Desired by Dragons: BBW Paranormal Romance (Dragons of New York Book 2) (9 page)

As she stroked, Quill was ravenous, holding and massaging both her breasts, completely bared to him, while he kissed up her neck and thought of being inside her, the rocking motion of her hips against Drake stoking his imagination.

It really was something magical, the way they all moved together, in tandem, constantly cognizant of each other and focused, Quill and Drake toward Tara and Tara toward the both of them.

Tara’s breath caught, and Quill watched with ecstasy as her eyes rolled back and she arched, her body completely taken in the throes of pleasure.

Before Quill could think another thought, she stroked hard against him, and Quill felt his body jerk as he came with her, his entire body sending off sparks and his dragon tensing with the power within him. It was unlike anything he’d ever experienced before, being here with his mate and feeling her love.

Tara’s voice rose above them, screaming wildly into the night in complete euphoria. Quill looked past Tara and could see Drake as well, muscles bulging with tension as he breathed heavily and held Tara’s hips from behind, going inside her, coming with the both of them.

Quill wished the moment could last forever, but he knew this was only the start for them. If she was a dragon-heart, and he was certain she was, then they had forever to do this together.

Quill helped her lift off of Drake, who came behind her and laid her down on the bed while Quill pulled up the sheets.

Tonight had been perfect. As she nestled between the two of them, Quill couldn’t wait to see what tomorrow would bring. Whatever it was, he was certain they could face it together, so long as Tara was with them.

Their dragon-hearted mate.

T
he last night
had been amazing. Tara knew there was still a lot to learn about her dragons, but she was more and more sure they were the ones for her.

They’d been tender, cooperative, and so damn hot last night. She still ached slightly from how full she’d been with Drake inside her, but it was a pleasant kind of pain that reminded her she’d been with someone dear to her. Two of them.

She could hardly wait to be able to experience that with both of them.

But the peace of the morning didn’t last long.

“Shit,” Drake said, striding out of the bedroom, phone in hand.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. She’d been sitting at the kitchen table, reading on her kindle, while Quill was making breakfast, botching several attempts at making omelets and cursing when he burned himself.

When Drake came out, Quill took off his apron and came over to his partner. “Did you get a call?”

Drake nodded. “Not for a mission, though. Just a warning from Sterling. Apparently, the wyverns are on the move.”

Quill raised an eyebrow. “That’s new, right?”

“Yes,” Drake said. “And it means we’re vulnerable.”

“Why?” Tara asked. “I don’t get it.”

Drake gestured to the window. “We didn’t think they’d try anything. Wyverns are much weaker. If they’re coming for us, it means they know something we don’t.”

A thump on the door startled all of them at once.

“What’s that?” Tara asked.

Drake put up a hand. “Stay back.” He walked toward the door and cautiously stood in front of it, listening.

Nothing.

Tara looked at Quill. “What do we do?” she whispered. “Could they be here?”

“They could, but they couldn’t take us,” Quill said, looking uneasy. “There should only be a few wyverns out there, given how little blood they got from me when they captured me.”

She nodded. “What should I do? Should I try mating you, however that works, so I hopefully have an extra power to help if things get nasty?”

Quill raised an eyebrow as if the thought hadn’t occurred to him.

Drake walked over, grabbing a knife from the kitchen counter as he went. “There are a lot of them. I don’t know how, but there are. That’s why they have the guts to come up here. We’ll need all the help we can get.” He cut his arm and held it out.

It felt sudden, but it also felt right. After this, they could take things on as a team. She didn’t know if she really was a dragon-heart, and she didn’t want to disappoint them. But she didn’t want either of her lovers or herself to be in danger, and this was a chance to help that possibility be less likely to happen.

She took the knife from Drake and closed her eyes as she ran it lightly over her wrist, feeling a sharp, white-hot pain and looking down to make sure she’d only barely scored the skin. Blood welled up in droplets along the thin line and Drake pulled her close, holding her against him as he moved her arm against his.

She felt the pull of a vortex and gasped at the new sensation in her body. She could literally feel his blood moving into her, the way both of them had been able to became a part of her in the time they’d been together.

She could feel her love for them welling through her. From the moment they’d pulled her from the river, this was meant to happen. Suddenly, leaving her world and her business behind didn’t feel like any kind of sacrifice. She closed her eyes and prayed she’d get a dragon power, once Quill shared blood with her.

But before she could turn and complete the process, she heard two deafeningly loud sounds at once. The window shattered into a million pieces, and Quill moved in front of her, blocking her from the glass. The door broke, and Drake ran to block it with his body.

A tail shot forward as a wyvern flew through the window. It was a greenish-brown color, becoming visible only once it was in the apartment. A horrible creature with small wings and beady black eyes and large hind legs but only tiny shriveled arms. Its tail wrapped around Quill’s waist and jerked him back, throwing him out the window. She stifled a scream when she remembered Quill could fly.

She saw that Drake was handling things at the front door, so she ran to the window to make sure Quill was all right. She could make out his shimmery, nearly invisible shape, wrestling in the air with something smaller but still sinister.

She was wondering what she should do when she felt something wrap around her waist and jerk her into the air.

She shrieked as she was lifted out of the apartment, kicking and screaming in hopes of drawing Quill’s or Drake’s attention. But there was no chance. They were both hopelessly overwhelmed.

Q
uill’s dragon
roared as he saw their mate being carried away in the air. He screeched, calling for Drake, and when they established a mind connection (mind reading wasn’t instant with dragons and had to be agreed to on both sides), Quill could tell Drake was as panicked as he was.

They’ve got her.

Where?
Drake asked, panicked.
There are about a million of them at the door.

A million?

Okay, maybe not, but I can’t see past the first five blocking the hallway. How the hell did they do this with so little blood?

They’ve been mixing after mixing, I’m guessing. How are we going to get Tara?

Drake growled.
One second,
he said.
And then Quill heard a deafening crash from within the apartment. He got away from the wyvern holding him by slamming him into the building and then flew up to see what had happened. Drake was standing in front of the door, holding it, apparently having used it to knock the wyverns back.

Surprisingly, the wyverns didn’t come back for more. Or maybe unsurprisingly, since their mission was accomplished.

Drake snarled and put his fist through a wall, and Quill ran to him and gripped him by the shoulders. The glowing rage in Drake’s eyes was burning out of control, but as Quill held him, he saw the fire die down slightly, enough to allow them both to have rational thought.

“Can you feel where she is? You two are mated.”

Drake took a deep breath and nodded, letting it out. “I can. She’s headed north.”

“Okay,” Quill said. “Let’s go get her.”

“She doesn’t have a power yet,” he said. “She didn’t complete the ceremony with both of us.”

Quill nodded.

“When we get there, your top priority is to get her your blood,” Drake said. “I’ll take care of everything else. If there’s even a chance of giving her something that can protect her through this, I want you to take it. And then get the two of you out.”

“We’re doing this together,” Quill said uneasily.

Drake nodded, but it wasn’t convincing. “Yeah, we are.”

It felt odd, the first time the two of them would go on a mission completely united. It wasn’t that they hadn’t gone out before, but it had always felt incomplete, like Quill was just following Drake, with nothing to do when he was on a rampage of destruction. Or that Quill was just leaving to heal while Drake had to follow to save him.

This time they were united in purpose. They were going to get their mate back, whatever it took.

And heaven help whoever got in their way.

Drake ran for the window and jumped into the air. He twisted as he fell, looking up at Quill, and then transformed instantly and took flight. Quill saw the faint shimmer of the huge red dragon before it was cloaked and had to stop and admire the sheer size and strength of his partner.

He was glad he was going into such a dangerous situation with the red dragon.

We’re still mind-connected you know
, Drake thought wryly.
I can hear you.

Quill flinched.
Right.

I’m flattered,
Drake replied.
And just so you know, I’m glad I’m going into this with the blue dragon, too. Those fucking wyvern bites are poisonous. Badly. But no matter what, Tara is first priority.

On that we definitely agree
, Quill thought, jumping into the air and transforming behind him, making sure there was room for them in both of their dragon forms outside the building.

Get her your blood,
Drake thought again.

I will,
Quill replied.

They rose high in the air until they were far over the city. They couldn’t see the wyverns. They’d gone invisible with their mate, and the thought made Quill inconceivably angry.

But Drake snapped his gaze in a direction and motioned for Quill to follow.

Right behind you,
Quill replied.

With me
, Drake corrected

With you,
he agreed, sensing for the first time how very important it was.

And in a few moments they would be with her, and everything would be all right again.

Hopefully.

I
t was
the worst flight of Tara’s life. Even the confusing flight before, when she’d been rescued from drowning and had no idea what was going on, had been better than this.

She twisted in the grasp of the creature holding her, and it shrieked as she tried to dig her nails into his hard skin.

She didn’t know what she’d do if she got away, but she also knew she was the reason they came and, thus, very important to them, so they were unlikely to drop her or let her die.

And her dragons would be coming soon. She knew it. She just hated there was nothing she could do to contribute. She didn’t have any power yet—if she was even going to get one after completing the mating process with Quill.

They flew until they reached a building, a large, two-story warehouse that appeared as if it used to be a factory until abandoned. They landed in front of it, and the wyverns with her transformed into humans.

She looked among them, searching for her ex, but didn’t see him. She struggled as one put a hand over her mouth and an iron-strong arm around her waist and manhandled her toward the building. She bit the hand, and he growled and knocked her forward onto the ground, forcing the wind out of her.

Then he grabbed her again, this time throwing her over his shoulder as he walked to the door, escorted by the other men. They walked to an old service elevator as she gave up on pounding on his back. If she fought, they’d just hurt her and make it harder for her to take an opening, should she get one.

She’d escaped from a monster before, and she was hoping to do it again.

When the elevator stopped with a creaky lurch, the wire doors in front of her opened, and they stepped out into a room that seemed newly furnished and clean, despite the sparse, industrial feel of the building around them.

There was a large office with multiple desks, and at the front of the room, waiting behind the largest of them, was a tall man with dark hair and yellow eyes, nearly as tall as a dragon. And at his side was her ex, Tim.

She gasped as she was tossed forward and hit the ground in front of them, looking up.

At the sight of Tim’s leer, she nearly lost the contents of her stomach. Just being near him brought back all the fear. Feeling helpless, feeling stalked. And then the moment he’d captured her. Being tied, thinking she was going to die, but not before
wishing
she would die.

But she told herself to stay calm. It had saved her in the other situation, and she was hoping it would save her again.

“Well, well, well,” Tim said, stepping forward. He looked different. He still had lank hair, but it was shorter, cut so it didn’t hang over his face. His skin wasn’t quite as pale and wan. And he was standing a little straighter. His eyes also shone a bright green rather than a dull gray-blue.

There was a strength to him that hadn’t been there before. And something that seemed to amplify the evil within.

He hadn’t always seemed evil. When she’d first met him, he seemed almost charming. But it had all been a mask.

Now, the last of that mask was gone. He stood before her, full monster. His rat-like features drawn in a triumphant sneer.

“As you can see, I’ve changed a little since we last spoke. See, when you got in with dragons, it worked out better than I could have thought. I have shifter blood, but it wasn’t strong enough for me to shift. However, I was there that day at the river. I’d found you. And I knew of only one kind of shifter that could fly. So I found myself some help.”

She rolled her eyes, completely uninterested in his explanatory monologue, but he didn’t seem to care. Her feelings had never mattered to him.

“And I found out they just happened to be doing experiments. With blood they got from your mate, in fact. Of course, there wasn’t enough of it, but they found that once they made a wyvern, they could use that blood to make more. Though some are a little…” His eyes wandered to some of the wyverns that had come in a side door. “Inferior.”

She heard hisses, but they were ignored.

“Why am I here?” she asked.

The tall, dark-haired man next to Tim stepped forward. “I’ll take it from here,” he said. He was handsome in a cold, cruel kind of way, and from the size of him, she knew he was probably also a shifter.

He knelt in front of her and touched her chin, and she tried to jerk away, but he caught her again and yanked her to face him with a growl. Then he grinned. “You see, we’re going to try something new. See what happens when a dragon-heart mates with a Wyvern. Or at least mixes blood. Do you have dragon blood in you already?” he asked.

She decided to lie. “No.”

His face tightened. “That’s too bad. But it does make it simpler in a way. We’ll know what an unmated dragon-heart does when mated to a wyvern.”

“I’m not mating
him
,” she said, hoping to make it seem like she’d go along with the plan, but not with him. “I’ll do it with anyone but him. Not him.” That was also a lie. She would die before accepting anyone other than her dragons, but she’d continue to lie if it gave her more time.

The man holding her frowned. “Why?”

“I think you know why. He’s weak and obsessed. I’ll agree to this if it’s anyone else.”

The man raked her with his eyes, lust burning there. “You’re a pretty one. I could do it.”