Drakon's Knight (Blood of the Drakon)

by N. J. Walters

  He made his own foray into her mouth, stroking the inside, teasing and tasting. It was both innocent and arousing. Innocent in that there seemed to be no agenda other than what they were doing. He simply enjoyed the kiss as she did.

  Her clothing was too constricting. Her breasts swelled, her nipples rubbing against the satiny cups of her bra. She wished she hadn’t put on the thing after her shower, but something had compelled her to do so, as though getting fully dressed was like donning protective armor. Now it was simply a nuisance.

  A rhythmic throbbing began between her legs. It was delicious. After all the pain and uncertainty, it was nice to lose herself in pure pleasure.

  Emboldened, she placed her hand on his chest, wishing he wasn’t wearing a T-shirt. She wanted to touch the hard muscles beneath, absorb the heat from his skin. Wanted to see his tattoos. Her fingers itched to trace the thick, curving lines. The way they swooped and swirled made her want to follow them with her tongue.

  She tugged on the hem of his shirt until it rose far enough for her to slip her hand under the fabric. His abs grew taut as she grazed her fingers over them. He made a sound partway between a growl and a moan when she stroked higher, letting the tip her finger brush against one of his flat nipples.

  He trapped her hand, covering it. The heat from his skin seeped into her. He was always so warm, bordering on hot.

  “This isn’t wise. You’re in no shape to make this kind of decision.” He was being the voice of reason, and she didn’t want to hear it.

  “So?” Throwing caution to the wind didn’t seem like something she’d do. It felt strange and bold and new.

  The laugh he gave sounded more than a little pained. “You have no idea how much I want to roll you onto your back, strip you out of your clothing, and kiss every inch of your body.”

  Her toes curled. She could totally get on board with that idea.

  “But you have no idea who you really are. You’d be sorry once you remembered.” His certainty killed some of the desire coursing through her veins.

  “If you don’t want to have sex, you don’t need to make excuses.” Feeling foolish now, she withdrew her hand from under his shirt. When she tried to turn away, he threw one heavy thigh over her legs, anchoring her in place.

  “You’re still hurt, but you’re doing better. It’s normal to want to reaffirm life.”

  The rest of the passion seeped away, replaced by growing anger. “Thank you for your armchair diagnosis.”

  He swore under his breath before grabbing her hand and dragging it down to the front of his jeans. His erection was hard and thick and big. She automatically curled her fingers around it.

  “Does that feel like I don’t want you?”

  “No.” It came out as a breathy sigh. He pulsed against her palm. An answering echo throbbed between her legs.

  “Fuck, that’s good.” He captured her wrist and dragged her hand up to his lips, kissing it before he released her. “But until you get your memory back, I’d be taking advantage of you.”

  “I’m willing,” she pointed out, even though he was right. Kissing was one thing, sex quite another.

  He gave what might be considered a laugh, but it was harsh, and over before it really began. “That’s not making it any easier. If we did this and you had regrets once your memory returned…”

  Closing her eyes, she counted to ten. “You’re right.” It annoyed her to have to admit it, but he was correct. It wasn’t fair of her to use him to make herself feel better.

  A memory echoed in her mind before settling into her bones. She was a user. That’s what she did. Karina turned her head away, unwilling to face him as she dealt with this new piece of information.

  …

  He was bucking for sainthood. Both sides of him—human and dragon—wanted her. But he wasn’t willing to take her only to have her regret it when she discovered who and what they both were.

  And there was still a part of him that feared he might eventually have to kill her if she tried to harm the others. It was one thing for him to take a risk. Quite another to put his friends in danger. Protecting Sadiq, Enoch, and Khalil was ingrained in his DNA. But so was the call to mate. If he was forced to end her, his divided loyalties would rip him apart.

  “You should get some more sleep,” he told her. She wasn’t anywhere near well yet.

  She rolled until she was facing away from him.

  It was better this way. But if that was the case, why did it feel so fucking wrong? He wanted to grab on to her and never let her go. But this Karina was a dream, not the real woman, the one who was the leader of the Knights.

  He stood and strode toward the door, even as every cell in his body tried to force him to stay. “I’ll leave you to it.”

  “Jericho.”

  He stopped in his tracks, loving the way his name sounding on her lips. “Yeah?”

  “Thank you for staying with me.”

  He didn’t want her thanks. “I kidnapped you, remember? It won’t do me much good if you die.” It was cruel, but it was probably for the best. They both needed some distance.

  She surprised him by laughing. “There is that,” she readily agreed.

  Her good humor only angered him. Why couldn’t she be the woman he wanted her to be? Why was she the leader of the damn Knights?

  Of course, if she wasn’t, he might never have met her. Logical, maybe, but he was in no mood for logic.

  He left her and went downstairs where Sadiq was waiting for him in the living room. “Where are the others?”

  Sadiq was kicked back on the couch watching a ballgame on television. He grabbed the remote and muted the sound. “Khalil is patrolling the area. Enoch took his laptop out back to keep working once you and little Miss Knight started talking.”

  Shit! That was one of the hard parts about being a drakon—preternatural hearing. His friends would have heard every word.

  “We all got a little uncomfortable,” Sadiq continued. “Do you know what the hell you’re doing?”

  He slumped down on a big leather recliner patched with frayed duct tape and stretched his legs out in front of him. Reaching down, he adjusted his cock, which was still as hard as a rock, making his jeans a very tight fit. “Does it look like I know what the fuck I’m doing?”

  His friend smirked. “No. I gotta say, it doesn’t. Either bed her or kill her.”

  “It’s not that simple.” None of them had ever had to deal with the rollercoaster emotional upheaval that came with finding their mate. Few of their kind had been that lucky. Although from what Enoch had been able to unearth, that seemed to be changing. Who the hell knew why?

  “We should get rid of her. Dump her somewhere and leave the country.”

  Jericho was already shaking his head. “I can’t. Not yet.” He held up his hand to halt Sadiq’s protest. “Trust me, I know all the reasons why keeping her around is a bad idea, but my dragon side won’t let her go.” He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to let her go, even if she ran from him in horror when she eventually discovered exactly what he was. And it might be the end of him if that day ever came.

  “I can’t let her go,” he repeated. He knew Sadiq couldn’t fully comprehend what he was going through. His entire being yearned for her. It was a craving, a need that went so deep he didn’t think it would ever be sated. Something in him would wither and die if he lost her. He instinctually understood that.

  “She’s the leader of the Knights of the Dragon. They want to capture our kind, hold us, cage us, and for what? Our blood. So they can drink it and heal themselves, stop aging, possibly live forever.”

  “I fucking know that.” His skin itched, a sure sign his dragon wanted out. He needed some way to expend all the pent-up physical energy churning inside him. Since sex was off the table, a fight would do.

  “What do we do?” Sadiq slowly came to his feet. “You might be willing to trust her, but I’m not. What happens when her memory comes back and she decides we all have to be drugge
d, kept alive in our dragon forms to feed the Knights’ lust for power? For all we know, she’s lying about her memory being gone to learn more about us.”

  He heard the faint gasp and turned on Sadiq. “You bastard. You knew she was listening.” He’d been too up in his own head to notice her eavesdropping from the top of the stairs.

  Sadiq simply shrugged. “I’ll always do what’s best for you. Even if that means you hate me. Even if it means we fight. Won’t be the first time and probably won’t be the last.”

  They’d come to blows more than once over the thousands of years they’d been together. They were both strong men with equally strong opinions. He should have known his friend would do something like this.

  “And,” Sadiq continued, “you both need for her to get her memory back. That’s the only way you can make any kind of real decision.” He strode toward the front door. Jericho stepped in front of him, but Sadiq shoved him aside. “You’re fucking welcome.”

  Hands fisted by his sides, he watched his friend leave, tempted to go after him so he could pound him into the dirt. Only it wouldn’t be that easy, and they’d eventually end up shifting and fighting as dragons. And that wasn’t safe for any of them. They were isolated, but not so remote that someone wouldn’t notice two fire dragons battling it out high in the night sky.

  Right now, he had bigger problems. He took the stairs three at a time. In his haste to get to Karina, he almost knocked her down. She was leaning against the wall, eyes wide open, skin pale.

  “How much did you overhear?” He feared he already knew what she was going to say.

  “All of it.”

  Damn, this is not what he’d wanted, but maybe Sadiq was right. Not that he’d ever tell the interfering bastard that.

  When she swayed, he caught her. “You need to get back to bed.”

  “No.” There was a tinge of fear and also demand. “Not the bed.”

  Okay, not back to the place where they’d been intimate only a short time ago. He got it. Not giving her time to protest, he scooped her into his arms. His muscles coiled and then relaxed as her heat and her unique scent sank into him.

  He carried her downstairs and deposited her onto the sofa. “I thought you were going to get some more rest.” Had she purposely eavesdropped on them?

  “I was going to, but after I used the bathroom, I decided I needed some water. There was no glass upstairs. I figured I’d get a bottle from the fridge. And I wanted to ask about first-aid supplies. The bandage on my shoulder probably needs to be changed.”

  He should have thought of those things. In spite of living so long, he hadn’t spent much time around humans, at least, not on a daily basis. It was easy to forget they required more care than a drakon. While he could go a long time without water, she’d get dehydrated.

  “What Sadiq said, is it true?” She licked her lips and scooted forward until she was perched right on the edge of the sofa cushion. Her spine was straight, but there was an air or uncertainty about her that hadn’t been there before.

  He tried not to notice how inviting her moist lips were and how easy it would be to lean forward and kiss them. They’d taste so damn sweet. His cock stood at attention, demanding he do something to relieve the never-ending ache that had plagued him since he’d seen her in the wreckage.

  But now was definitely not the time. “What exactly did you hear?”

  His erection was making him uncomfortable, so he sat back in the chair, mostly to give her some space.

  She flicked her gaze toward him and then away. Her fingers twined together so tightly they were turning white. Finally, she took a deep breath and peered straight at him.

  “Apparently, I’m the leader of some kind of group that hunts and traps dragons.” She tried to laugh, but her effort fell flat. “Even though it sounds impossible, like something out of a movie or novel, it feels true.” She touched her hand to her temple as though trying to remember. “Your tattoos reminded me of dragons. That has something to do with it, doesn’t it?”

  She swallowed heavily. He wanted to reassure her that everything would be okay. Wanted to stroke her and kiss her. He did none of those things.

  “Yes.”

  Chapter Nine

  Karina wished she’d gone back to bed after using the bathroom instead of deciding she needed water first. Eavesdropping had gotten her more than she’d bargained for. When she’d heard Jericho and Sadiq talking, she’d purposely stopped and listened, hoping for some speck of information that might jog her memory.

  Be careful what you wish for.

  What she’d heard seemed fantastical, yet she knew it was true.

  When she realized she was wringing her hands together, she made herself stop. Her mouth was dry. She still needed that water, but it would have to wait. Her legs were trembling and probably wouldn’t hold her.

  “So, I’m the leader of this group. The Knights of the Dragon?” She said the name slowly, trying to get some sense of it.

  Jericho sat in the chair across from her as though he didn’t have a worry in the world, but that was a lie. As he studied her, a muscle in his jaw flexed and his eyes narrowed slightly. He was big and strong and solid. She wanted to crawl into his arms and pretend the past didn’t exist, but that wouldn’t change the facts of either of their lives.

  “Yes. From everything we’ve learned over the years, the women in your family are always the leader of this group.”

  Although she didn’t truly understand any of this, she nodded. “And we capture dragons?” Now that seemed the most ludicrous of everything she’d heard. “Dragons aren’t real.” She might be dealing with a concussion, but she knew that much.

  He tilted his head to one side and continued to study her, as if searching for some particular reaction.

  A light flashed in her mind, making her wince. A large creature with wings burst forth from her repressed memory. Another flash, followed by more sharp pain. There was a man laughing, not only at the dragon, but at Karina. She could almost hear his voice in her head, but not well enough to make out what he was saying.

  “What is it?” Jericho was on his knees in front of her. When had he moved?

  She was sweating. At some point she’d clasped her head in her hands. Slowly, she lowered them. “More images. A dragon-like creature.” She didn’t know if that was real or something conjured by her subconscious. “And there’s someone there.”

  “Who?” He captured one of her hands and held it between his much larger ones. The strength and heat from them helped anchor her.

  “I don’t know. I don’t know,” she whispered. Frustration slammed into her like a tsunami. She should recognize the person. The knowledge was right there, yet just beyond her grasp. It was maddening. “A man. He’s laughing at the creature.” She yanked her hand from his and dug the heel of her palm against her temple. “It hurts. It hurts to remember.”

  Pain ricocheted through her brain until the agony was more than she could bear. She rocked back and forth, gritting her teeth to keep from crying out.

  “Karina.” His big hands landed on her shoulders, and he lightly shook her. “Look at me.”

  There was no way to resist the command in his voice. She swallowed back tears of pain and forced herself to face him.

  “Breathe. Whatever the memory is, it can’t hurt you.”

  He was wrong. Whatever her past was, whatever she’d suppressed, it was causing this. But he was right about one thing. She needed to release the memory before she faced the past head on. It wasn’t easy, but she forced herself to inhale, slow and steady. “I’m not a good person, am I?” The words came from deep within her, from some part of her that hadn’t forgotten her past. As soon as she gave voice to her thought, some of the pain receded.

  “No, you’re not.”

  Strangely enough, his bluntness made it easier for her to regain control. “I thought not. Maybe that’s why I don’t want to remember.”

  It would be easy to shove down her memories, to a
bandon the life she’d had and try to start anew. But that wasn’t who she was. At her core, she was a fighter.

  Because that’s what this was—a fight for her life.

  “We’re enemies then?” She already knew that, since he’d kidnapped her, but for some reason it seemed more real now.

  “We are.” He sat back in the chair, putting some distance between them. It felt like he was abandoning her, which was stupid. They’d always been on opposite sides, it seemed.

  “Sadiq said the group I’m leader of wants to capture ‘your kind.’ What does that mean? You’re dragons?”

  He was silent for a long time, so still he seemed more statue than flesh and blood. “Not quite.”

  She nodded. “I thought not. Dragons aren’t real.” It was ludicrous to think otherwise, in spite of her flash of memory.

  “Oh, they’re real enough. They came to this world from another dimension four thousand years ago. They weren’t here long. Less than two decades. They changed forms long enough to mate with human women. Those women had children. Sons.”

  It was like a fantasy story, but deep inside she was beginning to accept the core truth in his tale. It was crazy, but he had no reason to lie to her. “And?”

  He dragged his fingers through his thick hair. It spread like a silky black curtain, touching the top of his shoulders. She curled her fingers in her lap to keep from reaching out to touch it.

  “And those sons weren’t pure-blooded dragons. Their base form was human like their mothers, but they could shift into dragons as well. They were true half-breeds, inheriting the best and worst traits from both species.”

  She leaned forward, unable to stop herself. It was all fascinating, yet familiar at the same time. “So there were baby dragons?”

  He absently shook his head, lost in the story he was telling her. His eyes seemed ageless, but there was a weariness about him that made her long to reach out and offer comfort.