Page 20 of Unexpected Mate

The silence around me was deafening, which made her first inhale that much more shocking. Her chest jerked as she sucked in another breath and moaned. I heard the dead vampire as he awoke behind me, the bits of this puzzle starting to take shape. I inhaled again, tasting the air with my magic. Other than the younger blood driven male, these men were her circle; they had been claimed. The dragoness had made unusual choices. I became more intrigued each moment I spent around her.

Her soft trembling hand brushed against my cheek, stirring the beast who shoved forward in my mind to study her, rubbing against her hand. The delicious scent of our mate called to us both. I had never had a fated mate, and I had chosen not to claim someone who wasn’t my soulmate. The need that flooded my body stole my breath, my control slipping for the first time in centuries. Before I could regain it, the female had my lips against hers. My concentration was lost, and the beast took advantage and lunged through the opening. I was an ancient; losing control of my dragon was unheard of, but my exhaustion combined with the call toward my mate was proving more than I could handle.

I could not remember when I had last kissed a woman. One thousand years ago, maybe two? Time blurred when you had lived as long as I had walked the earth. But without a doubt, I had never experienced a kiss like this one. I could live for ten thousand more years and I would never forget thesensations that rocked my body as her mouth moved against mine.

I was still dividing my attention between soaking in my mate’s love and my internal struggle with my dragon. That battle was lost the instant I felt the heat from her chest, the blue of her fire calling the crimson fire in me. Sharing fire was the prelude to bonding in our species.

When I had poured my fire into her to mend her heart, it had started a countdown inside my head. I had known that attempting to resist that feral instinct was going to be more challenging than anything I had dealt with in my lifetime. I hadn’t counted on how fatigued I was going to be, or that my breathtaking mate was going to cause me such distraction. I felt like a dragon lad who hadn’t yet learned to control his instincts or urges… something I hadn’t been in a very long time.

She tilted her head to the side, giving me access to her throat. The gesture was that of trust and submission. Blood began pumping harder in my body, the sound pounding in my ears and rushing to forgotten parts of my human anatomy.

“Hello, my drakon mate.” She purred into my neck, the vibration pouring fuel onto my already raging fire.

“Mine.” The word rumbled from my chest. I yanked her tighter against me and captured her lips again. Our kiss became heavy with desire, our ragged breathing loud in the clearing around us.

She worries.

My dragon spoke, his words stilted as he tried out human language. My brain was slow as it tried to think through thehaze of lust. He never spoke. We communicated through the magic and emotion, not words.

The injured men distract her. She wants them whole. Fix them.

Her mates. Our circle. Yes, I couldn’t let them die or remain in pain. And I really wanted my mate’s attention.

Agreed.The beast purred.

Not letting the dragoness move off my lap, I reached my hand out and rested it on the most injured mate. He injuries were too severe for his wolf to heal, and even with my magic I wasn’t sure his throat would ever be the same. I poured magic into him. My mate stirred on my lap and I groaned at the overwhelming pleasure. The second wolf had moved closer to watch me warily while I healed the first. When I’d done all I could do, I rested my hand on the second wolf and healed his wounds as well.

Each healing added to my fatigue, continuing to weaken my control. The strange warlock locked eyes with me; his were filled with curiosity and anxiety. Why was he anxious?

The child loves dragons. He wants to see how we breed.My beast chuffed in what I took as laughter.He grows concerned we might eat him.

I was both confused and amused by the warlock. It would be enjoyable to speak with him. But not now. Right now, I needed to hurry. I couldn’t even allow myself time to wonder what had made my beast start speaking. The warlock’s playful magic had already healed his injuries so I turned to the blood driven men.

Unwilling to let the female go, I stood with her in myarms. Her legs wrapped around my waist and her arms curved around my neck. I walked toward the vampires, trying to ignore the parts of my body that poked her rounded bottom as I moved. It had not gone unnoticed by her, and a mewling came from her hot wet mouth that was licking and sucking my neck. I almost tripped when her teeth nipped my neck. I swallowed past the desire clogging my throat. Were her fangs already out? Sun and moon! That wasn’t supposed to happen until we had almost fully claimed each other. Bonding between dragons was rough, and things like fangs could lead to a lot of damage.

My dragon purred at the thought.

I rested my hand against the shoulder of the blood driven that was clearly a part of our family, but not a bonded mate. He had already partially healed himself, so my energy finished quickly with him.

I sat next to the old vampire, settling my mate on my lap and biting back a moan as she wiggled to make herself comfortable. My organ of penetration throbbed as it pressed firmly along her most sensitive skin. I rested my hand on the vampire’s arm and allowed the energy to flow. He had few injuries so it did not take long to heal him, but he was dangerously depleted of blood.

“Drink.” My word was an order not a request. It was an honor to be offered blood from a dragon, and it was not something we allowed often, outside of our mate. Dragons didn’t need to drink blood to live, but it was often shared as part of bonding. The vampire hesitated for a moment before his instincts took over. His fangs sunk into my arm. I no longerhad enough energy to leash my dragon, a dragon intent on making her his. I hoped that my mate would understand when this day was over.

Please don’t hurt her,I pleaded.

The vampire lifted his head, eyes blood red as he watched me. One predator accessing another. He tilted his head in a silent thank you. My little dragoness shifted in my lap, leaning until she was able to kiss her blood driven mate. His kiss was gentle, surprising me as vampires were not known for having particularly kind natures. She licked a bit of my blood from the corner of his mouth and then turned back to me.

Her pupils flashed from human to dragon so quickly I thought I might have imagined it. “Thank you, dragon,” she whispered.

Beautiful wings unfurled from her back. She stretched languidly on my lap like a cat, cerulean eyes sparkling, and then began to beat her wings. Ash and burned earth whirled around us like a dust storm from my home country. This was not a dragon behavior I was familiar with. What was she doing?

The scent of fire and battle, tears and blood, death and victory, hit me with the force of a falling star. My dragon purred and lunged for our mate, primal instinct overruling all other thoughts.

I hoped this little wildcat understood exactly what she had just done.

My body was still that of a human, but my nature was now fully dragon. The beast in me no longer spoke with words; it wasn’t needed now that my facade of humanity had crumbled.

The dragoness had stirred the ground, forcing my lungs to fill with the scent. I hadn’t experienced this before, but now I understood the old tales. Dragons preferred their solitude in the mountains, avoiding humans and their messy affairs until it threatened the peace between species. Battles stirred the cold blood of our kind, setting it ablaze as we battled. Once the fight was over, this white hot intensity needed to be released. She had stirred the ground to incite my dragon, to show him her prowess. Now she sat preening on my lap, waiting for me to make the first move, to claim herwhere she had fought, died, and survived. For a human, this would be considered freakish, but this was a dragon’s nature. A reminder we were not human. I hoped her other mates weren’t squeamish.

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