Kiss of the Dragon (25 page)

A lot can happen in three days in my world. Alliances made or broken. Wars started and won. Or lost. Entire civilisations wiped out or created. I no longer dismiss the powers of gods. I live in a surreal world, one that simply anything can happen within. It can be liberating, exciting, challenging and so very rewarding.

And it can bring devastating loss.

I woke with a start. No slow creep towards consciousness. My body and mind wanted to see what I had missed. My heart rate was thundering even as my eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room I had been secured in. Within seconds I had taken in the location; Michel's London home still. The time of day; night time, the shutters were up. And who was with me; Michel.

I have only ever woken once from a coma-induced double Dream Walk and not had Michel at my side. And even then he had been resting in his own room, nearby. This time he was sitting on my bed, his hip against my side. He looked as exhausted as I still - strangely - felt.

"What's been happening?" I demanded immediately, sitting up on pillows he had fluffed at my back. He handed me a glass of water to drink. It was sugary, I was guessing filled with electrolytes or something to help stimulate my body and replace anything I had lost.

"We are at war," he said simply, his face remaining vampire-mask impassive. "You have been asleep for just two and a half days."

My eyebrows raised. "That's faster than usual," I remarked. "How did you know to be here at exactly the right time when I awoke?"

"I have not been far from your side. The
Iunctio
is currently being run from the parlour downstairs," he explained. "Besides, my vampyre-within was sure you were about to wake. The pull towards you was undeniably strong."

I took another sip of the sugary drink to stall for time before asking the next question. Michel simply read the thought from my mind and saved me the bother of asking it aloud.

"I have full control over him." His head cocked to the side slightly and his azure blue eyes swept over my body, but I got the distinct impression he wasn't looking at
me,
but around me. Maybe my aura?

"What is it?" I asked, placing the empty glass on a side table. "What are you looking at?"

He shook his head and sighed. "My vampyre-within is still extremely protective of you. Alarmingly so. I am afraid you will not be far from me, from now on."

"You still don't know what the problem is though?"

"He is being unusually... secretive. I think it amuses him." Michel looked disgusted at that idea.

The relationship between a vampire and its vampire-within was a strange one. One could not exist without the other. And, as I have said before, Michel is the dragon and the dragon is Michel. But they
do
have separate sentient minds. What makes Michel
vampire
, comes from the dragon. So, it makes sense the dragon can do things, sense things, even
see
things, that the man cannot. Usually, the information - or perception of that
thing
they sense or see - is shared freely. But clearly there is occasion where the vampire-within chooses to keep things close to their chest.

It boggles the mind. I can't help thinking that you'd feel like a parasite had taken up residence and you just had no choice but to put up with it. No wonder vampires wish for control in their environment so much, they battle for it daily within their bodies. Which is why some vampires are Darker than others. They lack the control to keep the vampire-within in line.

Michel was one of the most controlled men I knew. And he was powerful. I briefly checked on his Dark, using my
Sanguis Vitam Cupitor
powers. He barely had any at all. Full of Light. His vampire-within shouldn't have been able to take over. But it had. Why?

"It won't happen again," Michel promised through tight lips. He never did appreciate me checking on his Dark signature. I guess he felt it was evidence of me doubting him. But I didn't doubt him, I just wanted to understand. Knowledge was power and I'd be damned if I'd let Michel be in such a compromised position again. I really needed a face to face with his dragon.

Michel's lips twitched at the edges, some of that vampire mask slipping.

"I have missed you," he said softly, reaching up and swiping a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Then why haven't you kissed me?" I asked, looking up at him from beneath my lashes and suddenly feeling shy.

"Because once I start, I won't be able to stop," Michel said slowly, a growl beginning at the back of his throat.

"Let me brush my teeth then," I replied, as I flung the bed covers back and found myself naked. Every single time he places me unconscious in bed, I am in the nude. I flicked him a glance, preparing to roll my eyes at him, but I didn't get a chance.

My body was hauled across the top of the sheets and his lips wrapped around a nipple, teeth nibbling, tongue soothing, hands securely holding me fast. I arched my back automatically. Stuff my toothbrush.
This
couldn't wait.

He lay me back against the covers gently, his warm hands running over my skin, down my side, to cup a hip. He was wearing a black shirt and trousers, no Armani suit or tie today. This was his fighting outfit. The clothes he wore when we were at battle. That thought sent adrenaline through my veins, but Michel's touch simply turned the hormone into fire.

I craved him and I realised, that despite having just woken up from two and half days of unconsciousness, despite the fact we were at war and there was so much to discuss, I was instantly turned on by him. My body yearning for his touch, his lips,
him
. Michel has always been able to push my buttons easily, but this hankering to have him inside me was almost too much. More than I had thought possible. A lust for him that went beyond our usual desires.

I rolled him over so I was straddling his legs and swiftly undid the buttons on his shirt. His hands were everywhere. My lips and tongue and teeth decided to do the same, once the shirt was removed. Our actions fervent; this wasn't a languid exploration of each other's bodies, this was a need so strong we couldn't hold back.

"I scent your arousal," he rasped, as my tongue darted beneath the edge of his trousers. My fingers already unfastening the belt.

"Don't you always," I mumbled, as my mouth followed the lowering of his zip.

He moaned low and long, his hips bucking up off the bed to meet my lips.

"This is more pronounced than usual," he managed to get out between deep breaths. "It is driving me crazy. It is almost as strong as the claiming."

Michel and I had been through a claiming, his vampire-within deciding to stake his claim and make me his vampire mate. It was intense and addictive, hard and fast. Michel struggled with the level of desire in him at the time, it was almost a loss of control. We were both subject to its whim. But, oh boy, was it divine.

"I can handle another claiming," I announced, pulling his trousers and boxers down his hips and then off the end of his legs. His shoes and socks followed. There, all naked, just like me.

A growl was all the warning I got before my body was flipped and his head was between my legs. His palm came down flat on my stomach, making sure I didn't move. I lifted my head and stared down the length of my body at him. His eyes were flashing amethyst and violet, hunger etched a delicious pattern across his face.

"What has got in to you?" he growled. "You have never looked as beautiful as you do right now."

"Show me," I demanded, feeling a sense of power over this gorgeous man before me.

"Oh, I intend to,
ma douce
. All day if I can."

"What about the war?" I asked and then cried out in bliss as his tongue swept up the length of my centre.

He didn't reply, he was too busy. His thumbs parted my folds as he greedily licked and sucked. Oh Goddess, he was good at this. Within seconds I was panting, all thoughts of battles gone from my head. My hands fisted in his hair, holding him to me as I ground back against his face. He slipped in two fingers and began moving them seductively, licking and sucking in time to the motion. My hips joined the rhythm, my moans getting louder and louder. I felt my clasp on the moment slipping. My ability to control my responses falling away. I fought for some semblance of control. The house was full of vampires, some of which I did not know well. But there was nothing I could do. I was at his mercy.

But he was also at mine. I could see his hips working too, grinding himself back into the bed. Every moan I made was accompanied by a growl-come-purr from him. The sounds we were making were sensual and so very erotic. The sensations he was creating in me were sublime. I let go of all control and slowly fell down into the well of euphoria he was building. Rising up with the wave that flowed from deep down inside. My body ached, my lungs were stretched, I shook with the need to release.

"Come," he growled, then sucked on the bundle of nerves there, sending me crashing down the other side of that wave.

I screamed as I came, my body thrashing beneath him, but he didn't stop sucking until I collapsed back against the bed several minutes later. He rose up above me; a predator stalking the length of my frame. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, then licked what was left of my juices from the corner of his mouth.

"I could eat you all day, but I need to be inside," he said with pure intent, settling between my thighs. My knees fell out further, inviting him closer, desperate to have him completely joined to me, deep within my core.

His hot hand ran down my side to my thigh and then rested behind my knee. His eyes flashed all manner of mauves and violets, but as yet magenta was not to be seen. I think Michel had more control of his dragon, than he ever had before. This wasn't a bad thing, considering, but I had enjoyed the occasions in the past where magenta had shined in those eyes as he was buried deep inside.

"You won't be disappointed," he arrogantly announced, lifting my leg up, spreading me wider and then slowly rocking his hips so he could slip inside.

He was bigger than usual, or I wasn't as prepared as I had thought. But that was impossible after what had just happened, what he had made me feel. Still, he had to work his way inside and I swear he felt larger than he ever had before.

"It is your scent," he explained with a groan, as he pulled back slightly and then entered me another delicious inch or so. "My body is simply responding to your desire." Another pull back slowly and oh so perfect glide back further inside. "I have never felt this before. It is consuming." Out slow, back in just as slowly again. He was making progress, but the speed was sending me spiralling. My hips tilted upwards, trying to force him inside in one go. Michel had to wrap his hand around my waist to hold me still, so he wouldn't injure me with a rapid thrust inside.

I was finding it difficult to think straight, so desperate to have him fully within me. I bucked my body, causing him to growl and nip my neck with his fangs. My legs had wrapped around his thighs and were doing their damnedest to pull his groin flat against my own, so next came a swat on my rear as a reprimand.

"Be patient!" he demanded. "I do not want to harm you."

"I need you," I breathed beneath him. "All of you. Now!"

"Bloody hell,
ma douce
!" he exclaimed. "What on Earth has got in to you?" But he didn't wait for an answer, finally he made the last distance inside, reaching the very back of me it seemed. Filling me completely. Exactly what I craved.

He sat there, panting, sweat trailing a path down the side of his neck. His body shook in little waves of delight and tension, his forehead resting against mine, eyes closed, teeth gritted.

"Move," I begged.

"If I move right now, there is no telling what I will do. You have driven me to insanity. I am barely holding on as it is."

I bumped my hips up against him, causing him to hiss first, then wrap an arm firmly around the back of my shoulders, gripping my upper body tightly, holding me still with that one motion. As well as his free hand securely wrapping around my hip and his hard chest pressed down against mine, I was safely encased.

"You want me to move?" he asked, hot breath washing over my lips.

"God, yes!"

"You need this, don't you?"

I nodded, whimpering now, unable to speak anymore.

He swore softly in French. "You are so incredibly beautiful like this," he whispered.

And then he moved. For a few strokes it was slow and delicious and I moaned with every rock of his hips. But we both knew it wouldn't last, our desire for the other was too great. I
needed
to feel him.
Really
feel him.

His pace picked up, my body moved with his, our heartbeats escalating, our breaths intermingling, matched in speed. He hadn't shifted his hold of my body, his torso was still rubbing against mine. My nipples throbbed with each pass of the fine hairs on his chest. His eyes held mine, neither of us able to look away. We didn't kiss. We didn't lick or suck or bite the other person. The connection was all in the eyes. In the way we looked at the other as he was sinking in and pulling out of me; so deeply, so possessively, so beautifully.
So divine.