Page 56 of Dragons' Mate
CHAPTER27
Hauck
Quinton’s incision cut Kit’s brand clean in half, breaking the continuity of the interlocking circles. In the next heartbeat, a rush of iridescent magic exploded from the severed mark, swirling like a tempest around Kit. It was as if a dam had burst, releasing pent-up power that had been trapped. Suppressed. The room crackled with energy, the air shifting and vibrating. Or maybe it wasn’t the air, maybe it was Hauck’s lifeblood.
Hauck’s arms tightened around Kit on instinct, though the heat radiating from the rushing magic seared his skin. She arched in his hold, flailing amidst the pack surrounding her as her citrus and cinnamon scent melded with a whiff of something primal and ancient and so powerful that it stole Hauck’s breath.
The soft curves of Kit’s ears elongated, the tips becoming more defined and pointed like the immortal fae. Her cheekbones shifted too, morphing from beautiful to ethereal as a fine row of iridescent scales emerged along her temples. They shimmered in the low light, reflecting a myriad of colors and wound their way down her neck and body. Kit’s previously erratic pulse now thrummed with a steady, powerful rhythm that Hauck felt echoed inside him.
Lub-dub. Lub-dub. Lub-dub.
The beating of Kit’s heart, and Hauck’s own, of the whole pack’s, sounded as one. And with that single joint pulse, the connection surging between them intensified. The bond howled with life and joy and so much power that Hauck both feared the camp would explode around them and didn’t care if it did.
As the torrent of escaping magic settled and Kit’s body relaxed back into Hauck’s hold, her eyes finally fluttered open. Elongated chocolate-colored irises met Hauck’s wide eyed gaze.
“Hello,” Hauck whispered. He meant to sound quip, but what came out was pure reverence.
Hello dame, hello mate, hello queen,the dragon inside him purred, adding a very explicit visual suggesting exactly what to do with the perfect naked female splayed in his arms.
Racing to stay ahead of his sudden lust, Hauck set Kit carefully on the bedroll and pulled off his shirt to wrap around her. “You are alive then, turnip. Welcome back.”
Kit blinked, twisting around to look at the pack. Everyone’s attention was on her now. Tavias, Cyril and Quinton all staying preternaturally still as they tracked each of Kit’s movements.
“I’m alive,” Kit repeated Hauck’s words back to him in a whisper. She looked haunted. Uncertain. She pushed herself up, testing her arms gingerly before putting weight on them. “I was sure I was going to die. The priests…” She shuddered.
Hauck’s fingers curled into fists. The priests hurt his mate. They would pay.
“The priests changed the weather, we know,” Cyril said. “You’d fallen in the snow and passed out from the cold.”
“No.” She shook her head. Colors danced along her scales. Hauck had never seen anything like it. “I didn’t fall. The priests paralyzed me on purpose. They wanted me dead, but they needed it to appear natural. Gave me an orange potion that paralyzes humans. They said there was no antidote. They were wrong.”
The priests would die. First though… Hauck cleared his throat. “I don’t think they were wrong.”
“Of course they were.” She frowned. “I can move now, can’t I? This is all real?”
Tavias and Cyril exchanged glances, but neither of the twins seemed inclined to join this particular conversation. Hauck knew better than to look to Quinton for something as difficult as words. “Oh, you are very real.” Hauck assured her. He shifted, trying to relieve the pressure on his cock, which likewise wanted for the talking to be done with. “And yes, you are moving just fine. That part you have right.”
“What part do I have wrong?” asked Kit.
“The human part.”
“What?”
Moving slowly, Hauck ran his thumb softly along the line of scales that now wound down Kit’s temple. She jerked and the sudden gust of arousal filling her scent made Hauck chuckle.
Kit’s scales shifted to purple.
Hauck laughed aloud, then winced. Kit’s arousal had sent his already volatile lust sky rocketing. The fresh mating bond strained between them, demanding to be appeased. The others were shifting too, drawing closer to her now. The dragons inside them all couldn’t bare the extra space.
“I’m not human?” Kit said, as if tasting the words.
“You aren’t,” Tavias confirmed. He reached forward and tucked a strand of hair behind Kit’s pointed ear. Hauck wondered if Tavias was fighting the urge to trace his hand along the mating bite as badly as Hauck was.
“I’m not human,” she repeated, sounding more certain now. Her eyes widened. “I’m… I never was human.”
“Not really sure about the historical aspect,” Hauck murmured. It was getting difficult to breath without touching Kit’s skin. He picked up her hand and stroked his thumb along her skin. The contact soothed something in his soul even as it fueled his lust.
“I remember,” Kit insisted, her intense gaze sweeping across them all. Cyril and Quinton crouched close, their attention on her. “The Order of Orion and my mother and… The mortal with white hair and air magic. The one I was supposed to find. Who was going to lead me back to me.”
