Fire in His Blood

by Ruby Dixon

Be calm, my mate, Kael tells me, interrupting my stream of thoughts. His head lifts, and he stares off into the distance.

  Calm? I immediately peer around in the direction he’s looking, alert. Why? What’s wrong?

  Nothing is wrong. But we will soon have a visitor. And he flashes a mental image to me that matches the skyline to my left.

  I turn, scanning, and see a speck on the horizon. The speck grows steadily larger, and I suck in a breath as I watch it veer around one tall building lazily and then swoop back around again, heading in our direction once more. Sunlight glints off of golden scales.

  Oh shit.

  I stiffen in my seat, clutching my handlebars as if they’ll somehow protect me. That’s another dragon! Another male! I tell him, panicking.

  Calm, Claudia. No one will hurt you. You are with me, and you are my mate. You are safe.

  Is he coming after me?

  He is…but once he smells that you are mine, he will lose that idea.

  You sound so certain.

  I am. You smell of my scent. My fire is in your blood. He will know you are claimed. His thoughts carry an unmistakable, languid caress. Hearing it makes me feel a little heated and achy, thinking about what’ll happen when we land and we’re alone again. Now’s not the time to think about that, though. There’s a dragon heading right for us.

  There was not an ounce of nervousness in Kael’s thoughts, though, and that makes me relax a little. If my dragon isn’t worried, then I’m not.

  My dragon. Strange how natural that seems now.

  Kael’s wings tilt, the left one dipping low, and we make lazy circles in the sky, heading slowly downward to the ground. I crane my neck, hands tight on the harness as I peer over Kael’s great scaly shoulders to search the air for the other dragon. It circles nearby, and Kael trumpets a call that is quickly answered.

  Neither one sounds pissy, which means this is pretty much different than any other dragon interaction I’ve ever seen. Kael turns his head, and I see that his eyes remain amber, not the black of high emotion. He’s not troubled at all, and I relax a little more.

  The new dragon glides to the ground and tucks his wings in, settling on his haunches as he takes a few steps forward. He gazes around, head swiveling, and I see his eyes whirling with black and gold—though more black than gold. He’s still caught up by the madness, and that makes me skittish, but he’s not attacking.

  Kael says he’s here to talk, so I have to trust him.

  You do. I am right about this. I would never put you in danger.

  I smooth a hand over his neck. Sure, sure, I grouse playfully. You were right and I was wrong.

  We alight on the ground a fair distance away, amidst a scatter of old cars in the middle of a street. Kael tucks in his wings and then immediately peers over his shoulder at me. Unstrap your harnesses. You are my mate and you are safe with me, but that does not mean I will tempt him by shoving you under his nose.

  I hurriedly unbuckle straps, a bit anxious at hearing that. I thought you said I was safe?

  You are, he replies calmly. But he is still caught in the madness. You are safe, but it does not mean I will risk you.

  Fair enough. I finish unbuckling the straps, and he bends a shoulder low to the ground so I can slide down. I do, and the moment my feet touch the ground, I nearly fall to my knees. I’m as wobbly as a fawn after that long flight. “I’m down,” I tell him. “I’ll wait here.”

  He turns and blows a breath against my neck with his enormous snout. I will not be long.

  He steps away, heading toward the other gold, and I notice that he’s remaining in dragon form—excuse me, battle-form. His tail lashes back and forth like a cat’s, the only outward sign of agitation.

  I wring my hands, trying not to worry. Be safe, okay?

  His mental reply is a soothing, wordless burst of emotion.

  The other dragon trumpets as Kael approaches. He springs forward, and instead of heading for Kael, he heads for me. Just as quickly, Kael cuts him off, moving smoothly between us. True to his word, he won’t let the stranger close.

  I can’t stop wringing my hands, watching as the other dragon gazes in my direction. His eyes flick constantly to black, and it’s like I’m watching him flip between madness and sanity, over and over again.

  Be calm. He is an old friend, Kael tells me. I remember his name. Dakh.

  An old friend. Lovely. Tell him I said hello.

  I will not. Dakh struggles, Kael tells me. This place is bad for our people. He cannot maintain his grasp on what is happening. Sometimes he does not even remember his own name. There is so much sadness in Kael’s thoughts. I was like him once.

  And you changed…because of me? Is there something we can do for him?

  A possessive surge is my answer. I will not share you.

  That wasn’t what I was offering! But maybe we can find him a mate? Then again, what am I saying? We’d have to find a human woman ready to take on a dragon and hope for the best. Just because I found a dragon that treats me right doesn’t mean another will. Or that she’ll ever be able to get past the whole ‘murdering monster’ thing.

  Dakh covets you.

  I slide a little closer to an abandoned van with the door hanging open and step behind it. Tell him I’m a one-dragon kind of girl.

  He will not touch you. He can smell that you are claimed. He is asking me to tell the other males that I have a mate. He thinks it will give them hope. Pull them from the madness.

  You think it can really pull them from the madness? The hope of a mate?

  I do not know, but I am not going to try. You are mine. I do not flaunt you in front of others. Dakh is sane enough, but I do not know how others will react.

  This is sane? I peer over at Dakh and watch his giant jaws snap wildly at the air, as if attacking invisible bullets. His eyes are totally black again, and his tail is lashing so hard that he’s raising a cloud of dust. If this is sane, I’d hate to see crazy.

  Agreed. The others could be too far gone.

  Like the reds that constantly attack Fort Dallas.

  They are the reason for our madness.

  They are? I knew all dragons were mad, but I didn’t know one was the cause of the other.

  Yes. This world makes them go into heat constantly. We males smell the heat, and it makes us insane with lust. A female in heat in nearby territory will drive all males wild and feral with the need to mate and procreate. But here, in this world, no young are born. The reds remain in heat, and crazed. We golds remain crazed because of the reds.

  And that’s why you’re not crazy like him any longer? Because you…aren’t attracted to the heat?

  I am mated, Kael explains. There is no one for me but you now. I am the fire in your blood.

  It’s silly to be flattered and pleased at his thoughts, but I am. I’m glad you’re sane. Even if it means I can never leave him. Every day that passes, I move a little further away from that idea anyhow. We’re connected, he and I. And I…I don’t hate it.

  I might love it.

  I might love him.

  Oh god, I might be crazy, too. I can’t love a dragon.

  Kael’s thoughts break through my worries. Dakh wishes to know where I found my mate. He wants one for himself, even if you are weak and do not have a battle-form. He says you have a pleasant smell and he likes your hair.

  Thanks, I tell him wryly. But tell Dakh he can’t just snatch women out of the city. You can’t do that. You can’t force someone to be your mate.

  Can he not take a female if he wishes? Are you not well taken care of, my Claudia? Are you not well pleasured?

  I blush at the surge of images he sends with his thoughts. Well pleasured? The stream of visuals he’s sending me are all from last night in bed, and indeed, I was well pleasured. Repeatedly. Arrogant dragon. Of course I’m well taken care of, I say evasively. But I didn’t choose this. It wasn’t fair for me to be taken, and if someone else wants to be a dragon’s mate, it needs to be their choi
ce.

  The other dragon paces on his feet, shifting his weight. His tail lashes back and forth, agitated, and he constantly ruffles his wings, as if readying to fly off. I have this sneaky suspicion that the moment Kael told him where he found me, Dakh would be there, snatching girls. Jesus. I can’t let that happen.

  I have explained to him that humans are different, but his mind is fractured. I am not sure he understands. But would it be such a terrible thing if he took a human female that he found? I can tell from Kael’s thoughts that he does not think so.

  Yes, it would, I send back strongly. It would be a terrible thing if he stole someone.

  Are you unhappy being my mate?

  I don’t reply. What can I say? If I say I’m happy, I’ll lose any chance of going back to Fort Dallas. I’ll be abandoning Amy. But I can’t lie, either. It’s not that simple, Kael. I need to go back to the city.

  Why? Are you not taken care of? What is waiting for you there? Possessiveness and jealousy tinge his thoughts.

  My sister and my best friend, I tell him, and picture both of their faces in my mind. I know you won’t understand, but they need me. They can’t survive without me. I have to go back to the city, because I have to go back to them.

  They will be safe with a dragon as a mate, Kael tells me. Shall I let Dakh know of your friends?

  No! Don’t tell him a thing! My sister and Sasha don’t have to mate someone! They can come live with me. With you. In our apartment. It’s got plenty of room.

  They cannot live with us. They would attract every male from sunrise to sunset, and each would fight over the privilege of having a mate. We cannot have that at our home.

  I feel sick to my stomach. Amy can’t come? Sasha, either? I can’t leave them there, Kael. I can’t. Help me.

  Then let me tell Dakh I know where he can find a mate. Do you understand how treasured they would be?

  I think of Amy, imprisoned. I think of Sasha, selling herself to a brutal soldier for a few meals here and there. Perhaps a dragon mate would be an improvement.

  Dakh would love and care for a mate, as would any male.

  Oh god. I hate that I’m even considering this. I don’t know…I can’t decide for them, Kael. It still has to be their choice to take a mate.

  Then perhaps we should find them and offer them the choice.

  I have mixed feelings about that. I feel like I’m betraying my sister and my best friend…even though it would save them. If Dakh treated Amy or Sasha as well as Kael treats me, it would be hundreds of times better than our hardscrabble life back in Fort Dallas. They would be safe, just like Kael says. No dragon attack would ever threaten them again. No soldiers would, either.

  And they’d both probably hate me forever for selling them out.

  I don’t know what to do. I hesitate and glance over at the strange gold dragon. His eyes are less black than before, and as I look, they swirl to amber. Sanity. Happiness. The mere thought of a mate is enough to bring him out of the madness.

  And as long as I save Amy and Sasha, I suppose it’s the right thing to do. They’ll be safer with an overprotective dragon than the gun-toting soldiers of Fort Dallas. But I still feel a little sick at the thought.

  Over and over, I feel like I’m betraying my people. Ironic, since they betrayed me first.

  28

  CLAUDIA

  We return to our tower later that night, and Dakh accompanies us. Kael gently sets me down and doesn’t transform to his two-legged form, but instead flies back up on one of the walls and sits next to Dakh, two brilliant and deadly golden bodies gleaming in the moonlight. I work on reinforcing my flight equipment while the two dragons talk, and try not to feel weird about being left out of the conversation.

  At least, I think the dragons are talking. The place is silent, the two dragons perched high atop the broken walls, roosting like crows. Every once and a while, I’ll catch a flash of thought from Kael’s mind, and every so often, he reaches out mentally to me, as if trying to re-center himself. I send him affection back, and I get muted thoughts of pleasure before he drifts away again.

  So yeah. Talking. I know something’s being said, but I’m not privy to it.

  I’m a little uneasy that Dakh followed us home, because now he knows where Kael and I live. I suppose there’s nothing to be done about that. Dragons have an extremely keen sense of smell, and I bet he’d be able to pick my scent out of the air from miles away. I frown at that thought, looking up at the dragons from the swim goggles I’m adjusting on my face. Hey, Kael?

  Yes, my mate? The thought is a purring snake that slithers through my mind, full of pleasure and possessiveness. It practically makes me blush, since I can practically guess what he’s thinking.

  If you can smell me from a distance, how is it that other dragons have not figured out that there are a bunch of human women in the city and haven’t claimed them for their own?

  The human hive stinks, he replies. His wings rustle, the leathery lengths catching in the breeze as he drops to the floor next to me. In the next moment, Kael drags me into his claws and begins to nuzzle my neck with his snout. They do not smell good like you do.

  I squirm against him, trying to slide out of his grasp. If you’re going to get frisky, you need to change forms.

  You are mine, and I like the smell of you. His snout trails across my shoulder blades, and I feel his tongue flick across the back of my neck in a sensation that makes me shiver. But I cannot frisk you now. I will not claim you until Dakh has gone. You are mine and mine alone.

  I stop trying to slide out of his grip and let him snuggle me. I stroke a hand down his long nose instead, trying to get his mind back on track. So the human city smells? Bad?

  Some bad. Some good. There are too many scents to pick out. They bleed into one another and make it impossible to find individuals. The smell of humans drives the females especially wild.

  I nod, thinking of the frequent dragon attacks. They’re more often than not instigated by the red dragons. The golds are less frequent. So women are safe as long as they stay in the city.

  You say they are safe, yet you wish to bring your sister here. If she is safe, why will she come to us? I am the enemy.

  I let my hand play along the hard scales of Kael’s chin, stroking them as I think. I was in trouble in the city. They want me to come back so they can punish me, so they are holding my sister hostage. I worry that they’re going to get tired of holding her and do something worse. I think of the guards in the city, with their grabby hands and smug, superior ways. I think of Sasha’s ‘friend’ who likes to use his fists in exchange for a few bites to eat. A woman with no power in Fort Dallas was a woman in danger, and there are plenty who will take advantage. It’s for the best, I tell him. Trust me.

  Now I just have to convince myself of that.

  I will do whatever makes you happy, my Claudia.

  I gaze up at Dakh, who still perches above us. He watches me like a hawk, his gaze covetous as he looks down on me, nestled in Kael’s claws. And him? Is he going to behave?

  His thoughts are confused, but he has one focus—a mate. As long as we keep him focused on that, he will assist us.

  That’s the thing, though. I don’t exactly trust Dakh not to snatch Amy as soon as we have her free from the militia. Maybe we should do the rescue alone.

  Dakh will be the distraction we need, Kael tells me, and sends a flurry of mental images. Of Dakh flying at the edge of the city, while Kael goes to the police building, rips the roof off, and pulls my sister free.

  Which is great and all, but I still don’t trust Dakh. Maybe it’s the way he keeps looking at me. He watches me as if he’d challenge Kael for me if Kael so much as breathes wrong.

  He will not, Kael says, intercepting my thoughts. You are already claimed. Another dragon cannot take you for his own. My fire is already in your blood.

  But why do we need him at all? The guns the soldiers have can’t hurt you, can they?

  His claws ti
ghten around me protectively. They cannot hurt me, but you are small and fragile and pink. Your sister, too. I do not want them spitting their fire weapons at you.

  A smile curved my lips at his description. Small and fragile and pink? You’re sweet, I tell him.

  No, I am greedy. He licks my neck, and one big claw the size of my forearm brushes against the tip of my breast.

  I suck in a breath, nipples growing hard. Why is it that I responded to Kael’s touch so easily now? Is it because the orgasms are mind-blowing every time? We haven’t had penetrative sex again. He’s letting me decide when I want to go that far once more. Instead, he just gives me endless amounts of oral. Endless, toe-curling amounts of oral. Maybe that’s why I respond at the barest of touches from him.

  Or maybe it’s because I’m feeling things for my big, possessive dragon. I tuck that thought away before he can intercept it, because I don’t want to talk about love or the future until Amy is safe. I can’t commit to anything as long as she’s in danger.

  There’s a sudden flurry of wings overhead, and I jump, alarmed, as Dakh trumpets and takes to the night skies, arrowing into the darkness.

  “What happened?” I ask, confused. “Did he get offended by something?”

  The big claws toying with my breasts disappear, and I turn around just in time to see Kael transforming back to his human form. He straightens his beautiful body, all golden muscle. He gazes down at me, hungry with desire, and his cock is thick and engorged, jutting from his hips in a very obvious manner.

  My mouth goes dry at the sight of him.

  I sent him away, Kael tells me. He brushes the back of his hand across my cheek, tracing my jaw with his knuckles. I told him it was time for me to claim my mate and pleasure her.

  I’m horrified and aroused all at once. “Please, please tell me you did not say that to him.”

  Why? He understands. He wishes he had a mate half as lovely and soft as mine to wrap his body around. To share forms with. Kael’s arm goes around my waist, dragging me against him. His gaze captures mine, and he gives me a naughty look. Shall I pleasure you, my mate? Before I can respond, he adds, I will only take what you freely give.