Driven by Dragonblood, page 4
part #3 of Blood Born Series
My brow furrowed deeply, and I took another step backward, shaking my head as the darkness swelled in attempts to find release from its prison inside me. “No.”
“Please.” Another sob, and she lifted her hand, palm up. “Please.”
“You need to leave. Now.” I barely managed to force the words passed my aching jaw, past lips wanting to taste every inch of her skin. “Leave.”
Her shoulders slumped, tears coursing down her cheeks, but I held steady against the ache in my chest, the need to hold her, ease her suffering.
She spun, and with a cry, yanked the door open, disappearing into the hall.
No!
The scream inside me buckled my knees, and I lunged for the opened door, holding to its edge to keep from falling. My head jerked side to side, desperate for another glimpse—the consuming need to stop her from leaving.
She’d disappeared.
“Fuck!” Hands fisting once more, I fought the darkness needing her, the all-consuming lust that matched what I’d felt for Jaxon.
Fight or flight? Stay or go?
“Fuck,” I muttered again, clenching my eyes shut.
Chapter Eight
Primrose
I made it to the stairwell before collapsing in a heap, lower lip between my teeth to keep from sobbing out loud. The coppery tang of blood slid across my tongue, but I didn’t release my bite as, eyes clenched, I held myself still. Fought to control the hurt, the ache inside me.
Even grief over losing my grandmother hadn’t hurt to the extent of my alpha’s rejection.
He had pushed me away, and even though I could still feel the tether of energy connecting us, the darkness inside him lay quieter than it should. The human blood in him pumped strong, as strong as his will to keep his inner dragon contained. He feared—hated—that part of him he didn’t understand.
Refusing to acknowledge what he was wouldn’t ever make it go away.
The metal door behind me squeaked open, a rush of brimstone and musk swarming over me.
My alpha loomed above on the landing, hands clenched at his sides, his entire body trembling, his inner beast shut off from my gift to hear dragonblood.
“How do you do that?” I whispered past the thickness in my throat. “Completely shut your thoughts off from me? No dragonblood has been able to do so.”
A deep groove lined his forehead. “Who are you?”
“Primrose.”
“You’re a patient here?”
“No.” I swallowed against the sudden dryness attacking my mouth at the realization his cock strained less than two feet from my face. Heat rushed through me as I shifted closer, my hand rising to stroke his hard length.
He took a step back before I could touch what belonged to me and our beta.
“I want you,” I whispered. “I want you to slam me against that door like you wanted moments ago. My virginity belongs to you—I belong to you. I need you.”
He blinked, the energy linking us swelling with a blinding light, but dimmed just as fast as whatever prison he locked his inner dragon within doubled its wall thickness. I’d never met a human with such mental strength.
“Your human has control,” I murmured, my voice breaking, my hand dropping to my lap.
“I can help you,” he said, his tone low, his voice sounding forced.
I climbed to my feet, holding his stare, and even though I couldn’t hear his thoughts, I didn’t need to in order to understand what he’d meant. “I know what kind of help you think I need, but there’s no cure for who I am. Even if there was, I would fight to the death to remain whole.”
He stared at me, unblinking, and even though sexual energy rippled between us, his mind remained veiled.
Was it possible I had been wrong? My body, my dragon knew Patrick was blood born, my alpha. Perhaps he didn’t want me.
No.
Perhaps we’re not enough, I told my inner dragon. Perhaps I’m not pretty enough. Too tall, too curved for his tastes. I argued with my inner dragon as the silence between me and the frowning man grew.
“You came after me,” I heard myself whisper what my dragon had, so much hope behind my words my heart ached.
A muscle twitched the scruff lining his jaw. “Because you need help.”
My shoulders sagged as I realized he would never give me the help I needed, the bonding that would make me whole and tie us together for all of eternity.
Every inch of my body—and the dragon’s within—aching, I lifted my chin. A dozen or so curses flitted through my mind, but I kept my lips sealed. Dragonblood and my alpha, the man must smell the arousal smeared inside my leggings. How could he withstand the pull? I had read once having caught the scent of his mates, an alpha would move mountains to claim what belonged to him.
My breath caught as the truth blared in my human brain. He didn’t want me.
With a cry from the ache in my chest, I turned away, hurried down one level of stairs, and cloaked myself from human sight. If only I could cloak the tumbling emotions inside me as easily. Not caring about raising suspicion or alarm, I threw open door after door in my invisible attempt to escape the tether wanting to pull me back to him.
The second the sun shone down on me, I shifted to my true form, shredding clothes, my wings lifting me in a rush of wind that blew two people approaching me onto their backsides, shrieking curses.
Tears poured from my eyes as I shot upward, needing to escape him, needing to somehow break the beginnings of the bond we had been fated for. I wanted to scream, roar my frustration, but couldn’t afford to raise human awareness of a beast in the sky after blasting wind over those poor ones below.
I banked toward the south, needing space. Time to find peace.
My beta had wanted me, I didn’t doubt, but he had disappeared as easily as I had from Lockwood.
Westward.
I gave over to my dragon, and she took me where she wanted, another town growing in the distance below. Wings tucking, we dove, sweeping over buildings and houses around its perimeter, slowly moving inward as the human side of me continued to grieve. While my dragon controlled us, I licked my wounds as she would physically, trying to ease the heartache ripping me apart.
Perhaps I ought to return to my grandfather and the mountains. At least peace had been offered in my childhood home—even if it meant being alone for the centuries ahead of me.
A cool wind rippled over my wings tinged with a hint of…
Beta.
My heart leaped, the heartache over my alpha momentarily soothed, and I forced my mind over my dragon’s, seeking out the energy rising from below. Same as the night before, the tether between us strengthened as I closed in on a cul-de-sac lined by homes. The one at the circle’s end drew my focus, and I knew my beta resided there.
I landed in front of the house and shifted, naked and cloaked, my gaze roaming over the house as trembling took over my body. My attention turned toward the garage, to the set of stairs leading to a small balcony.
Yes.
Would he turn me away as my alpha had? I bit my lip once more, refusing to spring forward as my dragon wished.
He wants you.
The energy between me and my beta swelled, and I found myself moving forward, naked as a babe and invisible to the human eye, hardly noting the wooden treads beneath my feet as I climbed the stairs to the balcony. The tether solidified, and I could feel my beta’s desire, his all-consuming need for me.
The door flew open, and I whimpered at the beauty of him, the perfection of his dark hair, blue-green eyes, and freshly shaved jaw. His bare chest appeared chiseled from stone, lusciously bowed upper lip and the one below full enough I wanted to sink my teeth into the soft flesh.
Yes.
Chapter Nine
Jaxon
No one stood on my deck, but I knew … I fucking knew she was there. My heart pounded, pulsing blood through my dick.
Yes, ours.
“I know you’re there.” The words rasped past my lips, and I swallowed. “I can feel you.”
The air around me zapped with an energy I didn’t recognize, couldn’t fathom, but it made me horny as fuck—and half made me wonder if I truly did belong in Lockwood. I tightened my grip on the door handle.
“Please show yourself. Show me I’m not mad.”
Golden light shimmered in front of me, swirling like a gentle breeze might stir fallen leaves, like glitter glinting in the overhead sun.
Eyes the color of delicious caramel sauce filled with such emotion, my heart ached for her more than my dick longed to fuck into her. The light of her fused together, bringing her entire body into focus.
Her very naked body.
Fucking gorgeous with curves made for plundering. My mouth watered and dick stiffened to the point of pain as I realized the golden goddess of my dreams stood before me.
“Goddamn.” I groaned the word, my focus sliding down over every inch of her golden skin, the pulse throbbing in her neck. Big tits I wanted to suck and fuck, the rosy tips of them beaded with need. Hourglass waist, flared hips, golden curls glistening in the sun…
I swallowed as her mouthwatering scent filled my nose, my lungs. Wetness smeared her thighs, and I wanted nothing more than to bury my face between them, lick her clean and claim her as my own.
Ours.
“Yes,” she whispered, jerking my focus back to her face.
Need.
“Yes.” Her breathless whisper and the beginnings of her smile tightened my balls against my body. She stepped closer.
I held out my hand, and the first touch of her fingertips rippled that energy between us up through my arm, piercing my heart, oozing pre-cum from my dick. Fighting to catch my breath, I stepped backward, pulling her in after me, our gazes latched as surely as our hearts, our souls.
She wants us, to be beneath us. She’ll willingly give what no man has yet claimed—
My eyebrows shot up at what my inner voice stated, and her smile widened. “You shall be my first.” She moved, closing the distance between us and swarming my head with the scent of summer’s flowers, a fresh strawberry, juicy and ready to be devoured.
I reached out a hand to push the apartment door closed. The buzz of the TV registered in my ears, but the heavy breaths between us held my focus. As though of the same mind, we erased the inches between our mouths, coming together, her soft breasts against my bare chest.
I’d fucked my way through my fair share of women, but with the first brush of our lips, I knew the golden goddess would be my last. The one fate had destined me for, the one my heart and soul had longed for, the one who would love me regardless of myself until I lay buried six feet under.
Where the assurance came from, I didn’t know—and I didn’t give a fuck. I wanted to bury myself inside her body, piercing her as she’d done to my heart, filling her with everything I was, everything I longed for.
The fact she’d appeared like a ghost solidifying into flesh hadn’t freaked me the fuck out as it ought to, but I never pinched myself to see if I dreamed. The beast inside me recognized her in some strange way, and as I wound my hands through her hair and cradled her cheeks in my hands, I knew.
Mate.
I groaned into her mouth, sliding my tongue along her silken lips, and she opened to me, the sweetness of her breath, the taste of her mouth beyond all fucking comprehension. Never … I would never get enough.
“Mine,” I growled against her lips as I slid one hand down her back to cup one of her plump ass cheeks.
“Yes.” She worked her hands between us, pulling at my jeans, fumbling, her movements turning almost frantic as I trailed my lips along her jaw to nip beneath her ear. “Oh, yes.” She gulped as I squeezed her ass and lavished open-mouth kisses down her throat, trying to draw her strawberry-like scent inside my lungs.
Her whimper of frustration with my jeans had me grinning like a goddamn fool. No woman had ever wanted me so badly, and the knowledge I would be her first, that I would be the one to fulfill her needs jerked my dick beneath her fingers.
“Help me, please,” she whispered, yanking on my zipper.
It hurt like fucking hell to release my hold on her ass, but I did—enough only to free my dick, shove my jeans to the floor, and kick them off. Our bodies came together, mouths crashing once more in desperate need, the energy simmering between us enough I felt I would burst into flames.
I lifted her into my arms, and her legs wrapped around my waist right where they belonged, resting the back of my straining dick against her soaked folds. A few stumbling steps across the apartment as we continued to eat at the other’s mouth, and the bed bumped against my thighs.
We fell onto the mattress in a tumbling heap, my dick sliding along the soaked mess between her thighs. I flexed my ass beneath her heels, sending the back of my hard length up over her protruding clit.
“Oh!”
I lifted onto my elbows, gaze locked on her face—widened eyes, the gold dominated by her swirling, black pupils—and repeated the motion of rubbing my dick over her clit, pulling a deep groan from her chest as she arched beneath me, exposing a throat I wanted to sink my teeth into.
While I wasn’t usually one for violence in bed, something about our female drove me batshit crazy.
Bury inside her heat, thrust and release against her womb—
“Yes.” She grabbed hold of my hair and lifted her head to capture my lips.
I lowered myself fully against her softness, angling my hips to notch my dick against her opening. Thoughts of a condom halted me from pushing forward, but she squeezed her legs around me, pulling me tighter with the strength of ten women.
Pregnancy, my mind screamed, but her whimper as I notched into her soaked pussy buzzed my ears.
“I’m not fertile,” she whispered into my mouth, and I slid in a few inches before meeting resistance. “Take it, my beta.”
I rocked in and out the slightest bit until my eyes rolled back into my head on a deep groan. I thrust through her hymen, her face in my hands, my mouth capturing her cry. Her wince, the slight sting of pain she experienced somehow radiated down my spine, but the satisfaction, the joy of completeness following on its heels spiraled the hurt away.
Buried deep against her womb, I held still, allowing her to adjust to my dick stuffed in her tight pussy, our mouths fused … fucking heaven.
Ours.
The voice, no longer insisted she belonged to us but relished in the truth of the leash attaching itself to our souls. I could almost feel a similar thing within her, whispering the same assurance to her mind.
Batshit crazy for sure, but I couldn’t find any fucks to give while her tight sheath clenched around me.
I pulled back, dragging my dick along her inner walls, and the whimper rising to her lips wasn’t one of pain. A gentle push back into her slick pussy pulled a deeper groan from both of us.
Lifting once more onto my forearms, I held her gaze—fucked in and out of her as slowly as I could, my balls aching to erupt as the gold of her eyes shimmered, pulling on every goddamn string inside my body, wrapping me up, tying me tight like she was a witch bent on binding my soul to hers.
“Yes,” I heard myself groan, and her brilliant smile lit every last corner of my soul as I buried my dick against her womb. “You’re mine,” I gasped, fighting to keep my pulsing dick from releasing. “My mate.”
She clutched at my back and pulled me close until my chest rested against hers. “Until we join the stars,” she whispered against my ear, her legs clutching at my ass to keep me deep inside her body.
The stars…
They fucking exploded behind my eyelids, and I buried my face in her neck as my balls erupted, the first jet of my cum inside her pulling a gasp from her lips. She cried out, arching in my hold, her pussy clamping down on my attempts to thrust harder, shoot my cum deeper. The spasms of her walls around me drained the blood from my head—lightheaded as a motherfucker, I lost track of time, of myself, all consciousness as the most glorious goddamn euphoria drowned me like a wave.
One last shudder, and I lay atop her like a dead man, heaving for breath, my blood racing, limbs tingling as she held tightly to me.
“Fucking heaven,” I groaned into her neck, and her sigh matched the emotion rolling over me.
Chapter Ten
Patrick
I’d gone after her, desperate to stop her, then let her walk off out of pure fucking self-preservation. Back in my office, body still shaking from head to toe, a massive tension headache splitting my skull in two, I logged into my computer and pulled up Lockwood’s residence listing with their thumbnail pictures.
No golden goddess. No whiskey-colored eyes I’d nearly lost myself in.
Had I imagined her? Eyelids clenched shut, fists against them, I replayed every goddamn second of the strange encounter over again, causing more pre-cum to leak from my dick. The scent of her lingered in my nose, the feel of her softness tingling my fingertips. Saliva flooded my mouth for another taste of her lips, and I growled against the darkness wanting to escape.
I would not give in to madness.
“I won’t.” I forced the words between my gritted teeth, sat forward to click the computer off, and buzzed the main office. “Tell the director I’m leaving for the day,” I barked, not giving two shits if he appreciated me taking off or not. “I feel like shit,” I explained and hung up, grabbed my stuff, and strode out, unsure of where I headed—or even what I wanted.
I knew I needed to escape, both the confines of the office and the madness creeping along the edges of my mind.
At least I managed to keep from tearing out of the parking lot like a nut, but I found myself headed south rather than west toward my home. My heart pounded to the point I clutched my chest, wondering if a heart attack would send me careening off the side of the road.
Still, I drove onward by an unseen force, south … south. Buildings appeared in my peripheral vision, but I took no note of my location, merely turning and driving aimlessly in an attempt to escape the darkness trying to control my mind.
