Imagine Dragon

by Julia Mills

  “Darlin’, you keep looking at me like you’re gonna gobble me up and I might just let you.”

  BAM! The door of her arousal slammed shut. Her Strix shook the confines of her mind with an ear-splitting screech of extreme disappointment. It felt as if a huge bucket of icy water had been thrown over her head. And to make matters worse, Kayne was once again smirking, his sheer pleasure at her embarrassment dancing in his eyes.

  I feel like a teenager caught mooning over a hot footballer…

  Refusing to give her Dragon the satisfaction to be ashamed of her feelings, Pearl marched away. The feel of his eyes caressing her back and settling on her ass made shivers run up and down her spine as she called over her shoulder, “So, how do we do this. Time’s wastin’, Dragon man.” Then added, much more softly, “And thanks for the save back there. I’ve never run into Hel before.”

  “No worries,” came her mate’s breezy reply. “I’ll always have your back. Besides, Arawn owed me one and when I said it was for you, he came running.” Walking past her, he winked, “Nice to have family in high places, huh?”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  Stopping a few feet in front of her, Kayne’s expression went from carefree to stubbornly determined in the blink of an eye. “All we have to do is hold hands, reach for one another through our mating bond, and by combining our powers, I’ll transport them and us out of here.” He reached for her hand, adding, “At least in theory.”

  Jumping back as if she’d been shocked with a hundred volts, Pearl screamed, “In theory? Did you fucking say in theory?”

  Sadly, she didn’t get to hear his answer as at that very moment, the Devil’s Kiss decided it had had enough. The ground shook, great blasts of boiling stream shot from every hole and orifice of granite and stone, and a groan that sounded like a few hundred giants snoring the night away rendered Pearl momentarily deaf.

  Barely staying on her feet, she reached for the wall at the same time she reached for Kayne. Feeling his fingers slip through hers right before she fell flat on her ass, Pearl’s head slammed into the rock wall as she screamed, “Watch out!”

  Fighting to get to her feet but settling for her knees, Pearl scampered as quickly as she could towards the unmoving body of her mate. Dodging flames, falling on her face more times than she cared to count, every inch of her body being battered by falling rocks and massive chunks of hardened lava, she finally reached Kayne and had just pulled him onto her lap when an otherworldly howl cut through the cacophony, shaking the rafters almost as much as the erupting volcano.

  Slapping Kayne’s face as she poured every bit of magic she could muster into his body and soul, Pearl looked behind her just in time to see a massive fissure in the rock rapidly snaking its way towards her and her mate. Sliding out from under Kayne, she jumped to her feet, slipped her hands under his arms, and moving as quickly as she could tried to outrun what was swiftly become a chasm the size of the Grand Canyon.

  Tripping over her feet and going down hard, Pearl was forced to admit the inevitable, there was nothing left to do but prepare for one hell of a fall. Covering Kayne with her own body and holding on tight, she murmured, “Hear me and hear me well, you bloody arrogant Dragon, if we make it out of this alive, I swear to all that’s holy that I’m gonna kick your ass into the next millennium.”

  Chapter Six

  Falling farther and farther into the pit, closer and closer to the flames of the Underworld while being forced to listen to Hel’s gloating chortles of glee washed every speck of fear, leaving behind a whole lot of pure, seething rage. Holding on to Kayne as tightly as she could, screaming for her mother, his father, and damn near every other deity in the universe, Pearl called to the Strix with whom she shared her soul, begging, “Come on, Old Girl, let that Stringes free. We need to get the hell outta here before we become the main course of one of Hel’s baddies.”

  Feeling the mysticism of the ages welling up inside her, her muscles relaxing and her joints beginning to elongate, she breathed deeply welcoming the transformation. Envisioning the giant owl in her mind, compelling the mighty creature to hold onto their mate as she made the change, Pearl let out the breath she’d been holding and whispered into Kayne’s mind, “We’re gonna get…”

  Stopping in midair, stuck between woman and Stringes, her transformation halted, her body shaking with the need to be one being or another, Pearl opened to her mouth to curse only to find she couldn’t even speak. Hanging for what seemed like forever, but was actually less than a second, she once again found herself hurdling through time, space, and huge chucks of rock and lava, still clutching her mate.

  Gritting her teeth as her butt landed with a thump and a thud on what had to be six solid feet of concrete, Pearl reversed her unfinished transformation and jumped to her feet. Stepping over her mate, feeling the presence of another she couldn’t tell was friend or foe, she struck out with a blast of magic while her vision was still little more than blurry swipes of light and dark. Turning in complete circles, letting her magic fly wildly, she roared, “Whoever the fuck you are, get the hell away from me and mine!”

  Discharging one final, massively destructive bolt of her magic, knowing she’d hit her target by the grunt, groan, and snarled, “Son of a bitch!” It took barely two seconds for her to hold up her hands in surrender and quickly apologize, “Oh damn! I am so sorry, Uncle Arawn. I thought you were Hel, or Gods forbid, another frikkin’ piece of that bloody Obscured.”

  Stepping backward until the back of her ankle touched Kayne, still lying where she’d left him, Pearl rapidly blinked her eyes, trying to clear her vision while holding her hands out in front of her as a sign of surrender. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Arawn, exactly, it was just that, well, …he was the King of the Underworld, a God of the Celtic Pantheon, and most importantly to the Strix in that moment, the brother of one of her mother’s forms – the Crone.

  Praying that Arawn had saved her and her mate from certain death to return to them to the land of the living and not some deep dark hole in the Pits of the Underworld, Pearl quickly apologized, “Oh shit! I am so sorry. I didn’t know it was you, Uncle Arawn.”

  Reminding him that we are related couldn’t hurt, right?

  “Are you okay?” Rushing forward, still seeing three blurry visions of the very big, very scary, not known for his ability to forgive, God of Hell, she aimed for the center one, reaching out for his arm, and shoving healing magic into him as quickly as she could. “If I’d have known it was you, I would’ve…”

  “Kicked me in the balls instead?”

  Unsure if that was a joke either from his tone or the blank expression on his face, Pearl started laughing as hard as she could, even slapping her leg for emphasis, but it wasn’t until Arawn grinned and pulled her into a bear hug that she really actually breathed. Ignoring the pinch and poke of his steel armor, she delicately extricated herself from his arms, looked him in the eyes and sincerely apologized, “Seriously, Arawn, I am so sorry. I have no excuse for not using my senses to see who you were. All I can say is that it’s been a helluva a day.”

  “No shit,” he sniggered. “You even pulled out the ‘Uncle Arawn’ to be sure I didn’t blast your ass to Hell and back.”

  Laughing along but keeping her guard up, Pearl admitted, “Yep, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you, and I’m never sure who mom’s pissed off. You know I have to play ‘Cover My Ass’ where she’s concerned.”

  “That I do.” His wide-eyed expression said that as per usual, the siblings were not on good terms. Thankfully most of the Gods and Goddesses knew that Pearl was her own person and didn’t hold her responsible for her mother’s misdeeds.

  One of the advantages of being a couple thousand years old…

  Changing the subject, Arawn pointed over her shoulder asking, “What about loverboy over there? Need me to call Lugh? I really don’t want to argue with that guy if I can help it. He has a really bad habit of blinding me with a ray of sun and then hitting bel
ow the belt.” Shaking his head, the Lord of Hell added, “I know he just does that shit because he can, pretty much the same reason I enjoy blasting his uptight ass with hellfire, but still.”

  “No, I got this.” She rotated to the side so she could see Arawn and Kayne with little more than a turn of her head as she went on, “Now that I don’t have to fight Hel and her nasty Beast, I’ll get him up and moving.” Sidestepping towards her uncle, Pearl laid her hand on his forearm. “By the way, thanks for that, too. I have no clue what she had planned for me, but damn am I glad you showed up.”

  “No problem, just don’t tell all your mother’s offspring. Let’s face it, they’re all wastes of space. You’ve always been the one with any potential at all.”

  Shocked by Arawn’s unsolicited compliment, Pearl smiled as she patted his arm as she mumbled, “Thanks. That seriously means a lot.

  “Yeah, well it’s the truth.” The King of the Underworld took a step back, ran his chainmail-gloved hand through his long dark hair in the first and only sign of nerves she’d ever seen him express before continuing, “I left Hel alive only because I had to. She’s got her place in this crazy universe just as you and I do, that fuckin’ Abomination She’s protecting has got to go.”

  Leveling his gaze and furrowing his brow, Arawn added, “I’m leaving that shit to you and Lugh’s boy. Make me proud.”

  Opening her mouth to ask if he knew exactly how to get rid of the Obscured, Pearl suddenly remembered Gwendolyn and the Berserkers and blurted out, “Oh my Heavens, you have to put me back in there! I have to get Gwennie and the Dragons.”

  Holding up his hand and shaking his head as Pearl was literally freaking out, Arawn ordered in a low ominous tone, “Stop! Take a breath.”

  Halting midstep and staring at the God of the Underworld, Pearl felt as if she was going to hyperventilate, have a coronary, and lose her mind all at the same time. Gasping for air when Arawn finally spoke, she let her foot hit the ground as he explained, “I got ‘em all. They’re down there,” He pointed over his left shoulder, “on the banks of the Amazon.”

  Putting his helmet back on his face with his fingers on the face shield, he added, “You should probably get down there too before Devil’s Kiss blows.”

  “Sure. Yeah. Thank you so much.”

  The words were barely out of her mouth before Arawn simply disappeared. Looking one way and then the other before turning a complete circle, Pearl finally got her bearings, realized that she and Kayne were atop a neighboring mountain. Walking to the edge, she located her Sisters and the Dragons exactly where her uncle had said, before heading back to her mate.

  Kneeling down, trying to decide if she was going to carry him down the mountain or let her Strix come forth and carry him, Pearl shrieked in surprise as Kayne rolled over, flashed her a dazzling smile, and snickered, “Whatcha say we get the hell outta dodge?”

  Chapter Seven

  “You…*slap*…Stupid…*slap*…Pain in the ass…*slap, slap, slap*.

  Recognizing the look in Kayne’s eyes, and absolutely refusing to go twisting and twirling through whatever magical portal, vortex, or whozeywhatsit he was about to call up, she grabbed both his hands, looked him right in the eye and snarled, “Hold it right there, Chief.”

  Using the death grip she had on his fists to jerk her towards him, Pearl was helpless but to fall forward and happier than she wanted to admit when her lips met his. Pulling his hands from hers they were instantly in her hair, on her shoulders, running down her back, and grabbing handfuls of her well-rounded ass.

  Granting him entrance the moment the tip of his tongue touched the seam of her lips, Pearl was transported to another place and time, somewhere she’d always dreamt of, but had been pretty sure she would never find. Arousal thickened in every fiber of her being, growing exponentially with every drugging swipe of his tongue against hers.

  Whimpering with need as Kayne delved deeper and deeper, fanning the flames of desire with his every erotic move, Pearl felt her arousal wet the crotch of her panties as her body yearned to be one with his. Climbing over her, gently lowering his body onto hers, Pearl reveled at the perfect synchronicity of the moment and the flawless way her Dragon’s rock-hard body melded against her curves.

  Wrapping her legs around his waist, holding him as close as possible, she moaned into their embrace as Kayne rocked his hips between her legs, bumping her clit making it throb with the need to come. Raking her nails down his back, Pearl pulled him closer, gripping the muscular cheeks of his ass to keep him where she needed him most.

  His answering growl, rumbled through her body, setting her on fire from the inside out. Sparks of their connection, pure combustive electricity shot to her core and ignited her lust. Never in all her years had she needed anyone as much as she needed Kayne in that very moment.

  Caressing up and down his spine and roaming his body, she kneaded and massaged his muscles, needing to mark every inch of his body with her scent. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think. Her world started and ended with Kayne, on that mountaintop and nothing else mattered.

  Moaning at the loss as he pulled his lips from hers, Pearl sighed in ecstasy as Kayne kissed and nibbled his way across her jaw and down her throat. Sucking the tender skin where her neck met her shoulder between his lips and teased her pounding jugular with his teeth and tongue, she swore stars bursts behind her eye lids as he let his canines slide through her skin.

  “Oh, my Goddess, you’re making me…” Unable to complete her thought as he withdrew his fangs from her neck and licked the mark she knew he’d left, leaving her mind blank and her hormones on overdrive.

  “I’m makin’ you mine, my sweet little Pearl,” her Dragon grinned, raising his head and staring at her cleavage as it nearly popped out of the V-neck of her stretched out T-shirt.

  Unconsciously raising her chest to meet his fingers as he trailed the backs of them along the lacey top of her bra, Pearl was sure she’d died and gone to Heaven when Kayne’s sexy lips broke into an all too wicked smile as he purred, “Like that, do ya’?”

  Before she could answer, he was gripping the neckline of her shirt, ripping down the center, and throwing it open. Not realizing the talons of his Dragon had pushed through the end of his fingers, Pearl gasped as in a single swipe, Kayne cut through the center of her bra, relieving her of that piece of clothing as well. Holding her eyes hostage with his smoldering gaze, Pearl struggled to keep from passing out when his hand closed over her breast, massaged her heated flesh, and rubbed her already hardened nipple with his calloused palm.

  “Gorgeous,” he groaned, kissing his way up the side of her breast,

  Biting her tongue to keep from screaming her head off, Pearl damned near lost consciousness when Kayne nipped the tip of her nipple a split-second before he sucked it into the warm, wet heat of his mouth. Lavishing it with his tongue, sucking hard on her skin, her Dragon growled low in his throat, every vibration sending a direct bolt of lightning to her clit, making her pussy contract with the need to have her mate buried deep within her.

  Desire. Yearning. Uncontrollable Hunger.

  All the years of fantasizing about this moment… All the erotic dreams she’d hidden from her Sisters… All the times she’d tried to deny what Fate and the Universe had set into motion… None of it… Nothing… Not one second, had prepared her for the feel of Kayne’s sexy mouth on hers, the feel of his body pressing into hers, or the hard column of his cock rubbing against her wet and needy pussy. She was in Heaven and never wanted to fall to Earth.

  Shoving her fingers into his long, silky hair, she fisted the strands, as she begged, “Please… Please… Kayne, please…”

  Over and over. Nip. Suck. Lick. Again and Again. The quickening of her arousal made her wild with need. Lost to what she and Kayne were together, Pearl barely realized him unlocking her legs from his waist and jerking the jeans from her body.

  Letting go of his hair and spreading her legs, Pearl lifted her hips as she waited
to welcome the long, hard length of her mate into her body. Popping her head off the ground and prying her eyes open when the stubble of his jaw teased the inside of her thigh, her heart skipped a beat when he snarled, “Mine.”

  Shocked by how much his macho Dragon bullshit turned her on, all thought evaporated from her mind when he blew concentrated puffs of hot air on her pussy. Squirming and lifting her butt off the ground, trying to force Kayne where she needed him most, anticipation danced across her nerve-endings as he pushed her legs open wider with the bulky muscles of his broad shoulders.

  “Kayne…” Her order turned to a moan of sheer pleasure the second the rough tip of his tongue flicked the tip of her clit. Lust exploded within every cell of her body and raced through her veins, landing straight in her core.

  Licking her pussy, thrusting his tongue as far as it would go then immediately pulling out and teasing her clit, Kayne started a frantic rhythm, repeating the motion over and over until she hurtled into her orgasm, screaming his name to the Heavens. Grabbing his hair, pushing her pussy tight against his face, she dug her nails into his scalp as she rode the waves of her release.

  Still soaring somewhere in the stratosphere, unable to catch her breath, Pearl’s world spun before her barely open eyes as Kayne flipped her onto her stomach. Wrapping his hands over her hips, he pulled her onto her knees, kissing down her spine, his appreciative growls sending scrumptious vibrations throughout her body.

  Throwing her hair to the side, Pearl glanced over her shoulder, and with a wicked grin, purred, “Waiting for an invitation, Dragon Man?”

  “Don’t need one. You’re already mine, Winged Lady.” Pushing his hips to her ass and laying his hands next to hers on the ground, Kayne caged Pearl in as he whispered all the naughty, wonderful things he was going to do to her.