Matching Dragons Chinese Zodiac Romance Series Book 6

by Rachael Slate

“You’re…beautiful,” she whispered, awed. Every inch of him screamed power and seduction, calling to some deep yearning within her. His mouth curled in satisfaction, almost like a cocky grin. Yep, that was definitely Lok.

  “This is kind of awkward, but exactly how old are you?” Please don’t be creepy ancient.

  “Old enough to know how to make you scream in pleasure.”

  Not an answer, but judging from his thirty-ish human form, he couldn’t be that old. Her cheeks flushed. Okay, so he did have a point. His age didn’t matter as much as their connection.

  “Can you breathe fire?”

  “Yes, but it requires a ton of energy. We only spew fire as a last resort.”

  That explained why he didn’t scorch the other dragon. Both Xur and the princess had called her a flaming pearl. The term pinged in her mind, conjuring up an image of a dragon chasing a ball of light. “Am I what he said I am?” Biting her lip, she focused on the wall behind him.

  “Yes.” A flash and he shifted into human form once more. “You are a flaming pearl, Kadence. A powerful being that all dragons covet. Though usually, they take the form of inanimate objects, not humans. You are a rare treasure.”

  Wow, that was…a lot to take in. “So it’s true that more dragons are coming for me?” She flicked her gaze to his.

  “No.” He cleared his throat. “They don’t know about you. They’re coming. For me.”

  “Because they think you did what Xur said. Killed your family?”

  He didn’t answer, but grief filled her heart. For his loss. How awful that must have been, to not only lose one’s family, but be blamed for their deaths?

  Mel. Yeah, she could empathize, all right.

  “I’m so sorry.” It didn’t seem like enough. Even though Lok had learned the truth, it wouldn’t change the past.

  “That’s why you’ve been hiding your strength. Why you didn’t save yourself during the Lotus test.” He didn’t answer and he didn’t have to. Her suspicions had proven true. Lok was far more formidable than he’d ever let the world know.

  “What are you going to do now?”

  He strode to a golden chest beside the wall, lifted the lid, and pulled out something. Though his back was to her, she twisted, trying to watch. The point of a needle glinted against the flickering torchlight. She edged backward, but he transformed into a dragon and plunged the needle into his clawed leg, drawing blood.

  Dragon blood. Her lips parted and her hand trembled as she covered her mouth. Shifting back into a human, he faced her, the vial of his blood offered on his palm. “Go and save your sister.”

  She stared at the vial, but something about taking it seemed final.

  Like, if she did, she might never see Lok again. Her sister had been sick for a long time. A few hours wouldn’t make any difference. But if she let Lok walk away without trying to save him, he really would be lost to her. Forever.

  She perched her hands on her hips. “What about after that?”

  Pain flickered across his eyes before he lowered his lashes. “Xur is gone, so I don’t have proof.” He shook his head. “It’s the only way,” he murmured to himself, then lifted his gaze to hers. “I have to protect you. Xur may be dead, but every living dragon will hunt you until they claim you. They will kill everything in their path. Your sister would not be safe.”

  Every dragon? “What about you? You haven’t—”

  “I would.” The ice in his voice raked across her skin. “Make no mistake, Kadence. Now that I’m a dragon once more, I will covet you. Fiercely.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I’m a dragon, and one thing you should know about dragons is that we love treasures. You, Kadence, are the greatest of them all. You’re a flaming pearl. The only weakness a dragon has.” His eyes swirled, blue mixed with black. “The greatest transgression for my kind is to kill one of our own, but we would massacre each other to get to you. Until you are claimed, you will never be safe. If you are claimed by the wrong dragon, you’ll be locked away. Forever.”

  Claimed. Wrong dragon. “You’re going to claim me.” Kadence clamped her hand against her mouth. She tried to swallow and couldn’t, the air frozen in her lungs. After he claimed her, how exactly was he planning to protect her from himself? “You’re planning to sacrifice yourself? No. You can’t do that.” This was crazy talk. The worst plan she’d ever heard. “I won’t let you do that.”

  Setting the vial atop the chest, he took one step forward. Then another, stalking toward her. “And I won’t let you sacrifice your freedom.” Leaning in, he inhaled against her hair. “You have no idea what it would be like to be mine.”

  She tilted her chin, a shudder quivering across her skin. “Try me.”

  ***

  Her pouty pink lips offered Lok a challenge he couldn’t resist. Suppress and deny as he might, he wanted Kadence. He craved the flaming pearl, but he yearned for the entrancing human female.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you’re a dragon? I would have kept your secret.”

  “I wanted you to choose me. Not the dragon or the pearl, just Lok and Kadence.” Speaking the words solidified his resolve. He’d come to care for her, deeply, and he would do everything in his power to protect her.

  Even from himself.

  As her rosy tongue swept across her lush lips, moistening them to a glisten, his reasoning abandoned him. Lok snared his hand around the back of her head, drawing her mouth to his.

  Her sweet gasp and moan sang in his ears while his tongue delved inside her silken mouth. He flicked his tongue against hers, savoring her sweetness, then pulled back. “Would you grant a dying dragon’s last wish?”

  “What is that?”

  “To love you.”

  “Oh, Lok. Yes.” She tangled her fingers in his hair and tugged his mouth onto hers. Kadence was passionate, as fiery as the flaming pearl pulsing inside her. He tasted them both and savored the sweet fragrance of pure power flowing through her veins.

  How ironic, to have lived this long, only to die to protect the one thing he would have lived forever for.

  Death for a dragon wasn’t the same as for a human. Like Xur, he would explode into a thousand tiny particles to be reabsorbed into the universe. No reincarnation. No Dìyù—eighteen levels of Hell—to redeem him for rebirth.

  Death was the ultimate end. And yet, his siblings hadn’t even been granted their rightful end. Since Xur had torn out their hearts, their bodies had been left to decay like mere mortal corpses. A vile insult added to the villainous transgression.

  Kadence didn’t have to know Lok’s fate. For this moment, he would cherish her as a dragon yearned to. He would commit to memory every second, and if the gods were merciful, their love would form a sparkling cloud in the atmosphere.

  She clawed at his shoulder, pressing their bodies closer together. His hardness rubbed against her, desperate to connect.

  Funny how the verge of death brought clarity to one’s mind. He’d finally earned her trust, but it wouldn’t be enough.

  Not enough to save him, or to give them a future.

  Would she have been better off if he’d let those vines strangle him during the Lotus test? No, if anything, at least he could give her the parting gift of his protection.

  Lok caressed his hand down her throat, across the full curve of her breast, and dipped his fingers under the hem of her skirt. Tearing aside silk lace panties, he found her silken heat and thrust two fingers inside. Kadence’s wetness slicked his fingers, her whimpers chiming in his ears.

  The other dragons would locate them, likely before dawn. But in this one moment, he would claim her. He’d sample everything he’d forbidden himself to crave.

  He drew his fingers out of her. “Take off your clothes. Slowly.” Lok stepped backward and sank onto a cushion, spreading his thighs wide to accommodate his throbbing cock.

  From everything he’d studied about her, he judged Kadence hadn’t slept with many men who knew what they were doing. Hard an
d fast, they probably didn’t take a beat to worship the beautiful creature she was.

  He wouldn’t make that mistake. Hell, maybe this was his other parting gift. To give her the night of her life.

  She drew her bottom lip into her mouth, a flash of her white teeth gleaming. Then slowly, hesitation in her movements, she slipped her pink top down her shoulders. Nudging the fabric over her bare breasts, she slid it, along with her skirt, below her curvy hips. The clothes pooled at her ankles and she stepped out of them.

  Naked before him, she was a vision that made his ballocks swell to the point of pain. “Beautiful.” He nodded, his admiration skimming over every inch of her pale, pearly skin. She clasped her right wrist in her left hand, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Damn. A woman like her ought to know how exquisite she was.

  He detected her thick swallow, her shallow breaths. She waited patiently while he explored her with his perusal. Fingering the dragon chain around his neck, he rose. She tracked him with her gaze, eyes dilated in hungry anticipation, as though she suspected exactly how much pleasure he would give her.

  He plucked her wrists and snapped the chain around them. Then he nudged her backward, toward the stone wall. A metal loop was fastened to the stone above their heads. He threaded the chain through the loop and yanked. She gasped as her hands lifted above her head, wrists bound together. Quirking his lips, he wound the other end once again around her wrists, leaving enough length to play out his wicked desires with her.

  Yeah, dragons had a thing for vestal offerings. While Kadence wasn’t a virgin, she was pure. Raw. Seductive.

  Leaning in close, he didn’t touch her. Instead, he sank to his knees and inhaled against her, the perfume of her skin tempting him to the edge of passion.

  Viewing her here like this, chained to his wall, a nude, priceless offering, satisfied a deep hunger inside him. If the dark call to covet her were to win out, he might keep her like this.

  Forever.

  Which was why he couldn’t let it. Kadence was more than a treasure to be displayed in his vault.

  But try telling that to a dragon.

  His nature warred with his desires, but in the end, they were the same.

  Want her.

  Lok gripped her hips and pushed her thighs apart, baring her glistening pink pussy to his admiration. A quiver traveled through her limbs, confirming her need was as great as his.

  He pressed his thumb to her bud, her moans rumbling in her throat. The chain clinked as she writhed against the wall, rubbing into his palm.

  Her hips bucked, her pants deepening. He thrust his fingers inside her, two then three, pumping into her slick sheath to the rhythm of her clamping around him. Her cries echoed off the stones as her greedy sex spasmed around his fingers, her hips rotating to ride him through the waves.

  Her bucking subsided, her legs collapsing in his grasp. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her bud, then rose to press another to her mouth.

  This wouldn’t do. This was a dragon’s will, chaining her to a wall and pleasuring her for his own entertainment. Yet he was helpless to deny his nature.

  He slid his hand between them and squeezed himself, groaning at his pulsing shaft that demanded more. To be inside her, to complete his connection with her.

  Ripping open the front of his pants, he freed his length.

  “Yes, please.” Kadence’s soft pleas feathered across his ears, her breaths airy and light.

  “Please what?”

  “I want you. Inside me.” Her hips undulated toward him, rocking into his and cradling his erection against her soft heat.

  “Ah, but you don’t get to make demands, Kadence.” He nipped at her ear and grinned as she shivered at the contact. Fisting himself, he took a step backward. Her greedy gaze followed his movements, her eyes flashing that pearly hue.

  Her legs rubbed together, and he sensed her desperation to be filled. His need was deeper, too, than with any human female he’d fucked.

  Kadence was meant to be his. Even if only for one night.

  Kadence pressed her legs together, wetness slicking her thighs. She’d never been this desperate for any guy. What the hell kind of power did Lok possess over her? Was this the pearl and dragon connection he’d talked about?

  If so, heaven help her, because she’d never be satisfied with anyone else. She added “stubborn” to Lok’s list of mysterious-now-dragon traits. Despite her arguments, he was intent on sacrificing himself.

  For me.

  The hell he would. She was already responsible for her sister’s curse. She refused to add him to her guilt list. There had to be a way out of this.

  And she’d figure one out… After he’d made love to her as intensely as his erotic stance suggested he would.

  He continued to grip his long, thick shaft, slowly caressing those large, rough fingers along his length.

  Damn, if only he’d unchain her and let her finish him off. But Lok appeared to have other ideas.

  As much as she’d hated these chains earlier, the notion of being beneath Lok’s complete control tantalized her mind. The cocky curve of his mouth and the seductive glint in those dark blue depths promised a night of pleasures to last her a lifetime.

  She’d rather have the lifetime.

  Damn him.

  Lok stalked toward her, his heated gaze caressing every inch of her, and making her feel as coveted as he claimed she would be.

  If I were his.

  Would it be so bad? As bad as he threatened?

  Her entire life, no one had ever taken care of her. She’d been both big sister and mom to Mel. The idea of letting go, of knowing someone would be there to catch her and keep her safe, well, it wasn’t so hard to accept.

  Lok flashed toward her, pressing up behind her. His rigid erection was impossible to ignore as it shoved into the small of her back. He stroked one hand down her side, stopping on her hip. She opened her mouth to beg him to take her, but swallowed her pleas. Instead, she shifted on her feet, nudging her legs open a little wider.

  Hopefully, he’d take the hint.

  A growl rumbled in his chest, reminding her of precisely how feral he was. Her penchant for supernatural beings was definitely fulfilled in him. No creature was more powerful, or more mysterious, than a dragon.

  He inhaled against her hair, wrenching her backward into his hard body. His heat enveloped her, a comforting yet enticing presence. Familiar, and yet full of secrets she hoped he would soon share.

  His other hand slipped over her right breast, massaging until heaviness swelled against her pebbled nipple. The anticipation was going to kill her. His left hand skimmed downward, across her nub, and delved inside her, easing in all four fingers. The fullness released some of the flaming tension, but she wouldn’t be satisfied until she claimed him. All of him.

  He groaned as he pressed kisses to her throat. Good, at least this was torture for him too.

  She arched her back, trying to rock her hips and coax him to thrust inside her.

  He stilled his fingers. “Fuck, Kadence. Stop that.”

  “Stop what? This?” She undulated again, the heat of his cock gliding along the curve of her spine.

  “Is this what you want? A taste of your own medicine, then.” His thick length slid in between the curves of her ass, but instead of plunging inside her, he thrust along her pussy, a few hard strokes before grunting into her ear. He pulled out from between her thighs and wetness exploded across her ass, evaporating like falling snowflakes.

  ***

  Heaving, Lok gasped in deep lungfuls as he squeezed his tip, milking every second of release from his body.

  His arousal didn’t abate though. He tapped the solid head against Kadence’s finely toned ass, growing even harder.

  “How can you still be har—”

  “Dragon, remember?” He chuckled low in her ear. “Forget everything you’ve learned from your pathetic human lovers.” Sliding his hands to grip her hips, he nudged her open, and
slowly, pressed the tip of himself into her opening.

  The chains clanged against the stone as she writhed against him. “Steady.” He growled against her, holding her firm while he retreated.

  Her whimpers protested, but she’d soon have him. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder and sank forward again, edging a little deeper. Even with working her hard, she was bloody tight, a sweet vice around him, luring him inside her.

  Wet and warm. Soft yet tight resistance.

  “If I take you too roughly, I’ll hurt you.” He feathered his lips across her neck. “Dragons are better endowed than humans.” Chuckling, he eased back out again.

  “That’s a little—”

  He thrust hard, halfway into her.

  “Okay, large,” she panted, “boast.”

  Instead of retreating, he sank even deeper. “Do you deny it?”

  Her airy squeak was approval enough. Lok shoved forward, the thrust flattening her against the wall as he claimed every inch of her.

  The air expelled from her chest.

  He dropped his head to plant his forehead against her back, stilling inside her, giving her time to adjust. He probably should have done that more gently, but she’d egged him on.

  Vixen.

  My vixen.

  A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He waited while she seized in a shaky inhale, blowing the air out softly.

  She shifted on her feet, her hips rolling against him, as though testing the rigidity of their connection, her sex adapting to accommodate his size.

  It was utter bliss being enclosed in her sweet heat. He could stay like this forever. Even though his shaft ached and his hips itched to thrust, he wouldn’t take her like this. He wanted to watch the ecstasy flow across her beautiful features.

  Lok unclasped the chains, but didn’t remove them from one of her wrists. Despite her obvious willingness, his dragon nature yearned to covet and keep her.

  He spread his hands across her full breasts, cupping their heavy weight and tweaking her pert nipples, before skimming his fingers lower.

  Dipping between her thighs, he palmed her pussy, his fingers brushing against where they joined. Here, like this, they were one. Two bodies, one connection. He sought her pearl, fanning the flames, until her glow spread outward, lighting her body in incandescence.