Master of Dragons (15 page)

She knew she owed Kel an apology—but not just yet. She wasn't up to facing him right now.

Instead, Nineva veered away and headed for one of the French doors that led outside, knowing she was being cowardly even as she pushed it open.

The air was cold and bracing, cooling the sweat on her skin and the heat on her cheeks. She walked across the brick porch to lean on the wrought iron railing that encircled it.

Brooding, Nineva stared out into the starlit night. A Scottish castle rose over the trees, moonlight painting its stone battlements. Magic flared inside one of its gothic windows, multicolored sparks in the darkness.

She wasn't used to feeling petty. Probably because nobody had ever touched her deeply enough to inspire that kind of behavior.

“You look like you could use a margarita.” A petite brunette appeared at her elbow and handed her a glass rimmed in salt.

Recognizing Gawain's wife, Nineva gave her a smile. “Thanks, Lark.”

The Maja toasted her with her own icy drink. “My pleasure.” She took a sip. “By the way, just for the record—if you hurt Kel, I'm going to break both your legs.”

Nineva blinked at her over the glass, startled. Though Lark's tone was deceptively pleasant, the hard glint in her eyes revealed she meant every word of the threat. “I have no intention of hurting Kel.”

“Good.” The Maja licked at the rim of salt. “He's a good friend and a hero, and he deserves better than to get his heart handed to him by some fairy who doesn't give a damn.”

Nineva ground her teeth. After Dominic Bonhomme, she was
not
in the mood for this. “Where the hell do you get off?”

“I watched him watch you dance with Dominic. I don't like seeing that kind of pain in a friend's eyes.”

“You're imagining things. We've barely known each other a week.”

Lark laughed. “With people who live on the edge like we do, a week is just enough time to get somebody seriously hurt.”

“I have no intention of hurting anybody.” Nineva tossed her glass over the rail and stalked away as it shattered against a tree trunk. The witch was lucky she wasn't wearing it. “Anyway, Kel's a lot more likely to do the hurting.”

The Maja shook her head. “If you think that, you really are an idiot.”

 

Kel spotted Nineva
crossing the dance floor like an infuriated queen. He rose to stride after her, but before he could catch up, a delicate hand grabbed his arm.

“Let her go,” Lark said, sounding a bit self-satisfied. “I told her a couple of home truths she needed to hear, and she needs time to digest.”

Kel glowered at her. “Why the hell did you stick your oar in this?”

“Because you're my friend, dammit, and I hate to see you this miserable.” She sighed. “Okay, maybe I should have kept my mouth shut, but she pissed me off. Anyway, I don't think she's good enough for you.”

“Lark, she saved Llyr's queen and baby—and risked her own life to do it.”

“So she's got guts. She still has her head up her butt.”

“Lark, drop it,” Gawain said, walking up behind them. “He's a big dragon. He can take care of himself.”

“Glad you noticed.” Kel rubbed his brow and decided, reluctantly, that Lark was probably right on at least one point: it would be smart to give Nineva time to cool down. Besides, after watching her dance with Bonhomme, he wasn't exactly in the mood to chase her. “I need another beer.” He headed for the bar.

 

Nineva's high heels
clicked on the cobblestones in a furious staccato. The really infuriating thing was that she was more angry at herself than Lark.

So Clare had hit on Kel. He hadn't encouraged her—he'd seemed more embarrassed by her drunken attentions than anything else. It wasn't as if he and Nineva had some kind of romance going. It was sex, pure and simple. And not even sex born of personal attraction. They were doing what the goddess required. That was all.

She'd simply had no business getting jealous and flouncing off with another man. Dominic was right about that, much as it galled her to admit it.

Mixed with Nineva's anger was a curious hint of envy. She'd never had a friend willing to go to bat for her the way Lark had for Kel. Even Dominic had been defending him in a backhanded way, at least judging from his parting shot before she'd walked off.

But then, nobody had ever known her well enough to know or care if she was in pain.

Except Kel.
She remembered the expression on his face when he'd held her after her nightmare—the tenderness, the sympathy. Remembered the worry on his face when he'd charged Llyr's traitorous bodyguards to rescue her. He'd been afraid for her.

And she also remembered the disappointment in his eyes when he'd looked across the dance floor and seen her with Dominic. Lark was right—she'd hurt him. Though they'd only been together a little more than a week, somehow they'd gotten closer than they had any business getting. Not considering the prophecy.

This was going to be hard enough as it was without them complicating it any more. Neither of them would be able to do what they had to do if their mutual attraction got any stronger. Somehow she had to gain them both a little distance.

If only the goddess would draw the magic faster, they could avoid getting in any deeper. Unfortunately, it seemed Semira was taking her sweet time about it.

Nineva frowned and stopped in her tracks, watching as something shot past overhead, leaving a sparkling trail of magic in its wake.

What she needed was a spell. Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully as she watched the trail fade away. She needed something that would feed their united magic to Semira in one tight burst. It wouldn't even have to be particularly complicated. She could probably whip just the thing up in under an hour.

Suddenly determined, Nineva started toward Kel's hill in long strides. She had work to do.

 

Piaras circled the
clearing, his great wings beating as he watched the men who waited below in the bright sunlight of this hemisphere. He saw no sign of weapons, sensed no indication of any kind of magical trap, but he felt cautious.

You couldn't trust humans. Not even Sidhe, no matter what Cachamwri said.

Still, it was a remarkable offer their leader had made in that series of magical messages. The elimination of Avalon in exchange for certain assistance in killing Llyr Galatyn? Tempting. Very tempting.

But what assistance did this Sidhe general have in mind? It might be worth considering, if Piaras wasn't expected to do anything his people could trace back to him. It was taboo to involve oneself in human affairs, after all.

Piaras had begun to think that particular taboo was one that should be flaunted. The fiasco with Lord Tegid had established beyond all doubt that Avalon was a threat they could no longer afford to ignore. The Avalonian humans and their alien ways needed to be eliminated before the Dragonkind were corrupted as Tegid had been. And if the Sidhe were indeed willing to do the work with minimal involvement on Piaras's part, so much the better.

Deciding it was safe to land, the golden dragon set down in the clearing with his usual skill. “I have considered your offer,” he announced without preamble as the general strode forward to meet him. “But as I said, I have further questions.”

Arralt looked up at him. “Worry not, Lord Piaras. Everything will soon be very clear indeed.”

 

Kel flew through
the night, drinking in the wind that blew cold in his face. The city spread out below him in all its glory, its magical lights shining like diamonds in the dark.

He'd left the bar half an hour before, after drinking three more beers and dancing with two women who hadn't interested him at all. He'd known he needed to fly. Needed to clear his head, drive out the anger and frustration. Remember that he was a dragon.

Cachamwri knew, nobody else seemed to forget. Particularly not Nineva.

Over the past eight months, he'd done everything he could to become human. He'd turned his back on Dragonkind and embraced human ways. Yet it was time to face the fact that he wasn't human and never would be, no matter what form he assumed. Even with all his magic, he couldn't change his own basic nature.

Just as he couldn't make Nineva feel anything for him except distrust. Oh, she desired him sexually. She was a sensual woman, and he was very good at human sex, thanks to his centuries observing Gawain at work. But she'd spent too many years having nightmares, too many years hiding from those who wanted to kill her. Maybe one day she'd want to reach out to a man, learn to love. But it sure as hell wouldn't be him.

Maybe he'd made a mistake turning away from Dragonkind. Yes, they were bigoted when it came to humans, and yes, they'd turned their collective backs on him when he'd needed them most. True, they did view any new idea with deep suspicion, especially if it came from him. But they were still his people. They knew what it was to soar against the sky and breathe magic in long, glowing plumes, to mate in midair and watch the small miracle of a dragon egg hatching.

Maybe it was time he went home.

But not yet. Kel sighed, knowing he still had responsibilities to Arthur, Nineva, and the Magekind. They needed to find Grim and the Sword of Semira, so he had to build the goddess's power until Nineva could make contact. Which meant having sex until her bond with Semira strengthened.

But Kel didn't have to keep wishing for something he wasn't going to get. He didn't have to set himself up for more pain.

So he was infatuated with Nineva. It wasn't the end of the world. He'd get over her. All he had to do was keep reminding himself that theirs was a purely practical partnership.
Fuck her and forget her.

After all, that's what dragons did.

Spotting his hill, Kel narrowed his eyes with sudden determination. He might as well get started now.

He spiraled downward toward the cave opening he'd created for his dragon form, spread his wings to brake, and came in for a neat landing. His claws scraped on the stone, and the rustle of his wings folding seemed to fill the landing cavern.

Otherwise it was dark. Empty.

Which only made sense—did he expect her to wait for him in a diaphanous nightie?

With a snort of disgust at himself, Kel summoned his magic and shifted form. Human again, he rolled his shoulders and headed for the human-sized doorway that led to the human-sized stairs. He always felt so much
less
in the first few minutes of a shift.

Maybe there was a lesson there.

His boots clattered on the stone steps as he made for the second floor and his room. He hoped she was there. And not, say, off with Dominic Bonhomme.

But no. Dominic couldn't power the goddess, and if there was one thing he could say about Nineva, she did her duty. No matter what it might cost her.

Kel frowned, hoping she wasn't asleep and having another one of those nightmares. The look in her eyes in those last seconds before she fully woke wrung his heart every time. He hated to think of her experiencing that kind of fear without him there to comfort her.

Which only goes to prove I'm an idiot.

Despite that thought, his heart beat a little faster when he reached the door to his room. He swung it open…

She was waiting.

Nineva held up
a hand for silence as she murmured a chant in some Sidhe language he didn't recognize. Kel stopped in surprise.

She was dressed in a long gown of thin scarlet silk split down both sides. Only a golden belt held it together. As she paced, each step she took bared the full length of her gently muscled legs. Her blond hair fell around her shoulders like a gleaming curtain. Candles circled her, their golden glow making her pale skin look almost luminous in the dim light.

She looked like a goddess herself.

Feeling almost hypnotized, Kel drew closer to watch her slow, gliding progress. She'd drawn some kind of intricate circle on the stone floor in glowing lines of blue, gold, and red, marked with glyphs he couldn't read. Each of the candles occupied swirls in the mystical pattern. They radiated magic the way a bonfire radiates heat.

Kel frowned, examining the design as he tried to determine its intent. Though he couldn't read the glyphs, he could feel the eroticism that seemed to vibrate through the magic.

She's working a sex spell to power Semira,
he realized.
Damn, I should have thought of that myself.

The spell would speed things up considerably. Which was, he told himself, a good thing. The sooner they got this over with, the better.

Still chanting liquid Sidhe words in her purring, sensual voice, Nineva pointed down at a gap in the twenty-foot outer ring. It led into a maze formed by the swirling lines of the spell.

Knowing what she wanted, Kel banished his clothing and stepped naked through the gap in the ring. Instinctively keeping his steps long and slow, he began to follow the path drawn into the spell. With each step, the magic grew stronger, dancing over his skin like the stroke of invisible female fingers.

His cock swelled under that enchanted touch, growing hard, thick. His gaze locked on Nineva as she stood across the ring from him. Her nipples rose under the thin fabric of the red gown, clearly visible. Kel lifted his eyes to meet hers—and took a deep breath at the sensual need he saw in those opalescent eyes. Her stare was direct and hungry, even as her voice rose and fell in its musical, incomprehensible chant.

Maybe this was about more than duty after all.

 

Nineva had to
struggle to concentrate on her magic as Kel walked naked through the spell. He moved with a liquid strength, his broad shoulders rolling, muscle rippling up and down his sculpted torso and long legs. His cock rose hard and thick, bobbing slightly above the tight, furred sac of his balls. Just looking at him made her mouth go dry. She barely managed not to stutter as she chanted the ancient words that were designed to bind the spell to Semira.

Under his steady stare, she felt herself grow wet.

By the time he stepped into the center of the circle, Nineva was aching. She finished the spell in a voice gone hoarse with need. For a moment, they stared at each other, heat swimming between them in waves she could almost see.

Deep within her mind, Nineva heard a purr of approval in a familiar voice.
Yessssss. More, my child!

“The spell worked,” she managed. “We've got a connection to Semira. It's fragile, but it's there.”

Kel smiled slowly, his glowing eyes heavy-lidded with desire. “Then let's make the best of it.” He leaned down and took her mouth with that knee-weakening skill she knew so well. His lips tasted of desire, masculinity, and a smoky hint of something she recognized as dragon. His broad palms slid up her arms, and his fingers found the thin straps of her silk gown. He pushed them down until the dress slid over her hips and puddled around her feet.

His gaze dropped to her hard nipples, and he covered her breasts with his hands. “So pretty,” he said, his voice deliciously deep. “So soft.”

Nineva closed her eyes at the feeling of his fingers stroking, squeezing the sensitive flesh. The pleasure made her shiver.

But even as she started to lean into him, she remembered Semira. “Lie down.” Her voice was hoarse. “I've got to work the rest of the spell.”

Kel looked at her, and the corner of his mouth quirked in a lazy half-smile. “Well, since you ask so nicely.” He stepped back. His cock stood high and proud, drawing her longing attention. His smile broadened, as if he read the depth of her hunger. He moved to the center of the spell circle and dropped onto his back, graceful as a cat. His heavy erection fell against his belly, so long it stretched past his belly button. Nineva eyed the tempting width, the thickly veined underside, the flushed and swollen head. She dropped to her knees at his side and reached for her magic. Softly, she began to chant.

The power gathered, thrumming through her body, tingling in the tips of her fingers. Making her grow even wetter.

She reached for him. Touched the satin surface of his mouth, traced the arrogant angle of his cheekbones down his jaw to the round jut of his chin. He watched her, his gaze hot, intent as a predator's.

Nineva continued to chant, though her voice sounded increasingly rough. Still spinning the spell, she traced her fingers down his body, feeling the nodes of power beneath his velvet skin. Her fingers circled his nipples in an intricate, lacy pattern, drawing his magic closer to the surface. Kel groaned in delight, his back arching as if in involuntary reaction. The movement made his shaft bounce against his belly.

Nineva had to swallow and lick her dry lips before she could continue the spell.

Kel could feel his own pulse in his cock. It seemed to strain longingly toward her clever hand. He wanted to howl like a wolf at the sensation of those delicate fingers drawing patterns of energy over his aching flesh. He wanted to beg.

At least she wanted him just as badly. He could smell the salt and musk of her desire as her body readied for his. He gritted his teeth, dying to reach between those long legs and touch her tight, slick flesh.

She reached his cock at last, but she didn't touch it. At least not at first. Instead her fingers circled it, swirling paths of magic, building the spell higher even as she built his desire.

Kel wondered how much more of this he could take before he lunged for her.
Not yet.
He clenched his hands into fists.
I've got to let her finish the spell.

But it wasn't going to be easy. Her fingertips ghosted up the underside of his shaft now, making it harden even more. Closing her other hand around the base of the organ, she angled it upward so she could continue painting the spell over his skin.

It was all he could do not to writhe.

The magic rose even higher, as if stoked by his growing lust. Nineva reached the head of his shaft and danced her fingers over it, drawing lines of power and lust.

Then she took her hand away. It felt as if she'd attached a hot, glowing string to the head of his cock that vibrated with the force of her magic, sending burning little jolts of delight up his spine. He groaned as his hips rolled upward, helplessly pleading.

“Now,” Nineva breathed. “The spell is ready.”

“And so am I.” It was a growl so deep, it surprised even Kel. He hadn't thought his human vocal cords were capable of that register.

Nineva gave him a wicked little smile. “Good.” Her opalescent eyes met his and locked as she slowly lowered her head.

Toward the cock she still held angled upward. Involuntarily, every muscle in his abdomen tightened in anticipation.

Her pink tongue extended toward the blushing, swollen head. He caught his breath and waited. It felt as if his entire nervous system thrummed.

The tip of that hot tongue flicked over the ruddy cap of his cock, collecting a bead of pre-come. Kel shuddered at the stab of delight.

She licked him again, the kind of long, luscious stroke you'd give an ice cream cone. He gasped.

“How's that?” Nineva asked, with that siren's smile.

He laughed, the sound strangled. “Can't you tell by the way my eyes are rolling back in my head?”

“Mmmmm.” Another lick, this one ending in a slow, torturous little swirl. She leaned in and nibbled the shaft gently, right under the head, where the flesh was most sensitive.

“Cachamwri's Egg!”

Kel watched, his muscles straining, as she widened her mouth and swooped down, sucking him into wet, snug heat. Slowly, she lowered her head, taking more and more of the thick shaft as her hands stroked the rest. She pulled up, then plunged downward, taking still more of him down that sweet throat. The spell reverberated hungrily as his body jerked.

Her gaze flicked to his. “Don't come.”

“Ride me!”

“Not yet.” Her grin was blatantly taunting. She sucked him in again and drew so hard, his spine arched as he fought to control the heat building in his balls.

Nineva pulled off him, then plunged down again for another deliciously agonizing suck that lasted a sweet eternity.

Finally he knew he could take no more. “Enough!”

She lifted her head to consider his face. “No, I don't think so.” And swooped down over him again.

Kel's control snapped. He grabbed those slender shoulders and rolled her ruthlessly beneath him. Nineva gasped in involuntary surprise, and he groaned at the hot satin of her skin pressing against his. He sat back, grabbed one of her lovely legs behind the knee, and draped it over his shoulder. Seizing the other's slender ankle, he dragged her wide, aimed his cock with his free hand, and drove deep.

Her gasp of startled lust made his balls jerk tight.

 

Kel's shaft felt
a mile long as he sank endlessly inside her in a delicious invasion that sent tight curls of sensation spiraling up her spine. His gaze intent, he braced his powerful arms beside her shoulders and began to thrust, rolling his muscular butt and powerful thighs.

“You feel so slick. So tight. So good.” His long cobalt hair fell around her face, rippling every time he pushed inside. He lowered his head and took her lips in a hard kiss of pure masculine conquest, his tongue swirling inside her gasping mouth. Even as he kissed her, he continued to thrust, slow and hard, twisting his hips so his cock seemed to corkscrew inside her.

Nineva could do nothing but cling to his powerful shoulders. He bit her lips just shy of pain, then nuzzled under her jaw, forcing her head up, tasting the pounding pulse in her throat.

Her climax was gathering deep in her sex, beginning to throb in hunger. He felt so damn huge. So deliciously heavy and so incredibly male.

One big hand found her breast. Thumb and forefinger closed over her desperately tight nipple. Squeezed. Twisted with exquisite care. Forced another whimper from her mouth.

“How's that?” It was a deliberate mocking echo of her earlier question, but she didn't care.

Nineva couldn't even manage speech, only a desperate nod.
God, please don't stop…

Another shattering, burning thrust. She curled her leg tighter over his shoulder, bearing down, trying to force him that last fraction she needed to come. Distantly, she was aware of the spell, still thrumming between them. Feeding the goddess.

Kel found her other nipple, stroked, teased. Maddened, she rolled up at him, harder, fighting to grind her way into climax. He chuckled, deep and satisfied. “Never tease a dragon, Nineva.”

“Fine, dammit!” she growled. “Fuck me!”

Kel laughed and gave her what she needed, picking up the pace, plunging in and out in sweet, searing thrusts that tore a scream from her lips. She writhed as her orgasm built and built and built…

And exploded.

Nineva screamed, unconsciously digging her nails into the thick brawn of his biceps. She heard Kel roar and stiffen, driving his cock all the way to the root. Holding it there, pulsing.

The spell pulsed in echo. Harder, harder. Growing into a deep thrum she felt in her very bones. She met Kel's startled gaze…

Detonation.

Magic roared through them like a second orgasm, ferocious and hungry, blazing with power.

The world went white, then black. Black and flecked with glittering sparks, like a night sky…

No, it
was
the sky. She could see the moon, riding full against a spill of brilliant stars.

A moon suddenly obscured by great wings. Must be Kel, flying through the night…

No. There were too many wings, too many dragons. A thundering storm of them, filling the sky with blasts of magical fire. Armored warriors rode them, swords or axes or glowing globes of power in their hands as they swooped downward toward an army of mounted Sidhe.

 

“Nineva?” Kel's deep
voice sounded worried.

She opened her eyes to find herself cuddled against him, his arms gone tender now. “What…?” Her voice sounded far too weak. She cleared her throat and tried again. “What happened?”

“We came, and then you collapsed.” He studied her, concern evident in his eyes. “Are you all right?”

She licked her dry lips, letting her head fall against his shoulder. “I had a vision. Semira sent me a vision. Dragons.”

His gaze went guarded. “Another burning dream?”

“No, not that. I saw Magekind, or maybe they were Sidhe. But they were mounted on a squadron of dragons. Hundreds of them. Fighting the rebels and an army of Dark Ones.”

Kel frowned. “Are you sure? My people don't like humans. They're not likely to form an alliance with them, much less carry them into battle.”

She lifted her head. It was starting to pound. “Even to fight the Dark Ones? I thought your people suffered as badly as the Sidhe during that first invasion.”

He snorted. “We did, but that won't mean anything to the Dragonkind. Bigotry is not the most rational of emotions. Quite frankly, they wouldn't believe it if we told them.”

Nineva frowned. “Well, we're going to have to make them believe. We need them, Kel. The goddess wouldn't have sent me that vision otherwise.”