They demanded she allow it to continue tasting her. The iris changed to a multitude of colors before turning turquoise as they watched her with ownership. Another orgasm threatened to render her helpless, and the creature knew it. Her arms slid from beneath her, slowly wrapping into Blane’s hair as heat enveloped her mind and body. The noise it made almost sounded like a chant, one meant to seduce its victim rendering them able to resist it.
He withdrew his mouth from her pussy, slowly moving to hover over her belly. His mouth scorched her flesh, licking her stomach as heat sent white-hot passion tearing through her mind. It asked something in its foreign tongue, and she moaned her approval; she didn’t give a shit what it requested, there was only one answer, and that was yes! Whatever it wanted from her, she accepted without question knowing she wanted whatever it would give her. It growled approval, sending a final wave of heat mixed with pleasure singeing her flesh before it moved up to claim her lips. The dragon lifted its head and spoke softly to her, as her mind tried to understand what it said and failed. “Mine,” he snarled harshly as it observed her. It continued staring down at her, gazing at her as it nudged her legs apart and pushed into her body, deep. It started moving slowly, its mouth touching her shoulder before teeth nipped gently against her flesh. Her mind was consumed by burning need as sweat dripped from her brow and beaded between her breasts.
Her only need was to please it, to give in to what it was making her feel. Steam filled the tent as if it was too hot for the air around it and soon the entire tent was moist from it. She was slick with it, from him. Together they screamed their release as they exploded together, continuing to move long after they’d found release.
Ciara clung to him long after they’d ceased moving. They fit together, their bodies a tangled mess of limbs and exhaustion. It wouldn’t last, of that she was sure. This mindless pleasure kept her thoughts from what was happening at home, but she knew the first chance she got, she would leave this man, this creature, and return to her life.
It wasn’t until the next morning when Blane hissed that she woke up, uncertain of her future. Her flesh itched, sore on her belly where the dragon had kissed his way from her pussy back up her body. She sat up, meeting Blane’s angry gaze and then looked down.
“You drew on me?” she asked, her mind still muddled and foggy from sleep.
“Afraid not,” he snapped coldly.
“What the hell is it?” she mumbled out, her words thick.
“It appears my dragon picked a mate,” he snarled.
“Who?” she asked softly, swinging her legs from the bed before turning to face him.
“You,” he replied as his blue eyes lifted to hers with anger in their depths.
“Fuck you,” she laughed. “I don’t think that is funny at all,” she retorted as she wetted her finger and wiped at it, only to cry out as pain from the raw flesh shot through her. “What the hell, Blane? Get it off me, now!” she demanded as her fingers trembled over the burned flesh on her belly.
“It’s not that easy,” he admitted.
“It is that easy; get it off of me, Blane. This isn’t even remotely funny. It hurts!”
“That’s because it’s bone-deep. It’s how dragons mark their mates, ensuring you’re able to withstand their heat. He burned his fucking mating symbol into your flesh, marking you his for eternity.”
“I’m not your mate,” she growled as she scratched at her skin, trying to remove the brand. “What the crap was it thinking? We’re enemies. You want to destroy me, so why would it ever think this was a good idea? Is it mad? Insane? I don’t even like you.”
“It wouldn’t care what we were,” he laughed humorlessly. “It wants you to sire its children, to create strong ones that can carry on my line. Who you are doesn’t fucking matter to him.”
“You did this! You spoke of marrying me and then your dragon was all, ‘Let’s get it on!’ This is your fault, now undo it. I don’t want you, understand? I want to go home, I want to see who lived and who died and do what I was born to do, create a powerful alliance for my brother. I’m not mating with you or your flying lizard. Understand?”
“I’m a dragon whelp, princess. Remember? Maybe he decided to show you who was in control here?”
“How do we undo it?”
“One of us would have to die for it to be removed,” he said coldly as his gaze lowered to where the golden chain was resting on her hips. “Death is the only way to undo a dragon mating. You agreed to this, you said yes when he asked,” he accused. “He must have done something you wanted him to do because you said yes to him.”
“I said yes to sex, to the pleasure he was giving me. I said nothing about being mates, and hell, I couldn’t even understand a word he said other than…mine…” she blanched. “Oh, my Gods. I said yes?”
His angry eyes burned into hers as he pushed his fingers through his hair and watched her coldly. She swallowed past the lump in her throat as she watched his eyes calculate what had to happen. She was brought here to use against her family, and no matter what his dragon had done, his plan hadn’t changed.
“Dragons mate to breed,” she pointed out softly.
“You’ll never carry my child, Ciara, ever. I will not breed with the Horde.”
“And if I am pregnant? If he already succeeded?” she questioned. She watched as he rose and grabbed his shirt, slipping his long arms through it before pulling it over his head. He wouldn’t even consider it. “Am I really so bad, Blane? You don’t even know who survived and yet you’re so fueled by hate and anger that you won’t even consider me anything beyond what you know I am not. I am Horde, but so are you. You say you were created first? That makes you Horde. You’re other, but you are a creature, just like we are.”
“I am nothing like you are,” he snapped coldly. His eyes raked over her with something cold, something she couldn’t place. “Get dressed,” he ordered. “Do not leave the tent, Ciara or you can spend the days passing your time on a chain at my heel. I’ll make sure you know where you stand with me. The dragon is only half of who I am; the demi-God inside of me wants you on a leash. Do not think breeding with me will save you, it won’t. You’re my enemy, nothing more.”
“You think I care what you feel? You think I care that your flying lizard put a mark on me? I’m not your girl, Blane. I didn’t ask to be here, and I didn’t understand anything it said. You did, and yet you didn’t stop it from happening, did you? Why is that? You could have; after all, dragon is only half of what you are. Don’t worry, dragon whelp, I don’t intend to lay any eggs anytime soon. If it did succeed, I’m Horde; we have a way of handling dragons.”
“Careful, princess,” he warned coldly. “I’m barely hanging on to the anger that you created, don’t test me right now.”
“I didn’t create anything! You did this, you did this to us! Your dragon is insane to think he can do this to me! I am the Princess of the Horde, the race that leveled yours!”
He grabbed her, lifting her off her feet as he tossed her to the bed as his anger burned red-hot. The heat in the tent rose to a dangerous level. Ciara hissed as it continued to grow, making her unable to suck in air. Her flesh turned red as she fell to the bed, collapsing as he watched her. Her eyes closed, unable to stand the heat.
His fingers pushed the hair that clung to her face away as he stared down at her. The weight of his stare forced her to open her eyes to mere slits. Her heart slowed, and her flesh ached as if she was being boiled alive.
“You will never handle a dragon’s fire, Ciara. Even if you gave birth to my child, you would never keep it. Your kind isn’t capable of love.”
Her body began to spasm, and the heat started to level out. Sweat dripped from her body as she lay in a pool of it. She didn’t move, couldn’t. Her flesh felt singed, burned as if she’d spent hours beside the pool back at home in the bl
azing sun. Her eyes closed as tears escape from them.
“Kill me or let me go, Blane,” she uttered softly.
“I can’t do that,” he laughed as he knelt down beside the bed. “You’re mated now, princess. He’d just come after you. Maybe you’re right, maybe you’re supposed to be here. You can never escape him now, ever. He knows your scent, your essence and everything that makes you, well, you. You let him in, and he’ll always come for you. Dragons mate for life, and he is never-ending, little princess.” He stood to his full height, staring down at her with a cold look that she welcomed. Hate was good, it made her fight come back in full swing. She needed it, needed to be reminded of what he was and how he felt about her.
“I’d rather die,” she whispered as she struggled to get up, uncaring that she cried out as she tried to move her scorched flesh. “I’m leaving,” she announced as she stood, swaying on her feet.
“Lay down, Ciara,” he demanded as he took in her mottled flesh and what he’d done in his anger. “Bloody hell,” he growled as he touched her, sending a wave of ice through her flesh as if he was removing the burns he’d given her.
“I will fight you.”
“I know you will, but not like this,” he mumbled as he caught her as she lost her balance. He placed her on the bed and backed away from her, leaving her to the silence of the empty tent.
Chapter Nineteen
Blane didn’t come back to the tent as night fell. Instead, Remy came into the tent, staring down at her with a confused look in his forest green gaze. He didn’t speak, didn’t try to make conversation as she lay there, unable to even cover herself from his steady inspection.
When he reached for the blankets, she flinched and he exhaled a ragged breath. He shook his dark head as he covered her naked form carefully, noting the red flesh. He sat beside her slowly, placing his hands on her arm as he whispered a spell, which seemed to send cooling magic through her flesh. It stole a moan from her lips as she felt the ache of the burn leaving her.
“He’s never lost his cool, ever. Not before you walked into his world,” he mumbled absently as he stared at her. “He’s never used his dragon magic to harm, so whatever you did to him, it had to be bad.”
“What I did to him?” she demanded. “He took my virginity!” she hissed, and his eyes widened with shock.
“You’re the whore of the Horde,” he pointed out.
“And yet I was a virgin,” she growled as she turned away from him, scowling.
“You can’t lie,” he pointed out as his brows pinched together.
“No, I can’t.”
“Don’t fucking wordplay me, girl,” he clipped heatedly.
“Blane took my fucking virginity. He got angry and took it,” she hissed out slowly. “Wordplay that, asshole. Stop calling me a whore, because even if I had taken lovers, I’m Fae, and that’s how we survive.”
“And that’s why he’s so twisted?” he asked.
“No, no that is because his dragon decided to get his claim on and claimed me,” she huffed as she turned to look at him. “Then we were assholes and decided to push each other’s buttons until he tried to cook me. He won, obviously.”
“His dragon mated with you?” he asked, rising to his feet as he stared down at her as if she’d grown another head.
“Look, you want answers, go ask him. You all hate me for being born, literally. You act like I had a choice of which caste I was born into, and guess what? I had no more choice in the matter than any of you guys did. I get that my father fucked you guys up, I do. However, I have done nothing but try to right his wrongs from the moment he ceased to exist. Now I’m here, wearing a chain that is set to cut me in half because I had the unfortunate luck to be born the child of a murderous bastard. You guys are exhausting. You’re no better than we are because while we try to fix what Alazander did, we do nothing but get called dirty names and treated like shit, and for what? Because we were born. Seems fair, right? I mean, if given a choice, I’d have asked to be human. Because at least they can die easily and their lives are short, so if you get it wrong the first time, all you have to do is be reborn to try again.”
“Humans are weak,” he pointed out as he deflated a bit.
“They’re not weak, they just look weak.”
“The Horde defending humans?” he asked, laughing as he narrowed his eyes at her. “Do you protect them or eat their emotions, princess?”
“I’ve never fed from a human. I had one feeding partner since transition, and he was into the same sex as he was, so that worked for me. He could use his mind to enter mine, and we…did things to get his release so that I could pull from his emotions.”
“You fed from a gay guy? How exactly did that work if you remained untouched?”
“He pretended I was a guy, I let him. He got off, but not with me. He showed me what it was supposed to be like, but it was an illusion. He could imagine whatever he wanted, as could I,” she explained. “Are you here to keep from me freezing to death, or to prevent me from escaping?”
“Both,” he said as he stretched out beside her. “You should scoot over so we can sleep. It’s going to be a long night.”
“I’m not sleeping with you naked,” she pointed out, hating her lack of undress, which Blane didn’t seem to care about.
“No, no, that wouldn’t be good,” he admitted. “I mean, not that you’re not hot as fuck, but dragons are territorial, and the moment I touched you naked, he’d be in here. I’ll go find you some clothing.”
“Where’s Blane?” Ciara asked carefully as she sat up, pulling the covers up with her.
“Busy,” he said firmly.
“Okay,” she said, watching him.
“That’s it? Just like that?” he countered.
“I’m not here willingly so why should I really care where he is?” she asked, ignoring the lump of unease that entered her chest. He wasn’t coming back tonight, which meant she’d be sharing the tent with some strange guy, and Blane didn’t seem to care.
“But you do,” he said carefully. “He’s with Fyra tonight,” he continued. “They used to be together; that should worry you. Blane isn’t like other dragons. He’s different. His other half makes him immune to certain…aspects of dragon lore. Like mating; he doesn’t mate for life, his dragon does.”
“And?” she asked pointedly. “I’m not his girlfriend. I’m his hostage. I also don’t intend to stay mated to his dragon because personally, his host sucks.”
“I’m just letting you know since you asked,” he said as he placed his hands on his hips. “Stay put, I’ll be right back.”
Ciara waited for him to leave before she moved from the bed, opening the clothing trunk and pilfering through it for a shirt. She pulled out one of Blane’s, ignoring his earthy scent as she slipped it on, grabbed a dark cloak and headed for the tent’s doors. Once there, she hesitated, knowing with one step out of this tent, it might be her last.
She inhaled and exhaled and stepped outside, waiting for the pain before death took her. She opened her eyes, noting the belt hadn’t done anything. So she wasn’t bound to the tent? She slipped to the side of it, moving past another one as she pulled the cloak on, slipping the hood over her head. She stayed close to the rows of tents, ignoring the drunken rivalry playing out over by the fires.
Shadows basked the forest as she reached the edge of the camp. The wards hummed and the belt around her waist tightened in warning. She moved closer, smothering a cry with the back of her hand as it tightened harder, tearing against her flesh. One step, one step and she’d be free. She lifted her foot as the belt ripped into her flesh more, and placed her foot down on the other side of the camp, past the wards. Blood oozed down her side as the belt hummed with power.
She stepped back, closing her eyes against the pain as she looked up at the stars she’
d been unable to see since he’d put her in the tent. The wind kissed her flesh, howling in the night as she stood there, deciding her fate. She wasn’t afraid to die, but dying for nothing would be pointless.
Tears ran down her cheeks as she realized she couldn’t escape this place, not without figuring how to remove the belt first. Ciara dropped to her knees and bowed her head as she removed the hood. Her hands touched the earth as she kneeled in the dirt silently.
She would need stitches now; she could feel where the flesh had opened from the bite of the belt he’d placed on her. She was a fool, a fool for allowing him to find pleasure with her, and allowing herself to believe she could change him. She’d been elated to find no guards outside her tent, but why would they need them now? The Horde was dealing with the chaos of an attack, and she was just some weak little girl who didn’t impose any threat as far as they were concerned.
Ciara closed out the world, hiding from anyone listening besides the one she wanted to speak to. “Synthia, I need you. I’m ready to come home. I don’t know who lived or died, and I can’t fix this alone. When you can, come find me. Blane is a demi-God, be careful. I can’t lose you too.”
“Stay alive,” Synthia’s voice sounded inside her head. “I’ll come for you when I can, Ciara. As soon as I can. They’re alive, all of them. I will bring him home, I promise.”
Relief washed through Ciara as Synthia’s words hit her. They were alive, all of them? Her brothers had survived, and now she had to as well. She struggled to her feet, uncaring that pain ripped through her. She turned, finding Blane standing behind her with Fyra, who held a blade at her side.