Fire Breathing Beast: Dragons of the Bayou Book 1

by Ayers, Candace

  “Beast!” She hung her head, but I held her throat again and forced her head up. Looking at me over her shoulder, she bit her lip, struggling with what to do.

  “Tell me that you’re mine, Sky.” I thrust into once, and again withdrew and waited.

  Her lips stayed closed, but I could see the neediness in her eyes, begging me to let her come. One more slap on her ass.

  “Say the words.” I dropped my hand to her clit and lightly tapped it. “Say them and I’ll let you come.”

  “I’m yours!” Her scream only went higher when I thrust into her and circled her clit before pressing down on it. Her orgasm shattered me and I came hard with her, sinking my teeth into her shoulder, marking her again and again.

  “Mine.”

  Sky

  I woke up the next morning in Beast’s cloud bed, unsure of how I’d gotten there. I felt like I’d been run over, but as I stretched, there was a warm pleasantness to the aches that made me smile. I looked over at the clock and groaned. I had to get to work.

  I could hear Beast in the shower, humming some old fashioned song that I didn’t recognize. I wanted to join him, but I knew what would happen and my body couldn’t handle it. Instead, I slipped out of the room and into the guest bathroom. I took a record short shower and dried off while staring at my body in the mirror.

  I was covered in bruises. My hips were bruised from Beast’s fingers digging into me. My thighs had bite mark shaped bruises, along with my neck and shoulders. My ass was still an irate shade of pink from his slaps. My thighs had finger shaped bruises, too.

  I swallowed and wrapped the towel tightly around me. Something about the bruises scared me. My normal, boring life was slipping away. They didn’t hurt, the opposite actually. Looking at them turned me on. I wanted more of the sex that had left them. Even the rough sex from the night before… I wanted it all. That wasn’t me, though. At least, I didn’t think so. The night before was a woman who was obsessed with getting as much of a man as she possibly could. She was hungry for him. I wasn’t her.

  I couldn’t lead a normal life covered in bruises from fucking like an animal with a dragon. I’d have to make sure no one saw all of the marks and assumed that I was some kind of kinky sex enthusiast. I wasn’t. Okay, maybe I was, but just with Beast.

  “Hey. What are you doing in here?” Speaking of the man, he stood in the doorway, wearing low slung jeans and looking like the cover of a romance novel.

  “I didn’t want to start anything. I’m feeling a little sore.”

  He came over and stood behind me, his eyes trailing over me in the mirror. “Are you okay?”

  I could hear the remorse in his voice and I hated it. I turned to face him and nodded. “I’m fine. Just sore. It was…good. You know that.”

  He forced a smile. “I was too rough, though. I should’ve held back more. I should’ve—”

  “Should’ve nothing. You did exactly what I asked you to.”

  “I can feel your mood. It doesn’t feel okay.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We’re mates. You are marked as mine. We’re synced, now. For life. Eventually, soon maybe, we’ll be able to communicate to each other through our minds, when I’m in my dragon form, especially. I can already feel some of your emotions. They aren’t good right now.”

  I stepped back. “What?”

  “You’re wet for me, like you always are, but you’re sad.” He sighed. “You’re still thinking that you can walk away.”

  “What do you mean, Beast? You can read my mind? What the fuck?” I ran my hands through my wet hair and shook my head. “This is all too much.”

  “I can’t read your mind, yet. I can just read your emotions, Sky. It’s a built in response to mating. It helps me cater to your needs so I can always keep you happy.”

  “Too fucking much.” I stepped away from him. “I have to get ready for work.”

  “We’ll talk about this later, then.” A command, instead of a request.

  I kept my mouth shut and went to find my work clothes. I just needed to get to work and clear my head. I could zone out while serving and maybe sneak in a talk with Amie. I needed time to figure out what to do about Beast. I needed time to make up my own mind, instead of having him tell me what was going to happen.

  Things progressively went downhill, though. As if sensing my pulling back, Beast was even more bossy than usual. He was cranky, too, and I didn’t need to be able to read his mind to know that.

  At the café, he sulked in his booth and picked at his three plates of pancakes. Beast never picked at food. He watched me with a dark look on his face and I could tell that we were in for a doozy of a fight. He wanted things the way he wanted them and I wasn’t going to give in to him. Certainly not because he pointed and demanded. Not because he told me that we were mates.

  Amie was through the roof happy because she’d gotten great news about her prospects of having a baby, so she stayed away from our darkness. I didn’t blame her.

  When my tips suffered and I started getting snide remarks from customers, my mood soured even more. Having at least a tiny bit of space away from Beast gave me the ability to think, and think I did. I was furious. He was being a controlling asshole and he had been from the start. I’d just been too blinded by lust to care.

  I didn’t want that, though. I didn’t want him following me to work and telling me what I could or couldn’t do. It didn’t matter that the sex was explosive or that I actually liked him when he was being calm with me. Between his attitude and the fact that I existed in the very real world, where magic was for kids’ birthday parties and TV shows, it just didn’t make sense to continue with him. No matter what he said about mates, we obviously weren’t meant to be.

  Why did admitting that feel like a sledgehammer had landed on my chest. I’d only known him for a few days for goodness sakes. I’d be fine.

  I was feeling darker than ever when a hand snaked out from a table I was passing and pulled me to a stop. I glared down at the hand and then into the face of a man I didn’t know.

  “Whoa, calm down, sweetheart. I just wanted to talk for a second. You look like you could use some cheering up.” He talked to my chest and grinned like a slime ball. “Can I buy you a coffee?”

  I shook my head. “No, thanks. I’m working.”

  “How ‘bout a drink later, then?” He winked and shrugged. “I’m sure you could use a little something to relax after a long day. Maybe a shoulder massage?”

  I was about to tell him how much I didn’t need drink or a shoulder massage if they were coming from him when a big arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me away. Looking back, I saw Beast glaring down at the man.

  “Touch her again and I’ll rip your fucking arms off.”

  Beast’s deep, ominous threat drew the attention of the entire café and I felt my face burn bright red. I grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away.

  “Dude, chill out. I just asked her out for a drink. If she didn’t want to go, all she had to do was say no.”

  “She’s mine. You touch her or talk to her like that again and you will not have to worry about anyone saying no ever again. There will be nothing left of you to say no to.”

  Marcus came out of the back at the sudden hush that had descended over the café and took the situation in with a scowl. Marching over to us, he looked from me to Beast and pointed to the door. “Out. This isn’t happening in here.”

  “Marcus, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. I just—”

  “Out, Sky. Don’t come back until you get this sorted out. This doesn’t fly here. You know that.” He looked at Beast and jerked his arm towards the door again. “Did you hear me? I said get out.”

  Beast growled at him, too. He was on the verge of losing control and I pulled him as hard as I could. He finally wrapped an arm around me and stalked towards the door. “You’re better than this place, anyway.”

  Amie appeared at the door with my purse and a frown on her face. “Ca
ll me, Sky.”

  I just nodded, angry tears threatening to fall if I opened my mouth to speak. Leaving the café, I knew what had to be done.

  Beast

  Furious didn’t begin to describe what I was feeling. Murderous was closer. The human male got off easy. My blood boiled and I wanted to go back into the café and rip the puny loser’s limbs from his torso. At least Sky didn’t have to return there anymore. She was free to stay at home and spend her time with me.

  “Fucking asshole. Thinking he can just touch you and make advances on you. You are mine. He is lucky to be breathing.” I shook my head.

  Sky didn’t say much and I could feel that she was angry, but I assumed her anger was directed at the man in the café. I shifted and she climbed on like always. I felt her heartrate increase and smelled her arousal, but she didn’t cling to me like she normally did. She felt cold and removed.

  By the time we landed at my house, I’d figured out that she was angry with me. When I shifted back, she pushed away from me and stormed into the house.

  “What are you doing?”

  She grabbed the few things that she had in my room and then stormed back outside. “I’m going home.”

  “What?”

  She stormed down the dock and tossed her things in her boat that was still tied up where the young males had left it that first night. “I’m not doing this with you.”

  I laughed. “This? Sky, come inside and we’ll talk.”

  “No. I’m going home. You’re not going to snap your fingers and command me inside like I’m a dog.” She climbed into the boat and went to untie it, but I grabbed the rope.

  “What is wrong with you, mate?”

  “You’re a controlling, self-centered asshole. You’re bossy. You’re pushy. And you’re condescending! I’m done.” She glared at me. “You’ve done nothing but boss me around. You tell me how it is and how it’s going to be. You didn’t even stop to explain to me what being a mate meant or what would happen, or why it was special. You just came up, demanding that I was yours and that it was fucking great. Well, I’m on the other side and it’s not great!

  “You may have just cost me my job. It may be nothing to you, oh high and mighty one, but it meant a whole lot to me. I don’t have a degree, I don’t have any other useful skills. I waitress. That’s what I’m good at and that’s how I make money to take care of myself and the boys. You just showed your ass in there, for nothing, and threw a huge wrench into my life.

  “I don’t need any more difficulties. Things are challenging enough for me right now. This is one straw too many. I’m not cut out for this. I just want a normal life, Beast. A normal life where the man I’m with talks to me and we have conversations. He doesn’t just bark orders and expect me to follow them. You just tell me to jump and are shocked when I don’t ask how high. That’s not a relationship. This isn’t a relationship.”

  I yanked the rope tighter and growled. “Stop it, Sky. This is a relationship. So, I am bossy. I take charge. It is my way. I’m not used to everyone talking and coming to decisions together. Your mate is an old school fucking dragon. You have to deal with it.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong.” She yanked a knife out from under the seat of her boat and sawed at the rope, quickly cutting it in two. “I don’t have to deal with it. I’m done. If you think that you don’t have to change because you’re a little older than me—okay, hundreds of years—and because you’re a dragon, that’s fine. You can stay right here and not change all by yourself. I don’t want to be with a dragon, anyway.”

  I threw the damned rope down. “You cannot be done with me, Sky! We are mates! You carry my mark! The moment I sank my teeth into you, you became mine. You are tied to me. You ill not age, you will not change. Our lives are directly linked now.”

  She stopped working the motor of the boat and jerked around to face me. “What did you say?”

  “We are linked. Just like I can feel your emotions, I will always be able to find you. I will always be tied to you. You bear my mark.” I swallowed, seeing her anger bubble up. “And you will not age, not as long as I’m still alive.”

  “Another choice you made for me.”

  “Of course, I made it for you! It is my duty. It is my duty to take charge and care for you.”

  “And make the decisions you thought were best for me.”

  “Yes! I know what you need. You need me. That’s how it works.”

  “Oh, fuck you. It’s not how it works for me.” She turned her back to me and started the engine. “Forever is going to be a long time for us both, if what you say is true, Beast.”

  “Sky!”

  “Tell Cezar to bring my boys home. We’re done with this. It’s time we got back to our lives. It’s time I went back to living in the world of reality.”

  “You can’t just walk away.”

  “You can’t just make up your mind and decide for me what I need. You should try a conversation next time, Beast. It might work better for you.”

  “Sky, come on! Come back here!”

  “Don’t come to my house. I don’t want to see you.”

  I roared angrily as she got farther away. “Sky!”

  She tossed her hand up in a wave as her boat carried her farther and farther away.

  I desperately wanted to chase her and drag her back. I was angry and hurt. She just walked out as though our mating didn’t matter. What the hell was wrong with her? Because she was a human, did she not feel the mate bond like I did?

  I stomped back up to my house and slammed the door closed. When that didn’t make me feel any better, I yanked it open and slammed it again and again. Eventually, I ripped the heavy metal from the wall and threw it into the swamp. Still didn’t feel better.

  How could she say those things to me? How could she leave?

  I told myself that if she did not want me, I was not going to beg her. I was a king among men. I did not grovel and beg on my belly like a starving mongrel. Even as I thought the words, though, I knew that if it would bring her back to me, I would implore her by crawling on my hands and knees over broken glass.

  I needed to get drunk on the old spirits of our world with a few males who understood our ways. I called out to the dragons to gather for a rare meeting.

  We dragons were solitary creatures, only together because we were forced to be to survive. We still horded our treasure and were very suspicious of others stealing it, but I didn’t have anything I cared about guarding after losing my most valuable, most precious treasure. I called them all over and instructed Armand to bring his strongest brew. I needed something hard to make me forget.

  Sky

  By the time I got home, Cezar was waiting for me near the dock with the kids. In some awful way seeing him there, without Beast around making sure he didn’t look at me for too long, was painful. Maybe Beast would come to his senses and realize that I was just a fun romp in the hay and then move on. That we weren’t meant to be together forever, he was mistaken. He’d simply been crazy with lust. Why that hurt me, I didn’t know. Or like.

  “What’s wrong, Sky?” Nick asked as soon as I pulled the boat up next to the dock. “You’re crying.”

  I reached up and touched my face. Hell, I was crying. I wiped at the tears angrily and shook my head. “I’m okay. It’s nothing.”

  Casey reached for the rope to tie the boat up and frowned when he realized it wasn’t there. “What happened to the rope?”

  “I have to get going.” Cezar nodded at me and smiled at the boys. “Come see me, guys. You can help with me with computer.”

  Casey groaned. “You need more than help.”

  Nick focused on giving me a hand out of the boat before we both dragged it onto the shore. “We already put Bax inside.”

  A memory popped into my head of when I awoke from a deep sleep to Beast’s shouting about Bax on his chest and asking me what kind of creature the cat was. More of the stupid tears fell. God, I felt like a mush-face. I rounded on Cezar. �
�Don’t you dare tell Beast that I was crying.”

  “I must. You’re his mate. If I didn’t, he’d have every right to knock my teeth out.”

  I scowled at him. “What makes you think I won’t knock your teeth out?”

  Casey laughed and grabbed my hand. “Come on, Aunt Sky. You can’t beat up a dragon. Don’t embarrass yourself.”

  “I’m going to see him now.” Cezar shrugged. “You two need to work this out.”

  I gave him one last scowl before marching towards the house. I found Bax on the kitchen counter and scooped him into my arms before going to my bedroom and climbing into bed. Spooning the big, mangy cat against my chest, I let myself really bawl.

  “Aunt Sky…what’s wrong?” Nick came into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. “What happened with Beast?”

  Casey came in and sat at the foot of the bed. “Why’d you leave there early? We thought you were going to be there for good. We were going to get our stuff ready to move in soon.”

  I sat up. “What?”’

  “Yeah. Cezar told us all about how you’re mates and that you’re going to be together forever. That’s how mates work. Why are you back here?”

  I just stared at them. I thought I’d escaped talk of dragons and mates, but I should’ve known better. The boys were eager and excited with their new found magical world. “It’s difficult.”

  Casey sighed. “Come on, Sky. How difficult can it be? We’re poor. Beast is rich. He’s a dragon. He can take care of us in more ways than just with money. Did I mention he’s a freaking dragon? Plus, he can fly and once he lets up on that tough guy image, he’s pretty cool.”

  Nick frowned. “I thought you liked him.”

  I stared at Casey. “It’s about more than being rich or poor. Or that he’s a dragon. Life doesn’t work that way.”

  “It could. You’re just making it difficult. Why do you do this? You could just let us be happy. We like him. We like Cezar. Why do you have to ruin everything?”