Declan's nostrils flared. Even with the collar ebbing his strength, a surge of heat rippled off him. The air between them warmed and for a moment she feared his fire would lash out with dragonfire, charring her to a crisp.
"What did they do with them?"
Every muscle in his mighty body tensed. She knew he held on to his control by a thread, one that could snap at any minute...one that, when it did, would catch her in its ricochet. She swallowed.
"How do you mean?" she asked, hoping he wasn't going to make her recount the various and painful ways she'd learned Lotharus had tortured them.
"Their bodies. What did they do with their bodies?"
His voice cracked, allowing raw pain and emotion to seep out. The sound reached something deep down inside Alexia, pulling cruelly. The urge to wrap her arm around him, to comfort him any way she could besieged her. But, instead of solace, he wanted to hear words that, if she had to hazard a guess, would gut him.
"They were burned. Their ashes dumped into vats of heated silver and fashioned into weapons."
His jaw bunched, his hands fisted so tight she could discern his white knuckles even in the gloom. Alexia turned away and fixed her gaze on the hands in her lap. She knew about the dragon beliefs. All horde warriors did. Without their bodies, the dragons believed the gods could not grant them eternal life, which was why horde were always on orders to mutilate or burn the carcasses. Lotharus and her mother had dealt his people a devastating blow. As if molding the King and Queen into instruments now used to torture their kind wasn't enough, they had assured a son he would never again set eyes on his parents. Not in this life or the next.
He let out a long exhale, his chin falling to his chest. "Why are you telling me?"
"I--" She inhaled and then turned to look into his face. Although she couldn't place it, couldn't figure out why, for some reason the thought of him hating her, of thinking her no better than Lotharus, was intolerable. "I'm not like him."
"No?" He lifted his gaze to hers, his face hard and expressionless. A flicker of anger sparked behind his eyes. His lips formed a grim line before he forced them into a grin. "That wasn't you kicking my face in last night?"
She tried to smile back, but only shook her head. "I'm a soldier following orders. A future ruler who wants what's best for her people and, like you, I will die fighting for it."
Alexia shifted her gaze to the ground and tried to rationalize why she wasn't leaving. Why words she'd never said to anyone, especially a dragon, formed on the tip of her tongue.
"Declan, I'm sorry about that night. I'm sorry about your parents. And I'm sorry you're here." The admission breathed out of her in a rush before she could stop it. In the silence that followed, she slowly turned her head toward him.
For what felt like hours, he regarded her, faint lines creasing his brow as if he weighed the fate of the world in his mind. Alexia told herself to get up, to walk out, walk away. But she couldn't move.
His hooded eyes searched her face. Then they fell to her lips. Under his perusal her mouth warmed in remembrance of his kiss. The chains around his wrist rattled when he reached for her. Heat spread across her cheek as his fingers cradled her face. A slow curl of expectation tightened in her lower belly. She wasn't sure she even breathed as he slowly dipped his head.
Warm and soft, his mouth pressed against hers in a tender, almost reassuring kiss. As if his lips spoke the words of sympathy and understanding he couldn't bring his voice to say.
Then he pulled back. Too quickly, she thought. But he kept his face inches from hers. Alexia lifted her hand, holding his chin in her fingertips, the small gesture her way of screaming out to him to stay, to kiss her again. Her way of telling him she didn't want this to end, didn't want his lips to leave hers. Not now, not yet.
Softly, his thumb rubbed her cheek. Intense and consuming, his eyes devoured her, seeing through her, into her, where no one else had ever bothered to look. A tide of panic swelled for a moment, but Alexia forced it down. A tiny flicker of hope took its place. Hope that maybe what had happened in his cell last night, whatever it was lingering between them right now, was real.
And then his mouth covered hers again and all thoughts scattered.
DECLAN KNEW THIS WAS INSANE. Knew this place had to be messing with his head. The minute he saw her enter the dungeon alone, he'd decided to say whatever he could to gain an ally in this hell. Knew it might be the only chance he had at ever seeing his flock again. He kept trying to tell himself this was all an act. That she'd created the collar around his neck. That she was the reason his parents had been murdered. That she was a means to an end.
Yet as his mouth slid against hers, he knew some part of his brain had completely abandoned his plan, which was crazy. He was going crazy. That had to be the reason he'd looked into her expressive eyes and seen driving need instead of the monster he'd been bred to see. Why he'd reached out and given the little vampire in front of him any measure of comfort he could, even though he was the one beaten and bloody.
On the outside.
Declan's hold on her face tightened as the thought whispered through his mind. As his lips opened and closed over hers, he realized that was what had spoken to him, reached inside and pulled him to her. She was more broken and beaten and, if possible, in more danger than he. True, he'd first touched her for the sole purpose of feeding off her to get his strength back and escape. Yet, ever since that dream, a frightening sense of possessiveness had strangled him like an ever tightening noose. He'd lived through her fear, her suffering, and wanted to shield her from experiencing any more.
Beneath his, her sweet mouth softened and moved, tentative yet eager. Although obviously not skilled or experienced, her kiss completely enthralled him and held him captive. Nothing, not even a pistol to his head, could have made him move. To think of one so beautiful left to wither and rot in this horrible place made his chest burn. An anguished sound rumbled from the back of his throat and he palmed the side of her face, smoothing her hair back and holding her closer, tighter, as he allowed his tongue to sweep between her lips.
ALEXIA FELT THE PASSIONATE change in his embrace and gave herself over to his kiss. Parting her lips for him, she wound her arm around his neck and held on to him for dear life, trusting him to guide her through the burgeoning storm of the unknown rising between them. Declan groaned and bound his shackled arm around her waist, pressing her body tighter against his. Hard metal cuffs dug into her back, but she didn't care. The heat of his mouth, the hungered urgency of his tongue, the fire burning within him, drew her in and kept her there. She felt warm and alive, as if she'd been dead, and his kiss, his touch, brought her into being. The urge to crawl inside him clawed at her, to have his energy, his warmth feed her until she never felt cold or lonely again.
Something tickled her ankle. Alexia ignored it at first. However, when what felt like a large snake wound around her thigh, she gasped and pulled back. Coiled loosely around her leg was a long, black...tail? Was that his tail? She lifted questioning eyes to his face. A boyish grin crossed his face and his eyes flitted back down to her leg.
This time when it slid high along her inner thigh, she jumped. "What are you doing?"
Clasping his hands around her hips, he pulled her back to him and shrugged. "Think of it as another hand."
When his mouth would have covered hers, she leaned back. Her eyes stretched wide. "Really? You mean, it...you can feel me?"
He smiled and sat back. A resigning sigh fell from his lips as he rested his weight on his hands by his hips. "Go ahead."
At first, Alexia wasn't sure what he meant. Then he nodded to her leg and she understood he meant for her to touch his tail. Realized he was giving her permission to explore him. A lick of desire curled through her.
Tentatively, Alexia ran a palm over the thick-muscled extension. She'd only seen them used as weapons and assumed they were little more than armor. Yet the tightly scaled skin felt cool and smooth beneath her fingers. And powerful.
So powerful. A shiver danced up her spine as the tail reacted to her touch. The diamond-shaped head appeared almost animal-like, leaning into her palm as she caressed it. A dull tremor rolled through the length of it before the end retracted and shifted. Unwinding itself from her leg, the slender tip slid upward, curling around her wrist.
Alexia let out a quick gasp as the tail tugged sharply, dragging her into Declan's awaiting arms. The moment her cheek fell against his shoulder, he dipped his head, fitting his mouth over hers. Reckless and feral, his mouth caressed and tasted her. When his tongue ran against hers, slick and hungry, Alexia moaned and clutched his jaw, holding him closer. She knew this was wrong, so wrong, but she couldn't stop.
Her hands caressed the planes of his cheeks and jaw as his tongue stroked hers again and again until she was dizzy. Until an ache coiled tight and hard inside her belly, begging for release she knew only he could grant.
Chains jangled as the hand splayed on her side inched higher. Alexia's breath hitched in anticipation, and then, warm and strong, the heat of his palm covered her corseted breast. The swath of leather did nothing to shield her from the all-consuming intimacy of his touch. A shiver of pleasure shot out in all directions, tingling through every part of her body. Alexia arced into his hand, pressing herself deeper into his palm and inviting him to do more.
"Gods, Alexia," he breathed, dragging his mouth from hers. When he moved to pull away, she instinctively reached for him, drawing him back to her lips. He submitted with a groan, crushing his mouth against hers. One arm wrapped around her, holding her to him. The other fell back to her breast, handling her with more wild and intense abandon than before.
Her hands clutched his bare back. Hot and hard, she glided her palms over every inch, learning every contour, every hollow, dip and scar.
Scar.
The realization hit her then. They were both scarred, physically and emotionally, from this war. Goddess knew some part of her mind must be cracked and ruined to even be thinking the lascivious thoughts racing through her mind. But she'd never felt such a heady rush of desire in all her days. Though madness to even entertain, some part of her recognized that this act her body yearned for so badly would heal her in some way. Perhaps heal them both. Make the utterly unbearable existence of life tolerable.
Alexia shifted away from the wall and leaned backward. Wrapping her fingers around his biceps, she tugged, dragging him down with her. His lips stilled and a shiver swept through his body. But he gave in, allowing his weight to cover her. The taut line of his body pressed against hers and at once she remembered how right, how wonderful he felt above her. Hitching a leg over his naked butt, she dug her heel into one round cheek, pulling him closer. When his abdomen flattened against hers, he hissed in a breath. His mouth left hers, his head dipping to his chest.
Although stunned at first, she recalled with aching clarity the agony Lotharus had inflicted on him earlier. "Oh, your wounds," she said with an exhale. Unwinding her leg, she moved to sit. However, her back barely made it off the ground before he pressed his hips against hers, stilling her hasty move.
"I'm fine," he said, with a sideways grin she barely saw before her eyes fluttered shut from the bliss. A large hand possessively ate the width of her thigh, pulling it back in place around his hip. "Now, where were we?"
DECLAN BENT OVER HER, nudging her head with his until it rested back on the dirt. On instinct, a hand came up, cradling the back of her skull, shielding its blond luster from the muck of the dungeon floor. The rough stones bit into his knuckles, grating the top layer of skin off the jagged bones with each slide of his mouth. But he barely felt a thing. In fact, pain was the last thing registering in his body. All his brain seemed capable of processing was the rush of erotic sensations throbbing through him.
Her small hands gripped the base of his neck, pulling him closer as her body undulated in an erotic black-leather wave beneath him. Declan propped one knee between her thighs, using it and his bent arm to hold himself above her. The muscles in his arms bulged and shook with the effort it took to keep from rolling on top of her completely and connecting them from tip to toe. The insistent desire to grind his hips against hers, to slip inside her welcoming body, became too urgent to ignore each second he lingered.
Yet, slowly, as if time was something he had more than mere hours of at his disposal, his lips trailed from her chin, across her collarbone and back again, savoring every intense reaction flicking through him with each new perusal of her velvety skin. How her warm body cushioned his with aching perfection. The sweet yet spicy perfume of her skin filled his nose and brought flashes of desire and warmth pulsing through his sore body.
With his eyes closed, his acute senses easily identified his scent on her. The silent yet potent brand of ownership lingering around her excited him on some primal level he never knew existed. Intrigued, he followed the lingering trace to the bite mark still healing on her neck. A shiver moved through her when his lips and then his tongue brushed it. Declan paused only for a moment to consider if she trembled at the memory of his bite or at the thought of him doing it again, before tasting his way back to her lips. If he allowed himself to go there, he'd be at her throat, her vein, once more. Gods knew his body needed it. But as mad and lost as he may be, some part of him knew if he ever wanted to be free from this place, from her, he could not afford to go there again. She'd already nettled her way under his skin after one sample. He wasn't sure if he'd survive another.
By the time he sealed his lips over hers, a harrowing notion--that the woman beneath him was the root cause, not only of his capture and perhaps even the death of his parents, but the inner turmoil and unrest deep within his soul--transmitted in only a mute echo in the far recess of his brain. Which made sense, since the driving need pulsing in his core signaled most of his cognitive brain cells had shot southward with a vengeance.
A hand clutched his shoulder, holding him in place and pulling him closer at the same time. One of her thighs lifted higher on his hip, the cool leather sweeping across his heated flesh and sending a shiver up his spine. Painfully hard, he finally allowed his weight to sink into her hips. The little vampire moaned in his mouth. He swallowed the sound, feeling it run straight to his tightening balls.
ALEXIA HEARD D ECLAN'S GROAN, felt him harden against her inner thigh. For the first time, the prospect of what came next sent only white-hot need through her veins instead of icy fear.
Suddenly, the insistent beat of approaching footsteps sounded down the hall. Alexia frowned. Footsteps meant sundown, which meant...
"Guards!" She hushed, pushing hard on his chest. A pained moan tore from him when her hand grazed his injury. Yet he still managed to haul himself upright and take her with him seconds before Ivan walked through the doors. Alexia ran a hand through her tousled hair and tried to calm her ragged breathing.
The soldier's sunglass-shielded gaze panned the room, instantly settling on them. Their thighs, just brushing one another, their shoulders, turned decidedly inward, and then their faces, no doubt a study in guilt.
Alexia sucked in a breath and scooted away from Declan's side. Flustered, she flexed the hand covering her dagger. Placing it in the holster at her lower back, she shoved off the floor. Brushing off her pants, she did not dare hazard a glance back down at Declan.
Declan.
His name repeated in her mind, causing an unwitting smile to tweak her lips. She knew his name now, knew his scent, his taste. Unconsciously, she lifted her fingertips to her mouth. Her lips burned with the searing memory of his kisses. Alexia didn't have to look back to know he was wearing a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin. That he looked too sexy by half, even covered in dried blood and filth.
"What were you doing?" Ivan's narrowed eyes looked from the cell to her face.
"Interrogating him, what do you think?"
A dark eyebrow lifted over the frame of his glasses. "Well, you're wanted above ground," he said, before turning to retrieve whatever he'd been sent down
there for in the first place.
"Above ground?"
"Yes." He lifted two crossbows on his shoulder. "There is something going on out there you need to see."
CHAPTER EIGHT
ALEXIA STEPPED INTO the turbulent night. Crisp sea air purged her lungs of the stale scent of the compound. Now, if only it would purge her mind, she thought with a groan. Tightening her coat around her neck, she followed the dirt path around the cavern to the cliff's edge Ivan had told her about.
One hundred feet below, the riotous ocean beat against rocks and sand, drowning out any other sounds. Tucking an unruly lock behind her ear, Alexia stepped alongside the scouts, looming at the edge of the cliff.
"What is it, soldier?"
Without turning around, Markov reached back, holding something in his outstretched hand. Alexia grabbed binoculars and set the device to her eyes, pointing them in the direction he looked. The sophisticated display monitor flashed, the bright red bull's-eye locking on to targets moving alongside a cliff not a hundred feet away. Her blood gelled.
"Dragons," the soldier stated.
"I can see that."
"What do you think they are doing?"
"It's obvious they are looking for something," she said, trying to sound unconcerned as she tossed the binoculars back. "Or someone."
Or both.
At the thought, Alexia tightened her arms around her. Goddess, what should she do? Her mind leapt from one possibility to the next. Most of the outcomes were brutal. She needed time to think. "Inform me when they either leave or move within range," she said, turning back around.
"You're leaving?" one scout said.
"Without doing anything?" said the other.
At their questions, Alexia looked over her shoulder. "Do we have a problem?"
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