by Ophelia Bell
He stopped short, closed his eyes, and prayed to the North Wind. Please let me pass by her without compromising my honor.
“I need my sax,” he said.
She didn’t move. She just stood there looking so fucking perfect he wanted to gouge his eyes out.
He closed them instead and took a deep breath. “Listen, honey, you want my brother, I know this. Let me get my instrument and I will unleash you on him and rejoice. Would that make you happy?”
“Not exactly,” she said.
He opened his eyes, regarding her. She only moved aside and gestured to the door to the stage. He hustled back in, grabbed his case and came back out, hoping she might be gone. His heart leapt when she was still there, and he cursed the reaction to seeing her leaning against the painted block wall, looking for all the world like she had something important to tell him.
She hadn’t heard him come back—her head was turned looking out the open door to the alley at his bike, an odd expression on her face. The white column of her neck glistened still from the sweat of her dancing, dark tendrils of her hair clinging to it.
A rough sound escaped his throat at the thought of tasting that exquisite patch of skin. God, he was done in just looking at her.
The sound made her turn her head. “I need to tell you something,” she said, gazing up at him.
“Now? I can give you a ride to my place and we can talk there.” Pawning her off on Lukas was his plan, in spite of the ache the idea gave him. He couldn’t want her. Yet he did.
“Now is better,” she said. “Lukas rejected me. You know as well as I do throwing me back in his face won’t work. That’s why I need you, Iszak.”
“The fuck you need me. You came back to torture the both of us didn’t you? Some demented game of yours? Bloody dragon whore …” He trailed off at the stricken look on her face, ashamed of himself. She reminded him suddenly of Evie. Idealistic to a fault and willing to sacrifice her own happiness to make sure those she loved could find their own.
With a choked voice, she said, “I am everything you say. A whore. A dragon. I was bled dry by that bastard who betrayed me. I wish I could have died then, but Death is not my friend. Instead I’m a slave to his vengeful sister, Fate. She wants something different for me, and I have no choice because my mistress is Fate’s lover. We are their children.”
His eyes widened for a second at the confession. So much information that resonated so deeply he couldn’t help but believe her. His shoulders sagged and he leaned back against the cold wall across from her. His booted feet shifted on the floor. “So tell me. What is it you think I can do for you, oh daughter of Fate?”
“Not just me. For all of us. The Ultiori leader—Nik—took my blood without my consent. They’re too strong now, after so long, but we finally have a chance to beat them if we combine our power. I need you, Iszak.”
“Not Lukas?”
She closed her eyes and shook her head. In a very small voice she said, “He doesn’t want me. You know this.”
“Bullshit. Lukas wants you as much as I do.”
Her head shot up and she stared at him. “What?”
Fuck. Why had he said that out loud? Because it’s fucking true, you dipshit. He sighed, resigned to his confession. “Why do you need us?”
“I’m an Immortal. The first of our kind after our Mother. We haven’t bred since the beginning of the race. The prophecy my brothers and sisters dreamed says that if we breed with the higherraces for the first time, we can vanquish our enemy.”
Iszak’s cock grew hard at the suggestion of actually breeding with her. Continuing their bloodlines was one of the tenets of their race’s laws. The idea of breeding with a dragon made him hot. But it wasn’t him she wanted, really. It was his brother.
“I want you to help me, Iszak. Your brother won’t have me, but maybe you can get past the wrongs I’ve done? We all need this child.”
He raked his fingers through his hair. “Why the fuck should I trust you?”
“You already do,” she said, pushing herself off the wall and closing the distance between them. He tensed, but didn’t move, simply watching her while she moved, his heart beating harder with each increment of her approach. She was right, and he cursed himself for it. Yet he understood her desperation, could feel it in his bones. He’d needed a reason to attack the enemy for so long, and here it was, right in front of him.
He didn’t resist when she settled her lithe body against his, pelvis pressed solidly against his erection. He let his hands rest on her hips.
“Yeah, okay, say I trust you. What next?”
She raised her face up and brushed soft lips against his. “Next, you give me your seed, and when the child is of age, she destroys our enemy.”
“That’s a long time to wait. What’s keeping them from attacking now?” He clutched harder at her hips, restraining himself from devouring her right here and now and simply wishing she’d kiss him again.
“They don’t know I’m here. Dragons breed every Ascension cycle. This is nothing new. They look for low hanging fruit, but they won’t find any this time.”
Heart pounding, he forced out a gruff response. “I want a guarantee that none of our race gets targeted because you guys are too hard to find.”
“If you help me, we can work together to ensure that,” she said, slipping a hand down his bare torso. “In the meantime, we’ll send Shadows and Guardians to work with your leaders. To protect everyone.”
Her fingertips felt like trails of fire over his cold skin and he shuddered, wishing she’d touch him more. Then he cursed himself and grabbed her wrists
“No.”
“Why?” She staggered back, hands still gripped in his. Fuck he still wanted her like nothing else, but he couldn’t have her this way.
“Listen, I’ll do this for you, but only if Lukas knows. I won’t betray my brother.”
“I told you, he doesn’t want me.”
“Bullshit. He does. He’s just too pissed to get past it. I have an idea to turn him around. If it works, then we’ll both have you.”
She pulled back and he released her. She rested her palms on his chest, and looked up at him. The blue of her eyes made his heart race. She held the sky in those depths, in a way he’d searched for his entire life. The mere contact with her made him feel like he was flying. And he didn’t want to let her go. He almost didn’t answer her question when she finally asked for clarification on his plan.
Clearing his throat, he said. “You’re in for a hell of an apology, but it’ll work, trust me.” He grabbed her hand in his, and with his other hand snagged his sax and headed toward his bike with her in tow.
Chapter Twelve
The sense of anticipation was very different being on the back of Iszak’s bike than it had been on Lukas’s. Iszak rode with abandon, like he couldn’t get home fast enough. His emotional state was so different from Lukas’s they might as well have been night and day. Lukas had fallen for her before they’d met, had easily accepted her before he knew who she was. Iszak already knew, and his desire for her was what tortured him now. He rode like he hoped she’d fly away in the middle of the trip, but he kept slipping his fingers into hers in between gripping his handlebar. He’d toy with her hand for a second, and then leave it, as though he couldn’t help but touch her every few moments.
The ache of his despair infected her to the point of tears. He wanted her as much as he wanted his sister back. Yet he seemed intent on a plan to convince his brother to recant his rejection. She had no idea how he could manage it.
At least not until he had her back in their apartment, in the middle of the vast space, lit only by the city across the water. He moved around in the darkness, setting up the scene for her apology, she guessed. She was ready to give him whatever he asked for, at any rate. As he moved, she watched him, absorbing his agitated need. He wanted her, but feared his own desires—that much she could tell. He was very different from Lukas in that way, and it endeared him t
o her.
He lit candles as he went, and when he was illuminated she saw the coils of thin rope draped over his shoulder. The sight made her skin prickle in anticipation of what he had planned.
“Take off your clothes,” he said, abruptly moving to stand in front of her.
“I’d like to be prepared,” she said.
“Think of yourself as a gift, honey. This is your wrapper.” He held up a bundle of red rope, then took one end of it and tossed it high over one of the bare steel beams that hung below the ceiling.
“What if he doesn’t like his gift?”
“Oh, he will. Because you’re going to let us punish you tonight. To atone, of course. If he doesn’t accept you at the end, then I’ll do the honors. That’s my promise to you.”
The idea thrilled her enough to strip, but she still felt a little apprehensive about what he might mean by it.
“You mustn’t draw blood. That’s all I ask,” she said.
“No need for what I have planned, honey.”
Standing naked in the center of their large, open living space, her skin prickled with excitement, yet her gut filled with dread. Another rejection from Lukas would destroy her, and while Iszak would be more than adequate consolation, she wasn’t sure if she could exist anymore without the both of them together.
She amended her thought when he beckoned for her to join him beneath the ropes. Walking toward him, her heart pounded. When she reached him, he bound her wrists with the ropes and tugged her arms up above her head. His touch was gentle and thorough. All he did was bind her hands up high, but he stayed behind her for a moment, seemingly unable to leave. His hands brushed down her sides, leaving her entire body alight with desire for more.
“Fuck, what I wouldn’t give to hate my brother right now. You are perfect.”
His need was so strong she whimpered. “Perfect for you, or for him?” she managed to gasp out.
“Yes,” he said, sounding distracted by his exploration of her body. His hands slid around and up her stomach, cupped her breasts and toyed with her nipples until they ached. “Fuck, Belah. How the hell could he give you up? I need to talk sense into him.”
He came around in front of her and tugged her to him. His mouth came down on hers with deliberate care, slowly savoring her lips as though she were a long awaited treat. Her entire body thrummed with energy needing release, drawn through the ether to her by her desire. Lukas had incited the exact same response in her—a response only one other man in her life had ever caused. When Iszak released her lips, the look in his eyes was so heated her skin felt aflame. In that second he reminded her so much of Nik at his very best, before he’d turned on her so long ago, and she knew without a doubt that she would give this man her soul if he asked for it.
Suddenly he yanked the ropes taut, drawing her higher so that she hung in air with her toes trailing on he ground. Then he disappeared.
A pair of voices drifted down the darkened hallway from the entry. She didn’t deserve their secrets, but couldn’t avoid hearing them.
“Before you go in, there’s something you need to know,” Iszak was saying. Lukas must have come home.
“She’s here, isn’t she? Her scent is all over you. What the fuck were you thinking? Did she seduce you the way she did me? You can’t fucking trust dragons.”
“She’s not a Red. You know as well as I do how a Blue works.” Iszak’s deep voice sounded defensive in response to his brother’s questions. “She isn’t our enemy, brother. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you’ll find happiness.”
Belah clearly picked up the details Iszak left unsaid. The sooner we’ll both find happiness, had been the thought in his head. The loyalty driving the man made her heart ache for him.
“Evie is dead. I gave up believing in true happiness the day we found out. And you expect me to forgive her for the part she played in it. In all of it? You’re fucking crazy.”
There was a short pause and then Lukas started laughing. “Holy shit, she did get to you, too, didn’t she? I can see it in your eyes. You weren’t so quick to defend her last week. What happened tonight?”
“Nothing,” Iszak muttered.
“Bullshit,” Lukas said. “You know what? I bet she’d be happy to tell me exactly what you’re feeling.”
“This isn’t about me. You know damn well you won’t get another chance at this. It’s time to let Evie go. She’d want you to quit hanging onto this hatred.”
When Lukas rounded the corner, she realized she didn’t need to read his thoughts to know exactly what was going through his mind. His aura was its familiar cloud, but threaded through like lightning were remnants of her energy, clinging to him in a way a dragon’s energy wouldn’t have with a human unless they were marked. The beginnings of a truer bond she’d never seen before. Even more shocking was when she took in Iszak’s aura a moment later and saw the same phenomenon. But he’d only kissed her.
“Belah,” Lukas said when he saw her hanging there. “Fuck, let her down you bastard.”
Iszak moved to lower her to the floor, but when she rested on her knees and he went to untie her wrists, Lukas stopped him.
“No, this is perfect. On her knees is where she needs to be.” He sank down into a crouch before her. “So tell me, baby. Is my brother in love with you?”
She glanced at Iszak where he stood just behind his brother. His fists were clenched at his sides, his face a bland mask, but he couldn’t conceal his feelings from her.
“He doesn’t want you to know—he feels like it’d be a betrayal of your trust. But you both are fools if you think the feeling will ever give you any peace. Your grief over your sister’s death will pass, but this won’t. Not for either of you. And not for me, either.” Her voice caught on the last few words, tense with the certainty that her confession was the truth. Their feelings were as clear as day to her, but her own were often more elusive. Tonight it was all so apparent, though. She needed them both for more than her goal of conceiving a child.
Lukas looked over his shoulder at his brother, his expression smug. Iszak scowled back at him, but relaxed now that the truth was out in the open.
“Why the fuck should we trust you?” Lukas said, turning back to her.
“You shouldn’t,” she said. “I don’t deserve your trust, but if we’re going to beat the Hunters, we need your help. You can keep hating me if you want, but at least let go of it long enough for us to breed.”
Lukas’s gaze darkened, a wave of desire causing his aura to pulse, tickling her skin with its proximity. He may consciously reject her, but there was no mistaking what he truly wanted.
“And you thought if I weren’t willing, you’d talk my brother into it, is that right? Well he’s convinced, but I’m not.”
“We’re desperate. I’ll do anything you ask.”
Her words seemed to take some of the hard edge out of his mood. His expression softened and the shift let the lust he’d been working to conceal come through even stronger.
“You know what would make me happy?” he asked, standing and stripping off his shirt. “To have you submit the way a dragon would to her superior. If we do this, that’s the only way I can trust that you are truly mine. Because, fuck, Belah. I want you so goddamn much it nearly killed me to know who you really were.”
“What about Iszak?” she asked.
Lukas shrugged. “Submit to both of us. We’ve gotten good at sharing over the years. This’ll be a first, but if he wants you as badly as I do, I’m the last person who would keep him from you.” He stood back and glanced at his brother, making a gesture toward her with one hand. “In fact, I’ll let you go first, brother. This was your idea to begin with, and you should get a crack at making her prove she’s willing to submit.”
Iszak’s eyebrows shot up and his lips curled into a wicked smile. He tilted his head and regarded her as though trying to decide how to begin. While he considered the possibilities, Lukas moved around behind her and tugged the binding from her
hair, letting the heavy, dark strands fall over her shoulders. He bent down and reached in front of her, untying her wrists, but didn’t release them. Instead, he tugged them behind her and tied them again at her back. His touch was gentle and warm, and he slid his fingertips up her arms to rest on her shoulders.
“Say it,” Lukas said, his voice low and rough, breath hot against her ear. “Say you submit.”
She tried to get the words out, but couldn’t find breath to speak as Iszak began moving toward her, hands at the button of his jeans. He was already hard—had been since finding her in the hallway of the club—and his aura crackled brighter with his arousal.
He paused right in front of her, jeans unzipped but his thick cock only partially visible, inches from her face. Sweet Mother, she wanted whatever these two were preparing to give her. His musky, rain-like scent permeated her senses, making her mouth water. But he didn’t present himself to her. Instead, he reached a hand down and placed a finger gently under her chin, tilting her head back.
“Do you submit, honey?” He said in a low voice, warm and rich with promise.
It would be an unprecedented choice, as taboo in her world as letting her old lover taste her blood. It was one thing to simply allow a lover to tie her up, but to speak the words of submission was unthinkable. The members of the Council would never have submitted to another, not even of their own race. And there were only a handful of members of the other higher races who could claim to hold a rank as high as them. Iszak and Lukas may be considered Princes of the North Wind, but they didn’t outrank her. Submitting to Iszak would signify a more profound shift in her world than she believed she could withstand, yet she desperately needed this to happen. They would essentially own her, but she had to trust that they would let her do her job in spite of that great a shift in power.
“If I do this,” she whispered, “You must still let me mark you both—to ensure the breeding takes.”
“Once your tongue is finished with this, you can do whatever you need to do,” Iszak said, and reached into his jeans to free his thick erection. “Now say it before your mouth is too busy.”