Matching Dragons Chinese Zodiac Romance Series Book 6 (11 page)

She clawed at him, riding the crest until the very last tremor subsided. He stilled inside her, but his cock pulsed, and Lok’s roar filled her ears as sparking flares burst inside her.

It was too much. Though her body was beyond sated, having a dragon come inside her ignited some instinctual reaction, causing yet another orgasm to ripple through her.

This time, she whimpered, clutching him while her body shuddered.

Hell, if this was what sex with Lok was like, she’d been so missing out.
Never go back to humans.

Even after all that, Lok remained rigid inside her. “How the hell are you still hard?” Her body had melted into putty, her limbs too heavy to lift.

He raised his head, resting his chin on her breast. “If you think this is strenuous, you should see dragons during mating season. It’s one big rutting mess.”

A stab of jealousy speared into her chest. He might be enamored with her today…but what if tomorrow he preferred his own kind?

Even if she could save him, what if she wouldn’t be enough?

“Don’t worry, little one. I’ll let you rest for round two.” Breaking their intimate connection, he snared his arms around her and curled her against his side. After a few minutes, his breaths evened out, deepening into a peaceful-sounding slumber.
Right.
Just hours ago, he’d battled the dragon princess, then Xur, and had his stomach nearly sliced open. Even though her powers had somehow healed him, he definitely required the recovery more than she.

Kadence slipped from his arms and padded across the cavern. Though she was naked and should shiver from the draft, her skin was warm, flushed. Like whatever power inside her had awoken and its stirring caused a restless fever to course through her veins.

She’d witnessed the battle between Lok and Xur, had overheard everything. Would the other dragons not believe her statement? Didn’t they possess some kind of truth detection system?

The firelight flickered, glinting off the spine of a metallic book on the shelf.
Hmm.
Drawn toward it, she tiptoed to the wall, tensed in case she awoke Lok. The last thing she needed was him accusing her of snooping.

She lifted the gilded tome off the shelf and peered at the cover. Swirling symbols crisscrossed the surface, in a language she’d never encountered. Some kind of dragon dialect? Probably.

Peeling open the cover, she studied the page it opened on, somewhere near the middle. A drawing of a pearl was sketched in metallic ink.

A flaming pearl. Me.

But this was a depiction of an actual pearl. Lok had told her they were usually inanimate objects. Being human, she was a rarity.

Lucky me.

As she stared at the swirling symbols, heat warmed through her veins, down to the tips of her fingers. A glow spread across the page, and the symbols shifted, gathering into English letters.

Whoa. Way awesome.
Kadence read the words—the history of her, well, species? One might call it that. She wasn’t entirely human, so the book declared, but rather belonged to a unique breed of mystical beings. The pearl acted like her soul and could never be stripped from her. Once a dragon laid claim to her, and she accepted his bond, their connection was unbreakable.

She would be Lok’s. Forever.

Being the most highly treasured possession a dragon could hope to claim, it was in a pearl’s best interest to find one to bond with as quickly as possible. One that the pearl wished to be connected to. Otherwise, dragons would tear each other apart, seeking her favor.

Among a pearl’s powers…
Oh, this is getting interesting. Healing. Check. Illumination. Check. Immortality. Um, wow.

The bond would strengthen the dragon’s own powers, and his status. He could seek out the pearl to recharge his energy. An endless source of strength.

Pretty incredible. She smiled, reading further. At the bottom was a note written in smaller letters.

The Flaming Pearl will act as a conduit for the Dragon. Every action the Dragon has taken will be stored within the Flaming Pearl and it shall serve as the Dragon’s Legacy.

Every action… Did that mean? Of course it did. Frowning, Kadence closed her eyes and searched within herself, seeking out her bond with Lok. As she followed the spinning strands connecting her to him, images floated through her mind. She dug through them, all the way to the beginning. In a cavern similar to this one, an egg. A dragon’s egg. Shiny and gold, a crack split its length. The crack widened and out popped… Baby Lok? She stifled a laugh and watched as the other eggs hatched. Four shimmering, azure-scaled dragons joined Lok, growing through the years into large, powerful beasts.

Then one day… The images skipped, from happy, playful dragons, to Lok standing in the midst of their ravaged bodies. His poor siblings lay in pools of blood on the cave floor, their hearts torn from their chests.

But they didn’t explode into shimmering dust like Xur had.
Hmm.
Why not?

Lok squeaked a sob. He couldn’t remember what had happened.
Why are they dead?
The question speared through him as he sank to the ground, howling in grief.

Kadence blinked back tears at his shattering heartbreak, but she shoved through it, scanning the image for anything the grieving Lok may have missed.

Xur did this. The asshole. Kadence clenched her fists, searching for evidence. Lok couldn’t recall how he’d ended up here, why he’d been spared. Saved, only to be framed.
Hmm. There.
A gilded mirror hanging on the stone wall. Kadence sucked back a breath as she caught a glimpse of Xur’s fanged sneer in the reflection.

Caught you, you bastard.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

Kadence jolted. Lok. She whipped around, the connection broken, and stuttered.

“Those are not for you.” Hurt and anger flashed in his eyes. Had her search brought those memories to his mind too? Dammit. She hadn’t meant to make him relive that grief.

“I’m sorry. I was trying to help.” She rose, taking a step toward the smoldering beast. Lok folded his arms across his bare chest, glowering at her with the betrayal she probably deserved. She hadn’t asked for his permission to delve into his memories. “It wasn’t right of me to do that without asking. I’m sorry.” Biting her lip, she placed a hand on his rigid arm. “I found something, evidence that can save you.”

“What?”

She flinched, but she deserved his icy tone. “Xur’s reflection in your cave. It’s enough to place him at the crime scene, to prove you weren’t the only one there.” Lok didn’t break his frigid stance, so she talked faster. “I’ll go before the dragons and show it to them. They’ll have to believe me. I read it in the book.”

He glanced at her, then toward the book she’d left open. “No, you won’t.”

Perching her hands on her hips, she tilted her head. “Why not?” Obviously, reliving those events had thrown a shadow over him, but she’d presented him with…freedom.

Sighing, he uncrossed his arms. “Because going before them would be a torture I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Their scans would probe every corner of your consciousness, invading every inch of your being. Raping your mind, Kadence. And it would hurt like a bitch. No.” He shook his head and stomped to the cushions.

“You’d rather die?” Damn him for being such an arrogant jerk. “I can handle a little probing, Lok. Really, I can. Especially if it means we’d have a future together.”

Instead of answering her, he dressed, grabbed the vial, and headed toward the opening. “Let’s go to your sister. We can discuss this later.”

That sounded a hell of a lot like
never
.

Huffing, she tugged on the top and skirt Lok tossed her and followed him to the entrance. A shimmering aura passed over him as he transformed into a dragon.

“Giving me a ride?” Pretty awesome, even if she was mad at him. She bit down on her smile and climbed onto his back.

“Hold on tight.”

Lok flapped his wings and soared into the open sky, beating his wings while they raced through the clouds. “Where to?”

She focused on her home in Bangkok. Through their connection, Lok grunted an affirmation. “Better hold on tighter.”

Bending forward, she clutched her arms around his neck, tightening her grip. He zoomed forward, sending them straight through a glimmering hole—some kind of portal?

Vertigo struck her, making her head so dizzy she couldn’t tell up from down, until they spewed out the other side, right onto her balcony.

Lok landed in a crouch, and she slid off him onto wobbly legs. “Can we please take a plane next time?” She clutched her head in her hands and waited for the spinning to stop. After a few minutes, she stood upright without wanting to retch. Lok shifted into human form.

“This way.” She led him through the open doorway, brushing past the billowing curtains, into her sister’s bedroom. “Mel!” Kadence raced to her side, heart pounding.

“Kades?” A gruff whisper eased from Melody as she peeled open her eyes. Oxygen tubes clung to her nose, needles poked into her arms, and a dozen monitors beeped in a chiming chorus.

“I missed you so much.” Blinking back tears, Kadence kissed her sister’s forehead and twisted toward Lok. “Mel, I’d like you to meet someone.”

Lok froze in front of the curtains, his nostrils flared.

“What is it?”

He glanced from her, to her sister, and shook his head. “She doesn’t need my blood.” His dark brows drew together. “She needs yours.”

“Mine?” A puff of disbelief escaped her. “What do you mean?” She stared at her sister, stroking her forehead.

“She’s…”

“She’s what?” Why was Lok acting so weird?

“Like you. A flaming pearl, too.”

Fucking hell. What was this? He’d come here, expecting to save Kadence’s sister, but the creature lying in the bed didn’t require his blood. She needed Kadence’s. A transfusion from another flaming pearl would heal her far quicker than any dragon blood.

One human pearl was rare enough, but two? Sisters, at that.

He flinched, bracing for his dragon nature to swoop forward and covet the sister as well.

Only imagine, possessing both. How revered and omnipotent he would be…

The yearning didn’t come. No burning covetousness fired through his veins. He didn’t want her.

Only Kadence.

That shouldn’t be, but even as he stepped toward the women, he was drawn to Kadence. Not her sister. Not even a little bit.

Lok cocked his head, studying them. “Take the needle, draw your blood, and give it to her. You’ll see what I mean.” He nodded at Kadence’s parted lips. The questions in her eyes would be answered soon enough.

She did as he instructed, and while her blood filtered through Melody’s body, a vivid glow illuminated the other woman. Her sickly pallor and dull, glazed eyes brightened. Flushing skin and sparkling green depths peered at both him and Kadence. “About time.” A laugh chimed from her lips. “I’ve been waiting, like, forever.”

“You knew?” Kadence gasped, then frowned playfully at her sister. “Why didn’t you tell me? All this time, you’ve been so sick.”

“I was going to, but... Never mind.” She smiled and patted Kadence’s hand. “It worked out. And I see you’ve found yourself a hunky dragon.” Melody laughed at Kadence’s blush and extended her hand toward him.

Tentatively, he grasped her hand, bracing for the searing desire of possession to flame through him, but none came. Yet he also didn’t sense another dragon’s stamp on her. “How?”

A smile curved her lips. “Don’t worry about me. I know what I’m doing.”
Hmm.
She must have discovered some method of masking her scent.

Intriguing. Kadence’s sister was cunning. But why endure such torment when she could have been cured by Kadence’s blood? Why send her sister off on the chase. Unless…

Who set her up to this? The second he formed the question in his mind, he had his answer. The Matchmaker. That wily female, meddling in everyone’s affairs.

Kadence had sacrificed everything for her sister, but he wouldn’t let her do the same for him.

She embraced Melody, laughing and smiling through her tears.

Slowly, he backed away, slipping into the next room. It would be better this way. He couldn’t leave her if she formed tears to plead for him.

As he entered the foyer, he froze. Eight dragons blocked his exit. Yellow dragons. Huanglong dragons. The Jade Emperor’s enforcers.

They’ve come for me.

Not here. Not here.

“Lok?” Kadence’s padding footsteps echoed toward him.

He looked over his shoulder. “You need to go. Now.”

Her brows drew together as she peered past him, and gasped. Then she swallowed hard and bowed her head. “Thank you for coming.”

What the fuck? Kadence had invited his executioners.

“No. I won’t let you do this.” He clenched his fists at his sides. If he fought the Huanglong, they wouldn’t care to listen to any of Kadence’s arguments. He could still save her.

“Oh, no, you don’t.” Kadence rushed to his side and cool metal snapped around his wrist. He glanced down. The dragon chain. Bloody hell.

“Kadence.” He glared at her, hard.