Wicked Dark Dragon (Dragon Heat) (13 page)

The psychic exhaled a cloud of putrid dust that made Ivy gag. She reeled back, jerking the sword free from the woman’s body. The rough movement caused the layers of material to fall away from the Seer’s face—and Ivy screamed.

The woman was nothing more than a rotting husk. She had been dead for years it seemed. Black bile spilled from the stab wound and poured onto the ground. Ivy scuttled backward in a desperate attempt to escape the outrageous stench. The Seer collapsed forward and began to melt into a puddle of stinky, sticky goo.

As the psychic expired so too did her hold over Reynard. But there was something else…

Ivy felt the snap of magic breaking like a rubber band popped against the back of her neck. An invisible shield dissolved in the far distance, and Ivy gasped when her gaze zeroed in on the man who had been hiding behind it. There was something ever so familiar about him…and the necklace he wore.

And then she remembered where she had seen him. He was the man from her dream. He was the brother of the human woman who had fallen in love with and conceived the child of Ignatius’s younger brother. It was her ancestor Caius.

She blinked rapidly and tried to make sense of it. He was human. He was mortal. He died like all Knights died. Mad had told her the story in their prison cell. Caius lived a long and bloody life and had been buried. There had been proof of his death.

Unless…

Ivy’s gaze shot to Ignatius who stood stock still and seemed utterly dumbfounded by the sight of his oldest enemy. With a flick of his hand, Caius conjured a thick misty fog that totally obscured him. Ignatius jumped into action, hurtling his dragon body in the direction of his blood enemy, but he was too late. Caius had disappeared, leaving behind his Knights and sealing their fates.

Mad swept her up in his great big dragon arms and crushed her against his hard, hot body. He started to shift as he held her so she clung to his neck in the hopes he wouldn’t drop her. When he was human again, he crashed their mouths together. She surrendered to his demanding and almost punishing kiss. He pulled back with a loud inhale. “Don’t you ever do anything like that again! You could have been killed.”

She smiled at his overprotective outburst and caressed his jaw. “You’re really sexy when you’re outraged.”

“Ivy,” he said with a warning growl, “I’m not joking. If you ever throw yourself into an attack like that again, I’ll toss you across my knee and wallop your backside.”

She snorted at his empty threat. “I’d like to see you try.”

A dangerously erotic glimmer flashed in his eyes. “You’re about to be locked away with me for eight nights. That’s one dare you might come to regret.”

Her belly fluttered with anticipation. “Something tells me I’m going to be begging you not to stop.”

His thunder rumbled out of his chest and shook her core. He kissed her again, taking her mouth long and hard, as if to remind her who was in charge, but she knew the real score. She had a feeling he didn’t mind one bit.

H
ow is he still alive?” Reynard’s bellowing voice shattered the early-morning stillness of the mansion. Mad winced as his tired head pounded. He hesitated before entering the library where the three eldest dragons snarled at one another. After the battle had been won, Reynard had forced Mad to take Ivy underground to Niko’s lair where she would be safe. Wanting to protect his mate, he had been only too happy to escape cleanup and guard duty for the night.

“Ah! Mad!” Niko greeted him with a nervous smile. “How is Ivy?”

Still bitterly angry with Niko and Ignatius, he scowled at the long-haired dragon. “She’s fine. She’s packing our things so we can leave.”

“Is that a good idea?” Niko glanced at their leader. “Perhaps—”

“No.” This time it was Reynard who cut in with a slash of his hand. Though he had been there the night the giant barbarian had earned those gnarly burns on the right side of his face, the sight of them still sent pangs of regret through Mad. Under the control of the viciously strong lust root concoction, Reynard—Reinhard then—had been impossible to subdue. It had taken a blast of Ignatius’s fire to the face to finally put him down. The burns had healed but the scars were a constant reminder of the horror of that infamous week. Seeing Ignatius spit fire at his friend last night had unsettled all of them.

Moving in front of Mad like a shield, Reynard growled, “You can’t expect them to stay here with people who betrayed them. They will come under my protection for the duration of their mating phase. If I need backup, I will call on Griffin and his new mate.”

“No, you can’t bring them into this.” Mad shook his head and emphatically refused to include his cousin. “Ivy told me that when she picked up the sword you had dropped she saw Griffin and Avani. They’re pregnant, and it’s twins. We can’t put them at risk or ask Griffin to put the Brotherhood before his family.”

“Twins?” Ignatius actually smiled. “That’s magnificent.”

“Yes, it is.” Mad glanced at Reynard. “I assumed that that was the sword Avani was rumored to have taken after her family was slaughtered.”

Reynard nodded. “They called me and asked me to come get it as a peace offering to end the blood feud between your two tribes. I was bringing the sword here so it could be destroyed.” The barbarian behemoth’s jaw hardened. “And a damned good thing I decided to get rid of it last night! We might have lost Mad and Ivy both.”

“But we didn’t,” Ignatius replied calmly. “Yes, things could have—should have—been done differently last night, but there’s no changing the past. We made the best decision we could with the options available to us. Now Mad has claimed Ivy and she will start the transition process to a full-fledged dragon. The Seer is dead, and we killed another eighteen Knights.” With a pragmatic shrug, he said, “All things considered, it was a good night.”

Reynard chortled. “A good night? You broke your promise to me.” He jabbed his thick, meaty finger at Ignatius. “When you rescued me from that hell and from my shame, you swore that no other dragon would ever be used in that manner. You sent Niko to search out and destroy every last one of those godforsaken plants. You said it was done.”

“I lied,” Niko interjected. “I kept six of the plants in my private garden. I feared their extinction. One never knows when a root so powerfully potent might be useful. The antiheat drug I created that’s allowed our men to serve as humans during times of great and terrible wars? It’s made from an extract of that root that I synthesized.”

“This wasn’t Niko’s decision.” Ignatius stepped forward to bear the full brunt of the responsibility. “I am our leader, and I am the one who ordered him to slip the drug into the wine. If anyone should pay the price for breaking his word and a covenant of our Brotherhood, it is me.”

“I don’t want anything like that.” Mad waved his hands. “I just want to get Ivy out of here. She needs space and time to decompress. She’s been through hell. She needs to heal, emotionally and physically.”

“You can come to my home.” Reynard squeezed Mad’s shoulder in a friendly way. “I’ll make sure you’re both taken care of and protected. While your mating phase is underway, I’ll work with these two to get Ivy’s cover story firmly in place. We’ll make her transition back to her normal life as smooth as possible.”

“Normal life?” Mad shook his head. “Is it even possible for her to go back to college? To go back to her friends and family? The Knights broke our most sacred law last night. They attacked us at a home where Ivy had the right of sanctuary.”

Ignatius sighed and leaned back against the nearest table. He crossed his arms. “The war has gone through many shifts over the years. These new Knights don’t hold to the old ways. We may have to adjust our tactics to match them head-on and finish this.”

“And Caius?” Reynard once again asked the question they were all wondering. “Did you see what he was wearing?”

Mad hadn’t noticed anything unusual but the cold look on Ignatius’s face convinced him the elder dragon had.

“It was the engagement necklace Sixtus gave Drusilla. He must have found a way to use it as a talisman to unnaturally lengthen his life.”

“As he did with the Seer?” Reynard said with a curl of his lip. “That
thing
was inhuman. Avani said the woman felt as if she were dying all those years ago. She must have succumbed to whatever human disease ravaged her body, but Caius found a way to keep her alive.”

“Until Ivy was old enough to inherit the gift,” Mad guessed. “That’s what all this was. He wanted Ivy to come fully into her power, but she couldn’t do that until she went into heat. He needed her mate for that. He needed me to complete her so that he could steal her power and push it into that
thing
he had been keeping alive. If we had mated in the prison—”

“They would have slaughtered you,” Niko said. “Now that Ivy’s dragon has been awakened, the Knights will put a target and a price on her head. She’s the last of Caius’s line and the biggest threat to them.”

“Unless he finds a way to breed another child,” Reynard said. “If he’s managed to cheat death this long, he might still be able to father a daughter.”

Mad shuddered at the thought. “God help us.”

“I doubt that’s a possibility.” Niko strode to one of the bookshelves and plucked a stack of titles. “Whatever magic or potion he’s using to elongate his life must have terrible effects on him.”

Ignatius rubbed his jaw. “Do you think he got his hands on one of your apples?”

“No. I count them every morning. The exact same number of golden apples has remained on that tree since it has been in the care of my family. Never has one been plucked from its branches—and never will any be.”

He had seen the mysterious tree in Niko’s courtyard many times, but he had never dared to touch it. The strange golden apples were rumored to grant the one who ate them wondrous powers, but there was always a price for such gifts.

“Mad?” Ivy stood in the doorway of the library but didn’t enter. She glanced around the room and seemed afraid to intrude. He held out his hand and wiggled his fingers. Smiling, she joined him and melted against him. He slid his arms around her waist and kept her tight to his side, right where she belonged.

“Well, you are a tiny little thing.” Reynard grinned down at her. She had to tilt her head back to take in all of the old barbarian. He had nearly half a foot on Griffin, and that was saying something. “But you’re very pretty and very brave.”

She regarded Reynard carefully. “Um…thanks.”

He laughed and extended his humongous hand. “You’re the perfect mate for our Mad. Welcome to our crazy family, Ivy.”

She smiled at Reynard and clasped his hand. Her eyes widened, and Mad felt the spark of magic course through her body. She had seen something, and Reynard knew it. He tilted his head and studied her. “What is it, little rabbit? What did you see?”

“Happiness,” she said with a smile. “Justice.”

Reynard’s eyes narrowed. “That’s it?”

She shrugged. “More or less.”

Mad recognized her prevaricating tone. He’d put his money on more. “Reynard has offered us his home. We’re leaving as soon as you’re ready.”

“I’m ready now.”

“Take whichever car you’d like,” Niko offered. “We’ll handle the arrangements with Ivy’s uncle and her friend. When it’s time, we’ll contact Reynard and put the plan in motion to build her cover story.”

Nodding, Mad bid the men farewell and led Ivy to the garage. They had only one suitcase of clothing and toiletries between them. He tucked the small piece of luggage into the trunk of a sleek classic muscle car and opened the passenger door. He swooped in and planted a lingering kiss right on Ivy’s sweet mouth. When he slid behind the wheel, she reached for his hand and interlaced their fingers.

The rising sun splashed radiant orange light over their car. He rolled down the windows and let the cool, crisp air wash over their skin. After everything they had survived in the last few weeks, it was good to feel so alive again. It was good to do something so normal and easy.

“What happens after our mating heat is finished?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. The future was filled with uncertainty and danger, but there would be joy, too. “Do you?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think it works that way for us. I can see our future only when I touch others.”

His curiosity got the better of him. “What did you see back there with Reynard?”

“Let’s just say that Niko and Ignatius are both going to need that underground lair come nightfall.”

He cast a quick glance at her. “You’re sure?”

“Yes, Reynard is going to dose them both with the drug they used on us. He’s going to teach them a lesson about messing with nature.”

“That’s all we need,” he grumbled. “Three dragons in the Brotherhood all in heat at the same time.”

“They hurt us. They betrayed our trust. They’re getting what they deserve.”

His mouth slanted in a grin. “The dragon in me finds this vengeful side to you rather sexy.”

“And the human in you?”

“The human in me loves every single bit of you.” He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. Angling the car down a stretch of highway, he finally relaxed. He didn’t know where their journey was going to lead them, but as long as they were together, nothing else mattered.

S
tig Wyvern dried the last of his dishes and placed them in the cabinet. His gaze moved to the bay window across the kitchen. The setting sun splashed the sky with brilliant streaks of orange and fiery pink. His stomach tightened at the sight. With the darkness came the forced change, and tonight it would be beyond his control. This night and those of the following eight days he would spend at the complete mercy of his inner beast.

Already his skin tingled, his nerves set alight with a prickling heat. Even though he’d just ingested a pile of rare steaks for dinner, his stomach growled with emptiness. There wasn’t enough water to slake his thirst. And his libido raged. He wanted nothing more than to find a willing woman to sink into again and again.

But he couldn’t do that. He
mustn’t
do that. When in heat, Stig’s scent changed, grew more potent, and made it easier for the Knights to find him. So he would retreat to the cavernous lair beneath his home and lock himself in irons for the duration of the night.

He did a final check of the kitchen and headed upstairs to make sure the house was sealed tight. He’d barely reached the top of the stairs when he heard the frantic knock at his front door. It momentarily stunned him. No one ever knocked on his door. His closest neighbor was five miles away—and he liked it that way.

He wanted to ignore the pounding, pretend he’d never heard it, and go about his business, but he just couldn’t. If someone was there, it had to be serious. Maybe a car wreck on one of the nearby roads or an accident in the woods surrounding his home. Local teenagers had a habit of staging wild parties out there. Underage kids and drinking was a nasty mix.

As he hurried downstairs, Stig couldn’t help but wonder if the person on the other side was safer braving the elements of the night than facing him so close to the sunset. When in heat, his inner beast was difficult to control. The primal drive and desires that would soon overtake him put all humans at risk. He unlatched and unlocked the various dead bolts on the door and quickly drew it open.

Stig’s gruff greeting died on his lips the second he spied the petite black-haired beauty standing on his doorstep. Her scent, sweet and spicy, wafted up to meet him. His body zinged with recognition. “Cora?”

“Hey, Stig.” Cora Cardenas greeted him with a sad smile. Her puffy and red-rimmed eyes betrayed her. She’d been crying. An uneasy feeling twisted Stig’s gut at the sight of the luggage surrounding her. He stuck his head out the door and saw her compact car caked in grime from the long drive. There were more boxes and suitcases visible through the windows.

Shit. Of all the times for his dead friend’s sister to show up on his doorstep, it had to be tonight, the one night when he feared he wouldn’t be able to withstand his already-brewing attraction to her.

“Cora, look, this isn’t a good time for me. I—”

“You promised!” she interrupted with a sob. “When Hector died, you promised I could come to you.”

Guilt gripped him. “I know and I meant it. It’s just that things are complicated right now.” He nervously eyed the skyline. “There’s a hotel in town. It’s a forty-minute drive. You shouldn’t have a problem getting a room.”

“Stig,” she said pleadingly.

Cora’s begging tore at his heart. Stig fought the urge to gather her in his arms and offer the security of his home—and his bed. Only the knowledge that she was forbidden and that his secret world could put her in grave danger stopped him from grabbing and dragging her across his threshold.

“Cora, you need to go.” His muscles twitched and jaw ached. The change was coming soon. Too soon for his liking. “Cora, please—”

“The key!” she practically screamed at him as she dug in the front pocket of her jeans. “I still have the key!”

Stig’s gaze moved to her now-upturned palm. The key he’d given her a little more than a year ago rested there. He was haunted by his words.
As long as you have the key to my home, you’ll always have a place to stay.

“Please.” Tears dripped down her cheeks. Fear radiated from her shaking frame. She was scared. Of what, he didn’t know but it worried him.

Stig swallowed hard and stepped aside. “All right.”

Her shoulders sagged with relief. As she brushed past him, her suitcase wheels bumping over the threshold, Stig caught a whiff of her scent again. It curled around him, the sweet-scented tendrils squeezing his chest and filling him with need. His cock stiffened and pressed painfully against his zipper. The urge to stroke her olive skin was overwhelming but he somehow managed to master it.

Stig had to get away from her. His questions could wait until the morning and the safety of the sun.

“I’m sorry I was so short with you just now. I have a horrible headache. I…I need to lie down.” Stig gestured around him. “The guest bedroom is the first room on the left at the top of the stairs. The bathroom is the room on the right. Make yourself at home. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Oh.” Cora was clearly confused by his abruptness. “All right.”

Stig nodded and headed out of the living room. He paused in the doorway and glanced over his shoulder. “Cora?”

“Yes?”

“There’s a door in the kitchen. It leads down to the cellar. I’d appreciate it if you’d leave it alone. I’m having an issue with infestation.”

Cora’s eyes widened. “Infestation?”

He shrugged. “The house is so close to the woods. It was bound to happen sooner or later.” He held her gaze. “You’ll keep out?”

Cora nodded dutifully. “Of course.”

“Thank you.” A painful quiver of blazing heat pierced his abdomen. He needed to get downstairs—fast.

“I’ll go ahead and get the rest of my things.” She started toward the front door. “Go get some sleep. I’ll be fine tonight. We can talk in the morning.”

Stig sensed the shift in her emotions. She’d arrived distraught and afraid and now seemed calmed. That the simple act of stepping into his home gave her such a sense of security tugged at his heart. Suddenly, he remembered why he’d made that offer to her at Hector’s funeral. Even then he’d been drawn to her, had wanted to gather her close to his chest and caress her silky black hair.

But those feelings were wrong then and were still wrong now. There was an unspoken code among friends. As Hector’s baby sister, Cora was off-limits.

“Good night, Cora.”

“Night, Stig.”

He didn’t linger but took advantage of her short trip outside to rush into the kitchen. He made sure to lock the basement door behind him before running down the stairs. His bones ached and his muscles burned as his inner beast struggled for freedom.

Slowly his eyes adjusted to the darkness. His night vision allowed him to move swiftly and safely down the corridor. With each descending footstep, the temperature dropped and the musty dankness grew stronger. The stairs ended on a wet slab of stone blocked by a heavy steel door. He punched in the code and yanked open the door that led into a stunningly beautiful cavern.

Decades earlier, he’d discovered the secluded cave during a solo spelunking trip. Building a house over what he intended as his subterranean lair only made sense. The layers of rock and dirt filtered his enhanced scent, cloaking him from those who would do him harm. It provided a secure place for him to hide out during these episodes of uncontrollable animalistic lust and blood thirst that plagued him every three years. Until he found a mate, a proper
nonhuman
mate, Stig wouldn’t be able to shake his mating heat.

He ducked beneath a tricky little stalactite he hadn’t had the heart to rip down while outfitting the cavern for his needs. There was no time to dally tonight. Stig quickly undressed. He walked over to the far wall and grabbed the titanium chains. They rattled in his trembling hands as he secured them around his ankles and wrists. The time-activated lock beeped and began the countdown to sunrise and safety.

Secure in his bonds, Stig relaxed his shoulders and welcomed the change. Scaly green patches transformed his tanned skin. The bones of his face elongated into a kind of snout. His short nails lengthened and sharpened into acid-green talons. Stig groaned in pain as his back snapped and realigned itself into a curved shape. With a rending of skin and a scream from his throat, pterodactyl-like wings sprouted from his back, the black reptilian membrane wet and stretched thin between the joints.

And just like that, his inner dragon was free. The primal urges of his beast suppressed Stig’s humanity. For now, he could only think with the primitive parts of his brain. Hunt. Food. Sex. Sleep. Those were his strongest desires.

He jerked at his bonds, desperate for freedom and yearning for a taste of the young woman whose tantalizing smell still teased him despite the depths he’d descended. His mouth watered and his erection twitched at the vision of parting her thighs and lapping at her honeyed sex. He could just imagine the sensation of tight, wet heat that would envelope his cock if he thrust deep inside her.

Burning up with lust, Stig shuddered and pressed back against the cool stone. He didn’t dare look at the blinking hours and seconds on the locks. Thankful for the strength of his chains, he closed his eyes and tried unsuccessfully to subjugate his dragon’s needs.

This was going to be one very long night indeed.

Cora dragged the last of her suitcases into the guest bedroom. It was small and sparsely furnished. She’d expected nothing less from Stig. He wasn’t the warm and cozy type. Actually, Cora was pleasantly surprised not to find a military-style rack complete with itchy wool blanket and paper-thin sheets. The full-sized bed offered a comfy pillow-top mattress and nice fluffy white comforter. Pale blue walls added a soothing effect she desperately needed.

Her tummy clenched at the thought of having to tell Stig about the mess she’d created. Heat flooded her cheeks. She could imagine the disapproving expression he’d wear. She’d often seen a similar look on Hector’s face. Neither man had been programmed to take risks or take the plunge into the unknown in pursuit of a dream. Cora, on the other hand, thrived on uncertainty. She liked taking chances. Sometimes they turned out fine and sometimes…well…they didn’t.

Hunger pangs twisted her belly. When had she last eaten? Oh right. That gross drive-through burger joint about five hours ago.

Cora left her room and carefully tiptoed past the door she assumed led to Stig’s room. The last thing she wanted to do was disturb him. For a second there, she’d thought he was really going to refuse her entrance to his house. Her gut told her there was something more than a headache causing his weird behavior.

Her first instinct? That he had a lover in the house. The very thought of another woman, naked and sated in Stig’s bed, had soured her stomach. From the first time she’d spied Stig Wyvern six years earlier, she’d been smitten with her older brother’s friend. A college freshman, she’d been smart enough to realize a war-hardened marine like Stig wouldn’t be interested in her. It hadn’t been easy to ignore her raging crush but she’d done it. The last thing she’d wanted to do was embarrass herself or him or Hector. Even though she’d managed to suppress her strong feelings toward Stig, there was no denying the spark of jealousy that had burned her at the thought of him with another woman in his secluded cabin. Realizing her first instinct was wrong had been quite a relief.

So what the hell was his problem? Clearly he wasn’t comfortable with her in the house. Hopefully it really was a headache and not something else. If Stig put her out, she’d be on the streets by the end of the week. The cash in her wallet was running low and there was no one else she trusted to keep her safe.

Down in the kitchen, Cora took a few moments to investigate the cabinets and fridge contents. The pantry shelves were well stocked and her mind raced with possibilities for the morning. Her grandmother had always preached that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. If there was one thing Stig had always loved, it was Cora’s baking and cooking skills. Considering she desperately needed his help, she’d bake, sauté, fricassee, braise, and roast every recipe in her mental cookbook.

But for tonight a sandwich would suffice. Cora made quick work of assembling her dinner, grabbed a chilled can of fizzy soda from the fridge, and sat at the sturdy wooden table. Her fingertips brushed over the smooth-grained tabletop. She marveled at the exquisite craftsmanship.

Stig’s skill as a woodworker was well known. When he’d retired from the Marine Corps, he’d turned his hobby into a thriving business. Cora had seen the adjacent workshop as she’d pulled into the gravel driveway. From what she understood, almost all of his business came from online orders. It seemed client interaction was low on his list of priorities.

Apparently Stig was quite content with his loner status. That was something she’d never understood about him. He’d enjoyed spending a day or two with them in San Antonio whenever Hector invited him down but he always seemed so restless and uneasy, as if he couldn’t wait to escape. He thrived on the solitude of his woodsy fortress. The city seemed to sap him of his vitality.

Cora mused on his oddness as she cleaned up her dishes and swept away the crumbs on the counter and table. There was something about Stig that wasn’t quite right. She used to think it was the effect of all those tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, maybe some post-traumatic stress disorder, but the more she was around him, the less she thought that was the answer.

Clearly he had some lingering issues from his time at war. Hector had been the same way. The nightmares of those days in the violence-fueled desert had driven her brother toward the alcohol and drugs that had eventually led to his demise. Stig, on the other hand, seemed able to master the horrors of war in a way Hector simply never could.

Cora often thought she glimpsed the tiniest bit of guilt reflected in Stig’s eyes whenever they spoke of her brother. No matter how many times she assured Stig he hadn’t failed Hector, she could tell he didn’t believe it. Stig had taken Hector’s car accident incredibly hard. As far as Cora could tell, Hector had been Stig’s only real friend, so the loss must have been as unbearable for him as it had been for her.