SavedDragon (10 page)

He let her down from his back by lowering to his belly, and then he approached the stream and lowered his face to sip from the cool shaded water. As fond of the untouched wilderness as ever, Chloe joined the dragon and crouched alongside him. The refreshing water soothed her throat after hours of laughing in the sun.

“Mm… I feel so good,” she murmured. “Come down here and snuggle with me.” When his head turned toward her, she planted her lips on the tip of his nose. “I want to hug you again and thank you properly for the ride.”

His transformation from mythical beast to man happened in the blink of an eye. For some reason Chloe expected cracking bones and a lengthy change. The movies made shapeshifting appear to be an agonizing act. In hindsight she should have known better, since his leap from the balcony and his reappearance as a dragon happened in seconds. One moment he was a dragon and the next he was a naked man.

She leapt into his arms and brought them both down to the ground.

“My reward is to be tackled?”

“No, it’s this.” Chloe leaned down and laid a path of dainty kisses against his stubbled cheek up to his brow. She inched over and caught his earlobe for a nibble. It was a trick she’d been saving. She skimmed her teeth around the sensitive curve and dipped her tongue inside for a light trace.

“Chloe,” he groaned. Saul always growled when she did something that pleased him.

“I like teaching you new things,” she whispered warmly against the dampened skin. Saul shuddered and Chloe grinned, pulling back. For now.

“Doesn’t the grass itch your skin?” she asked.

“No. I sowed only the finest. Try it and see,” Saul urged her. In an effort to help, he tugged at her jeans.

Chloe’s laughter filled the air as they worked together to rid her of her clothes. Saul tossed her jeans and shirt aside.

“I guess you don’t have to worry about looky-loos out here.”

Saul snorted. “None have managed to breach my boundaries, though many have tried. Our fence and Leiv’s hounds dissuade trespassers easily enough. You need fear nothing here in our home.”

“That’s nice to know… and you’re right about this grass. It’s so thick and cushy.” Chloe stretched her arms out above her head. “The sun and breeze feel good too. No wonder you walk around half dressed.”

“It does have advantages. Some newly discovered.” He rolled to his side and nuzzled his face against Chloe’s breasts. “These, for example.” His rough palm kneaded one perky mound.

“You’re a quick learner,” Chloe giggled.

“It is easy to learn when the rewards are so worthwhile. Pleasuring you delights me to no end.”

“Mmmn…” Chloe sighed, content beyond all measure. Saul’s scruffy jaw tickled her stomach. The continued downwards scrape stirred her arousal and her hips lifted by instinct.

“Your scent, it intoxicates me,” he whispered. “Wrapped with mine, as it should always be. And your taste...”

Saul licked her waxed folds. While clumsy, the attempt sent a surge of pure, unadulterated lust straight to her core. Her pussy clenched in anticipation.

“I want more,” he growled.

“Just use the tip of your tongue and suckle softly, like our bath time kisses,” Chloe suggested, heart pounding. She drew up her legs and spread them wide to grant him full access. Saul readily accepted the invitation but startled and hung back when he saw the discolored bruises against her inner thighs.

“Before, in the solarium, I abused you--”

“I liked it,” she countered with a grin. “But you are quite welcome to kiss my sore bits.”

Saul’s golden eyes flared. “I intend to.”

He lapped at her like a cat, providing brief strokes of his tongue that made Chloe squirm against the ground. Saul’s lazy sprawl painted a picture both humorous and erotic. She admired the length of his muscled limbs and drank in the sight of his face between her legs.

“Yes, yes!” she encouraged. “Don’t stop what you’re doing. Just like that, baby, yes!”

With his lips and tongue, Saul explored her wet crevice. He suckled on her smooth folds, delicately scraped his teeth over her swollen clitoris, and flickered his tongue up and down. He gathered up the first sweet traces of her sexual juices and made a sound that was part growl, part purr, and all pleasure.

“More.” It was as though Saul couldn’t contain his baser instincts. He rose up to his knees and dragged Chloe with him. Her body bent, shoulders and head against the ground and back angled upwards. Saul placed her legs over his broad shoulders and cupped her ass in his hands to support the awkward position. Chloe didn’t care. Any discomfort vanished the moment Saul’s mouth returned to her throbbing snatch.

He went wild. His long, agile tongue curled into her wet hole and stroked her insides with as much attention as his virile cock. Chloe bucked in his hold, grabbing at the grass beneath her.

“Oh god, oh god…” Green blades and rich black soil tore under her hands. “My clit, baby, oh yes, yes, yes, right there. Fuck you’re amazing!”

Saul’s throaty growl rumbled against her wet folds and stars exploded behind Chloe’s eyes. She collapsed against the grass at the conclusion of her climax and lay overstimulated and completely out of sorts.

“Did you enjoy the tour?” Saul asked in a sensual, too smug voice.

Chloe nodded weakly and closed her eyes.

Much to Chloe’s relief, Saul carried her home on his back. She lay snuggled against the warm feathers at the base of his wings, indulging her dragon lover in conversation about favorite vacation spots.

“Skiing?” he questioned in his deep voice.

“I can’t believe you’ve never gone skiing! I think you’d love it.”

Skiing was only one sport among a handful of other activities Saul never enjoyed. She quickly put together a mental list of other fun pastimes from ice skating to parasailing.

Would he like bicycling? Had he ever bicycled before? She giggled frequently from upon his back, which forced her lumbering dragon to pause and glance over his broad shoulder at her. He was built strong, a creature composed of muscle and lean sinew beneath his leathery hide. She breathed him in, enjoying a scent far superior to any new car smell.

Eventually, they reached the estate’s pasture near the manor. The prey animals fled him and cleared a path, evidently accustomed to Saul visiting for another reason.

“I didn’t even realize you could own so much wild space this close to LA.”
Of course, he can afford it so I guess that makes a difference.
“Do you sell any of your livestock for food or milk or whatever?”

“Yes and no. Mahasti keeps the wool from our sheep for weaving. Leiv favors the goats’ milk for cheese.”

“And the cows?”

Saul flashed a toothy grin. “They provide excellent steaks.”

“Your pantry must be impressive,” Chloe replied, laughing.

“You will see that next,” he promised.

Once Saul adopted his human body and they entered the house, a pair of jeans awaited him on the nearby coat rack.

“Mahasti?” Chloe asked.

Her dragon chuckled with amusement and donned the garment. While she appreciated the Djinn’s thoughtful act of kindness – as she certainly didn’t want to cross paths with the woman while Saul remained nude – part of her also longed to enjoy his naked beauty a while longer.

“They will not remain for long, my Chloe. Patience,” he counseled her.

With Saul guiding her along, a lengthy tour of the inner structure began that took her from one bedroom to the next. They reached a personal library that appeared dated in the past, much like a gentleman’s study of the Theodore Roosevelt era. The expansive desk dominated a wall near the window, flanked by two mounted hunting trophies.

“You kept their heads?” she questioned in disbelief.

“One gored me. I respected his strength and chose to memorialize his remains in honor of the hunt.” Saul glanced at her. “The clever buck on the left led me on a chase by crossing through a human’s camp. I could not follow. We crossed paths again many months later and I recalled his scent.”

“So you rewarded him by keeping his head, too?”

The strange sentiment warmed her heart and touched her in an odd way. No part of the animal had gone to waste, devoured and enjoyed by a larger predator. She chose not to judge.

Dad would think he was amazing. Saul’s a hunter, too, just of a different sort. A predator,
she thought.

Eventually, they reached another modernized room with a cozy home theater. Plush leather seats spread out into recliners.

“Saul, if you live alone here, and you were asleep for the last five years, why do you have so many new things?”

“Mahasti and Leiv,” he explained. “Leiv occupies a cabin on the property, but he frequents the estate for these luxuries from time to time. Mahasti chooses to live in the manor, and as you have learned, she possesses a fascination with modern conveniences.”

“And updates areas of your home as needed,” Chloe finished.

A quiet nod from him provided confirmation. Eventually, they came to a halt at a heavy iron door with intricate designs. It opened easily with a push, revealing the top of a staircase leading down into a dark abyss.

Chloe peeked downstairs nervously. “What’s next?”

“My room.”

“I’m pretty sure I saw your room already. Comfy bed, painted ceiling, amazing night sky viewing.”

Saul’s warm laugh coaxed prickles across her skin. “You have seen my bedroom, yes. But I wish to show you
my
room.”

With their hands entwined Saul guided her into the basement level. Dry air blew past and rustled Chloe’s hair.

“Go on,” he urged her. “Look.”

“Wow.”

A single word barely encompassed the wonder and awe she experienced, but once she took in the complete sight of Saul’s lair, she was struck speechless. The massive chamber was hewn from the mountain rock and smoothed to a glossy finish. Old fashioned gas lamps provided illumination. Their flickering light sparkled off the veritable mounds of treasure.

“Wow,” she said again.

Chloe stepped forward, drawn to the nearest collection. Rough, uncut gems filled an old wooden chest. Thanks to movies, everyone assumed rubies, sapphires and other stones came out sparkling and flawless. Not so. The precious rocks in the chest varied in size, ranging as small as her pinky nail to as large as Saul’s fist.

“You just keep these all here?”

Saul moved up behind her. “I find them on my explorations and cut them from the rock with my talons. The females of my kind favor them for bedding.”

Chloe blinked. “They sleep on them?”

“Indeed,” Saul confirmed. His warm hands settled over Chloe’s shoulders. “They are yours now. I no longer seek a mate among my own kind. Anything you wish from this room you need only to take. What is mine is now yours.”

“I…” Had no idea what to say. Chloe wandered forward through the room, pausing near each laden table and overflowing chest. Gold coins, chunks of silver ore, antique jewelry, heirloom furniture, and more filled the cavern.

“Some was passed to me by my mother. She has a fondness for beautiful things.” Saul’s gaze followed her. “I think she would like you immensely, Chloe.”

Chloe swallowed nervously and turned a precious stone over in her hands. The unpolished boulder opal was prettier than anything she had ever seen, resembling a hunk of rounded beige rock with gleaming hues of green, gold, blue, and red shining from within deep fissures in a shatter pattern. Focusing on the object’s beauty distracted her from the woozy feeling creeping into her belly.

Love. It felt like love, an emotion she would have laughingly shrugged off if he were any other man. Saul was so open, and so very trusting, that she couldn’t imagine shying away from his affection.

He’s trusting me with a fortune, but I’d take him even if he was penniless.

“She would?” Chloe asked in a tiny voice. If Saul was over four centuries of age, his mother had to be positively ancient.

“Yes. We are very close, she and I. The loss of her mate, my father, saddened her deeply.” Saul stepped in close behind her, hands at her waist.

“I’m sorry,” Chloe murmured. She closed her eyes and leaned back against him to soak in his warmth. “Were you close to him?”

“As close as a son may be to the one he aspires to follow. What of you?”

“My dad and I are very close but I don’t get to see him as much as I’d like.”

“Why?” Saul turned her to face him. His warm fingers stroked down her cheek to her chin, tipping her face upwards.

“He lives in a small town. Job opportunities there were, well, scarce. So I moved to the city for school and took a job a few states away. I visit him as often as I can, but I think… he’d really approve of you.” Chloe blinked back a few tears and hastily raised her hand to sweep away the clear droplets that escaped. “Tell me about this place.”

“My father carved this den long before the City of Angels claimed her place by the sea. A refuge for him and my mother.” He turned his bright golden eyes back to his new mate. “I hope to make it a home for you as well.”

“It already feels like home.”

She crossed the rocky chamber and raised her arms to curve around his neck. They fit together like two pieces of a puzzle, and his warm skin heated through the fine cotton layer of her tee.

“I may go home in a few days…”
Or a week, or a month,
Chloe thought ruefully. “But I promise that I’ll return to you, Saul. I can’t make a commitment to move my entire life overnight. Do you understand?”

But she could never walk away from him completely. She’d never forgive herself if she didn’t follow the possibility to its very end.

“Your reluctance to remain disappoints me, but I understand and support your choice, my Chloe… If you will not stay, will you allow me to return with you?”

Her throat tightened. “You’d come back home with me?”

“Chloe.” He took her face between his hands, golden eyes bright. “Home is where you are.”

As far as Chloe was concerned, no other option existed. Home and her dragon would become one and the same.

Originally, I wrote and published Saved by the Dragon as a one-off story, but I’ve been humbled and honored by the love this story received. As a token of thanks, I include Bearing Her Wishes at the end of this. The rest of the Dragon series will join this market soon.