Fire in His Blood

by Ruby Dixon

Her small hand goes to my cock, and the breath hisses from my throat. “Kael,” she murmurs, and then says some other words I do not understand, but they sound encouraging.

  I wish I understood her language. My need grows, and my teeth ache with the need to sink into her. My fangs elongate in my mouth, and I can feel them filling with the fire that will lock her to me. She will be honored once I do, I think. I am a strong male, capable of defeating all rivals. She will be proud to be my mate.

  So why does she not turn and present me with her cunt?

  Instead, she grasps my cock and strokes the length of it with her fingertips, and the sensation is so incredible that my mind nearly goes black once more. The soft murmur of her saying my name is the only thing that keeps me from going over the edge.

  Her hand grips my shaft. Then she positions my cock at the entrance to her cunt and flexes her hips, then looks up at me, waiting.

  Clau-dah wants me to mount her…face to face? Is this how her people do it? Strange. I have always taken a female from behind, but the thought of claiming her in any manner is enticing. I grip her hips and pull her down against my cock. She is…very small. Despite the slickness of her arousal, it will be difficult to fit my cock into her.

  I press against her opening, pushing the head of my cock into her. She moans, her blunt little claws digging into my shoulders. She pants and whispers words I don’t understand.

  I can guess, though—go slow, take my time.

  She is tight, my female, and I do not wish to hurt her. So I push a little, then touch the little nubbin of in her folds because she likes it stroked so much. Her back arches, mouth working silently. Her eyes close with bliss, and she is so very beautiful. I withdraw a little, then press my cock deeper, stroking a bit, working into her. The angle of our bodies makes it difficult for me to take my time—she is slightly above me, her hips angled oddly thanks to where she sits. With a growl, I withdraw from her and drag Clau-dah into my arms, pulling her off her seat and onto the ground. Here, I can lie out with her. Here, I can push into her as slowly as I need to.

  Her eyes widen in surprise as I lay her down and my weight covers her. She hooks one leg around my hip, welcoming me, and I breathe in the wash of her scent. Her arousal is overpowering and heady, and it makes the black need swirl at the edges of my vision once more.

  Claim her.

  Make her yours.

  Take her as your anchor.

  I push the head of my cock against her core again and sink a bit further inside. She is so tight, she fits me like a second skin, her cunt clamping down around me in the most exquisite sensation I have ever felt.

  My mate.

  I growl with fierce pleasure, stroking into her again. Her breath catches, her little claws digging into my shoulders as she clings to me. She moans words again, a stream of them.

  I pause, trying to understand her efforts to communicate.

  As soon as I stop, she gives my arm a slap, her face frantic. “No, no,” she cries and wiggles her hips. The next stream of words are encouraging-sounding, urgent.

  I understand this. She does not want me to stop. I am pleasing her.

  The knowledge of this drives me wild. The madness that’s been playing at the edges of my mind bursts through with that pleasure, and then I am wild. I bare my fangs and push deep, seating myself to the hilt inside her. She gives a little yelp of surprise, but then her body quakes underneath mine, her cunt tightening around me in little spasms that feel intensely good.

  She moans and mumbles more words, throwing her head back. Her little claws dig deeper. My female is senseless with pleasure. I thrust again, unable to help myself. Must possess. Must claim. My Clau-dah. Mine. I know I’m no longer being gentle and slow as the madness creeps in, giving a rough edge to everything I do. I focus on her, on the green of her eyes and the softness of her skin, but my control is close to slipping. I know I’m pounding into her with strong, rapid thrusts. Her body is so welcoming, so tight. I want to pull back, to ease out of the madness that makes me lose control, but the walls of her cunt keep tightening, Clau-dah reaching her pleasure once more. She throws her head back, the cords on her neck standing out.

  It calls to me, that smooth, unbroken skin. My fangs burn with fire. She squeezes around my cock so tightly that I can feel her intense pleasure. I cannot wait any longer.

  With a snarl, I bend over her, pressing my mouth to her throat.

  “Yes, yes,” she moans, clearly lost in sensation. Her hands tug at my hair, my skin, and she moves them all over. “Yes—”

  I sink my fangs into her throat, releasing the fire burning in them at the same time that I come. Blackness explodes behind my eyes, and I roar my pleasure even as the release slams out of me, pumping into her body. My Clau-dah. Mine. I continue to surge into her, teeth sinking deeper as the fire jets out of my fangs with the force of my claiming. My cock aches, full of need despite the release of pleasure. My seed will not pour forth into my mate until I’ve claimed her as mine. I cannot do so without fear of burning her.

  This will be my first time to fully claim a female, to take things beyond the flirtation of a battle. To spend inside my female instead of pulling from her cunt at the last moment and spilling my seed on her back in a savage dismissal of her affection.

  I thought I would mate a female that gave me a challenge in battle, that would be as fiercely brutal as I am with claws and fang. Instead, it is to be my soft, sweet Clau-dah with her tender skin and fragile form.

  The joy of claiming my mate is overwhelming.

  Mine.

  She’s gone still underneath me. The hands that tugged at me now flutter against my skin. Then a fist slams into my shoulder. “Ow!” She wiggles underneath me again, but it is not the pleasure-wiggle.

  I pin her in place with my bigger body, holding her down as my venom pours forth into her blood. The taste of it is sweet against my mouth, and foreign. Her blood will change after she is locked to me, I realize, and the thought fills me with pride. She will have my taste, mixed with hers. My scent, all over her. Permanently.

  Her hand slams into my shoulders, and she mutters more words, getting angrier. My name is in there, and I know she is hurting. The fire always stings with the first claiming.

  But Clau-dah doesn’t seem to understand what I am doing. Her hands tug at my hair, determined to pull me off her throat. I ignore her fierce yanking, determined to let the fire spin into her blood and complete the claiming. She will enjoy the next one, when the heat of it is not so new to her fragile body. She will know to relax into my bite and that it will become pleasurable. I will tell her these things so she does not fight it next time. She is only hurting herself.

  I am lost in the pleasure of claiming my mate. So much so that it takes me a moment to realize that she’s no longer fighting. She’s crying, and my heart tugs with pain. The venom will be gone soon, and my fangs will retract back into my mouth and then I will be able to pull free from her. From there, I will watch the changes take over her beloved body with pleasure. I can’t wait for her to realize the gift I am giving her, the link that will bond us eternally.

  The last of the fire leaves my fangs, and my body gives one last quiver, my cock spurting the long-awaited release of my seed into her. She is finally mine. I can give her my seed and not burn her. I feel her hiss and tense underneath me, and I know it is from the heat of my semen flooding her womb. Does she realize we are mates now? Pleased, I relax atop her, exhausted from pouring my strength into the venom I have transferred to her. I had no idea it would take so much out of me, but then again, how could it not? I am sharing my drakoni essence with her, and she has no essence of her own to transfer back.

  It does not matter. She is mine. I have claimed her.

  Mine. Clau-dah is mine. All mine.

  I hear her suck in a breath, and it pleases me. Can she hear that? Is the mind-link working already? I probe at her mind with my own, even as I lick the wound at her throat. Underneath me, her skin is heating up. T
he change is starting. There is no response from her mind, not yet, but it will come soon. I am pleased. Very pleased.

  She snarls a harsh-sounding word, and her arm moves.

  Something hard and heavy slams into the base of my skull. Blackness swims in front of my eyes, and I have the startling realization that my fragile, sweet Clau-dah has attacked me.

  Then everything goes dark.

  CLAUDIA

  A whimper escapes my throat as I lie under the sprawled, heavy form of the dragon-man I just had sex with. Everything in my body aches, and I’m brimming with emotions, all of them mixed.

  That had been the best sex I’d ever had—riiight up until the part where he attacked me.

  Until then? I’d been shocked—and pleased—at how amazing sex with Kael was. His cock was enormous and seemed to hit me in all the right spots. Every thrust inside me had made me orgasm anew, and I’d come at least three or four times. He was gentle, even though he’s much bigger than me, and utterly focused on making me come. And come. And come. In all of the (admittedly small) experience I’d had with sex, I’d never come so long or so hard with anyone. I’d loved every damn exhausting second of it.

  Right up until he’d bitten me.

  Then everything had changed. I’d gone from constant orgasms to a shock of pain, and that stopped the fun and pleasure of sex as surely as if I’d run into a brick wall. I’d pounded on Kael’s shoulders, begging him to release me, all to no avail. He’d just kept biting me and growling, his big cock lodged deep inside me.

  If that’s how dragons end sex, I no longer want any part of that. Even when he finally came inside me, I could feel his release. It was like his semen was brutally hot, as hot as the wound on my neck that he’d gone from biting to just licking. Even after he’d busted his nut, he didn’t get off me.

  All of that delicious attraction I felt to Kael? Gone. I thought I understood him. That we were friends. That he’d never hurt me.

  Control him? Hah! Fucking joke.

  So I’d taken matters into my own hands. Searched the floor while he was distracted, licking the wound on my neck. There wasn’t much in reach to use as a weapon, but I’d found a chunk of concrete. I slammed it into the back of his skull, even as I could have sworn that he’d growled MINE.

  He’d given me a dazed look of surprise that was almost comical, then collapsed on top of me.

  And now his sprawled body is crushing mine.

  I feel betrayed. Hurt. Angry.

  I push at his big limbs, frustrated. A moment of panic sets in later. Did I…just kill him? Crap. I brush a finger under his nostrils, checking for air. He still breathes. I don’t want to kill him—he’d been gentle up until that moment, and I’d been loving it. But this is a good realization, I think. Humans and dragons? Too different. It’s clear Kael just sees me as a plaything, and I’ve been spinning make-believe stories in my head about what might happen if a human and a dragon got together. This is a wake-up call.

  Time to go home, back to Fort Dallas.

  If Kael just wants a sexual plaything, he’ll have to look elsewhere. I shudder again, remembering the feel of those hot fangs burying deep in my throat. Funny how movies always made vampire bites look sexy. Clearly no one writing those scripts has ever been bitten in the throat before, because that shit’s not fun at all. Even now, the wound feels hot and achy. So does my pussy, but…for entirely different reasons.

  I have to leave before Kael returns to his senses. I need to get back to Fort Dallas and the safety of its car wall and the concrete barriers. There, I’ll be safe from the attentions of a too-amorous dragon that likes to bite when he orgasms. I shove at his body, suddenly furious. I’m not sure if I’m mad at him for being a dragon and therefore not as human as I’d like, or if I’m mad at the Fort Dallas militia who left me out here to die and told me to tame him. Or if I’m mad at myself for getting into this situation.

  Probably all of the above. Doesn’t matter, though. I’m going to let that anger fuel me and get me out of here. With small, wiggling motions, I manage to shift his weight to one side, and from there, it’s simply a matter of rolling his big, heavy body over.

  He flops onto his back, and I study him. Kael’s face is peaceful, his mouth slightly parted as if he’d thought about kissing me a half-second before I koshed him on the head. His cock is still semi-hard, and gleams, wet with the after-effects of our lovemaking.

  No, it was sex, I mentally correct myself. All the ‘loving’ went out the door when he bit the crap out of me. I get to my feet and step over his big, sprawled body and glance at my reflection in the mirror. My neck is bright red and angry where he’s bitten me, the two deep punctures spaced a fair distance apart on my skin. I run a hand over the wound, wincing. It’s swollen and feels hot to the touch.

  Did he poison me? Fucking great. I turn and glance down at his fallen body, torn between the urge to kick him in the jimmy for being such a jerk and the urge to pick him up and snuggle up against him. I must be really fucked in the head to even think about the latter, but the urge is still there.

  I step over him and leave the bathroom. I lock the door behind me and then realize how stupid that is. He can just crash through a wall or fly out the hole in the ceiling. I can’t lock him anywhere he can’t get out, so I need to be fast and smart.

  I head for the emergency exit stairs. If I run hard, I might be able to make it back to Fort Dallas by nightfall. I’ll have to knot my torn-up janitor’s jumper again so I’m not naked, but it’s do-able. Today’s not a dragon-attack day, so I should be safe.

  Please, just let Kael stay asleep until I get home.

  If I’m not inside the walls of Fort Dallas by the time he wakes up, I’m screwed, in more ways than just one. I think of the bite that came at the end of sex—and the hot wash of his semen inside me—and shudder. Not again. The thought spurs my weary, trembling legs as I race into the main room, snatch up the tattered remnants of my jumper, and then gallop down the nearest stairs. I can rest when I’m safely back in my own bed.

  This will all be over soon.

  17

  CLAUDIA

  I should have looked for better clothing, I tell myself as I pull open a bent car door and slip between two fused Oldsmobiles that make up a portion of the Fort Dallas barricade. The jumper I re-snagged stayed knotted for about a hot minute and then ended up falling to pieces more than before. At this point, I’m strolling into the streets of Fort Dallas buck naked, covered in scratches and filth, and smelling like dragon sex.

  But at least I made it home. Beating Kael back to the city had been the most urgent priority, and if that means parading around naked and getting scratched up in the process? I’ll do it again in a heartbeat. There’s no one out in the Scavenge Lands but me, anyhow.

  It’s been a long fucking day, but it’s nearly over. I hope.

  I’d spotted a red dragon in the skies not ten minutes after I’d left Kael behind. I’d hidden, terrified that it was going to somehow see me. My mind was full of Kael’s fight with the other gold and how quickly he’d torn the throat out of his opponent. The last thing I need is to be claimed by another dragon while fleeing the current one. I’d huddled inside an old dumpster, not caring that it reeked of old filth and the stench was overpowering in the midday sun. Didn’t matter—it was safe. Well, safe-ish. I doubt I’ll ever feel completely safe again. But after an hour passed and there’d been no more dragon sightings, I’d abandoned my hiding spot and continued toward Fort Dallas, constantly looking over my shoulder for wings of gold.

  But the skies remained clear.

  And now night is falling, the skies dark purple with twilight, and I can see the small home fires burning inside Fort Dallas. It’s a relief, and I know out there that maybe Amy and Sasha are warming their hands at one of them. I press inside the barricade, wiggling my way through the familiar hidey-hole that I’ve escaped out of dozens of times on scavenge runs. Every good scavenger has their own secret way to get around the guards
at the gate, and this one is mine. I make my way through the back seat of the car and land in a narrow-crawl space between a crumbling brick building and an old, trash-filled alley used for black market dealings, a bit off the main roads. No one is out, and that’s good. People tend to congregate near fires after dark or hide inside their homes. Works for me. No one will see me pull a Lady Godiva act through the city.

  Which is good, because I’m tired, achy, and cold. The wound in my throat throbs with uncomfortable heat, and it makes me worry. Are dragon bites infected? To think that I’d kissed Kael.

  To think that I’d wanted to kiss Kael. That I’d craved him. Hell, that I’d pursued sex, even after he was ready to back off. I must be crazy.

  I keep to the shadows, making my way through the hodgepodge of streets that make up the shanty town of Fort Dallas. The small ‘house’ I share with Amy and our friend Sasha is located in the poorest part of town, which means it’s toward the center of the city, where people are the least protected from dragon attack. The outskirts—and the old parking garage that contains all the important buildings like the militia barracks and the jail—are where people are safest, but you need money or power (or both) to get a place like that. I have neither, so we live in the back half of an old school bus in an abandoned parking lot surrounded by others who have just as little money and protection.

  Our small bus has four flat tires, a smashed front end, and almost all of the seats removed—those were some of the first things we sold away. It’s fine, though, since we don’t plan on driving it anywhere. The metal interior makes a reasonably cozy home, though it’s achingly hot in the summer and bitterly cold in the winter. But it keeps us safe and dry, and that’s all you can really ask for in times like these. I spot it in the darkness and the flicker of a small lamp-light inside, and a rush of relief fills me. I race toward home, shoving the folding door open and crawling inside. “Amy?”

  But it’s only Sasha huddled over the dinner fire. Sasha, with her brown eyes and dark hair and too-lean face. Sasha, who was gorgeous and might have been working as an actress or a supermodel if that whole ‘dragon apocalypse’ thing hadn’t happened. She looks thin, and there’s a massive bruise covering one high cheekbone.