Treasure Lane Dragons: Complete Series (BBW Paranormal Dragon Shapeshifter Romance) (8 page)

It was a tradition never to be broken – each day, the dragon of the house would come down to the caverns and make sure the treasure was safe. They didn’t really need to do it – a dragon would know immediately if something disturbed his riches. Like a mother senses the distress of a child, a dragon knows the location of every one of his precious jewels and carefully collected trinkets. Without a hint of urgency, Devon set off at a leisurely pace, his leather-clad feet scrunching over the golden hills as he walked through the long caverns.

This was not even the entirety of the Bluewing treasure, but certainly the mother of all of their boons. Some smaller caves were hidden in the hills surrounding Gold Valley and squirrelled away as far as Costa Rica and Monaco, where his brothers lorded over them. But here was where it all began, and as such, it was the most important of the hoards.

Sunlight glinted off the gold, perhaps blinding to a mere human, but reassuring in its ostentatiousness to a dragon. There were countless mirrors set up to carry down the light of the sun to illuminate the treasure, though the ceilings were also lined with daylight lamps – a much more recent addition to the ancient hideaway. In his dragon form, he would often sleep here in the caverns, curled up amidst his riches, never resting more soundly than when he knew the fortune of his family was safe and protected. But recently, the times when he could sneak off to rule over his hoard had grown scarcer and scarcer.

Devon’s expression shadowed slightly as he picked up a fine sapphire bracelet, immediately drawn by the deep blue glint of the stone that resembled his scales. Bluewings had an unmistakable affinity for sapphires.

I wonder if Gem would like this,
Devon thought absentmindedly, hiding the bracelet in the pocket of his jacket, before continuing his walk.

Gemma had been in the mansion for five days now. Five long days filled with heated arguments, half-hearted escapes and spirited dinners, all of which Devon had come to love. She was a feisty one, that goldsmith from Gold Valley. He had to wonder if she knew how much he enjoyed the way she tried to stubbornly reason with him, though he thought his affections had been made rather clear by now. After that first night, when he collected her on the path to Gold Valley and kissed her with all the passion that eons of dragonkin love could muster, things had remained much the same.

True, she seemed a bit more complacent with her situation, but that might have been because she was running out of ways to try and reason with him. And where Gemma must have thought she was headstrong, she found the dragon to be even harder to crack – but that didn’t stop her from trying. He’d locked down the mansion, making sure no one came or went without him knowing, and he’d vowed to keep on trying to win her affection, even if, according to her, his attempts were somewhat misguided at times.

Devon grinned to himself, ducking through a small doorway that led into one of the side-caverns, set away from the main rooms. It was filled to the metaphorical rafters with jewelry featuring jades and other mossy or brilliant green trinkets. The sheen of the gems made him think of his own Gem’s eyes, and his heart beat faster. Devon licked across his lips, reminiscing about the way she tasted when she was pressed against him in the rain, moaning into his mouth as his tongue darted between her lips.

For the umpteenth time that day, he urged himself to calm, fighting with the desire to just burst into her room and take her right there on her wide bed until she wouldn’t resist him anymore. That may have been the way of the old dragons, and as much as Devon had turned into a traditionalist lately, even he couldn’t bring himself to sink that low.

She would have to want him as much as he did her, only then would the joining be as sweet as he imagined. Devon’s hands balled into fists, and he let out a hissing breath, a small sliver of smoke wafting out of his nostrils. When he caught sight of the plume of smoke, he snorted derisively and turned around on his heel, heading out of the room of jade. The woman was getting to him, and it was becoming more than just a nuisance now.

If he didn’t have her soon, he would go mad with lust, and a frustrated dragon was not something Gold Valley could handle.

Suddenly, all of the serenity that had settled upon him after walking into the caverns disappeared in a flash, shaken from him by that insurmountable aggravation growing within him, threatening to rip mind from flesh.

If she keeps toying with you like this, she will drive you mad,
Devon told himself darkly. At that very moment, he felt the unmistakable pull that told his dragon that he
had
to find Gemma. Outwardly, he groaned, but broke into a hurried run towards the exit nonetheless. Inwardly, his dragon roared and thrashed, always on the brink of insanity when there was even the slightest chance that his mate may be in danger.

The dragon stone. Not again. She must be okay…

CHAPTER NINE

Devon

He was fuming. Devon stood at the doorway to the roof, both hands gripping the wooden frame, his eyes blazing with gold. Gemma stood in the middle of the roof, her arms crossed over her chest and a devilish grin on her lips. Even through his anger, Devon couldn’t help but want to kiss those ruby lips again. He gritted his teeth, and his dragon, though much calmer than the man now was, murmured in irritation deep within him.

She’s safe,
he noted, the dragon needing no more than that to settle back down and wait until he was needed. But the man, oh that wasn’t enough for him. Not by a long shot. His knuckles were turning white from holding onto the doorframe so hard, and it was only through sheer force of will that he kept a very targeted raincloud forming right above Gemma’s head.

“I thought we agreed we would stop doing that,” Devon said grimly, prying his fingers loose one by one. He had run through the entire building, yelling her name, his powerful muscles carrying him right to her. All the while, his heart had been beating out of his chest, worry choking him and threatening to break him in half, like it had done more than a dozen times over the last few days. He’d lost count of how many times he’d got stark raving mad at his princess, but there was little he could do about it other than try and make her stop. Enough was enough.

“No, you agreed that I should stop. I didn’t agree to anything,” Gemma said, dangling the dragon stone on a long chain. It seemed to suck the light out of the air around it, and when Gemma palmed it again, Devon was almost relieved to see it put away. The magic it held was dark and ancient, but truthfully, given the choice of running around because she wanted to irritate him versus not having her keep the dragon stone and potentially be in danger without him knowing about it, he’d take the former every time.

Devon walked across the stone floor, his footsteps heavy. A bead of sweat that he didn’t bother wiping away glistened on his brow. Let her see how she made him worry. Perhaps it would do her good, since she obviously wasn’t going to pay heed to anything else.

“And why is that?” he queried, quirking a brow at his princess. She was dressed in black pants and a form-fitting blue blouse that plunged low on her ample cleavage. It made his mouth water, and he could see himself peeling those layers of clothes off of her and finally tasting her in earnest. All the more pity that he had decided to try and behave.

“Well, if you’re going to keep me hostage here, I might as well amuse myself somehow,” Gemma said, twirling the chain and the dragon stone around her fingers. He cringed and caught her hand, placing the dragon stone back in her palm and closing it around the pendant. The little gasp she let out as he touched her skin didn’t go unnoticed by him.

“This is not a toy, princess. I gave it to you to protect you until I can…”

“Until you can what?” she asked, a little bit breathless. He liked hearing that little tremor in her voice that told him that she was reacting to him just as he was to her.

“Until I don’t need it any more to know when you’re in danger.”

“How’s that going to hap… oh.” Devon chuckled at her curiosity and then the face she made at the realization. He wasn’t going to correct her guess. He didn’t mind her imagining him in whatever way she was imagining him right then and there. If anything, he preferred knowing that her mind could wander down that path, though he’d guessed as much from the way she’d kissed him back.

The distance between them was scarce at best, and on an impulse, Devon slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her into him, pressing her against his hard body. She squirmed a little, and his fingers spread on the small of her back, letting his heat travel through her. Her green eyes shimmered as she looked at him, and for a moment, they seemed to be shining brighter than all the gold in the caverns. Gemma’s hands were resting on his chest, and she pushed against him just a little, enough to make him want to pin those wrists down and ravage her right on the roof.

Behave,
the annoying little voice reminded him. He was beginning to hate that voice. He would have much rather gone with the ancient rites – just spread her on a pile of gold and ram into her until she couldn’t help but love him. That’s how the forefathers had done it. Every time he had to deal with her petulant personality, he saw more and more worth in following tradition rather than forging his own painful path.

“Now, how about you stop toying around with the dragon stone and tell me what it is that you want, Gem? There must be a reason why you keep making me run after you, searching through the house and worrying sick for you several times a day. What is it that you desire?” he asked, trying to keep his voice level, though it was hard to do when his cock stiffened and his urges roared ever louder, right along with his dragon.

“I want you to let me go,” she said defiantly, as he’d expected. He scoffed.

“I thought we talked about that, Gem. If I let you go, I’m just going to have to burn down Gold Valley, and then no one’s going to be happy. Not you, not me. And hell, I’d probably just marry you anyway, seeing as I’m getting so accustomed to having you around.” He flashed one of his predatory grins at her, and she didn’t seem to appreciate it. No matter, she’d learn. Gemma pouted a little, and his eyes traced the contours of her plush lips before peeking lower at her delicious cleavage. The things he would have given to have her naked and moaning in his arms right now.

“Fine. Then tell me
why me
?” she asked, her tone insistent, though a scarlet blush was creeping along her cheeks. He’d learned by now that if he stayed close enough to her, he could make that lovely blush appear that travelled all the way down to her chest. It had become a bit of a game to see if he could make her gasp and blush before she could drive him to the brink of rage. So far, they were roughly even.

“How could it be anyone else?” he asked simply, letting the gold seep out of his eyes and the brilliant blue take its place. She glowered at him, but seeing as she relaxed the slightest bit, he knew his words had to have carried some weight. Gemma was so small and delicate in his arms, though she was a woman with just the kind of curves he lusted after. He towered above her, but unlike any other woman before her, he really did not want to go wrong with this one. “And I doubt it’s just that. I think you like having me go a bit crazy because of you.” He leant in closer, whispering into her ear now, his hot breath on her silken skin. “I think you can’t get enough of me, princess.” She shuddered a little.

With a sigh, he let go of her, and he thought he almost saw some disappointment in her. He knew he couldn’t overplay his hand, but damn was it hard to keep himself from throwing caution to the wind. Devon would much rather have been reenacting that night on the path than being
good
– a concept dragons barely grasped to begin with. He fished the bracelet out of his pocket, remembering the heaviness of it now that he was no longer entangled with her.

“It made me think of you,” he said, placing it in her palm without expecting her to reach for it. He brought her something gorgeous every day, and every day she would barely accept it, never wearing it. His heart thudded even louder in his chest now that he was handing her the bracelet than when he had been holding her, the action of giving her something from his hoard so intimate that he might just as well have been signing the deed to his heart over to her. The sapphire sparkled in the sunlight, fitting perfectly with her complexion. Without another word, he stalked off, his guts twisting inside him.

She’s going to drive you mad, Devon,
he told himself. But to his own surprise, he smiled at the thought. Would it really be such a bad way to go, driven to insanity by a woman unlike any other?

CHAPTER TEN

Gemma

Gemma was becoming sick and tired of the Blackwing mansion. Over the course of the last few days, she’d become intimately introduced to just about every nook and cranny she could get to within the huge building, and as far as she was concerned, it was all getting a bit boring. At first, she’d just wandered the halls, looking at the stunning pieces of art that graced the walls and gasping at the many wonders the dragons had hoarded into their home. But with every precious masterpiece she saw, the novelty wore thinner, until she could barely muster up any enthusiasm at the beautiful pieces and gorgeous architecture that made up the mansion.

Mind you, she knew very well it had little to do with the mansion itself, and much more to do with the fact that she couldn’t really
go
anywhere but the mansion.

So, after a while, she’d figured out how to amuse herself. The curious pendant that Devon had given her was now always on her. Whenever she found a particularly hidden corner in the mansion or a room that seemed hard to get to (like one of the studies, with its entrance hidden behind a stone column in the main library, or the den that took three different staircases to finally access), she would palm the dragon stone and think of Devon.