The Dragon Master

by Allyson James

  Carol leaned against Seth, liking how strong his hard body felt. His music in her head was comforting, a chord that told her I am here, don't worry.

  "Stay with me." she said softly.

  She tightened the threads between them as she spoke, her body instinctively commanding him. His eyes went flinty, and his comforting music faded.

  She relaxed the pull, deliberately keeping the threads loose. "Please."

  She thought he'd refuse. She thought he'd walk away in frigid anger, his dragon ire flaring.

  She stopped herself from reaching for him when he stood up, but instead of leaving her, he peeled off his shirt and dropped it to the floor.

  Carol let herself get lost in looking at the beauty of him. Red hair dusted his chest and drew to a point above his navel. The waistband of his jeans dipped enticingly low. revealing the ends of the tattoo on his hips.

  Seth sat on the bed and touched her face, brushing away tears with his blunt fingers.

  Carol felt a stir of heat, but her emotions were still too agitated, the dream too fresh, for sex. She knew she could lose her fears by having Seth make love to her, but she didn't want that�sex to make her forget.

  She wanted it to be special. She wanted to have nothing in her mind when they had sex but Seth and his hard body.

  She straightened the pillows, and he didn't offer to help, making her realize he'd never used a bed before. "How do you usually sleep?" she asked.

  "Curled up."

  Carol suddenly imagined his naked body tucked into itself with his head on his bent arm. His smooth skin would gleam, his breath rising and falling with his deep sleep.

  "Tonight will you curl up with me?" She asked softly.

  For answer, Seth stretched out on the bed. He was already barefoot, having shucked his boots and socks as soon as they'd come home, as though he didn't like not feeling the floor with his feet.

  Still in his jeans, he pulled her against him, spooning himself against her back.

  Carol pulled the cool sheets over them, feeling his hardness through his jeans and her nightgown. For some reason the sensation was both exciting and reassuring.

  "Thank you," she murmured.

  He put his warm hand on her abdomen and pressed a kiss to her hair. "Sleep now."

  His words, his body, and his warmth released a tension inside her, and Carol relaxed. He was still slowly kneading her belly when she fell asleep.

  * * *

  Chapter Eight

  Carol cracked her eyes open to find sunlight streaming through the slats of her designer shutters and her large digital clock reading 8:00 a.m.

  "Crap," she muttered.

  She turned over and bumped into the warm weight of Seth. He lay facedown beside her, and the covers had slid down to bare his back.

  The nightmare and its frightening images were gone, and all she could think of was that an absolutely gorgeous red-haired man lay next to her in her bed.

  She rose on her elbow and brushed her fingers over his taut back. She liked his smooth, warm skin, the contained power of his muscles. The jeans cupped the round of his buttocks, and the flame tattoo peeped above the waistband.

  He'd been a beautiful dragon, and he was a beautiful man. The universe had decided to stuff that dragon beauty into an ideal human male body, and Carol couldn't find fault with the universe's choice.

  He didn't move a muscle, but Carol felt the music in her head change as his dark eyes slowly opened.

  "Don't stop," he rumbled, his voice soft with sleep. "I like that."

  Encouraged, Carol glided her fingertips across the small of his back, tracing the pattern of the flame.

  "I wonder why the tattoo?" she asked, half to herself.

  "It's my dragon essence. That's where it's contained when I'm human."

  "Like Malcolm's tattoo on his arm." She'd seen it but thought it simply male decoration. "There's so much I don't know about dragons."

  "I don't know much about humans," he returned.

  Carol traced the edges of the flame again, but it felt no different than a tattoo on normal skin�not that she was in the habit of touching men's tattoos. This was her first.

  She trailed her fingers up his spine, enjoying the firm feel of his back and shoulder blades. His tousled hair was like rough silk, warm with sleep.

  He lay still and watched her. His irises were a little wider than a human's, darkness swallowing the white. She could drown in his eyes. She touched his face, feeling the burn of whiskers.

  He didn't move until she lifted her hand away, and then he rose on his elbows. His body was warm, and his chest bore creases where the sheet had marked him.

  "Now I want to touch you."

  His low voice rippled warmth through her, which burned hotter when he tugged at the sleeve of her nightgown. "Take this off."

  "You're pushy for someone who claims he's my slave."

  "Now. I want to see you."

  The room grew brighter by the minute as Pacific sunshine streamed in through her half-open shutters. Carol had never taken off her clothes for a man in broad daylight�her encounters had always been of the nighttime variety. She wasn't ashamed of her body, because she worked to keep herself in good shape, but that didn't mean she was anxious to throw off her clothes under a man's scrutiny.

  Now without hesitation she slipped the nightgown over her head and dropped it on the floor. She wore nothing underneath.

  Seth's look was like a caress. "Lie down," he said. "On your stomach."

  Carol lay facedown, cradling her pillow under her chest.

  He brushed his fingertips over her buttocks. "You're so soft," he murmured.

  She turned her head on the pillow and watched him trace each cheek of her backside, then draw his fingers along her hips. She gasped when he bent down and followed the same path with his tongue.

  Seth's breath warmed her back as he licked all the way up her spine to the base of her neck. He let her hair flow through his fingers then nuzzled it.

  His body heated hers as his tongue found places she'd never known could feel so erotic. His fingers were surprisingly callused�perhaps the magic that shaped him had kept the roughness that came from living on desert rock.

  He moved his hands and lips under her hair, down her neck. He worked his way to her buttocks again, stroking and kneading.

  He nibbled her skin, and she let out a low moan when his tongue flicked across where he'd bitten. "What are you doing?"

  "Do humans not use their teeth on each other?" he murmured into her skin.

  "They do�I guess. No one's ever used them on me. Do dragons?"

  "A mother nips her young to discipline them or to reassure them. And a dragon may nip his mate."

  "Do you have a mate?"

  "Not yet."

  He lifted her foot and licked the arch. Her fingers curled into her pillow, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

  No man had ever touched her like this�so thoroughly, so playfully. He knelt behind her and lowered his head to lick the backs of her ankles, making her gasp and squirm.

  "Do you not like that?" he asked.

  She could barely breathe. "Of course I like it."

  He licked his way up to the backs of her knees. "I like the way you taste."

  "Good," she said weakly.

  When he reached her thighs the tickling, squirmy sensation inside her gave way to something darker. Her opening tightened, and she suddenly wanted to press herself hard against the sheets.

  He licked her buttocks again, then his hot breath danced on her spine. As he moved up her back this time, he slid carefully on top of her, his chest on her back. He lifted her hair, kissing her neck to her ear.

  She turned her head, and his lips met hers, but he kept the kiss brief. One swirl of his tongue, then he was moving back down to her buttocks.

  "Turn over," he said.

  Carol was sweating, but she rolled over, torn between shyness and excitement. She spread her legs a little, amazed at her own boldn
ess but at the same time wanting him to see her. If she was the first human woman he'd ever looked at, she wanted him to like what he saw.

  Seth studied her with his head tilted, dragonlike. He let his dark gaze rove over her, occasionally reaching out to touch�a flick across her tight nipple, the backs of his fingers down her arm, his palm across her belly.

  He drew a light finger through the curls between her legs, his gaze moving there. "You're very hot," he said. "And wet."

  "That's because you're touching me. Driving me insane."

  "Why?" He sounded genuinely curious, but she noticed he didn't stop swirling his fingertip.

  "You're making me want you."

  "To mate with me?"

  "Yes, to mate with you, if that's what you want to call it."

  He lifted his finger away, but only to lean down and lick between her breasts. "You taste salty."

  "That's normal."

  "I like it." He led with his tongue to her nipple and swirled around it. "You like this."

  "Yes."

  He circled the nipple again, then tentatively tugged it with his teeth. When she groaned, he sucked it into his mouth.

  He pleasured her perfectly. She loved how his black lashes curled against his cheek as his eyes closed, loved how his mouth worked as he suckled and nibbled.

  He moved lower, swiping a kiss at her navel as he went. When he moved his tongue over the damp curls between her legs she dragged in a raw breath.

  "Seth, oh God."

  This time he didn't ask if she liked it or didn't. He simply danced his tongue over her.

  Carol had never been much for oral sex, regarding it as a much more intimate act than sex itself, and she'd never been comfortable with that level of intimacy.

  She quickly changed her mind as Seth licked and teased her, pressing her legs apart so he could find more and more of her.

  Carol stretched out her arms, biting her lip to stifle her groans. Seth slid his hands under her buttocks and lifted her, licking her over and over as though he couldn't get enough.

  He raised his head, his eyes dark as midnight. "I want more."

  "Are you trying to kill me?"

  "Am I hurting you?"

  "I was joking," She reached for him. "Please, Seth."

  She wasn't sure what she was asking for, but he seemed to understand. He lowered himself again and used his teeth and tongue to pleasure her in ways she'd never known were possible. When he licked from her clit to her opening and jabbed his tongue inside, she screamed.

  He started to raise his head, but she locked her hand around his neck, holding him fast. He got the idea and continued to lick and suck, moving from her sheath to clit and back again.

  Dark fire burned her every limb. Her world focused on Seth's mouth, his beautiful mouth which pleasured her as she'd never been pleasured before. Not one man in her life�and she could count the men she'd been to bed with on one hand�had made her feel like this.

  She screamed again, her orgasm taking her over. She felt her body gyrating, out of control, and never in her life had Carol been out of control.

  Seth held her with firm hands and kept torturing her with his mouth. She was still gasping when he rose over her again.

  "I want you," he growled.

  "Fine with me."

  She heard the buzz of his zipper, then he pushed and kicked his jeans down his legs. He raised up on his hands and knees, his cock hanging heavy and hard between his legs.

  He positioned himself on top of her and moved unerringly to her opening. He slid smoothly inside, all the way, until he lay face-to-face with her, his dark eyes fixed on her.

  He filled her so full she thought she wouldn't be able to take it, but she wanted to take him. She lifted her hips, encouraging more.

  It was a beautiful feeling. He stretched her, and she spread her legs wider, loving his hardness deep inside her.

  His eyes half closed as he kissed her face. "I don't know what to do."

  "You're doing fine. Believe me."

  "I want to thrust. But I don't want to hurt you."

  "I don't think it will hurt." But he was big. It might.

  Seth closed his eyes as though he couldn't hear her any more. He balled his fists on the sheets beside her and moved his hips the slightest bit.

  Carol's head went back on the pillows. "Like that," she whispered. "Just like that."

  He opened his eyes as his body took over, and he focused on her face, watching her as he moved. She saw him grow more used to it, relaxing into the rhythm.

  The room hummed with the noises of sex, his hoarse breathing, her soft moans, the gentle slap of skin meeting skin.

  "Seth," she whispered, simply wanting to hear his name.

  The music that was his true name swelled and danced in her head. The threads that bound them together glowed and meshed in perfect alignment until she swore that both of them sparkled with fire.

  Seth's climax took him by surprise. His eyes widened and he shouted her name, and at the same time his music swelled in a rousing crescendo. Their music melded in a cacophony of sound and lights, and Carol felt her skin burning.

  Seth drove himself into her a few more times, the muscles of his arms tight. Another spark of fire jumped from him to her, so searing hot that Carol screamed.

  At the sound Seth backed out of her fast, but he fell heavily beside her, his arm around her and his mouth on hers.

  And then everything went still. The digital clock hummed faintly by her bedside, traffic hissed gently on the street below, and somewhere in another apartment, a phone was ringing.

  Seth lay nose to nose with her, his eyes half-closed but holding a look of wonder. "Is it always so strong?"

  "Sex?" she murmured. "No. But then that was my first time with a dragon."

  They lay in stillness for a few moments, absorbing what had just happened. Carol felt good, stretched, happy.

  "What was that burning feeling?" she asked. "I feel it a tiny bit when you kiss me, but that time it was intense."

  "My dragon fire."

  "Which is what?"

  "A fire dragon's power. A little of it entered you."

  "It didn't hurt. I was more like�" She trailed off. "I don't know. Not pain, but intense."

  "I controlled it. If it entered you completely, it would burn you up."

  Carol smiled shakily. "One way of ridding yourself of a pesky Dragon Master."

  "I have no wish to hurt you."

  "But you'd be free."

  He shrugged, his broad shoulders moving.

  He was telling her, essentially, that he could have killed her as they coupled. The thought should terrify her, but Carol felt too numb and contented right now to contemplate it. She wondered how close he'd come to losing control, and whether he could while she bound him.

  "I should go to work," she said.

  "Why?"

  A good question. There were a million reasons why�every day at every restaurant, a hundred things could go wrong. For everything that went wrong, a customer could turn to the competition.

  She still couldn't move. "It's what I always do."

  "It's safe here. Dangerous out there."

  Carol felt safe. Seth was wrapped protectively around her and so was the music in her head, which hadn't receded since they'd stopped.

  The wards Axel and Seth had drawn shimmered over the windows. Though she'd never seen such things before, they gave her a feeling of safety, just like she'd felt with Ming Ue and Shaiming had when she'd been a child.

  "I have a business to run," she said without much conviction.

  Seth's hand drifted to her breast, and she closed her eyes to savor the feeling. When Seth kissed her neck, his hardness nudged her and any appeal her office held died a swift death.

  She reached for her phone and punched the number, smiling when Francesca cried, "Carol, did you know it's nine thirty?"

  "Close the office and take the day off," Carol answered. "In fact, take the rest of the week o
ff. We'll start again bright and early on Monday morning."

  Francesca went silent. Carol pictured her with her dark brows drawn behind her red glasses. "Are you feeling all right?"

  "Perfectly fine. Has anyone tried to come and see me this morning?"

  "There was one man, yes. He didn't stay�in fact he didn't even come in, just stared at me through the door. He wasn't on your schedule. Did you want to see him?" Francesca's tone held reproach that Carol had started scheduling things without telling her.

  Carol felt a qualm of worry. "What did he look like? Was he one of the investors from yesterday?"

  "No. He had long white hair, but he wasn't an old man. He wore a business suit, looked professional enough. I gestured for him to come in, but he just stood there with his hand on the handle. When a security guard came by, he turned around and hurried away."

  Carol sat up. "Don't speak to him if you see him again. Take some time off�as much as you need. Why don't you go visit your sister?"

  Francesca's voice changed. "That would be nice." Her sister lived in a little town on the northern California coast with five children, all of whom Francesca adored. The town was also sufficiently remote that Francesca might be spared the danger that was stalking Carol.

  "Are you sure you're all right?" Francesca repeated. "There isn't something you're not telling me?"

  "I have some family business to take care of, and there's no reason for you to wait around for me to get finished. Let's close the office and I'll see you on Monday."

  "All right, I'll lock up and go. Thank you."

  Carol hung up the phone.

  "An incubus?" Seth asked. He'd obviously heard the entire conversation.

  "He didn't go in."

  "Because I put my mark on the office," Seth said. "So did Zhen."

  "Like those?" Carol pointed to the still glowing symbols above her windows.

  "Very similar. No demons will enter."

  "Is that why I feel so safe?"

  He kissed her fingers. "It's my task to keep you safe."

  "Because I hold you with your true name?"