Dragon Scorned

4. River

Iwoke up sluggish the next morning. My whole body tossed and turned the entire night. My mind filled with images of Tate during the flight we took. His jade-green dragon was captivating. I was drawn to him by a force I didn’t understand. How could the pull to him be this powerful after only knowing him one day? It kept me awake half the night, leaving me restless and unable to sleep.

Normally I slept peacefully after a night out flying. But, that stupid dragon wormed his way into my mind last night, not allowing me to get the restful sleep I was so used to.

I peeked at my alarm clock, groaning at the digits staring back at me. It was only four-thirty in the fucking morning. I slammed my alarm clock back on the nightstand and rolled over, pulling the blankets up over my head.

The jade-green dragon entered my mind as soon as I closed my eyes. His golden flame lighting up the night sky. I popped my eyes open, flipping over onto my back, angrily kicking my blanket off me. I guess an early shower it is then, since it looked like sleep was no longer an option.

I hopped out of bed and made my way into my connected bathroom. We made sure we each had our own bathroom in this house because Natalia took forever in the morning to get ready. I would get five minutes max before we had to leave if we had to share a bathroom.

I flipped the light switch and squinted at the fluorescent light that temporarily blinded me until my eyes adjusted to the sudden change. My bathroom was a beautiful rustic style, complete with a whisky barrel sink. The floor was tile made to look like wood planks, and it had all-black fixtures. I flipped on the water inside my stone-lined walk-in shower, waiting for it to warm up before I stepped inside.

Stripping out of my sleep clothes, I got a good look in the mirror, cringing at my reflection. The bags under my eyes were a deep purple, showing the world how restless my night was. They were big enough to have their own zip code.

I stepped into the warm shower, my body instantly relaxing as the hot spray caressed my aching muscles. I was not looking forward to running into Tate again today, but it was inevitable. He attended Willow Hollow, so I couldn”t avoid him forever.

As soon as I began thinking of Tate, images of him completely naked entered my mind. The appendage this man had between his legs was massive. I was sure you wouldn”t even be able to put it in the same category as a cock. It was unnaturally huge, and it put some of my best dildos to shame. I swear it was ribbed. Was that even a thing, did fucking dragons have ribbed cocks?

Heat flooded my body, causing my arousal to begin leaking down my thighs. I mentally scolded my vagina. There was no way Tate’s cock would ever fit inside me. Nope. Not going to ever happen. He would tear me in half.

I turned the hot water completely off, jumping slightly as the icy spray now assaulted my body. I quickly showered in the freezing water and got out. I took my time drying my hair and trying to make myself presentable for the day. Finally, after spending at least twenty minutes on the bags under my eyes, I gave up. There was no amount of makeup in the world that would be able to hide the deep purple bruises covering what seemed like half my face.

I opened the door to my room and was surrounded by the smell of fresh bacon. My mood instantly lifted. I made my way into the kitchen to find a super perky Natalia filling a plate with eggs, bacon, and pancakes.

“Good morning,” she sing-sang, bouncing around the island to place the plate of food down in front of me.

“It should be against the law to be that perky this early in the morning.” I scowled at my rambunctious friend.

She scoffed at me. “Sue me for being excited for our first day of college, Debbie downer.”

She grabbed her own plate of food, sitting down beside me. “So, what’s got your panties all in a bunch? You could have gotten dicked twelve ways to Sunday, but you chose to pass on the sexy as fuck dragon and his massive cock.”

“Natalia.” I scolded her, slapping her on the arm. I swear this girl had no filter between her brain and her mouth.

“Girl, I’m just saying, there’s no way I would have passed on that opportunity. I mean, did you get a good look at that massive weapon he had hanging between his legs?” she asked me, eyes wide like she couldn’t believe I didn’t climb him like a gods damned tree.

I couldn’t help but laugh at her antics. “I got an up close and personal front-row seat of the dick that I’m sure would break me in half.” There was no missing the appendage he had. That didn’t mean I wanted said appendage to come anywhere near my lady parts.

“He could break me any day,” she said, popping a piece of bacon into her mouth. I stared at her with my mouth hanging open while she ate. I cannot believe she just said that.

My beast growled at the thought of her touching Tate. I shoved her back down, that was a feeling I would unpack another day, right now I needed to forget about that man.

We finished our breakfast and talked about the classes we had for the day. I was relieved when the talk of Tate and his massive dick ended. I pulled into the student parking lot, putting my MC20 Cielo in neutral and pulling the emergency break up. Reaching over I pulled my bag out that was situated by Natalia’s feet.

“You ready for this?” Natalia asked me, halting my movement toward the door handle.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I told her honestly. I mean, was anyone really ready to start a new school filled with so many supernaturals. Who knew what would happen if one of them lost control. It wasn’t easy throwing so many of us into a room together and expecting us to sing kumbaya.

We got out of the car and started heading toward our first class, which just so happened to be supernatural studies. The class I was the most nervous for. Either this would be one of my favorite classes, or one of the worst. Only time would tell.

As we entered the classroom I inhaled deeply, “No humans so far.”

Natalia nodded at me, looking around for a place to sit.

This room was more like an auditorium style lecture hall than a classroom like I expected. The seats were in a half-moon shape, sloped down to the desk and whiteboard at the bottom.

I looked around for some open seats, the room was filling up fast despite us being ten minutes early. I spotted Tate waving to me near the back, pointing to two open seats beside him.

“Ooh look, Tate saved us seats.” Natalia squealed as she headed in his direction.

Nope, not going to happen. I grabbed her arm and shoved her toward two vacant chairs on the other end of the row. Far away from Tate. She huffed a displeased sound as I flopped down next to her.

“Why don’t you want to sit by him? I’m sure he’d only bite if you begged him to.” She smirked at me as I gasped.

“Do you have any filter on that mouth of yours?”

“Nope,” she said, popping the p with her lips. “You love that I speak my mind.”

I rolled my eyes at her unhinged ass, reaching down to pull my laptop out of my bag. Screw taking notes on pen and paper, that”s what talk-to-text was for. I was planning on recording all my classes and having the computer do all the work for me. I was definitely a work smarter, not harder kind of girl.

The scent of a campfire surrounded me, causing my body to freeze as I was opening up my laptop.

“Is this seat taken?” A low, raspy voice whispered in my ear. I turned my head and was inches away from Tate’s stunning green eyes.

Natalia leaned over me, popping up in my peripheral vision. “No, it”s not, Tate. Please, have a seat.”

Natalia sat back, and I craned my neck to glare daggers at this girl. What the fuck is she up to? She just looked at me with a smug smile plastered on her face.

I swallowed down the lump in my throat as Tate took a seat next to me, almost brushing my arm. I jerked my arms close to my body so fast you’d think I just touched hot lava.

“What’s wrong little minx? Afraid you’ll like it?” Tate whispered in my ear. He was so close I could feel the heat of his words. I closed my eyes and counted to ten, trying to calm my racing heart.

“Ooh, that’s it, isn’t it? You”re afraid of a mate bond snapping into place.”

“No,” I bit out, still keeping my eyes closed. The temptation to reach out and touch him was too strong.

“Don’t lie, you overgrown lizard,” Natalia said, and I snapped my eyes open, glaring at her and her big fucking mouth.

Tate chuckled, “I knew it.”

I whipped my head toward him, sending my glare his way. If looks could kill, they would both definitely drop dead right about now.

“No. Because. We’re. Not. Mates.” I told him through gritted teeth. Accenting each word with more anger than I truly felt. The words felt like a lie as soon as they passed my lips.

His smile widened. “Prove it.” He held his hand out to me, palm up. The challenge of his words shining bright in his eyes

Those two little words sent my dragon into a rage. The challenge was irresistible. I could not back down now that he put the words out there.

I reached out and grabbed his hand. The instant we connected, his eyes turned completely gold, and a zap shot through my body. It felt like I was being electrocuted. The feeling was so intense I would have dropped to my knees if I wasn’t already sitting.

“Mine,” Tate growled, sounding more beast than man, and my body shivered in response.

I ripped my hand out of his and stood up to leave.

“Good morning, everyone. Please have a seat so we can get started.”

I groaned at the voice commanding me to sit. Against my better judgment, I sat back down, leaning toward Natalia and as far away from Tate as I could manage.

“I’m Knox Bellencroft and for the sake of at least half of you saying my name wrong you can just call me Professor Knox.” The handsome man said from the front of the room.

“Switch me,” I whispered to Natalia. She kept her attention on the professor at the front of the room, ignoring me like she did best. “Natalia, switch me,” I hissed, poking her in the side, putting more desperation in my tone.

“No, pay attention,” she told me, returning her focus to the professor.

I crossed my arms and huffed out a sigh as I sat back in my seat to listen to what this man had to say.

“If you take a look around at your peers, you’ll notice there are no humans in this class. That’s because it was conducted strictly for supernaturals, so we can learn more about each other straight from the source,” he said, and all the students exploded in loud cheers around me.

The professor looked around the room, smiling intently at all the students till his eyes landed on mine. It was like a magnetic force I couldn’t pull away from. I was trapped in his stare.

“Mine,” Tate growled next to me, and Knox’s eyes flicked to his before coming back to mine. I swear I saw silver engulf his irises before they returned to green.

“Let”s go over my expectations for you….” The professor started, and I toned him out, turning my attention to Tate, who was still fucking growling.

“Just because some crazy static electricity shocked us when I touched you doesn”t mean you get to go all beastly and piss all over me like I”m your property.” I hissed at the infuriating man. I mean, who did he think he fucking was? Claiming me like I wasn”t a person with my own thoughts and feelings.

“You know as well as I do that what happened between us was more than a statically charged shock.” He growled in that low, sexy voice of his that sent shivers all over my body. He laid his hand on my thigh, squeezing lightly, and I felt the heat through my jeans.

I swatted his hand off me and waved my finger in his face. “No, I do not, and I did not give you permission to touch me. So, I”d suggest you keep your hands to yourself if you would like to keep them attached to your arms.”

I pinched my brows down in frustration at the smile forming on his lips. This man was insufferable, and my dragon was at war with me. She was unhappy about my decision to stay away from Tate.

He leaned in so close our mouths were only a breath away. My heart was pounding so hard in my chest I was sure it would burst. “Soon, you”ll be begging me to touch you, little minx,” he said in that low, raspy voice of his, “And when you do…I”ll defile every part of that perfect body of yours. Making you cum so hard you forget your own name. The only thing you will be able to comprehend is me as I pound into you. I will make you scream my name, telling the world who you belong to.”

I clenched my thighs when he followed that statement up with his tongue, licking the side of my face before sitting back in his seat and facing the front of the room.

My whole body was frozen as I just gaped at him. I was completely at war now with my dragon. She wanted Tate to do all the dirty things he promised while I wanted to run away. I couldn’t decide what feeling was stronger, though.

As I thought of bolting, there was a small feeling in me demanding I stay. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, rubbing my legs together to try and get the friction my clit craved. Tate inhaled deeply beside me.

“I can smell your arousal, little minx,” he said without ever taking his eyes off the professor in the front of the room. “Just say the word, and I will ease that ache between your thighs. I will bury my head in your pretty pussy and clean up every drop of your cum currently leaking into your panties.”

“Holy shit, if she won”t take your offer, I volunteer as tribute,” Natalia said, leaning around me to talk to Tate.

He finally turned his head, looking at her with that panty-melting smirk, and my dragon roared in protest. “As tempting as that is, there is only one girl I’m interested in tasting.”

“Worth a shot.” Natalia laughed before she returned her attention back to the professor who was still talking.

I decided to not think about the drop-dead sexy man next to me and all the cutchie butterflies he was giving me and try to pay attention to the rest of the lecture. This was going to be a long semester. I groaned at the thought of sitting next to Tate for the next four months.