She raised her other hand, holding both her palms faceup. All the power flowed from her, through her fingertips, through her skin, up through the whirling inverted vortex of luminosity that was the horn in the middle of her forehead.
With a whoosh of fierceness, the light streaked from her. It swooped down on Igor and was absorbed by him. It was as if he was drinking in all that radiance.
The energy kept pouring. Igor kept absorbing it, until his skin shined bright.
Her shoulder’s trembled. Her back curved. Trinity’s body lifted. She balanced on her toes. It was as if she was being pulled forward against her will. Her arms were flung out to the side. The bright vibrance gleamed through her pores.
Her forearms trembled, and her body jerked forward toward Igor.
Neo ran to Trinity. He wrapped his arm around her and held on to her.
He felt the light flow out from her, like it was being sucked out of her without her consent. She seemed so fragile, and everything in him roared to find a way to protect her.
He couldn’t be her mate. But he wasn’t going to allow Igor to take her life like that.
He dropped into himself and plunged right into his dragon energy. As if it had been waiting for him, for the very first time, the energy of his dragon roared up through his veins.
The pores of his skin burst into flames, and his spine arched. There was a popping sound as his bones snapped back.
He reached inside himself and drew on the energy of his dragon. He pulled it up and through his blood.
The flames poured from his mouth, and his face elongated, his claws sliding out. The wings snapped open from his back. He stretched them out. They hit the walls on either side of the room and burst through.
The roof cracked. Debris poured down on them.
He shielded Trinity with his body. He wrapped his claws very gently around her, even as his massive jaws opened and he roared flames at the Fae. He marked the wall where the Fae had been. Igor turned around from the other corner of the room where he’d darted to.
One side of his face and chest was burned. The smell of charred flesh filled the air.
The still human part of Neo’s dragon realized Igor would bear the scars of his attack.
“This is not over,” Igor screeched. His ears elongated, and his face stretched. The air around him shimmered, and his body faded in and out before going translucent. The Fae was teleporting out.
Neo’s dragon roared his anger, raining indigo and yellow flames over the space. When it cleared, Igor was gone. Neo wasn’t fooled. Igor had been hurt, but he’d escaped. It was only a matter of time before he’d be back.
He needed to leave right away in case the Fae returned.
Arching his neck, Neo cradled Trinity close to his chest. His wings snapped out. Raising his head, he pushed back in a vertical takeoff which should have been impossible for someone of his size.
The wind tore at his scales, and the power inside him surged.
Breaking the ceiling, he blew through the two floors above him. Shattering the roof, he soared into the sky.
The power coursed into his veins, and he flew straight up.
His wings tore the tufts of clouds.
Banking a steep curve, he streaked out to the open sea. All the while, he made sure to keep Trinity shielded, held her close to his chest, where his heart galloped. Her body was so still, so quiet. His muscles tensed. He had to find a way to revive her.
If something were to happen to her, he’d never forgive himself. If she survived this, he’d not waste any more time, he’d tell her exactly what he felt.
Raising his head, he roared his need for her, his want, his sheer helplessness at not having been there for her when she most needed it.
Pushing back, he rode the next current, away from Igor’s city.
He had to find a place to land. It had to be safe enough that they could stay undiscovered, at least until he’d managed to revive her.
He tightened his grip around her and kept going. He pushed himself until his muscles quivered and sweat ran down his scales and dripped onto the waves below like a miniature rainfall.
His shadow was large enough to skim over the waves. His feathers stretched and protested, and his heart raced until it felt like he was at war with himself.
Where could he go?
Spotting an island that seemed small enough to not be on anyone’s radar, he pushed a psychic signal over it to make sure it was deserted. Then, gathering his wings close, he came in to land. By the time his claws touched the sandy beach, he was already changing back into his human form. His wings shrank and fitted into the grooves on his back, his massive thighs reducing to human legs, his neck drawing in, and his jaws returned to their normal size.
His claws folded in, transforming to human hands, and he cradled his precious cargo close to his chest. Walking away from the beach, he made for the tree line. Once in the shade, he lowered her to the ground and leaned over her. Her eyelashes were a dark arch against her cheeks. There were shadows under her eyes. The color had slid from her cheeks, leaving her skin as pale as the white sands on the beach. Her limbs appeared frail, and it looked like she had lost weight in just the last few hours.
He could barely see her chest rise and fall. There was a cold feeling in his stomach. She had to survive. He couldn’t live without her. He’d known that since the time he’d first spotted her in the crowd at his concert.
It was only now, seeing her unmoving, that he realized the extent to which he’d underestimated his need for her.
He’d been searching for her his entire life.
She was his.
He may not be able to mate with her, yet he’d rather spend his life taking care of her than be away from her.
The force of this thoughts had the breath catching in his throat. This was why he couldn’t allow the mating bond to reveal itself, why he couldn’t put her life at risk.
He couldn’t let her go either. Reaching down, he brushed his lips over hers.
28
Trinity
Trinity regained consciousness to the sense of heat bleeding into her skin. The scent of fire and woodsmoke mingled with clean, fresh spices swept over her.
It was him.
She tried to open her eyelids, but they felt so heavy.
“Come back to me.” His tone was harsh, his voice hoarse at the end.
Against her skin, she felt his heart racing.
He sounded as if he was about to lose control. That got her attention. She’d only ever seen him larger than life. His presence always seemed to dominate everything around him.
Now it seemed as if the roles had been reversed. As if she was the one in power.
Raising her palm, she placed her hand against his chest. “I was here all along.” She cracked open her eyelids. “I sensed you fly me out of there; I knew you had me.”
“That was the second time you saved my life.” His breath flowed over her, raising the fine hair on her forehead.
“We saved each other, again.” Her lips twisted up in a slight smile. She flicked out her tongue to wet her lips.
His gaze dropped to her mouth and stayed there. The cords of his throat flexed.
Blood thudded at her temples. She could hardly stop herself from reacting to his nearness. He was safe. So was she. For now.
A raging need constricted her chest.
She seemed like she’d been running forever. From Igor, from his Dark Fae soldiers, even from her parents in a way. Here in his arms, with the blue skies stretching out above her and the rough sand digging into her back, she felt like she had come home. Wasn’t that strange?
She’d only just gotten to know this man. Now he was her entire world. When had that happened? Or perhaps when it was right…then things just flowed? It was so right, so natural, to be in his arms. To peer into his beautiful indigo eyes, to revel in the emotions that flowed off him, to raise her lips and meet his.
The taste of him flooded through her.
It ya
nked her back into her physical self.
She couldn’t stop the moan that welled up. Her chest rose and fell. She tried to pull in a breath and only succeeded in drawing his scent even more deeply into herself. She was surrounded by him. Drowning in him.
He licked her lower lip.
She shuddered. Goosebumps sprang up on her skin. It was like every part of her was so attuned to him.
He trailed little kisses down her chin, down her throat to the hollow at the base. He bit her lightly.
His touch swam straight to her core. She grew wet. Heat from his skin slammed into her chest, and sweat broke out on her brow. Every part of her body ached for him.
Her eyelids fluttered. She wanted to sink back into the white light that was her natural state, but her body rebelled.
It needed this man; needed what he could offer. He brought her into herself, made her aware of all her senses in a way no one ever had before.
His shoulders flexed as he raised himself above her, his face blocking out the light. Those scars on his face rippled down his throat, down his shoulders, over his arms. There was not a part of him that wasn’t marked in some form.
Tears pricked the backs of her eyes.
She traced the puckered skin on his face with her fingers. “You are beautiful.” Her voice was husky, her throat moving with the emotions that gathered inside her, coiled, writhed, and wanting out. She wanted to share what she saw with him, what she felt.
“Only you’d say that.” His chin firmed. “I am under no illusion of what I am—”
“Strong and protective. You are the only one who can shield me from the elements. Only with you can I be myself.” She dragged her thumb down his lower lip.
His skin was soft and rough simultaneously. She wanted to taste him—properly.
His tongue flicked her skin, and he sucked on her finger. The pulse between her thighs flared into a thrum of need.
The heat from his body slammed into her. She became aware of his hardness pushing up against her hip. That he was naked. That his shoulders were broad enough to block out the world. Broad enough for her to lean on. He could take her weight.
She was surrounded by him, was drowning him in, and she realized she didn’t want to save herself. “There’s something missing.” Her eyebrows drew down.
He leaned back. His biceps rippled, and the muscles of that broad, delicious chest of his flexed. “What?” His frown mirrored hers.
She scissored her legs around his waist. In a move that surprised her, she twisted her body so he was below her.
29
Neo
Her eyes gleamed at him, her lips trembled, and a giggle escaped her.
He was entranced. She took his breath away when she was playful like that.
“I am a shifter, too, remember?” She raised her chin. “I’m stronger than I appear.”
She seemed light, happy. There was so much joy pouring from her, he felt he could stay exactly where he was. He could watch her all day.
“You surprise me.” His lips drew back in a smile, his voice soft.
“You turn me on.” She looked down at him through her eyelashes.
Dios, the breath caught in his chest. “Only you could say something like that, which completely overwhelms me and leaves me wondering what you are going to do next.”
“Would you like to find out?” She worried her lower lip between her teeth.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her mouth. Since he’d met her, his life had turned upside down. Just as she had done to his body a moment ago.
He chuckled. Folding his arms behind his head, he leaned back. “Have you always been this way? So quicksilver in your moods?”
In reply, she lowered her waist and rubbed her dress-covered center over his arousal.
He gasped, and blood rushed to where she had settled that sweet heat of hers against his throbbing center.
His mouth went dry, and his heart fluttered. A tugging need built in his lower belly.
Sweat broke out over his upper lip, but he couldn’t reach up to wipe it off. Couldn’t stop his body from arching into hers. “You’re not making this easy.” His voice was harsh. Blood thudded in his ears.
“Oh good.” She walked her fingers down the center of his chest, toward his waist, trailing pinpricks of fire on his skin.
He caught her hand. “Don’t.”
She tipped her head. “Why not?” The silver in her eyes shined with the light that was so much a part of her.
It aroused him. It also warned him that she was different from anyone he’d ever met.
“You want me.” She brushed her core against his hardness again.
All he had to do was push aside her dress, tear off her panties, and… Heat flushed his skin. He hardened.
“You want me, too.”
The confidence in her voice was a turn on. It was almost his undoing. He clenched his jaw hard enough for the muscles of his face to protest. “I don’t want to hurt you. You’re so delicate and so full of light… Trinity, I don’t want to…taint you.” There, it was out. The fear he’d carried in his mind all this time, since he’d first laid eyes on her. “You don’t know what Igor did to me…” A light touch of fear snaked down his spine. He didn’t want to think about it, yet he had to tell her. Only then would she know what kind of a beast he really was. He looked away.
She gripped his chin and tugged.
He had no choice but to turn his head and meet her gaze.
“Whatever he did was only because he wanted to use you to get to me.”
“You shouldn’t have come to help.” He growled. “You should have saved yourself.” The thought of how she had put herself at risk had his chest aching.
“If you were in my position, is that what you would have done?” Her gaze narrowed.
“Not the same thing.” Stubborn woman. Why did she always have to argue with him?
“Why? Because you are a macho dragon and the prerogative to save the one you love only belongs to you?” Her lips pursed.
Ah! He stared, not sure how to respond to that. “I am a dominant alpha male. It’s what I do. Protect my own.” His voice was hard. “Even if that means having to sacrifice myself.”
Spots of red flared on her cheeks. “I am a healer and a warrior. I cannot, will not, walk away from someone who needs my help.” Her chin firmed. “Even if that means hurting myself.”
They glared at each other.
Just like that, he knew he’d met his match. Something inside him that had held back from her, somewhere deep down, dissolved.
When she was angry like that, she was magnificent.
He sensed a fierceness within her that was at odds with who she seemed. A shifter who was from another realm, where the rules were different to his world. Something he didn’t want to acknowledge even to himself. She was so unlike him.
She made to draw away from him.
He snaked his arms around her and cradled her close. “You are more than capable of protecting yourself, of protecting me.” He rubbed his nose against hers, then leaned back so he could look into her eyes. “It’s just… You are light itself. And I am—”
“My equal.” She cupped his face between her hands. “Don’t you see? For the light to survive it needs a counterbalance. You are my structure, my grounding influence.” Letting go, she brought her hands to her breasts and cupped them. “I need you to show me what it is to live, to feel. To experience what it is like to be in this body.” Her eyes blazed. The color of her irises bled out until her gaze was a seething sea of molten silver lava.
It was the most sensuous thing he had seen.
She was everything he wasn’t, his exact opposite. She was his.
His dragon thrummed under his skin, pushing him to sit up, to hold her gaze and allow her to reel him in. He was helpless. Who had he been kidding all along? She was as lost in him as he was in her. Why was he even resisting? He placed his hands over hers and squeezed the rounded flesh.
Sp
ots of color burned on her cheeks, and her eyes widened. “I need you, Neo.”
He drew her hand down over her waist, to the space between them where his desire pulsed.
She cupped him right there. Her touch was firm, hot, and gentle at the same time.
He surged his hips against her and grew harder.
They were on a precipice from which there was no return. He had to take the last step. He had to trust her with that final piece of himself.
He tugged her hand away from his arousal and slid it over his chest. He traced the puckered flesh that marred the planes with her touch. “Igor marked me when I was a boy.”
Her gaze rose to meet his. In her eyes he saw only a boundless understanding and so much empathy. She wouldn’t judge him. She could heal him.
“These scars I wear…” He dropped his chin to his chest. “They’re because of him.”
30
Trinity
“Igor kidnapped you? He took you and tortured you?” Trinity wondered why she wasn’t more surprised.
Perhaps a part of her had already guessed that, when she’d burst into that cell and had seen Igor facing off with Neo.
He angled his head. “He tried to break me as a boy.”
“He didn’t succeed.” She was sure of it. “Not then not now.”
His jaw hardened. A nerve throbbed at his temple. “He changed something in me. He made me afraid to shift. Every time I needed the dragon the most, my beast failed me.” He turned his head away, and his eyes skittered to the side. “Even when your life was in danger, I couldn’t shift, Trina.”
Did he realize he’d used her nickname? It made her feel even closer to him. “But you did. You changed to your dragon self and flew us out of there. You saved me.”
He met her gaze with steady eyes. “I let him touch me.” His voice was low. His lips twisted.
“You were bound and tortured.” Her voice was fierce. She leaned in close enough for their breaths to mingle. “You couldn’t have stopped him.”
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