Dragon Bites

by Badger, Nancy Lee

  “Stand perfectly still,” Draco whispered.

  He found her.

  How?

  Her question had to wait. She obeyed his command. Once free of the winged creatures’ flight path, she wondered how Draco got so close.

  “My friends returned home a bit late this morning. The bats mean ye no harm. Come. Come with me.”

  Brianna immediately thought back to the magical night he had whispered those words moments before her world exploded, and pleasure flooded her entire body.

  “If ye liked that, follow me and we shall discover paradise.”

  She hesitated. He led her deeper into the massive cavern then veered off into a different side tunnel. Caught between good sense and awakened desire, she followed.

  The sand squished between her toes as she followed him up a steep slope. A sweet melody flooded the cavern. She felt a smile puff her cheeks.

  “Love songs for lovers. They honor ye.”

  Lovers?

  Before Brianna could question him, he twisted her around and settled her on a mound of furs. Silk and softness enveloped her, while the scent of the sea mingled with Draco’s male muskiness, filling her nose and making her body respond.

  He kissed her mouth.

  Coming home.

  This was how his lips made her feel. Complete and loved. His tongue circled her lips, and then pressed against her teeth. She gladly opened. Sensuous heat, pleasurable ripples, and the tangy taste of cider made her head spin.

  “Draco. What are ye doing to me? Ye make me want to forget all I learned about how to act where men like ye are concerned.”

  “Men like me? Ye have ne’er met a man like me, love.”

  She chuckled at the truth of his words, as she gathered her arms around his neck. She eased his face back down, and kissed him with a shocking thoroughness.

  As Draco’s hand caressed her forehead, brushing wayward strands from her face, his other hand slid low.

  Will he kiss me in his special way once more?

  Brianna did her best to keep her attention on his mouth, as his tongue danced and licked inside hers. Even so, her right leg trembled under his touch.

  “Relax. I want ye, and I intend to have ye. Let me be the man to awaken yer womanly desires. Ne’er again will some pig threaten to take yer innocence with brutality. Ye say ye must leave. Let me give ye this gift only one man can share.”

  The man spoke in riddles once more, but love and desire rolled over her, under his caresses. She trusted Draco with her heart and with her body. His pain and deep loneliness appeared to lift whenever he enjoyed her company. This she knew as well as her first name. She felt his desire for her, and more.

  Might I feel his love?

  How would she know anything about love? A long dead pony had been the last thing she ever loved. Nothing and no one ever filled her with such feelings.

  Until now.

  Might I be in love with this stranger named Draco?

  She knew neither his last name nor his clan. He claimed to live on this deserted island since but a boy of sixteen. She could not stay. She must hasten back to the ship for their departure to Glenelg.

  She sighed, more from the angst over having to leave than due to the pleasure threatening to send her over the edge once more.

  “Ye are close, my love. Now I will show ye why women were put on this earth.”

  As her bliss-fogged mind tried to untangle his riddle, Draco’s knee thrust between her legs at the same time he drew her shift and chemise above her hips. Before she could persuade him to return his mouth to hers, his erection teased her womanly folds.

  “Draco? I canno’ allow this.”

  “Shh. I love ye, my sweet Brianna. This is what people in love do.”

  “I have ne’er—”

  “Nor I, my love. Shall we explore this adventure together?”

  He has ne’er loved a woman?

  True, he said he had lived on this uninhabited island for a long time. She knew he watched her for an answer, and the answer ought to be no. But, she felt her head nodding just before his hard length slid inside.

  She cried out at the sudden, stinging intrusion. Pain flared deep inside, replaced with heat and an urgent need to shudder. His weight lifted as he pushed up upon his elbows. His eyes flashed.

  “Brianna? My heart, my life, what have I done?”

  He must not have expected an answer since he began to withdraw.

  When nearly free of his thick, hot length, Brianna whimpered. Her hips flexed upward with a maiden’s innocent reaction. He groaned then thrust inside again. This time, he filled her to bursting.

  “Oh!” she cried, when his next few thrusts transformed from painful aches into strokes of pure delight. She held on tight to his neck, and then slid both hands down the muscular curve of his back. She heard nothing but the slapping of their slickened bodies, hot and sweaty, as she tumbled toward an abyss she could not name.

  “Come with me, my Brianna. Come for me, my beloved.”

  Higher and higher she flew. Her vision dimmed and her body arched. She heard the sounds of moans and grunts.

  Mine, or his?

  She forced both eyes open. All the muscles of his face strained and his skin flashed a pale green. His closed eyes snapped open and she stared into red-hot orbs. His hair flicked around his face as his mouth opened in a silent scream. The flash of pure white, pointed teeth made her body tense. Her good sense cried for escape until his fingers reached between their bodies. Her brain screamed for her to flee, but her body blasted upward with a cry of carnal delight as she screamed her release, and then came to earth. Alone.

  ***

  “She is gone.” Draco perched on a rocky outcropping, and stared toward the main coast of Scotland. Storm clouds rose in the north while rain shrouded his island under low gray mist. Within moments, icy droplets pinged on his scales and dripped off the leathery wings curved over his head. Smoke puffed from both nostrils as he remembered making love with Brianna.

  “Love? She could ne’er love a dragon,” he muttered.

  “Are ye a dragon or a man? All I see is a coward.”

  Draco launched himself toward the gray figure. Agatah swiped one boney arm to her side, and he plunged to the sea.

  He clawed his way to the surface and headed for shore with two paddles of his talon-clad limbs. A huge breaker pounced upon him and shoved him to the sandy bottom. He stayed submerged as he ran on open talons until he reached the shore.

  “I hate the water.”

  “I know this, ye dumb beast. ‘Tis why I tossed ye in.”

  “Do no’ call me that.” With a snap of outstretched wings, he transformed into his human form.

  “I see ye get better each year.”

  Ignoring the witch, and still soaking wet, he ran his hands over his dripping hair, and wiped droplets from his eyes. The rain became an icy mist, yet he did not feel the chill.

  This old, dead witch had a way of making a man think of other things.

  “Ye wish to send me to purgatory?”

  “Nay. And ne’er have. And I did no’ kill our people.”

  “Do no’ lie to me. Jean told me ye pawed her in the orchard. She told me—”

  “That Lorn saved her from my clutches? Then, what was Lorn doing outside the cave? Maybe the marauders saw him.” He jutted his jaw toward her in disgust, turned away, and walked toward his cave.

  His empty cave.

  “E’en if possible, how do ye know those murdering Macleods did no’ see ye?”

  “Because I led Jean out through the roof hatch with a ladder. Do ye no’ recall that exit, even though it ‘twas well hidden from the beach. We went right to the orchard to…”

  “I know what ye meant to do with my innocent child.”

  “I meant her no harm. I wanted to kiss her, ‘tis all. Yet, I got the feeling she knew much more about kissing, than me.”

  “How dare ye!”

  “I dare because I tell the truth. I did no’ d
emean her at anytime, yet she laughed at me and went back into the cave with Lorn. I did no’ kill her, or ye.”

  She floated to the entrance of the cave and cursed. “Burraidh!”

  “Yes, I acted the fool. All I want is Brianna,” he whispered. He dare not verbalize his deep need to lay in Brianna’s arms.

  “What do ye know of Brianna?”

  Brianna? She asked about my love?

  “What do ye want to know?”

  “Who are her people?”

  He sighed. His answer would fuel this hag with even more hatred. “She lives with Laird Gregor Macleod in Glenelg. She said she is his ward. This is all I know.”

  He strode through the apparition and climbed the makeshift stairs into the small cave. He plopped down onto the bed. The fragrance of moss, heather, and Brianna mingled, soothing him into sleep.

  “Wake up, ye cursed beast.”

  “Go away, Agatah. I am tired, I am sore, and I am spent.”

  “First ye leave Jean to die then ye care no’ what happens to Brianna.”

  Her words brought him to his feet. “What about Brianna?”

  CHAPTER 12

  The wooden galley rose and fell amid the growing crests of blue-green waves. Sailors pulled at the oars to stay on course. The air had taken on a wintry chill. Brianna wrapped her wool cloak around her, as she fought to ignore its coarse caress. The material stung her cheeks.

  Her eyes strained to peer through the raindrops, yet she could no longer see the coast of Staffa. All around her, men clambered to batten down supplies and keep their vessel safe.

  We should no’ have left during such weather.

  Before their launch, the scent of fear surrounded her. It did not dissipate once at sea. Fear drove people to err on the part of flight over safety. A search group failed to find evidence of Ranald’s passing except for a torn shirt lying bloodied at the base of the falls.

  Had the beast devoured his remains? Or, had he been swept into the sea?

  Either way, the odious pig died. The men told Gregor they did not care to follow him to the grave.

  Her fingers grasped tight to the wet railing, but her mind drifted back to the warmth of Draco’s cave. When the vessel pitched over a huge wave, she forced her attention back to the angry sea, struggling to remain on both feet.

  Draco left their bed in haste.

  Why?

  Had she imagined the change that came over him, as he filled her with his seed? She stood alone by the rail and rubbed her abdomen. How could she allow the man to breech her maidenhead?

  She might already carry his child.

  “How will I explain my condition to Gregor?” She could lie and say Ranald raped her, but this she already denied. As her mind searched for answers, a mountainous wave broke over the bow.

  ***

  “Brianna!” Draco sensed her fear at the same time Agatah slapped him to the ground with a second ghostly swipe.

  “Damn ye, ye old hag. I love Brianna, and I sense danger. I should no’ have allowed her to leave me. If only—”

  “If only she loved ye back, is that it? Seems ye had the same problem with me other daughter.”

  He froze where he lay. Draco shook his head and jumped to his feet. Face to face with the wispy image floating in the darkened cave, he repeated her words. “Yer other daughter?”

  “Aye. My heart tells me Brianna is the young one stolen from me years past.”

  “Jean mentioned she lost a sister. How could Brianna be she?”

  “I spoke with her. She told the tale of little people who gave her a pony. She lived with them in the forest. I believe Brownies stole her. They knew she possessed the sight. Like me.”

  “Jean did no’ have this gift?”

  “Aye, we both experienced visions, yet none came forth when needed to save our own lives.” The ghost hung her head. Silvery hair cascaded nearly to the floor of the cave, and Draco’s newly awakened heart bled.

  “I share yer pain. I feel her. I believe she calls me. I canno’ explain how I know. Many times I knew her thoughts. Drove her mad, it did.”

  “I gave ye this power as punishment, so ye would hear how people loathed yer dragon form. Ye escaped such a fate by hiding out on Staffa.” The ghost clutched her chest and slapped a thin, bony hand on her forehead. A low moan filled the sky while she cried, “Dhuine! Dhuine! Oh dear!”

  “What is it, Agatah?”

  “Brianna needs ye! I canno’ save her in this form. Ye owe me, lad.”

  “I will do anything to help Brianna, e’en if it brings death to me and the monster.”

  She stared at him through strands of wispy silver hair as if reading his heart. He loved Brianna, and had let her go.

  He only ran from their lovemaking because he began to change. Even before sensing her last contraction around his spent erection, his skin turned green and his fingernails lengthened. Transforming into the cursed dragon at inopportune times fed his personal hell.

  “Please tell me what to do.”

  “She dies,” she suddenly screamed.

  “Nay! What has happened? Where is she?” Draco’s fists fell through her image when he attempted to shake some sense into the moaning spirit.

  “Water! Water takes her. Fly to her. Please save my daughter!” One skeletal arm pointed east, over the churning sea.

  Even before Draco reached the bottom of the crude stairs, the transformation was complete. He flapped his wings and flew out of the cavern and into a darkening sky. A great storm had risen, turning the sea to pitch. Giant waves battered the rocks, tumbling onto the beach with thunderous booms. Not a bird dipped or flew in the high winds, which buffeted his leathery wings.

  I must find her. Stupid men, endangering her life this way.

  He had lived as an apprentice fisherman until the massacre, so he knew how to read the skies. The hunters never should have attempted a crossing today. He should have insisted Brianna stay on his island.

  With him.

  He took her innocence. Would she ever forgive him? Would she live to answer his questions? Horror drove him forward. Thunder and wind prevented sound from traveling, but her screams pierced the darkness, penetrating his mind. Where could she be?

  When his eyelids widened, a protecting membrane lowered. Hailstones pounded his scales, but he ignored their bite. Lightning snapped across the sky, but he ignored its sizzle.

  “Brianna?” He spoke with a dragon’s growl, but if she still lived, he knew she would hear him.

  “Help!” she called, once more.

  His great scale-covered hide flashed a brilliant green under each lightning bolts’ flare, and he followed his protruding nose down toward the sea. Great waves of black foam danced amid evidence of wreckage. Tossing timbers, a shredded sail, broken oars, and oaken casks spread from a central core. A few feet below the surface, he spied the shape of a large sea vessel.

  Her vessel has sunk! Where is Brianna?

  “Draco! I love ye!”

  Her words tore through his brain. He swung low, and then dived beneath the surface. His sense of smell worked better under water, which is why he often fed on fish and an occasional seal. Her musky scent led him farther east, past the bodies of men most likely crushed by a destroyed mainsail.

  Ignoring the stench of the newly dead, he sped toward his lover and praised Agatah for cursing him with this powerful body. Both talon-tipped feet kicked while he pulled his wings tight against his body. He almost passed her by.

  Draco opened both wings, stopped, and then spun around. Brianna’s bare feet kicked against the deadly pull of the deep as her hands clawed toward the surface. She might have made it except for the line of rigging wrapped around her right calf.

  With a quick bite on the rope, he freed her leg. She sailed toward the surface. He fled to the other side of the sunken galley. Its mass floated about just below the surface, probably supported by air still captured inside its hull. He slipped his protruding eyes above the surface and searched for Br
ianna amid the tempest of waves and rain.

  Should I reveal myself?

  Maybe others would help her onto a floating piece of debris. Though within sight of land, he realized the ship broke up far south of their destination. Perhaps others would come to their aid once the clouds lifted.

  Draco scanned the water. Between the huge waves was nothing but destruction and silence. The wind howled and the peaks crashed down again and again, but no man or woman screamed.

  No woman?

  Brianna!

  He dare not communicate while in his dragon form, and if he changed to his human form, he might drown. With his decision made, Draco dove beneath the ship. His eye slits glanced toward the surface. Tiny remnants of daylight assisted him with a better view and helped him spy two lovely feet. She tread water and managed to keep her shoulders and head above the surface Relief washed over him when she managed to grab onto a slab of wood.

  What is this? More female feet?

  When he got over his surprise, Draco knew he had a decision to make. Watch these women, so they came to no further harm, or reveal his presence and suffer the pain of rejection.

  Deciding on the former, he swam slow and low beneath the women. His dragon body stirred, but he tamped down all desire to turn. The woman of his dreams fought death.

  Time passed, and the storm moved out to sea. Mountainous waves lessened into gentle swells. Seabirds took to the sky. Draco emerged behind a crumpled sail to watch Brianna and her companion. The other woman’s black head of hair lay splayed across her back as she clamped both arms around an ale cask. Brianna, awake and alert, scanned the sea as if she searched for other survivors. Did she search the wreckage for her kinsmen? She claimed the title of ward to the Macleod laird. Without his guidance, where would she turn?

  Would she turn to me if I gave her the chance?