Dragon's Blood (8 page)

“Does it hurt?”

He almost said yes. He was that aroused, but he realized she was asking about the shift. “In some ways, it’s a relief. We need to change from time to time and let out our scales. If we don’t, we won’t be able to shift when we need to and we’ll sink into an existence of anguish where we pray daily for our bodies to let us shift. It’s like a sickness coming to the surface. Eventually, the shift will happen, but our bodies punish us if we don’t do it willingly.”

“But does shifting hurt?”

“There’s pressure. The change is too quick for pain, and the healing of the restructured bones is instant.”

“Mmm…” she replied, the sound high with fear. “Great.”

“Hold on. We have to go down through the clouds. You might want to close your eyes and hold your breath.”

Moments later, he landed in an enclosed courtyard beside a circular pool.

Scarlett let out her breath, looked around then gasped. The clouds were so close overhead she thought she could touch them.

“How high are we?” she asked.

“Halfway up our mountain. The clouds are low today, but usually, the skies are clearer. Welcome to the Cruentus Clan’s home,” he said.

“Thanks.” She looked at the pool and the jewel-toned, mosaic tiles that surrounded it and covered the walls of the enclosure. “This is pretty.”

Before Janos could comment, Jonah landed beside him with a light thud. Immediately, he shoved Athena an arm’s length from him and took a step back. “All she’s done since waking is bitch out that fake fiancé of hers. Didn’t even freak that she was being carried off to God knew where by a Dragon.”

“And to think I let him pick out the flavor of the fucking cake.” Athena railed.

“Carrot! He wanted carrot!”

“Well, he is part Elvish,” Jonah returned. “Or he wouldn’t have been able to control the wood.”

“I don’t care if he was half-woodchuck! He ruined my wedding!”

“Hey, Bridezilla, the groom wanted to kill you. Could we stop at that and move on?”

Jonah retorted. “I’m noticing that you’re not too broken up over his death or that he tried to off you. Yeah, that’s real love, baby.”

“Fuck off. Scarlett, how do I get out of here?” She glared at Jonah. “Or at very least, away from him.”

Both Jonah and Janos shifted back to their human forms, and Scarlett moved to her mate’s side, thankful to be able to really hold him while she watched the unfolding drama between Jonah and Athena. She considered intervening to save Athena, but her cousin seemed to be holding her own just fine, and truthfully, Scarlett wasn’t so sure Athena wouldn’t turn her tirade on Scarlett since she’d brought about these events—at least that’s how it appeared.

Athena stepped back. “Oh…you’re a man. You’re both…men,” she said, blinking at Jonah in shock, no doubt stunned as much by his dark good looks as by his change. Scarlett thought Jonah dimmed beside Janos, but he was still a pretty hot guy.

“Yes, and you are apparently half shrew. Janos, I’m going to my rooms. Where do you want me to drop her?” he grated as Athena sputtered.

“You don’t have a feeder right now. Install her in your blood-letter’s quarters.”

“Oh, hell, no!”

“By order of your elder.”

Jonah scrubbed a hand over his face. “Janos, no,” he pleaded. “You can’t pull rank on me like that. I’m your scion.”

“Do it.”

“Yes. My. Elder.” Jonah swore under his breath in that same language Janos had used last night, then grabbed Athena’s arm. “C’mon. I’ll set you up in your rooms then find someone to deal with you.”

“What’s a blood-letter?” Athena screeched.

With jaw set, Jonah pulled her from the courtyard, her protests coming long and loud behind them until Scarlett heard an inner door slam. She looked up at Janos. “I should go explain things to her. I doubt Jonah will be as gentle with her as he was with me.”

“I’ve instructed him to be kind. Her induction to the Dragon community will

determine the success of her induction to our clan.”

“Your telepathic connection… I forgot the two of you have that. Why did you send Athena off with him, by the way? To Jonah’s rooms, I mean.”

“Didn’t you see his arm?”

“His arm?”

Janos smiled and lifted his right arm, turning it to wave the spiraled mark before her.

“Mates? No way. Oh man…”

“Should be fun to watch.”

“You’re wicked,” she said when he grinned at his scion’s predicament. “How long before Jonah figures it out?”

“I expect we’ll hear him roar. After the ribbing he gave me, turnabout’s fair. I have better things in mind than my wingscion and your cousin.”

She leaned close to him. “Like what? And if you say punishment, I swear I’ll be sharing quarters with Athena, and both you and Jonah will be miserable.”

“We can’t have that.” He lifted her into his arms. “How about if we start with the tour of your new home—our personal portion anyway? I’ll show you the rest of the compound later, after we spend some time together.”

She noticed he didn’t rescind the threat of punishment, but she was sure he didn’t intend that. The look in his eyes spoke of sex, sex, and more sex.

“What’s a blood-letter?” she asked before he could drag her into the whirlpool of lust once more. While she wasn’t screaming her question like Athena had, the term troubled her enough she wanted answers before she forgot herself. Blood-letter filled her with all kinds of gory B-movie visions. While she felt relatively safe, could she live side-by-side with creatures who victimized other humans to survive? And would she be safe if she refused to be one of them?

For the first time, a shaft of terror pierced through her. She quickly looked away to hide it from Janos, but there was no hiding her intake of breath or her tremble.

“Hush,” Janos murmured, sensing her fear. He’d have to be stone not to notice her sudden unease. “A blood-letter is what you think, one who gives us blood, but they give it to us willingly without any sort of coercion. Most of them are Dragon mates who’ve yet to find their match.”

“So if I hadn’t been yours…” She trailed off as Janos’ arms tightened and a bloodcurdling growl rumbled in his throat. And she knew. Any Dragon, any man, who dared touch her would be dead. Janos wouldn’t tolerate infringement on what he considered his.

She turned back to him and once more found lust boiling in his eyes. It filled her, eliminating the chill of her terror. His arms loosened as she shifted to face him. Her legs circled his hips and her arms went around his shoulders. His mouth covered hers, ferocious in his need. She was equally hungry. It had nothing to do with the mating urge. She just plain needed him. While he cupped her ass, she ground against his rigid erection, showing him wordlessly how much she needed him as she kissed him.

As her head spun with the passion clouding her thoughts, one desire filled her mind above all others. As she moved against Janos, her pussy ever dampening with her frenzy, she pulled her mouth from his. She stared into his glazed eyes, captured by his flushed cheeks and swollen lips.

“Feed from me,” she whispered, keeping her gaze on his so he’d know there was no fear in her. Even as she said the words, her pussy clenched. Oh, yes, she wanted him to take of her. She undulated again against his cock. “Please…”

Her shirt ripped as he pulled the neckline aside, but it didn’t scare her. She tipped back her head, waiting to feel the sting of his teeth. When it came, she gasped, her eyes closing with myriad colors swirling through her. Her back hit the floor hard, Janos over her as he drew from the vein throbbing low in her neck. The sound of rending fabric barely pierced her delirium.

His cock stabbed deep inside her with a suddenness that tore a scream of pleasure from her lips. Wildly, Scarlett thrust against him, unable to do anything else within the maelstrom of sensations ripping through her as strong as any hurricane’s force. She clawed at Janos as she fought for an anchor that wouldn’t be found. He was the storm wildly pummeling her body and turning her to flotsam on the waves, unable to control where the surges took her.

As she twisted on the screams torn from her, she hit the calm. She collapsed to the hard rock floor and stared up at Janos as he pulled away from her neck. For the first time, she saw the razor-sharp canine teeth protruding from both his top and bottom gums. Their hips continued to rock together, more gently then before, but Scarlett felt the urgency rebuilding within them. This moment wouldn’t last.

She reached up and ran her thumb over his lip, drawing the droplet of blood on to her skin. His tongue darted out and lapped it away then flicked over the pad again before she slid it down. It caught on his lip, pulling at it and exposing his teeth. Janos didn’t move to hide them as she stared transfixed.

All the while, his hips continued a slow grind into her that she mindlessly mimicked.

Her pussy liquefied around him, bathing her folds and his cock with the warm honey that engulfed them both in even more pleasure. Just looking at him, knowing he was a Dragon, built incredible, twisting tension in her belly. The arousal stunned her yet drove her to accept his possession, to give herself fully to him. And she knew she would. Her teeth sank into her bottom lip as she touched one of his incisors. She cried out as the sharp edge sank into her finger. He pulled back, apology in his eyes. It shuttered away as his lust replaced it and his lips closed around her fingertip. The calm was over and jagged shards of ecstasy pulled her body into an arc beneath him. They clung to each other as they crashed together, his cock lodging deep inside her while a haze filled her vision. Her ankles crossed behind the small of his back as she rode him until her body convulsed and she fell limply into the cradle of his arms. His mouth buried against her neck, and his deep, body-shuddering groan rocked her as his cum filled her eager body.

Chapter Six

In the aftermath, they clung to each other, bathed in sweat and panting for breath.

“Well…” Scarlett gasped.

“Well,” he replied. He traced invisible designs on her shoulder as he gazed down at her. “Frenzied, huh? The bite contains an aphrodisiac. It fills your blood as I take it in. It fills you as I drink.” He kissed her gently. “It sends us out of control.”

She pressed her head into the curve of his neck. “I liked it.”

“You understand why our blood-letters are content to stay with us. Feeding can be quite…sexual.”

A stab of jealousy rifled through Scarlett and she scowled. “You have one?”

Janos shook his head. “No.”

“How do you feed, then?”

“I find it easy to find those willing to open a vein for the elder of the clan. If I don’t bite, there is no reaction—not like we experienced today. And now that I have you, it won’t be necessary for me to seek out a feeder. Our bloods are perfect complements to one another. You will sustain me as I will sustain you.”

A new tingle of arousal danced in Scarlett’s middle, hailing the start of another round of need. Purposely, she derailed her instincts before she tilted her head and bade him to take another taste of her. “I don’t suppose you have clothes here anywhere, do you?” she asked, diverting the subject. “At very least, a T-shirt I can borrow. Mine seems to have become rags.”

He chuckled. “I suspect there’s something around here for you to wear. Closets’

worth, in fact. Okay, on your feet, woman,” he groaned as he stood then reached for her hand. He pulled her to her feet. Her knees immediately buckled and he pressed her to his chest.

“We’ll wash, find you clothes, then I’ll give you the grand tour of the compound.”

She looked around. What she could see of the compound was set back against the

mountain face and sprawled a distance in either direction. It was large, perhaps ‘mansion’

sized, but she couldn’t imagine it housing a whole clan. Perhaps Janos had a small clan. “It looks…big,” she conceded.

Janos’ chuckle became a full laugh. “Diplomatic. Have you ever heard the term ‘tip of the iceberg’?”

“Of course.”

He waved a hand at the house. “This is the tip of the iceberg. Our home is carved into the mountain and is roughly the size of a small town. It’s four levels and large enough to accommodate at least five hundred Dragons. At the moment, however, the clan numbers less than one hundred members. My parents were the leaders until…recently.” He looked away, and she sensed he didn’t want to share, especially when he looked back with a small smile. His arms tightened. “The attacks of the Elvish and Djinn have hit us hard. Only a few of the clan are mated. Many haven’t found their matches before our enemies have, or they’ve had their women killed before we found and protected them. I’m fortunate to have found you in time.”

Scarlett’s muscles clenched at what could have happened because of her rash action. And what could have happened if she hadn’t.

He pulled her toward the double doors leading inside.

“You’re Dragons who live in a mountain…” she ventured.

“It’s kind of cliché, isn’t it? It works for us. Most Dragon dwellings are somewhat subterraneous because the temperature and humidity is favorable to us.”

“Is it safe, though? You’ve dug out a mountain.”

“Dragon magic. It’s much like that which protects the Ghenton clan’s compound. It protects ours as well. Of course, there are steel supports throughout at the insistence of the modern generation.”

He urged her through the doors. The room they entered reminded Scarlett of water. Done in blues ranging in color from sea foam to the deep azure of a Caribbean sea, it spoke of freedom and open air. Even the furniture seemed to flow with the room, everything light and airy. Silken linens draped the chairs and portions of the walls, furthering the illusion of liquid. She could nearly hear the roll of the waves.

The entire outer wall was glass and overlooked the enclosed courtyard with the small pool. Tiny tendrils of steam lifted from it. A hot tub. Visions of making love to Janos again in this paradise filled her thoughts as she stared into the distance beyond the mosaic-covered wall. The hulking peaks of surrounding mountains loomed in the distance as they reached