by Zoe Chant
“Sorry, by the way,” Alyx said, still smiling at him. “I had a nightmare and woke myself up by screaming. I hope I didn't scare you. Although I have to say, you know how to make me forget my nightmares.”
Braeden released a relieved breath. “I felt a sudden surge of fear, and then your scream—I thought Steele had found us.”
Alyx frowned. “Isn't he dead? There was an entire volcano exploding on top of them.”
“Erupting,” Braeden corrected. “The hot magma just needed a way out. It didn't make the mountain explode—well, I guess it might have taken off the top. But their caves are deep below the earth. And they’re fire dragons. They'll have to work hard to keep the magma from flooding their tunnels, but they’re attuned to fire. It will keep them busy for several days—but they're not dead.”
Alyx shifted, looking towards the window with a new frown on her face.
Braeden sighed internally. He'd done it again. Now he'd made her worry once more.
“You're safe here. I promise.” He hesitated for a moment, but then moved closer, despite his state of undress. “I know you think I'm a fire dragon just like them, but I'd never let them harm you.”
“I changed my mind about you,” she said and patted the bed by her side.
After a moment, Braeden eagerly sat down, his dragon curling around himself in joy at their closeness.
“You got me out of that place. You put yourself into danger for me. You ended up nearly dying. That makes you an okay guy in my opinion, fire dragon or not.”
Braeden found himself laughing. “So what does it take to go from okay to great?”
Alyx grinned at him, her eyes gleaming mischievously. “Oh,” she murmured, “for one thing, that show I just got.”
She rested a hand on his leg, and Braeden saw her eyes widen when, at the touch, heat surged through him. Did she feel the same? She was no shifter—but they were still mates.
As if to test the strange sensation, she ran her hand slowly up his thigh.
Braeden felt desire pound through him, a surge of heat hot enough to melt metal sizzling through his body.
Alyx's eyes were wide and dark, her mouth slightly open as she stared at him.
She licked her lips. “Also, please don't take this the wrong way. But you're... I think...”
She fell silent.
Braeden could barely think, his entire body on fire with need for her. But even so, a part of him couldn't help but feel warm amusement. His mate, this strong, courageous woman who'd survived weeks in a fire dragon lair, who'd made him blush when he'd rushed buck naked into her room, was now speechless.
She was feeling the same thing. There was no doubt about it.
“I think you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen,” he said hoarsely, covering her hand with his own. “The most courageous and resourceful too. And the most eloquent.”
For a moment they grinned at each other, despite the heat that kept rising until Braeden thought he'd die if he didn't get to kiss her.
“I don't know about you,” she then said, with just a hint of breathlessness, “but I thought I was going to die down there, and I'd really, really like—”
He didn't even let her finish the sentence.
He took hold of her face, his hands cupping her cheeks. Then his lips were on hers, and her moan was the sweetest thing he'd ever heard.
He tasted her, hungry and desperate, her mouth opening for him while her arms came up around his shoulders.
Everywhere they touched, his skin felt like it was on fire. He was so hard he heard himself distantly groaning as he tumbled her onto the bed, but she held on to his shoulders, urging him on.
“Yes,” she moaned, arching so that her tempting breasts pressed warm and soft against his chest. “Come on.”
He grabbed hold of her shirt and drew it up. She wore no bra, and he felt his breath get stuck in his throat at the sight of her.
Her breasts were large, her nipples perfectly round circles of dusky skin. He brushed one with the pad of his thumb, and she moaned again.
That was all the encouragement he needed.
The sounds that spilled from her lips drove him into a frenzy of need. He pressed his lips to her skin, kissing his way down from her throat, caressing the soft, generous breasts while she gasped beneath him.
When he drew her nipple into his mouth, the bud was already erect, and he teased it with his tongue while his hands cupped her breasts.
He could feel her fingers clench in his hair.
Every single sound she made drove the need in him higher, his dragon’s instincts roaring for him to finally possess their mate.
“The drawer,” she gasped, then reached out for it herself.
In the dusty drawer of the nightstand, there was an old candy wrapper, a torn business card—and a square little packet of foil. Dusty, too—but at that moment all they needed.
Triumphantly, Alyx grinned up at him as she ripped it open and then carefully smoothed the condom over his rock-hard erection.
Braeden heard himself groan. The touch of her long fingers sliding down his length was almost enough to set him off. Every touch of her burned through him like fire—but it wasn't enough to satisfy the dragon inside him.
He needed to be inside her. He needed to claim her.
Chapter Nine: Alyx
“Come on,” Alyx gasped, wriggling on the bed as she pushed down her panties.
Her heartbeat was as loud as thunder in her ears as he moved over her. She felt so frantic with need that she didn't even take the time to appreciate the powerful body flexing with muscle.
Right now, all she wanted was the sensation of his skin against hers.
For the first time in a long time she felt utterly alive and free. And then he pushed inside her, and she heard herself cry out.
She'd always enjoyed sex—with the right sort of guy. Unfortunately, genuinely good men who were also good at sex were hard to come by.
Now she found himself clutching at Braeden's broad shoulders, struggling to breathe through the thrusts that filled her with heat.
He was good at it. Damn good. Every nerve in her body was on fire.
Perhaps this was what happened if you had sex right after you'd been almost killed. Perhaps it was an adrenaline thing.
But right now she really didn't care, because the touch of his strong hands was all she'd ever wanted.
His hair teased against her cheek as he bent over her, and with a moan, she lifted her face towards his. His hair smelled like the shampoo he'd used—but there was still a faint scent of fire, of burning wood and smoke.
After what she'd been through, it should have been the last thing she liked—but she did.
She breathed in deep, thinking of the fire that had crackled along his fingers a few minutes ago. He'd rushed into the room completely naked and unarmed, all because he'd thought that she was in danger. No man she'd ever dated would have done that.
Not even the martial arts guy who'd dumped her after a week.
She drew her hands down his back, feeling the straining muscles as he drove himself into her. Her hips came up to meet him.
She was filled with heat to the core of her being, desperately digging her nails into his hard muscle as she arched beneath him, his lips hot against her own. Again and again he filled her, her inner walls tightening around him.
There was a strange, golden light she could see now. It grew brighter and brighter as the pleasure inside her rose.
And then, at last, her climax washed over her. Dimly, she heard herself moan as she trembled beneath him, her body pulsing around him.
He gasped her name, driving himself into her one last time as his powerful body tensed. She held onto his shoulders, and even through the long pulses of her own orgasm, she kept herself pressed against him, every single gasp he made keeping the pleasure alive, flowing through her like molten gold.
***
Half an hour later, she had showered again. She'd been forced
to dress in her dirty clothes that were gray with ash—but at least her hair no longer looked as if she'd been hiking for a month in the wilderness without a brush.
She’d need to visit her hairdresser as soon as possible, of course, because her formerly turquoise strand was now a very sad shade of dull blue. But for now, it was clean, and that was already a vast improvement.
Braeden was busy wolfing down cold pizza with a look of pure delight on his face.
It made Alyx grin.
“What would your MasterChef say to that, huh?” she teased gently as she came to sit down by his side.
“There are situations where there is no greater culinary delight than a slice of cold pizza,” he said, taking another shameless bite of cold cheese. “How are you feeling?”
“How are you feeling?” she asked. “I mean, I assume you're feeling pretty good. At least those were no moans of pain...”
Surprised, Braeden threw back his head and laughed.
It made her grin again; the view of his tousled, black hair curling against his nape made her want to reach out and comb her fingers through it.
She loved that she could surprise him. In the fire dragon lair, she'd been utterly out of her depth. But she'd hate for him to think of her as a damsel in distress. She'd fended for herself her entire life. She didn't need a protector.
Or at least, she hadn't needed one until she'd encountered actual, real-life fire dragons...
Still. If he'd thought of her as a meek, traumatized victim, he had a lot to learn about her. She hadn't gotten her gig as the city’s top lifestyle and fashion columnist by sitting all humble and quiet at her computer.
“I'm fine,” he said, then stretched out his leg to show her. “Look. It'll need another day to heal completely, but it's stopped hurting. I can walk—and fly.”
Impressed, she reached out to trail her finger very carefully along the healed skin. It was still red, but last night's wound was completely gone.
“Wow,” she finally said, her fingers lingering on his warm skin.
Even now, she could feel a strange, prickling feeling against her fingertips. It wasn't just the warmth of his skin. It was an entirely different heat—a heat that made her long to be reckless and pull him down onto the bed again, to see how inventive he could get with her.
When she looked up, she saw that his eyes were dark with arousal as well. She could see flames dancing in them.
It should have been scary, but right now, all she felt was an overwhelming, wild desire.
She wanted him to press her down onto the bed again. She wanted...
She pulled her fingers back as if she'd been scalded. She was breathing heavily—and so was he.
“Yes. Those were no moans of pain,” he said softly, watching her with his flame-filled eyes.
She swallowed, struggling against the way her sated body began to throb with desire once more. She didn't resist when he pulled her down to sit on the bed next to him.
“How much do you know about shifters? I assume they didn't tell you much?”
Silently, Alyx shook her head. She'd figured out some things from observing the dragon shifters who'd held her captive. She'd had to. If she wanted to escape, she had to know their weaknesses.
“Did they tell you about mates?” Braeden was still looking at her with eyes that shone with power.
She swallowed, trying to remember what she'd learned.
“Zena told me stories sometimes. I know a mate is a shifter's spouse.”
“More than that,” he said softly.
And then he reached out again, resting his hand against her cheek. Very gently, his thumb followed the line of her cheekbone.
She heard herself gasping. Heat sprang up where he touched her. His eyes were filled with the same heat, and she found she couldn't look away.
He was powerful, she knew that. He'd forced an ancient volcano to erupt.
But right now, all she could see was the way he'd touched her earlier. He’d overwhelmed her with a passion that had burned brighter than lava, touching her as reverently as if she were a goddess.
“You're my mate, Alyx. I knew it as soon as I saw you. I know you can feel it, too. There's a connection between us.”
“I could feel you,” she said softly, feeling herself shivering as more heat seemed to flow into her. “When we were trying to escape, when you were wounded... It was as if I could feel your pain.”
Braeden nodded. “It's a connection that will deepen—if we want it to.”
His eyes were very wide, his voice awed—even though he was a powerful dragon, and she was just a human.
His hand was still cupping her cheek, and instinctively, she leaned into the touch.
His thumb trailed over her bottom lip. She reached up to catch hold of his hand with her own, holding it in place so that she could press a kiss to it.
She could almost see it again—that weird golden light that she'd thought she'd seen earlier.
At her touch, he groaned.
A moment later, she found herself pulled against his chest again as he kissed her hungrily. In encouragement, she grabbed hold of his shoulders, her nails digging into his muscles as she surrendered herself to the kiss until she felt dizzy and breathless.
From behind her closed eyes, she could see that golden light again. It wound all around them, like ribbons of silk.
“Are you doing that?” she gasped when they finally pulled apart. “Is that your fire dragon magic? That golden light?”
“It's the mate bond.” He sounded just as breathless as she did, his voice deliciously rough. “It's fragile—but it's there. If we're to mate, it'll become so strong that nothing in the world can ever destroy it. It'll be stronger than diamond. Stronger than the fire of the sun itself.”
“Wow,” she said again, dizzily shaking her head. “That's... a lot to take in. I still don't know anything about shifters, not really... I thought you were all evil, until you rescued me!”
“I know it's a lot. And I know this is not the right time.”
Despite his words, he seemed unable to let go of her, and that sent a wave of pleasure through her as well. It was good to be desired.
And it was absolutely, unbelievably great to have this guy especially want her.
“It's not something that's going to happen unless we both want it. So you don't have to worry about it now.” He hesitated a moment, then said, “Do you want to know more about shifters? I mean—the shifters who aren't out to kill you, or anyone else?”
She raised a brow, still feeling strangely giddy at the heat thrumming between them. “Oh? Those exist?”
“There are a lot of them. And they've lived among you humans for a long time, secretly and peacefully.”
The part of Alyx that was all journalist in constant search of headlines immediately perked up.
“Really? There are dragons living among us?” She shook her head, trying to imagine Josh from the IT department shifting into a dragon. “That's hard to believe. How'd you keep that a secret?”
“Humans can't see mythological shifters,” he explained. “And if there are reports of a bear or a wolf at large, you humans always find good explanations for that.”
“Tiger Escaped from Zoo,” she said promptly. That had been February’s top story. It had been a slow month.
But what if it was a tiger shifter...?
“Wait a minute,” she then said, straightening. “I've seen those fire dragons. They weren't invisible.”
“You're my mate,” he said, giving her another of those smiles that made her heart race. “You can see us.”
“Just my luck,” she said, grimacing. “Is that why they picked me?”
“I don't know.”
Braeden straightened, the heat gone from his gaze. All she could see was worry as his eyes went to the window again.
“It's a good point, actually. And a worrying one. We should leave. There's a place I know. A shifter town. You'll be safe.”
“A shifte
r town,” she echoed, trying to imagine it.
She didn't like the thought of being surrounded by yet more strangers. Yet more shifters.
She was longing for her small apartment, for the familiarity of her own bed and her own couch and the view of the street outside her kitchen window.
She tried to imagine being back home, then shuddered. No, she wouldn't feel safe there right now. Not after what she'd learned.
Steele and his friends wouldn't be stopped by the lock on her door.
“Friends of mine live there,” Braeden continued. “In fact, there's someone you might like. The ocean dragon has a human mate as well.”
She frowned, trying to imagine it. All she could see was the gloom of the dark, dreary caves and the terrible, flame-filled eyes of the shifters who'd imprisoned her.
“It's an ocean town,” he said softly, as if he could sense the terrible memories she was trying to suppress. “A private peninsula surrounded by the sea. Only one dragon—the ocean dragon and his mate. There are lots of weregulls living there, and a cat shifter who makes the most delicious ice cream. There's a little coffee shop that's run by chameleon shifters. A pair of werewolves, too, but they're retired and spend their days fishing. It’s peaceful. And you'll be safe, I swear. I won't let them hurt you again.”
She smiled at him, a little reluctantly. It sounded lovely, like something right out of a tourism brochure.
One meant for shifters, of course—but still. Now that she'd fought back the memories of dark caves, she could feel the real her resurface.
And Alyx had never before allowed a good story to escape her grasp.
Werewolves Devouring Our Fish at Night!
Now that would make a good headline. Pity that no one would believe a word of it.
“All right,” she said with sudden determination. “I want to know more. I can't go home anyway—they might search for me there. So let's see this peaceful shifter world of yours. That coffee shop better be good. I'm quite particular about my espresso.”
Chapter Ten: Braeden
They were in the air for several hours until Braeden could smell the first telltale hint of saltwater in the air.