by Ophelia Bell
Evie smiled absently. “I know 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 awake 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, no matter what his sister claimed.
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 descending sun illuminated them both again.
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 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-Four
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. Only it hadn’t been her brothers who mattered. The Void was supposed to be the go-between, yet he’d ultimately been the man who would save them both.
* * *
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, dark 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, peel
ing 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 was once Sayid’s favorite.
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. He was only going to ask her to speak to the Dragon Council at first, but why stop there?
“I need you to get a message to this so-called Void. Tell him to find Iszak and Lukas North. Their sister is alive.”
“Where is she?” the woman asked, growing still, her eyes narrowing with a calculating look Marcus saw right through. He needed Evie’s brothers to know she lived, but he wasn’t prepared to risk giving away the precise location of the Ultiori facility. If the messenger were caught with that information he would be risking Evie’s life.
“She’s in North America. Tell him to let fucking Fate guide him. Do you understand?” He shook 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.
“All right. I’ll come back here on this same date in six years. I expect to hear that you delivered the message.”
She nodded and reached to the floor for her dress, tugging it swiftly over her head. When Marcus stood, she eyed his bulging crotch and gave him a small smile. “You can let me take care of you, too, if you would like. As a thank you for not capturing me?”
Marcus merely shook his head. “Six years,” he said again and walked out the door.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Marcus
Dragon Monastery, Sunda Islands
Present Day
Evie’s moans of climax reverberated in Marcus’s mind loud enough to make him aware of the renewed connection between himself and his savior. His fingers clenched, skin tingling at the phantom sensation of her tight channel and hot, wet fluids coating Ked’s fingers as they penetrated her.
It was as though Marcus was with her himself, doing these things to her, and he groaned out loud at the unmistakable ache that plagued his groin. He only ever got that hard around Evie, but there was a new aspect to his craving. Something inside him reached out, not for the connection with Evie, but for the man who Marcus was somehow inexorably linked to. Marcus wanted to thank him, and to tell him to take care of Evie, the way Marcus was unable to. He wanted something else, too, but the craving was new and alien to him. So alien he couldn’t quite process it, so he focused on the need to express his gratitude.
“I can hear you,” Ked’s already familiar, deep voice resonated in his mind. “Like I told you before, you are part of me now, so we can communicate at will. You can’t block me out if I don’t wish you to.”
“Then you have to know I’m through with this world. Please, let me die. My strength is gone, and she has you now. I’m at peace now that she’s safe.”
“You’ll regain your strength, if you are willing to live and let me help you,” Ked said.
Marcus didn’t want to hear more. With the force of the last vestiges of dark power he had possessed for fifty years, he cloaked his mind to block out the voice again. He could still sense Ked’s presence lingering in the shadows of his thoughts, but the black dragon thankfully stayed silent.
With Evie’s warmth lingering on his skin and her scent in his nostrils, Marcus closed his eyes and let himself revisit the night he’d wished had been their last night together.
* * *
He’d returned to the Shanghai night club six years to the day after his first visit, as promised. The blue dragon he’d convinced to carry his message was nowhere to be found.
Sitting at the bar, he ordered the same drink he’d ordered before and scowled around, seeking out the blue of her aura among the myriad flickering energies of the humans that filled the large room. He even scanned the opaque glass of the windows along the second floor, wondering if she lay hidden in one of the VIP suites above. His senses picked up other dragons, but none of their auras were familiar to him.
Fucking hell. Had she screwed him over after all?
Just when he was about to give up, an attractive, dark-haired man seated himself on the barstool to Marcus’s left.
“All the dragons in here are aware of your presence, Elite,” the man said in a low voice. “We’ve been expecting you.”
Marcus stiffened and set his gaze on the man’s face. “I hope they know better than to act. You don’t want the human patrons to find out what this meat market really is to you guys. Your choices would be exposure of your kind, or insanity for the humans in here.” His brows drew together as he studied
the man’s somewhat familiar features. He wasn’t the person Marcus had hoped to meet, but he had to be related to the woman he’d given his message to. He had the same sleek, black hair, refined features, and vivid blue eyes, though his cheekbones were heavier, his jaw wider, and his eyes rounder.
“We’re not foolish enough to try to take you,” he said, his tone calm, but his tension betrayed by the rigid set of his shoulders. “Besides, I admit I’m curious why you entrusted my mother with such a valuable message. She gave up her last reserves of energy to ensure the message was delivered. Power that would have been my inheritance. In the end, I was the one who had to endure the scrutiny of the First Shadow in order to fulfill my mother’s dying wish. You spared her, so she felt obligated to follow through, even after her death.”
“You’re her son. Of course.” Marcus had forgotten how significant the timing was. The woman would not have been able to wait for the Ascension. Each subsequent generation of dragons gave up their lives every five hundred years, leaving the last of their power as a legacy to their offspring. “How long has it been since she died?”
“A little over a year. We Ascended shortly after her death, and I came home to find her message.” The man let out a sigh and took a slow swallow of his drink. He cast his glimmering blue eyes to Marcus. “You’re one of them, but you’re not loyal. That makes me very curious. Care to explain why you entrusted my mother with your message?”
“I just need to know that it was delivered.”
The man’s jaw clenched and he stared down at his drink. “It was. I hope like hell the sacrifice we made to do so was worth it. The First Shadow seemed particularly interested in the details when I delivered it. He told me…” The man’s eyes went foggy and he shivered. “He thanked me and said he would reward me once he retrieved the woman mentioned in the message.”
