. He couldn’t deny her. “What’s mine is yours.” He touched his forehead to hers.

  A tremor rippled through her limbs. Her eyes widened, the pupils dilating until they were mirrors of silver. He saw himself reflected in them.

  Surging up, she closed her lips over his.

  Something inside him unfurled. His resistance dissolved. The misshapen creature that was his dragon stretched and pulsed. His skin shivered with pinpricks of awareness, and he dug his toes into the sand.

  Lust punched through his gut. Everything inside him reached for this woman.

  Her essence seeped into his blood, taking his dragon’s energy with it. The force flowed through his veins. His fingers tingled. His toes throbbed. The hair on his back raised into hackles.

  He sharpened his focus, homing in on her. His hearing deepened.

  Her heart thundered. He felt each individual beat like it was his own.

  He smelled the jasmine that was her scent, and beyond her, the powdery aroma of the beach. The salt of the sea breeze sank into his skin. The ripple of the tide coming in, the crackle of pebbles as a crab made its way through the gap between the sand grains, he heard it all.

  His every sense exploded with sensations.

  The crimson orb that was his monster changed shape, shattering into flames that flowed through his blood.

  He tore his lips from hers. In her eyes he saw the reflection of a flame shoot over his skin. He raised his hand, and fire sparked at his fingertips. A tongue of red flame snaked over his chest. “What have you done?” Fear twisted his gut.

  “Your dragon.” She met his gaze without flinching. “I can feel him. He’s so powerful, Rage, and so pure. He called out to me right from the moment we met. He was in so much pain I had to help set him free.”

  Her lips drooped at the sides.

  She raised her head and brushed her lips over his.

  It was so sweet and so different from all the other kisses. It felt like she was trying to tell him something.

  Once again, the rational-thinking part of his brain prickled. He wanted to ask her why she was hiding her secrets from him.

  Then, his dragon flowed through his veins, reaching out to her on the psychic plane.

  The amber orb at the center of his beast was shot through with Pandora’s silver-green energy. Her essence had twined with his on the psychic plane. The breath gasped out of him. “You formed a fledgling bond with my dragon?” All thought emptied from his head. “When?”

  She leaned back from him. Just for a second, her features cracked. Enough to reveal the desperation, love, and so much loneliness that lurked in her.

  He wanted to draw her close and comfort her. He wanted to shield her and take care of her.

  His dragon drew on her energy, replenishing itself. The bond
glowed silver, green, and gold. It was growing stronger.

  If he accepted the fledgling bond, the psychic strength of it would overpower her.

  He tried to pull away, to draw the shield around his psychic essence.

  His beast resisted; he wanted more.

  She moaned. Lowering her head, she slanted her lips over his and thrust her tongue into his mouth.

  Desire punched his gut. He dug his fingers into her soft skin; he knew he was marking her. A part of him felt a vicious delight at that.

  The thinking part of his brain warned that she was hurrying things along. She was running out of time.

  Anger thudded in his veins, a slow powerful beat laced with fear for her.

  He raised his head and surveyed her through half-hooded eyes.

  Her cheeks were flushed, but her gaze was steady. She knew what she’d been doing all along. She’d been distracting him.

  The hair on his forearms rose, and his heart raced. Something was wrong. “Why did you do this?” He squeezed her arm.

  “Because I asked her to,” a man answered.

  The scent of metal and bitter almonds laced Rage’s nose.

  His muscles tensed, even as the warrior part of him reacted. He rose to his feet, taking her with him, and pushed her behind his back.

  No one was going to harm his mate.

  Tibor stared, unblinking. “You’d protect the one who’s going to be the downfall of your species?”

  24

  Pandora

  Pandora tried to step out from behind him, but Rage moved to block her way.

  She pressed her hands against his back, her palms splayed flat on his shirt. She could feel the heat of his skin through the cloth. It would be easy to stay right there and let him protect her.

  His muscles jumped under her touch.

  One hand was balled into a fist at his side.

  Closing her eyes, she drew in his smell. The sharp scent of sea breeze and cinnamon was so evocative, tears pricked the back of her eyeballs.