Chapter 5
Five
Dirk
“Ella?”
I approached the cut in the cliffside with slow, deliberate steps, my dragon’s claws digging deep.
There was no turning back for me, not now when my mate was so close.
Following her was easy, the trail of sweet amber impossible for me to miss.
It was a blazing fire, sucking me in deeper with every press of my bare feet on the loamy forest floor.
She’d run farther than I’d expected. Nobody had been chasing her, though the sour tint of iron on the air made it clear she’d been injured.
Was it simply the pain that made her run?
I tried to temper the fury of my beast. We had already killed the one who dared harm our mate.
When we caught up to her, there would only be peace. Peace and us.
There would be no more delays. The Reds were gone, and though it had been the worst torture of my life, I had taken the time to put on clothes, a sliver of my rational mind recognizing that it was a smart move. My mate was out there and hurt. We needed to be with her.
It was burning me from the inside knowing that she was out there, without me to protect her, to warm her, and to make her body feel nothing but the most heavenly of pleasures.
I drank deep of the air again, confirming that Ella had gone through the cut and that the only other scents were those of her friends.
At least she wasn’t alone-alone.
Friends didn’t matter to my dragon. It gripped my skull tighter, the primal needs of my animal-half overwhelming everything else.
Including the knowledge that if I truly wanted to keep Ella happy and safe, I shouldn’t be going this way. I should be running in the opposite direction as fast as I could. Only when I was long gone could she find someone else. Someone safe.
A trumpeted roar only I could hear drove me to one knee as my dragon thrashed and revolted against my more logical desires. Mate. That was all that mattered. Getting to her. Claiming her.
I fought back, trying to secure some control of my actions once more, but my dragon was too strong. Too in control. I was caught in the web of Ella’s perfection. I was her thrall, and my feet carried me toward my heaven and her destruction.
“Ella,” I called once more as I reached the entrance to the cut, pausing. She was close. I could sense it. “It’s me. Dirk. Can I—”
A whirling blur exploded from deeper within the crevice, and then Ella was in my arms, staring up at me. Her eyes were aglow with rich, earthy tones overwhelming the normally sweet chocolate brown stare.
“Kiss me,” she purred thickly with feverish heat.
It was a mistake. I should have known better. I did know better. It was clear she wasn’t fully in command, but my dragon was too close to the surface. It was out of control, and so was I. I couldn’t resist, even seeing the ragged, bloody stains on one side of her shirt.
The mate scent was so strong, the cloying, intoxicating jasmine flourishing anew as her very feminine body pressed into me, and I was lost.
I bent down and kissed my mate, hard and unyielding.
Possessing. The growl in the back of my throat when she moaned into my mouth drowned out the frantic shouting of other voices calling her name. They were too far away.
She was mine now. They could not have her.
Nothing else mattered but Ella. My body was ready for her, and she ground her hips against me, driving me wild with a need to be inside her. My mate needed to know the pleasure only I could give her. I had to show her that we belonged to each other now, and no one else.
Ella grabbed my collar and pushed me backward, her tiny form taking full control until my shoulders slammed against the trunk of a huge brellwood tree. She swarmed up my body, wrapping her legs around my waist and pulling me in for yet another kiss.
I was hard as steel as she rubbed her sweet center against my shaft. Too much clothing was in the way. I spun around, intent on propping her against the trunk while I tore her pants and mine so I could fill her needy pussy and make her scream with deserved pleasure.
It wouldn’t take long. The sounds she was making in my ear now were driving me to the edge and making my cock throb with the need to release itself inside her.
Which is what made the abrupt change in her body language so shocking.
She stiffened and pushed herself off me, dropping to the ground, the warm, rich sensuality in her eyes replaced by a cold hard fury.
I froze, unsure what else to do.
“What are you doing to me?” she snapped in an icy rage.
I blinked, trying to gather control of myself. My dragon was confused, desperately searching for her animal, for the beast it had been in harmony with only seconds ago. I used that lack of cohesion to seize back control of myself once more.
Before I could reply, though, Ella’s eyes brightened steadily, and her muscles melted into something more languid. The seductress was back, and she prowled toward me even as I backed away, running her fingers down my chest with a softness that could destroy me if she wanted.
“Wait,” I said, lifting my hands, palms outward. “Ella. Stop.”
She was fighting with her dragon. Neither was in control. I couldn’t take her. Not now, not like this.
“Shhh,” she whispered, soft and feminine with a ghost of sensuality that tortured every fiber of my soul.
Oh, how I wanted to give in.
“Ella,” I said, my hands still up, trying to ward her off.
Before I could say more, she grabbed my wrists and directed my hands to her breasts, gripping the backs of my palms and forcing me to massage the small bumps. Her head dropped back and she moaned wildly. Her nipples hardened under my attention.
“Wait,” I gritted out as she leaned in to kiss me.
If I didn’t stop it now, there would be no holding back. I would bear her to the ground, mount her, and claim my mate right then and there.
And I could not let that happen, for more reasons than she knew.
“No!” The cry tore from Ella’s throat at the last second, and she let go of my hands, the glow in her eye fading once more.
I forced myself back a half step. It wasn’t enough, but it was a victory anyway.
“Ella.”
Her eyes flickered rapidly. Glowing. Not glowing. Glowing.
She was fighting, and fighting hard.
Strong mate.
“Listen to me,” I said, ignoring my dragon’s approval. “Ella. You need to …”