Chapter 5
Fuck me.
I should’ve guessed Iris would completely disregard my wishes and put the human in something that made my blood boil rather than cool.
She had a sadistic streak.
As a female dragon, one of few in the Sky Demons, she found amusement wherever she could.
Like me, she’d never taken a human captive.
Not because she hated humans, but because she cared too much about them.
I couldn’t understand her overreaching compassion.
It didn’t fit her scales—the ones she got from her father—but she had a soft spot for them.
She preferred to torment her fellow dragons instead.
Because female dragons were coveted despite their inability to breed, harming them was an act of treason. No male dragon would ever dare challenge her, lest he prefer his wings cut off. Not to mention that she was stronger than any of the spoiled whelps just stupid enough to try.
Iris was like a sister to me, and she had a soft heart.
She wanted to save all the humans no matter what trouble it caused in our faction.
But since I was the ruling leader, she’d never risk outright taunting me, so Iris found clever ways to do it.
I’d expect nothing less of the daughter of the previous leader.
A tight black top was affixed to the human’s torso. Her large breasts were practically spilling out of it. A bloody fucking distraction, that was. Her silky pale hair gave me reprieve by falling over them, and thankfully, she’d avoided shifting or moving much after I put her on the bed.
Sheer black fabric laid around her toned waist before stretching out the length of her golden legs. It was light, airy, and the farthest thing from coverage.
And not what I fucking asked for, Iris.
My instructions were very clear: cover the troublesome thing, not make the human look like a goddess of the bleeding night.
The see-through fabric posing as a skirt was split down the middle, so even when the human barely shifted, I didn’t have trouble making out her luscious shape.
A temptation I fought from where I stood near my desk.
I’d taken to standing in the last ten minutes because the state of my lower half was… tragic.
Bloody hell, her smell wouldn’t leave me alone, and now this? It was only a matter of time before I did something I never imagined I’d ever want, let alone need, to do. The storm—the beast—demanded it.
Mine.
I’d dressed her so I didn’t have to see that tempting stomach, perfect breasts, shapely thighs, round ass, and thin, barely-there underwear I caught sight of every time I glanced her way.
So I wouldn’t have to fight my baser urges to fuck her anytime the thing growled or glared at me.
So I could ignore the effect she clearly had on my errant body.
If anything, the temptation was worse in the outfit Iris chose. After bathing the filth from the human’s golden skin and pale hair, she was practically glowing against the contrast of my dark sheets.
She was taller than the other human females I’d encountered. Her height was more dragon than human, but to me, perfect. It was a shame she rarely did anything but stay on her knees or crouch. Though, the way she glowered from the floor was blood to my cock every time.
Something about her glare set my nerves on edge and put fire in my blood.
It wasn’t the look of a victim; it was the stare of a predator.
I wanted to see more of it—the strength and violence; the desire for blood and retribution; the conviction that one day she’d destroy us all.
The more I observed her, the more dragon she became.
I’d seen that ruthless gleam in her glacial irises when Vektor attempted to subjugate her with his brutality. Her icy glare embodied the viciousness of a killer, and it made my cock fucking throb.
I’d never seen anything so beautiful.
Nothing that arrogant bastard did moved her. She wasn’t afraid of him. I couldn’t explain why a feeling of pride swelled in my chest when I saw her meet his stare dead-on, but I’d nearly killed the shameless dragon myself for thinking he had any right to touch what was mine.
Vektor was someone I would personally exile from the Sky Demons had I been given the freedom to do so without consequence.
Someone I wouldn’t mourn losing in a battle.
But he was the close confidant of Void. They both enjoyed torture, made evident by his public display earlier.
He was among the influential dragon families who preferred the old ways.
The dragon thought himself vicious and powerful because of the humans he harmed and the dragon families he knew, but he was a coward and scarcely more useful than a human in a war.
I couldn’t wait for the day when he fucked up enough that even Void’s love for him and his titles couldn’t save him from the punishment I’d rain down on him.
My eyes strayed over to the bed where the human was watching with that unwavering stare of hers. Always waiting. Feigning fear and ignorance, when her piercing gaze spoke of nothing but cleverness and violence.
The feeling from earlier was back—the pride, the possession, the yearning to know more.
I wasn’t convinced she was human. Perhaps she was a dragon with weak blood posing as one.
Another faction could’ve installed her as a spy or assassin.
It was just clever enough to work, and it’d explain why she made it through when no one else had.
It might’ve worked had I not already been suspicious of the blatant disregard of my orders.
I’d seen through her scared human act from the moment she appeared in our throne room.
Nothing about her was a victim. Far from it.
Had it been anyone else, and they’d be dead before my brothers had a chance to breathe a word of argument, but I’d found reasons to keep her.
Told myself I could gather information if she were here on a mission for another faction.
I’d play her games, rise to her challenges, test her patience, and watch her victim act unravel.
But that was just an excuse. I wanted to keep her, and I couldn’t fathom a reason greater than satisfying a growing curiosity to discover what secrets she kept. I hadn’t been this excited since…
War.
I craved her like I craved spilling blood.
One thing was clear to me as time passed and she stayed quietly observant, this creature intrigued me more than anything ever had before. I needed to figure her out even should it be a grave mistake.
One move, and her citrus scent flooded my nostrils. I couldn’t think anymore, just breathe. I snapped my head back to the desk and tried to tame the beast in my pants.
My cock couldn’t be harder. I was on the edge of a shift. I’d barely kept parts of my body from changing. The beast was alive in my head, roaring his demands, bent on having what was rightfully ours. Viciously hungry for her.
Craving the battle of fucking her.
It didn’t help to recall that violent glare she leveled on Vektor.
The human could easily be the first of her kind to kill a dragon in Sky Demons territory in decades, assuming she wasn’t part dragon like I suspected.
For some strange reason, it made my mouth water and transformation ripple across my sensitive flesh, close to taking hold.
Every time my eyes strayed to the bed, she was a feast waiting for me. A temptation I never anticipated.
And I was fucking starving.
A feral growl sat in my throat. That tempting triangle of fabric just below her navel was an outright insult. My claws ached to rip the offensive thing away. It was a bloody eyesore. Everything she wore was.
The urge to strip her down bare twisted my insides and defeated sense. It tugged at my will and taunted the hatred I’d always carried for humans. Because I craved her more fiercely with every breath, and it didn’t make any fucking sense why.
Her scent was everywhere, calling to me, beckoning me into swifter action.
The smell of oranges was the strongest where her thighs were pressed together.
It took every bit of my hard-fought control not to force those strong legs apart so I could bury my face between them and suck in long drags of it.
Taste her luscious slick. Be the reason she glared fire and ice.
A brutal need grew inside me, and I hadn’t any clue how to combat it. How could a beast who’d never met his equal on the battlefield win against what lived inside him? What could I possibly do to ignore it?
Send her away? Not on her fucking life.
Kill her? Not before I knew what she was.
What then? How did any of this make sense? What sort of power did this creature have over the leader of the Sky Demons without a day passing between them? Was she a witch? A dragon in disguise? A goddess of temptation sent to beguile and enchant before destroying every poor sod in her path?
What the fuck was she?
My eyes trailed back over to her. Her clear-water gaze hadn’t moved from me.
She stayed frightfully still with the dagger I’d given her clutched protectively against her chest. And the feeling of pride was back.
My dagger was a source of comfort to her, and for some reason, that very notion made me uncharacteristically smug.
“You can’t have it back,” she said out of nowhere.
My eyes widened before I caught myself.
She moistened her lips, holding the dagger tighter, and I couldn’t stop my gaze from tracking the movement of her tongue as it wet her lush bottom lip.
“The dagger,” she clarified, finding her voice with a lift of her chin.
She sucked in a breath and leveled those gorgeous eyes on me, her breasts pushing against the ornate handle.
“It’s mine now. No take-backs, demon. Surely you must be at least somewhat versed in the rules of my world. If I touch it, it’s mine.”