14
Kieran
Family Drama
We need to return to her side.
I ignored my beast, letting the water cascade over my shoulders and steam fill the natural stone shower of my bathroom. But it was harder to ignore and scrub off Ember’s scent.
My venom had healed her.
It should’ve been impossible, but I’d seen the truth with my own eyes. Something had changed.
I needed to go through the scrolls, speak with Bemouth, discover how this could happen—how I’d known it would happen instinctually when I’d kissed her wounds and gave her a piece of myself that would kill anyone who wasn’t flock… or my mate.
The only rational explanation was that my dragon claimed her as his because she’d moved into our territory.
You didn’t use to be so dumb.
I growled at my own beast, trying to ignore the way the shower heated Ember’s scent on my skin.
The pulse of her heart filled the quiet halls of my home. I’d listened to each fragile beat the past few days while my venom worked its way through her system, making her whole.
She’d been healed.
But she was still so fragile.
That’s what this incident clearly showed. Despite the harshness of her tongue and hardness of her glare, her soft body was delicate and breakable.
She would be the death of me.
I wanted to hate her for getting under my skin and working my beast up this way. She’d awoken something within me, setting fire to my veins.
Ember gave me reason to worry again.
I wanted to punish her for that. To put her sharp tongue to use as I tangled my fingers in her thick, red hair and brought her to her knees.
My legs shook as I wrapped my fist around my cock. The ridges were already swollen, seeking the sweet heat of a woman I shouldn’t want.
I stroked myself to her image. The way I’d found her in the yard, sweaty from work with her tank top clinging almost see-through to her breasts, but instead of the scowl, she turned to me and smiled.
My dragon grumbled as I increased my pace.
Everything about her called to my beast.
She was so soft. So human. So beautiful. So…
Mine. He growled.
My orgasm came hard and fast, shocking me. Ropes pulled from my core as I shot cum on the tiled floor, whispering Ember’s name.
What is happening to me?
That had barely taken the edge off.
I still craved another taste of Ember’s skin from when I’d bitten into her wound, giving her venom from my fangs. The feel of her soft body under my hands as I’d removed her bloodstained clothes. Her words—like lashes. And her smiles so rarely given. The wonder in her eyes as she’d looked at me before succumbing to sleep.
I wanted more of it all.
It wasn’t enough.
That scared me in a way nothing else could.
Even if the world wasn’t ending, her lifetime would be over in no time at all. Caring for that woman would bring nothing but heartache. I was old enough—wise enough—to know that she wasn’t made to be mine.
But I couldn’t let her go now. Not with the way the human world was reacting to the chaos. They’d run over each other like ants, destroying anything that got in their way.
She was safer here with me.
Ember wakes. My dragon’s furious aggression rolled through us. His anger at not being by her side was unjustified.
He’d have to get over it.
We needed distance to let this unhealthy obsession fade. It might be difficult because I didn’t plan to let her far from my sight.
I took my time dressing, pulling on jeans and buttoning up a clean flannel shirt. Her friends were with her. She’d want time to assure herself they were okay and to feel comfortable in my home.
I had much to do to set her at ease here, and I wasn’t sure where to begin. Filling her cabin with food was a start, but I’d help with her garden and cleaning up the property.
I should’ve done that anyway .
“Master Kieran.” Fredrick beat his fist at my door.
“I hate it when you call me that,” I grumbled. It was a childhood nickname. A joke that I’d be more of a scholar than I was, but I’d given up that life when I saw how much my cousins needed help.
Besides, there weren’t any brooding dragon youth left to be taught in recent centuries.
“Hurry,” Fredrick pleaded.
The tone of his voice yanked on my protective instincts. I reached out quickly, using my dragon’s senses I’d been ignoring to get a read on my territory and flock.
Damn him. “What is he doing here?”
I threw open the door, causing Fred to wheel backwards to get out of my way.
“Keep the women inside and away from the windows,” I commanded as I marched down the hall.
“About that…” Fredrick’s wheels squeaked as he kept pace behind me.
I sniffed the air, listening to the house. “What is she doing out of bed?”
I took off running. Panic threaded itself around my heart and squeezed.
Human female screams came from the back veranda as I flew outside.
“Move slowly. Get to the cabin.” Ember stood with her arms raised, keeping the women and child behind her, as she stared down the massive dragon with black and blue scales.
Lucan’s barbed tail swished from side to side. He lowered his snout to the ground and sniffed, cataloging Ember’s scent.
Rage filled me at the sight .
I roared my fury in human form, drawing his attention. Fuck. It wasn’t as if I’d planned to keep our identity a secret, but I figured I’d give it a few days at least to let them get used to the idea of dragons instead of… dinosaurs.
“Get back to the cabin,” Ember commanded again, turning her terror-filled eyes my way.
Something shot through me then. A fear I’d never known. It buried deep inside, twisting and churning in places that made me sick.
I scare her.
No. My beast’s temper filled my veins again as I marched toward my cousin. He frightens my mate.
Lucan bared his fangs and roared at me, causing hot wind to blow across the veranda.
Grace stood on the back porch shaking her head. Centuries ago, she might have broken this up before it started. But now all she could do was sigh. Fredrick and Catherine moved to her side, watching with amusement as I stalked forward.
I was going to slaughter him.
Smoke billowed from my nostrils as the dispersed molecules gathered at my back, stretching to rearrange into my true form.
My wings unfurled as shadows tinged blood-red burst like an angry sun.
“It was you,” Ember gasped, walking backward as she herded the women along with her.
I stepped to the edge of the patio, blocking them from view.
“You’re trespassing,” I growled at the beast before me.
“What are you doing?” Lucan cocked his head to the side as he spoke through the familial link in my mind.
“It’s none of your business.” I continued to grow, standing taller as I did. It was a primal urge. To keep her hidden. Out of sight of the predators.
Until she wears our mark.
I stumbled a bit, terrified Lucan’s dragon would see it and pounce on the weakness.
Lucan roared again. His nostrils flared. He of all dragons would know best how to antagonize mine.
“Is this how you’re spending your last days?” He lowered his snout again, sniffing. “Jacking off and playing with humans.”
The tone was teasing, but I didn’t miss the flash of fury in his dragon’s slitted pupils. He was fighting anger at something—trying to control his beast.
“Take to the skies,” I commanded, not understanding his torment, but knowing I needed to get him far away from here. From her.
It wasn’t safe.
She wouldn’t be safe until…
I shook my head to clear it.
Something was wrong with me.
I’d figure it out later, once I handled this threat.
A shudder ran through Lucan’s beast as he sniffed the air again, and he hesitated, trying to look past me.
But I was in my true form now and I issued a challenging roar a dragon could not ignore.
He was breaking natural law. He’d entered my territory and a second more of him standing his ground, he’d be refusing to leave .
Lucan may have been a warrior, but I had the advantage in this fight.
A look of respect crossed his dragon’s scaley snout as he unfurled his wings. “It’s been years since I’ve seen this kind of fire in you.”
I roared again as he took flight, launching myself after. I’d escort him away from here, making sure he knew his place.
She was my mate. This was my home. Those were my humans. And he’d not scare them again.
The little girl’s voice followed me as I gained altitude. “I told you he had dragons!”