“That’s right,” Draven said. “Gemstone stuff.”
Zach nodded but didn’t say any more. He didn’t know how much anyone knew about his powers, and the less they knew, the better. Until he trusted them.
“Anyway,” Ran said, “what do you have to do to get your powers back?”
Zach shrugged. “Be good to humanity.”
“You’re lying,” Ran said lightly. “Try again.”
Zach shifted in his chair. They could just read his mind if they wanted to. “Fine. I can mate Erin.”
“Ah, because that would link you inextricably to humanity?” Draven asked.
Zach nodded.
Ran folded his arms. “Mating a human, how does that work for your kind? Are you sure that’s the best thing for Erin? Are you able to give her dragon power? What would you do when you’re gone?”
Zach squeezed his hands into fists, hating the man for saying what he’d already thought of.
Erin was precious. He detested the thought of anyone else protecting her, being with her. But if dragons were really that hunted in this world, what could he do to keep her safe once he was fully one and got targeted?
“Stop it,” Draven said to Ran. “We don’t know anything about his kind. For all we know, they’re fine as a single unit.” He looked at Zach. “What do you think?”
“I think you need to back off,” Zach said. “Before I get angry.”
“Too late by the looks of it,” Ran commented. “Look, I didn’t mean any harm. Honestly, there were huge risks for us in mating, too. I won’t go into them, but I get being afraid of what being with your partner will mean. But I also feel that means being honest with yourself. Just sharing what I’ve learned.”
Zach huffed. “Well, keep it to yourself. Things between Erin and me are going just fine.”
But were they?
Draven stood and put out a hand. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I get that this is confusing for you. We shouldn’t have pushed in on something we don’t understand. Forgive us and come have dinner?”
Zach eyed his hand and then sighed. Given that none of his own were alive, and he wouldn’t want to be around them if they were, this was the closest he would get to having kin. He took Draven’s hand and stood swiftly. “Fine. Dinner.”
“Good,” Ran said, throwing an arm around him. “We can talk about how to make you a dragon of the new world.”
“Please, no,” Zach said as they dragged him out.
Ran shook his head. “A renaissance dragon. A dragon of the hour.”
Zach finally had to laugh. “Fine, just keep it to yourself when my mate is around.” Despite their weirdness, it was nice to have people on his side. People who understood at least a part of him, if not all of it.
But he didn’t see any of the viciousness he’d known inside these dragons.
Perhaps the oracle had been right to breed that out.
13
Erin had enjoyed dinner far too much, and her face hurt from smiling as they all got up to head to their respective bedrooms for the night.
It had been fun listening to Ran and Draven talking about dragon adventures and fun to hear about the missions Melissa had gone on as well, with her healing abilities.
She was beginning to realize what a big responsibility being a dragon’s mate was. It wasn’t just about hot sex and living with a fun, protective man.
Dragons had a big role in the world, and even though she didn’t know what Zach’s was yet, she was sure it would be important.
But he was clearly different from these dragons in a lot of ways. He didn’t have the same powers, didn’t fit into their classification, wasn’t looking for a dragon heart, didn’t have a partner he was assigned from birth…
It was all very strange.
Yet, as they’d talked and enjoyed dinner, she’d forgotten she was in a room with dragons with immortal abilities. She’d simply been around people she liked, people with fun personalities who seemed to care about the world and the people in it.
Zach had been uncharacteristically quiet, listening intently and touching her hand under the table. As the night had gone on, he’d gotten a little bolder, running his hand over her thigh, making her shiver as she tried to pay attention to the conversation.
The dragons had an actual guesthouse in the back, and it was all ready for her and Zach to use.
She’d already told Jen to go pick up Bo and take him to her house tonight. Jen would love spending time with the little kitten, and they’d be back soon.
But she didn’t want him to be alone in case they weren’t back. Now that looked like it had been a good call.
As they walked out in the fading light, hand in hand, behind Ran and Draven, who were leading them to the guesthouse, she enjoyed the way the twilight glowed around them, the soft grasses and nice buildings.
When they got to the guesthouse, they said their good-byes, and she walked inside alone with Zach.
When the door was shut, he let out a sigh of relief, shed his leather jacket, jumped onto the bed on his back, and yanked her onto him, holding her tight.
She breathed in his scent, spicy and masculine and woodsy and fresh, and held him back tightly.
He’d been her hero again today. Despite everything she didn’t know about dragons, and especially about him, she could only think of him as a good person. Dragon. Whatever he was.
“Sorry it’s been such a crazy day,” he said, pushing hair out of her face as she lay on top of him.
She pulled on his hair, letting it out of the ponytail so it could spread around his face. His handsome features looked even more rugged with his thick, black hair loose. His dark eyes sparkled at her, but beneath the excitement, she could sense nervousness, and it made her uneasy.
“Zach, what’s wrong?”
He sat up, keeping her in his lap, stroking delicately over her neck as he looked at the small front window covered with drapes. “I don’t know. Sometimes I just get the feeling I wasn’t meant to be here.”
She touched his face. “That must be hard.”
“And then I look into your eyes, and I feel at home. It’s so confusing.” He frowned as he stared down at her.
She reached up and gave him a quick kiss, and he relaxed for a moment, wrapping his arms around her. “I know it’s complicated. But sometimes I don’t question things when they feel right.”
“So you aren’t questioning us anymore?” he asked. “You’d be willing to mate me?”
She nodded slowly. “I mean, I think I can just feel it’s right. That I’d be happy with you, and we’d work the rest out later.”
“I wish I could feel the same.”
She blinked. “What?”
“I mean, I feel right about you. I have from the moment I saw you. But I wish I could know it’ll all work out later. I have an odd feeling about the future. A bad one. And I don’t have the ability to see it.” He stroked her hair. “I wish I could give you my dragon powers.”
“What are they?” she asked.
“I can’t tell you yet,” he replied.
She rolled her lips together and rested against his chest. In the short time they’d been together, her world had come to revolve around him. He felt so genuine. And even things that had annoyed her before had now become endearing.
She guessed she was falling in love with him.
He looked down at her in surprise. “Love?”
“You read my mind,” she scolded. “You aren’t supposed to.”
“You were thinking loudly,” he retorted. “It wasn’t my fault.”
She scowled at him and then sighed. “Either way, I guess so. I guess I do love you.”
“Is that how humans feel about their mates?”
She nodded. “I guess so.”
He was quiet. “Is it that warm feeling that you would do anything for someone?”
She nodded again.
His hands tightened on hers.
“Then I guess I’m in love with you, t
oo.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. He seemed almost regretful.
“What do you think about this place?” he asked. “About their life?”
She shrugged. “It suits them, I think.”
“Is it what you would want?”
She drew a finger down his chest. “I want you.”
He sighed. “I want you, too. But I’m not sure I’m the best thing for you.”
She pushed away from him so she could look in his dark, resigned eyes. “Zach, what are you talking about? You’ve been pursuing me nonstop for days. Why are you hesitating now?”
“It was easier to look down on the modern dragons and how they do things before I saw how they live their lives. Now I’m thinking it would be better for you to find someone like them to protect you.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want that. I don’t need it.”
He gritted his teeth. “But what if you are a dragon heart, like they say?”
“My heart may be anything, but for now, it’s most certainly yours.”
He still wasn’t convinced.
She could feel the tension all the way through his body.
She wished she could read his mind, see what was going on and why he was so troubled.
“Zach,” she said, pushing him back on the bed with a low hum. “Don’t question things. Let me remind you how we feel together.”
He raised a dark eyebrow. “Do you still want me after what you saw today? I took out ten men. I enjoyed it.”
She shrugged. “They were bad.”
He scowled, catching her hands as she tried to touch him. “You’re too good for me.”
“Stop pushing me away,” she said. “I want to be close to you. Let me.”
He let out a rush of air and lay back, letting her touch him. She slowly pulled up his tee shirt, over his rippling abs and massive shoulders, and he lifted his arms, helping her.
She traced down over his belly button to the top of his pants and flicked them open, sliding down the zipper over his bulging member.
Even in this odd mood, that part of him was still raring to go.
His dark eyes burned up at her as she started to slide off his pants, and he sat up and flipped them over so she was beneath him.
Then he began to tear off her clothing, pulling ravenously until she was bare, before freeing himself as well.
This time between them it was fierce and naked and hungry. His hands were everywhere, branding her skin with intense heat, making her body burn as she writhed beneath him.
“Zach,” she cried out, digging her nails into him as he suckled at one breast and then nibbled the nipple there, sending shocks through her. “Oh, Zach, don’t stop.”
He didn’t stop, simply moved to the other and continued his sweet torture. She could feel every slick, hard curve of his body as it moved against hers, and it felt so right to be so close, almost one.
His hand slipped between her legs, making her go once, twice, three times before he was satisfied, catching her cries with his lips, giving no release.
Then he moved between her legs. His tousled dark hair framed his face as he gazed up at her, looking like a hungry pirate.
He spread her as wide as she could go and began to lick fiercely, and she twisted her hands in her long hair.
Their first time together had been slow, languid, exploratory. This was claiming, conquering, intense.
He licked and thrust with his tongue, and she screamed out his name as she came in another intense orgasm, sweetness rippling through her.
But there was no time to be exhausted by his onslaught of pleasure, as he always kept pushing her toward another rising wave, whether she was ready to catch it or not.
His tongue and his hands would drive her right over, cresting into wall after wall of hot pleasure as her whole body seemed to melt all around her.
She gripped him hard around the neck, letting her nails dig into his shoulders. “Zach, Zach,” she cried out, egging him on, making him only more zealous in seeking her pleasure.
When she was trembling and exhausted, and he looked at her like he was about to go in again, she put a hand on his slick, muscled chest. “Wait,” she said. “I want you. Inside me. Seeing how good we are together. Why there is nothing to be worried about.”
He hesitated, tucking his hair behind his ears. He was beautiful, glowing from exertion, muscles tensed and swollen, a powerful warrior looking over her.
“Inside me,” she said breathlessly. “That’s where I want you.”
“Just wanted to make sure you were ready,” he said with a grin.
She scowled at him. “Wanted to make sure I was desperate, more likely.”
He grinned that pirate grin at her. “That works, too.”
She wiggled down toward him, and he positioned himself at her entrance. She grabbed for a condom and tore it open. He sighed and rolled it on impatiently and then slid himself deep inside her.
Her whole body groaned in relief at the feel of him. Deep. Whole. Stimulating. Even as tired as she felt, as worn out each nerve was from relentless pleasure, she could feel another part of her waking up, enervating with each stroke as he pulled out and plunged back in.
This is heaven, she thought as she twisted her hands into the sheets and met him with every thrust. Looking up at him, strong and focused on her pleasure, filling her in every possible way, keeping out the whole world so it could be them and them alone…
She didn’t think anything better could exist.
She could suddenly see a life after this. And it didn’t matter what it involved as long as it held nights like this, heated and loving, and quiet times watching movies and laughter. And Bo of course.
She could just imagine Zach holding him now.
Zach. As long as he was there, everything would be fine. She threw her arms around his shoulders as she came, bright lights exploding inside her as she screamed his name a final time. He jerked inside her, uttering her name over and over again in her ear as he found his own relief inside her.
They rode the wave together, and when it ebbed, he sank over her, murmuring words of love in her ear, his body trembling and heavy but very welcome still inside her.
When he finally pulled away reluctantly, he looked down at her in wonder. “You’re something amazing, you know that?”
Was she just imagining that she saw something sad in his eyes? Most of him looked glowy and sated. She stroked his soft hair, loving the feel of it.
Though she hadn’t known when he first walked into her life, she couldn’t have designed a more perfect man for her if she tried.
“I’m flattered,” he said. Then he raised his hands. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to read them. I’m just… really connected to you right now.” He got up and cleaned up in the bathroom and then came back to hold her.
He wrapped her in a warm blanket and trapped her against him as if she were his own special treasure. She could feel his hard warmth all around her.
“I love you, Erin,” he said. “More than life.”
She swallowed. “I love you, too.”
“I’ll never let anything happen to you.”
“I know,” she said.
“I’m going to make sure you’re always safe,” he said. “Do you trust me?”
“Of course.”
“And you’ll never be mad at me?” he asked.
“Why are you asking that?” she asked, trying to look back at him. But he held her tight.
“You’ll try to understand me?”
“Yes,” she said. “I mean, I can’t promise I’ll never be mad. But you know, I’ll try.” She rolled over to face him, staying in the circle of his arms but putting them nose to chin. “I’ll do my best.”
“I will too,” he said quietly.
“You’re acting odd.”
“I’ve never felt this way before,” he said. “It’s totally new.”
“For me, too,” she said. “Hot men don’t just waltz into
my life and sweep me off my feet.”
“Until me.” He finally grinned.
“Until you. I guess it takes a dragon to light my fire,” she teased.
He frowned for a second and then relaxed. It just reiterated to her there was some kind of emotion he was hiding.
“I wish I could read your mind,” she said.
“No, you don’t. It’s a mess in there. Dragons used to communicate through thought, so we didn’t keep secrets there. Now I find myself hiding everything.”
“You aren’t hiding anything from me, are you?” she asked vulnerably.
“I don’t know what to say to that,” he said, stroking a hand through her hair. “I can only say it’ll be okay in the end.”
She nodded, resting her head against his chest as he leaned onto his back.
“Sleep now, sweetheart. You deserve rest,” he said softly.
“Okay. But only because I get to wake up next to you,” she replied sleepily.
“I love you,” was his only reply.
It set off alarm bells in her head, but she brushed them aside as she slipped into pleasant dreams of making love to her dragon.
14
Ran and Draven,
Please take care of Erin. Seeing the danger she has been in the past few days and the viciousness still within me, I’m more and more sure I am not right for her, however much she could have been right for me. Seeing how modern dragons live makes me only more certain.
I leave her my ring so she’ll have a little part of me protecting her. It’s all I have.
I’m going back to sleep, where I belong.
More than even wondering if I can protect Erin adequately, I question if the dragon in me would be good for her once unleashed. There is an evil inside me that is not still living in dragons of your kind. She would be better off with some of those.
I am convinced she is a dragon heart. Please keep her safe until she finds what she needs.
This is painful for me, but I feel it is the right thing. If I were to mate Erin, the collar would come off, and who knows what is truly lurking beneath? It has been hundreds of years since I have seen it, and I’m not willing to risk her safety to find out.
I didn’t really know I had a heart inside all of this stone, but now I do, because it is breaking.
Onyx Dragon (Awakened Dragons Book 1) Page 10