Gena fell into step beside him. “I've only just met your family, but from what I see and sense...” She gave him a long, thoughtful look. “They care and worry for you. When you returned to the castle with us, they all came rushing out to meet you. Lester was in the garden, trying to busy himself with his plants, but he was really waiting for you. And Simone came running out as fast as she could. I saw how worried they were. There is a lot of love here, Kieron. They’re your family. I don't think they want you to repay them at all. They...they remind me of my parents. My parents adopted me and raised me, but they didn’t want me to feel indebted to them. They just wanted me to be happy, truly happy...”
Kieron sighed. “I don't deserve...”
“...to be happy?” Gena scoffed. “That's what Alex thinks as well. He torments himself with his guilt. He thinks he caused Joe's death and he refuses to forgive himself. Like you, he thinks that he’s to blame for all the bad things that have happened. You and Alex, you guys think that you could have prevented the tragedy and saved the one you love. Well, you're wrong. Both of you are wrong. There's nothing you could have done to stop it. It's not your fault at all,” Gena said firmly.
Kieron didn't reply. He stood in front of a door and put his hand on the door knob. “This is your room,” he said without looking at her.
He flicked on the lights and Gena gasped when she entered the room. It looked like a deluxe hotel suite, with its opulent furnishings and beautiful curtains. There was a four-poster bed in the middle of the room and a sprawling attached bathroom.
“Oh my God!” she exclaimed. “This...this is just...”
Kieron stood by the door and watched her run her fingers over the soft satin sheets on the bed. “Are all the guest rooms in the castle this grand?” she asked, looking around in disbelief.
He lifted his broad shoulders in a shrug. “There are only two rooms on this floor. My room is just across the hallway.” He glanced down her body and jerked his head at the bathroom. “You may want to wash all that blood, grime and soot off you. I'll go get the clothes from Simone.”
Gena managed to thank him quickly before he slipped out of the room.
She went to the bathroom and switched on the light. She grimaced when she saw her reflection. Her dark hair was tangled and matted and she was covered in dried blood, mud and dirt.
Just the sight of the black soot and dried blood on her skin and clothes made her relive her ordeal all over again. Vivid, harrowing images of the fire and the savage attack flashed through her mind.
Argh, she needed to get the stains and stench of this horrible night off her right now!
Gena stripped quickly and stepped under the shower. She turned on the water at full blast, scrubbing away the ugly marks of vengeance and violence. As the soap and water sluiced down her body, Gena stared at the fading bite mark on her hand and realized that when she healed Alex, she’d healed her own injuries as well.
Gena lifted her hands and turned them around.
There was no denying what she had done. She had healed her friend, and herself.
Where did her healing powers come from?
She had been brought up as a human girl, by loving human parents. But—was she human?
Gena had heard of paranormals coming into their powers only when they reached adulthood or sometimes, much much later. Some powers were triggered by a specific event or emotion.
She didn’t know what had triggered her powers. The fire? Her escalating fear and anger?
But more importantly, what exactly was she?
Was she human or paranormal?
There were both human and paranormal healers. Doctors were healers. Some psychics and shamans were healers. Then there were the witches, sorceresses...
The knock on her bathroom door made her jump.
“Your clothes are on the bed,” Kieron said through the door.
She could hear him stepping away and the thought that he was leaving sent a sudden, irrational stab of panic through her.
“Don't go!” Gena cried out. “Please...”
There was a long silence. “I'm here. I'm right here, Gena,” Kieron said quietly.
Snapping the water off, she wrapped the towel around herself hurriedly and flung the door open. She didn’t want him to leave.
Kieron was standing by the bed, and he turned immediately. His blue eyes trailed down her body, and Gena’s breath hitched.
She was suddenly aware that she was alone in the room with a hot, hunky, hot-blooded male. And she was practically naked, wearing nothing but a bath towel.
Kieron's eyes blazed as they moved from her face to her smooth, wet shoulders and down her bare legs. Gena swallowed and moved towards the bed, intending to reach for the neat pile of clothes.
That was her intention. To clothe herself. That was what her mind said to do.
But her body decided to ignore her mind and go for what it wanted.
Not the clothes.
The man.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Gena's treacherous, grabby hands reached for Kieron, and before she knew it, she was pressed flushed against him. She gasped and held on to his broad shoulders.
Kieron had moved even faster than her. As she moved towards him, probably with her lustful intentions written all over her face, he had caught her around the waist and pulled her to him. He locked his arms around her before she could stagger back.
“Gena,” he growled.
The growl brought out the animal in her. Not literally. She was pretty sure she wasn’t a shifter. But it made her want to do all kinds of naughty things to him, just to hear that growl again. That hot, feral, possessive growl.
On impulse, she reached up and kissed his stubbled jaw. She was aiming for his cheek, but he was too tall.
Kieron tensed and his blue eyes glowed suddenly. Gena let out a small whimper as Kieron stared at her with undisguised want and hunger.
Her knees suddenly felt weak and her body seemed to be melting against his. She could feel his hard muscles throbbing and tensing as he held her. He was so much taller than her but her soft, feminine curves seemed to fit perfectly against the solid planes and angles of his large, powerful body.
An inferno seemed to be raging within him and his skin was feverishly hot to the touch.
“Kieron,” she whispered.
Kieron dipped his head and held his lips just a breath away from hers. For a timeless moment, he stared into her eyes, waiting, watching. He was waiting for her to push him away, watching her face for the slightest trace of fear.
Gena knew that she just had to whisper the word “no”, and he would release her. But she didn't want him to let her go.
She didn’t want to be alone tonight.
She clung desperately to Kieron, silently begging him to stay. She pressed her lips to his, and the glow burned brighter, hotter, fiercer in his eyes.
Kieron growled and crushed his mouth over hers. He kissed her hungrily, deeply. His tongue swept across the seam of her mouth, and Gena parted her lips for him. When Kieron slid his tongue into her mouth, Gena let out a soft moan.
Kieron held her tighter as he devoured her mouth, teasing and tasting her. His kiss, his touch, his scent was driving her wild.
Gena dug her nails into his shoulders, clawing at his t-shirt, wanting to feel his bare skin against hers.
When Kieron cupped his hand over her breast, Gena cried out and arched her back. Her nipples were erect and aching, pushing and rubbing against her towel.
She groaned and writhed against him, increasing the maddening, delicious friction between their bodies.
The ache between her legs was becoming unbearable, and Gena could feel the juices seeping from her pussy. Her entire body was trembling, quivering with need. She needed more. She needed Kieron to release the pressure that was building up inside her.
She wanted him. She wanted only him.
Her angel. Her hero.
With a jolt, she realized that her power manifest
ed itself only after Kieron burst into her life. Kieron was the trigger. It wasn’t Alex and it wasn’t the wolves. She knew that without a doubt.
He was the one. Kieron was the one who had unleashed and unlocked her power.
The key to her power.
Kieron was someone very special to her. He saved her, and he held the key to her past and her heart.
They were connected somehow. Their past, their future and their fates were linked.
Gena knew that for many paranormals, the mate bond was a source of strength, inspiration and power. For some paranormals, their powers manifested only after they’d found their mates.
She could feel Kieron’s heart beating in time to hers. Their destinies seemed intricately, irrevocably entwined. Kieron lived miles away from Thunder Creek, yet he had come to her when she needed him most. It was almost as if he was meant to save her.
Were they meant to save each other?
Could Kieron be...her mate?
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Kieron never stopped kissing Gena as he walked her backwards. His restraint was formidable, considering that she was wearing only that damn towel!
But he wanted to spread her on the bed and unwrap her slowly. She was a gift, a precious, beautiful gift.
When the back of her knees hit the bed, she gasped and tried to pull away from him. But Kieron held her tight and tumbled her onto the mattress. He didn't want to stop kissing her, touching her, feeling her warmth and her hot breaths against his skin.
Trailing his lips down her neck, Kieron slowly unwrapped the towel from her body.
He literally forgot to breathe when he saw her beautiful, naked body. Every inch of her was so soft and perfect. He couldn’t wait any longer. He had to touch and taste her.
With a growl, he lowered his mouth to her body and kissed her dewy skin. His lips trailed over the swells of her breasts, moving torturously towards the pebbled peaks. When he flicked her nipple with his tongue, Gena whimpered and speared her fingers through his hair. She held him to her, silently begging him to take more.
He rolled her nipple between his teeth, increasing the pressure until she began to pant. Then he licked and sucked her aching nipple, soothing the pain and making her sigh and moan with pleasure.
Kieron licked his lips as he spread her legs and stared at her pink, wet pussy. Hungrily, he laved his tongue down her soft, quivering folds and his eyes closed in ecstasy. She tasted so delicious, so exquisite.
Greedily, Kieron swallowed every drop of her sticky juices and pushed his tongue into her slit. He wanted more, needed more.
Gena whimpered as Kieron thrust into her, fucking her hard with his tongue. He kept sliding in and out of her body, tasting and devouring her thoroughly.
Crying out, Gena pushed her nails into the sheets, her body shaking as she teetered on the brink of an orgasm.
Kieron pulled out of her and began to torment her swollen clit with his tongue and teeth. He circled her hard, sensitive nub with the tip of his tongue, before closing his lips over it and sucking it. He sucked harder, pushing her closer and closer to the edge.
When he thrust his tongue into her again, Gena came with a cry. Her juices squirted into his mouth, and he drank every drop of her nectar.
Her taste and scent was so exquisite and intoxicating. He was hard as a rock, and his dragon was going crazy. The beast was thrashing in anger and agony, wanting to claw its way out of his body. His dragon wanted to mount the female and fuck her senseless.
But Kieron wanted to explore every inch of Gena’s beautiful body. He wanted to make her come again and again, and hear her moans and screams of pleasure.
Growling, he flipped her over on her belly and lifted her hips. Gena gasped and shivered as he kissed down her spine slowly. He worked his way up again, until his mouth was at her shoulder. He pushed her dark hair aside to expose her nape, and was about to press his lips to the base of her slender neck when he saw it.
Kieron froze.
His eyes kept widening as he stared at the mark at the back of her neck.
That mark.
Gena had that mark.
It was the mark of evil!
All those terrifying, blood-soaked images from his past came screaming into his mind. Kieron saw that dungeon again. He saw the face of that evil sorceress. He heard Vanora’s cruel laughter and his brother’s screams of agony. The blood, the screams, the torture...all his nightmares crashed down on him and dragged him under.
He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t see.
He thought he had escaped from his past.
But his past was right here!
Staring him in the face.
His enemy was here!
Kieron’s claws stabbed out, and he had to shove himself off the bed so he wouldn’t touch and hurt Gena.
Why? Why!
Why did she have that mark?
“You...” he snarled, his fangs lengthening. “It’s you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Gena scrambled away from him and grabbed a pillow to cover herself.
“Kieron,” she whispered. She looked shocked, confused and hurt. “What’s wrong? Why...” Why did you push me away? “Talk to me Kieron. Tell me what’s wrong.”
What’s wrong?
What’s wrong!
Kieron almost laughed at the irony, at the horrible, cruel joke that fate had just played on him.
It was a joke. It had to be.
Kieron stood at the foot of the bed, his eyes glowing with the rage and pain of his beast. He roared and slammed a hand against the bedpost.
It couldn’t be. This was...wrong. Everything was wrong! He thought he had found the perfect woman, the one female meant for him. But Gena couldn’t be more wrong for him.
“That mark,” Kieron said through tightly clenched teeth. The veins at the side of his neck were bulging and throbbing, and Gena shrank back at the sight of his deadly fangs and claws. “You have the mark.”
Gena immediately raised her hand to her nape. She knew what he was talking about.
“I...I was born with the mark,” Gena stammered. “My parents thought it was a tattoo. They thought that maybe it was my birth mother’s way of marking me, so that she could identify me later...but she never came for me.”
“Who are your parents?” Kieron said, his claws elongating dangerously. Scales shimmered on his muscular arms. His rage was pulling his dragon to the surface.
“Robert and Emily Martin,” she answered at once.
“No,” he snarled. “They’re not your parents.”
Gena’s eyes flashed with anger and defiance. “They are my parents,” she answered, her voice rising. “They adopted me and brought me up to be the person I am. From the day they found me, they have protected me and loved me. I am their daughter, and they are my parents. Forever!”
“Who birthed you?” he demanded.
At that, Gena’s face hardened. She balled her fists and snapped, “A heartless woman.”
“Her name,” Kieron said, advancing towards her. “What was her name.”
Gena’s violet eyes blazed. “I don’t know her name. I don’t know what she looked like, and who she was. I don’t know who birthed me, and I don’t care! Whoever she was, she didn’t want me. She didn’t want me to live! She gave birth to me, and she abandoned me. She wasn’t my mother!”
Her eyes filled suddenly but she refused to let her tears fall. “She didn’t even leave me somewhere safe,” she whispered. “She didn’t leave me with a family. She didn’t even leave me at the orphanage. She left me in the woods to die.”
Swallowing hard, she jerked her chin up and snapped, “I don’t know why she even bothered giving me this bloody mark. She obviously didn’t care for me. I wanted to have it lasered away when I was a teenager, but my parents advised me not to remove it. They still thought that my birth mother might try to search for me.” Gena gave a harsh, bitter laugh. “They had such big hearts and they only saw the good in
people. The woman who gave birth to me had no love for me. After all these years, why would she search for me? In her eyes, I was as good as dead.”
They stood staring at each other, the air between them seething with questions they might not want answered.
Finally, Gena scowled and scratched viciously at her nape as if trying to claw that patch of skin off. “What has my mark got to do with anything?” she demanded.
Kieron closed his eyes briefly.
Her mark changed everything. Everything!
He savagely fought his dragon down and held on to his human shape.
Gena bore the mark. Her mark.
Why? Why her?
Why did it have to be her?
It was Vanora’s mark. The mark of that cruel, evil sorceress. The one responsible for destroying his brother’s dragon.
He would never forget that mark. It was a serpent with two heads, one black and one white. From afar, it looked like a circle, but it was really a serpent devouring itself, swallowing the white head into its belly. It was on the back of Vanora’s neck, and whenever the sorceress used her evil powers, that double-headed snake on her neck would move. It would consume more of itself, swallowing the white head deeper and deeper. The mark showed the devoured head clearly, its eyes open and seeing even though it was lodged deep inside the snake’s belly.
Vanora had laughed when she saw Kieron staring at the mark in stark horror and fascination. “All my daughters bear my mark,” she’d said with a proud smile.
Her daughter.
Gena was Vanora’s daughter.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Gena grabbed the pile of clothes off the floor and yanked a t-shirt over her head. The clothes were brand new, Simone’s pre-pregnancy purchases, and she hadn’t had a chance to wear them. “They won’t fit me now, and I’m guessing they won’t fit me ever,” Simone had told Kieron with a chuckle as she handed him the clothes.
The Dragon's Match: Paranormal Shifter Romance (Hearts on Fire Book 3) Page 7