Breath of Fire (21 page)

I could understand Julian’s anger at the disappearance of his people. I could even understand the need to punish Xana for her insubordination, but I knew if Julian destroyed Xana he’d never forgive himself. She’d been his protector for most of his life, and she was his family.

The force of Julian’s power brought Xana to her knees. Blood dripped slowly from her nostrils and plopped onto the black granite. His fire grew, and if he wasn’t careful it would consume the entire room.

The human mates in the room had all been shuffled out the doors at the first sign of fire. I had to do something. I couldn’t let any more deaths happen on my watch. I was already guilty of losing too many. I prayed to the gods for a strength I knew I didn’t possess.

I hadn’t appreciated until that moment what great control Julian had over his powers. If Julian wasn’t really the Destroyer and he wielded this much power, I was afraid to run into the real thing.

I stood slowly, fighting against the waves of heat that pressed against me. My eyes burned with the intensity of Julian’s flame, and I felt a moment of such despair that I almost sank back to my knees and let the fire destroy us all.

And then I remembered, and I realized what I had to do. I took a deep breath and felt for the tug of familiarity Julian and I had shared earlier. It was there, though hidden by the strength of his power. As I focused on it, I felt the thread strengthen and grow until I could grasp on to it with my own power. As his flame swelled, I opened myself further, until his fire was part of me.

I took a deep breath and absorbed as much of the volcanic heat as I could into my own body. When I could take no more of its intensity, I blew gently from my mouth until his flame was snuffed out completely. It flickered and dissipated as if it were no more than a candle.

I collapsed on the ground from exhaustion, but I knew I’d succeeded. Everyone was still alive. The room swelled with voices and drowned out the pounding of my heart. My brain was in better shape than my body, and I knew I needed to find the energy to get away. I was easy prey.

I looked up and watched as Eunice began running in my direction. I turned to Xana and saw an identical expression of horror on her face. Everything moved in slow motion, but their warning was clear.

Run.

I needed to run.

I found the energy from some reserves I had no idea I possessed. I got up off my knees and sprinted for the doors. I knew mentally I would never be able to escape Julian, but the reflex was instinctive. I made the mistake of looking back over my shoulder before I reached the exit, and I saw the most magnificent sight I’d ever experienced. Julian’s piercing blue eyes were staring straight at me as his body changed form. Scales the color of the most precious black diamonds rippled over his body like liquid silk and covered the pale flesh of his human form.

His dragon was a beautiful machine, his body sleek and lithe—one solid muscle that would have enough strength to propel him through the air. His claws and teeth were vicious, both in sharpness and length and his tail was thick and could be wielded so it broke every bone in the body.

His body flexed once and then he came after me in a blur of speed. His scales pressed against the back of my body and I screamed. My feet left the floor in a wave of vertigo, and we catapulted out of the chateau and into the night.

Chapter Eighteen

My stomach roiled and pitched as we spiraled into the sky. The temperature of the air was a cold shock against my bare skin. We soared higher and higher, and I grew dizzy as he circled with me in his arms—a dance he was leading and I was forced to follow.

He flew us toward the tallest turret of the chateau, and I squeezed my eyes shut as he headed straight for the arched window that seemed impossibly small for a full-grown dragon to fit through.

The cold stone around the open window grazed my skin as we glided into the room. Julian released me with something less than a gentle touch. I stumbled to my knees and crawled across the hard floor as I tried to put as much distance between us as possible. That wasn’t easy to do in a room that was completely round and had no doors and only one small window as means of an escape.

Julian shifted from his dragon form back to his human one, but the expression on his face didn’t make me feel any safer. He was naked, but I stood slowly and faced him defiantly. If I was going to die, it wasn’t going to be on my hands and knees like a weakling.

“I can’t say I’m surprised to see another room that’s full of black marble,” I said to fill the silence.

“It makes it easier to hide any messes,” he said. His accent was much thicker than normal. “You’re a brave woman, Rena Drake. There aren’t many who would publicly defy me. Xana is one, and her betrayal, though understandable, won’t go without punishment. And then there’s you.” He moved closer. “Do you still deny our connection, Rena?”

He circled around me, but I kept my gaze straight ahead. Fear sliced its way through me, but my dragon writhed in triumph. Julian was calling to her. And she wanted him.

“I felt what you did to me,” he said. “It is a powerful weapon you wield. One that could be my downfall. And if I were more like my father your death would be unavoidable. But I’m not my father. Nor am I naïve in my experience of the female mind and the perception of love. Those are not things I understand completely, but I do understand loyalty.

“I am giving you a choice, Rena, since you are so fond of them. If you wish to keep your life, then you will complete the mating ritual with me and share my fire. You will belong to me, and my family will be your family. I will be your protector. And I will want only you for the rest of eternity as is the magic of true lifemates. But if you wish to die, then I swear I will send you to the Realm of the Dead with the honor a true mate deserves. What do you choose?”

I honestly had no idea. Was death better than being mated to Julian? I did know my family was not going to be happy to lose the potential heir to lead our clan to our most hated rival.

“Being mated to me will not be the misery you seem to think. I promise I will make most of our time together—quite enjoyable.” I felt his breath on the nape of my neck and my flesh pebbled, and my nipples hardened.

When he circled back around to face me, I did everything I could to keep from looking down at his gloriously naked body. I failed miserably. It took more willpower than I thought I had to bring my gaze back up to his face. His expression was arrogant and pleased by my obvious approval of his body.

“All right,” I agreed. “But I have a condition to add to the agreement before we’re bonded.”

This was the strangest business meeting I’d ever been to, and I had the sudden urge to laugh hysterically. I was afraid if I started, then I’d never want to stop.

“I can’t promise anything, but I will at least listen.”

I nodded and fought the urge to crack my knuckles nervously. “I will mate with you, but if I’m unhappy here or if my clan needs me, I want the option to return home.”

“As long as you give me the opportunity to talk you out of it.”

“You must also remember that I am the Enforcer. I must fulfill my duties.”

“Rena, my love, how could I ever forget what you are?”

I instinctively took a step back when he reached for me, and then I realized what I was doing and forced myself to stop.

“Then it’s settled.” I closed my eyes to accept my fate.

“Not quite.” The sound of his soft chuckle made me open my eyes. He ran his finger down my neck and traced my collarbone. He kept his gaze steady on mine as his finger dipped lower and scraped across the puckered bud of my nipple, causing me to gasp at the streak of pleasure that shot to my core.

“What else?” I barely managed to ask.

“I have two more conditions. As your mate, I will help you search for the Destroyer, but when the time comes it is I who will kill him. Not you. I will take revenge for what he has done to my people.”

“Agreed.”

“The second condition is that I want you to give your body to me voluntarily, of your own free will, for this first mating. I want the human in you to want me as much as your dragon. Bring your fire to me and I will embrace it.”

This request was more difficult than I thought it would be. Noah’s vision had been right. I did feel conflicted, but my body would belong to him of my own free will. Because when I answered myself truthfully, the human in me wanted Julian very much. He was a piece of me that had been missing, and he was right—he wasn’t his father. Julian actually had the capability to love, though I wasn’t sure he knew it. He loved his people very much. Some day he might even love me. At least that’s what the human in me hoped for.

Julian stood still as a statue while I tried to talk my feet into moving forward. My body was stiff and my muscles sore from the events that had taken place at the
sfara
, and I knew there’d be bruises on my skin. As soon as I had the thought my muscles relaxed and a soothing heat passed over my body. I knew it was Julian’s doing, and I appreciated his consideration. He didn’t have to make this easy on me. Many in his position wouldn’t have.

I walked closer, one step in front of the other, until I was just a breath away from a man I wasn’t sure I should fear or try to love.

“Both,” he whispered.

Julian’s breath was hot across my skin and goose bumps rippled down my flesh. Blue flame erupted around my body and leapt for Julian as if it were starving for contact. Our fire recognized each other and engulfed us, though the flames were quite cool. They rose higher and higher in intensity, but still Julian waited for me to be the aggressor.

I moved closer until the front of my body touched his naked skin. I gasped as my nipples grazed his chest, and I realized my dress had disintegrated with the appearance of the blue flame. I couldn’t help but touch him.

I drew my hands slowly down his chest, circling his nipples with the tips of my fingers until they pebbled under my touch. He leaned his head back in ecstasy, and my body filled with power. My hands traveled lower, dipping across the ridges of his stomach and down further, until I held his length in my hand—hard and soft, velvet and steel.

A growl of pleasure erupted from his throat, and the fire spread in a whoosh around us, swirling and sparking in an intimate dance. I leaned in and touched my lips softly to his, sucking his bottom lip into my mouth and then nipping it gently with my tongue as I stroked him. His lips parted, and I took advantage of the offer. I slid my tongue inside his mouth and rubbed it sinuously against his.

He kissed me back with a ferocity I wasn’t expecting, exploring every inch of my mouth. I just hung on for the ride, trying to remember how to breathe.

“Wait,” he said. I moaned in protest as he pulled away from me. “I’ve thought of one more condition.”

“What?” I growled impatiently. “You can’t add conditions now. That’s cheating.”

“Don’t ever try to control me in front of my people again,” he said, holding the back of my head firmly so I had no choice but to meet his gaze.

I squeezed his cock in my hand gently and cupped the soft sac that hung beneath in my other hand, smiling in triumph as he sucked in a harsh breath. He grew even larger than before, and anticipation made the blue fire sizzle. I was nervous about his size, but from the moisture that pooled between my thighs I knew I was wet enough to take all of him.

His stare was intense and his breathing rapid, and I knew my fire and my desire had affected him more than he’d let on. He was just better at concealing his thoughts.

“Or what?” I dared to ask.

“Or you’ll regret it.”

And then he kissed me again, wrapping me tightly in his embrace and molding his hands to my body possessively. His mouth devoured and scorched, and it was more than I was prepared to handle. I pressed as close to him as I could get, and my dragon bumped against me, eager to feel her mate skin to skin.

My shoe fell off and hit the hard floor with a thud that echoed through the room like a shot, and I realized we were no longer on solid ground.

“Julian,” I said, eyes wide. I pulled on his hair to detach his lips from my ear.

“Yes, love?”

He ignored my efforts to get him to stop, kissing a wet path down my chest. He took a rigid nipple in his mouth and sucked gently. The pressure of his mouth pulled at my lower body until I was thrusting my pelvis against him, seeking sweet relief.

I was weightless in the air, Julian’s body the only anchor I had. But then something strange happened. I watched, slightly awed and not as frightened as I should have been, as my arms were forced by some invisible string straight up into the air. My palms flattened against the ceiling and held there, completely out of my control. I tugged at them, testing the bonds that held them captive, but they didn’t budge.

“Why are we on the ceiling?” I finally asked.

“Because there’s no bed in here.”

“Oh.” That was my entire range of vocabulary at the moment. Julian was doing incredible things to my body. His hands, lips and fingers seemed to be everywhere at once. The blue fire that surrounded us was so intense in brightness that I had to close my eyes. But as soon as I closed them I realized I could see better with my senses than with regular sight anyway.