Page 28 of Dragon Exposed

Gods, I was going to lose myself in this woman. I couldn’t think of anything more sweet, more tempting, than claiming her all for myself.

The trill of my cell phone ringing made me want to throw the device against the wall and let it shatter into a million pieces.

Growling against Izobelle’s lips, I had no intention of getting it.

She pushed back, looking up at me with lust-filled eyes. “Do you need to answer that?”

I snarled as it started ringing a second time. “I probably should. My brother’s pissed off at me enough already.” I kissed her nose again, so tempted to just go back to claiming her mouth, and reluctantly slid out of bed.

There was no hiding the raging hard-on in my boxer briefs, so I just ignored it as I slid my thumb over the screen to answer.

“What?”

“Don’t snarl at me, Levi. What the fuck were you thinking?” Ash’s voice was full of rage, sounding more and more like our father by the passing months. “Are you trying to get yourself killed? The rest of us too?”

I took a shaky breath, trying to get my emotions in check. If he thought there was something bigger, something worse going on, he might’ve decided to drag me home by my tail, or worse, bring the whole family up here to investigate. “I didn’t have much choice. The vampires don’t play fair, and so neither can I. There’s no reason for humans to question any of you. They don’t even know it was me.”

“Horseshit, they don’t. A fucking senator just released a list. We’re all on it. All of our allies are on it. Gavin, Pru, the Carmines, other shifters, fae, anyone who doesn’t have fangs for drinking blood is at risk now, because you decided to what? Take a swan dive for fun? There are websites popping up all over the damned internet, trying to figure out who you are. And all the people in the square are fucking traumatized, talking to every news station about how terrifying it was.”

Fuck. I had to tell him. “I think they were thralled to be scared. I don’t know how the vampires did it, but…my guess is Dragon Fire.”

“What? The woman you abducted isn’t grateful for your rescue?” I could practically hear Ash rolling his eyes over the line. “Just because you scared her doesn’t mean she was thralled.”

“You saw firsthand what vampires are doing with Dragon’s Fire. Are you really going to act like they couldn’t have used it for this purpose?” I glanced over at Izobelle, standing over my bathroom sink in lacy black underwear, tempting me to hang up and face Ash’s wrath later. “And she wasn’t some random woman. This isn’t who she is, Ash. Someone, or a group of bloodsuckers, thralled those people to look up. To watch, to freak out.”

Dragon Fire had been Grey’s first onslaught of terror. He could control humans and dragons. It was more than just thrall. It was penetrating to a level thrall couldn’t access it. On top of it, he could control a mass of humans at once. It was fucking terrifying. Had this been Grey’s plan all along? Turn everyone against the dragon shifters, the other supernaturals? Then, what? What the fuck was he trying to accomplish?

The line went quiet for a minute or two, before Ash finally said, “Salt water.”

“What?”

“I’ll get Syrena to send you a potion. Once you get it, take your woman for a swim in the ocean, submerge her, and the salt should counteract any spells or thrall the vampires put on her.” Ash sounded begrudging as he said it. “We need to come up with a plan, and fast. Or everyone who’s ever trusted us will turn their backs really quick.”

I looked over at Izobelle again. “You’re the king apparent. The clan will listen to you. You don’t need me to help with this.”

“You’re the next in line. The one a lot of the tourmalines have put their faith in, since I dared to mate a human. You need to come home, so we can sort this out together. As a family.”

“I just endangered my family, my clan, and dragon shifters and supernaturals alike. I’m not a king. You damn well know it. I won’t go. Not right now.”

Ash let out a dry, brittle sounding laugh. “You can bring your mate with you, but I expect you back in Miami, so that we can address this, before the council decides to intervene.”

Sighing, I shook my head. “Ash, it’s not that simple. I still have things I have to do here. I made promises. I have leads. No one’s going to look at me with any more faith than you, if I show up with a human of my own on my arm.” I didn’t like showing all my cards, even to my brother, and I wanted nothing more than to keep Izobelle away from the whole damned group until she wore my bite.

And my heartstone, if we could find it.

“I didn’t figure you’d found a dragon of your own, but damn it, Levi, at least one of us needs to try and adhere to the council’s laws, or our entire family could end up excommunicated from the clan, from all of dragonkind.”

I couldn’t see how that would be too bad, if it meant I got to keep Izobelle.

“It’s not going to be me.”

“Are you sure? Declan said you still don’t have your tourmaline. What if you find it, and it doesn’t light up for her?” Ash’s harsh tone melted away, leaving only concern for his brother.

It was something I’d thought about, dwelled on over and over again when Izobelle wasn’t in my arms. The heartstone was such a driving force for mates in the dragon world—so much so that we paraded the few female dragons left around like they were cattle to be bought and sold to the highest bidder, even if in this case the highest bidder was just the one with the most brilliant heartstone.

I’d seen it happen with my little sister more times than I could count, with dragons who were of high breeding but hardly worth her time, her attention, and least of all her heart. I’d shaken hands with every eligible female more times than I could count, wondering if one of them would be honor bound to me based solely on the glowing of a rock.

But with Izobelle, I didn’t need my tourmaline to know what I wanted, what I craved. My dragon didn’t either, and if Ash hadn’t called, I’d probably be balls deep in her by now, the taste of her cunt lingering on my tongue.

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