Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
Race tore through more of his kill, teeth sinking deep, watching Ash stare at the charred leg, her face pale in the moonlight. Her fear scraped against his senses, raw and acrid, merging with the coppery bite of blood in his mouth.
His dragon stirred restlessly, wanting to comfort her, but the man shoved back the urge.
Yeah, he felt that useless tug too. All pointless anyway.
Better she saw him for what he was. Better she stayed away.
He ripped off another hunk of bloody meat, chewing hard, trying to drown out the lingering scent of her arousal from when he’d caught her. His own damned fault for letting her see his primal response to her, the desire fisting him by the balls.
Fuck! He wiped his mouth with the back of his bloodied hand.
Still, she made no move to eat.
“I shared a piece of my dinner,” he drawled. “Even ruined it by burning. Don’t let it go to waste.”
Her mouth tightened, and she looked up.
He rose, ignoring the flinch that rippled through her. She looked away, then back at him, as if she couldn’t decide whether to face him or hide.
“We should head back.” He flung the carcass into the trees, and shadows shifted. Wolves, felines, and whatever else prowled these ridges. None dared come too close—none foolish enough to challenge a dragon.
The trek to the cave passed in tense silence. Ash kept her distance, her arms wrapped around her waist. And he wanted to drag her closer.
By those useless gods! The pull toward her was wreaking havoc on him, choking him with a desire he thought long dead. He ground down on his teeth and put more space between them.
Like that will work, his dragon retorted.
Shut up.
He scanned the dark stillness around him. While dawn broke in Caelvyrn, here, in the western reaches of the realm, night lingered.
Back in the cave, the temperature had plummeted further, midnight chill seeping through the stone walls. Ash sank on the ground against the far wall, her knees drawn up with her arms around them, shivering despite her obvious attempt to hide it.
He could start a fire, but the smoke would be a signal to every dragon in the vicinity. And he still reeked of blood. He usually ate his food cooked somewhat while in human form, but his dragon side demanded a live kill.
It was better she knew his savage nature upfront.
“I won’t be long.” He stalked deeper into the cave’s labyrinth, toward the sounds of rustling water, stopping at another cavern. The underground spring ran clear, cascading over worn stone into deep, glassy pools.
He dove into the deepest one, pants and all, the chilly waters a welcome relief to the burn of lust within him as he swam the perimeter…
A short while later, he hefted out of the pool and mentally dried off, his pants fresh again. He paused, scanning the area. The previous occupants had probably used this spot for bathing and other activities, judging by jagged pieces of clay sticking out from the packed ground near the wall.
He toed the dirt, revealing several broken dishes, most crumbling to dust. There should be what he wanted beneath the rubble.
With a wave of his hand, he pushed the gravel aside and dug out an earthen jug with a broken top. Yeah, this would work. He scorched it with a breath of fire, rinsed out the inside, then scooped fresh water from farther up before heading to the front.
The sound of teeth clattering reached him first. Ash remained huddled against the wall, her face tucked into her knees. Only her striking eyes were visible, wide and watchful.
Warm her, his dragon rumbled.
Calm down, I plan to.
There was only one safe way to do that, for both of them.
He set the broken jug near her, but she eyed it warily. “Water,” he said.
She grabbed the earthenware and gulped some, liquid dripping down her chin. He averted his gaze from the tempting sight she made, crossed to the opposite wall, and removed his pants—
“Wh-what are you doing?” She jerked to her feet, eyes wide, knuckles bone-white around the jug. It slipped from her hand and shattered.
“Don’t run,” he ordered, then shifted. Bones creaked and stretched, scales replacing skin in a blink as his dragon form emerged.
She shrank back against the stone wall, her fear-scent spiking. So small. So breakable. From his full draconic height, she barely reached his ankle.
You need warmth. Race projected his thoughts into her mind. Come, vixen, curl up against me.
Her head tipped back, and she pressed into the rough surface of the wall as if she could sink right through it and disappear. “I-I’m fine.”
Stubborn female.
He chuffed and settled his massive body along the opposite wall, curling there, his enormous tail stretched across the open entrance as a barrier—and slid close to her. She remained utterly still, even as her teeth knocked together.
Race settled his head onto his forelimbs and closed his eyes. In this form, he felt more, felt her as she lay down again. Her scent of summer rains wrapped around him, and each flutter of her heartbeat sank into his chest. There were no walls between instinct and need.
Eventually, her shivering subsided. As sleep claimed her, she moved closer, nestling against the warmth of his tail. He flattened his spines and spiked tip, careful with her fragile form.
Too damn breakable. Not meant for this world.
His dragon chuffed. Mine.
No. He would hand her over to Michael when they returned to Earth. That was always the plan.
As her soft breaths evened out, a quiet snore slipped free. Race nudged her closer to him with the curve of his tail. She sighed and melted into him, seeking warmth. The stillness of the cave wrapped around them.
Race shut his eyes but didn’t sleep, his mind a caged thing of nightmares, waiting to consume him. Instead, he inhaled her fresh summery scent, letting it seep through him…
His chest tightened, the walls closing in on him tighter and tighter. Chains rattled, his screams echoed as bones shattered—
His eyes snapped open, instantly taking in the weak gray light of dawn creeping into the cave.
Fuck! He’d fallen asleep. Something he tried never to do.
Breathing hard, he banged his head against the ground and became aware he wasn’t alone. A body pressed against his, and that calming, fresh scent he was starting to crave seeped into him.
Ash.
And with instinct taking over, he’d shifted back into his human form. Naked. Ash was tucked against his body, her breath skimming his skin, her arm thrown over his stomach.
That she was still there meant he hadn’t screamed.
Dammit. He should leave, but he didn’t dare breathe. Didn’t move. Couldn’t.
Ash sighed and shifted, her hand settling low on his belly, perilously close to his cock, sending a searing jolt of lust through him.
He ground his jaw until it hurt.
Her thick lashes fluttered, and her sleepy gaze met his. He knew the moment awareness hit. Her eyes widened.
“Oof!” she yelped, scrambling away.
He would have laughed if he weren’t strung so fucking tight. Instead, he looked away because if she saw his face, she might realize just how close he was to doing something monumentally stupid.
Millennia of nothing. And then wham! This delicate human who would never survive him appeared and clubbed him over the head by simply existing.
With a slow exhale, he rose, very much aware of her gaze lowering to his erection. He put on the pants he tossed aside, then summoned the boots and socks he’d discarded somewhere in this world and put them on.
Want her, his dragon rumbled.
No.
“C’mon. You can freshen up at the springs.” He aimed for the twisting passage leading to the underground pools, one hand pressing down on his damn erection, willing it to deflate. The sound of her boots on gravel followed a second later, and some of the tightness within him eased.
She stumbled, debris skittering underfoot.
Shit. He spun and grabbed her wrist before she fell. “I forget humans can’t see in the dark.”
A soft snort. “Glad you realized that before I kissed rubble.”
A chuckle he didn’t expect broke free at her dry response. Sleep, it seemed, had scrubbed away the trace of fear he’d scented last night.
Race led her deeper into the tunnel.
At the cavern with the underground stream, he summoned a flame, lighting the old, peat-wrapped torch affixed to the wall. A dim golden glow flickered across the stone, casting long shadows. He didn’t need illumination, not with his heightened senses. But Ash wasn’t built for caves and darkness.
“I’ll be back soon.” He strode off, deeper into the cave system, his draconic senses already picking up bits of ancient treasures buried in these mountains. Better to focus on that than the lingering sensation of her body, the curve of her hips, her lush breasts pressed against him in sleep.
As Race pushed deeper into the darkness, the tunnel narrowed, and his jaw locked, feeling as if the walls were closing in on him, the suffocating weight clawing at him.
Memories he’d long buried battered his mind…
Countless ages confined within a coffin cell in Tartarus, no end to the suffering, to the cloying darkness. Race clung to the edges of his sanity.
Impossible power ensnared him, wrenched him from his prison, metal tearing, blood slicking his skin. He lost consciousness…
He awoke, drowning in fury and dread. His dragon ripped free, and he roared, spewing flames wildly, crashing through the gloom, scorching everything in the dark, his claws tearing the earth.
Destroy. Tear. Maim. Burn it all—
A figure stood before him, glowing like the sun. He lunged—
But every muscle locked up tight.
Rage thundered in his chest at being trapped again. He roared, the sound splintering the air. Birds fled. Animals scattered. The scent of fresh blood lingered, and hunger snapped his jaw wide.
He spewed fire at the radiant witch blocking his path. His flames broke against her light, snuffed out like sparks against stone.
“I am Gaia,” her voice slid through him, holding him rigid. “You dare destroy my earth?”
He growled, straining against the invisible hold. Fire seared his throat, and he roared for release—
“Stop, Eracier of Lemuria.” Her tone, softer this time, pierced the red haze in his mind. “Let us see if there’s anything left worth saving.”
With a sweep of her hand, the world ripped open, revealing another.
The stink of smoke and sulfur, too reminiscent of his cell, suffocated him.
Then the screaming started as a horde of dark figures, their blood-red eyes flashing, stomped through a hamlet on a killing spree, feeding on the souls of people.
“Don’t kill the humans.” Her warning in the air, Gaia cast him straight into the carnage…
He couldn’t have disappointed her too much.
Because here he was.
But deep down, he knew he had killed humans.
While those deaths had been the result of uncontrollable rage—with his psyche still locked in his nightmarish incarceration—with Ash, if he didn’t reel in his urges and leave her the hell alone, it would be deliberate. He refused to risk her.