by Blue Saffire
When I’m done talking, he’s silent. He’s so silent and still I get nervous, opening my eyes finally. He’s watching me, fire in his gaze. Yet, he still doesn’t speak.
“Wei, say something. Please.”
Just the bob of his Adam’s apple alerts me he hasn’t turned into a statue.
“Where are the tapes?”
My eyes widen. “I don’t know. I thought he destroyed them, but she says she has them. She’s going to use them to keep me from the boys.” A sob rips from me and I’m crying again. “I just wish. I wish…”
“What do you wish for, my love?”
“I wish the tapes never happened.” Wei stares into my eyes as if willing me to wish for more or something else. I suck in a breath. “I wish they would go away.”
Wind picks up, blowing my dreads and whipping Wei’s long tresses around his head. Once the wind dies down, he pulls me into his arms.
“All is well, my love. All is well.”
We come out of the bath then. He dries me off, and then himself, before carrying me to my borrowed room. I climb in bed and he climbs in beside me. I go to pull the covers up over me and notice that the bruise—the one I got that first day from touching the statue—has faded. It’s barely noticeable now.
“Look,” I say, showing him my arm. “It’s disappearing.”
His heavy sigh hits the back of my neck. “I know. Sleep now.” He tucks me tightly to his chest as he curls his body around mine. That is how we fall asleep. Wei lying behind me.
Chapter 11
Prisoner
Wei
“She made another wish,” Zhong says as soon as I walk back into the house.
After I put Bri to sleep, I went outside to release my dragon. He was dying to come out as we listened to the story of what she had gone through. How she was manipulated by her foster mother’s son and left unprotected.
My dragon wanted to hunt all those down that had hurt her and rid the earth of them. It took powerful self-control to keep him from revealing himself in the tub. Which I agree, would have been the worst possible time.
He’s been on edge since the moment I felt her emotions push through to me so strongly today. I immediately knew something was wrong. What I witnessed through her had me seeing red.
It was probably a little bit of my anger that caused Brianna to snap. I am glad she did. Afterwards, I beckoned her to me, I needed to be near her.
Thank the gods, she was sitting in my lap in the bath. I furl my wings back down as I make my way to the master suite, or as she thinks of it, my dying uncle’s room. Zhong follows on my heels.
“What are you going to do? Time is running out.”
“I know that Zhong,” I shout. “Do you not think I don’t know that? That I don’t think about it every day.”
The room is silent.
“It is difficult this time. Her needs are real. They are not some selfish wish to be famous, rich, or beautiful. Lives may suffer if she does not take the wish.”
“They would suffer if there were no wish for her to take.” Zhong and I stare at each other. He’s trying to read me. Trying to see where my thoughts are. I cannot hide them from him. Not even if I tried. “You can’t be serious?” he asks after figuring out my plans.
I do not owe him an explanation, so I do not give one. I head toward my master bath, stripping off my clothes as I go. He continues to follow me.
“All your life you have chased this thing called love. Always wanting some form of companionship. Where has it gotten you, Longwei? Cursed, that is where. You have a chance to take your freedom for yourself and you’re about to toss it away for love? Again? Has this curse not taught you anything? There is no such thing as true love. Not for humans, and not for powerful dragons.”
I understand Zhong’s concern. For so many years, I have been searching for love only to be disappointed in the end. I guess I am like my love in that way.
She too searched blindly and misguidedly for love and that feeling of belonging. Only to offer it to people that did not deserve it. Every time I think a mate will be different, she winds up letting me down.
Sending me back to that tomb for nothing more than a vain selfish wish. I have said these words so many times to Zhong. I do not blame him for cringing as I repeat them now.
“She is different.”
He tosses his hands up in the air and scoffs. “She is no different than the others. In the end, she will choose her own wants and needs above yours, and this time you will rot in that statue. And I’ll rot here on the outside.” He turns around and storms out of my room leaving me to think over his words.
I see reason in what he says. As I stayed locked in that statue for 200 years, I vowed to myself that the next time I would do all that I could to free myself. And if I couldn’t, the least I could do was not fall in love again. Not allow myself to get attached. I have done neither of those things since the moment I laid eyes on Brianna.
I step into the shower, allowing the hot water to soothe my muscles. The water runs over my head soaking my hair. I remember every mate that has freed me from the statue.
Every heartbreak stays with me, and every wish they chose over me plagues me. I, of all people, should know that real love, true love, is nothing more than an imagined emotion with no true sustainability.
Yet when I watch Brianna with her brothers, boys that share no familial bond to her, I believe in love again. I know that she still has not admitted it to me or come to understand her feelings for me, but when we are together, I feel her love.
Yet, Zhong’s words stay with me even as I finish my shower and head back to the bedroom I share with my love. I stand at the foot of the bed, watching her sleep. My dragon clawing on the inside for me to claim her, to make her scream to the heavens that she is truly mine.
She moves, stretching her legs and arms out before rolling on her back and looking up at me. The smile on her face when she sees me warms my heart.
“How long have I been sleep?”
“Not long. Four hours.”
She sits up, the covers falling to her waist exposing her glorious breasts. Chocolate brown globes topped with dark chocolate tips. I salivate at the sight of them.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” she asks.
“Nothing.”
Her lips tilt up and her head cocks to the side. “You’re lying. Something is bothering you.”
She is right. Something is bothering me, but she cannot help solve that problem, not now. However, she can solve another one.
“Come to me.”
She does not hesitate as she crawls on her hands and knees to the foot of the bed where I remain standing. She sits back on her heels. I lift her chin with my finger as I bring my lips to hers for a kiss. I can never get enough of kissing her.
I fist my fingers in her dreads and I pull her head back, devouring her mouth as my tongue dances with hers. She moans and I use my free hand to find the apex of her thighs. She lifts up, spreading her knees further apart and I dive my fingers into her warm tight pussy.
“Wei,” she moans my name as I play with her clit, rubbing my padded fingers against the hardened bud.
“I need you, Brianna,” I admit freely.
I need her to chase away the doubt that Zhong has placed into my head. The fear that he is right and that this time will be no different from the others. She pulls away from me, creating space between us that I didn’t want. The look in those eyes tells me that she has something planned.
We continue to lock gazes as she brings her hands to my hips, going under the waistband of my bottoms and pushing them down to my thighs. My cock springs out, semi hard. She wraps her small hands around it gently and stokes up and down.
Continuing to hold her gaze, I place my hand on top of hers tightening her hold, teaching her how to please me. She bites down on that plush bottom lip. She’s a fast learner, so I remove my hand, allowing her to take full control.
She breaks eyes contact as she lowers her
mouth to my erection. Her warm breath hits the tip of my cock right before she wraps her lips around me and takes me in. I growl and toss my head back.
Pure bliss is what I feel. Her tongue rubs the underside of my dick as she bobs her head up and down my length. She is only capable of getting half of me in, the other half is stroked up and down by her hand.
“Yes, my love. Swallow my cock,” I encourage.
She gazes up at me, and I’m paralyzed by how beautiful she looks. Those brown eyes looking at me with my dick between her lips. The sight has my balls tightening. My release starts at my toes and moves up.
I open my mouth to warn her, to give her a chance to pull back but only a groan comes out as I shoot my semen down her throat. She does not stop, does not pull away. She continues to suction her lips around me, taking all that I am giving her.
Sucking me down as if there is more to be had. When I have nothing else and just the brush of her tongue is too sensitive, I pull myself away from her eager lips. I smile at her reluctance to let me go.
“Did you like it?” she says dipping her tongue out to catch some residue left on her bottom lip.
My softening dick quickly grows hard again. I lean down to take her lips. She wraps her arms around my neck and I lift her off the bed, forcing her to wrap her legs around my waist.
With her round bottom clutched in my hands, I direct her heat to my cock that’s standing at attention. I slide in her easily, her essence paving the way. She groans as I lower her down.
I try to hold back my dragon, but he will not be subdued. He pushes forward, lengthening my cock another few inches. She squeals.
I lift her easily and allow gravity to drop her back down on my shaft. Her pleasured scream echoes in the room. I push out a barrier. It is no one’s business what I do with my mate or how my cock makes her scream.
I do not relent as I use my strength to drive Brianna up and down my shaft. She can do nothing but hold onto me. Her first orgasm tightens her walls around me, but I push through it. I want her to lose control, I want her to scream to the heavens that she is mine, that she loves me. Her cries and whimpers edge me on.
“Wei, don’t stop. You feel so good.”
Though I enjoy the enthusiasm, those are not the words I wish for. I pull out of her, placing her feet back on the ground. Bending her over the foot of the bed, without hesitation, I slam back into her jerking her body forward.
She screams my name as I pound into her. Her plump bottom shakes with the force of my hips ramming into her. She claws at the bed with one hand, and she wraps the other around my wrist, trying to hold me back from claiming her body.
I knock her hand away as I spread her butt cheeks open. I want to see my cock as it enters and exits her. She places one knee on the bed opening herself up for me and I slide in further making her cry out.
“You are mine. Say it, Brianna. Say you belong to me.”
“I’m yours, Wei. All yours,” she screams as another orgasm rocks her.
Her tight cunt squeezes me with a death grip. My dragon roars his release, my wings burst from my back as I come so hard my sight blurs.
Brianna collapses to the bed and I follow her, barely remembering to tuck my wings back in. We face each other, our breathing coming out in heavy pants. She reaches out her hand to wrap it around mine as we lie side by side facing each other.
There is no helping myself. I am madly in love with this woman. And yet I fear, it still does not change the fact that I am sure I will lose her in the end.
Chapter 12
Old Friends
Bri
It’s been two and half weeks since Tasha and I fought. I’ve been on pins and needles waiting for the cops to show up to haul me off to jail. I’ve been staying at Wei’s since the incident.
He’s been amazing at keeping my mind off things. One moment, I’m happy. Being with him is like floating on a cloud. My stomach fills with butterflies at the thought of him. I want to spend all my time with him.
If we are apart for just a minute, I become anxious. All the things I craved all my life, the things I looked for in other men, I get from Wei.
However, the next moment, I still feel incomplete because I can’t be with my brothers. I miss them so much. I keep telling myself that school starts soon, and I’ll be able to sneak and see them then. I just have to be patient.
I place my key in the lock of my old home. I haven’t seen Scott since he showed up at the mansion, every time I mentioned going to get my things, Wei would find some kind of way to have me pinned up under or over him. However, yesterday, I got a message from Scott threatening to trash my things if I didn’t come get them.
I do have a few sentimental things I need to get from his place, like my brother’s pictures. Since I’m considered off from my job—that I can’t even say is really a job anymore—I decided to come get my stuff. The moment I open the door, the smell of alcohol, overflowing trash, and unwashed body hits me. I have to cover my nose just to get into the door.
The smell is only a warning, the house is much worse. Dirty clothes are thrown around the living room. Dirty plates lay stacked on all the flat surfaces along with beer bottles, so many beer bottles. Scott walks into the living room wearing a dingy T-shirt and shorts. He looks as if he hasn’t slept or bathed in days.
“Well, look who finally decides to come home.” His words are slurred, yet he still takes a drink from his beer. “I guess you finally started listening to your messages.”
I won’t let him suck me into his bitterness.
“Are you all right?”
He lets out a snort. “Like you fucking care.”
I don’t actually, but I’m trying to be nice and civil. I still don’t know why he’s so bitter. I mean, I get it.
I haven’t seen him in a while, but it wasn’t like we were on good terms the last time we talked. The best thing for me to do is get my stuff and get out of here. I don’t want to dwell.
“I’m just here to get my stuff.” I take a step forward heading to my old bedroom and he steps in front of me. I tense.
“Where’ve you been staying?”
“Does it matter?”
I know my reply will make him angry, but I’m not afraid of him and I don’t owe him anything. He takes another drink of his beer, watching me.
“You fucking that Chinese guy.”
I gasp. “That’s none of your business. I just came to get my stuff.” I try to push pass him, but he grabs my arm.
“So, you can fuck him, but you can’t be with me?” His breath hits my nose and makes my eyes water. It smells like death has crawled in his mouth and bathed in shit and alcohol.
“Get your hands off of me.” I yank away from him and he lets me go sending me crashing to the floor.
“You’re a fucking slut,” he slurs at me. “You spread your legs for anyone you think will take care of you. And once you don’t need them anymore, you move on to the next victim.”
He has lost his mind. That isn’t what happened at all.
“Fuck you, Scott,” I say, climbing back to my feet. “I never slept with you for a place to stay. You offered me to move in with you and you’re the one that wanted to take our relationship further,” I say repeating his exact words to him.
“You lying tramp.” This time when he shouts spittle flies from his mouth.
“You know what? You can keep the shit. It isn’t worth dealing with you.”
I turn for the door and a voice in my head—that sounds a lot like Wei—screams for me to duck. I do and a second later a beer bottle smashes right where my head was. Glass and beer rain downs on me.
I turn around to curse him out and have just enough time to gasp before he is on me. Scott backhands me, knocking me to the floor.
“You belong to me,” he yells as he fists my dreads in his hand and starts pulling me toward the bedrooms.
I wrap my hands around his wrist trying to take the pressure off him yanking my hair. I kick my legs and
put up as much of a fight as I can. The same way I did that night. I dig my nails into his wrist and twist my body making his grip slip.
The moment he lets go of my hair, I get to my knees and push up, ready to sprint to the door. Scott kicks out at my leg, causing me to fall to the floor. Before I can react, he’s over my body. He flips me over to my back and he sits on my chest, wrapping his hands around my neck and squeezing.
“Why didn’t you love me? You should have married me,” Scott shouts the words down in my face.
I fight beneath him. Clawing at his arms and face, fighting for air. I refuse to go down without a fight, I’m sick and tired of people like Scott abusing me. Soon black spots start to pop in my vision. I’m going to die at the hands of the man I once considered a friend.
I knew my actions of trying to find love in Scott would lead me down the wrong path, but I never thought it would bring me here. At the moment I think of my brothers. I think of them being in this world without me. The last thing I think of before my body becomes heavy, is Wei. How I never got to tell him… The pressure around my neck disappears and oxygen rushes back to my deprived lungs, making me feel lightheaded.
In the distance I hear screams, guttural painful screams and the sound of a very angry growling. Everything sounds as if it’s far away, like I’m hearing it from a distance. I try to focus my eyes on Scott and where he went.
The lack of oxygen to my brain has me seeing things. There’s a dragon here. The body so large in this small house that it has to hunch itself over.
Wings so wide they touch both sides of the room. Its skin looks black and leathery with large iridescent scales. The dragon seems to be eating something. I can’t see what it is because its large body is blocking my view. It lifts its head and I get a quick peek of an arm sticking out of its mouth before it disappears.