by Lori King
Her tiny fingers touched his lips as she whispered, “Shhh, you silly old dragon. Don’t you know how special you are...how special we are together? You see, because of the blessings of our heritage, the Universe, even Fate, nothing can be taken for granted. Everything is as it should be and happens for a reason. Just like us, here...now, our one single moment in time…our brief interlude in the middle of all the chaos when we can either catch fire and burn bright, or walk away and pray we don't fizzle out. The sad thing is, if we decide to wait or let other things get in the way and miss our moment, we run the risk of it being gone forever…with no guarantee to return.”
Outlining his lips with the tips of her fingers, Caitlin added, “This is our time, Kyran, and no matter if we are in a castle or cave, it is you I want to be with, you I know I am meant to love, and you I know I will spend my eternity with.” Her fingers traced his jawline as she smiled so sweetly it made his heart hurt and added, “Please love me and let me love you, mo ghra’.”
Afraid to move, afraid to breathe, sure whatever he could do or say would somehow diminish the absolute perfection of the moment, Kyran laid perfectly still as Caitlin touched and memorized every blessed inch of his face. His pride soared as he realized that through their bond, his banshee could and was using his eyes to see. It was hard not to chuckle when her thoughts betrayed her, and he now knew that she was using her old method of touch to see if her vision of him matched his own.
The longer she touched him, the more vivid the picture she had of him became in her mind. Flattering didn’t begin to cover what he felt. Although he’d only had a pool of water to use as a mirror for many years, Kyran knew without a doubt he did not look as majestic as his Caitlin made him appear.
“But that’s how I see you,” she whispered, her breath caressing his cheek where her fingers had just been.
“’N' that's all that matters. Th' rest o' th' world kin sod aff fur all Ah care.”
Unable to hold back any longer, sure that this was what his mate wanted just as much as he did, the black dragon laid his lips to hers. Summoning his incredible strength, he forced both himself and his beast to go slow, be gentle, make this the best he possibly could for his banshee. But Caitlin was having none of it. Her hands gripped his shoulders. She pulled him to her with a force and passion unlike any he’d ever felt.
Letting her take the lead, Kyran followed. Opening not only his mind, but also his body and soul to the one the Universe had made for him. She kissed him with such desire and longing that all too soon, he could no longer hold back. Sliding his hands under her T-shirt and using his enhanced ability, he rid her of the offending material.
His mouth watered at the sight of her hardened nipples pushing against the light pink material of her bra. Unable to stop himself, Kyran sucked first one and then the other into his mouth, teasing it with just the tip of his tongue until Caitlin’s hands were on his head and she was calling his name.
Her back arched off the pallet. She ground her hips against his denim-covered erection, pleading, “Oh, Kyran, oh…oh…yes. Oh my God, Kyran, yes.”
Needing to taste and mark every inch of her, the Phantom kissed across her chest while reaching around her body, unhooking her bra, and throwing it to the side. His mouth was immediately back at her breast, nipping and sucking as Caitlin’s moans of pleasure echoed off the stone walls. Setting the rhythm as he continued to taste every part of her body, his banshee muttered his name louder and louder as her fingers dug into his scalp, pushing him to mark her, to make her his for all time.
Man and beast needed to connect with the woman who'd driven the darkness away, the light of their soul. With no other thought but feeling the warmth of her body wrapped around his painfully hard length, Kyran slid his hand between their bodies and from one breath to the next, removed the rest of her clothing, leaving her gloriously naked beneath him. Need won out over logic, and his pants immediately followed.
The feel of her body against his, the scent of her arousal filling the cave, his name on her lips along with her feelings of unconditional love and acceptance flowing through their mating bond was such a heady combination, Kyran wanted nothing more than to sink into the warmth that was his mate. But he had to be sure. Had to know that Caitlin had absolutely no doubts.
Pushing his arousal and that of his dragon’s aside, the Phantom stopped all movement, pulled back from his mate and just as she moaned at the loss, laid his fingers upon her lips and looking at her in his mind, just as she looked at him, to be sure she could ‘see’ as well as feel the honesty of his words, asked, “Caitlin, mo maite, mo chroí, are ye sur? Ah cannae give ye all th' flowery romance most men kin bit Ah kin promise wit all that Ah am tae love ye 'n' protect ye wi' eevry fiber o' mah bein'.”
Sucking his index finger into her mouth and taunting the tip with her tongue, she answered directly into his mind, “Love me, mo Dragon. Make me yours, now and forever.”
Needing no more encouragement, his lips met hers in an all-encompassing embrace of passion and desire that made it impossible for Kyran to do anything but what his mate, his dragon, and his body demanded. Still forcing himself to go slowly, he pulled his lips from hers, kissed along her jaw and down her neck, across the soft sweet skin of her décolletage to her breasts. Sucking her now-bare nipple into his mouth, he smiled against Caitlin’s flesh as her fingers were once again in his hair and her body rocked against his.
Only after paying her other breast the same attention and leaving his precious Caitlin panting and mewling, unable to form a coherent word, did Kyran taste across her stomach, sure to leave little love bites to satisfy his dragon’s need to mark their mate.
Reaching the glistening dark curls that covered her pussy, the heavenly scent of daffodils and sunshine took his breath away. Spreading her legs as she sought to keep them together while lost to her excitement, Kyran laid first one and then the other over his shoulders. Needing to taste her more than he needed his next breath, but driven to make sure her first time was as special as he could make it, Kyran whispered into her mind as he slowly pushed his middle finger through her curls and into the warm wetness of her body, “Aye Caitlin, Ye test this pooor auld dragon. A'm waantin' nothin’ moore than tae join wi' ye but Ah must mak' sure yer ready 'n' Ah'm needin' tae hae yer taste upon mah tongue more than Ah kin say.”
Her only answer was the thrashing of her head and her legs tightening around his shoulders as he pushed farther into her tight wet pussy. Pushing a second finger alongside the first, Kyran made a come hither motion with his middle finger tickling her sensitive bundle of nerves that begged to be fondled. He reveled in her receptiveness to his touch and then grinned from ear-to-ear as Caitlin climaxed screaming his name, her juices wetting his hand from simply his fingers alone.
Pulling his fingers from her, Kyran immediately replaced them with his tongue, licking and tasting, pushing her higher, feeling another orgasm building within her before the first had completely ebbed. She called his name, pulled at his hair and her thighs wrapped so tightly around his head that the black dragon could barely breathe, but none of that mattered; he was pleasing his mate as no other ever had or ever would.
Wanting…needing her to orgasm again, he rubbed her swollen, throbbing clit between his thumb and forefinger as he thrust his tongue in and out of her, touching the proof of her virginity. Her back bowed off his pallet, her heels dug into his back and she pulled at his tresses with such force he knew he would be bald but couldn’t care as she came over and over into his mouth, her screams so loud he was sure the entire valley knew of his banshee’s pleasure.
Eating at her, needing to have every drop of her essence within him, as her contractions slowed, her breathing returned to normal and her body relaxed, Kyran ran his tongue along her outer lips and kissed the inside of both of her thighs before raising his head and looking at the one woman in all the world with the ability to restore his sanity.
Caitlin took his breath away. Laying there like his own
fallen angel, with her head thrown back, her lips seductively curved in a lazy smile, and her full breasts gently rising and falling, she was absolutely the most magnificent creature he’d ever seen. Rising to his knees, he kissed his way up her body, nipped along her neck to her ear and whispered, “'N' noo we become oone.”
Inch by mind-blowing inch, he slowly slid into her, stopping every little bit to let her body adjust to his size. A feeling unlike any other filled the black dragon. Nothing had ever felt so right…so perfect. Finally reaching her maidenhead, Kyran stopped, laid his lips to hers and while pouring all the love and adoration he already felt for her into that one single kiss, he murmured into her mind, “Ah love ye, mo mBean, ye hae truly saved this oold dragon.”
Pushing through, he continued their kiss, once again blown away by Caitlin’s strength as she barely winced at the intrusion. Holding both himself and his mate completely still, rejoicing in the feel of her inner walls welcoming him, Kyran’s chest swelled with pride as she sighed in pleasure right along with him. He felt her arousal building, her body needing more of what only he could give her, and before he could move, Caitlin began rolling her hips, her inner muscles massaging him, pushing him, forcing him to move with her.
Her fingers, now on his back, ran up and down his spine. Her legs wound tight around his waist. He could feel her everywhere. They were one as it was meant to be. Kyran's mind was blown at the perfection of the moment. His dragon roared. The mighty Guardsman was gutted, completely and irrevocably under Caitlin’s spell. Her free hand touched his face, as she continued her erotic dance. The black dragon's hips matched her rhythm. Their hearts beat as one and to his complete surprise his little banshee whispered, "Teach me how to fly, my big strong dragon man.”
Helpless but to do anything but please his mate, Kyran pulled back, held still for a mere heartbeat and then thrust back into his Caitlin until their hips met as she wailed his name. Unable to control his passion any longer, spurred on by his mate’s need as it flooded through their mating bond, the black dragon thrust in and out of his banshee, creating a furious tempo that she met thrust for thrust.
Higher and higher their hunger grew, the need to be one so intense, so demanding, that for the first time in his very long life, Kyran gave up total control. He held nothing back. All that he had ever been, all that he was and all that he would ever be burst open for his Caitlin, and only her, from that moment forward, for all eternity. They were one. No one and nothing, not even the Devil himself, could tear them apart.
Reaching between their bodies, his need for them to climax together overpowering, Kyran gently pinched her clit between his thumb and forefinger at the same time that he gave one final thrust into her and together they roared their completion to the Heavens. Moving together, loving one another as Fate and the Universe had always intended, they floated back to earth, each more fulfilled than they had ever thought possible.
Rolling to his side, Kyran carefully laid Caitlin across his chest unwilling to be without the feel of her skin upon his for even a second. Propping her chin on her hand, she smiled at him and cooed, “I love you, Kyran O’Connor.
Opening his mouth to answer, the black dragon’s words were stolen away as fire burst through his chest, his muscles contracted and he felt his back bow up off the blankets.
“Kyran! Kyran, what’s wrong? What’s happening?” Her panicked screams cut through his agony. He could feel her fear adding to his own as his body failed to respond. His dragon pushed white healing magic in every direction to ward off whatever was invading his body, but nothing worked. It was as if his body was attacking itself.
Trying to speak to calm his worried mate, Kyran could barely breathe. He felt Caitlin move, heard her call to Duke, “Get my bag, boy! Hurry!”
Fighting to stay awake, the darkness closing in all around him, the last thing the black dragon heard before losing consciousness was Caitlin’s command, “Don’t you dare die on me, damn you, Kyran. I just found you.”
6
Pulling her father’s grimoire from the bag Duke had dropped into her lap, Caitlin’s fingers flew over the braille print covering pages, looking for the spell that would remove the evil glyphs from her dragon’s chest. Thankfully, she’d seen in his memories that the old wizard who’d spelled Kyran hadn’t completed the process. If her suspicions were correct, that single fact would make the removal easier and far less detrimental to both the man and his beast.
It, however, did not alleviate any of the guilt eating away at Caitlin’s conscience. “Why didn’t I do this first? What the hell is wrong with me? How could I have let making love to him come before making sure he was safe? What a loser mate I’m turning out to be,” she scolded herself while Duke whined and licked her cheek for reassurance.
“Thank you, boy, but I screwed this up in a big way. If anything happens to Kyran or his dragon, it’s all on me.” She gritted her teeth and concentrated even harder.
“N-n-nae your fault,” came Kyran’s low whisper.
“Oh, my God, Kyran, I’m so sorry,” she cried, following the sound of his voice and reaching for him.
She felt him slowly shake his head and then try to speak again. Quickly laying her fingers on his lips, she shushed him. “Save your energy. Don’t try to speak. I’ll get these damn things off of you if it’s the last thing I do.”
Leaning over, she quickly kissed his feverish lips before sitting back, tightening the blanket she’d wrapped around herself and again running her fingers over the pages of her book. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she found the spell she was looking for. The one her father had used when she was a young girl to help another gypsy who’d been marked.
Taking the supplies she needed from her bag before placing one hand on Kyran’s chest, she followed the magic until the heat of the glyphs singed her fingertips. Fighting the pain, she forced her hand to remain on the fiery runes, as Kyran’s breathing became even more labored and his skin more heated. The effects of her white magic combining with his dragon magic were already fighting the dark mysticism within the glyphs, but she had to move fast, before the black magic reached her dragon’s heart.
“Hold on,” she reassured him, breathing a sigh of relief when his hand touched hers and remained there as she began to speak the olde words in the language of her father’s clan.
“The Universe to whom we owe all that we are and all that we will ever be, show mercy. Help me force this evil from the body of your mighty warrior, Kyran O’Connor. Let this holy water cleanse what has been thrust upon him.” Opening the vial of water from the blessed spring of her ancestors, Kaitlin poured the holy liquid over her hands listening to the sizzle as it touched the dark markings, the acrid scent of burning flesh and hair filling her senses.
Quickly grabbing the leather pouch from her lap, she dumped the soil from the Carpathian Mountains in the same place she’d poured the water and recited, “Take this earth from your blessed mounds. Use the bodies of my ancestors to bury the evil haunting this man.”
Leaning forward, she whispered, “Arde.” Calling her gypsy fire then continuing, “Use your fire to turn this evil to ashes.” She immediately tried to blow out the flame she could see burning with her mind’s eye but the harder she blew the brighter and hotter the fire burned until Kyran was howling in pain and together they were trying to pull her hand from his burning flesh as the blaze sought to consume them both.
“What the hell? How can this be? Oh, my God!” Screaming as her fingers retraced the words, Caitlin pushed so hard she could feel her blood staining the page, as she tried to make sure she hadn’t said something wrong.
Just as her digit touched the word, bunătate, Kyran stuttered, “G-g-goodness…not…”
“EVIL!” Caitlin shrieked. “What the hell? Who…” But the answer was right there in her mind, making the banshee add another name to her list of people who would pay for harming those she loved.
“That little bitch!” She growled before again reciting
the spell, this time inserting rău, or evil, for goodness before blowing until she became light-headed at the gypsy fire. Finally, the flame extinguished.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she hurried on ignoring the searing pain the fire had left in its wake, needing to make sure the glyphs were removed before she could attend to the newest disaster. “Carry the ashes of what remains on your cool breeze, never to return, never to harm this great man again.”
Placing her left hand over Kyran’s that still lay across her right one, flinching at the pain but pushing it aside, she finished, “Thank you, oh great Universe, for the blessings you bestow upon us every day and for saving your great warrior from the darkness that threatened both man and dragon. In your honor and always to your glory, your humble servant in life and always. Amen.”
Holding her breath, she felt the magic in the cavern increase. Bright sparks of light burst in her mind’s eye as well as Kyran’s. She watched intently as those flashes of light came together to form the regal head of a great black dragon. The piercing gray of his eyes swirled around his elliptical pupil drawing her in, looking into her soul, devouring all that she was.
Mesmerized by the majestic creature she knew was also her mate, Caitlin could only smile. She’d been told by so many that without her sight her other senses would become stronger and over the years she’d found that to be true. But, now, in this place, with her mate, she knew that everything she’d endured, suffered and lost had been building to this moment, the time when she would realize that although her eyes have been taken from her, she, Caitlin Brookes, had been given the blessing of her man and her dragon to see more than any sighted person could ever imagine.