Dragon's Blood (5 page)

Her palms tore at his tee, baring his back and flattening on his warm, smooth skin. They tangled in his shirt as she explored upward. She whimpered as he took his hand from her to rip off his shirt. Kneeling over her, he unfastened the top button of his jeans then snagged the tab and pulled down the zipper.

Her breath caught as his cock sprang free, hard and wide and long and so ready for her. He shoved his pants as far down his slim hips as he could in his position. Driven by his nakedness, she yanked off her shirt then shimmied out of her pants. Breathing heavily and wearing only her matching panties and bra, she stared up at him as he

straddled her legs. His hand went to his cock. He stroked it as he looked down at her.

“You’re so beautiful, Scarlett.”

She shook her head. “You are.”

He grinned. “We’ll be even more so together.” He leaned forward on his hands, keeping his body from hers. His lips brushed her ear. “Are you going to let me claim you, Scarlett? Can I come into those sweet folds and
come
in that sweet channel? Can I fill my hands with your hair and my mouth with your breasts while you writhe beneath me and scream out my name?”

“Janos…” She wasn’t sure. It had only been hours that she’d been in his care. Hours that she’d been afflicted by this overwhelming, cunt-dripping need. Hours that she’d known his name. Yet…he promised her a lifetime of commitment and safety. She’d never thought she could be truly safe again. He could pluck her from the lion’s mouth and take away her fear.

He wanted her, needed her, just as much as she desired him. This scorching hot mandragon… He’d plunged her into a world she couldn’t have imagined, though she’d been part of it for years.

And safety…

That kept coming back to her. Safety, safety, safety.

“Yes. Yes, come inside me, Janos. I want to feel you. I need you to make love to me.”

His pleasured growl shook her, and her hips rocked upward. His heavy balls brushed her barely covered pussy. With a snarl, he ripped away her thong then fell over her. Her bra was yanked down, and his mouth engulfed one peak with fiery heat. Kneeing her legs apart, he angled her hips with his hand then thrust inside her with one agile and deadly accurate stab of his cock. And Scarlett did indeed scream, and writhe, just as he’d whispered. Intense pleasure the like that she’d never envisioned seized her body, moving her like a woman crazed, an addict desperate for a fix. She clutched at his shoulders and hung on for dear life as his cock slammed into her over and over, his hips swiveling, driving, stretching her tight folds and barely giving them time to grow accustomed to him in their frenzy. Another scream echoed through the room as his sharp teeth scraped her areola, and then he suckled, drawing her deep into his mouth. Her legs wrapped his waist as she bucked against him, taking him as deep as she could. The muscles in her pussy clenched around him as she clung to him, barely touching the bed—then she wasn’t. They were hovering. Staring over his human shoulders, she saw his Dragon wings had sprouted, and she and Janos flew two feet from the bed. His mouth lifted from her breast, and he smiled a satyr smile. A tiny

trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth until his tongue darted out to catch it.

“You’re so sweet, mate…”

She shook, her shoulders dropping to the mattress, as he held her hips and continued to pound into her. The shadow of his wings blocked out the overhead light, leaving his face in shadows and brushing her ankles as they kept him airborne, but nothing mattered but the sensation electrifying her body.

Release twirled upon itself as her stomach undulated, taking each drive. She clutched at the sheets, fruitlessly trying for an anchor in the steep spiral that dragged her into a cataclysm that darkened her vision as she cried his name and felt his scalding seed gush into her welcoming womb.

* * * *

Janos hugged Scarlett close to him as he settled onto the bed beside her and drew the covers over their damp bodies. Their sex had startled him. He’d never drawn blood from a woman while he fucked her, and his wings had certainly never sprouted. He looked down at the arm wrapping up around Scarlett and laying over his other arm. The sepia design had come to full color now, twining around his limb from fingers to shoulder, a filigreed spiral marking him as mated. Scarlett would soon have one to match. It showed them as taken and off-limits to all others. He was hers and she was his. He brushed aside her hair and kissed her neck. She moaned and turned in his arms, pushing her face to his chest as she revived. Her fingers trailed his back.

“You were flying,” she murmured.

“Yes.”

“Next time, don’t drop me.”

“I didn’t drop you. You let go. So…you’re planning a next time?”

“After a ride like that? Definitely.”

Janos nipped her shoulder, remembering the sweet taste of her blood. “Ride?” he teased. “So is that all I am to you? A piece of meat?”

Scarlett laughed, drawing a hand along his biceps. “Mmm… More like a muscle car. And I really like your stick shift.”

“Do you feel up to moving?”

“Maybe in a century. Why?”

Janos groaned. “I should have controlled myself better when I came up here. We need to leave and get to one of the shelters in the area.”

“I don’t think either of us had any choice. I’m going to need clothes. I can’t wear the

ones I have with me all the way to your compound, wherever it is, unless it’s nearby.”

“It’s in Colorado. In the mountains.”

She nodded. She hugged him, apparently already feeling safer in his arms and just wanting to stay there in his embrace.

“When I’m alone in New York, I prefer to stay in a hotel, but there’s a clan who lives just north of the city. You can stay there and—”

“You won’t leave me alone?” she exclaimed, sitting up. The blanket fell to her waist, giving him a tantalizing view of her breasts and the mating mark starting to appear on her left arm. Would she have a fit? He wanted to trace the beautiful spiral with his fingers, lick a path up it, kiss it while he buried himself inside her.

She glanced down at her arm when he stared too long, and her eyes went wide.

“Janos…what?”

He lifted his arm to show her his. “It’s the mating mark. The Dragon’s blood creates it when two who are destined unite, though some say it’s not the blood but ancient Dragon magic.”

As she became engrossed examining the design, he slid from the bed then found his pants and put them on.

“It’s actually kind of pretty,” she remarked.

“It’s beautiful on you.”

Scarlett smiled. Going to her knees and letting the blanket fall completely away, she pulled him to her and kissed him. It didn’t take much to get engrossed in her mouth.

“Janos—oh, nice…”

Turning to shield Scarlett, Janos glared over his shoulder at Jonah. “What? And don’t tell me you couldn’t talk to me mentally from the other room.”

“We need to get moving.” He bowed his head and added, “My elder.”

Janos sighed. “You’re right. Go. I’ll meet you on the roof in a few minutes.”

“The roof?” Scarlett asked as Jonah left. Janos snapped her bra into place then retrieved her T-shirt from where it had been tossed. He pulled it over her head, and she automatically shoved her arms through the holes.

“We’ll fly to the New York compound.”

“Fly?” She sat back on her heels, and Janos got a mouthwatering view of her pussy. They’d been in such a hurry earlier he hadn’t gotten a good look. His cock stirred as already he wanted more of her.

He jerked her pants from the floor and shoved them at her before he gave in to his

hormones.

“Geez,” Scarlett muttered. “Way to make a girl feel good.”

“If you don’t get dressed, I’m going to fuck you until you can’t walk,” he replied.

“That’s better,” she laughed. From the corner of his eye, he saw her shimmy into her jeans. She slipped on her shoes then finger combed her hair. “Ready.”

Janos yanked on his shirt and put on his own shoes. He picked up his bag and her purse. “Let’s get a move on then.”

“Will I be safe around the other Dragons?” she asked as he checked the hallway then ushered her swiftly to the stairwell. Inside the doorway, he lifted her in his arms and as he ran up the two flights of stairs, the walls blurred. Jonah opened the door for them at the top.

“Elvish are on their way,” he said grimly and jerked his head south. A bank of roiling clouds billowed toward the hotel, continuous lightning illuminating them. Janos shoved his bag at Jonah. “Fly now! I don’t want to get hit by a thunderbolt or caught in a tornado while I’m carrying Scarlett.”

He stepped toward her, his scales flashing quickly over his body. “Relax,” he told Scarlett as he lifted her into his arms, realizing that his voice would sound odd to her. She nodded and reached for him, a small smile showing she wasn’t scared as she’d been earlier.

“Just don’t drop me,” she said.

“Never.”

Leaving Jonah to shift in private, he took off as gale winds slammed into the hotel, and thunder echoed around them.

Chapter Four

“You dare come here dressed like that?” the elder of the New York clan thundered as the trio landed in the courtyard. While they’d flown, Janos had explained that each Dragon residence was protected against the Djinn and Elvish by a combination of Dragon magic and natural magnetic force fields. When these combined, the homes were impenetrable by anyone uninvited or without Dragon blood. They could rest easy that she’d be completely safe here. Janos had pointed out the man glowering at them as the clan’s elder just before they’d landed. The man stood with his arms crossed over his chest and his leather-encased legs spread. He wore no other clothing. A gold band surrounded his right upper arm. A bevy of blonde women in toga-style dresses surrounded him.

Scarlett edged closer to Janos. She didn’t relish being toasted by a Dragon on a rampage. Janos never had answered whether or not she’d be safe. Janos slipped an arm around her waist. “Cut it out, Levi. She’s got enough stress without you teasing her.” Janos led her toward the compound’s entrance. Levi and Jonah fell in step with them, Levi holding open the door when they reached the building.

“Did you have a safe trip back?” Janos asked the other elder. Levi nodded. “Damn Elvish called out a flock of crows on me.” He turned to Scarlett.

“Ms. Mills, my nephew, Sandor, would love your autograph before you leave here tomorrow. He’s a big fan.”

Scarlett smiled. “My pleasure. It’s the least I can do for you giving us shelter.”

Janos stared at them.

Levi laughed. “You’re not seriously going to tell me you don’t know who Scarlett Mills is.”

“My mate,” Janos growled.

Levi laughed. “And probably one of the most well-known pop stars in the world even

with her going into hiding seven years ago.” He shook his head. “Oh, this is one for the record books—”

“Can you just show us to a room? Then you can get back to your harem.”

Levi leaned close to Scarlett. “He really does have a sense of humor.”

Janos pulled her away. “Room?” he prompted.

“I’ve heard the newly mated can be like this. Jonah, old man, you’ll come play with me after we have them settled? I have playmates to spare.”

“Definitely,” Jonah replied.

“Do your playmates have any clothes to spare?” Janos asked. He eyed a toga. “Real clothes. Scarlett could use something to wear tomorrow.”

Levi nodded.

While the men talked, Scarlett’s gaze flittered around the building they’d entered. The great doors they’d come through opened into an opulent entryway the size of a three-storeyhigh gymnasium. A flight of steps led to a sunken floor. Once they reached it, she discovered a dozen passageways going in various directions, all apparently underground.

“Most of the compound is subterraneous,” Levi explained as she looked around. Across the room, a group of teen boys gawked at her with wide eyes. She gave them a friendly smile and a small wave, and a burst of excitement seemed to erupt over them as they chattered wildly to one another.

Janos growled, and they scattered. Scarlett turned to him and smacked him on the arm. “Do have any idea how long it’s been since I could interact with fans? Fans! I like them.” She turned to Levi. “Do you have two rooms?”

He looked at Janos.

“Don’t you dare,” Janos told him.

“Sorry, sweetie. Looks like we’re fresh outta spares.”

“That’s the most sexist crap,” she sputtered.

Jonah moved to her side, opposite Janos. He leaned toward her. “It’s kind of a patriarchal society comprised of multiple dictatorships around here. You’re mated with one of the most powerful elders. He’s young, but what he says goes.”

“Great,” she muttered. She’d been so impetuous, being ruled by her body and jumping at the promise of safety. She hadn’t considered what this entailed. She couldn’t become a cloistered, submissive little wife like Levi’s women. That would be trading one prison for another. At least when she was in hiding, she was mostly free to do what she wanted as long as she was disguised.

“Jonah, you’re not helping,” Janos snapped. “Scarlett, baby, I can feel you jumping to conclusions that aren’t right. Give me a chance, okay. We’ll get through this.” He kissed her behind her ear. “I promise I’ll try to stop growling at your fans. I’m proud of you. I just had no idea what you’d accomplished…”

Damn it, why did his words have to create warm fuzzies inside her? Her body throbbed as it demanded she unite with him again. She’d been ignoring the slow burn, but Janos’ scent seemed to grow stronger and stronger, surrounding her with dark notes of pine and musk. Was he smelling how wet she was becoming? The fabric of her jeans rubbed unmercifully against her clit, reminding her of how his callused fingers had been. She sucked in a breath. This was dumb to let her hormones have so much power over her. Every time she was with him, she was tempting fate, daring it to make her pregnant with Janos’ children and force her to fully mate with him. No. She wanted to choose her own partner in life. Damn it, she wanted to be on stage again, too. With this ticking-time-bomb blood, it was merely a matter of time before one of the assassins finished her off. A no-win situation—a man she didn’t choose or death. She frowned. Gee, tough one.