She bucked and moaned, obviously not sure whether this would drive her mad with bliss or hurt like hell. He wasn’t sure, either, but the dragon inside him didn’t care. She was his—his—and she would know it, now and forever. She would feel what he was doing to her and know. He would claim her with his forbidden fire. He would revel as she screamed out her ecstasy.
But before he could slide his hand into that sweet cleft, she made a sound that he dimly recognized as distress. Beneath the sparkly hand he was pressing against her butt, her skin was a little red.
“It is hurting,” she gasped. “Maybe a bit too much. It’s—”
Shit, he thought, and tore his mystical fingers away. This was supremely hard to do, and as he did it, inside him, the Zrakon roared. He was being denied, again, and he was in no mood for denial. The glowing aura was part of his ancient dragonfire, the fire that had been stolen from him and drowned in the sea. He wanted to use it. Now. On her.
No.
The Zrakon’s fury erupted. To his horror, Ross saw his glowing hands and arms shimmer and change, turning thicker, stronger, and covered with iridescent scales. The air around them heated and crackled as the change raced up his arms and into his shoulders. Pain and rage shuddered through him. He was not going to be denied.
Holy shit. He had never shifted spontaneously before. He had to stop it. She didn’t know. The Zrakon wanted her just the way she was—he intended to drive himself into her vulnerable body, so widely spread and waiting for him. Dammit! He had to keep control.
“Kate,” his voice sounded hoarse and unnatural. “You aren’t safe here. Get up, get out. Kate. I’m serious. Go.”
But Kate, languorous from sexual passion, didn’t leap up and run away. Of course not. She laughed in her cheery spontaneous way. “Who ever said I wanted to be safe? You’re not stopping, are you?”
Fuck. It was like trying to slam the door on a tornado. Any second she was going to roll over or push herself up from the bench, see his half-shifted body, and freak.
If you want her to love you, you great fool of a lummox, he told his monster self, you’ll have to win her with tenderness, not brand her with pain.
Then he tried to think of the driest possible subject he could imagine, settling on envisioning protein synthesis deep inside a single human cell. Codons. Transcription. Translation. The intricacies of protein folding. Thank the gods for all the years he had spent studying biology and biochemistry, because this utterly confounded the Zrakon. The change stuttered to a halt.
With a monumental effort, Ross held on hard to Kate’s spirit. He made her his anchor in the human world, and drove the Zrakon back. Down. Into the depths of him, where he belonged.
A little shakily, he backed away from the woman he and his beast so dearly wanted to fuck. “I don’t mean to deprive you, but I think we should wait until this magic attack subsides. Your beautiful butt has a reddish outline of my fingers and palm. Much though I love to see my mark on you, I don’t want to burn you. I mean, that could be damned inconvenient later.”
He tried to say this lightly, but he was worried. What if he couldn’t make love to her in a normal way?
“It does sting a bit,” she admitted, pushing herself up and looking down over one shoulder, trying to see her ass.
“We have to get out of the maze. There’s magic here, and it’s affecting me. Come. Put your clothes on. We can go somewhere a little less fraught with Mallochbirn mysticism.”
She pouted a bit, but she obeyed. She kept rubbing her sore ass even after it was covered, but she didn’t seem too uncomfortable, and she looked so cute doing it that he felt laughter bubble up. Unfortunately, he couldn’t think of a spot less fraught with magic. The dragon would accompany them anywhere he went.
Chapter Nine
Late that night, alone in his bedroom because he didn’t trust himself to fall asleep around Kate, Ross telephoned his brother.
“Cam? I need to talk.”
“Not now. Call back later,” was the curt reply.
“It’s important.”
“Wait a bit and I’ll be with you.”
Ross waited, restlessly reliving everything that had happened in the maze. At last he heard Cameron’s voice again. “I’m listening. What’s the problem?”
They were so much in tune that Cam would have immediately known there was something wrong. “Where exactly are you?” He and Cam tended to respect each other’s privacy as much as possible, since being identical twins was intimate enough. But he was curious what Cameron had been up to at this time of night.
Amusement and a slight sense of frustration flowed from Cam to him. “I’m in London at a posh sex club. Would you like a description of exactly what you interrupted?”
Ross grinned. “By all means.”
“Too bad. Weep with envy, my brother, and return to your cold lonely bed in Mallochbirn Castle.”
“Ha. Might I inquire what sort of sex club?”
Cam swore a colorful oath. “The kinky sort,” he admitted.
“I hope you’re being careful.”
“I’m always careful.”
“Sounds like you’re dealing with dangerous urges if you’re paying for girls aroused by cruelty. If you lose control and shift, you could hurt someone.”
“The girls are elite professionals, and some of them even like the work,” Cameron growled. “Anyway, I’m not going to lose control. I’m here to gather valuable information, not to indulge myself. It’s a client, not me, who’s aroused by cruelty. The guy is known to frequent this place, so I’m interviewing a couple of his favorite companions.”
Ross laughed. “A likely story.”
His brother laughed too. “It happens to be true. You, my blood, are jealous. You’re older than I am. Your need to mate is probably stronger than mine.”
“We’re twins, prick.”
“But you’re aging faster than I am, stuck on that ancient island.”
“It does seem that way, at times,” Ross laughed. “But I’ve just met someone interesting. She’s attractive, bright, adventuresome, and a lot of fun to have around.”
“That sounds promising. Have you fucked her yet?”
“Not quite. The strange thing is that I can bond with her. Telepathically. The way you and I can sometimes. I think she’s the descendant of someone who used to live around here. She might even be distantly related to our family.”
“So what’s the problem? Do you need my permission?”
“What I need is your advice. A lot of mystical shit is happening between us. And the Zrakon is involved in it all. The compulsion I feel to take her is overpowering. I want to smash into her body and obliterate her will.”
Now Cameron laughed. “Come join me in the S&M club. Unleash some of that dark energy here, then go back to your girl and bring her along a little more slowly.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not? You know we’re different from other men in this. We must release the pent-up energy or we turn into predators more deadly than any we control.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“Sex works. You never get enough of it, living in that isolated castle on your rock.”
“I get my share. I just haven’t lately.”
“Apart from the sex, you could use some ordinary social interaction. Come to Edinburgh for a while. We’ll get the whole family together and hang out, have some fun.”
“I’d love to, but it’s now too late for that solution. Kate imprinted on me earlier this evening. It was like a brand.”
There was silence for a moment, then Cameron said, “She imprinted on you?”
“Oh aye. It was a volcanic burst of knowledge and recognition and lust, all combined. I knew her for my mate. I wanted to take her immediately—to consummate it on every level. It was torture not to do, you know, everything. But the damn beast was active and I was afraid I’d change. In fact, I started to shift and only barely managed to prevent it. Now I’m lying here in my bedroom giving off steam.
My brain is about to explode, and let’s not even discuss the condition of my cock.”
“I thought that imprinting nonsense was a myth. A myth made up by romantic women.”
“So did I, but it happened. It’s real.”
“I really think you need to get out of that great, looming rock pile more often, Ross.”
“I’ve had other girlfriends, as you know, but I’ve never felt anything like this. The dragon side of me wants her, and it’s not feeling very patient at the moment. Do you think I’m losing it?”
“Shit, man, I don’t want to know about this. If this absurd Mallochbirn nonsense can happen to you, does that mean the rest of us are cursed as well?”
Ross laughed, releasing some of his tension. “If we end up in the nuthouse, we’ll be quite the attraction—a whole family, skewed in the head.”
“Don’t fucking scare me. Look, sex may drive men mad, but the insanity is temporary. Even the sea dragon’s bond, if there really is such a thing, is self-limiting. Remember our grandfather—no one babbled more about the Zrakon’s bond, but he had how many women on the side—a dozen? A score?”
“I think that was after our grandma died. Not that I’m defending the old monster.”
“The real question is this: after all the lust has been slaked, will you still want the girl around? After a short acquaintance, how can you even begin to make an estimate about that?”
“I can’t, obviously. Nor do I have any reason to believe that she would want to stay with me. She’s a prisoner here, in effect. She can’t leave.”
“Why can’t she?”
“I’m sort of holding her captive on the island.”
“You can’t hold somebody captive. This isn’t the Middle Ages.”
“Look, I know that, although I’m not sure who is going to stop me. It’s not as if she has any relatives nearby. Her family’s in the States. Besides, she likes me. Let’s just say that things are progressing nicely on that front. Anyway, I think my intentions might be honorable.”
“Now that is interesting.”
“She’s intelligent, spirited, and unconventional—she will do quite well.”
“Wait just a minute, Twin. You said at the beginning of this conversation that you’d just met the girl. Correct? After all these years alone, you’re not going to marry in haste, I hope.”
“Tell that to the Zrakon.”
“Okay, so why can’t she leave?”
“I gave her a post-hypnotic suggestion. I was in sea dragon form at the time. I told her to forget what she had seen and not to go anywhere. She seems to have forgotten, and she hasn’t tried to leave. Don’t ask me how I did it.”
“That’s fucked up. You can do mind control now?”
“The Zrakon has grown a lot stronger since Kate showed up. I’m shifting spontaneously.”
“Oh aye? You’d better figure this out fast, bro, or both you and your honey might be screwed.”
“Thanks a lot. Is that all the advice you have for me?”
“Well, fuck you, here’s my advice. Take her. Don’t wait, because your lust—and his—will only increase. Give her a few strong measures of that lovely Scotch you have in Mallochbirn and have some yourself while you’re at it. It will slow you down. Let her get used to you. After the first couple times, when you’re calmer and more in control, focus on her pleasure, and dazzle her with your skill.”
“Dazzle her.”
“Aye. Do I have to spell it out?”
“Fuck you.”
“She’s your imprinted mate. She may fight you, but she can’t resist you for long. Do whatever it takes. The sooner she gets used to you, the better.”
Ross knew it. His mind and his body were both singing with that knowledge. “Thanks, Cam.”
“You’re welcome. Now may I please return to my, er, mission?”
Ross laughed. “Have fun.”
“Good luck with your lady. And remember, whatever it takes.”
Chapter Ten
Kate was dreaming once again of silky seas and tentacles. Many tentacles, large and muscular. They reminded her of cocks, but they were infinitely more flexible. The ways they could turn, twist, curl, even double up upon themselves were amazing. They could suck, too, with different pressures from gentle to brutally intense.
One wound itself around her chest, pinning her arms to her sides. Another lifted her off her feet while a third lashed her butt like a whip. A fourth stimulated her breasts, exciting her so much that she was pleading as yet another snaked up her bare thigh and fed itself into her dripping pussy. It was so damn hot. So damn thick. She moaned and rocked and bucked, but she couldn’t seem to reach a climax. She needed something else, something more. Dear god, she was so damn hungry.
She woke up suddenly, aroused and unsatisfied, her skin damp and an ache in her core. No orgasm in the maze, she remembered...Ross had been eager to please her but he hadn’t been able to stop that mystical glowing.
Tentacles again. This time she didn’t even think they’d been attached to anything, but they sure were erotic. Was that what the Zrakon did to those girls on Midsummer’s Eve? There was no way they could report it later as a pleasant experience if he had actually thrust into them with his monster penis. That would have killed the poor girls. No, he must be all about the tentacles. Maybe that’s why the girls refused to talk about their experiences, other than to declare the Zrakon the superman of lovers? Admitting to the tentacle thing would be embarrassing.
Kate closed her eyes and tried to sleep again. Run that dream by me again, she thought, smiling as she settled more comfortably into the downy mattress.
* * *
In his own bedchamber, Ross was awake and sweating, too, but from a far more ominous cause. He had been jolted out of sleep, overcome with the type of fiery lust that always consumed him at this time of year. In other years, though, he had satisfied it with the ritual and the monster had gone back to sleep for another twelve months. This year the Zrakon was roaring because he hadn’t been permitted his annual grope fest with whichever one of the village girls had won the lottery.
The sea dragon was pissed. He was not going to go quietly back down to the depths of Ross’s consciousness, or wherever the hell he dwelt for the other months of the year. Especially now, with Kate so near. Kate, whom the Zrakon had marked as his lover and his plaything. She was his destined partner, and he needed to mate with her. Really mate. As in stick that gigantic cock between her thighs and fuck her brutally.
Christ. Ross’s own cock turned steel hard at the thought. He could easily find his way to Kate’s bedroom in the dark. It would take but a minute or two to reach her. Even if she had locked her bedchamber door, he had all the keys.
He saw it in his mind, the whole thing. His fucking balls were aching and his dick so hard that even the brush of his t-shirt against the head of his cock felt like fire. He needed to cool himself, thrust himself into moistness, feel the smooth walls of her pussy gripping him tightly as he ripped into her with tentacles and his gnarled and thorny cock.
He felt something crack and split apart and terror swept over him for a moment before it was banished by something even stronger. The Hunger. Fuck. Once again he was changing, shifting. Head growing monstrous. Skin rippling over with scales. A huge muscular tail sprouting and beating with rage.
It happened swiftly this time. The Zrakon was not about to be lulled into quiescence again with a lecture on molecular biology.
He was going to go to her. Here, in the keep. But if he did so...if he went to her in such a state...he would surely break her. And if he broke her, he would be alone forever.
The last rational thought he had was the memory of Cam’s warning:
You’d better figure this out fast, bro, or both you and your honey might be screwed.
Chapter Eleven
Kate had been unable to fall asleep, after all. She’d risen to use the bathroom. She was just climbing back into bed when she heard a loud racket in the hallway ou
tside. Her door burst open with the crack and splinter of wood and a huge, unimaginably bizarre creature thundered into her room.
Even though she cried out in surprise, she knew instantly who he was. The Zrakon. He looked exactly like the creature in her dream.
He stepped closer. “You must come,” he said, the words coming out in a strange sibilant tone that sounded anything but human.
He could talk? Somehow she knew that, too. Not only could he talk, but he could also reach her mind. She wasn’t even sure whether his voice was being conveyed through the air or inside her head.
“Come where?” She tried to keep her own voice firm and steady.
“I am the Zrakon. I am your mate.”
He sounded a bit like Ross, who had also declared himself to be her mate. What was going on? Maybe she was still dreaming? “I am human,” she countered. “I can’t be your mate. Aren’t you supposed to be in the water?”
“He is trying to take you from me.”
“Who is? Ross?”
“He made you forget. He doesn’t want you to know that you are already mine.” The creature shimmered the way Ross had done earlier in the night when the aura around him had spread and enveloped him like a flame. “Look at me. Look closely. Look.”
His enormous bulk compressed before her eyes. His long neck shortened and his legs straightened and grew slender. Heat poured off him and he began to glow. Kate shrank back against the headboard of the bed, unsure what she was witnessing. She heard groans and cracking sounds. His long tail shrank away to nothing as he shifted his physical form. His scales became flesh. He turned into a man.
And the man he turned into was Ross.
Kate yelped. What the fuck? And yet, somehow she knew it. Somewhere deep inside the transformation made sense. That must have been what had happened in the maze. That heat, that crackling sound. Ross had started to change. But that meant—God, she couldn’t fathom what it meant.
Staring wildly at him, she sprang from the bed and made a mad dash for the bathroom door. Maybe she could lock herself in there? But the creature—the human creature—gusted like fire across the room and was there before her, his back against the door. He looked like Ross, but he moved like the magical thing he was.
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