Claim the Dragon

by A. C. Arthur

  “This is your power, Ravyn. It’s yours to wield and yours to grow.”

  Steele backed up when she stood and began swinging the dagger as if it were a sword, moving it over her head, turning and wielding it behind her back. Her body moved with the flow, legs apart, feet twisting, legs together as she jabbed forward, turned and jabbed in the other direction. She looked elegant and powerful, sexy and dangerous. Her hair swung around the side of her face, covering one eye when she faced him again. The glow was all over her, causing her skin to shimmer with the power that was flowing through her.

  There was no doubt she was the Chosen and she was the only woman Steele and his beast had ever desired.

  * * *

  His hands came around her waist just as she turned away from him. Ravyn’s heart was pounding but she couldn’t help it, the moment she touched that dagger she’d felt instantly alive. As if for the past thirty years she’d been in some sort of sleep state and now she was fully awake.

  Her fingers were no longer tingling, arms weren’t shaking and she didn’t feel sick at all. There was nothing but raw power coursing through her veins, flowing directly to her heart. She felt it in every step she took, and with every powerful thrust of the knife. Her body was alive in a way it had never been before and there was no doubt that she was who they said she was. In these moments she was more than proud of that fact.

  But now he was touching her and the power shifted slightly, like it was moving over to make room for something else she craved. Ravyn leaned back into him, her fingers still tight on the dagger.

  He flattened his hands over her stomach and rubbed through her clothes, sending waves of desire coursing through her. Down he went, pushing beneath the band of her jeans until the button popped free and the zipper made a ragged cry on its way down. Steele kept pushing. She felt like he’d been doing that since the first day she’d seen him. Pushing her, easing her into a place where he could have her, where he could touch her and defend her and usher her into this new world. To control her? No, he wasn’t in charge here at this very moment. She was making the choice. She was deciding to own who and what she was for her completion and validation, not anyone else’s.

  She whispered his name just as his hand slipped beneath her panties, easing down over her juncture until his fingers were pressing softly through her warm folds. He found the spot he wanted in seconds, thrusting his fingers into her until she gasped.

  “I’ve never known anyone like you,” he whispered into her ear before dragging his tongue along her lobe. “Never needed to touch, taste, feel anyone the way I do with you.”

  “Good,” she sighed and wondered if she were saying that to his words, or to the way his fingers moved expertly in and out of her.

  She was on fire with need and giddy with power, a combo she wasn’t used to but that she was more than willing to ride.

  Ride. Yes, she wanted to be on top of him. Wanted him buried deep inside of her while she rode him to their combined pleasure. Without a second thought she dropped the dagger to the floor and lifted her shirt up and over her head.

  Steele followed her lead, easing his hand out of her pants and backing up to remove his clothes. When they were both naked and he reached for her, Ravyn pushed him back to a chair that was close to the wall near the bathroom. He sat with a thump and she straddled him before he could speak.

  His dick was hard and jutted upward as if waiting for her to join it. She didn’t make it wait long, instantly positioning herself over the straining tip and dropping down until he was completely inside of her.

  “Fuck!” Steele groaned.

  “Yeah,” she said. “That’s what I want.”

  And that’s what she got as she braced her hands on his shoulders and began working her hips over his dick. He was pumping fast, meeting her stroke for stroke. His hands were on her hips, fingers digging into her skin.

  Then her mind exploded with alarm and she attempted to push away from him. “No.” She shook her head. “No condom. Dammit! We got carried away before and didn’t have one and now this.”

  “Drakon are immune to human diseases,” he said, his hands at her waist, easing her down over his length once more.

  Her eyes widened. “And you couldn’t have told me this before?” The answer to that question was no, because before she hadn’t known he was a Drakon.

  “Are part-witches immune too?”

  “Don’t know,” he said and thrust up into her again. “Doesn’t matter.”

  She circled her hips, relished the feel of him inside her and decided what he’d said was true. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

  “Beautiful,” he moaned. “You. Are. Beautiful.”

  She loved to hear him talk when he was inside of her. Loved the sound of his moans and groans, of him cursing with how good it felt to him. Their joining made a loud and erotic sound. She was so wet and he was willingly sliding in and out of her until pleasure rippled along every one of her nerve endings.

  “More,” she told him. “I need to feel more.”

  “I got you, baby. I got you.”

  And he did have her, even after her legs began to tremble from the voracious ride she’d taken with him, Steele simply lifted her up, with her legs around his waist and moved them until he had her back against the wall. He took control then, and she didn’t mind one bit as he pumped into her fiercely even as his mouth found hers for his tongue to plunder. She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding his head down tight to hers as his dick eased in and out of her, pressing past her muscles that tightened around him, sliding through her slickness that dripped down to the floor.

  Her back slammed against the wall but there was no pain, only sublime pleasure, and when he tore his lips away from hers to run his teeth along the line of her jaw she yelled out, enjoying the trickle of pain and then pleasure. His fingers were digging into her ass so tight she wanted to scream but instead she came in a jolt that seized her entire body. Her eyes closed and bursts of light lined her lids. She hummed in lieu of screaming because her voice just wouldn’t work.

  “Together,” he groaned, his face pressing into her neck. “Better. Together.”

  There was no lie there. This was the best she’d ever had, more than she could have ever imagined and something she couldn’t fathom losing. And it was theirs, together.

  He pumped deep and hard and groaned as his release took him.

  “Together,” she sighed. “We’re better together.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Cemeteries were creepy as hell when she was just a human. Now that she was part witch, the hairs on the back of her neck still stood on end the second they were out of the truck and walking through the dilapidated iron gates of Burgess Memorial Cemetery. At four a.m. it was dark with a thick layer of fog draped over the scene because it had to appear as scary as possible for any of this to make sense.

  “Bleu says there’s a tomb down about thirty feet to the left. The name on it is Adele Gray Walsh.” Reese read the information from the communicator on his left arm.

  “My mother’s tomb,” she said quietly.

  General Walsh had never visited his wife’s grave, as far as she knew. And he’d never mentioned to her where her mother was buried.

  “We’ll go around the side,” Steele said and then nodded to Reese and Magnum. “You two take the front.”

  “What do you want me to do?” Ziva asked.

  When they’d arrived back at the Towers Theo informed Steele that Ziva would be with them. The blue-eyed leader didn’t mention Enes or the blood on Ziva’s shirt and nobody else asked about it either. Ravyn didn’t know if that was good or bad.

  It was quiet as she fell into step beside Steele. He’d already told her a dozen times to stay close to him and she’d agreed that she would. There was no use arguing with him, especially since she had no clue what she was doing or what to
expect on a mission like this. And she was calling it a mission because she didn’t know what else to call it. Her heart had steadied to a rhythmic patter that seemed really loud as they made their way around headstones.

  Did it feel odd that they were currently outnumbered by dead people? Hell yeah! But it felt worse that Cree might be somewhere out here, scared out of his mind because he really had no clue what was going on. At least she did have the basics of the scenario—crazy vampire witch hybrid wants someone she cares about brought back to life so she’ll do anything, including kidnap an innocent guy and drag a person who had no clue who or what, apparently, she was into her crazy scheme to get that done. It sounded like the plot of a bad horror flick.

  She stepped on something that crackled under her weight. The sound echoed in the eerie night—or rather early morning—air. Steele glanced over his shoulder, just to see that she was still there, but he didn’t stop moving.

  He wasn’t wearing his shades and his Drakon eyes glowed like their own personal flashlight through the dense fog. The air was like a cool mist over her skin and she wondered if a jacket wouldn’t have been a good idea, it was late October.

  Shit! It was late October, getting very close to the creepiest time of year. Was that a coincidence?

  Her mind was going in so many different directions Ravyn hardly noticed when they’d cleared the area of headstones and now walked along a narrow stone path with twelve-foot-high tombs on either side like guards. Now, her heart rate picked up its pace as she focused her eyes on trying to read the names on the small placard at the side of each marble structure. Steele kept moving, following some sort of sensory thing Drakons had, or at least that’s what she figured he was doing. She wondered if she, being part witch and all that, had some sort of sensory mojo she could tune in to. Since touching the dagger again she’d felt a steady pulse of power thumping through her bloodstream, she just wasn’t real clear on how to use it. Now would be as good a time as any to think a little harder on that.

  Instinct told her to move to her right, and she stepped off the stone path to get closer to the tombs on that side. She slowed her steps and started focusing on what she was feeling rather than the names on the placards. Reaching out a hand she began sliding her fingers over the cool marble as she moved. During the space in between tombs she could hear that strange humming she’d heard so many times before in the past two weeks. It wasn’t loud and didn’t pierce straight to her eardrum like a wicked hot needle, instead it just kind of moved with her, picking up when her fingers registered the cool marble again.

  Three tombs away from where she started her fingers stilled on the tomb, the cool turning to warm and she stopped. She touched it with both hands now, dragging her fingers along the stone, feeling the heat rise steadily as she did so. There was no placard here, or at least none she could see or feel and she was moving all over the side panel of the tomb.

  “What is it?”

  She jumped at the sound of Steele’s voice close to her ear. For a moment she’d forgotten he was out here with her.

  “I don’t know,” she said but didn’t move her hand from the stone. “This one feels different.”

  Seconds pulsed between them where there were no words.

  “Follow the feeling,” he told her.

  Her head snapped up as she looked over to him. “I don’t know what I’m doing. It could be nothing.”

  He shook his head. “If you’re feeling it, it’s something. Follow the feeling. I’ll be right here next to you.”

  She nodded because he had no idea what those last words meant to her. He was going to be right there with her, not in front of her leading the way because he was the stronger and more experienced being. Right there with her because he trusted her feelings even though she wasn’t totally sure she did. Right there with her because he cared enough not to leave her like her father had.

  Her hands continued to feel along the tomb as she walked around to its other side. There should be a latch somewhere, like she’d seen on the other ones. An ornate handle and a holder mounted onto the side where she suspected flowers could have been inserted when loved ones came to visit. Her mother’s tomb wouldn’t have any flowers, ever, because as far as Ravyn knew she and General Walsh were Adele’s only family.

  As she moved down the side the warm changed to blistering heat that had her hissing but not removing her hand. Not until they turned around to the back of the tomb and she saw the red liquid seeping from the edges of the stone. Her eyes widened and she absently wondered how she was seeing all of this in the dark? Steele was next to her but she was no longer seeing through his orange-tinted light beam. Instead everything had shifted to a dull glow and now, the red was tinging her focus. Her hands were shaking now as she frantically moved them over this side of the tomb, looking for the handle, a latch or some way to open it and get inside.

  She couldn’t find it and fear gripped her neck like a hand, squeezing until she began to hyperventilate.

  A hand on her shoulder sent her jumping and then going immediately still. “Don’t let it rule you. Take the fear, let it guide you instead. Fear untamed leads to destruction.”

  His voice was so deep, so rugged and so caring at the same time. Her eyes watered with how overwhelmed she felt at this very moment. So much had happened, so much was going on and she wasn’t sure...she didn’t know how to do it all...she didn’t know why she was the one chosen to do it. And then she took a deep breath because his words had finally seeped into her mind. She was afraid that if she found the handle and opened the tomb, Cree’s bloody body would fall out. That would completely destroy her. It would break everything inside her, tear down all that she’d built and all she lived for and she couldn’t imagine what would happen next.

  That couldn’t happen. But if he was inside this tomb, taking his last breaths because she was standing here hesitating like a frightened child, she’d never forgive herself. With quiet resolve Ravyn closed her eyes and focused on the blood thumping through her veins. She didn’t know why, but blood was the key. It pumped life into her and that life was built on an energy given to her by her ancestors, exacerbated by the dagger. That energy was all she needed, it was all the power that it would take and...her fingers fumbled over something. She didn’t hesitate, didn’t try to look closer to see what, just pulled and had to stumble back as the heavy door jolted free with a loud creaking sound.

  Heaving a deep sigh, she kept pulling on the door. Steele put his hand on the part of the door over her head and pulled with her so that the creaking grew louder but the door opened wider. An acrid stench filled her nostrils and she frowned into more darkness.

  Bring my dagger to me.

  Ravyn stopped at the woman’s voice, looking around to see where she was, but only seeing Steele.

  “I heard it too,” he said and she felt marginally better. “She’s talking to you, but I can hear it. I think because I heard it in my dream.”

  “Not because she’s somewhere close waiting to drop down on us and rip our throats out?” she asked because that seemed like a more viable scenario.

  “She’s reaching out to you, the part of her that is a witch, to the part of you that’s one too. You were both in my dream, linking me to this and to you on a preternatural level. You can answer her without speaking.”

  How was he acting like a teacher when they were staring into a freaky-ass tomb in the middle of the night? She had no clue but what he said sounded right, so she looked into that darkness and could once again see. There were stairs and she took them one-by-one. I’m coming to get you, Temptra.

  The words just rattled around in her mind and the woman’s sick laughter followed.

  It was at the bottom of those steps that shit got real for Ravyn. The stench was much stronger and the rows of mummies marching toward her were freakier. She stopped dead in her tracks before turning around to see more were behind her. The
y moved like they were in a trance, green eyes peeking through the ragged cloths that circled around them, jagged sharp teeth in the slash below the eyes that she presumed was their mouth. Oh joy, she’d come all this way to be a feast for some dirty old mummies.

  “We’re right behind you.” Reese’s previously jovial voice was rock solid now and she took pleasure in knowing that the cavalry was here for her and for Steele.

  You won’t stop me.

  She continued her exchange with the crazy vamp lady and walked forward, straight toward the mummies. When she was close enough to smell their stale stench, she reached down to her side and pulled the dagger from the sheath she’d mounted to the belt loop on her jeans. Warmth immediately spread through her body and before she could blink dust was filtering in the air, the sound of thumping, punching and screeches rending the air.

  Come to me, Temptra said. Your destiny is waiting.

  Her destiny. Okay, great, now she had a destiny. Well, she was coming whether she was ready for it or not. The others were fighting off the mummies, clearing a path for her to get through and once she did, she saw Cree lying on a huge slab of rock. She didn’t think, just acted, running the few feet toward him, coming to a violent stop the moment Temptra stepped out from behind a wall, fangs extended, eyes glowing red. Her nails were as long and sharp-ended as her teeth and as she stood behind the slab of rock she flexed her hand over Cree’s throat.

  “You’ll bring that dagger and come with me or I’ll rip out his throat. Yes?”

  She really was a beautiful psycho up close and personal and Ravyn let her words settle in her mind.

  “No,” she answered simply. “That’s not how this is going to work.”

  “Calling my bluff,” Temptra said, lowering her hand.

  Ravyn’s heart beat so loud it drowned out that humming and sent rapid messages to her brain to stop this madness and run. Get back to Safeside where she was safe, where things were good. But...there was no Safeside without Cree. He hadn’t left her in the store that night when the enforcers were beating her and she wasn’t going to leave him now.