by A. K. Koonce
He’s just sexy as fuck.
There’s no poetic undertone for any of it. His body is hard. His confidence is consuming. His features are this mixture of perfection and arrogance. And don’t even get me started on his other attributes.
His cock. I mean his cock.
Maybe I am a poet.
“I just don’t want to hurt you.” His words are soft and sincere and remind me that he’s so much more than surface level attractive.
A pent up breath slips over my lips. “You won’t.”
He nods slowly, his pretty eyes still searching mine before he looks around at the open land before us.
“Let’s go around the side here and try to… be inconspicuous.”
A smile pulls at my lips.
“You do realize you’re a forty-foot dragon, right?”
“Come on, smart ass.” Laughter bubbles from my mouth, but the moment his fingers skim down my wrist and he takes my hand in his, the sound falls away. The warmth of his body finds mine as he walks casually to the side of the castle. He looks over his shoulder once more before pulling me into the shadowed area.
He tugs off his white shirt. A sliver of sunlight warms his skin, highlighting the freckles along his shoulders, the strong lines etching his chest, the trail of crimson hair that leads all the way down. He glances at me just as his fingers push at the waistband of his jeans. My heartbeat does this irrational pitter patter like cock and affection somehow give me the same swoon worthy feeling.
What is wrong with me?
I turn and look around the corner for anyone that might be coming. Mostly just to push some of the awkward fluttering out of my chest. The cool evening air meets my face as I search the back of the building for anyone who might see us. It’s late and most of the staff went home before dinner time. Everyone else is either in the kitchen or the dining room at the front of the house.
It appears safe.
“I think it’s safe.” I turn back, and I nearly stumble when my chest bumps into his. The smooth muscle of his shoulders meets my fingertips as I steady myself.
“It’s the furthest thing from safe right now.” His whispered words twirl through me as his serious attention shifts over my features. His palm brushes against my hip for only a second before he steps past me.
“When I was little, I was terrified to shift.” Bright light gives his hair a brighter color, making his skin smooth and beautiful. The lines that cut across the muscles of his shoulder blades hold my focus. Every inch of him is carved in strength. In this moment, he’s haloed in beauty and perfection. “I was terrified the dragon would enjoy its life more than I enjoy mine and I’d want to stay that way forever.”
“Enjoy his life more than yours?” I take a step closer to him, but he lifts his palm and I halt even though there’s this feeling pressing against my chest for me to touch him.
“I was … I was an incredibly boring child, if you can believe that.”
A surprised laugh slips from me. I bite my lip to stifle the sound, but it comes out anyway in a ringing tone that makes a soft smirk tilt his lips. The sight of his smile causes a warm feeling to spread through me. I feel off balance around Kain. Unsteady. Ready to fall.
“I’m going to need a little bit more detail, Kain.”
His jaw tips down before he looks around the empty space. He takes a few steps back into the cool shadows, washing out his pretty coloring in an instant.
We’re close. He looks down at the space between us as he speaks in a quiet tone.
“I was afraid of almost everything. I never knew my father. My mother raised me. She wasn’t a shifter and mostly just tried to protect me in everything I did. I never wanted to worry her, but she was always worried. Always on edge. When I was five I shifted for the first time.” A puff of air escapes his lips and he looks at me for only a moment before pulling his attention down to the ground once more. “It scared the shit out of her. Which in turn scared the fuck out of me. I—I avoided shifting for most of my life until Chaos forced me into it. He’d press my buttons, taunt me, throw me into terrible situations just to bring my dragon out.”
And that’s why he’s afraid he’ll hurt me. It’s ingrained in him to worry about the worst-case scenario. There are all these things in our lives that could destroy us in the span of half a second. My own guilt settles low in my stomach.
Does he realize there’s also all these things that could completely save us, heal us, and restore us in even less time?
“Change for me. Please?” With one small step I’m close enough to him that he has to peer down to meet my eyes. The deep green color is darker, more intense as he studies me. Warm fingers trail up my arm with a feather light touch. My body comes to life, buzzing with energy from that simple touch.
It’s brief though.
He takes a step back. And then another. And then another.
Once more that blazing sunlight falls across him. The light seems to glimmer with magic as red smoke wafts through the air, tinging the breeze with the smell of ash as crimson scales start to rip up his arms. It cuts through his skin along his shoulders. He holds a stoic gaze in place just before the dragon within him bursts through, morphing the man before me into a powerful and towering beast.
Beautiful emerald eyes shine down on me. Fuming white smoke drifts from his narrow snout and very slowly he lowers his massive head to me. He’s never been the obedient one. Kain accepted me but he didn’t really put up with me.
I was just this uninvited presence in his life. I was in his way. I was nothing to him.
But that was the past. The very not so distant past …
Right now, feels like a make or break moment for our relationship between his dragon and me. Will he really let me ride him?
There’s no kindness in the beast’s gaze like Kain has shown me in the last few days. It’s a skeptical look that he passes over my small frame. It looks like he’s trying to decide if it’d take one bite or two to be rid of me.
Probably just one but I’m not going to help him in his decision.
Slowly my hand raises between us and he watches that hand with close scrutiny even as my fingertips touch the rough scales of his snout. I’m inches away from his sharp teeth but I don’t dare pull away. My palm glides against the crimson sales and his eyelids lower but don’t close. Still he watches me intently.
“You know, I think your better half likes me,” I whisper to him. A huff of white smoke billows between us, warming my skin with his fuming reply. A smile tilts my lips. He’s such an arrogant little shit. I take a step closer to him, pushing my hand affectionately between his eyes. “Chaos likes me too.” I throw that little detail in the creature’s face and Kain’s large eyes narrow on me. The glittering green color is only interrupted by the thin line of black that’s slicing through the iris. “Rime—” I pause on his name. The man and the dragon neither one are too terribly fond of me. “—maybe we should talk about something else for a while.”
My palm drifts down to his massive jaw where those deadly sharp teeth reside but I make sure to stroke along his warm flesh tenderly. I take my time trying to show him I’m kind and someone to trust.
I still can’t tell if he believes me though.
When my fingers gently scratch along the underside of his jaw, a low purring reverberates through his throat. His eyes lower as he puts a little weight into my hand, allowing me to really dig my nails into the thick scales.
“Aww you like that, huh?”
One eye snaps open and he peers at me with the giant orb. He looks at me as if he hadn’t realized he was enjoying himself.
Ha! I knew I’d win.
Harder I scratch against the underside of his snout. Slowly that eye closes and he settles back in against my hand like the good little beast that he is.
At this angle, with his head nearly touching the grass, I could climb up him and take my place on his back just like I want to. But taking my place isn’t an option with this one. He has to offe
r it. Rime offered me a ride. Kain will too. Or… or maybe he won’t.
My hand lowers slowly to my side. His eyes open once more. We stare at one another for several long seconds, so long that my heartbeat starts to feel heavier in my chest. I don’t know why it seems so important for him to accept me right now. We didn’t get off on the right foot at first, but first moments don’t have to define us. Do they?
His head tilts and there’s an odd moment where he sniffs me. His breath makes my dark hair drift around my face as he takes a second to really figure out who I am and what my intensions are. They’re smart. I can see it in their watchful eyes. But they’re also intuitive.
What if I’m someone this beast doesn’t deem worthy? What if he never trusts me?
Slowly, his head lowers until his snout lays against the deep green grass. One sharp claw brings his wing forward and the angle of his head and wing look like an invitation to his back. Very subtly he nods as if he’s telling me to climb up.
My bare feet meet his wing and I steady myself against his jaw. That gleaming green eye watches me as I maneuver myself up the angle of his wing. My fingers grip the side of his neck, my body pressing against his scales as my foot searches for leverage to get me over his back. With a gentle lift of his wing I rise. With ease and surprising grace, I slide my leg over his spine. My fingers brush along his shining scales and that humming sound purrs through him with every brush of my hand.
The little dragon taint might actually like me.
He rises to his full and towering height, lifting me into the cool breeze as he stands. Slowly his head tilts and he looks back at me. The hem of my golden yellow skirt is pushed up to my thighs and lays in a beautiful contrast against his crimson back. The dark locks of my hair twirl around my face as I lstare up at him. The creature’s big eyes study every detail of me as I sit like a queen on her beastly throne. With a final huff of fuming smoke, he spreads his wings wide. My heart drops in my chest just as he soars up into the heavens.
And once again I feel free.
Ten
His Dragon
The cold winds whip my hair across my face and I push it back to see the setting sun that we’re soaring toward. The burn of the sun fumes against the horizon in soft shades even as the evening darkness starts to settle into the sky. Just a touch of daylight is all that’s left.
For miles and miles, the deep green grass rolls beneath us in blurring colors. The dots of purple flowers disrupt the land here and there and it’s not until that land slices off into a depthless deep blue that I realize we’re soaring over uncharted territory.
“Oh, my goddess.” My lips part and the white shine of the water below is shadowed by the massive dragon speeding over it. “It’s… the ocean,” I whisper.
I look back at the kingdom so far off in the distance I can no longer see the sharp points of the castle. The village I grew up in is farther and farther away now.
We’re at the verge of entering the Attikan Kingdom. This is where the Verglas ocean cuts into the land, leaving a cold sliver of earth between our kingdom and the next. I’ve never been this far north. A tinge of fear stings against the building excitement in my chest. This is all new to me. Every bit of the deep waters below me is new.
The wide span of his wings extends to their full length and he gently descends toward the drifting waves. The spike of his tail cuts through the sea and it sprays up. The salty water showers down on me, chilling me instantly.
“Kain!” I chastise him, but he doesn’t seem to hear the sound of my voice. Lower he drops, his feet skimming into the deep ocean. My chest tightens as my thighs lock around him, my hands trying to find something to latch on to. But there’s nothing. The water splays up on either side of him, dousing cold water over our heads before he shoves down and soars away from the sea with just a few small movements of his wings.
Drenched tangled hair meets my palm as I fight to push it out my face. With slick fingers, I try to wipe the salty water from my lashes and mouth as I glare daggers at the carefree dragon beneath me. I’m jostled, and it takes me a moment to realize he’s landed. Smooth, slate gray rocks surround us. The rocks rise on one side into a small cliff within the middle of the ocean. The gentle waves lap against the small piece of land that’s barely large enough to hold the beast whose tail is hanging off into the shimmering water.
I shift against his back, my wet skirt catching against his scales, making me struggle to slip my leg over his spine. Ruby red smoke emits from his body and the breath knocks from my lungs as I start to freefall to the ground. A yelping scream rips from the tightness of my throat. My eyes clench closed.
I hit the structure below with harsh impact, my teeth jarring. But it isn’t the hard ground. Strong arms wrap around my back, my thighs slick against his skin as he cradles me to his chest. Heaps of air hit my lungs as I breath in and out, in and out. A strand of my hair fans against my lips as I glare up at the smirking asshole.
“You’re such a dick,” I yell at him even as my fingers dig into the slick skin of his shoulders. He feels unbreakable beneath my touch; strong and sturdy and completely indestructible to anything this world might ever throw at him.
He’s every bit the beast that lives inside of him. The alpha.
“I didn’t mean to get you so wet.” At the sound of his rumbling words energy swirls low in my stomach, but I ignore the distracting tingling feeling and try to cling to my annoyance.
“Really? You didn’t?” My hand waves around and water flings from my fingertips.
That smile pulls at his lips, but he keeps it contained to an arrogant smirk. His nails dig into the underside of my thighs just before he lowers my feet to the warm rock. It’s smooth, worn away beneath the years of lapping waves of the sea that surrounds us. A chill trembles down my spine as a gust of wind whips at my long dress. The weather and dwindling image of the sun are fighting against one another. Heat warms my left arm but the air around me lets my drenched clothes really settle into my bones.
Another shiver shakes through me but then his palms are encompassing my wrists. My gaze drifts to his hands before lifting to meet the look of intensity in his pretty eyes. Heat sinks into me as his palms drift slowly up and then down. A sting of pain burns into my skin before he seems to reel it back in. I flinch from the feel of it and he takes a step closer.
“Sorry.” There’s a rasping sound in his voice that has me shivering for a totally different reason now.
I instantly feel bad for my attitude with him. He’s been nothing but sweet to me. All day actually.
“Dragons love the warmth of the sun. Right now, he’s pushing against the surface to enjoy the last few minutes of sunlight.”
A smile tugs at my lips and I realize how close they are, him and his dragon.
“Why don’t you let him out. Let him spend the last few minutes of the evening in the sun.”
His palms drift lower, trailing over the sensitive skin of my wrists until he’s toying with my fingers.
“Because I want to be here with you.”
“Oh.” That simple stupid sounding word falls from my open mouth like a dribble of drool.
His gaze drifts down to my shirt that’s sticking to my skin, and even though I refuse to look I know the cold water’s showing off my best assets.
Aside from my perfectly stable personality that is.
Why am I always soaking wet around Kain? First the shower and now this…
He leans forward, his strong body blocking the wind as it presses against me. I huddle into him, my arm skimming against the hard muscle of his stomach. His smooth skin begs me to touch more of him. To explore the other hardness that’s pressed low against my hip. My arms slip around his neck, mostly to feel his body align against mine but also to keep my hands far, far away from where they really want to go.
“My dragon likes you.” His whispered words are spoken suspiciously low, as if it’s a secret he’s not supposed to tell me. “He doesn’t want to, but h
e does.”
He doesn’t want to, but he does. Because Kain’s been hurt before.
I hope someday I meet the girl who broke his strong beating heart. And I’ll thank her sweetly for overlooking the amazing, fierce, slightly damaged man who’s wrapped in my arms right now.
I lean into him even more, my lips almost brushing his but not quite. He kissed me once. The memory of his lips against mine make my chest ache to repeat the feeling. I stare up into his watchful eyes.
But I can’t seem to close the distance for some reason.
That fear inside me is still alive and well.
It’s irrational I know, but there’s still a very big part of me that’s too afraid to really get close to any of these men. I don’t know what I’d do if I hurt one of them the way I did Sinister. Or Agatha. Or myself.
My head tilts and my lips press slowly to the side of his neck. A salty, smoky taste meets my tongue as I kiss there slowly. His fingers dig into my hips, pressing me harder against his erection. My breath catches before shaking over my lips and against his skin.
“Tell your dragon I like him too.”
He groans as he clears his throat.
“Trust me, he knows, Arlow.”
I want there to be more between us. I want it so bad it hurts.
The trepidation inside me just hurts more.
Eleven
A Different Kind of Incident
Parts of my thick hair are still damp when we walk into the dark castle. Kain pulls the hem of his shirt down into place and I suddenly realize we look in-fucking-credibly suspicious. Prince Linden’s voice echoes through the rooms and on quiet steps I pad down the hall and quickly up the stairs. The cool marble presses against my already cold feet and every pounding step of Kain’s boots makes a nervousness thunder through my heart.
Two more days. Two more days. I just have to make it two more days here.