dragon archives 04 - dance with a dragon (40 page)

He shuddered, and gripped her shoulders as she continued to chase the bloody trail. His wings were still stretched out behind him, and they strained against his back, reaching to the furthest reaches of the air around them. She placed her hands against his chest, the knife still loosely gripped in her fist, as she continued to lap the liquid. It was no longer flowing, but she did not want to leave a single trace. She could feel it weaving through her, reaching into every distant corner of her body, while at the same time she felt invisible threads leaving her and reaching him, tying them together with invisible cords. She could never be apart from him again without feeling those cords stretch and tighten.

She wanted more of him, wanted to know that he pulsed through her veins, and her grip around the knife tightened again.

He felt her movement and groaned. “Yes,” he whispered. “Taste me some more.”

She dragged the knife against his skin and moaned when the blood welled up once more, this time not hesitating as she placed her mouth over the gushing flow. She sucked and swallowed, tasting him as he became one with her. When the flow stopped, she leaned her cheek against his chest. His arms wrapped around her and held her tight.

“I can feel it,” he whispered. “I can feel your bond with me.” He pushed the hair away from her face and gently stroked her cheek. “Repeat the vow,” he whispered.

“Maximilian Brant,” she said, “I love you and take you as my mate.” She slid her hands behind his neck. “As your blood runs through my veins, we are bound together forever,” she finished.

Max smiled as he ran a finger down her neck. “I want to taste you too,” he said.

“Yes,” she whispered. She pulled away slightly to look into his eyes. He glanced down at her shoulder, pushing the gown away to reveal her bare skin.

“Here,” he said. She nodded. She held the knife out to him, but he shook his head. “No,” he whispered. “I’m a dragon.” He lowered his mouth to her shoulder. She felt a flash of fear and he pulled away. “I won’t hurt you,” he said, “But if you prefer the knife –”

“No,” she said. “You’re a dragon.” He smiled, and lowered his head again. She could feel his teeth against her skin. They were no longer flat, but sharp, and she felt them prick against her shoulder before sinking into her skin. She felt a slight stab of pain, but then it was gone. The wounds he made would quickly heal, with his blood in her veins. He drew deeply and she felt her blood gush into him. The invisible cords tightened. He pulled again, and she felt him swallow as his hands tightened against her back and his wings lifted behind him, straining even more than they had before. His mouth left her shoulder and trailed up her neck, and she heard him whisper in her ear.

“I love you Anna, and take you as my mate.” His lips reached hers, and he whispered against them. “As your blood runs through my veins, we are bound together forever,” he said, and then he was kissing her. He slid the gown off her shoulders and onto the ground. His hands wandered over her bare flesh, then dropping lower, clasped her around the thighs. He lowered her onto the mossy grass and when he pressed against her, she lifted her hips to meet him. He shuddered, and she gasped as her own pleasure burst open, flooding every part of her. He rolled over onto his back, pulling her with him, and she lay against his chest, listening to the pounding of his heart, like a wave crashing against the shore.

“You asked me once about the purpose of my life,” he said softly. “You, Anna, have given my life purpose. Without you, I am nothing, but with you, I can do anything.”

She lifted her head to gaze at him. “I love you,” she whispered.

They lay in the mossy grass of the meadow as the sun passed above them, watching the clouds paint patterns in the sky. Max told her about his time in the city, while she talked about the happenings at Storbrook and in the village. They watched as the sun moved across the sky, and when a slight breeze rustled through the trees above them, Max drew her closer, wrapping his heat around her. The sun was starting to sink behind the mountains, casting long shadows on the ground, when Anna let out a long sigh. “We should get back,” she said.

Max was lying on the ground, his hand stroking her back as she sat against his side. “Why?” he said.

“Because Keira and Aaron will wonder where I am.”

Max laughed. “Aaron already knows,” he said.

Anna pulled away to look at him in consternation. “How does he know that?” she asked suspiciously.

“Because he’s Dragon Master.” Anna raised her eyebrows, and Max lifted himself onto his elbow. “You forget I have a bond with him. He knows that I have taken a mate.” Anna’s eyebrows rose even higher.

“No!”

Max nodded, grinning shamelessly. “He also knows, through my connection with him, that it is you I have claimed.”

Anna dropped her head into her hands. “That’s –”

Max laughed, and pulled her hands from her face. “He doesn’t know your intimate feelings, Anna, although he may hazard a guess, I suppose. All he knows is that we are now bonded.”

“So if he knows, then Keira knows too?”

“I would imagine so!” Max sat up and pulled her into his lap. “So there’s no need for us to return to Storbrook.”

“Actually, I don’t think I ever want to return,” she said.

He grinned. “You will have to face them sometime, my darling. But there’s no rush. We will remain here for the night.”

Anna darted a look into the trees. “But there might be wolves. Or wild cats.”

Max laughed, and rising, lifted her to her feet. “You are with a dragon,” he said. “Nothing will venture anywhere near you when you’re being protected by the world’s most dangerous creature. Except maybe faeries.”

“Faeries?”

“Hmm. Faeries like to come out and dance on moonlit nights, and this looks like a perfect place for dancing.” He leaned closer, and his breath brushed her cheek. “Will you dance for me, Anna?”

She pulled in a shuddering breath. “There isn’t any music.”

He placed his hands on her hips and swayed to an unheard rhythm. “The music is within you,” he said. “Dance like a faery for me.” She caught the pace of his movements and started to glide with him, her skin brushing against his. He took a small step backwards. “Don’t stop,” he said when she paused.

She resumed the motion, swaying gently, then lifting her hands, moved them through the air above her shoulders. Max dropped his hands and took another step backwards as she glided on her feet, sashaying from side to side. She twisted slightly, her arms curving to follow her movement, then throwing back her head, spun around in a circle. Her hair flew out around her face, whipping through the air. She closed her eyes and danced as heat wrapped around her, the swish of her feet moving on the ground the only sound.

She felt Max stepping up behind her, and she shivered slightly when his hands stroked her upraised arms. He clasped them in one of his, and slowly pulled them backwards behind his neck as she leaned her head against his shoulder. The movement thrust her chest forward, and his hands slid down her arms and gently stroked her skin, cupping her breasts. Her movements slowed as he swayed behind her, and when his lips dropped to her shoulder, she was barely moving. He caressed her skin with his tongue, stoking a burning flame within her that slowly consumed her.

There was a movement of air as he unfurled his wings, slowly and languorously, and the ground disappeared from beneath her feet. She lay against him as he hovered in midair, caressing her with his hands, and when his mouth moved along her neck she groaned with pleasure. His wings were stretched outwards, and he leaned back against them, pulling her against his chest, before slowly turning her in his arms.

She stared down at him as he lay beneath her, floating through the sky, supported by his outstretched wings. His arms wrapped tightly around her, one beneath her thighs, the other around her head, and his feet tangled around hers. He pressed his lips against hers, and slowly rolled himself over in the air until she was beneath him, only his arms wrapped around her preventing her from falling. Her head rested heavy in his hand, and he pulled her closer as he slipped into her, catching her gasp with his mouth. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and when his lips slid to her neck, she cried out, before biting down on his shoulder when it seemed she would be ripped apart. She tasted his blood, and swallowed it as he grunted, grasping her so tightly she felt as though they had melded together into one.

Her hands slipped from the clasp around his neck, and her arms fell back, hanging limply in the air. He rolled over again, and she collapsed against his chest. His fingers trailed over her back as they drifted through the air, his wings outstretched beneath him. She stretched out her hand and stroked his wing, taut behind his back, her fingers weaving patterns as she watched the moonlight glitter against the smooth surface. He sighed into her hair, her name a whisper that filled his lungs and turned into a flaming blaze.

Chapter 52

They slept in the alpine meadow, Max curled around Anna as he held her against his chest. And when she awoke, she watched the sun rise over the peaks of the mountains as his arm cradled her head. 

They were flying back to Storbrook when Anna asked him the question that had been teasing the edges of her mind. “Max?” she said as they flew through the air. He turned to look at her.

“Hmm?”

“That time at the battlefield, you told me to stay away from you. Was that because of the blood?”

Max turned back to look at the mountains. “The blood heightened my desire for you. If you had come closer, or touched me, I might not have had the control to stay away from you.”

“You would have killed me?” Anna’s voice was a whisper. Max turned to look at her again.

“Killed you? Is that why you were afraid of me the next day?” His fiery breath filled the air around them. “I wanted you, Anna – wanted to taste your blood, and have you taste mine. I wanted to feel you in my arms, and might have taken you right there and then, whether you were ready or not.”

Anna blushed. “Oh,” she said, looking away from him. Max stared at her for a long moment.

“Know this, Anna,” he said. “There will never, ever, be a time when you need fear that I will harm you in any way. Your life will never be in danger because of me.” Anna nodded, but kept her eyes averted. “Look at me,” he said. She dragged her gaze back to his. “I love you more than anything else this life has to offer me, either as a man or a dragon,” he said.

“I love you, too,” she whispered.

He landed them back in Anna’s chambers, and no sooner had Anna slipped off his back than the door was flung open and Aaron strode into the room.

“Max,” he said, “good of you to seek out your Master on your return.”

Max grinned. “I was just about to do that, Aaron, but I had some other matters to attend to first.”

Aaron nodded sardonically, but he turned to Anna with a smile. “You were already my sister, Anna, but now you are doubly part of my family. I’m glad this lad has finally come to his senses and taken you as his mate.” Next to her, Anna heard a soft snort. She lifted her chin.

“Thank you, Aaron,” she said. Aaron grinned.

“Keira is in the parlor, making plans for your human ceremony,” he said. “If you want any say in the matter, you had better go find her.”

Anna nodded. “I will.” She turned to the doorway, but Max grabbed her hand, and pulling her into his arms, kissed her, before releasing her with a look that made her wish they were alone again.

Anna found Keira in the parlor, scratching her quill over a sheet of paper. She looked up as Anna walked into the room, then quickly replacing the quill in a pot of ink, rose to her feet and wrapped Anna in an embrace. “Finally,” she whispered. Anna pulled back.

“Finally?” she said. Keira smiled.

“When Max returned to court, I told Aaron it would just be a matter of time,” she said.

“But I was engaged to Garrick.”

Keira frowned. “I know, and I’m so sorry Garrick had to die before you discovered it was Max you loved.”

Anna turned away. “Garrick told me he wouldn’t have married me,” she said softly. “He gave me his blessing as he lay dying.”

Keira was silent. Anna turned around and tapped the sheet that Keira had been writing on. “What is this?”

Keira glanced down. “I was making a list for your human ceremony.”

“Perhaps we aren’t going to have one,” Anna said teasingly as Max and Aaron walked into the room.

“We’re not?” Max said, taking her hand. “I don’t mind.”

“You can’t do that,” Keira said with a look of consternation. “What will you tell Mother?”

Anna laughed. “I wasn’t being serious,” she said. “Of course I want a human ceremony – I am human after all! I want all the world to know that Max and I belong to each other. And Mother
has
been longing to hear news of my nuptials.” She glanced at Max, who was watching her with a peculiar look.

“If Mother was well enough we could have the ceremony here,” Keira said, “but she is quite unable to travel the distance, so we will ask the village priest to marry you, and then have a dance in the village square, as we did for our wedding.”

“I’ll speak to Father Brown,” Aaron said. “I’m sure he will be willing to do the honors later this week.”

“But we must first tell Mother and Father the good news,” Keira said, glancing at Aaron.

“Of course,” he agreed.

“And you need a dress,” Keira said. “I have some fabric in my chambers.”

“You have fabric?” Anna said.

“Yes.” Keira’s tone was defensive. “I wanted to be prepared for any eventuality.”

Anna shot a quick grin at Max. “Just tell us when and where, and we will be there.”

Keira sighed. “Don’t be silly, Anna,” she said. “We will go find that fabric now, and then this afternoon we will go into the village to make the arrangements and inform Mother and Father.” She turned to Aaron. “Meet us in our chambers at noon. And you, too,” she added, wagging a finger in Max’s direction.

“Yes, Mistress,” he said meekly.