Chapter 14
Chapter
Fourteen
Race banded his arm around Ash’s waist, keeping her flush against his body as his dragon roared inside his skull. Oursss!
“Wh-what are you doing?” Her eyes widened.
“Giving you what you want.” He threaded his fingers through her hair, baring her neck to him. “Hell, I must be losing my fucking mind.” He pushed her tunic collar aside with his nose, inhaling the scent of summer rain and defiance.
Despite her anger, her breathing hitched, her body softening against his. Slowly, he dragged his tongue along her skin—and she shivered, the musky scent of her arousal tormenting him. Her desire, the taste of her, salt and heat, consumed him.
Hell, no matter his brutal side, when it came to this female, he didn’t recognize himself. His dragon, a ruthless killer for centuries, purred like a damn housecat.
“No—” She pressed her palm to his chest, attempting to push back. “I choose Koal.”
Something primal in him snapped. “Too late.”
“What—?”
He bit her.
His fangs pierced the soft skin where her neck met her shoulder, and she yelped. His arm tightened around her as the tang of her blood flooded his mouth, hot and primal, stoking the mating fever he was already wrestling.
A growl rumbled from deep in his chest, desire flooding him as he counted to three before he withdrew his fangs and soothed the punctures with his tongue. His beast quieted, sated—for now.
Breathing like she’d run miles, Ash shoved free. Her eyes wide, she clapped a hand to her neck. “You bit me.”
“How did you imagine a dragon’s claim-marking happened?” he drawled, his own insides shaky. “Licked like a kitten?”
Her tempting mouth tightened. If her daggered glare could kill, he’d be on the floor bleeding.
“Don’t run. Need to see the mark has taken—my dragon might not like you,” he drawled.
Kaelthar growled in his head, and Race bit back a wince at the lie.
“Oh really?” she bit out. “Then why did it let me snuggle up to it at night?”
His damn dragon chuffed and settled in.
With a deep breath, Race peeled her hand away from her neck. His heart pounded at the sight of the twin punctures, already darkening into a crescent bruise. Visible proof of his claim.
He allowed only a trace of venom to seep into her—enough to mark and protect, not endanger her. The coppery tang of her plasma lingered on his tongue, causing his need for her to spiral. “You’ll be fine—”
“Fine? Fine?” Her cheeks flushed, her eyes flashing. “I chose Koal, but you mate-marked me deliberately!” She pounded her small fists on his chest, her powers prickling his skin. “Now I’m bound to you!”
The rage on her face sparked his own ire. “Be thankful it was me. And it’s not fucking permanent, so calm the hell down. If I truly mate-marked you, you’d be climbing me like a damn cat in heat.”
Her chest heaved, her hands clenched. She looked like she wanted to stab him until there was nothing left of him.
“And I would already be fucking you so hard against this wall, you wouldn’t be able to walk for days afterward.”
Her mouth opened, then shut. With a growl that rivaled his dragon’s, she stomped off, slipping through the narrow cave mouth.
Fuck! He thumped his brow against the wall. The air hung thick with the mingled scents of her anger, arousal, and his desire. Hell, the metallic tang of her blood had his entire body strung tight with lust.
With other shifters, a full dose of venom would be painful for her—but not deadly.
From him, it would be fatal. His primordial bloodline ensured it. A true claiming bite would kill anyone who wasn’t a noble-blooded she-dragon.
The gods had made certain of that.
Too bad, he didn’t give a shit about preserving some ancient lineage. This was about protecting Ash.
Her soft laughter pulled him out of his frustration. The drain on his powers weighed heavily on him, and the urge to hunt and feed to regain his strength gnawed at his psyche. He stalked outside and stopped dead.
The thread of calm he fought for threatened to snap.
Ash sat there on the log, the same one the whelp had been on, her knees drawn up with her arms wrapped around them. Koal crouched near her, stoking the fire, roasting something. She showed no signs of the fury he’d witnessed moments earlier—all too cozy with fucking Koal. Whom she chose.
Oursss, his dragon grumbled, scales pushing to escape his skin.
Calm down, Race snapped, despite his own ire. She doesn’t know draconic ways. She’s claim-marked now.
Silence, while Race battled for control.
Then why do I feel bloodlust swamping me? his dragon chuffed. Because she chose Koal?
Bastard.
Hmm, you have a habit of always cussing yourself, the beast mused. I suppose it’s better than admitting what we both know—you’re fighting a losing battle.
Race barely heard his dragon, his gaze on the collar of her tunic pulled up, deliberately blocking his claiming mark from view.
A jolt of fury clocked through him, blood thundering to his head. The urge to kill the whelp and wipe the fucking smile off his face reignited.
You’re growling, his dragon murmured.
By the dark fucking gods! He’d given her just a damn surface bite, yet it was already messing with his head, urging him to spill blood to anyone who came near his Ash.
Ash refused to look up or acknowledge that maddening dragon striding out from the cave.
Being human, she knew she needed protection in this dangerous world. But his anger at being forced to mark her hurt. So, she’d pivoted for Koal to let Race see how it felt to watch someone he wanted choose another.
But with her crappy luck, he probably wouldn’t care. And somehow, that hurt worse than the mark burning on her skin. Yeah, she’d won the battle, even if victory tasted bitter.
She rubbed her damp palms on her tunic.
Climb him like a cat in heat?
The jerk.
The claim mark burned like a brand on her neck, pulling her skin taut as desire coiled her body like a spring. Sod him for making her ache for him—when she should be hating him.
“You covered up?”
At the icy tone, Ash lifted her head. Race loomed in front of her, his expression resembling the polar ice caps, and still so damn tempting. It took a moment for what he said to register.
“I’m cold,” she retorted, smoothing the little stand-up collar of her new tunic against her neck.
If stares became reality, she had a feeling that what he promised would have them both slamming into cave walls and rolling on the ground. The low throb of arousal pooling in her core spiked.
Bloody perfect.
His nose twitched.
Oh God, please, please don’t let him smell that I’m so damn aroused.
But she had a bad feeling he already did.
He stared at her for a second longer. “We’re leaving the moment I get back.”
He stalked across the clearing to where Attor sat on a flattened rock near Skaldr, who appeared to be dozing. The older male said something, but Ash couldn’t hear beyond her pounding heart.
She rubbed her arms as her powers prickled beneath her skin like angry wasps, her heart sinking deeper into her belly.
Leaving? Where was he going?
But meeting Koal’s troubled stare, Ash forced a wry smile.
“Oh, don’t mind him. He’s just fretting because I was hot a moment ago, and now I’m all covered up.
Thinks I’m catching a cold…” She cast Race another furtive look, lowered her voice, “Funny thing, though, I’m burning up again, impossibly so. ”
Ash fanned her face and was rewarded as Race’s entire body went ramrod stiff. Bingo.
It took every bit of her willpower not to rub the claim mark. Yeah, it sodding hurt for a second when he bit her. And God knew she did want to climb him in the cave with lust flooding her. She clenched her aching core muscles, hoping to ease the need.
And failed.
She scowled at the makeshift spit. Two flattish rocks cupped a neat flame, and the rock hare that had caused so much commotion was suspended on a green branch, swaying slightly. Fat dripped onto white-hot embers with a sharp sizzle. Even the mouthwatering aroma did little to quell her arousal.
“I’m sorry,” Koal murmured.
“What?” Ash looked up. “Oh, you mean…” She glanced at Race, still speaking to Attor. “It’s nothing like that, really.”
Ugh. With their heightened dragon hearing, they must already know what happened between her and Race.
Koal frowned. “Dragons can be volatile when someone they want isn’t—”
“He’s rather protective of his charge,” she cut Koal off. “That’s what I am. See, he must return me to Michael without a scratch. I’m to become one of the newbies at the castle he oversees—a rather hush-hush thing.”
Yeah, she made it sound like a whorehouse and didn’t care.
Koal shot a quick look at Race, who remained like a poker, then nodded. “My apology was for you being unable to get back to Earth.”
“It’s all right.” Ash slipped off the log and sank to the ground, her anger fading. Being mad at someone who didn’t respond was all so useless. “I suppose we’ll have to figure out those guards’ schedules before we try crossing the portal again.”
“Aye, that would help.” He pushed more peat into the fire.
Ash picked up a dry leaf from the underbrush and crumpled it, letting the confetti scatter to the ground. “So… Have you been with the Resistance long?”
Koal shrugged. “Since the fall of Lemuria. I was much younger then, a lad.”
“Your family?”
His expression turned grim, and he shook his head.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
He nodded, but the pain lingered in his eyes. Then he looked up, his smile back. “I’m glad you’ll be here a little longer—”
A low growl echoed, and Race slowly turned. In his current mood, she didn’t want Koal to get hurt. She said quickly, “The heat at the portal almost melted my skin. The air there just doesn’t feel right.”