Page 20 of Caress of Fire
Then, the dragon withdrew and locked eyes with the Draekon. Lord Fedryc’s eyes widened and when he looked at Marielle again, she took an involuntary step back.
“I will take care of your brother.” Lord Fedryc spoke, but it wasn’t his voice anymore. It was a low rasp, more a growl than speech. “Have him learn a trade of his choice, anything he wants to do. He will never want for anything in his life ever again.”
Marielle sensed the danger in his words, in the male way his eyes trailed over her, like a brand. Her body lit up and arousal came from somewhere low in her belly. There was no mistaking what he was implying.
There was a price to his offer, a steep price that would crush her under its weight.
“But I have one condition that cannot be negotiated.”
“What is it?” she asked in a voice like a dying breath.
“Our union will be Draekar.” He lifted his chin, his eyes glowing like mirrors in the dim light. “You will not leave after the birth of a healthy child.”
“Then when?” Marielle frowned. The risks of a single pregnancy were high. She had a fifty percent chance of dying during the difficult childbirth or the dangerous pregnancy preceding it. Giving him two heirs would make it even more unlikely that she would survive the contract. “When can I leave?”
“Never.” Lord Fedryc lifted his head ever so slightly. “You will be my Draekarra, my dragon mate. You can never leave.”
Marielle felt the sky close up above her head. The face of her brother came to her in a flash, filled with surreal clarity. She would never return to him. But he would live. He would lead a long, happy life free from poverty and danger.
There was no choice, really. She had given up on her life the day Ignio Marula closed his fists around her family’s throat. Her world lost all light and she heard someone far above her head, some stranger who spoke with a familiar, feminine voice.
“I accept.”
She didn’t even see him move. Suddenly, a hard body was pressed against hers, molding her curves against the shape of a man. Silver eyes bored inside her mind, made her soft and defenseless as strong arms closed around her waist. She was pressed to the hardness of him, down against her stomach. A storm brewed in her belly, in that soft place that screamed for the possession of the male, and arousal spread wetness between her legs at his contact.
His hand closed behind her neck, gently tilting her head sideways. His thumb ran along the shape of her jaw, and settled on the pulsing beat of her jugular.
“Lord Fedryc—” Marielle began, her voice shaky and filled with fear.
“No,” he cut her off. “I am Fedryc to you. I will be your Draekar. I will reign over your life much, much more than just your Lord. Say it. Say the name of your Draekar.”
“Fedryc.” The name was on her tongue and she loved it more than she had any right to.
He nodded with approval.
“Such fragility.” Fedryc looked at her with a puzzled expression. “Yet filled with such fire. And mine. You belong to me, Marielle Jansen. Now and until we fly together in the Night Lands.”
Marielle opened her mouth to answer. She wasn’t even sure what she wanted to say. There was such fire in Fedryc’s words, a commitment of such implication, she was dizzy just thinking about it. But no sound came from her lips.
Then he kissed her.
His mouth was on hers like a brazier, laying waste to her sanity as his hard lips mercilessly massaged hers. This kiss was a burning iron on her and she was helpless to stop it. Worse, she craved it as soon as it began, and her own lips parted. Her mouth was immediately invaded by Fedryc’s tongue, and his taste flowed in her mouth as their tongues met.
His free hand was everywhere, running from the small of her back to her ass in a feverish dance. Already, Marielle melted in the kiss, ceased to be herself to become something else, something new and full of need. Something that didn’t quite belong to her, but entirely to the male hunger that radiated from Fedryc’s skin with every assault of his mouth.
His hand was firmly locked on her neck, holding her head in a vise-like grip, like the hold of some large predatory feline. Finally, as she was beginning to feel dizzy from lack of oxygen, he broke the kiss. Marielle gulped air in large, greedy mouthfuls. Fedryc’s lips didn’t lose time.
They closed at the base of her neck, and a ripple of shock traveled through her body as sharp fangs pressed on her jugular. His tongue licked slowly at the taut skin as she stood frozen under his control. Suddenly it occurred to her that he was an alien. That this handsome, powerful man was not human, and she had no idea how he would act with her. He could be harsh and uncaring. Could he be violent?
She shivered, deep and long. No, she didn’t think he would hurt her, ever.
Fedryc’s hand traveled from her ass to her waist, then slipped up to her breast. He caressed the soft flesh gently, pressing with his fingers spread wide. Marielle gasped, a small sound of want and need. A sound of surrender.
This made Fedryc wild.
She was suddenly lifted off her feet, held closely against a hard Draekon body. A split second later, she lay on her back on the desert ground, her legs spread as a hardness all too male pushed against the pulsing need against the hot wetness there. Fedryc kept kissing her, but now his mouth traveled down her throat as his hands pulled the panels of her dress open to the point of tearing the fabric at the seams.
A growl vibrated in his chest, deep and animalistic, the rumbling spreading to Marielle’s body in a tide of erotic fear as she understood he was going to take her, here and now on the ground, under the dizzying desert dawn.
