He was a dragon in love and there was fuck all he could do, or wanted to do about it. He grabbed the menu sitting on the desk and picked up the phone. At least, he would have a full stomach before she told him to go to hell.
* * * *
With water as hot as she could get it without burning herself, Amber scrubbed her skin red, and then washed her hair twice. She wanted to get rid of the grim and imaginary cold she swore she could still feel. All the while, her mind tumbled over how to deal with her new and sudden love affair with one large, red dragon, and deal with the knowledge that dragons, demons and—for all she knew, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny—really did exist.
Yes, she was angry at Brimstone. The big brute slammed his way into her life and simply took over. The fact there was a paranormal world, and a dangerous one, didn’t settle well.
The powerful attraction, and his claim that she was his mate, confused her. Did fate really put them together, or was it something else? She sighed and turned off the water, wringing out her hair before snatching a towel off the vanity and running it over her damp skin.
Enough was enough. If he was really as stuck on her as he claimed, things needed to change. She wanted open and honest communication, she needed her questions answered, and not only for the sake of her stories.
What would become of her life if she let the relationship continue? She remembered the horrible feeling of emptiness when she was parted from him for those forever-long moments in a cold, dark place.
The only one with the answers still waited the other side of the door, but he could wait. She took her time with smoothing lotion on her body before dressing in a long, flowing, black skirt and a pale blue, summer, cotton blouse. She combed out her hair, knowing it would dry quickly in the Darwin warmth.
Opening the bathroom door, she found him pacing in front of it. He turned and she saw the worry in his jewelled red eyes, which were so beautiful. He no longer deemed it necessary to hide them from her.
Good.
He scanned her from head to toe as if searching out harm before glancing over her head into the bathroom, seeking out any possible enemy.
“I’m still here. No demon snatched me while having a shower.” Considering it only took a split second for her to be snatched in a public place, yet, she felt protected by Brimstone's watchful presence.
His gaze returned to her, softened and filled with admiration. “You’re so fucking beautiful.” His deep voice a mere whisper, in contrast to such a big man.
She smiled, accepting his compliment. He made her feel beautiful. “Thank you.”
“Are you…okay?” He reached out, his hand hovering, and then thought better of it and let it drop to his side. This was not like the Brimstone who railroaded himself into her life. The open vulnerability showed in his tense shoulders and concerned eyes.
“Physically, I’m fine; mentally, I’m not so sure.” This was true. With so many unanswered questions, she was unsure of what would happen to her if she let things continue.
“You can’t leave me!” he almost yelled. Ah, so there he was, the tactless dragon man she rapidly grew fond of. She schooled her face best, so she could hide her grin.
“I can’t? Why is that?” She folded her arms, refusing to be intimidated with him looming over her. “I’m not used to violence; I’ve lived a sheltered, normal, human life. What happened, wherever that place was, scared me. If life with you is going to be like this, why can’t I choose to walk away from it? Would you really stop me if I wanted to go?”
His large shoulders sagged. “No, baby, it’ll tear out my fucking heart, but I only want to make you happy. If you want to leave, I won’t stop you.”
She believed him, even with his possessive and dominant behaviour, he cared enough to let her walk away.
Brushing around him, she went and sat down at the set dining table, where a half dozen covered plates sat waiting.
“Did you order everything on the menu?”
“I didn’t know what you liked, so yes.”
“Sit down, Brim, please.”
He took the chair opposite, which groaned under his weight.
“I’m no good with words, Amber. I’m sorry, I failed to protect you. I let you get hurt. All I’ve ever known is how to fight and kill things. Being mated drives me crazy, and I’ve never wanted a woman more than I do you.”
Such a crestfallen expression made her heart ache. “I’m glad you do.”
He didn’t hear her and kept on rambling. “Mates are meant to be together, I’ll do anything for you baby, just don’t leave me.”
“I’m not going to leave.”
He blinked, finally hearing her words. “You’re not?”
“No. I want to see where this relationship, mating thing takes us, but you have to slow down. Yes, the sex is great, and I love the fact you’re a dragon, but we hardly know each other. I need to know exactly what I’m getting myself into.”
“So, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying, I want to get to know you better, and I want to know everything about you and your dragon life. I need to know what it’s going to entail being with you.”
“So, you’re not going to leave me?”
“Of course not, silly. Now, sit down and eat something. There’s no way I can eat all this by myself.” She lifted some of the lids off the tray.
He let out a long breath and the relief on his face made her grin widen.
“Thank the gods! Baby, I’m going to treat you good and fuck you so long and hard you’re never going to want to leave me.” For someone his size, he was remarkably agile and quick. She squealed as he plucked her from the chair into his arms, swinging her around.
“Put me down, you big lug.” She laughed, his joy infectious. “I’m hungry.”
“I’m hungry, too, baby.” His mouth was on her, sucking the air from her lungs and plundering her depths, making her head spin like only her sexy dragon could.
She loved the smoky flavour of his mouth, his tongue entwining with hers. Despite being scared of what dangers her future may hold now, she was with Brimstone, and at the same time, her heart thrummed with excitement for exactly the same reason.
Oxygen flooded back into her lungs when Brim released her mouth and started nipping kisses along the side of her jaw.
“Brimstone,” she said, trying to sound stern, but it was lost in her breathy moan with him finding a sensitive spot under her ear, making her sex flood with juices and her lower belly flutter in heightened arousal.
“Food first…then sex, please.”
He rumbled his disappointment and she giggled. Slowly, he slackened his arms and let her slide down his body.
“I think we need some rules.”
“Rules?” He blinked and his perplexed expression made her giggle more, so she placed her hand over her mouth to stop the laughter from becoming worse. He eyed her and a devious grin spread over his sensual lips, one she didn’t much like the look of.
“Rules, yes, I will take you to my den where I can keep you safe, and you will call me master.”
“Nice try, buster, but no.”
“Which part no, the moving into my den, or the calling me master?”
“Both. I’m not calling you master and I’m not ready to move anywhere, yet. You really have a den, or is it an expression to mean your bachelor pad?”
He snorted. “All dragons have dens, where else would we hide our treasure?”
“Treasure? What kind of treasure?”
The wicked, lustful gleam was back. “Yes, our most precious treasure. Our little mates.”
She rolled her eyes, but it didn’t stop the warm feeling spreading out from her heart through to the rest of her body.
“So, you going to tell me everything I want to know?”
She bit her lip when he looked more like a little boy than a seven foot, warrior, dragon man. “I don’t know where the fuck to start.”
“Start with why you and Slade came to the—w
hat did you say?—Human Realm, and then you can tell me about what a mate is to a dragon.”
He nodded, his large head tilting to the side before retook his seat.
“Eat. I’ll talk.” Her stomach rumbled in hunger, so she let the barked command slide. She picked up her fork and tucked into delicious food.
“For thousands of years, dragons have always thought humans were dangerous, so we used to exile our criminals, the ones we didn’t execute, to the Human Realm.”
Amber’s fork hovered on her second bite, and she forced the food into her mouth, so as to not voice the sudden questions popping into her head.
“But that all changed when we exiled the Captain of the King's Guard for a crime we later found he was innocent of. The King discovered things were not quite as we always assumed them to be. The King’s Commander found his true mate, a human female. He also found dragons are no longer hunted and killed as they were a few hundred years ago.”
Amber swallowed and couldn’t help asking, “How long do dragons live?”
Brim shrugged, lifting another plate to reveal a juicy large steak, still rather rare from the blood oozing out if it. “Seven hundred years or so.”
It was a good thing, she didn’t have food or drink in her mouth, or Brimstone would have been wearing it. She forced herself to breathe. “How old are you?”
“Three hundred and twenty.”
“So, you’re middle aged for a dragon.”
He grinned and grabbed a knife, slicing the steak in half. “Compared to humans, yes. As my mate, you now share what’s left of my lifespan.”
Food lodged in her throat, she stared coughing. Brim was quick to move around and pat her on the back.
“You wanted to hear this,” he rumbled. “No more eating till I’m done talking.”
She nodded fast, but slowly inhaled again as the food slid down properly. Her mind still struggled to come to terms with her life span of a few hundred years.
He withdrew his hand and she keenly felt the loss of his heat.
“So, you found we’re not as dangerous as you thought,” she managed to prompt after a few moments under his close scrutiny.
“Dragons came to the King wanting access to the realm portal. They, too, wanted to come across and find human females for mates.”
“Why? Don’t you have dragon, uh, women?”
“Dragon females are rare and our race is dying out. If we can’t find suitable mates, we will become extinct within a few thousand years.”
Her heart went out for them. “I’m sorry.” Food forgotten, she reached across the table to hold his hand. Still the tremors of when they first touched raced through her. He gripped her hand, pulling her up and around the table, onto his lap, wrapping her in the security of his arms. She softened against his harder body, loving the way he made her feel so petite and delicate.
“A discussion was held in the King’s room about what we should do. Some dragons don’t want humans and dragons interbreeding. Slade and his big mouth stepped forward with the idea information should be gathered on humans and brought before the King.”
“Let me guess, you didn’t want to come, but Slade volunteered you anyway.”
“Fuck, you are perceptive.”
She laughed. “Not really. You’re a big, fighting dragon, and I love that about you, by the way, but I think anyone with half a brain, who has met you and Slade could figure it out.”
A laugh rumbled from his chest, delighting her senses.
“So, you’re on an intelligence mission. Learning about human women right?”
“I love that you’re so smart, baby.”
“I think the answer to your mission is to take a willing, human woman back to your realm and let them tell you everything about us.”
“I didn’t think of that.”
“Okay, so that’s why you’re here. Now, tell me about this true mates thing.”
His arms tightened around her. “The old dragon legends say when dragons were created, they were created less than whole. The first dragon cried and begged for a mate to complete his lost half. So, the gods created a female so perfect, it filled him with overflowing love. The gods took the overflow and scattered it through all of time, so every dragon hatched could have a chance of finding the other half of their soul, their one true, dragon mate. As we have been discovering, it is not only dragons who have been given the other part of their souls. I found mine in you.”
The adoration in his gaze made her pulse quicken as his words slowly sank into her overwhelmed brain. He couldn’t love her after such a short time, or she him, could she? She felt something for Brimstone, a powerful sexual attraction, lust—but love?
She was never in love with her ex-boyfriend; this much was clear. He had been company against her fear of being alone, but from the research for her books, she often discovered myth and legend came from a solid, factual source. Her hand trembled when she reached up and touched his face.
“That is beautiful.”
“It’s what I felt when I first touched you. My dragon knows without a doubt who you are, and what you’re meant to be. I see now humans don’t have the same internal instincts we do.”
“I felt a powerful pull towards you which confused, frightened and excited me.”
“Slade’s right, you’re too curious to run away from your fear.”
He was spot on. She grinned. “Smart dragon.”
He grunted and her smile widened. “Yes, have I satisfied your curiosity enough for now?”
“Yes.”
“Good, because I want to fuck you so fucking bad it hurts.”
He twisted her in his lap, so her legs straddled his.
“Well, I can’t let you suffer, can I?”
She reached between their bodies, easily finding the straining bulge in his crotch.
He hissed at the press of her hand, and she felt powerful that her slightest touch affected him so. “Touch me and it’ll be over before we start.”
She laughed at the challenge. “With your stamina, I doubt it.” She let him go and curled her fingers into the fabric of his t-shirt, deciding to take a leaf out of his book. “Enough talk, make love to me, my dragon hero.” She kissed him.
A growl emanated from his chest, and he quickly took control, gripping the back of her head, their tongues tangled. As their passion mounted she heard fabric tear in his haste to render her naked. He cupped her breast as his lips travelled downward.
A creaking and a sudden snap plummeted them both to the floor, the chair broken under them. She squealed in shock, Brim cursed and she shrieked with laughter.
“Need a fucking bed,” he rumbled, keeping her in his arms and using his strength to lift her into the air from his sprawled position on the floor. He ran to the bed, depositing her none too gently on top. He stripped with lightning speed and his weight came down on top, pinning her to the bed.
“Mine!” he snarled, gripping her wrists and latching onto her right breast with his mouth.
Her body arched. God, how she loved this rough and tumble Brimstone. She froze at the thought. He sensed her sudden change in mood and paused, lifting his head.
“What’s wrong?”
She swallowed and met his gaze. Fuck it. In for a penny, in for a pound. “I think, I love you.”
He frowned, studying her face, and her stomach fluttered with worry. Didn’t he welcome the news, even after everything he told her?
“You think you love me?”
Damn it, like it or not, she couldn’t deny what was in her heart. “I do love you.”
He lowered his head and swiped his tongue over her nipple, which hardened to a point of pain, making her gasp.
“Say it again.” The vibration of his voice on her skin sent shivers through her body.
She blinked, but complied. “I love you, Brimstone the Crusher.”
He licked at her skin, working his way up her throat which she arched back, baring it to him in surrender. He nipped then sucked at w
here he bit her a few hours earlier in the waterhole.
“I love you.”
He spread her thighs wide with his legs. She moaned loudly while he pushed his hard length into her in one stroke, filling her
“This is forever, baby, you and I. No 'maybe' or 'let’s see' shit. You are mine! Say it.”
He pulled almost all the way out and pushed back in. Her eyes rolled back in the pure bliss of the friction he caused within her.
“Yours!” The word burst out. “Oh, god, Brim, I’m yours.”
His rumble of satisfaction would have made her laugh if not for his steady pumping, forcing her to take every long inch of him, hitting all the right spots. She utterly loved it.
Bliss rocked her body, and she shook with the force of her climax, her scream filling the air. Hazily, she knew from experience, he was far from finished, and as far as she was concerned, neither was she. She knew she would never get enough of her big, red dragon.
Chapter 9
It was a good thing the demons Breylla sent on the kill mission died, or she would have finished the job herself for their failure. Anger bubbled in her like an overheated caldron. Breylla drew in a deep breath, knowing outbursts of rage didn’t help the situation.
But, the same couldn’t be said for her current dragon ally, whose mottled, red face could light up the darkness of hell as he roared.
“You sent incompetent fools after them! If the King finds out about this arrangement, we’re all dead!” he bellowed inches from her face. She snapped her fingers, and two of her demon guards marched forward, grabbing the angry dragon, yanking him back.
“It does not matter. Half my army is now on the other side of the portal. Anyone who dares go through from either side will be overwhelmed. The two dragons are insignificant.”
Her guards let him go as soon as he was enough distance away. “Insignificant enough to kill eight of your best fighting demons! I’m warning you, if you don’t dispose of them, they will bring trouble.”
She scowled, knowing Javir may have a point. Her gaze swung to the silent, ex-human, sitting silently by the right wall of her throne room.
“Marcus, approach.” The human she plucked from the realm and killed, only to reanimate with demon blood, obeyed. He was now her little, human puppet. She chose him for the wealth and power he held and, with his ambition for immortality and power, it was easy to bend his mind to her will.
Dragon Down Under: Her Dragon Hero Page 8