Chapter 26
A lric slammed the door to his private chambers shut with a loud bang and stalked across the room. Fire dragons had a horrible reputation for being short-fused hotheads, but Alric was proud to say it was rare for him to lose his temper.
But this— the Jaeggi’s return, the threat against Cameron—he couldn’t stomach it. Couldn’t fucking think past the rage boiling in his blood.
How dare they even think they could touch Cameron? Did they believe him to be so weak he couldn’t protect his mage? His clan? It was utter nonsense.
When he’d been a young dragon, he’d shift and take off.
He’d fly high and far from his clan. The world, his problems, his clan would all fall away and there was only the sound of wind rushing by his face.
He’d fly until his wings burned and ached from exhaustion, until there was only a cold numbness in his chest that allowed logic to claim his mind again.
Only then would he think about turning back to his home.
But now he was stuck in this wretched, weak and damaged body. There was no more flying to escape and clear his mind.
Snarling, he snatched up a ceramic vase and threw it as hard as he could against the stones of the fireplace.
The crash and explosion of porcelain was satisfying but not nearly enough.
His dragon roared in his head, demanding he summon all of his people to fly to that town and burn it to ash.
Wipe it off the face of the earth and erase all evidence the Jaeggi existed.
His human brain struggled to come up with a good reason why they couldn’t do just that.
Instead, his eyes darted around the room, searching for something else to throw. Maybe if he smashed enough things, his temper would finally cool enough to figure out how to take care of this problem once and for all.
There was a knock on his door and Alric jerked. “What?” he barked.
Now was not a good time to be disturbed. He needed to be alone, to give in to his anger and pain for just a little while. He deserved that one luxury after centuries of tight control and bottling everything up for what was best for his people.
He knew before the door even opened it was Cameron. The last time he’d caught his scent, but this time, it was a feeling. There was a tug deep in his soul, and he just knew Cameron was coming to check on him.
His dragon roared again. He didn’t want Cameron to see him like this. He didn’t want Cameron to steal away his fury. The anger and destruction were better, powerful.
The mage entered Alric’s chambers and closed the door behind him, his dark brown eyes worried as they swept around the room. They paused for a second on the vase shards in front of the empty fireplace, then moved on to Alric again.
“Hey.”
“It’s not a good time, Cameron,” Alric ground out in a low voice.
Cameron nodded, but still walked farther into the room. “Yeah, I got that when you stormed off, practically vibrating with anger. I thought you might want to talk about it.”
“Talk? What the hell is there to talk about?” Alric made a scoffing noise in the back of his throat and paced away from Cameron.
“The Jaeggi are back, they are well aware of the Burkhard clan, and they are trying to kidnap you.” He still wanted to throw something, but not while Cameron’s eyes were on him.
Even as he wanted to scream in frustration, he was trying to pack all his ugly emotions deep inside of him where no one could see them.
It would be better if Cameron just left him alone.
“I thought we could talk about how I’m safe here in the castle. Or the fact the presence of the Jaeggi isn’t your fault. Or anything else that might be driving you to smash things.”
Alric shook his head. “I don’t want to talk. I…I just need time and space to think.”
“Uh-huh,” Cameron muttered. His tone made it perfectly clear he didn’t believe a damn word Alric was saying.
Alric swung back around, searching for some way to get Cameron to leave that wouldn’t result in him hurting his feelings.
Before he could find any words that would sway the mage, he was knocked speechless by Cameron grabbing the bottom of his T-shirt and pulling it up over his head.
He stood shocked at the sudden vision of beautiful smooth skin pulled over taut muscles with only the smallest sprinkling of hair below his belly button.
With the chaos happening around them with the Jaeggi, the arrival of Cameron’s family, and other duties, they’d been able to spend only the one night together.
Not nearly enough time for Alric to explore all of Cameron’s perfection.
“What?” he choked out.
Cameron smirked, toeing out of his shoes. “If you don’t want to talk, then we’re going to fuck.”
“What?” Alric repeated, because at this point, the blood had clearly stopped flowing to the speech center of his brain. He didn’t have any other words.
“We’re going to fuck the angry out of you,” Cameron said a little more slowly. The smirk turned into a wicked grin as he made quick work of his belt and jeans, shoving them down to the floor.
Alric clenched his teeth, barely resisting the urge to adjust himself in his pants as his dick awoke and started pressing against the front. Oh yes, it wanted to come out and play with Cameron very much, but this was not the time. “This isn’t a game, Cameron. You need to leave.”
“Nope, not leaving.” He pulled off his socks and tossed them onto the floor with the rest of his clothes and strolled across the room wearing only a pair of black cotton boxer briefs that accentuated his olive skin and his hardening cock.
“And I know this isn’t a game.” He paused, his eyes widening for a second. “But we can make it one if you want.”
“Cam—” he started in warning, but the mage was already shaking his head, closing the distance between them.
“You need this. You’re angry, hurting, frustrated, and probably even scared.
You think I can’t tell when you’re hurting?
We haven’t known each other long, but I look at you and it’s like I know what you’re feeling, I know what you need.
” Cameron reached out with one hand to place it against Alric’s cheek, but Alric’s right hand shot up in a flash, capturing his wrist in a tight, unyielding grip.
“And I’m still a dragon. Strong and dangerous. Even broken, I’m still strong enough to snap you in half. You need to leave.”
Cameron didn’t try to pull his arm free as he took another step closer.
He leaned his head forward so that their noses nearly touched, and his breath brushed over Alric’s tightly pressed lips.
When he spoke, his voice trembled, barely more than a whisper.
“You are the strongest creature I have ever met. And I know you would never hurt me.”
Just the thought of anyone touching Cameron, bruising his perfect skin, wiping away his wonderful smile, sent a fresh shaft of pain through him to mix with his anger. No one could be allowed to hurt his Cameron. Not even the king of the Fire Clan dragons.
He sucked in a breath to speak, his lips parting, and Cameron dove forward.
Their mouths crashed together in a violent, hungry kiss.
Tongues dueled, teeth clashed, and someone moaned.
Alric wasn’t sure who and didn’t care. The kiss went on and on, demanding and hungry.
They couldn’t get close enough. He wanted to memorize Cameron’s taste, the delicious sounds he made, the way his fingers twisted almost painfully in Alric’s hair, holding him prisoner as if he expected Alric to push him away.
Wrapping his arms around Cameron, he pulled them tightly together.
Their hard dicks rubbed against each other through too much fabric, and Alric’s brain officially tapped out.
He hadn’t been using it when he was pissed, and he certainly wasn’t going to use it now that he had Cameron hot and demanding in his arms.
His hands slid down to cup Cameron’s ass, kneading the wonderfully taut muscles while wringing more sounds out of his lover.
Cameron broke off the kiss and moaned as he thrust against Alric, trying to get that much more friction.
Cameron focused nearly black eyes on him, his face flushed and lips swollen with their frantic kisses.
“Want you to fuck me. Fuck me hard enough that I feel you for days,” Cameron panted.
“Make your ass mine,” Alric growled back. “Fine. Get on your knees and get me ready.”
Cameron’s entire body shivered, and he licked his lips, pupils blown so wide the iris was just a thin brown rim.
Releasing his tight hold on Alric’s hair, Cameron dropped to his knees and attacked Alric’s pants like a man possessed.
It took only seconds for everything to be shoved down to his ankles.
Cameron hesitated, staring at Alric’s rock hard dick, but the second was enough time for guilt.
He took a breath to tell Cameron he didn’t have to, but then Cameron wrapped his fingers around the base of his dick and looked up at Alric with a wide, dirty grin that left no doubt he was exactly where he wanted to be.
This… oh god …this was a horrible mistake.
Cameron’s mouth closed over the head and that talented tongue ran slowly over it, caressing him before moving lower.
Nothing had ever felt so good. He could feel himself growing hard, need throbbing through him, but he didn’t want to come like this.
He wanted to be buried deep in Cameron’s ass while the mage screamed his name in exquisite pleasure.
But this…he never wanted this to end. Cameron hummed, making more of his needy noises that massaged his dick with little vibrations.
It was all he could do to not thrust into that perfect mouth.
One hand gripped Alric’s thigh, massaging muscles, before slipping between his legs to gently fondle his balls. Gritting his teeth, Alric swore softly, fighting to get control of his building orgasm.