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Authors: Brynn Paulin

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Blood Bought: Cruentus Dragons Book Two

BOOK: Blood Bought: Cruentus Dragons Book Two
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Blood Bought

Cruentus Dragons Book Two

 

 

By Brynn Paulin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resplendence Publishing, LLC

http://www.resplendencepublishing.com

Resplendence Publishing, LLC

P.O. Box
992

Edgewater
,
Florida
,
32132

Blood Bought: Cruentus Dragons Book Two

Copyright © 2009, Brynn Paulin

Edited by Tiffany Mason

Cover art by Rika Singh

Electronic format ISBN: 978-1-60735-096-5

Warning: All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

Electronic release: December 2009

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and occurrences are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or occurrences, is purely coincidental.

 

 

 

 

To everyone who’s waited so patiently and those who’ve sent me letter, too…

I love you guys!

 

 

 

 

 

Table of Contents

 

 

Prologue
.
5

Chapter One
.
8

Chapter Two
.
19

Chapter Three
.
29

Chapter Four
40

Chapter Five
.
53

About the Author
63

 

Prologue

 

Jonah Genjhury took a gulp of his Starbucks quad espresso, ignoring the burn down his throat as he stared out the window of his wingscion’s office, high above
Central Park
in
New York City
. Though their home was in
Colorado
, his scion, who was also the elder of their Dragon clan, the Cruentus, had relocated his workplace on Jonah’s behalf.

Jonah waited as the buzz from the coffee vibrated through his veins, temporarily easing the ache that had plagued his body for the past six months. He was his clan’s healer, but there wasn’t a thing he could do to heal himself. There was nothing to remedy the absence of a mate. And while he searched in vain, his body punished him for his mate’s desertion.

He chugged another swallow of the steaming drink, the scalding of his throat nothing in comparison to the twisting agony in his middle. His entire body seemed to tremor constantly, his hands mimicking those of a human with a debilitating disease. He shoved one hand deep in his jeans’ pocket while he fought to keep the other steady in his scion’s presence—not that Janos didn’t know exactly what was happening to Jonah, but most days, he acted as if the elephant in the room didn’t exist and left Jonah to his searching. Jonah knew Janos would far rather be helping him, but this was Jonah’s battle. His trial. His…hell.

“Anything?” Janos asked, finally breaking the silence.

Jonah didn’t look at him. He couldn’t. Every time he looked at his elder, the man who was his bound wingscion and his best friend, he was reminded of the happiness that came from being mated. The sepia-colored marking on Janos’ arm told of his union with the woman he loved—Scarlett, the cousin of Jonah’s mate, Athena. Jonah had a similar mark. It had nothing to do with love, and everything to do with the torture he’d been dealt as his lot.

Six months. After six months, he couldn’t find Athena.

“No,” he answered, his voice raw as sandpaper across metal. As much as he tried to hide it, the separation was taking its toll on his systems. He’d lost weight and, by heaven, haggard was a generous description of his being when he looked in the mirror every morning. It was as if he had a cancer in his soul, and it would kill him soon. It was the way of all separated mates. He tried to hide it, but he knew Janos wasn’t fooled. As scions, they shared a psychic connection that even mates didn’t possess.

“Every time I think I’ve found her, she’s two steps ahead of me,” he continued. “I’ve started scouring the old books, looking at the ancient Dragon magic—”

“To scry her location?”

Jonah shook his head. “No… To remove the bond. To end my connection to her.”

Legend told there was such a spell. It would mean that—

“You’d never be mated,” Janos interrupted in disbelief. “Jonah, you can’t—”

“I can. Do you think never having a mate could be worse than this? The mating call has nearly debilitated my body because the pain and the need override all things. I suck down this stuff as if it’s life’s blood just to keep from sleeping. But caffeine doesn’t work well on Dragons, and I’m still dragged into sleep. It’s like falling into a pit of razors, tearing at my body.”

“I’ve heard you,” Janos said quietly, his calm voice counterpoint to Jonah’s agitation. It only made Jonah want to scream from the rooftops of the skyscrapers surrounding them. He now understood some of the mad Dragon rampages written about in history. They weren’t Dragons who’d started out bent on murder and mayhem. They’d needed their mates, those fucking fairytale princesses high in their towers. Yeah, Jonah understood all too well. Every minute he felt as if he were moments from letting loose a firestorm on the city. He knew Janos was exerting some sort of mind control through their scion connection to keep him leashed. Jonah wasn’t fooled. It was why Janos stayed nearby.

Yet another humiliation heaped on him by this ordeal.

“I’m going back to the archive,” he announced. The sooner he could be free of these mating shackles, the better.

“Perhaps you’d be better served to go to the
New York
compound. Their elder’s wingscion has strong scrying magic. Perhaps he can help you—”

And perhaps you can leave me the hell alone.

Janos cleared his throat, letting Jonah know he’d heard the mental exclamation.

“My apologies, my elder.”

Janos sighed. “Jonah…”

“I’m fine,” Jonah gritted out between his teeth. His stomach gave a violent twist, underlining the lie. He stifled a groan and swallowed more of the espresso. Dusk was nearing. How long would he be able to stave off the sleep?

Another sigh told of Janos’ disbelief. “I…I need to—”

“Go,” Jonah interrupted. “You have a family. Scarlett needs you.”

He tried not to sound bitter. He amongst all people was happiest for his elder’s mating. It was ordained and perfect and…torture to witness.

Janos left the room without another word. There was nothing to say that hadn’t been said in the last six months. Alone, Jonah gave into the agony that he’d barely contained during the meeting with his elder. His legs buckled, driving him to his knees and the thin paper cup crushed in his fingers. Burning liquid flooded over his hand and wrist. His body barely reacted, barely felt. Sluggishly, his skin shifted to scales to cover the area, too late for any real protection.

This was how Dragons who’d lost their mates perished. Their hope died…then their hearts…then their souls…then finally, their shell of a body.

Jonah was three-quarters of the way there.

Chapter One

 

Over the last six months, Athena Xanthopoulos’ life had become a quagmire of needs and desires. Survival. She scrambled to do what was necessary to survive and left everything she wanted, everything she dreamed of in the sawdust that comprised her past.

Well…not every dream,
she ruefully admitted as she huddled close to the window of the Greyhound bus and stared out into the dismal rainy afternoon. Nightly, visions of
him
plagued her, filling her head with his exquisitely sculpted features that held the delicacy yet ruggedness she’d only seen in Eastern European men. Her fingers curled with the longing to tunnel into his silky raven hair while she stared into his dark brown eyes that were only a shade lighter than her own.

Her body craved him. She hated him. He’d done this to her, the same way that other man, his friend, had captured her cousin’s senses. Her cousin, Scarlett, called the man she clung to ‘mate’. Scarlett had stayed with him, while Athena had run. That was the gist of how things had ended, anyhow.

Jonah.

Her belly clenched as familiar craving trembled through her. Nothing dulled it—not alcohol, which just managed to make her stupid, and not men…

A trembling hand pressed to her lips as she fought back nausea. With dread, she pulled Jonah’s visage to her mind’s eye to force away the sick feeling. She’d thrown up on the first man with whom she’d thought to stave her desire. Being a slow study and thinking it was a bout of food poisoning, she’d tried with another in another city. No dice. She was stuck with this painful, gnawing need in her pussy, day and night. And an empty gnawing in her middle, a gnawing that always seemed greater at night when it engulfed her in nearly unbearable pain.

If she ever saw Jonah again, and she hoped not, she’d kill him for doing this to her.

She fingered the sepia-colored design that scrolled up the length of her arm. The filigreed tattoo had just ‘appeared’ during her time with him. If she had the misfortune to cross paths with him again, she’d smack him up a bit over it, too. No one marked her body without her permission.

You’ll see him again. You can’t live like this forever.

Once a wall-street wiz, she’d become a nomad. Her savings and luck had kept her afloat, but both were dwindling.

She looked up as a man plopped into the seat beside hers. A damp, spicy scent wafted her way. It unsettled her stomach. Once upon a time, it would have aroused her and drawn her attention to the wearer. Now her stomach churned.

Dear God, don’t let me vomit on him.

Wouldn’t
that
be conspicuous? She pressed closer to the window.

The rain had plastered his damp black hair to his forehead, and he regarded her with electric-blue eyes no true human had ever been born with. Six months ago, she would have denied otherworldly or supernatural beings existed. But now…

“What do you want?” she demanded, breathing shallowly so that the scent of a man other than Jonah wouldn’t have her hurling on the bus.

“Can’t a guy take a ride?” he asked, his eyes dancing.

“A guy?” she scoffed.

“A Djinni, but I’ve still got balls, Athena.”

Yeah, balls of blue light that can explode or electrify their target.
“And you want something. What?”

“I’ve been searching for you. Why didn’t you go back to him after I saved you?”

BOOK: Blood Bought: Cruentus Dragons Book Two
9.57Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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