Page 11 of Bound to the Dragon

I couldn’t wait for the paint to be done. I’d put trellises up against each wall so non-destructive climbing plants could grow against the house everywhere. It would be so pretty next spring when everything bloomed. Would Chardum still be living here with me by then? I struggled to imagine what the future might hold for me right now.

“Where’s good old Charlie, anyway?” Ted asked. He’d gotten out of his truck too and was picking up two of the giant buckets of paint to carry them up the porch. I hurried to help out, but the men were so insistent that I just pointed to where things needed to be put. Charlie? Did he mean Chardum? I suppose if you only called someone Char, you could conclude that it was short for Charlie… Or was that the name he used when he wasn’t introducing himself as Chardum the Destroyer?

“Right here, Ted,” the man in question said, thudding down the stairs in nothing but a pair of jeans, which were liberally splattered with water. Droplets clung to his chest as well, trailing along his pecs and abdominal muscles. Gah, why did he have to look this sexy? I instantly flashed back to that feeling of him pressed against my back in the street; I wanted to feel his body against mine for real.

But when I glanced at his shimmering, golden eyes, they were narrowed in a pretty fierce glare, which was aimed my way. He was polite to the two men as he helped them unload the last supplies, and friendly when he waved them goodbye. Then he remained standing on the front porch, his back to me, hands curled around the balustrade.

“You smell of vampire,” he growled, still not facing me. I felt like I was being scolded for bad behavior, but I was pretty sure I hadn’t done anything wrong. I didn’t like it, and I made sure to let him know that when I poked his shoulder.

“Yeah, well, if I do, it’s not by choice. Besides sun is out! How is that even possible? Don’t vampires burn to a crisp if they go out now?” I felt ridiculous even saying that, but it wasn’t the first time Char had mentioned vampires. He was adamant one wastrying to steal what it was he was supposed to be protecting, and it was high time he told me what the fuck was really going on.

He turned his head to glance at me over his shoulder, the water droplets clinging to his back rising in little tendrils of steam from his tawny flesh. “I found this,” he said and stuck out a stack of papers I hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. I recognized them instantly. The papers that the rep for Sunworld gave me, which I’d tossed into a corner in my room. How the fuck had he gotten hold of those? I was pretty sure that was the one unspoken boundary he wasn’t supposed to cross, coming into my bedroom. “And no, vampires don’t care about the sun once they’re old enough.”

I yanked the papers from his hand and tossed them over the balustrade next to him, my senses roiling with intense dislike. It wasn’t even that much of a surprise to think of that shark-like attorney as a vampire. Heck, hadn’t Ted called her a leech? He freaking knew!

“It’s time for some answers, Char. So you’re a freaking dragon and I can move the earth. Now I want to know what’s really going on! Who is this vampire? Who’s after what? Why is this piece of land so important? And what happened to you and my dad!?” I sucked in an angry breath and pointed over my shoulder at the stairs, “And why the fuck were you in my bedroom?”

He lifted his eyes from the papers in the dirt to me, a glow shimmering in them that was almost like dancing flames. There was no more water to evaporate from his skin; even his pants had dried. Yet a hint of smoke curled from one nostril, hinting at his dragon temper. Then he smirked, this devastating curl of his lips that made me go weak in the knees.

“I was in your bedroom,” he drawled sexily, followed far more crisply by “because a pipe burst and I had to fix the leak.” He chuckled at my surprised expression, but the sound was still a little dark, a little sinful. When he stepped closer, I knew I was in for a wild ride, heat wafting from him as he made me back up into the doorjamb. “But I’m glad we figured out where we both stand on the vampire issue.”

The tip of his long black braid tickled my collarbone when he started to lower his head. He wasn’t quite touching me, but his heat made me feel completely enveloped. He didn’t move fast, giving me plenty of time to slip away if I wanted to, but I really,reallydidn’t want to go anywhere. When his mouth covered mine, I was ready to go up in flames.

I expected that he felt the same, but it was just a simple brush of his lips against mine, a tease. It was a promise of what else was to come if I invited him in. I already knew exactly what it would be like between us. Passion would explode like wildfire if I let it. It would consume me just like it had a few days ago. “Invite me to your bedroom, and I’ll show you everything you need,” he drawled.

Pressing my palms to his chest, I rose on tiptoe, “Answers.” The demand came out husky but firm, my body rebelling at the diversion. Tough. I wanted to take him up on that sexy offer, but only after I had all the facts. I was done skirting around the truth. I was ready to know everything.

He smiled, the expression warm and a little proud, “Alright. I will give you all the answers you are looking for, my sweet Rose.” He stepped away, taking with him his heat and his inviting, smoke-edged scent. “But you’ll have to take a ride.” Then heleaped from the porch and, with the flash of gold, shifted into his other form. The giant golden dragon rose proudly on four huge, clawed paws.

Chapter 15

Chardum

I was not in the least surprised when Rosemary stalked from the porch like she had something to prove. Her hips swaying, her hands on them in a fierce fashion, and her beautiful dark skin gleaming in the sunlight. Beneath her feet, little leaves unfurled and flowers sprouted, and when she walked over the papers she’d scattered, the earth seemed to swallow them up, erasing them from existence.

“Where do I get on?” she said, and I opened my front paw and beckoned her to step inside. She did so without hesitation, muttering under her breath about how this was just like crossing a magical threshold. She held on to one of my long claws as she balanced on the palm. I closed my paw to gently grip her, then I raised her to my shoulder.

She swung her leg over me, settling at the base of my neck where she had several spikes she could grip. “Hold on, my love,”I warned her, settling back on my haunches as I spread my wings. When I felt her fingers curl in a tight grip around each spike, putting pressure against my scales with her thighs, I leaped.

“Holy crap,” she muttered, “This is crazy.” I laughed, the sound rumbling through my chest. It was daylight, and if I climbed too high, I would be visible from the town. So I aimed toward the cliff, skimming over the trees at the top, and then kept myself just above the trees until I’d reached the clearing. I was no longer feeling so amorous and placid, my senses switching to high alert as they always did when I visited.

I landed softly, my wings pushing hard to slow our touch down. Rosy didn’t rush to climb down when I was with four paws back on the earth, something that Zachary absolutely would have done. He hated being away from the earth so badly, but perhaps, in this, Rosy’s human blood won out.

“What is this place?” she asked, still sitting astride my neck. I could answer her like this, but it felt better to be face-to-face. I shifted, my body scattering into light particles and reforming on two legs. My mate tumbled as she fell from a good thirty feet down to the ground, but I was there to catch her.

“This is a prison,” I said, her body dangling bridal style in my grip. Her face next to mine, eyes huge and shocked, though even when falling, my brave little mate hadn’t screamed. She still slapped me on the shoulder roughly, warning me not to scare her like that and I grinned, for a moment letting her push away the gloomy atmosphere of this place.

“A prison? Are you serious?” she asked, her head swiveling left and right as she studied the woodland clearing with critical eyes. I knew what she was thinking. This didn’t look like any kind of prison she was familiar with. It was a verdant clearing in a lush, beautiful forest of oaks and hickories. You could easily picture some deer grazing here at dusk, but I knew they never would.

Though my instincts told me to keep my mate in my arms, to hold her away from this soil, I knew it was the only way she’d understand what it was we were supposed to do. I lowered her slowly, sliding her curves down my body until she could touch just her toes to the ground. “A prison. Can you feel it?”

She closed her eyes, goosebumps breaking out across her silky skin; it even pebbled along her cheeks. I held her tighter around her waist, pressing my warmth against her everywhere I could touch her. I was not letting her closer to this earth anymore than she needed to be. Zachary had preferred touching the prison over being away from the earth, but I could already tell that it was not the same for Rosy.

“What is that?” she muttered, horrified. “It feels… evil! What the fuck is this place, Chardum? Is this what we’re guarding?” I liked that she already considered it her task as much as mine, but it made me ache a little too. Suddenly, tying my vibrant, beautiful mate to a place that harbored such evil felt wrong, even if it was for the good of the world.

“This is the prison of a Galamut. One of the few we still know the location of, and of which the key has surfaced several times in history.” My explanation was only making her more confused. A history lesson was required, one that not even the long memories of many of the immortal creatures that roamed this earth remembered.

“They are elemental creatures that came to earth to conquer it, a very, very long time ago. So long ago that most immortals don’t even remember it. And this prison? It houses one of those creatures. For the past thousand years, Zach and I have been guarding it. Preventing anyone from locating its cage and setting it free.”

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