Page 61 of Dragon Unhinged

Declan’s hips rise to meet mine, rocking against me with every thrust. My hands slide over his chest, his shoulders, up into his hair, everywhere I can touch him, everywhere I can reach.

I am completely overwhelmed, completely entranced with my mate, and as I come, I kiss him hard, groaning out his name into his mouth.

Declan keeps thrusting into me, keeps massaging my ass, as he comes too, filling me with his release.

Even though I don’t think it’s possible for us to physically get any closer than we are right now, I press into him with my whole chest, needing more.

Desperation aches inside of me because I know I’ll leave him again.

As I start to come down from my climax, I slowly break our kiss, stealing smaller and smaller kisses until I can slowly rock back to look at him again.

“I guess we should probably get dressed.” I sigh, frowning even as I say it, knowing that clothes mean I won’t get to touch as much of him. That I won’t get to be as close.

He chuckles, still breathing hard from our exertion. “Give a guy a minute to recover after fucking him like that. You think I can walk? Let alone do anything else?”

I snuggle into him again, more than happy to stay connected like this. “If it means I get to free you from this place, it’ll be worth it.”

He kisses the top of my head, and his fingers trace shapes over my lower back, as if he can’t get enough of touching me, any more than I can get of him.

The clatter of metal hitting concrete surprises us both. Even in the dim light, I have no trouble seeing the open cuff resting next to my knee, but my brain can’t wrap itself around what I’m seeing.

I sit up as Declan brings his hands around so that they’re between us.I start to reach for the cuff, until I really take in his wrists.

Completely devoid of the cuffs.

“Ellie.” I gasp her name, and quickly crawl off Declan’s lap so that I can grab my shirt. “Come on. We need to check on the others.”

My cheeks are flaming with embarrassment, but there’s no time to dwell on it. Declan frowns as I put my shirt back on, but the frown quickly turns into a grimace, and he rolls forward, like he’s about to throw up and he needs to put his head between his knees.

The runes branded into his back are glowing, looking red hot and angry, and the sounds he’s making almost make me are inhuman.

I clutch my hands to my chest unsure of what to do. Do I tell her stop? I shake the thought immediately. I take a deep breath and trust my friend. Magic isn’t easy. That’s one thing I’ve learned. There has to be consequences to what my father has put them through. I just hope he’s going to survive it.

If this is the cost to set him free, if he’ll be able to shift freely again and be in his own home and not this hell, I’m not going to interrupt that unless he demands it of me.

He doesn’t deserve pain, but he does deserve freedom.

What. Is. Happening?

Declan’s thoughts are stilted, like he can’t even think clearly.

“I think she’s removing the marks on your back. Focus on me.” I kneel in front of him, cupping his face in my hands. “We’re going to get out of here.”

His handsome face is contorted in pain, his teeth clenching in a grimace, and his neck muscles are all flexed. His entire body seizes and then arches and seizes again as he rides out the runes being removed from his skin.

There’s nothing I can do, nothing but be here, close to him. Trying to will the pain to stop. I take deep breaths in between holding my breath. I squeeze my eyes shut when it’s too much to watch, but then force myself to endure it, because I’m not experiencing the pain, so I can keep my eyes on him for his sake.

The blood curdling screams and wails coming from the other cells make me wonder if I’ve made a horrible mistake asking Ellie to do this.

I hope Ellie’s spell ball is keeping all the noise from reaching my father’s quarters.

Declan’s pain seems to be getting worse as he writhes on the floor. What if she wasn’t my friend? What if this is just makingeverything worse? What if she works for Grey and this is the end of Declan?

Declan roars so loud my ears are ringing. The sight of his fangs makes me gasp. Then he collapses to the floor. His body is slack. Sweat drips off his skin like he was out in the rain. His hair is soaked through. He groans a little as he starts to move. Declan’s breathing starts to return to normal, and I watch as he slowly rolls back up into a sitting position. His face is red, and his nails are elongated into black talons and puncturing the soft flesh of his palms.

I take in every inch of him making sure he’s not injured more. The scars on his back are gone. The runes carved into his skin are gone.

The talons retract and the wounds on his palms close and heal leaving fresh skin and little droplets of blood behind.

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