Page 73 of The Lost Nation

“Let me help you. That is our task as mates, and drakens heal each other with our blood.Please.”I begged him.

I twisted my fingers through his hair and yanked his head up, pushing it into the hollow of my neck. The sharp bite came a second later, and I moaned when his fangs sank deep into my neck.

“Yes…” I purred, pushing myself into him as much as possible. Our cores met, and the hot surge of desire flushed my veins as he pushed his hardness into my center.

“Thad—”

His hands came up to caress my throat, holding me down as he bit harder and drank deeper. I’d obviously never been mated before, but something about how Thad took me was rougher and darker than how it was supposed to be between two mated drakens. The pain was sharper, the ache more lingering, and the chaos of white magick hovered near.

It was perfection.

My time as a prisoner wouldn’t define me, but ithadchanged me. Much like Thad, I might also crave a bit of the pain that black and white magick promised. Here, with Thad’s fangs buried to the hilt of his gums in my skin, I could embrace the agony like an old friend.

And the arousal.

I reached a hand down between our bodies and squeezed him. His fangs popped out of my throat, and I didn’t wait for them to come down again before I struck, burying my own in the junction of his collarbone and shoulder. He hissed, and I got a few mouthfuls in before he ripped me away, uncaring of how my fangs dragged across his skin, tearing it like a fresh sheet of parchment.

“Mine.”

Thad flipped me over and pinned my hips to the ground using his. He bit down into the base of my neck, and my draken went absolutely still. If I thrashed while his teeth were this close to my vertebrae, he could paralyze me.

My draken purred again, enraptured with being dominated. His length dragged along my ass, teasing while he drank from me like a draken on his deathbed.

A telling pull in my body let me know I was reaching the point of giving too much. I bucked against him, my wings trying to flare and knock him off.

He growled and I growled right back, a draken warrior in my own right. I wouldn’t let some untrained littledraklingdrain me completely. I raked my claws across his chest, three angry red lines immediately appearing. As if instantly sobered he jerked, then his face twisted in horror as he took in all the blood. Onbothof us.

“Oh no you don’t. You don’t get to feel guilty or whatever other shit you’re thinking. Ilikeit rough.”

Thad practically pouted, one hand dripping with blood from the wounds in his neck and chest. I could see instantly where his mind was going—he was a monster, a half-demon, half-draken who couldn’t control his instincts, and a creature who destroyed everything he touched.

I pounced on him, driving him to the ground. Before his draken could respond in anger, I started licking the blood from his chest wound. He froze, his eyes closing in pleasure despite his human mind telling him he shouldn’t feel it. I wove a hand through his hair and raked my claws gently against his scalp as my tongue traced over the jagged edges of flesh that were already healing as fresh scars.

I moved to his neck next, resisting the urge to bite and drink. We’d both had enough for today. He shivered as my tongue reached for the last bits of blood under his ear. When I was done, I drew back and met his eyes.

“What?” I asked, perhaps a bit more aggressively than I should have. His dark gaze bore into me, as if trying to solve a difficult puzzle.

“You...likethe pain?”

I blinked, feeling heat flush my cheeks and the tips of my ears.

No.

I wouldn’t feel embarrassed by this.“Pain was all I had as a prisoner. It kept me sane, and it let me know that I was still alive. I was afraid to become like the others—to become a lifeless void that forgot their own name, or what the crisp air against my skin felt like. Pain was myfriend, as fucked up as that sounds.”

I looked away, wondering if he’d ever understand. Then both of his hands were on my face, bringing it back up to his.

“You’re not fucked up,” he hissed vehemently, even as I melted in the face of his rage. His fury turned me on like nothing else.

“Then neither areyou,” I challenged, and sat up so I was straddling his waist. A dark eyebrow raised, and then I was tearing at his breeches, desperate to have him inside of me. He growled at the loss of control, but I didn’t care. I wanted—

His hand shot out, seizing me around the throat. It didn’t hurt, but he squeezed enough that my entire body instantly melted against him. He dragged me flush with his body, his free sliding hand down the length of my waist and towards the apex between my thighs. He chuckled as my body obeyed him.

“Good girl.”

Ohfuck.

I had no complaints this time as he flipped us, pushing my head down into the pillow before his left hand grabbed my hair and pulled. My back arched into him, his pelvis flush against mine. The pain against my scalp was just right as his free hand moved to position himself against my entrance. Once he settled, he gripped my hair tighter and pulled my head back until his lips were up against my ears.

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