Dragon King: A Dark Kings Novella (1001 Dark Nights) (7 page)

The fear she had first felt was melting away. Now, it was desire—hot and insistent—that filled her. “I told you. I couldn’t leave you out there wounded. Although, if I’d known you could heal, then I would’ve.”

When she looked up at his face, Arian was grinning. As if her words amused him. He was supposed to be hurt by her words, or at the very least annoyed. Not amused.

She raised a brow. “You find that funny?”

“I like that you speak your mind.”

“I probably shouldn’t do that,” she said as she got to her feet and moved away from him. “You might get angry and turn back into a dragon.”

His smile vanished in an instant. He rose to his feet in one fluid motion, with his long black hair falling about his shoulders and his champagne eyes focused on her. “I doona harm the innocent, Grace. That man out there,” he said, pointing through the entrance, “wasna a human. He was a Dark Fae, and he was looking for this cave.”

Grace held up her hand to stop him. “Wait. Just...wait. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can handle all of this. It’s too bizarre. And why are you telling me? Shouldn’t you be demanding that I keep my mouth shut at what I’ve seen?”

“Would anyone believe you?”

She gawked at him, wondering why she hadn’t thought of that possibility herself. “I don’t believe what I saw.”

“Aye, you do.”

So she did. He didn’t need to rub it in. Couldn’t he see she was trying to pull herself together? Grace tossed the napkin in the basket and shrugged. “So what if I do?”

“You want to know more.”

Damn. Was she an open book for him to read? This was not going her way at all, especially since she couldn’t figure out what he was thinking no matter how hard she tried.

“So you’ll tell me all I want to know and let me leave?”

“Aye.”

At this, Grace laughed. “That’s not how this works.”

“And you’ve been in this situation before?” he asked with a quirked brow.

Grace opened her mouth, then promptly shut it. After a moment, she said, “Of course not. I’m merely going off what I’ve read normally happens.”

“And that would be what, lass?”

“You threaten to kill me if I tell anyone.”

Arian smiled, and it was devastating. Like a sucker punch right in her gut. Grace couldn’t look away from his mouth and the sexy way his lips tilted.

“If it would make you feel better, then I could threaten you,” he said with a half-smile that was by far too seductive.

She knew he was making fun of her, but Grace couldn’t get upset. She sounded like a lunatic, which was insane since she wasn’t the one who had been in the form of a dragon recently.

“You may no’ believe it, lass, but you’re safe with me.”

Grace scratched her nose. “With a dragon?”

“Aye.”

“You were a dragon,” she said. “A huge dragon with wings and fire and everything.”

He gave a nod. “I ken exactly what I am, lass. Have I hurt you in any way?”

“You know you haven’t.”

“And I willna. Unless you’re here to harm us.”

Grace couldn’t stop the bubble of laughter that welled up. It escaped her lips. She looked at Arian, wondering about his sanity now. “You’re a
dragon
. How could I possibly hurt you?”

“We have enemies. The Dark Fae are just one set. They want to out us to the world so that our existence would no longer be hidden from humans.”

She wrapped her arms around her middle. “So there are more of you?”

“Aye.”

“Many?”

“Enough.”

“Oh.” Shit. Grace lowered her gaze. There were dragons in Scotland.

And she had somehow walked into a cave where one had been. What were the odds that would happen?

He pivoted, causing her eyes to return to him. That’s when she caught sight of the dragon tattoo on his left leg. It was done in an amazing black and red ink that she’d never seen before.

The tattoo began at his left hip, where the head of the dragon was looking up at him. The body ran down his thigh with the dragon’s wings tucked and its claws looking as if they were sunk into Arian’s skin. The dragon’s tail dropped to his knee before curling around it.

The design was exquisite, but there was something about the placement that was incredibly sexy.

Grace had trouble breathing. No matter what her brain said, her body was attracted to Arian. It was partly because he was so gorgeous it hurt to look at him, but it was also because of the way he had held her so gently, how he spoke to her in that brogue that made her heart melt, and how he had struggled to help her up the mountain despite his own injuries.

He walked past her, and God help her, Grace turned and watched him, her gaze dropping to his amazing ass. She hastily turned back around when he grabbed his jeans at the entrance and put them on.

Grace drew in a deep breath. How was she expected to think after seeing something so mouthwatering as Arian’s body? She had felt that warm skin. She knew how hard his muscles were, how powerful he felt—even injured.

Arian came to stand in front of her with his jeans now fastened. “Sit down with me, Grace. Let me explain since you’ve already seen who I really am.”

When he turned and walked to the fire, she dropped her arms and followed. He was right. She wanted to know. She was insanely curious about him.

If she hadn’t seen him with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have believed he was a dragon. But she had seen. Up close and personal.

She sat on the opposite side of the fire from him. Grace watched as the flames danced between them, the firelight casting everything in a red-orange glow.

Their eyes met, and she waited for him to begin. Her heart was pounding slow and steady as a thread of exhilaration wound through her.

“We have lived on this realm since the beginning of time,” Arian began in his deep, sexy voice. “For millions of years, the only beings on this earth were dragons. It wasn’t airplanes that dominated the skies, but dragons.”

Grace was immediately sucked into his story. She held her breath, waiting for him to continue.

“There were millions of us. From the smallest dragons, about the size of a cat, to the largest, like me. We were divided into factions based upon color, and there was every color imaginable. Each group was ruled by a king. The one of us with the most power and magic, immortal and lethal. Then there was one above a Dragon King—the King of Kings.”

She was trying to imagine all the dragons in various sizes and colors upon the land instead of humans. Grace couldn’t fathom it.

“Life was good,” Arian continued. “I can still remember what it was like to look up and see dragons flying. Or to be in the sky and look down to see dragons dotting the ground. But those days are long gone.”

“What happened?” Grace asked.

Arian looked away for a moment. Then he said, “One day mortals were here. Each Dragon King was suddenly changed into human form to communicate with them. We were then able to shift back and forth at will. We vowed to protect the humans.”

Grace worried that the next part wasn’t going to be so fun to hear. Especially by the way Arian’s face tightened.

“We had peace. For a time. The mortals reproduced at an astonishing rate. Soon we had to move dragons out of areas they had always inhabited to make room for the humans. Even some of the Kings took mortal females to their beds. Some wanted those females as their mates, or wives, if you will.”

She raised her brows. The best way to keep peace was an alliance, and what was a marriage but an alliance? It was the perfect solution, especially if there was love involved.

“One of the Kings, Ulrik, was about to take a female as his mate. Somehow Constantine, the King of Kings, discovered that Ulrik’s woman was planning to betray him. She wanted to kill him. Little did she know she would never have been able to do it.”

“Why?” Grace asked. “Was she weak?”

Arian smiled, but it was cold and hard. “The only one who can kill a Dragon King is another Dragon King. There isn’t a weapon in any of the realms that can kill us.”

Well, that certainly explained it. “Oh.”

“Con sent Ulrik away, and all the Kings gathered together and hunted down the female. We killed her for her attempted betrayal.”

“You killed her?” Grace asked in shock.

Arian nodded. “Ulrik brought her into his home. He clothed her, fed her, protected her, and loved her. Because to be taken as a mate to a Dragon King brings immortality to a human. So aye, Grace, we killed her. But Ulrik was angry at our actions when he found out. He wanted to be the one to end her life. In his grief and rage, Ulrik focused on those he felt responsible.”

“Humans,” Grace said.

“The mortals retaliated quickly and began to slaughter dragons left and right. There was no end in sight, and nothing any of us could do could stop Ulrik on his quest to rid this realm of humans.”

Grace frowned at his words.

“Some of the Kings, myself included, joined Ulrik for a time. Con eventually brought all of us back together. All except for Ulrik. By this time, the mortals were intent on wiping out the dragons.”

“But the Kings couldn’t die by a human’s hand,” she said.

Arian nodded. “True. But they were killing dragons. We had no choice but to send all the dragons away. Then, once more the Kings gathered, except this time it wasn’t to help Ulrik. It was to bind his magic and prevent him from shifting. We cursed him to walk this world for eternity in human form.”

Grace grimaced. “Ouch.”

“The war had to end. We hoped with Ulrik taken care of it would cease, but it didna. Even without dragons, the mortals hunted us.”

“You could’ve wiped us out, right?”

Arian gave a single nod.

“Why didn’t you?” she asked.

“We made a vow to protect the mortals. We take such promises seriously.”

Grace shook her head, not understanding. “But you lost your dragons in the process. That’s not right.”

“It’s what was decided. We returned to Dreagan and safeguarded it with magic to keep everyone off our land as we slept away centuries waiting for mortals to forget.”

“Dreagan?” Why did she know that name? Then she realized it was the famous Scotch whisky.

Arian paused for a moment. “Dreagan is our home. It’s the one place we can be our true selves. We hide here. Ulrik, however, has no’ given up on his vengeance. He’s teamed up with the Dark Fae, another old enemy, to expose us to the world.”

She thought back to the questions Arian had asked her. “You thought I was working with Ulrik or the Dark Fae?”

“Aye. They’ve been known to use mortals to aid them.”

“I’m not helping them,” she said.

Arian’s smile was slow. “Aye. I ken that, lass.”

Chapter Seven

Arian tried several times to look away from Grace, but he was drawn back to her dark blue eyes again and again. The fear he had seen earlier wasn’t gone completely. But it was tempered, calmed.

She sat casually, listening as he spoke. Her muscles weren’t tense, and she was engaged in the story. Even asking him questions. He hadn’t been sure how she would react, truth be told.

“How is Ulrik’s attempting to show the world there are dragons helping him?” she asked.

Arian saw her gaze lower to his chest and her pulse quicken. His own body reacted viscerally. It was a primal, instinctive desire that flared hungrily through him. His cock hardened instantly, and it was everything he could do to remain on the opposite side of the fire from her.

He vaguely recalled that she had asked a question. Arian searched his mind and tried to get himself under control. “Ulrik wants to defeat Con and take over the Dragon Kings.”

“Which means what for all of you?” Her navy eyes rose to his face.

“He could kill us.”

Her brow furrowed deeply with concern. “Would he?”

“I doona know. It’s a possibility. What I know he’ll do is wipe the world of any human, and he’ll begin by waking his Silvers and unleashing them.”

Grace visibly swallowed. “Oh. Wait. What? There are dragons here? I thought you said they were sent away?”

“Four of his largest Silvers remained with him. We trapped them and keep them sleeping in one of the mountains.”

“I see.”

“It’s no’ just ourselves we’re trying to save. It’s your race as well.”

Her gaze moved to the fire as she sat silent for a long moment. She took a deep breath and asked, “Why didn’t Con kill him in the beginning, when Ulrik’s magic was stripped?”

“Con and Ulrik were as close as brothers. They were opposite sides of the same coin. Con was steadfast and reserved while Ulrik was outgoing and a bit of a jokester. Despite their different personalities, they would’ve died for the other. Until Con became King of Kings.”

Grace shifted, her head tilting to the side as she looked at him. “What happened?”

“That’s between Con and Ulrik, but Con doesna talk about it. Or he didna when I was awake.”

“Awake?” she repeated.

Arian briefly looked at his hands. “I’ve been sleeping in my mountain for six centuries.”

“Your...” she began, her voice trailing off. Grace looked around the cavern before her gaze returned to him. “This is your mountain?”

“Aye. Each Dragon King has his own.”

“I...wow.”

He bit back a smile at her surprised reaction. “Many of us take to our mountains for long periods. Some get tired of hiding who we truly are, some have pasts they need to escape from for a while, and others must disappear from the world for a generation or so before reappearing.”

“Which one are you?”

“A bit of all of them.”

“Six hundred years is a long time though.”

Arian lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I had no intention of waking any time soon. The war with Ulrik and the Dark, however, changed that. Con had all the Kings who slept woken.”

“Why were you going to remain asleep?”

“There was no reason for me to be awake. I know mortals have advanced considerably, but that doesna make our lives easier. In fact, it makes keeping our secret hidden even harder. Sleeping through the centuries makes things easier to deal with, like missing my dragons.”

“I understand now.”