To Wake a Dragon: A Venys Needs Men Book (Tropical Dragons 3)

by Naomi Lucas

  Carefully, I untangle my legs from Drazak’s, and unhooking his tails from where they’re curled around my neck and thigh, I move away. His shaft slips out of me, but not before he cums once more with seed. I wince, hating the abrupt loss of him, but still myself, waiting to see if I’ve awakened him.

  He needs sleep. I don’t recall him sleeping once in all this time. It’s always been me. I chew on my lip, trailing my eyes over his face. And just like that, I want him all over again. My cheeks blush as I contemplate climbing atop him.

  But he grunts, settles his limbs, and continues to slumber.

  I still consider mounting him…eyeing his prone cock, chewing on my lip with more force.

  Milaye, let him sleep.

  I sigh. I shouldn’t mount him again until I find a place where we could both bathe. The dirt from the cave, with our sweat and his seed, has dirtied us both—far more than I would like. I’ve always strived to be impeccably clean—the clean huntress leaves a scant trail.

  I swipe at my skin. I find one of my hair-strings on the ground and, still awed I can even see it, tie my hair back.

  There’s no pain. I gently press my fingers where my wound should be but discover it’s gone. My heart thrums from the gift, knowing it was Drazak’s saliva that healed me.

  What would kissing him be like? We never stopped or slowed down enough to ease into rutting. Rubbing my cracked lips with my thumb, I debate stealing a kiss from him right now, but stop myself again.

  Because today’s the day we both leave. I don’t know why I decide this, but I seize hold anyhow. There’s nothing holding us back. I find my clothes and finish dressing. Staying here any longer will serve no one. I glance around our haphazard camp.

  My gaze goes back to Drazak—I can’t stop looking at him. Like if I were to stop, I’d wake up and discover this was all a dream. But he’s here in front of me now, male and wild, he’s intimidating, even in his sleep. If I was hunting him… I’d stay clear. His dragon form pops into my head, large and mesmerizing. No. I’d want to run away but would never succeed.

  Perhaps that is what makes a predator different from an apex predator. Running versus knowing there’s no point in doing so.

  I go to my scattered supplies and gather them into a pile, pushing the thought away. Drazak isn’t like the other two dragons I’ve met. There’s an uncivilized way about him.

  Even so, I know my tribe will accept him. I don’t have to worry like Aida did. The tribe would accept any dragon male after the blessings Zaeyr and Kaos proved to be—they single-handedly stopped our imminent extinction.

  My fingers pause, clutching a feather that had fallen from my shirt. Will Zaeyr accept Drazak? It was a question I’d never thought to consider.

  Back when the comet shone, neither Zaeyr nor Kaos were keen on huntresses searching for others of their kind. Nor were they entirely keen of each other—each preferring their own territory. But they did get along, and when needed, would work together for the sake of all our people. Though at the end, they could always separate, returning to their respective clans.

  Bonded with me, Drazak won’t have his own dragon man-free tribe to stake his claim. I look back at him, worry gnawing at me.

  Zaeyr will accept him. He’ll have to.

  Because if he doesn’t then I can’t stay… We’ll have to leave.

  Venture into Venys… Into the unknown where my skills may not be enough against the beasts. I shiver. I’m not frightened of the world, but I never thought I’d ever leave my family, my sisters. And I would leave—I know it without a second thought. I place my hand on my belly. For Drazak, I’d follow him wherever he goes. For all the children we’ll someday have.

  I drop my hand and wipe it on my dirty skirt, rising to my feet again. None of that matters if we don’t get out of this cave, and soon.

  A distant scattering of rocks pricks my ears. I pivot in that direction. And I pause, startled, as the naga boy stares back at me from behind a boulder. He lingers by the ledge where the cave entrance is. Leaning down slowly, I grab my last ration, all the while keeping my eyes pinned on him.

  I’d forgotten all about the naga.

  I make my way toward him, holding the ration out before me. As I approach, his features come into view, and my throat tightens. He’s emaciated. Much more now than he was in the jungle. He really is alone. I don’t know why this bothers me as much as it does. He looks no older than Haime, and he’s starving. He could’ve attacked Drazak and I, stolen our food, eaten us too, but he didn’t. It bothers me a lot.

  Almost upon him, I offer him the ration. He leans back as if to flee.

  “Wait!”

  But he pulls himself up the ledge and vanishes into the tunnels beyond.

  “Waters,” I curse, knowing I can’t chase after him. Instead, when I reach the ledge, I place my ration upon it, along with the feather I’m still clutching to.

  Hands grab my arms and spin me around. The next moment, I’m facing Drazak.

  Nostrils flaring, he growls, “You left.”

  I grow wet at the sound of his voice.

  “The naga,” I say as if that answers everything.

  “Him again? You are never allowed to leave me.”

  “I didn’t leave.”

  His hands tighten on my arms. “You can never leave me.”

  “I would never,” I whisper, my brows furrowing.

  “If you did leave, I would hunt you down, bind you with rope, and chain you to my side for all eternity.”

  He’s desperate. Scared?

  He’s afraid of being alone. He’s been alone for so long…

  What would I do if I were alone for so long? I know I would go mad.

  There’s a wildness in his eyes.

  I reach up and cup his cheeks. “Drazak, I will never leave you,” I reassure him. It’s the truth. “And I’ll do the same to you if you ever left.”

  He lowers his face to mine and traps me with his gaze. The strain in his jaw eases. “Make it an oath,” he demands.

  “Never,” I swear. And right then I realize, he’ll never leave me either. Ever. I won’t be alone anymore, neither of us will. I’ll never be alone again. I’m now certain he would have chosen me over any other female in my tribe. I can see it in his eyes.

  First the darkness lifted in the cave, now a burden rises from my chest. But as I study Drazak, I can tell he’ll need convincing every day, all the time, until the lonely cave disappears from his mind. We both will. I’m more than up for the task.

  “Say it again,” he says.

  “Bond or not, I’ll make sure you’re never alone again.” I lean up on my toes and steal my kiss.

  My lips press against his as he begins to speak, cutting him short. Soft and swift, I lower to take in his reaction.

  Drazak stares at me curiously, even surprised. It’s better than his fear. “What was that?” he asks.

  “I kissed you,” I tell him. “It shows affection. It binds a promise.” I lick my lips. “It’s part of mating. Or so I’ve heard,” I add.

  He pulls me up and presses his lips against mine. Hard. I groan from the pressure, and he loosens his hold. “Not so rough. Softer,” I explain.

  This time when he lifts me to him, his mouth finds mine like a whisper. I purse my lips to feel his better, but then he pulls away, tickling me with the briefest touch. I groan again, grab his head, and yank him down. “Like this.”

  My mouth finds his, and I suck in his lower lip, biting it teasingly. Drazak grunts into me, and our tongues meet when I slide mine across the crease to his mouth.

  I taste his saliva and moan, dropping my weight to the wall. He gathers me against him and presses me back, trapping me there. Heat and bitter root flavors my mouth, sweetspice and dew. I grow dizzy, my head lightens. Sucking in his tongue, I swallow him down, needing him inside.

  Like he promised he always would be.

  His prick rises and hardens between us. My legs climb him to wrap around his waist. Someth
ing rubs my buttocks, his tails, only to pull my cheeks apart, opening me as far as my female flesh will go. I think I hear my skirt rip.

  He’s baring me, once again.

  He’s baring me, and I love it.

  His seed is still dripping out of me.

  I’m too distracted to care, sucking and licking on his mouth. He grazes me back—and I clench, hard, growing wetter. The dig of his teeth… I need them everywhere. “Drazak,” I breathe his name and my head falls back. “I’ll never, ever leave you.”

  His tongue slides up my cheek until his nose is pressed into my hair. His tails and his hands are pinning me, placing me exactly where he wants. And when his large purple-scaled shaft pushes into me hard, my nails dig into his scalp. Oh.

  There’s no waiting for me to stretch for him this time. He pulls back and slams into me again. A long-winded scream tears from my throat, it’s punctuated from his impaling, forcing the sound high and then low. I lock my legs around him and hold on desperately as his thrusting grows wild.

  He’s furious.

  Each shunt teases my inner pleasure spot, each pound batters my nub. Nearly split in two, Drazak shows me how fiercely he’ll hold onto me, keeping me right where he likes me most—in his arms.

  Mine snake around him, embracing him in return.

  Sizzling with heat, my sex begging for release, I wiggle my hips to push my nub onto him, writhing as his prick plays me. Like the huntress I am, the one I must prove I am. I grasp him everywhere when my adrenaline rises, and when he is captured, I bite down on the crook of his neck, felling my prey. My sex clamps, and I scream into him.

  Marking him. Mine.

  His roars fill my ears. His seed fills me next. Our limbs lock, binding us, and together our bodies seize from the violent release.

  His hot cum gushes out of me and down my legs as neither of us move, panting. All I can do is let him seed me. It’s all I want to do.

  I inhale his scent like it’s my favorite meal.

  And of course, my stomach growls.

  Drazak lowers me to the ground, slipping out of me. I hate it. I hate it when his root leaves. I only ever want to be filled. I mumble, annoyed.

  “You growled?” he asks, cupping my shoulders with his large hands and leaning me back.

  “I’m hungry,” I whisper, fussy because he left me empty. Actually, I’m ravenous, suddenly starving. My eyes go to his mouth, wondering if it has something to do with his delicious saliva. “Maybe it’s because you made me feel empty,” I grumble.

  “You need food before I can rut you again. Let us get you some food, for both our desires.”

  He grabs my hand and tries to lead me back to our camp. I tug. “We need to find a way out of here.”

  “Why? Are you not empty? It is safer to rut you at our camp. I can forage for nutrition there and keep an eye on you, female.”

  All I want to do is go back to our camp and have him inside me again, but we will not last long if we do. And if he means nutrition as in bugs… “Because we can’t survive down here, not long at least.”

  “Of course we can. And we will. There is plenty down here to sustain us—creatures and roots—and I hear a spring deeper within. This is my den, and you are my female, fully seeded. You will bring our young to term here where I can keep you safe. Then I will seed you again until you are done bearing my young.”

  His words make me shiver with desire and nervousness. “Humans can’t live in the dark. We’re not made that way. We’re not creatures of darkness. We’re creatures of light.”

  His eyes narrow. “What do you mean?”

  “We live in the sun, and eat… more than just bugs. We need warmth and shelter—more than what this offers—and space. We need all of this and more. I like it here, but it will not sustain us. This cave is too cold for us without hides.”

  “I am a dark creature,” he says, and as he does so, I sense darkness rising from the jewel on his brow. Darkness that even I can’t see through with my new sight.

  “I feast off of the shadows,” he continues. “They comfort and heal me. I create darkness in return. Here I can be invisible, I will always have the upper hand. We will find a way.”

  “We won’t. We need to leave.”

  He growls. “So you will leave me? The blush on your cheeks has not even left, and you have proven to be a liar.”

  I jerk my hand from his. “I am not a liar. I am being realistic! We must leave and go to my tribe if we want to survive. If we want our children to survive. The jungle is too dangerous for two humans, even if we are lethal!”

  “With me there is no danger! I will provide everything. I will take care of you as it should be done.”

  “You are no longer a dragon! And I am not that kind of female!”

  His nostrils flare, and he steps right up to me. I straighten, meeting him head-on. The tension has returned to us tenfold, but not in the way it was before.

  “I am what you have touched, what you are bound to, human.” His voice is low and menacing. “You are mine. You will defer to me.”

  I return his scowl. “I won’t be yours for long if you keep me here.” I push past him and storm to my supplies. I hear him following behind me. I drop down, gathering what I can into the remaining pouches and tie them to my waistband. I see my dagger by the dead fire and take that too.

  “Female—”

  “Milaye. My name is Milaye,” I correct angrily.

  “Milaye,” his voice remains grave but softens when I rise to face him again. “You swore.”

  “I did.”

  His tail wraps around my ankle. “Then let me take care of us.”

  “I will.”

  Relief floods his eyes.

  “But not here,” I say. “I need to get back to my tribe, if possible. I have responsibilities.”

  “Haime?”

  I tense. Hearing her name pummels me with all sorts of unwanted emotions. “Yes.” I push past him again and head back to the ledge. “Haime. She’s my ward. She… needs me.” I hope she needs me, but only the living have needs. I make it to the ledge and turn around. He’s right behind me. “You can choose to come with me or not.”

  “And if I do not?”

  I shudder. Just thinking of us splitting apart sends terrible jabs of pain through me. But I can’t stay here, and neither can he. I have to convince him. I peer up at him and inhale.

  “You will,” I say, keeping my voice level. “Because I need you and I need this. It’s not only about our survival. Now that you’re better, I need to return to my tribe, I need that more than anything, and to do so, I need you to come with me.”

  I watch him studying my face. Finally, he asks, “Why? What is out there that you need more than… than this—us?”

  “Haime’s my ward,” I start, though my chest squeezes. “But there’s more to it than that. She’s like a daughter to me and…”

  “And what?”

  It hurts to say it, to even think of voicing this. As if speaking it might make it true. “And I don’t know if she got out in time.” I wrench my eyes tightly shut. “That’s why I need to leave, and I still would, even if you provided everything you say and more. I’ll never rest not knowing if I failed. If I failed her.”

  There, I said it.

  And I still don’t know if Haime survived or not. I twitch, fearing what I’ve said, praying there aren’t larger forces at work. Ones that aren’t on my side.

  Drazak sighs. My eyes snap open when his brow comes down to rest on mine. “You madden me.”

  “I know.”

  “We will leave.”

  I exhale. “Thank you.”

  “Do not thank me, Milaye, Warden of Haime. I will not be good company under the sun.”

  I embrace him and burrow my face into his chest. His arms and tails wrap around me. “Thank you,” I tell him again. After a moment, I pull out of his embrace, there is work to do.

  He lifts me and pushes me onto the ledge like I weigh nothing. I rock o
n my feet, steadying myself as he climbs up behind me. Peering down, I notice the ration and my feather are gone.

  “Well, human,” he says, rising next to me. “If this is what you need, I will give it to you. I will always give it to you. But you must give me what I need as well.”

  I know what he needs. “Of course.”

  I take his hand and lead him into the tunnels.

  15

  The Way Out

  I show him the cave-in—the old entrance where I came in however many days ago—pointing to the dirt and rocks blocking our path.

  He sniffs the air thoroughly and tells me there’s no blood, old or new, in the air.

  It’s enough to give me hope.

  We don’t stay long, backtracking a little to find the other path. The clams have been shifted, some are broken, but I pick up the good ones that remain and stuff them into my fire moss pouch. Together we continue, though he takes the lead.

  It is his cave after all. But unlike me, he has to remain hunched over most of the time so his horns don’t scrape the ceiling.

  “There has to be a way out,” I murmur a while later. The tunnel goes on and on. “Maybe we should head back and try digging our way through the old path,” I suggest. “It might be our best chance of freedom.”

  Drazak hums. “I will make us a way out if there is not one. Nothing can hold a dragon, not even the terra of Venys—” He sniffs, harshly. “I smell salty air.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes.”

  I go quiet as we walk. When I sniff the air, I notice nothing but the musk of soil. I trust him though and do my part to protect our backs.

  My instincts as a huntress become essential as the territory around us grows unfamiliar. Our trek is increasingly treacherous, with rocks and steep ledges we could stumble over. At one point we’re on our hands and knees crawling so long my skin is scraped up. Drazak stops to lick my wounds when the path opens back up.

  Then I hear the wind.