Stolen by the Dragon (Storm Dragons Book 1)

by Riley Storm

  Damien was nodding now, his grip on her hand loosening. “And last night was a hiccup in the road to that. You didn’t get something done.” He sighed knowingly. “And that’s why you’ve been so nervous tonight. You’re thinking of breaking off…this.” He held up their hands but shrugged at the same time.

  Apparently, he didn’t know what they were either.

  “I never expected to make it to Initiate level,” she said, pleading with him to understand. “But I worked my butt off to get here. To show the others that brain power matters as much as natural-born talent. I’ve proven so many people wrong, but there are still plenty of naysayers out there. And I don’t want to fail this next time.”

  Damien let go of her hand, reaching out to rest both hands on the stone wall that circled the balcony. “And I’m a distraction that you think is going to make you fail,” he said.

  “That’s not what I mean,” she moaned.

  “Well what did you mean then?” he asked. “Because it sure feels like you’ve been leading up to saying you can’t continue to see me because you need to focus on your studies. Which would imply that your studies aren’t going the way you want because of me. Which means you fear consequences if you don’t spend more time on them. Consequences like failing your Apprenticeship test.”

  “I don’t know,” she said, throwing her hands up in the air. “I’m no good at this, Damien. I don’t have any experience. You’re…you’re like.” She fell silent. How to tell him that at twenty-eight years old, she had no emotional experience with men, just physical blunderings and experimentation?

  He waited patiently, his eyes as blue in the night as they were during the day.

  “I don’t know what to do,” she whispered. “I’m confused. I…I really like spending time with you. You make me feel, things.”

  “You’ve never liked someone before?” he asked curiously.

  “Not men,” she said with a shrug. “If you haven’t noticed, magic isn’t really a male thing. There are very few sorcerers in the world, and none at Winterspell. It’s all women.”

  “I see.” Damien stepped closer. “Well, I can tell you that it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing thing.”

  “What do you mean?” She bit her lip as he neared, his warmth easily noticeable in the cool air at the top of the tower. Winterspell was climate-controlled via magic, but that didn’t mean that in the higher reaches it wasn’t cooler than below.

  “I mean you don’t necessarily have to go cold turkey with me, you know. I enjoy seeing you every night, don’t get me wrong, but once or twice a week instead is better than just cutting off all contact, don’t you think?” he smiled at her and Anna’s knees nearly buckled.

  He was so close. She was there, her back to the balcony wall. Trapped, though she knew if she wanted, he would move aside. But did she want him to move? What did she want?

  “That…that might work,” she conceded breathlessly, looking up at him, throat dry from the nerves.

  “I can respect that you need to study,” he rumbled, coming closer yet again. “I admire your dedication to your craft.”

  “Thank you,” she said, licking her lips.

  “But I want you to know that I like what this is too. I like it a lot,” he said, leaning in.

  “You do?” she squeaked.

  Damien nodded. “I’d like to show you.”

  His hand came up, cupping her chin. Anna was trembling. Was this really going to happen? Was he going to kiss her?

  “May I?” he asked.

  She nodded, not trusting her voice.

  Then he leaned in, pressing his lips to hers, gripping her chin just that little bit tighter so she didn’t move. Anna lifted her arms around his neck, holding him close as his other hand pushed up her back. Her entire body was on fire where he touched it. She’d never felt like this before, this burning need to…to let Damien do whatever he wanted to her.

  In that moment, she was his.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Damien

  He let the kiss linger on.

  The tension he’d felt in Anna began to melt away. He could feel her body relaxing as they stood together on the balcony, lips locked together. Part of him longed to do more, to let his hands roam her body, to make a claim to the rest of her then and there.

  But he refrained. Despite his desires, Damien knew that doing so would not only be more than she was comfortable with but would ruin whatever it was that was happening between them right then. He had no desire to do that, so instead he let it carry on, simply enjoying her taste and the squeeze of her arms around his neck.

  Her mouth parted for him, and as their tongues slid softly against each other, one of Anna’s hands dug her fingers into the hair at the back of his head, clutching him tight. He fought back a shiver of delight at the tiny sensation.

  The interest and attraction he felt toward this woman was surprising. Anna wasn’t the only one caught off guard by it, though Damien had never let her catch on to that. She needed his steady calm, he could tell, and so he’d kept his thoughts to himself.

  Finding someone like her was the last thing he’d expected or planned to happen after his fateful plunge through the portal. Now here he was, with an unexpected opportunity for—for what? Truthfully, neither of them knew what might develop between them, and Damien wasn’t sure what to make of it.

  He just knew he liked it.

  At last, he pulled back, the two of them coming up for air, all tiny smiles and heated cheeks. Her hands dropped down from his neck and along his arms. Snagging her fingers in his own before she could completely pull back, he held on tight, giving her hands a squeeze. Anna smiled broadly and squeezed back, leaning in to rest her head on his chest.

  “That was nice,” she said quietly. “That was really nice.”

  “I agree. Maybe we could do it again?”

  Anna laughed softly. “I would be okay with that.”

  So, they did, this time holding each other’s hands the entire time. When they broke apart a second time, they shared a moment of silence, just watching the other’s face, little half-smiles tugging at the corners of their lips. So much went unspoken just then, and yet was said all at the same time.

  “Thank you for bringing me up here,” he said. “I feel much better under the open sky. I don’t mind being underground, but the tight spaces are a bit claustrophobic and—”

  He was interrupted by a shrill voice from behind. “What the hell are you doing up here?”

  Damien spun, instinctively putting Anna behind him in a protective measure.

  “Who is that with you?” Master Loiner snapped. “Is that one of the students?”

  He groaned. Why her? Of all people, who did it have to be this bitch?

  Anna stepped around him. “Good evening, Master Loiner.”

  “Initiate Sturgis! I should have known someone as insolent as you would think they could get away with…with…”

  “With what?” Anna said.

  “With breaking the Coven’s rules! Being with one of them,” the Master spat.

  Damien didn’t know what to do. His dragon was screaming at him to deliver a thunderous blow of electrical energy straight into the uppity woman’s face and send her catapulting back down the stairs. It howled its desire and even opened the passageways in his mind to call upon his powers.

  But Damien was the one in control, and he shut everything down immediately. The woman was a xenophobic bitch, but she was also technically senior to Anna, and a Master he’d been told to obey. This put him in a sticky situation. After all, Damien wasn’t the only one who would suffer if he acted against her.

  If she so much as touches Anna, I’ll blast that smug look off her face. Permanently.

  That was something he would not tolerate, but verbal harassment and punishment for breaking the rules? What was he supposed to do about that? They’d both known the risks they were taking by being together. He wanted to stick up for her, to say something, but…but how? How c
ould he do that and not endanger the sanctuary his kind had found at Winterspell?

  His indecision left him silent as Loiner continued to lay into Anna.

  “You betray your own kind, Sturgis. Fraternizing with them, they who brought their war to our land. We don’t need them, don’t want them. You should know better.”

  “I’m right here, you know. I can hear you talking about me,” Damien said dryly, unable to remain completely quiet.

  Loiner looked him up and down, and then just turned her attention back to Anna. “Just wait until the Coven hears about this. I’m going to make sure you never pass your Apprenticeship test. Ever.”

  Anna gasped, and began to cry.

  Damien shook with fury. They had just been talking about how important that test was to her. That she was willing to consider breaking things off with him completely to focus on it. Now, because of him, she was going to fail it?

  “This isn’t her fault,” he rumbled, trying to interject.

  “You keep your mouth shut, or you and your entire pathetic race will find themselves evicted from Winterspell faster than you can snap your fingers.”

  Damien clenched his jaw tightly, aware he was treading on thin ice. If he said or did too much, others would suffer for his actions. He had to do what was best for his kind. Even if it meant not giving Loiner exactly what she deserved. He slumped backward, feeling defeated in a way he’d never experienced before.

  He felt Anna look to him, but he couldn’t stand to see the disappointment in her eyes. The disappointment in him, for backing down.

  But what would she have him do instead?

  “Let’s go. Right now!” Loiner snapped. “You get back to your quarters. If you’re seen out again, I’ll have your head.”

  The sky rumbled ominously above. Loiner glanced at it, and at the expression on Damien’s face, and wisely thought better of provoking him some more. Verbal insults he could take. Threats of violence were another matter entirely.

  Anna slipped past him, head down, shoulders slumped forward. She didn’t even look back at him before disappearing down the stairs with Master Loiner behind her.

  Damien smacked a fist into one palm helplessly.

  Above him, lightning shot across the sky and thunder rolled onward a few seconds later as Damien unleashed his fury. The light show went on for nearly ten full minutes before he recovered his composure, dismissing the clouds that had formed in response to his rage.

  “What else was I supposed to do?” he moaned softly, sliding to the ground, burying his face in his hands.

  What else could I have done?

  Chapter Seventeen

  Anna

  The next morning, she followed Master Loiner through the hallways.

  Her one saving grace was that they weren’t meeting with the entire Coven, but only with Circe herself. The head witch of Winterspell had, for some reason or another, decided to hear her case personally. Anna wasn’t sure at all what that meant, but she reasoned that it was either a really bad sign, or something she should be paying attention to.

  Still, there was no hope in her; she dared not let herself dream that she might be allowed to continue her studies at Winterspell. That would be a dangerous mindset to have, and so she instead prepared for the worst.

  Master Loiner snapped her fingers and pointed at the doorway to the Circe’s office. Not the Coven’s Chambers. She stifled a glare at the overzealous Master and opened the door.

  Anna wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but the sight she was greeted with certainly wasn’t it. The room was open, airy, filled with greenery, but most importantly, light. It couldn’t be natural light, of course, since they were in the depths of Winterspell’s main building. Yet it felt natural on her skin.

  Reaching out with her magic, she quested against the windows, only to find that they weren’t windows at all, but rifts. Anna’s mouth dropped open as she looked around the large circular room. There were a lot of windows, and each one was a permanent rift, a tear in reality that the Circe had put in place to light her office.

  Now that was power.

  A large wire-frame staircase occupied the center of the room, leading up to a second story. Anna assumed that up there was the private quarters of the Circe. To her right was a library of books, several large stacks of them spaced between the windows. To the left was a sitting area absolutely covered in greenery and plants. But it was the back of the office that truly captured one’s attention.

  A massive window-rift occupied the center of the wall, easily thirty feet long and spanning nearly the twelve feet to the ceiling. Pictured behind it was the ocean, waves lapping endlessly into the distance, where the sun shone down reflecting upon the turbulent waters.

  In front of it was a large rectangular desk. Behind it sat the Circe, clad as always in her robes, hood pulled forward to obscure her face from view.

  “It’s a bit much, I know,” the woman said, waving an olive-skinned hand at the display. “But I find that it’s relaxing and helps keep me focused. Please, come in, have a seat.”

  “Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Circe,” Master Loiner said, all but fawning over the woman.

  Anna felt sick at the sycophantic way the woman kowtowed to the head of Winterspell. It was so disgustingly obvious that she was only being polite to try and increase her standing, yet somehow, she didn’t realize everyone could see it that way. Instead, Loiner thought that they believed her sincere.

  “Yes, of course, Master Loiner. That is your right,” Circe said.

  Anna’s eyes tightened. Was that mild irritation she heard in the woman’s voice? Could it be that Circe didn’t exactly like Master Loiner either?

  “I bring to you a most grievous issue, Circe. A breaking of the rules imposed upon both our new visitors, and the members of Winterspell. Possibly more, though I do not know.”

  Circe’s head tilted under her hood to regard Anna, but she addressed the Master. “Indeed? What rule has been broken?”

  “Fraternizing, Circe. I caught this Initiate in the arms of the dragon brute, the first one to arrive, the big blue beast.”

  “Damien, I believe is his name?” Circe said somewhat forcefully.

  “Perhaps,” Loiner said, though everyone in the room knew full well that the woman was aware of Damien’s name. “I care not. But they were together, talking quietly in one of the upper spires. Conspiring about what, I do not know, but they were hand in hand, a sure sign they were plotting something.”

  Circe nodded slowly. “Indeed,” she said. “And tell me, Initiate Sturgis, what is it you were plotting up there?”

  “She is a traitor to the human race, Circe. We cannot trust a word that comes out of her mouth.”

  Anna had had enough. “You have got to be joking, right? A traitor to the human race? Surely, Master Loiner, you can see that we must have some sort of shared DNA, a history together of sorts. Something. I would bet a lot that they are just about as human as we witches are.”

  “You are not a witch,” Master Loiner snapped. “Not now, and not ever, after what you’ve done.”

  “Master Loiner,” Circe said, extending a hand. “If I may?”

  “Of course.” Loiner bowed low and bit her tongue, but Anna could see that she was seething behind the façade, her hatred for Anna and the dragons showing through.

  “Your point about shared looks is valid, Initiate Sturgis,” Circe said after a moment of contemplation. “I have noted the same thing and begun digging deep into our records to see what, if anything, I can come up with. But while I do not harbor the same immediate distrust of our new visitors as Master Loiner here does, I must admit that I am unsure if you spending such time with them is wise or not.”

  Anna started to protest, but Master Loiner spoke up first, simply unable to remain quiet now that she thought she had Anna by the throat.

  “She was plotting against us. Allying herself with them. I saw it!”

  “Indeed, Master Loiner? Could it n
ot have been so simple as, say, a physical interest? You did say after all, that you caught them holding hands. I’m not aware of any traitors who acted like such.”

  Anna blushed at the confirmation of what she’d been doing on the tower roof, though she didn’t say as much. “Why is spending time with them not a good thing?” she asked instead.

  “Well, for one,” Circe said, “We don’t know much about the dragons.”

  “And whose fault is that?” Anna knew she was pushing the limits, but she wasn’t about to go down without a fight. “Have any of you made any real attempt to get to know them? If we don’t spend time with them, then we’ll never know. How can you expect us to figure them out without interacting with them?”

  “You will show respect!” Master Loiner shrieked, raising her wand.

  “Calm, Master Loiner,” Circe said, her voice overwhelming the Master’s shout with patient ease. “There is no need for that in here.”

  “Yes, Circe,” Loiner said in a voice that showed she clearly disagreed.

  “You were saying, Initiate?”

  Anna hadn’t been expecting to be allowed to continue, and so she took a moment to formulate her ideas. “All I’m saying, is that there doesn’t seem to be any good reason not to allow us to interact with one another. They will always remain strangers to us if we don’t get to know them, and if Damien and I do…feel, things for one another, then I think we should be allowed to explore that,” she finished, her voice rising just a bit as she admitted out loud to both herself and the other two women that she felt something for the dragon shifter.

  “I understand the point you make,” Circe said, waving Loiner into silence once more as the Master all but foamed at the mouth in response to Anna’s words. “But are you so sure he feels the same? From what Master Loiner has communicated to me before this meeting, he didn’t exactly put up much of an argument. Are you sure he wants to spend the time with you?”