“That’s really gonna be stiff when he wakes,” Meda commented without remorse.
“Let’s go,” Lucan said. He reached for her hand. She gasped when a streak of pleasure-pain sparked up her arm.
He opened the door and peeked outside. Just as they exited, a band of people moved near the lighter end of the passage.
“Is that the way we need to go?” she asked.
He nodded. “This way. Tawren came from this direction. There must be something there.”
As they went, the passage got darker and darker, and Meda grew more and more sure this was probably a bad idea until, there in the pitch black, Lucan dragged her into his arms and kissed her as if the very taste of her was all that could sustain him. Her lips parted, and his tongue slipped inside. Hungrily, he took her mouth with all the intensity he put into fucking her. Eagerly, she surrendered to his domination in that kiss.
His fingers dug into her shoulders as he pressed her to the wall.
“I could take you right here,” he rasped. “This need for you is stronger than my self-preservation.”
She groaned, knowing that right now there was no way they could fulfill their desires. Her belly cramped with her overwhelming drive to have him. It hurt. It hurt so bad. If only he’d just take her.
He brushed his lips over her temple. “But not stronger than my urge to protect you at all costs.”
“Lucan,” she whimpered, her body protesting his pronouncement. She rubbed against him, wondering at the heated need that prickled in her pussy and tightened her nipples to painful nubs. Her breaths came out as choppy gasps as the desire clouded her mind.
“I know, baby. I’m sorry. I’ll make it better as soon as I can.” His voice was tight, as if he suffered the same. He scooped her into his arms and ran further down the passage. He took twists and turns with such speed she knew he could see though she was blinded by the darkness. She pushed her face to his neck, breathing in his essence and kissing his exposed skin as he darted through the warren of passages. They passed through numerous caverns, the sound of their movement changing as they echoed in the open spaces. Each time, Lucan rushed into the next closed-in pathway, never lingering out in the open as he searched for a way out.
After some time, he paused and swore under his breath.
“What?” she asked.
“There’s nothing here. Tawren must have
transporated
from somewhere else.”
“Are we lost?” she asked, already knowing they were.
“I don’t think even the Djinn could find us.”
She took a shuddering breath. Even through her mindless desire, she knew she didn’t want to die, lost in a cave, even if it was with Lucan. “Do you have a plan?”
Since her face was still to his neck, she felt him nod. “We wait,” he said.
“Wait?” she asked incredulously. How could he be so calm?
“Maks is up above. I’ll let him know the situation. He’ll contact Riven. He’s the one who helped me find you at the school. Riven is half Dragon and half Djinn. He’s also Maks’ half brother. And he’s been gifted with the ability of finding just about anyone.”
“Even if they’re lost deep in a cave?”
“Even.”
“And?”
“And what?” He sat down and brought her around to straddle his lap. The dress hiked up and his cock rubbed against her naked pussy, his pants the only thing separating them. She knew he could feel her damp heat though the thin fabric—she could feel him vibrating against her hardened clit.
Her head dropped back as she reveled in the sensation and clenched her hands on his muscular shoulders.
“And what are we going to do while we wait?”
His lips pressed to her neck, his tongue laving and his teeth scraping over the place where her jugular throbbed. Slowly, he worked his way to her shoulder. He sighed. “We talk.”
“We…what?” she asked, sure she’d heard wrong. “No, Lucan…I…can’t…”
His arousal, his kisses and the way he grasped her hips in an iron grip didn’t lie. He needed her as badly as she needed him. Why was he delaying when the arousal was so painful?
“It’s important. I…need to tell you…more…about Dragons.”
“Couldn’t you tell me later?” she begged.
His hands tightened as if to impede her escape. “I need to tell you
now
. When I take you this time, I’ll bite. I won’t be able to stop it.”
“Why?” she gasped. To her shock, she was intrigued not horrified. The deeper she sank into this new culture the more she wanted to know everything. She wanted to understand this life that had reclaimed Lucan—one she knew she’d now lived. No matter what he was, she wouldn’t leave him.
It surprised her that his revelation did nothing to chase away her need. She wanted him just as much—more. With every second that passed, the arousal tightening in her groin drove her to nearly scream for him. Her pussy dripped with the thick evidence of her desire. She pulled his hand to her folds, wanting him to part her, to drive inside, to make her cries echo against these rocky walls.
“I need to taste you,” he confessed, his fingertip scraping back and forth over her clit. She rocked against it, seeking as much relief as she could obtain from the paltry motion which was nowhere near enough but more like a Band-Aid on her titanic craving.
He’d said that before, in the cavern beneath the Dragon compound.
I need to taste you…
Now, she suspected she’d horribly misunderstood. She bit her lip.
“Your blood,” he added. Making his meaning all too clear.
Despite the blinding lust, she was cognizant enough to experience a little worry.
“Like a…vampire?”
Lucan’s hand stroked down her back, soothing her and reminding her who he was. He was her husband, not a thing of nightmares.
“Vampires don’t exist,” he murmured. “Stories of them are greatly exaggerated and based on convoluted legends about the Dragons. We drink blood to support our regenerative systems—but only from those carrying the mate marker like you do. Only from those who allow us to bite them. But we eat real food, too. We’re not nocturnal and the sun doesn’t hurt us. Neither does garlic, holy water or crucifixes. The coffin thing is out too. We live in caves for safety and because the temperature and humidity is ideal for our bodies.”
“And you live forever.”
“We live for a really long time. My brother, Janos, is over millennium old.”
“Shut up!” she exclaimed. “But you’re thirty, right? Or are you way older?”
“No, just a year older than you are.”
“To him, you must be barely more than an egg.”
He smacked her ass, and she jerked against his cock, groaning at the friction.
“Dragons are born, not hatched,” he laughed then grew serious. “We mate for life. And once we join, the only blood we drink is from that mate. It’s the perfect composition. There’s no need for much or for any other.”
“Okay…” she prompted, wanting more information. It was so hard to talk when she felt as if her veins might explode from the racing fire pouring through them. Her thighs quivered with the need to lift and take him inside, cloth and all.
His mouth brushed her shoulder, sending a shiver along her skin. “It’s highly erotic,” he murmured. “Always during sex—at least, for mates.”
“That’s better anyway. And we’re…mates?” she breathed. “I heard Maks talking to you about it earlier, but I only heard his side and it didn’t make much sense.”
“Damn it. Maks,” Lucan swore softly. “Hang on.”
Chapter Nine
They sat silently, the tension building around them. Her hands splayed on his chest, feeling his firm pecs through the thin, silky shirt. Deftly, she found his nipples and rolled her thumbs around and over them. Lucan’s arousal jabbed toward her in reaction. One hand dropped, and she wrapped her fingers around the long shaft, feeling the hot steel beneath her grasp.
Got it,
she heard Maks say.
I’ll find Riven. And, dude…don’t be too wild down there. There might be Djinn looking for you.
So he knew what they were doing? For some reason, it turned her on that someone might be privy to the intimacy between her and Lucan. It surprised her; she’d never been an exhibitionist before. Now, she wanted the world to witness this love between them.
“It will be a couple hours, at least,” Lucan told her. He buried a hand in her hair and bent back her head, exposing her neck. He kissed roughly along the length, scraping his teeth and nipping without drawing blood. She sensed how much he wanted to sink in his teeth, and against all reason, she wanted him to do it.
She pulled her palm along his length.
“It’s so dark…maybe you can distract me. And…” Her teeth sank into her bottom lip, knowing she was about to jump over a precipice. “And…you can bite me—if you want.”
He chuckled and she heard his relief. “You like it a little rough anyway, don’t you?” he supplied, his voice a low intimate growl. “I promise you, you’ll never regret it.”
Her cheeks heated, and she wondered if he could see it with his amplified vision. She groaned as he moved her hand from his cock then shifted his hips against her. A spike of heat filled her pussy. This level of arousal was beyond the pale. She literally felt as if she’d go crazy if she didn’t get relief soon.
Fighting to gain some rational thought, she took a deep breath and tried to ignore the sensations gripping her. She needed to understand this situation she’d sunk into. Something told her she was missing a big piece of the puzzle—something that would affect her for a long time to come.
“Explain. About mates…” she urged.
Tell me about mates, then fuck me until we can’t move.
“True mates are destined,” he told her. “They’re created by nature specifically for each other. And, yes, I believe we are mates. There’s no question in my mind.”
“Is there question in someone else’s mind?”
He blew out a breath through his nose, the warm air teasing her sensitized skin. She shivered and bit her lip to keep from interrupting his explanation.
“After close contact, mates develop a mark on their skin. It happens almost right away, but we don’t have it.”
“Oh,” she said, disappointed.
“There are other indicators. After time spent together, a kind of agitation takes place—”
“It makes you sick if anyone but your mate touches you? It’s painful, out of control, almost out of your mind need that you don’t understand and can’t control?” she asked. It had to be what this was. She’d never felt anything like it.
“Oh baby, I’m sorry,” he said. His hand moved beneath the flared skirt of her dress and breached her drenched folds. Without hesitation, he thrust two fingers inside her.
“Yes,” she hissed. Lifting up to her knees, she shoved down the loose pants he wore and freed his shaft. Holding it in place, she slowly impaled herself on him. She cried out as the fat tip pushed inside her, forcing apart her swollen tissues. The wide shaft drove deep then, suddenly, for the first time since the Dragon compound, a calm shrouded her. A unity and rightness. This was where she’d always been destined to be.
She rocked her hips, feeling him in her. So deep. So full. Lazy pulses of lightning speared from cunt to nipples with each contact of her clit to his pubis.
“Lucan,” she gasped, his name a mantra, a reminder that her man had really returned to her arms. “Lucan…”
Suddenly, his mouth was at her shoulder, his teeth sinking into her skin. She jolted at the quick stab of pain then he groaned, and she sighed. Heat poured from the site, driving through her and obliterating the calm until a new agitation clawed at her. Fiery heat snaked through her veins, pricking every nerve ending. Frenzied, she ripped at his clothes, desperate to feel his skin. Quickly, he tugged off the shirt then pulled the dress over her head.
Immediately, his mouth returned to her shoulder. His long teeth sank deep once more, and she rode him hard. She craved his essence and knew it would trigger her own orgasm.
“Lucan, please,” she begged, as she leaned back and drew him over her. She writhed without a care that it was rock beneath her. She needed him to pound into her and claim her as his own. She needed his weight pressing her down and dominating her smaller frame. She needed to feel his irrefutable claim and know there was no backing away from this moment. She was his, claimed by his body and through her blood.
Her hips pumped upward onto his thick cock, fucking him with the full fury of passion.
Streams of pleasure spiraled around her middle, twining and knotting, surging and exploding. Reaching between them, he pinched her nipple, hard, and she screamed. Her climax star-bursted before her eyes, showing her brilliant colors in the darkness. She gushed around him then suddenly, his heat filled her, and utter peace eclipsed the whirlwind.
“You taste like the sweetest nectar,” he murmured against her ear. “You feel so good around me, squeezing my cock.”
She groaned, desire already rebuilding. Lucan chuckled, and she felt his cock flex to life inside her. “We can’t possibly…already…” she gasped.