Hell's Gate: Draig

by Crymsyn Hart

  Under the light, she could see now how extensive his tattoo was. It covered his entire back. It was inked in varying shades of blue with silver outlining the scales. The detail on the dragon was exquisite. The claws were extended and black as coal. Lila watched him for a few seconds and when he moved, the whole tattoo undulated. Whoever had done it was a master with the needle. It almost made her want to get one. But she had a fear of needles, so atattoo was out of the question.

  “Where do you want me to touch it?”

  “Trace the wing.” His voice was filled with longing.

  Lila’s fingers shook when she trailed them down his hot flesh and then connected with the tattoo. She ran her index finger along the ridge of the wing. His muscles quivered from the contact. Draig moaned. She continued to outline the whole side of the dragon. He doubled over until his palms hit the carpet. He dug his fingers into the fiber. He cried out again.

  “Do you want me to stop?”

  “No. Do the whole thing. The locks are falling away.”

  Lila didn’t understand what he was talking about but continued to go over the entire dragon. Draig writhed on the floor. His screams filled the room. His skin began to stretch. The dragon on his back moved. She wasn’t sure what she was seeing. Every instinct in her said to stop, but he had asked her to go on. Once her fingers left his flesh, Draig wailed, being in some kind of pain. Lila jumped back as his skin rippled. Portions of the dragon pressed upward and moved as if it were alive. The wings from the tattoo flexed. His skin turned from tan to dark blue with shades of lighter blue intermixed with silver and gray, the same color as the ink from the tattoo. Wings burst from his back along his shoulder blades and filled the room. Draig lifted his head; with a pained expression, he flexed his wings, and then collapsed.

  Chapter Four

  Lila dropped to the floor and drew Draig into her arms. He was shivering and murmuring in a language she didn’t understand. Not sure of what else to do, she gathered him into her arms, ducking under his wings. One of them brushed her head. She reached up and touched it. The thin skin was stretched tight over the ribbing of his wings. Within the translucent flesh she could see the veins like an old map running through. Draig’s flesh was like supple leather. Before she could feel more of them, the wings folded into his back, sinking into his flesh and becoming a tattoo again. To be sure what she had seen was real, she ran her fingers over the tattooed wings. They remained flat on his back, just ink drilled into his skin. An electronic shock ran along her arm. At that moment, the instinct to hold him, keep him safe, and be sure he was taken care of overwhelmed her. Lila held him tight and waited for him to wake up, stroking his hair.

  Draig was still out cold, and each minute he was unconscious gave her time to think. What she had witnessed was something that shouldn’t exist. Then again, some of the stuff she had seen in the club shouldn’t exist at all. The cool draft returned and wound around her. It tickled the back of her neck. She moved the hair from Draig’s face and saw the lines smooth out so that he wasn’t in any pain. The draft jiggled the candle next to the nightstand. She glanced around the room, hoping to see some sign of the ghostly visitor, but there was nothing, just the drop in temperature.

  “Quit being a pest. I get it; you’re trying to get my attention. Well, you got it. Now let us be.” Lila waited to see if the unseen presence listened. It appeared that it did because the cold draft hovered close to her. She wondered if it was attracted to Draig for some reason.

  “If you’re worried I’m going to hurt him, well, I’m not. Please leave us be for now. And stop messing with the glasses behind the bar. I’m not up for rearranging them when you decide you want to get noticed.”

  It felt like there were ghostly fingers on her shoulder. They pressed on it a moment and a small laugh echoed in the room that sounded female. After that, the room returned to normal. Lila shook her head and focused back on Draig. He was some kind of dragon. Or it was his power animal. She didn’t really know, but she wondered why she was so important to him. What had his life been like wandering the world? What had he seen? How long had he been alone? There were so many questions that played through her mind that she didn’t know where to begin. Where did the ghost fit into all of this? She let the questions run through her mind and waited for him to wake up. The longer she was with him, the more she realized that she didn’t want to be with any other man other than him. He’d turned his heart off because he never thought he could find another one of his kind. But I’m not his kind, so what does that make me? And what happens when he tires of me, or finds another of his kind? He can’t be the last.

  After an hour, Draig opened his eyes. The silver had bled into his eyes. There was no green left. He reached up, took her face between his hands, and said something in his unique language that was more guttural with loud grunts.

  “I can’t understand you, Draig.” She trailed her fingers down his cheek.

  “Kiss…me,” he forced out.

  Lila pressed her lips to his silky ones. She touched his chest. His heart was beating double time. Sweat lined his brow and his body temperature had spiked. Worry ran through her that he would have a heart attack. “You have to calm down. I should get some help.”

  He shook his head. “No help. Need you. No questions.” He took her hand and guided it to his cock. “Fuck me.”

  Lila wasn’t going to object about getting what she had daydreamed about, but she didn’t want him to feel that he was obligated. “Is that what you need? I can—”

  He captured her lips and plunged his tongue into her mouth. Her world fell away and so did her objections. The magnetism between them exploded and she wanted him too. A heat so intense bloomed in her, it was a need she had to relinquish and it had to be now. She returned his kiss for a moment and then separated from him.

  Suddenly she was too hot. Lila stripped off her shirt. Next came her shoes, socks, and pants. She stood before him in matching blue panties and a bra. Lila knelt down and unwrapped his towel. His cock stretched against his leg. Taking it in her hand, she stroked it slowly. His back rose from the floor. A groan slipped from his lips. With her other hand, she brought his hand to her breast. His skin was still on fire. She tried to be slow, but Draig turned their kiss into a hungry one and pushed down her panties.

  “Not so fast.”

  “Yes. Trust me,” he implored.

  Lila reached around and undid her bra. Then she shimmied out of her panties. She straddled him. He touched her clit and fondled her. Lila could barely believe how quickly he brought her to new heights. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against his hard body. Being so close to him was a high in itself. When he guided his length into her pussy, she bit her lip to keep from crying out. Draig moaned and pounded into her. He gripped the back of her neck and took control of their union. Before long, Lila felt her awareness moving away from her body and the orgasm that washed over her was nothing like she’d felt before. Draig growled and rested his head against her chest. Lila breathed heavy, trying to still her erratic heart. The feeling of bliss hadn’t left her. She had dreamed about them being together, but not this quickly.

  Draig scraped his nails down her back. He kissed her neck slowly, trailing his tongue along the open expanse of her flesh. He rested his hands on her hips. “Thank you.”

  “No problem.” Lila shifted and felt him still hard inside of her. His nails pressed into her flesh. Every fiber of her being screamed for her to continue riding him. Having him inside of her was a tease, and her body was still trying to recover from the first orgasm.

  “Oh, but there is a problem. That wasn’t enjoyable for you. I’m sorry about that. I just needed you so badly. I could barely think when I came to, and you smell so wonderful.”

  “It was enjoyable. And I smell like stale beer with a mixture of gin and limes.”

  Draig shifted and sat up, still locked to her. “You smell wonderful.” He ran his nose along her throat. “God, I can’t believe you.
And you taste exquisite.”

  She giggled when he flicked his tongue over her throat.

  “You freed me from the spell that wizard cast upon me. You gave me back my wings. Only one being in the world could have freed me. That was how my master worked his spell. You are a godsend.”

  “But I’m no one. I’m a bartender. And what happens when you meet another dragon and you dump me for her?”

  He wove a hand through her hair. “You are someone. And there won’t be anyone else. You are the mate of a dragon. That means you’re extraordinary. You are my life now. Most of the time, dragon mates were the same species. Sometimes they were also human. Say you’ll stay with me. Say you want me, because I can’t let you go.”

  “Does that mean I become a dragon?” A tremor of fear touched her voice. The longing to be with him was as strong as it ever had been. But the thought of becoming another being wasn’t something she had fathomed. It was also another reason why she didn’t date anyone at the club, because they weren’t human. And she liked being mortal.

  He held her close. “No. You can, but that’s your choice. I can turn you if you like.” He flashed her a smile with perfectly white teeth.

  “I don’t want that right now. Just you. I wanted that the first time you kissed me.”

  “That you can have. For as long as you want it.”

  He met her lips with an enthusiastic kiss and touched her tongue with his until they were wrapped around one another. Draig slid his hands down her body and caressed her breasts, moving his thumbs over her nipples until they were pushed against them. His finger went lower until it reached her clit. He worked it slowly. Lila arched her back from the sudden bolt of pleasure that consumed her. She ran her fingers over his back and felt the muscles shift. Draig stopped and groaned.

  “That feels good?”

  “Yes. It’s the ridge of my wings. They’re a pleasure spot for dragons.”

  She bit her lips and brushed even lighter over his shoulder blades. He thrust up inside of her and they both cried out. Lila pressed her lips to his chest and drew his nipple between her teeth. She flicked her tongue over the pert bud. Draig lifted again and hit her buried clit. Lila ground against him. All she wanted was for it to go on forever.

  Draig lifted his hips one more time and Lila let the ecstasy wash over her. He ran his fingers down her back with one hand and kept easing her up into another orgasm as he fondled her throbbing center. She arched her back while his hands cradled her back. Draig trailed his tongue up from her navel, following the line between her breasts to take in the softness of her neck between his teeth. He bit down and Lila cried out. He pushed inside of her.

  “I think I found one of your pleasure zones.” He shifted his cock once more.

  “Yes. But I have many more.”

  He kissed her neck again. The silver in his eyes ignited. “Oh, there are many more on me too. I have certain powers that can drive you wild. Do you want me to show you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Close your eyes.”

  She closed her eyes. He trailed his fingers over her temples in a soft caress. The tension drained from her body as he touched her. Warmth flowed down her spine. It settled over her heart until it began to beat faster, filling her whole body. A moan let loose from her lips. Inside of her mind, she saw wings.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Mmmhmm…I feel…I don’t know.”

  He chuckled. “I’m going to kiss you. It will feel as if I’m sucking the air from your lungs. Don’t fight me.”

  She nodded. He placed his lips on hers and kissed her slowly, sensuously. She loved the feel of his lips. The longer he kissed her, the more she was brought into another world. The warmth enflamed her, but then his lips pressed against her harder. Once he did that, it did seem the air was pulled from her lungs. At first she tried to struggle, but then remembered what he said about not fighting him. She relaxed, wrapped her arms around his neck, and let herself go. Once she did, it felt as if her whole body had been set into the fire, although it didn’t burn her. The flames licked her flesh and caressed her entire being from the inside out. It moved inside of her and then circled around until it went through him and back into her. Draig moved his lips from hers. Lila drew in a long cooling breath, but her body was alive with sensation. She took another gulp of air and tried to calm her racing heart. The bliss he had given her hadn’t retreated. It stayed within her and she didn’t want it to go away.

  “Open your eyes.”

  Lila tried to focus on him, but she was half-drunk from the delight that he flashed through her. It was difficult to stay focused because his cock was still buried inside of her.

  “Focus on me,” he said in a soft voice.

  “It’s hard. All this feels so good.”

  “I know, but watch…”

  She pushed through the haze. He took her hand and then breathed upon her palm. His warm breath blasted over it. Silver flames erupted over her palm, but it didn’t burn her. She could feel the warmth. It was cool over her palm. She wiggled her fingers and the flame moved with her. Draig lifted her hand and joined it with his.

  “What does this mean?” she asked.

  “Only true mates can share dragon fire. Together it can bring us great pleasure. I can teach you to control it. To have the power live inside of you. But it would mean you’d have to take a piece of me within you.”

  “Does it mean I become like you?”

  “No, but it means you accept me as a mate.”

  He took her other hand and the fire ignited around her other fingers. It traveled up her arm and then up the other one. Once it settled over her heart, her entire being was alit. The silver burned behind her eyes. She let the warmth take her away. The flames and large wings enfolded her. Draig claimed her lips once more in a sweet kiss.

  She rested her forehead against Draig’s. When she opened her eyes, she felt him inside of her. The warmth that burned from his hands blazed inside of her. “I can feel you.”

  “And I you. We’re bonded for the rest of time. I will love you forever.”

  “And I’ll love you. But you have to promise me something.”

  “Anything.”

  “Promise to tie me up one of these days.”

  Shock went through his eyes. “I didn’t realize you were into kink.”

  She chuckled. “And I never knew I was into dragons before I met you. Or should I say that a dragon was into me.”

  “Dragons are into anything, but right now I’m going to show you how into you I really am.” Draig trailed his fingers up her arm. Lila could only think of the ecstasy that was yet to come.

  Lila kissed him once more. “One more thing. When I first came in here, were you talking to a ghost?”

  “Jealous?” Draig asked.

  “No. But I wanted to be sure that I wasn’t crazy.”

  “Not crazy, unless it’s about me. Don’t worry about Amelia. She means no harm, just wants to be noticed once in a while. Do you want me to tell her to leave you alone?”

  Lila snuggled against him. “No. I’m sure she’s bored. Does she know you?”

  “I’m one of the few who can see her. She’s lonely the way I used to be. But I don’t have to worry about that right now because I have you.”

  Lila touched his chest, listening to the heartbeat underneath his flesh. It calmed her nerves. Draig would be with her. Time would go on and she would always have drinks to serve, but no matter what happened or who he tied up, they would be together.

  The End

  About the Author

  Crymsyn Hart is a bestselling author of Erotic Romance. Her worlds are filled with luscious vampires, gorgeous gods, quirky witches, and everything else that goes bump in the night. Crymsyn worked as a psychic for many years in Boston while attending Emerson College. She graduated with a BFA in Writing, Literature, & Publishing. When she gets bored, she sneaks away to local cemeteries and coffee shops to find peace and quiet. Crymsyn shares her life with a
small zoo, two playful puppies and her hubby Mark. If you come after dark, you’re more than likely to find her snuggled up with a gory horror movie, or a bloody vampire movie. Crymsyn has a collection of Living Dead Dolls and five bookshelves overflowing with books.

  Visit her on the web at: www.RavynHart.com

  PURPLE SWORD PUBLICATIONS

  Romantic Speculative Fiction

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