Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
“Get. The. Fuck. Away. From. Her.” Each word dripped violence as he advanced, his vision bleeding crimson, his scales pushing beneath his skin, both man and beast merged in murderous fury. “Or there’ll be nothing left for anyone to remember who you are.”
Koal shot to his feet, his gaze downcast. “Apologies, sire. She fell asleep outside, leaning against the log—”
“Race?” Ash sat up, her face flushed.
His restraint snapped.
Race blurred past and grabbed Koal by the throat, flinging him aside. He hit the ground with a bone-jarring thud.
“Race, stop it!” Ash yelled, leaping to her feet. “You’re shifting—your scales—please!”
Kill, his dragon snarled. He touched our mate!
The urge to do as his beast wanted strangled him, but faced with Ash’s terrified expression, he fought to gain control of himself, his talons digging into his palms, blood seeping free.
She looked so damn beautiful, her hair in disarray and her face sleep-flushed. And she wanted Koal. “We’re leaving.”
“Race, wait. Let me explain—”
He stalked for the entrance, wanting to ram his fist into the granite wall that he’d let this side of him take over. Dragons were fucking intensely possessive.
But Ash wasn’t his. He had to remind himself and his beast of the fact. He’d only marked her to keep her safe.
His dragon chuffed, unhappy.
Yeah, he was a psychotic asshole. Blood and gore defined him. No sane woman should feel safe around him, and yet…
Hell, he pulled his anger deep into his gut and stepped outside, breathing in the cold evening air. He ignored the two shifters there and dragged his fingers through his hair, but they tangled in his braid.
Fucking Skaldr.
He shot a cold look at the bastard—who shrugged—wanting to break every bone in Skaldr’s body.
Tone flat, he said, “We’re going to the town at the western borders of Caelvyrn.”
“Duskscale Verge,” Attor supplied. “Midway to the portal as well.”
He nodded, remembering that name. “It would be the best place to track anyone with knowledge of the timings for the changing of the guard, I imagine.”
“Aye. Might take days, though,” Attor warned, rising from the rock. “Most don’t readily talk.”
Dammit, what was taking Ash so long?
Was she nursing the whelp’s wounds? If he walked in there again, he would kill the fucker.
He planted his booted feet on the ground. “We’ll need lodging for a few nights.”
“I’ll handle it,” Attor said.
Race barely heard him, his entire being dragged like a force field toward the female now standing behind him. Her scent was threaded with smoke, carrying traces of sweet wood—Koal’s fucking scent?
Possessiveness twisted his gut, but he forced himself to step away and to breathe, each inhale a battle for control.
“Might have to go into one of the bigger shifter towns,” Koal added, stopping next to Ash.
Kill him now, his dragon growled.
No, a sane piece of him—shoved way down beneath his rage—fought back. She was asleep.
His irrational dragon side didn’t care. She smelled of the fucker, not of him.
“We’ll start with Duskscale,” Race said, his tone cold.
“I doubt these poor bastards care about the portal guards or their shift schedule when they’re trying to survive,” Skaldr muttered, eyeballing Race like he wanted to dig into his head for answers.
“Wouldn’t it be dangerous?” Ash asked, hurrying to Race’s side, her expression troubled.
Race shoved his hands into his pockets so he wouldn’t reach out and pull her closer. “You mean the she-dragon who came after you? It’s been days. She’s likely lost interest by now. But you don’t venture out alone unless I’m with you,” he warned.
“We will not let any harm befall her,” Attor said. “As the Resistance, one of our purposes is to keep the vulnerable safe.”
Race eyed them coolly. Best to make it all clear now.
“She comes first at all times. I don’t care what it is—her safety will always be priority. She gets hurt, I will leave. I can survive without Lemuria. I have done so for many millennia.”
His warning was absolute. Helping them meant nothing to him.
Ash bit her lip, clearly unhappy about being guarded twenty-four seven, but she remained silent.
“Understood,” Attor murmured, his relief palpable, and Koal nodded.
Skaldr snorted. “Guess it’s back to us still begging for crumbs every step of the way.”
“Skaldr,” Attor growled in warning. “We need all the help we can get. Eracier’s life is not here any longer.”
“Ash and I will wait at the outskirts for you once you’re done,” Race said. “I don’t want to draw attention—”
“It’s going to happen, no matter the passing millennia,” Attor pointed out. “Someone’s bound to remember, even though you do look different, grown from who you were, and there are black streaks in the front of your hair now. No one has silver hair here, well, except for your lineage…”
“I’ll cut it, shave it off—whatever. Let’s go.”
The others melted into the forest, leaving them alone.
Ash’s pull continued to tug at him like gravity, and his edginess grew. If he didn’t move, he’d succumb, because it wouldn’t stop with just a kiss, and more would be disastrous.
Ours. Claim her, his dragon rumbled.
She’s marked, and it’s enough for now!
His beast’s ire crashed against his mind.
Race ignored him and kept his expression cool, though his voice came out rougher than he intended. “You want to go to the stream first?”
She didn’t answer, gripping the strap of her backpack. “What’s going on, Race?”
He frowned. “We’re leaving for Duskscale.”
“Not that. I meant earlier. You nearly bit Koal’s head off when he was only trying to help. I was exhausted—I dozed off. He carried me inside before I fell into the fire. Now we’re alone, and you’ve mentally switched off.”
“You’re imagining things that aren’t there.”
“I’m imagining things?” She narrowed her eyes. “Is that your fallback? Ever since you marked me, you’ve been this-this icicle, so out of reach…” Her breath hitched. “Ohhh, stupid me. I get it. You think because you marked me, I will demand more?”
Her features tightened. “Don’t fret, dragon-man. After being abandoned by my spineless excuse for a fiancé, who couldn’t even stand up to his own mother, I assure you, the last thing I want is to be discarded again.”
“This has nothing to do with anything except your safety,” he ground out, while everything within him wanted to hunt down the human blight and tear his head off. “I’ll be a minute.”
He stalked back into the cave, grabbed the dark cloak from the boulder, and threw it over his shoulders. Back outside, he found Ash sitting on the log by the firepit, rubbing her temples. Her despair punched him straight in the chest, but he couldn’t give in to the temptation to comfort her.
She rose, swiping her sweaty face.
“What’s wrong?” Her heart pounded so loudly, he could actually hear its frantic beat.
“It’s nothing, just a bit hot. Do you mind if we stop at the lake first?”
His nose flared at her faint musky smell—fuck! His bite was affecting her.
He nodded and drew her to him, wanting to press his nose against the mark, lick it, lick her—
Reeling in his choking need, he dematerialized them to the valley. The place was quiet and tranquil, as always.
Ash stepped back, as if she couldn’t wait to distance herself from him. She dropped her backpack onto the rocks and rubbed her palms down her tunic. “I need a-a bath. I’ll be quick.”
Her stare burned between his shoulder blades as he shrugged out of his cloak and let it fall onto the boulder. He settled on a rock a foot away, his attention fixed on the sky for intruders. “I’ll keep watch. Use the little inlet behind the rocks.”
“Okay.”
A soft rustle of clothes reached him as she undressed, and he shut his eyes. A light patter of feet, then a splash of water, and he finally released the breath he held. Hell. He pinched the bridge of his nose. All he could think of was joining her, putting them both out of his misery—
A soft curse followed.
“Er-hmm, Race?”
He glanced back, unable to see her with the huge rocks in the way. “Yeah?”
“I forgot my soap. It’s in my backpack.”
By those useless dark gods, what kind of new torture is this?
His dragon stirred restlessly, wanting to claim what the mark proved was theirs.
He found the soap in her pack’s pocket, then stepped around the rocks.
She stayed where she was in the middle of the inlet, the crystal-clear water revealing her clearly.
He’d seen her naked once before, but now, with his claim mark dark against her neck, her wet hair slicked back, and water droplets trailing between her pert breasts, the sight hit him like a physical blow.
She was breathtaking.
Hunger dragged through him, fierce and unrelenting, to discover how she tasted everywhere.
Her face heated. She straightened her spine but didn’t hide from him. “Are you giving me the soap, or are you just going to stare?”
He set the soap aside and waded into the water—clothes and all. Maybe this would give them both what they needed.
Her eyes widened. “What are you doing?”
“What I wanted to do from the moment I put my claim mark on you.” He splayed his fingers over the mark on her neck, and his mouth came down on hers.
A startled gasp escaped her, her hands splayed on his chest. Just when he thought she would push him away, her mouth moved under his, and she responded with the same hunger twisting him. He licked, nibbled, and sucked on her top lip, then her lower one, before deepening the kiss—
He lifted her, and her warm, wet body fit against his shirt-covered chest. Her arms wound around his neck, her legs tightening at his hips as he waded toward the smooth boulder, her core a tempting heat against his hard length.
He broke their kiss, setting her on the rock.
He cupped her breasts and gently squeezed, his thumbs flicking her nipples.
She shivered. Unable to resist the temptation, he suckled one tip—a tight tug, then he switched, tasting her other nub before drawing it into his mouth. He sucked with firm pulls.