Chapter Seven
Cove
H oly shit.
The blinding, burning pain ripping across my chest is almost too much. I barely contain the surprised mewl. Gritting my teeth and fisting my hands, I try to ignore the searing pain and prepare myself to repeat it. Waiting for Wex to move on to the next nipple is torturous.
Something silver glints in my peripheral and I’m distracted by the man standing there. Dragon is a psychopath, but fuck does he look so damn good sometimes. Okay, all the time. And seeing the starved way he devours me with his narrowed green eyes is enough to make me squirm, remembering last night in great detail.
We were drunk…but goddamn did it feel good.
His strong, powerful body pinned my own down as he ground his naked cock against mine. It was equally horrifying because of who it was and the single most exquisite moment of my entire life. The lust won out as I eagerly chased my orgasm. However, the second reality came crashing in, the shame swept over me like a tidal wave.
Sick, sick Cove.
You liked blowing your kidnapper and you secretly like the man who would have raped and murdered you had your sister not sacrificed herself.
Guilt swarms in like a cloud of angry bees. I want to swat it away and blank out my mind, but the pain that’s now stabbing through my other nipple keeps me trapped in Dragon’s smoky haze.
Wex says something to me, explaining how I keep the piercings clean, and I attempt to pay attention, though it’s hard with Dragon practically setting the small room on fire with just one hot look.
“Uh, what?” I croak out, meeting Wex’s pervy stare.
“I said it’s natural to get aroused,” Wex drawls out, licking his cracked lips and then lowering his voice, “but if you need help taking care of this”—he boldly rubs his gloved palm over my erection in my jeans—“lose your guard dog and I’ll make sure it’s good for you.”
I go to shove his hand away, but it’s a fruitless effort because Dragon pounces like a lethal panther, lost to his own madness. He tackles Wex off the stool, sending them both crashing to the floor, instruments clattering all over the place. Dragon wails on him, punching him with the power of a god.
Oh, fuck.
He’s not punching.
Stabbing.
He’s fucking stabbing.
All I can do is stare in shock as Dragon drives deep holes into the struggling slob’s chest, stomach, and neck, blood spurting up in a vicious arc when he slices through an important artery.
Katana slides into the room, his sharp gaze quickly analyzing the situation. I expect him to haul Dragon off, but instead he crosses his arms and calls out to Nees in a bored tone, “Change of plans.”
Nees peeks into the room and groans. “Did I call it or did I call it, K?”
“You called it,” Katana replies before nodding at Dragon. “I think he’s dead now.”
Dragon snarls, his eyes dark with rage. “He deserved it.”
Katana tosses me my shirt and cut. “Put those back on. We need to bail.”
I scramble off the bench and throw my clothes back on, wincing at the sting of the fabric over my nipples. Dragon rises, staring at the corpse at his feet, a smirk transforming his stupidly gorgeous face from angry to amused.
Insane.
Completely fucking insane.
His head cocks to the side as he shifts his gaze to study me. I swallow down the unease, drowning out any lingering lust. With blood splattered all over his clothes, arms, and face, I should bolt away from this monster, not allow my stare to linger on the way his lips seem to pout out sometimes in an extremely tempting way. I’m still staring at his perfect mouth when Katana clears his throat.
I snap out of my daze, keeping my attention off the hole-riddled body on the floor and pushing past Katana to the reception area of the shop. The girl from earlier is gone, but I don’t waste time asking where she went. I follow Nees out, hopping into Copper’s truck with him. He doesn’t wait for Katana and Dragon, peeling out of the parking lot.
“Dude is fucking crazy,” Nees says, shaking his head, a manic grin on his face. “You never want to piss him off.”
His words settle in my gut, souring my stomach. Dragon stabbing Wex was just a reminder of his power and uncontrollably violent nature. Sure, we got off, but it was a one-time thing. Dangerous, but I lived. The next time, I might not be so lucky. I sure as hell won’t let my sister step in and save the day again. I’m an idiot for letting my guard down, even for a few seconds of bliss.
Dragon is a monster.
He eats guys like me for dinner.
The drive back to the motel is filled with Nees’s chatter. I nod and smile where appropriate, but my head is still in that room with Dragon. It bothers me that I can’t erase his lips from my mind. I should be disgusted, but nothing about his blood-splattered runway beautiful face turns me off.
I’m just like my mother.
Her choices left her with a brutal death. Mauled to death by the dogs of her drug dealing boyfriend. If it weren’t for Stormy, who was able to shepherd away two toddlers while just being a kid herself, we would’ve met the same fate. We would’ve been consequences of Mom’s terrible choices.
Stormy already paid for me once. I’ll be damned if I keep putting my family in harm’s way because I can’t think with anything except my stupid dick.
By the time we step inside the motel, I’m hardened with the resolve to do better. When I’m not in Dragon’s crosshairs, I can think properly. Like a sane man, not this dick-obsessed idiot I seem to become in his presence. While Nees calls Koyn to update him on the events that transpired, I close myself in the bathroom to take a look at my piercings. Once I shed my cut and shirt, I stare at the metal glinting under the harsh fluorescent lights.
They hurt pretty badly, but they look cool as hell.
The door handle jiggles, making me jolt in surprise.
“What?” I bark out.
“Shower.”
Dragon’s deep, irritated tone sends a shiver rippling down my spine and wrapping around to my groin. Just like that, all resolve flies out the window. With a shaky hand, I unlock the door and face off with the dragon. His nostrils flare and I swear I can imagine smoke coming from them. The blood is still splattered on his skin where he didn’t even bother to try and clean it off at the shop.
I take a step forward to move past him, but he’s already shoving inside the small space with me. He slams the bathroom door hard enough everything rattles in the motel room, including my teeth. Green eyes bore into me, fixating on my parted lips for a beat before raking down my naked chest. The heat of his stare on my newly pierced nipples has my dick once again betraying me.
“You killed him.” I’d meant my words to come out as an accusation. Something to remind him he’s a monster. Instead, they’re soft and almost awe-filled. Shame licks at my skin, painting it crimson with each shallow breath I take.
“He touched you.” His words are sharp like his blade, slicing through me in an unapologetic way. His words expose parts of me I’ve been trying to keep hidden.
Loneliness.
Despair.
The ache to be loved and needed and adored.
Despite my sane brain telling me to run, I turn my eyes from him and grab a clean washcloth from the shelf by the sink. Once I’ve wet it and wrung it out, I meet his penetrative stare in the mirror. The heat of his body burns into my back as he steps close enough I can feel his erection against my lower back. He rests his chin on the top of my head in an oddly affectionate gesture that has my heart flip-flopping in my chest.
My breath catches when his bloodstained hands skim over my abs but not touching me. The hairs stand on end, begging to be stroked by him. Rather than touch me, he hovers them up toward my pectorals. The metal of my piercings burns as though he’s heating them in a supernatural way.
Because I’m an idiot, I press my ass against his hard dick, simultaneously hating and loving the thrill that rides through me at the thought of having him inside me. He doesn’t touch me, even as I continue to push him back with my body until his back hits the wall behind him. Then I swivel around to face him. His arms drop to his sides and he watches me with a hunger so ravenous it’s dizzying.
Nick was always horny to get his dick sucked, but he never once looked at me like this. Like he wanted to bite every inch of flesh on my body. I crave to be bitten.
To keep from dropping to my knees and worshipping this unhinged beast of a man, I focus on scrubbing away the blood speckles on his face. I’m careful not to meet his stare that’s still flaying me open. My heart is beating double time in my chest as I clean away the evidence of his rage.
He touched you.
His reasoning was so simple. As though it made perfect sense. Like it was his duty to protect me from the wickedness of the world. I haven’t forgotten that only a few short months ago, he was part of that wickedness and had Stormy not intervened, I may not be here to tell the tale. I could have ended up like Wex at Dragon’s vicious hands. But, despite what happened back then, it can’t erase the way he makes me feel right now as he regards me with such intensity and those words are repeated back to me over and over again inside my head.
He touched you.
Once his face is clean, I scrub at his neck, fixated on the way the dragon inked there appears to move and breathe.
“I want to suck your dick,” he murmurs, chasing his words all the way to my neck where he inhales me.
My body turns to stone and I choke out a, “N-No.”
“I didn’t say I was going to. I said I wanted to.”
Because that makes all the sense in the world.
He continues, his words like soft caresses on my skin. “You don’t understand, Baby Prospect. Ever since…” He trails off and then his fingers bite into my jaw hard enough I cry out. Slowly, he brings his face to where it’s peering down at mine, our noses barely touching. “Ever since they took me, I’ve been broken.”
“You’ve had sex,” I blurt out. “Not too broken.”
“With your sister,” he reminds me, his words dead and unfeeling, though lashing at me like a whip.
So I whip back. “And Night Giant.”
Why must I poke the bear? Or the dragon in this case?
I swallow down my unease, steeling my nerves against his intimidating presence. “You didn’t want it, though.”
“Smart kid.”
I bristle at his words. “That day in the cage, with you, I didn’t want it either.”
“I’m not like him.” His words are soft, barely fluttering over me like a feather. “I’m not.”
“You take what you want,” I accuse, the steamy reminder of last night igniting in my balls.
“If I took what I want,” he snaps back, “I’d have your pretty dick in my mouth and this conversation would be over.”
I swallow, trying desperately to get the image of this sinfully hot man on his knees with my cock down his throat. “You should shower,” I choke out. “We have shit to do.”
Fucking isn’t on that agenda, much to my aching dick’s dismay.
Dragon releases his grip on my jaw, his thumb brushing along my cheek. He doesn’t say another word as I step back and gain my bearings. I snatch up my clothes, eager to escape before he starts stripping off his.
Something tells me we’re not done discussing this subject.
And fuck if I’m not looking forward to it.
I have a death wish, that’s for damn sure.