Marked at Midnight--Mark of the Dragon, Book 1

by Claire Conrad

  Iavo held her in place as I pushed forward, thrusting deep. I took her hips in my hands to lift her a bit higher as I pumped myself in and out of her wetness. She whimpered, moaned and pulled Iavo in for a kiss. I slid in and out of her glorious folds. I could feel her wetness dripping down my balls as I pressed against her deeper, and deeper.

  Until it wasn’t enough. I settled her back down on the bed and pushed her knees up and out, spreading her open as far as she could go. She moaned and bucked against the sheer width of my cock in the new position and I slid in deeper.

  Iavo held her down, his hands on her breasts and he kissed her. Neither of us willing to let her regain her senses, her control.

  Hold her open and fuck her hard. I’ll make her come. I want her to come. Now. I want to watch her face when she loses control. Iavo was being his aggressive, arrogant dragon-self again, but we were in perfect agreement. I wanted to watch her scream. No, I wanted to make her scream. I wanted to feel the walls of her pussy milking my cock. I wanted my seed deep inside her. Iavo had marked her with his elixir. It was my turn to fill her up. Make my claim.

  I did as he said, fucking her hard and faster. Deeper. Each thrust rocking her body on the bed, making her perfect breasts bounce as Iavo reached down and stroked her clit faster than my human eyes could track.

  Her back came up off the bed as she rocked and screamed, her pussy pulsing like a clenched fist around my hard length.

  I lost control; my own release rocketed through me from toes to balls, my cum pouring out of me as I fought not to collapse on top of her.

  When the spasms were done, I slowly, reluctantly, pulled out of her wet heat and laid down on the bed beside her. Iavo was on her other side and we quickly pressed her between us where she would be warm and protected. Safe.

  Ours.

  I shall take first watch over our mate. Sleep, Zach.

  Within moments, Brittany was sleeping. Iavo needed very little sleep. He had guarded my slumber for years. I knew that now, with a mate to protect, he would be twice as vigilant.

  No one fucked with a dragon protecting his mate. At least not any sane creature, human or otherwise. Anyone threatening Brittany now had a serious death wish.

  And that included the Riven we’d been sent here to hunt. With our mate here, Iavo’s instinct to hunt and destroy the other dragon would be nearly impossible to control. Not that I would hold him back. I wanted the Riven dead so we could focus on softer—I ran my hand up and down Brittany’s soft hip and thigh—more pleasurable things.

  Stop being a girl and go to sleep. We hunt at dawn.

  Bossy bastard, but I agreed. The sooner we eliminated the rogue dragon, the sooner we could take our mate, go home to the desert and get out of this miserable fucking cold.

  Chapter 3

  Brittany

  * * *

  As difficult as it was to leave the comfort and safety the two, gorgeous men offered, I needed to find my brother. I got dressed and reached into my pocket, making sure the piece of paper was still there. I kissed them both good-bye. Iavo, the silent one, wrapped his hand around my wrist, but his twin snarled something and Iavo let me go. I felt a little sad as I closed the door, but no matter how amazing the night before had been, or how much I longed to crawl back in bed and forget everything with the twins, it was just a one-night stand. Stupid to think it was anything else. Just stupid. And I’d given up on lying to myself a long time ago.

  I made my way to the street and used my app to get a taxi. The driver took me back to my car so I could drive across the city to my brother’s dorm. A lot of driving, but I welcomed the delay. My heart was in my throat as the nervousness from the day before returned. I was truly worried he’d tell me to get lost, and I wasn’t exactly sure how I would handle that.

  The ride through the city was turbulent—frequent stops and starts, racecar worth lane changes and a driver who sped like a madman, darting between cars and semi-trucks alike. For some reason, the young taxi driver thought I was in an extreme hurry to get there, but I wasn’t at all. As much as I wanted to get this over with, for better or worse, and just be able to see my baby brother again, I needed some time to calm myself before I got there. The driver, however, had other plans, and I buckled in after the third time I was thrown sideways across the backseat.

  When we pulled up outside the restaurant, my stomach was roiling from motion-sickness. Or anxiety. Maybe a bit of both. Then, Mr. Hot Wheels cleared his throat and broke me from my moment of peace.

  Once I was on campus and pulled up in front of the dorm, I sat there staring at the building, doing my best to calm my head. After a few minutes, I got out and stared at the nine-story brick building in front of me, my hands repeatedly balling into fists before stretching and repeating the process, trying to relieve the tension I felt in my body. I reached for the piece of paper with his address on it. I had assumed the number was his room number and the name Scott in the street location was the dorm.

  I was standing in front of a three-story building with a sign reading Scott Lawson Hall, so I assumed I was in the right place.

  Walking inside, I got into the elevator, pushed the button for the third floor, and started shadow boxing, shuffling my feet. I was doing my best to get myself revved up. If there had been another person on the elevator, I couldn’t have done it, but I needed a big dose of courage right now—and the ride to my car in the death-defying taxi hadn’t helped calm my nerves.

  When the doors opened, I took the first step out, trying to ground myself. When I felt steady, I made my way down the hall. Standing in front of his door, I brought my hand up and down several times before taking a deep breath and knocking.

  The sound of footsteps approaching from inside made my heart thud heavily in my chest. Soon, I heard the handle move, and the door opened. The guy who answered the door looked at me through squinty, bloodshot eyes. The smell of marijuana came flowing towards me, and I briefly wondered if he were my brother, but just looking at him I knew he wasn’t. This guy was a lot shorter than me with dreadlocks and a goatee.

  “Is Garrett here?” I asked. My voice threatened to crack, but I wouldn’t let it.

  “No, he’s gone, you know, shopping.” The guy grinned as he spoke and started to close the door in my face, but I wasn’t about to let that go.

  Taking a step forward, I said, “Shopping? Great, can you tell me where?”

  I was thinking I could go see if I could pick him out in a store with strangers. I put my foot in the door as he continued to close it.

  “Look he’s just out, okay? I’m not supposed to talk to his ladies anyway. I’ve already said too much, but I was high. You caught me off guard, way to go.”

  I sighed. “So, he’s out with a girl I’m guessing?”

  “I don’t know.” The roommate crossed his arms and turned his nose up in the air as he shook his head no. “I’m not his babysitter, you know?”

  I was about to lose my shit. I didn’t go through all the mental anguish over this for so long just so I could have some jackass slam a door in my face.

  I slapped my hand against the door then, giving a rude, forced smile that I hoped he’d catch the true meaning of. “Just tell me where he is. I’m not a floozy, although it seems he must have a few of them. I’m his sister.” I was beyond frustrated with the kid and not in the mood to beat around the bush anymore.

  “Oh,” the guy looked taken aback. “He never mentioned having a sister. He’s hooking up with a girl. They went home together last night. He should be back in a couple hours. Probably sleeping it off, you know?”

  “Okay. Now we’re getting somewhere.” I debated on whether I should leave a message. I felt like it would be better to just see him in person, and I was starving. Now that I knew I wouldn’t be able to talk to him anytime soon, my stomach decided to be angry with me for skipping breakfast.

  “You do know what I mean by hooking up, right?” the guy unnecessarily continued.

  My eyes narrowed a
s I looked him over. Was he serious? “Yes, you ass, I do.”

  “Sorry. Just asking. You look kinda old-fashioned.” The guy gave a shrug and lifted his bong to his lips—not even bothering to leave the doorway—and I found myself wondering if my brother smoked as much weed as his roommate, or was as rude? Old-fashioned? I’d just hooked up with two of the hottest men I’d ever seen, complete strangers I’d picked up in a bar.

  So, who was I to judge? Ugh. Rolling my eyes, I asked, “Where’s the best place to get breakfast around here?”

  “It’s Addie’s Bakery for sure. If you want, I’ll take you there.” The guy pushed his bangs out of the way so I could see him wiggle his brows. “They have awesome donuts with lots of frosting.” His gaze travelled over my ample curves, which, I had to admit, revealed my sweet tooth with a bit too much junk in the trunk. In the bra. Hell, a bit too much to hold onto everywhere.

  “Thanks, but I can find it myself.”

  His frown was comical, as if he’d never been turned down before. “Whatever. I’ve got the munchies, and you’re kinda hot. So, we could get donuts and then work off the sugar high together – if you know what I mean.”

  He was going to get a punch if he didn’t watch it. Especially after what I’d experienced the night before. I was relatively certain no man could live up to Zach and Iavo ever again. Still, I managed to hold back my irritation. The kid was stoned, horny, and way too young for me. I needed a man in my bed—or two. Thinking about Iavo and Zach now made my nipples hard and my pussy pulse with heat. I wanted them again. Already. Which, after the number of orgasms I’d had last night, should be impossible. “No thank you. I’ve got GPS. I’ll be back later.”

  He nodded. “Should I tell Garrett his sister stopped by?”

  “No, I want to surprise him. I’ll come back by after lunch. Surely, he’ll be back by then.” With that, I bid my brother’s high roomie goodbye and headed off to find breakfast.

  Zach

  * * *

  Iavo continued to glare at me as he had been since Brittany walked out the door. He was concerned with her being out in the world with a Riven nearby. It was also possible he simply wanted to be near her. Which wasn’t an option at the moment.

  “Knock off the hate, Iavo. You know we need to go find the Riven before he does any more damage. Think with your head and not your dick for a few hours.”

  She should be back at the cabin with the doors and windows locked.

  I burst into laughter. “She’s not a prisoner. She’s our mate. And there’s no food at the cabin.”

  She does not understand that she is mine, that I will provide for her.

  “Ours, dragon. She’s our mate. And she’ll be fine. She’s miles away from here looking for her brother. She’ll be safer there than at the cabin with your scent all over her. That’s just the sort of temptation a Riven doesn’t need.” I hated to remind Iavo of the obvious, but he was truly out of sorts, not thinking clearly. I’d heard that dragons were difficult to manage when they found their mate, but Iavo was normally so analytical and cold that I teased him that ice flowed in his dragon veins instead of fire. But not any longer, not when it came to her.

  Not that I could argue or was doing much better. Her scent clung to my skin and I could still hear her soft cries of pleasure as we’d seduced her soft body, made her come over and over again pressed between us. Thinking about the softness of her skin, the wet heat of her core, made my cock grow hard with longing. I wanted more. Needed more. Just like my dragon. But I wasn’t an animal, I was a man; a man determined to control my base urges and focus on the task at hand.

  “Today we hunt. Tonight, we seduce our mate.”

  We’ll take to the air and look for him, Iavo thought to me. Even his internal voice had an edge, as if he truly were fighting for control.

  “She’ll be fine,” I reassured him again as we set out to find a good place for him to shift into his dragon form.

  Once we were within the cover of the trees, he allowed the power to swell around him as his aura shifted, letting his human body change into that of the great dragon. Iavo hated being in human form, and if he was given any chance to assume his true form, he did. His amber and gold scales glistened in the early morning sun as he stretched his legs out. I hopped on the wing he’d lowered down enough for me to easily climb up and grabbed a couple of hard scales as he took off into the air.

  “What are you looking for exactly?” I asked hoping he had a plan.

  I’ll know when I feel it. I’ll know where he is.

  I looked down along the edge of the lake, searching for any sign of a dragon or anything that seemed out of place. My eyes saw nothing, but that didn’t mean anything. Iavo was the one with the extra senses.

  I sense a dragon. I can’t tell if he’s the Riven, but he’s close.

  “There’s a cave. Do you think that’s where he is?” I pointed.

  As an answer, Iavo cut sharp and slanted sideways as he descended. Having changed direction without warning, I nearly lost my balance and had to lean forward, wrapping my arms around his neck. His scales pressed painfully into me, but I held tight anyway.

  I knew he’d done it on purpose, for whatever reason, but there was no time to be angry about it. We were fast approaching the cave, and it didn’t look like it would have a large enough space to accommodate his size.

  “Iavo!” I yelled at him when he didn’t slow down and flew straight for the cave. “You won’t fit!”

  He was flying wildly, his wings tilting back and forth as he weaved. It was making me a bit nauseous, though I’d never admit it to him. He made himself go faster, and right before he hit the cave, he shot straight up in the air, cutting a huge flip and letting me off on the ground right at the edge of the lake.

  He thought he was so damn funny.

  Landing just outside the cave, he knocked me off my feet with a blast of air from his wings. My heart was racing, and I did my best to shake off the jittery feeling after his not so subtle message. He was angry that we’d left Brittany alone.

  Climbing to my feet, I brushed off the wet grass from my ass and thighs and glared at him but didn’t say anything. There was no point. Iavo loved trying to get under my skin. Dragons weren’t pets, they were mythical creatures that breathed ice and fire, with tempers to match. And Iavo wasn’t just a dragon, he was a dragon who needed his mate.

  “We serve the queen first, Iavo.”

  His massive head swung toward me, the amber jewels of his eyes narrowed. She is my queen. My mother. Do not think to give me orders, human.

  Whoa. He was testier than I thought. He hadn’t called me human in years. I placed my hand just beneath his eye and stared right back at him. “I miss her, too. But unless we kill this Riven, Brittany will never be safe.”

  He snorted and the ground in front of his nose blackened as a patch of vegetation turned to ash. That is the only reason I am here. But she would be safer in my bed.

  “Our bed.” Why was I constantly reminding Iavo that she was my mate as well? The dragon chose the mate. Period. But despite the fact that Iavo had seen her first, I found that I was just as possessive, just as determined to protect her. And just as irritable when she wasn’t near. I was a mess, just like my dragon, falling in love with a complete stranger in just one night. Now that I knew Brittany was in the world, I simply could not imagine living without her.

  I didn’t have the senses my dragon possessed, so I couldn’t tell when a Dragonborn was near. I relied on the prickly feel at the nape of my neck or the feeling of being watched. At the moment, I only felt irritation that my ass had gotten wet when Iavo threw me to the ground.

  Moving down the bank, I had to wade into the water to reach the mouth of the cave. A burst of cold air hit me the closer I got, letting me know I was in the right place. I looked over my shoulder at Iavo, who shook his large dragon head. The Riven is not here. He is close, but the cave is empty.

  Trusting his senses, I made my way to the entran
ce of the cave and stepped inside. The first thing I saw was a dress lying on the ground. The fabric was black and gold, and it looked to have been made by an expensive designer. A diamond tennis bracelet lay nearby and some other jeweled trinkets, such as cufflinks, earrings, and even someone’s ear with a sapphire stud of at least two carats still attached, had been pushed into a small pile, as if the dragon was a jewelry collector.

  I shuddered and moved back, wondering exactly what we might be dealing with here. No matter how much death I’d seen in Riven lairs over the years, I never got used to it. A little past the pile of treasure, I saw the body of an elderly man, naked and frozen stiff. It had been pushed up against the wall of the cave, still standing. I couldn’t make out any features because it was facing away from me.

  I turned to move away from the morbid scene and tripped over another body. This one appeared to be a man in his forties. Another half dozen bodies lined the walls of the Riven’s den as if he used them for decoration, or furniture. The second body had a row of icicles hanging off one of his ears in a perfectly straight line. His mouth lay open and his tongue had frosted over.

  I scrunched up my face, expecting to smell decay, but there wasn’t any death odor in the cave. They were perfectly preserved underneath their ice coffins. A woman of similar age lay next to him. She wasn’t wearing a top, and her breasts had frozen right to the ice. I found myself wondering if the Riven froze them while they were alive. The way the man’s mouth hung open in a silent scream, it was a strong possibility.

  Looking around the cave, I tried to see if the dragon had left any trace of himself or clues to where he might have gone. The rest of the frozen corpses were well dressed, and from the jewelry they wore, I determined they had money. From the items lying around without a human body still attached, I decided all the victims had money. So, the Riven could have been taking victims from a casino, a fancy night club, or maybe a rich neighborhood in the city.