Amethyst Bound

by L Shannon

  “Have what?” Davis asked without raising his head.

  “Amethyst and I were just discussing your various merits.”

  “Does she really talk to you? I didn’t hear any other voices.” He grabbed one of the textbooks from the bed and settled it onto his lap, on top of the first book.

  “She talks in my head. Telepathy, I think it’s called.”

  “Since both voices are in your head, I think that’s called schizophrenia.” He flashed me a dimpled grin before flipping through the book.

  “Could be. Did I hallucinate turning into a dragon and carrying your ungrateful ass off the mountain?”

  “If you did, so did I.” His face was covered with a silly smile, and I could imagine he was remembering the flight.

  “And why weren’t you afraid? Seems to me most people would be changing their shorts after that flight. Hell, if I’d had control of my body, I might have needed a change myself.”

  He shook his head and ducked back into the book on his lap.

  “He is excited but unsure of himself.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I read his emotions. You can do so as well if you focus on the task.”

  I’d never been able to read minds before, but I’d never flown either, so…I stared at Davis, focusing on him and what he’d be thinking. He didn’t look up or seem to notice my attention. But I wasn’t getting anything from him that wasn’t obvious in his body language, which did agree with Amethyst’s assessment. Maybe she was yanking my chain and not able to read him either.

  “You must open yourself to the other being’s emotions. Your shields shut out any chance to use this sense to its advantage.” A couple seconds ticked by before she asked, “Why do you lock out the world?”

  This from a dragon locked inside a chunk of jewelry for who knew how long… Yeah, I wasn’t answering her. “How long were you in the pendant before I found you?”

  “The passage of time is not easily determined when you are without form.”

  Right. Of course it would be different. What was I thinking? “What was it like? Was it like you were sleeping?”

  “No.” The finality of that one word left me wondering if it had been hard on Amethyst to be without a body. Had it been painful? Or lonely? Maybe I wasn’t the only one who kept a painful past private.

  She had asked why I shut out the world and kept to myself when the truth was that I wanted to feel close to another being. I’d never considered being glued to a dragon, but the feeling of connection still warmed me deep inside. It was almost the feel of a lover. I’d never been in love, but I had shared that illusion of love that lust offered. Amethyst soothed me instead of setting fire to my body, but the sense of connection was still there.

  Not that I wasn’t afraid of the sudden invasion. Keeping others out was what I did best. It was how I’d stayed safe and sane all these years.

  “You are not alone. We are together and have Davis.”

  “We have Davis? I didn’t realize you had a fondness for the doctor.” But of course I did know, and for the record, I thought Amethyst had good taste.

  With that in mind, I needed to find out if Davis was making headway sorting out our dragon mystery. I moved close enough to see what he was studying. If I wasn’t ready to jump into his mind, then at least I could snoop over his shoulder.

  What I had mistaken for a textbook was actually a hardbound journal. I was guessing it was his personal notes. Of the two visible pages, one was neatly typed and the other handwritten. The margins of both were filled with notations and sketches.

  “Have you always focused your study on dragon mythology?” I leaned over so I could get a better look at the intricate drawing that covered a quarter of the page. As I did, my body brushed in close to his and heat jumped between us. I couldn’t help but jerk at the jolt, and when I did, I ended up resting my arm on his shoulder in an attempt to look casual.

  His gray eyes left the page and drilled me with speculation. What was he thinking? I considered trying my telepathy on him but figured that if I couldn’t read his emotions, I probably wouldn’t get his thoughts either. His steady gaze left me twitching like a bug under a glass. I drew back a little to get a grip. Davis couldn’t help looking at me that way. He’d almost been crushed when I’d turned into a dragon. That was enough to leave anyone with serious depths of contemplation.

  “I have been focused on, most would claim obsessed with, dragons for the past eight years.”

  He looked so serious. I reached out and ran a finger along his jaw. “What happened eight years ago?”

  He flipped the pages of the book back to the beginning and revealed a picture of a dragon carved into a stone wall. Only this one had deep claw marks marring the face of the rock. And below that was another photo. This one of a younger Davis holding an enormous claw.

  Amethyst whispered, “Daegyn-rok,” her tone full of awe.

  “Is that real?” Even as I asked, I knew it was. I felt Amethyst accept it and saw the pride on Davis’s face. That claw was real, which meant there were more dragons out there, or at least there once had been.

  “Yes, I believe so. It was embedded in the stone as if it had been broken during the act of defacing the carving. The claw tip is fourteen inches long, and from all appearances was only the end of the beast’s claw.”

  “Why didn’t that make the news? I can’t imagine it wasn’t a huge story at the time.”

  “The Quetzalcoatl claw was determined to be a hoax. The claw was tested and exposed as a fake, carved from antelope horn.” His fingers caressed the page.

  “But you didn’t believe their explanation?”

  “No. I was there. I was the one who found it and had to chip it from the stone it was embedded in. The claw was not a fake.” He sighed a resigned little sound. “But of course it was rather hard to be taken seriously once my findings were proven false.” He turned the page and pointed to pictures of other dig sites. The dragons were different at each, but as he flipped the pages, I found a certain similarity between the various styles of ancient art. “How could all these different cultures have a similar dragon story if there were no link to reality? I had to find out the truth. The search has been my private project and the reason I was at that specific temple.”

  “I don’t believe in coincidence.”

  “Neither do I. Years ago, I found that claw tip and was set on a path that I’m now certain was destined to lead to you and Amethyst.”

  “You think us meeting was destiny?” Maybe Amethyst had dropped him on his head when we landed.

  “You said you don’t believe in coincidence. Too many things had to happen to bring us together in the temple to be to the product of chance. So I figure that leaves two options. Either we are being manipulated by some powerful being, or we were simply meant to meet there. I prefer the destiny theory. It sounds better than being someone’s pawn in a game.”

  “But doesn’t that mean we have no say over what happens to us? I don’t think I can live with that.” I didn’t just have an issue with fearing the unknown. For me it was an absolute terror of losing control over my own life. My life had been complete shit before I’d gathered the reins in my teeth and run for the hills. I remembered not having control and simply wasn’t willing to go there again.

  “I will not let another hurt you.” Amethyst’s voice flowed over me, wrapping me in the comfort of a protective hug.

  I’d never spoken of what my father had done to me, nor would I ever. Even dead, he shaped many of my choices. I still had nightmares about him and his drunken or drugged bouts of anger. Somehow Amethyst understood. I felt her caress in my mind, so I let down the shields I had been trying to hold against her.

  The flood of sensation that rushed over me was a mixture of soothing cool and burning fire—Amethyst tearing down my defenses and filling the voids in my mind and heart.

  I had no recollection of falling, but I hit the floor hard. Then Davis was there, pulling me into
his arms, rocking me against his chest. He whispered into my hair and cradled me like a child. I was crushed between him and Amethyst. I couldn’t hide within, nor could I maintain my façade. All my repressed past and all the current crap—it all landed on me at once. I might pretend to hold the emotions in and be okay, but she’d torn away my control and once more left me raw and exposed.

  “You are strong and will heal from your past.”

  “I thought I had healed.” But it was a lie. When I’d finally escaped, I had sworn never to trust another soul. I would rely on myself for every need, both physical and emotional. I was alone and liked it that way. I couldn’t be hurt or betrayed if I never let another person get close enough to touch me. For fifteen years I had lived like that with my heart kept safe.

  Now my security was shredded. I was laid bare before Amethyst. She knew all my flaws and weaknesses. How could I trust that she wouldn’t betray me too?

  “I will never betray you, Antonia.”

  “How can I know?”

  “You need only look into my mind. Join me and know my thoughts as I know yours.”

  Could I do that? Could I read Amethyst just as she read me? Once we connected, could Amethyst lie to me? Would I be able to think on my own? I didn’t have any answers. Even now I could feel her presence within me. On the other hand, I couldn’t see how I would be able to live with her in my mind without testing that trust.

  I imagined her as a book that could be read, and I pictured that book opening in my mind. And as the pages fell open, the image changed to a dragon curled around me. I looked into her iridescent, many-faceted eyes and knew her thoughts. Like a spring giving up its water, she allowed her every need and desire to flow into me.

  She had come from a piece of old magic and was forced into the pendant, where she stayed for so very long. Then she was free and yearned to feel life in all its forms. She wanted to feel flesh, taste foods and experience everything. Each new moment brought her such pleasure. Her every sense was exquisite to the point of pain. And she reveled in the joy of that too.

  Where I had been closed to anything touching me, Amethyst was the opposite. She devoured every detail within the reach of her senses.

  While I had hidden behind my fears, she had jumped into life.

  “You are as you had to be. As am I.”

  “Shh…” Davis’s arms tightened. He held me trapped against his chest. Yet I knew if I pushed free he would let me go.

  Instead, I let him hold me and examined what I wanted. His touch was firm and comforting. His strength offered something I hadn’t known I needed. I rubbed my cheek against his soft shirt and inhaled the smell that was unique to him.

  A tangle of desire twisted through my body. Davis was more than a bookworm who might have knowledge I’d need. He was a man I’d found attractive from the first glance.

  “You feel my needs as much as your own.”

  Amethyst was right. I could feel her desire within me. I could also feel Davis’s masculine body and its flattering reaction to holding me. And since I had no pants nor underwear, and the borrowed shirt had ridden up to my waist, I was pressed intimately to his jeans where I was curled into his lap.

  But what did I want out of the situation? Davis wasn’t pressuring me. Neither was Amethyst. Only my choice was left, and both would let me do the choosing.

  “You can trust him.”

  “Can I trust myself?” Or did I even have a choice? I wanted Davis physically and I wanted to offer the experience to Amethyst. And even more important, I couldn’t let my fear of defeat control me. If I went willingly into a situation, then I could be in control.

  I turned into Davis’s embrace, sliding my arms around his waist. With the first motion, he tensed. I wanted to tell him to relax, that I wasn’t going to bite him. But even the thought made me wonder. Biting him sounded good too.

  Chapter Six

  “You can bite him if you like, Antonia. I would enjoy that.”

  I laughed. I didn’t mean to, but Amethyst’s tone was so deeply sincere that she had to be teasing me. However, Davis hadn’t expected me to laugh while my hands roamed over his body. I glanced up and confirmed his frown.

  “Is something funny?” I could hear the smile in his tone, but also a hint of hurt.

  When he started to shift me off his lap, I caught one hand and pulled him to a stop. “Look, Davis, having a dragon in my head is going to make me do funny things sometimes. Don’t take it personally.”

  “So you were laughing at Amethyst?” He sounded doubtful.

  “Yeah. She said I can bite you if I like.” I raised his hand to my mouth and bit down on his thumb, letting my tongue slide over the pad and circle around twice before freeing it.

  He let out a sexy little moan, which I leaned forward to capture on his lips.

  Kissing Davis was an experience in luxury. At first he did little more than react, but then he got into the action, and when he did…whoa, he did it right. His mouth moved slow and easy over mine. The contact might have felt casual if not for the way his tongue tickled me open and then plunged in to explore.

  By increments he drew back, holding my advance at bay with firm hands on my upper arms. I didn’t want to stop touching. I didn’t want to stop kissing. I wanted him naked and writhing under me. I wanted him thrusting and hard, deep inside me. And I sure as hell didn’t want to hear whatever he was saying.

  “…this a good idea?”

  “A good idea?” I doubted it, but my brain had shut off a while back. Bringing it back online took a little work.

  “I just want to be sure it’s you with me and not Amethyst.” His gray eyes were so serious. “Some mythologies claim dragons are instinctively sexual creatures. I want you, but I need to know that you want this as much as I do.”

  I struggled to get a grip on my libido. Maybe he was right. This wasn’t very in character for me. Not the sex part. I was okay with that. But the out of control and giving in to my baser side was not me. Here we were about to have sex while the bad guys were probably hunting us down, and I couldn’t even work up a worry for anything more than how to get Davis out of his pants.

  It was Amethyst. It had to be. But I still wasn’t sure if Amethyst’s desires changed anything. “Davis—”

  “Call me Ben or Benjamin. If we have sex, and I think we are about to, I don’t think you should be screaming out my last name.”

  Just like that, all my fear slipped away. I couldn’t help but laugh at his expression. “I do believe you’ll have me screaming soon enough…Ben.”

  He kissed me again, this time with enough spark that I thought I might burst into flame right there on his lap. When he drew back, breaking the kiss, his lips formed a cocky grin. “What were you going to say?”

  Was I going to say anything? Oh yeah, before he’d singed my shorts off, not that I was wearing any. I was still in nothing but his shirt, and at some point that had managed to come unbuttoned. “I think that Amethyst is me and I am Amethyst. At least to a certain extent.”

  One dark eyebrow jumped upward. “So which of you wants to make love to me?”

  “Both of us do, which is what makes it an easy decision.” As he released my arms, I slid back into his embrace. “I only have one question.” I nibbled at his shoulder, working my way up his neck. “Where will we do all this lovemaking when the bed is covered with six tons of books?”

  “The books can move. Believe me, they can burn as far as I’m concerned.”

  I chuckled at his intensity even as I knew he didn’t really mean it. His books held the past eight years of his life. He wasn’t about to let them burn just for a little nookie. But I wasn’t about to point out his exaggeration when he was feeling ambitious. He kissed me soundly and tossed me from his lap before turning his attention to the books in question. While he focused on stacking and moving them, I did all I could to distract him by removing his clothes and exploring his very nice body.

  Ben had what I called a grade-A butt.
And his shoulders were about perfect as far as I could tell by feel or taste. His muscles bunched as he moved, and each motion showed off his lean masculine body. I pressed my front to his back and reached around to unbutton his shirt. The moment my breasts crushed against him, he froze. I undid his buttons while being sure to shimmy slowly against him. When I finally slid the shirt over his shoulders and tossed it to the side, I could just about see the steam rising from his skin.

  “You had better clear a little more room,” I whispered. “I want to do more than perch on the edge.”

  His only reaction was a low groan and a speedy return to his rearranging.

  I let my hands draw lazy circles on the smooth skin of his back, slowly running over the newly bared territory. He was lightly tanned all over but darker past a T-shirt line on his arms. I smiled at the thought of him shirtless in the sun. I kissed a line up his back, nipping lightly at his shoulder, while my hands wandered lower to frame his lean hips.

  I pressed in closer to reach the button of his jeans, unfastening them with a flip and slowly drawing the zipper down. His hands stilled once more and his breath sped up to a pant. I dipped my fingers under the waistband and oh so slowly pushed the denim down, letting my body sink with the last of his clothing. I followed the retreating cloth with my lips, pressing kisses to his back and then down over his right hip and lower to his thigh.

  I was panting too by the time his erection sprang free. But I was dedicated to my job of making him naked. I resisted the urge to caress him even as I felt the moist heat bloom between my thighs. First the clothes. Then the reward.

  I focused on his sneakers, quickly loosening the ties as I heard books hitting the floor on the opposite side of the room. I raised one foot, then the other to take off his shoes and socks and the legs of his pants.

  Finally he was nude and I was ready to play. I shrugged my borrowed shirt off to even the odds and slid up his body. The skin-on-skin friction sparked between us. Damn, he felt good. I rewarded myself, cupping his erection and slowly exploring his response to each touch.