by Rinelle Grey
They sounded like a promise.
One that caused Rita’s heart to do flip flops, even as her logical mind rejected the idea. “So, you mean, they can never be with anyone else ever again? What do you mean, can’t be broken by death? What happens if one of them dies?”
She’d asked the question flippantly, trying to distract herself from the idea of being with Warrian forever, but his solemn reply startled her. “They both die.”
Rita’s eyes widened. “I guess that puts a new meaning on, ‘till death do us part’.”
“Your human promises are meaningless words compared to the depth of the dragon mating bond.” His voice was low and gravelly, and the way he stared at her as he spoke, his expression so intense and hungry, took her breath away.
It was hard to argue with that. “Is it sort of like the Mesmer bond?” Rita asked, her curiosity not entirely professional. “I mean, do you want to… uh… mate…” handy word that, so much less in your face than sex… “all the time? That might be nice for a while, but it would get kind of exhausting, wouldn’t it?”
“Not at all,” Warrian replied promptly. “Dragons have plenty of stamina.”
Oh my. Rita glanced up at the sun, sure it must have entered the atmosphere. That was the only thing that could explain the heat flooding through her body. She was going to melt into a little eager puddle at Warrian’s feet any minute.
But the sun hadn’t moved, leaving Rita only one explanation for the rise in temperature. “I… I’m sure you do.” Her voice wobbled. She swallowed, and took some deep breaths, trying to calm herself.
Warrian’s sexy smile didn’t help at all. “It does settle after a while,” he allowed. “A few weeks of intense mating fever seems to be the norm. Then the urge reduces slightly. Dragons usually have a long, how do you say it, honeymoon?”
Rita could imagine. A honeymoon with Warrian would be intense enough without this dragon mating bond. That would simply be the icing on the cake.
But Rita wasn’t a dragon. Could a human possibly survive this mating fever? It was on the tip of her tongue to ask. That could count as research, right? For her story.
Rita was tempted. But would Warrian take it the wrong way?
Did she want him to?
His eyes were on her, burning into her, and Rita knew he was waiting for her to ask. Tempting her to, surely? She licked her lips, and his eyes followed her tongue as she wetted her lips. “So… uh… could a human survive this mating bond?”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wanted to take them back. Her whole body was tingling, and she stared at Warrian, half afraid to hear his answer, half longing for it.
“A dragon knows when and how to control himself.” Warrian’s voice was low, and Rita had no trouble believing him. He’d already demonstrated his control.
And for some reason, the thought of him holding his overwhelming desire for her in check while they mated over and over again was driving her wild.
Woah.
She had not expected any of this. Ultrima’s deal seemed a far distant memory. Even her newfound desire to help the dragons out by making sure humans had reliable information seemed trivial. Unimportant compared to the craving flooding through her. She could barely even hang onto it.
And she certainly didn’t want to.
Chapter 6
The scent of Rita’s desire filled Warrian’s nose, shoving all other thoughts out of his head. She wanted this as much as he did. She’d even asked him about mating, as if she’d known exactly what he was thinking. That had to mean this was meant to be. Didn’t it?
His eagerness surprised him enough to pull him out of his obsessive focus over her.
Was he really thinking of doing this? Mating, permanent mating, with a human, was unheard of. Oh, he knew it had happened back in England, before the dragons had fled. But that was so long ago it was practically a legend.
And yet, he suspected if he lay with her once, he’d be driven to form the mating bond.
He’d never experienced an urge like this before. This went well beyond the Mesmer bond. Far beyond the casual attraction he’d felt to any dragon female. This was something new.
And right now, new was dangerous.
Everything around him was new. This whole world, the humans’ rise to power, whatever had happened to his clan, everything had changed.
Now was not the time to be taking risks, no matter how gorgeous and tempting they were.
It took all his strength, but Warrian reigned in his passion. He took a deep breath, and said calmly, “Do you have any other questions?”
The betrayal in Rita’s eyes hurt. That clearly wasn’t the response she was expecting, nor the one she was hoping for. Just as he was wavering though, she visibly straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath that echoed his.
“Yes. I have lots of questions. How long do dragons live? Is your lifespan close to a human lifespan, or longer? Because, I mean, elephants are bigger than us, and they live longer. So it makes sense that dragons would, right? Because they’re bigger than us too…” Rita snapped her mouth shut and stared at him.
Despite her adorable attempt to focus on something other than mating, her question helped ground him. It helped pull him away from the craving that never seemed far away. “A dragon’s lifespan varies. It is, funnily enough, dependent on how much time they spend in human form versus dragon form. A dragon who spends most of his life in human form, will have a lifespan only a little longer than a human’s. But when dragons spend most of their life in dragon form, they can live for two to three hundred years.”
Rita’s eyes went round as he spoke, and she pressed a few things on her device. Then she looked back at him. “So, uh, I guess you normally spend most of your time in dragon form then? Is that your more natural form?”
Her words stirred up uncertainty in his mind. There was no easy answer to that question. At least, not one that didn’t make him uncomfortable.
“Both forms are natural to dragons, and each has its advantages. We need to eat less in human form, for example. But yes, we do normally spend more than half of our time in dragon form, unless there is some reason not to—like hiding from humans.”
He smiled as he spoke, to take the sting out of his words, but they just reminded him of reality. If a dragon mated a human, they had one more reason to spend more time in human form, to be closer to their mate. Mating a human was frowned upon by his clan for more reason than one. The fact that it shortened a dragon’s lifespan only added to its complications.
Rita though, was oblivious to that fact. She was too busy taking notes on her device, writing down all he had told her. Warrian pushed his discomfort aside, pushed the risks of mating with a human aside, and waited patiently. He was pretty sure she had more questions. Which she did. Lots of them.
Rita fired question after question at him, asking everything from what dragons ate to what games they played. Warrian was beginning to suspect she wanted to write a book on dragons.
That would be an interesting read.
He answered them readily, not feeling threatened by any of them. Possibly because she carefully stayed away from asking about mating rituals. Neither of them was ready to talk about that again.
“So, can dragons be injured by guns?” Rita’s voice was casual, as though she was just asking another in a long line of questions, but the underlying tone to her voice made him stop and scrutinise her. Her expression displayed curiosity and interest, but he could detect no malice.
Even so, he didn’t rush to answer.
This was the third time she had mentioned guns.
Was there an ulterior purpose to her question? “What exactly is a gun?” he asked, partly stalling for time, partly needing to know.
Rita scrunched up her nose, the action somehow endearing, even as he wondered if she was a threat to his people. How could he feel such strong emotions for her while suspecting she might not be on his side? It made no sense. One should cancel out
the other, leaving him able to assess the risk dispassionately.
“A gun is a weapon. It fires a bullet, a little bit of metal, very fast. I would show you a video, but no reception.” Rita waved at her phone.
Warrian didn’t need a video to understand what she was talking about. The weapon she spoke of sounded like a big step up from human bows and arrows, and those had been devastating enough. He suspected these guns could do great damage, even to his strengthened hide.
The question was, should he admit that to her?
If he did, would he find himself surrounded by humans all pointing guns at him?
He didn’t believe Rita would be capable of that. She’d shown nothing but curiosity about him and his kind. And nothing in her demeanour made him believe she would even consider harming him. Or anyone, for that matter.
But he couldn’t rule out the fact that he was blinded by his feelings for her. Was it possible he was overlooking the danger because he didn’t want to believe it?
Would answering her question make any difference anyway? If she, or her people, were planning something, then guns would already be part of their plan. Knowing they would be effective rather than suspecting it would make little difference.
If she weren’t planning something, then the answer hardly mattered.
But Warrian couldn’t bring himself to expose a vulnerability, no matter how he felt about Rita.
Apparently he hadn’t lost his mind completely.
That thought bought him some measure of comfort, even if it didn’t help him figure out how to answer her.
Rita saved him from his deliberation. “Sorry, that probably wasn’t a good question to ask,” she apologised. “And don’t worry, I don’t have a gun. Not that I feel I need one. Not many people do here in Australia. There was a big shooting when I was just a kid, and the government decided to regulate them. So you don’t really have to be afraid of them here.”
Warrian stared at her, trying to take it in. Humans had regulated guns because they were dangerous? He could hardly argue with that assumption, he was just a little surprised humans had made that decision. Everything he’d heard about humans said they had no scruples about violence, especially against dragons.
Had humans changed? Or had the stories never really been true in the first place?
And if the stories weren’t true, how many of the other stories weren’t true either?
That thought was too hard to think about. Too confronting. Instead, Warrian turned his focus back to Rita. No matter what he thought about other humans, she seemed to be all right. Maybe even better than all right.
His heart warmed a little.
Maybe spending a little more time waiting for the Mesmer ritual to be complete wasn’t a bad thing.
Chapter 7
Rita slouched against the trunk of the gum tree, trying to keep her arms and legs completely within its shade. With the sun high in the sky, there wasn’t much of that at all, and what little shade she could find was barely any cooler, but at least it would stop her getting burnt.
They’d been here two days, and both of them had been scorchers. Coming out to the middle of nowhere in the middle of summer had been a crazy idea. Surely there was somewhere better she could have taken Warrian? But every time she reviewed her options, she came up blank.
She heaved a sigh.
Without leaving the shade, she swivelled her head around, looking for Warrian. He seemed unaffected by the heat and was doing what looked like some sort of martial arts practice right out in the middle of the sun.
Sweat glistened on his body, and Rita let herself enjoy the sight. He was so focused on whatever he was doing he was paying no attention to her. His movements were strong and sure and had an almost rhythmic quality to them. It was a pleasure to watch.
Would he have that same grace and rhythm in other aspects of his life? The warmth suffusing Rita’s body took on a far more enjoyable quality. She might not even mind the heat that much if Warrian was moving like that up against her.
Rita couldn’t help giving a laugh at her own craziness. Any kind of exertion in this heat was crazy, and her logical mind told her that sex right now would just be hot and sweaty and sticky.
But her body refused to think of any kind of logic when it came to Warrian.
At least she could blame it on the Mesmer bond. One could hardly condemn her for the crazy ideas her brain was coming up with when it was under the thrall of dragon magic.
What she needed was something else to think about. A distraction from both the heat and her body’s obsession with Warrian. But what could she possibly find to do out here? The lack of reception made watching a movie impossible, and she somehow didn’t think reading a book could compete.
His practice finished, Warrian came over and slid down onto the ground in front of her. He was breathing a little more heavily than normal, and Rita couldn’t help feeling relieved his effort had affected him in some way.
He opened a bottle of water, handing one to Rita as well, and downed his own quickly. Rita glanced over at their stash and knew it wouldn’t last long at this rate. A few more days, four at most. Then they’d need to venture into town to find more.
The Mesmer ritual would be almost done by then, and Todd would have probably given up and found something else to occupy himself. It would be safe to return home soon. Maybe even in another few days.
That thought buoyed her enough that she sat up with a little more energy. “Why don’t we play a game?”
Warrian raised an eyebrow. “A game?”
“Yes, a game.” Rita eyed the car, and the big expanse of sun between her and the box she had packed in the boot. “Do dragons play cards?”
“Cards?” Warrian wrinkled his nose.
His response inspired her enough that she pushed herself up and braved the sun. “Wait here, I’ll show you.”
By the time she’d retrieved a deck of cards and returned to the shade, Rita was nearly as bathed in sweat as Warrian had been. She tried to ignore the stickiness, not to mention the way Warrian was staring at her, his eyes almost as hot as the sun, and sat down opposite him.
She opened the deck of cards and began shuffling, wondering what they should play. Probably something simple. “This game is called Snap,” she explained, as she shared out the cards. “We each get half the deck, and we put down cards one at a time, until we get a pair. Then you have to be the first to put your hand on them and shout out ‘snap’.”
Warrian raised an eyebrow. “That sounds like a very strange kind of game.”
Well, when you put it that way… “Yeah, it is,” Rita agreed. “But it will pass the time. And once you get this one, we can try another game.”
Warrian sat up and crossed his legs opposite her. He nodded agreeably. “Why not? Let’s play Snap.”
Despite his initial doubt, Warrian watched the pile grow intently, and he picked up the idea quickly, with only a few hiccups. In fact, he caught the first snap before she did, snatching up a pair of nines.
Rita watched more carefully, determined not to let a complete beginner beat her. When two kings came up, she stuck out her hand. “Snap.”
“Snap,” Warrian said, a heartbeat behind her. And his hand covered hers.
The contact was like a zap of electricity, tempting waves of pleasure sliding up her arm right to her core. Warrian’s eyes flicked up and met hers, darkening and narrowing into their dragon form. “I think you got that one,” he said.
But his hand didn’t move from on top of hers.
Rita swallowed. “Yep, this stack is mine.” She tugged slightly on the cards, and Warrian released her hand, returning his attention to his own deck.
Rita tried to ignore her disappointment at him giving up so easily. There would be plenty more opportunities for them to touch during the game.
As if he was reading her mind, Warrian spoke up. “This game is more enjoyable than I would have expected.” When Rita met his eyes, they were intent.
&nbs
p; “It is,” she agreed, her voice slipping lower and sounding sultry. “It is,” she repeated, forcing her voice to be cheery and normal. But it just came out falsely high. And Warrian’s smile showed he knew it.
But all he said was, “Your turn.”
They played on for a while, both of them taking advantage of the contact every time a pair came up. Rita knew she was deliberately looking for chances to touch him, to enjoy the spark of desire she felt every time their hands met, but she excused herself with the fact that he was doing the same.
It was harmless fun. It wasn’t like there was anything else to entertain them out here in the middle of nowhere in sweltering heat. Might as well take what pleasure they could find.
So long as both of them knew when to stop.
Of course, that was always a risk. Rita had plenty of reasons to know she should stop, but as she shouted, ‘Snap’, and cupped her hand over Warrian’s, despite the fact that she knew he’d well and truly beaten her to the pair, she couldn’t help thinking it would be far too easy to be tempted to forget all that.
Being close to him was warm and easy. It was thrilling and exciting. And she was pretty sure it would be amazing. All the things her body was promising her were more than tempting. And all it would take would be a moment, one touch that went a little too far, and she’d throw caution to the wind. She could feel it.
Every moment with him she was teetering on the edge.
She could see it in the way she left her hand over his just a second too long. Long enough for his eyes to make contact with hers and that tempting spark to pass between them.
Rita could lose herself in his eyes. Their grey depths were surprisingly warm and meltingly gorgeous.
A loud squawking pulled her back to the present. She released Warrian’s hand and turned towards the sound.
Two cockatoos perched on the top of the tent, squawking loudly. A couple of magpies sat in the branches of the tree above her, squawking at the tent too. And half a dozen mickeys flew circles around something on the ground near the tent.