Page 23 of Dragon Unhinged

With a tentative nod, I scoot closer to him. “I trust you.”

MINE!

The voice echoes through my head like someone shouted right into my brain.

It sounds like Declan, but gruffer.

Is that his dragon?

Mate. Need. Now.

It’s like each word is a full sentence or like it’s the only way he can communicate in this state.

“Is your dragon…more primitive than you?” I cringe at the question, feeling ridiculous.

“He didn’t used to be. These spells, the torment of being forced to not shift, to shift on command, to be caged with spells constantly weighing on me, it all takes a toll.” He sits again, but on the opposite side of the platform, as if he’s afraid to touch me. “Dragons can break, mentally, physically, just like humans. But for us, it can be so much worse. Usually, I only see dragons lose themselves to the Craze after centuries of not finding a mate, or losing their love, their heartstone. It can make a dragon’s mind shatter, drive them into losing their ability to shift, to return to what makes us more human. This is different, but I fear it feels much the same. I don’t know how much longer I can withstand the forced shifts, the battles for my life, without losing who I am.”

The defeat in his voice leaves me full of sorrow and fear that he doesn’t have much time. I reach for him, gently brushing my fingertips over his hand. He feels hot, like he’s burning up from the inside out.

This is new. His touch feels like fire on my skin, but not literally.

“Why is your dragon calling me ‘mate’?”

Declan grabs me so quickly, pulls me into his lap so fast, my hair flies around my face with the rush of movement.

“Mine.” His eyes are completely foreign to me now, almost entirely black.

For a brief moment, my palms pressed into his chest, my fingertips digging into his muscular flesh a little, I meet the darkness gazing at me. I feel like it would be perfectly understandable if I were scared, but I’m not.

Instead of fighting him, instead of fearing him, I lean in and kiss him.

Chapter

Ten

DECLAN

Fuck, what is this woman doing to me? To my dragon?

The more I taste her, the more I crave her, need her more than just a visitor, a breath of fresh air against my own doom, more than I need to escape here, I need her.

As her lips press against mine, and her nails bite into my chest, I lose all ability to be gentle, to take it slow. My hands grope her ass as I pull her in as close as I can get her, my mouth brutal against her soft lips, tasting every bit of her, nipping at her lip, sucking on her tongue. I’m not asking anymore, I’m taking.

It’s like my dragon wants to devour her, to not just claim her, but to make her part of me, to make sure she can never leave me again.

I can’t control myself, can’t stop the way my fingertips dig into her soft flesh, the way I grind my dick against the hot nexus between her thighs.

And she’s not doing anything to stop me.

Hell, the way her hand grips the back of my hair, tugging at it, and the way her hips rock against mine, she needs this, wants this as badly as I do.

It’s not enough, though. Not nearly enough.

My hands slide up, under her shirt, and around to her breasts.

Fuck, she’s not wearing a bra.

She’s completely bare under this tank top, and it would be so easy to just rip the thing into pieces. Let me suck on her taut nipples.

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