Dragon Down Under: Her Dragon Hero

by Angela Castle

  “I can pay my way.” Slade pulled out a wallet stuffed with cash, handing over a few hundred dollar notes before the driver could protest.

  “Right this way.” The driver stepped back, waving them towards the bus. “It may be a good idea if, uh, Mr. Brimstone sat at the back with his, uh, long legs, he'd be more comfortable.”

  “Thank you.” Amber boarded and the bus and the chattering tourists fell into a hush of quiet when she felt the presence of Brimstone close behind her. She stifled a giggle, glancing over her shoulder. He looked so uncomfortable; his huge frame made the bus look like a sardine tin.

  None too gently, he pushed her into the corner seat, taking the one in the middle, caging her in. She opened her mouth to take him to task on his pushiness, but he leaned in, grabbed the back of her neck and kissed her hard on the mouth. She groaned, her fingers curling around his rock hard bicep, her body melting against his, totally forgetting why she was annoyed in the first place.

  He pulled back and she opened her eyes, her lips tingling and her body throbbing. Despite still being sore from last night’s sex marathon, she wanted him again. What was it about Brimstone which flipped every switch she owned?

  “I missed you,” he rumbled softly, his lips against her forehead.

  She frowned in concern. “It’s only been two hours. Should I worry about how clingy you’re getting? We’ve only had one night together; what happens when we end? You’re not going to turn into some crazed stalker with super soldier training are you?”

  “We’re not.”

  “Not what?” She arched her eyebrow.

  “Going to end.”

  “We aren’t?

  “No.”

  “Oh.” Amber frowned, unsure of how to come back to that one. “Look, you’re a nice guy and all, but I don’t think—”

  Laughter from the other side of Brimstone made her lean over to see Slade almost rolling in his seat. “Brim? Nice guy?” Slade continued to laugh hysterically.

  “Shut up,” Brim warned his friend, following up with a low growl.

  “I really like her, she’s funny and sexy.”

  “If you like to keep your teeth inside your mouth, shut it, Slade.”

  “Ohhh…” Slade drew in a deep breath. “Thanks for the laugh.”

  “Um, you’re welcome, he's such a sweet talker.” Amber shook her head, setting Slade off into another round of hysterical laughter.

  Amber decided to quit while she was ahead. She would come back to the topic of Brimstone’s possessive behaviour later, after the tour.

  “Anyway, I’m glad you got my note. We can spend this time getting to know each other.”

  “There will be no more notes.”

  “There won’t?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?” Amber head spun with a sudden deja-vu.

  “Next time, you aren’t leaving.”

  “Ooh-kaay. There’s going to be a next time?” She was thrilled with the knowledge he still wanted her, but scared at the prospect of another go with the sex machine. Her body may not survive. Then again, it was a hell of a way to go—death from too much, fantastic sex. Was there even such a thing?

  “Baby, if you hadn’t already left this morning, we’d still be back in the hotel room, and I would still be fuck—”

  She leapt up, slapping her hand over his mouth and glancing down the bus at the other passengers, looking back at them.

  “This is not the place to discuss such things,” she hissed, her face flushing redder than a stop light.

  Slade’s amused chuckle made her lean forward. “Just full of wonderful tact, isn’t he?”

  Brimstone nipped at her fingers. She yelped and pulled back her hand, glaring at him. His deep chuckle sent chills through her.

  Amber leaned forward to ask Slade, “Does he always growl like that?”

  “Brimstone has a language all of his own, but it’s not too hard to understand. We don’t let him out much in social settings, but he is one, as they say, bad-ass fighter.”

  Amber was intrigued to learn more about the big man who swept her off her feet and rocked her world last night. “You’ve been friends a long time?”

  “We went through training together and many a mission. He’s saved my golden rear more often than I care to count.”

  “Because you can’t keep your mouth shut, or your dick in your pants,” Brimstone added, folding his arms, making his biceps bulge.

  Slade sighed dramatically. “So many beauties and so little time.”

  Amber chuckled. “I know your type, Mr. Slade. You’ve got all the looks, but you’re definitely a no-touch.”

  Brimstone's laugh startled not only her, but also their fellow passengers, whose faces paled considerably at the sound. The bus driver navigated them out onto the Darwin freeways, heading out of the city.

  “A no-touch? I’m wounded.” Slade’s toothpaste white smile told her he was highly amused at her statement. “I enjoy it immensely when I—and they—get to touch.”

  “And break every poor woman’s heart in the process.”

  “We can’t all be as lucky as my friend here.” Slade nudged Brimstone. “He’s always been more interested in killing things than women…well, 'til now. You, my new friend, are special to catch his interest.”

  Mischief sparkled in Slade’s pale brown, almost golden eyes. Amber glanced at Brimstone questioningly.

  “So where is this bus taking us?” Brim interrupted, when she would have opened her mouth to ask more questions.

  With a sigh, she let it pass and answered, “We’re going to see Litchfield National Park. I read there are huge termite mounds and waterfalls to swim under.”

  “Sounds very romantic, does it not Brim?" Slade’s gaze swept over the choice of more mature women on the bus with their husbands and friends. "Will there be any younger females in these places?”

  “Who knows, there are lots of tourists in these parts. You may get lucky.”

  She giggled at the thought of him trying his luck with the ladies, who were glancing back in his direction.

  “So, sweet Amber, how did you meet my good friend here?”

  Brimstone threw his arm around her shoulder in a possessive move. She liked it and relaxed, leaning forward a little in her seat to talk to Slade.

  “He rescued me from my asshole of an ex-boyfriend last night. Wayne didn’t take me breaking up with him too well.”

  “I should have re-arranged his head, so it fit on backwards,” rumbled Brimstone.

  “He’s so sweet and bloodthirsty.” She grinned up at him.

  “Is that what you meant when you said hero?” Slade raised an eyebrow, also leaning over the large man.

  “Oh, no…well yes, there’s a bit more to it than that.” Amber felt her cheeks redden again.

  “Amber’s a writer,” Brimstone answered for her. “Romantic fiction.”

  “How delightful, romance stories. I’ve been learning about them, but there is so much I still don’t know about humans. I’m hoping you will help teach us.”

  Amber laughed, “What, are you two aliens or something?” She assumed Slade was joking.

  “No, of course not! Didn’t Brimstone tell you?” Slade stretched his long legs out.

  “Slade...”

  Amber caught Brimstone’s warning tone and felt the tension rolling off her lover.

  Curious, Amber leaned further over. “What’s he supposed to tell me?”

  “We’re dragons, sweet.” Slade’s matter-of-fact statement made her blink before she laughed.

  “You’re a funny man, Mr. Slade, but…hmm, dragons...I like the thought.” Her imagination fired to life, and fingers itched to start writing as daydreams, plots and stories of dragons and men who turned into dragons filled her head. “That’s also brilliant. Both of you are wonderful muses!” She jumped up and kissed Brimstone on the cheek, leaving both men with stunned expressions.

  “I’m never letting you two go!” She scrambled around in
her tote bag for her pen and paper, flipping open her notebook, everything around her fading from her consciousness as she started to write.

  * * * *

  She fell asleep on his shoulder. Feeling more than a little smug that it was he who had kept her awake for the most of last night, Brim pulled his little mate into a more comfortable position and even when unconscious, she trustingly burrowed into him. Slade eyed them before reaching out and gently pulling the notebook from her bag. She had been lost to them inside her head, writing madly in it for almost an hour.

  “Don’t.” Brim warned as Slade flipped the book open, his eyes skimming over the content within.

  “Why not, aren’t you curious?” Slade asked without pausing.

  Brim couldn’t deny it.

  Slade was quiet for a long moment as he flipped through page after page. A wide smile spread over his face. Brimstone couldn’t stand it any longer and growled at his friend.

  “What does it say?”

  “She has quite the imagination. I must say, for humans who know nothing about the supernatural world, they are fascinated by it. These...”—Slade tapped the book with his finger—“…are her fantasies. Looks like you really are her hero, and are out to save the maiden from an evil demon bent on taking over the world. Oh, and you’re going to love this part. There is a lot of full, descriptive fucking. Did you really take her from behind while—”

  Brimstone snatched the book from Slade’s grasp. “Hey, I didn’t finish reading it!”

  “The fuck you have.” He opened to a page where she wrote a description of him and the sexual positions he took her last night.

  “Calm down, my friend. Your growling is frightening the whole bus,” Slade warned, a smile on his face as he nodded towards the humans who were eyeing them warily.

  “The more I learn about this modern, human world the more I like it—sexually liberated females eager to embrace new ways of thinking. There are none of the old superstitions. Dragons and other outer realm, along with lower realm creatures are reduced to myths and the imaginations of women, such as your mate. Mind you, I like your mate’s imaginings most of all.”

  “Slade,” said Brimstone, lowering his voice to just above a whisper, but nonetheless deadly in tone. “I wonder how much female attention you would attract without teeth.”

  Slade shrugged, not in the least bit intimidated. “She didn’t believe me when I told her we were dragons. So, the question remains, how would humans really react if one of us suddenly changed to their beastly side?”

  “It would scare them. From what I’ve seen, humans have not changed much in the way they fear what they don’t understand, and it makes them do foolish things.”

  Slade frowned. “That doesn’t help our case with the King.”

  “You, my friend, dragged me to this realm,” Brim pointed out. “You need to come up with something to tell the King.”

  “Ah, yes, but would you have met your mate, if I didn’t bring you here? This development helps our case by the fact another dragon has found his true mate in a human female.”

  Brim grunted, acknowledging Slade’s part in helping him find his feisty, little mate. However, at the same time, he wanted to plant his fist in his smug smile. Friends did have their advantages, even if they annoyed the fuck out of him at times.

  Brim closed Amber's notebook and slipped it back into her bag. He needed to talk to his little mate about the content of her stories. He didn’t want to stop her doing something she loved, but he also didn’t want her doing anything which attracted male attention other than his own. She was his responsibility.

  “What, by demon’s blood, is that?”

  Slade stared out the window while the bus pulled off the freeway, heading towards a large building with a huge, obviously fake crocodile on the roof.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first stop of our day trip—jumping crocodiles,” the bus driver announced over the speaker system.

  “Crocodile jumping.” Amber opened her eyes, sat up, and yawned. Brimstone's cock, already hard, throbbed at the sight of her soft, sleepy blue eyes. All he wanted to do was drag her off and fuck her again, this time properly, until she couldn’t walk away from him at all.

  “Why, on this earth would a crocodile jump? They are mindless scavengers.”

  “Because it entertains the tourists. It's the thrill of being close to a dangerous reptile without the risks involved, and people need to make a living.” Amber stretched her neck from side to side.

  The bus rolled to a stop and the door opened. Their fellow passengers gathered their bags, quickly exiting the bus.

  “I have noticed money is a large motivator of many things. Are human lives so dull they need to seek out dangers such as this?”

  Slade stood up, following the other passengers out of the bus. Amber shrugged, staring after him. “He still thinks he’s a dragon.”

  Brim waited until the last human stepped from the bus before speaking. “Amber, we are dragons, but what is more important is you.”

  Her forehead scrunched as she glanced up at him. “Me? What about me?”

  “You’re a dragon mate, and mine.”

  Her eyes rolled, snorting her disbelief. “You’ve been reading my notes, haven’t you? You’re just playing into my fantasies, being my dragon hero.”

  Brimstone turned and smiled. He took her hand and tugged her along after him. “You’ll see. As for your stories, we’ll talk about the nature of those later.”

  He hoped she didn’t rip his balls off when he showed her the truth—her fantasies were closer to reality than she realised.

  Chapter 6

  So what, if he was a seven foot, muscled sex god, the man and his pretty friend were clearly crazy. She knew the difference between fantasy and reality even if she did indulge in fantasy with her stories. Brimstone was so unlike anything she ever encountered in the male population, notwithstanding she had much experience past her own and the ton of research on the male mind.

  They were herded into boats and taken out on the muddy, Adelaide River to see some of the crocodiles. Brimstone and Slade took it all in their stride, apart from Brimstone acting like superglue. At each stop, he would hold her hand, or have his arm around her hip as they viewed large termite mounds, many of them looking like tall, grey tombstones, all facing north in the Northern Territory sunlight.

  He never missed an opportunity to touch, or stroke any part of her body, keeping her on the edge of her arousal. Her nipples were tight and hard, and she swore her panties were soaked through. She knew the smug bastard was well aware of what he was doing.

  Thankfully, when they reached the lunchtime stop, the Wangi waterfall and swimming hole, she managed to break away from him, heading into the ladies' bathrooms to change into a swimsuit.

  “I’ll meet you down by the water.”

  Brim grunted and tried to follow her into the change room. Thank goodness, Slade managed to tug him away, insisting they needed to change, too.

  She was eager to swim in the cool water, not because of the climbing midday heat, but to help her overheated skin. Brimstone and Slade looked right at home in the dry heat, soaking it in like sexy sponges.

  Her chest heaved in a sigh of relief when she exited the bathroom. Glancing around, she didn’t see the men anywhere. She walked down the long path to the garden area beside the falls. The garden was lush with greenery and sparkling water. The falls roared immediately beyond the pool, which was the size of a large football field. Other tourists milled around, in and out of the inviting water.

  She set down her bag, spread out her towel, and slipped off her sundress, and then sat down, waiting for the men.

  Several teenage girls sitting nearby started giggling, their gazes drawn up the path. Amber turned to see what they gawked at, and her mouth fell open. Oh. My. God.

  Despite touching, licking, and kissing Brimstone’s amazing body, feeling every dip and hollow of his tight lines and strong muscles, the room wa
s dark, and she had never actually seen him naked. Well, he wasn’t naked now. Black trunks covered the wonderful cock which brought her so much pleasure, but...

  His bronzed skin almost gleamed in the bright sun. Every large, sleek, masculine line of both Brimstone and, walking next to him, Slade with a towel hung over his shoulder, screamed utter perfection, but what drew her attention was the equally huge tattoo of a red dragon with gleaming jewelled eyes and black mane wrapped around his upper torso. Slade had a similar tattoo, except his dragon was a shiny gold with golden hair matching Slade’s own.

  Amber lost her ability to breathe while the magnificent specimens of male perfection approached, Brimstone with his usual scowl, looking none too happy. Amber stumbled to her feet and Brimstone's heated gaze ran down her pudgy length, taking in her two piece swim suit in red and black, which she wore to help hide her unseemly bulges, in an attempt to flatter her shape.

  Forget form-fitting, flattering clothes in an attempt to look nice, Brimstone’s hungry look made her feel more sexy and desired than anything, or anyone ever did.

  Slade whistled, snapping her attention away from her larger-than-life man. “Amber sweet, you are smokin’! Don’t you agree, Brim?”

  He nudged his friend.

  Brim’s growly 'she’s mine' sent renewed erotic shivers down her spine, and made her roll her eyes at the same time.

  She cleared her throat, trying to get herself back into a reasonable headspace, rather than a, I wanna jump his seven foot bones thoughts.

  “Is this what you meant when you said you were dragons?”

  Brimstone crowded in close. She wanted to touch the tattoo on his chest, which looked even larger up close, pulsing and shimmering on top of his skin.

  Her hand hesitated, but Brim, sensing her uncertainty, took her hand and laid it on top of the dragon’s head, which lay over his left side and his heart.

  The heat of his skin always amazed her.

  “I am my dragon, and he is me; we are one, and you are ours.” Brimstone stated as if it were fact.

  Amber scowled. There was something off about this whole thing. First, Brimstone coming on strong, sweeping her off her feet, and sexing her up. Then, meeting golden boy Slade, both of them playing into her writing fantasies. Things like this didn’t really happen, not to her at any rate.