Danburn: The English Dragon ― Erotic Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance (7 page)

“I should like to take you here, against the castle. Feel it behind you as I fill you.” She nodded and he put out his finger to trace her collarbone to her nipple. “The thought of fucking you has my beast snarling at me to begin, but I want to give you pleasure first.”

“If you do this right, I’m going to have a great deal of pleasure, I think.” Her hand slipped over her mouth when she spoke, and he pulled it away. “I don’t know why I said that.”

“Yes you do. You are as needy as I am.” Danburn ran his finger down her belly to her navel, and then played there for a moment. Her moans had him watching her face, and he almost missed what her fingers were doing.

They were at her pussy, just above her nether lips, but so very close that he wanted to beg her to dip them inside. Sliding his own fingers to match hers, he felt the heat of her pull at him when he gently parted her lips for her own fingers.

“I wish now to taste you.” He dropped to his knees and licked her fingers clean after pulling them free of her soft lips. Sucking her clit into his mouth then biting down gently, he was rewarded with a mouthful of her cream and the first taste of paradise. Lifting her leg up to get to his feast, Danburn ate her like he’d wanted to do it his entire life.

“Please. I’m going to fall.” Her voice was weak, her body trembling when he helped her to the ground. But as soon as she was there, he knew it was time to have her. Sliding up her body, he suckled at her breast until her legs came up around his hips and his cock was at her entrance.

“You belong to us. No one but us.” She only stared up at him as his beast kept telling him to take her. “Tell me, Kendrick. Tell me you belong to us.”

“I don’t know what that means.” He moved into her, the crown of his cock filling her the way he wanted his entire body to. “Please, take me.”

“Say it. I need to hear you say it.” She moaned when he moved in and out of her again. “Christ, I need you. I need you to tell me you belong to us.”

“I belong to you and your dragon. Now take me.” He filled her with his cock, and his heart too. As he took her, feeling her body accepting his and the dragon’s, he knew that on some level there would be no turning back from this. And he didn’t want to. When he cupped her ass to his body, pulling her clit and her pussy tightly against his groin, she screamed out his name, telling him over and over that she was theirs. Danburn felt his own climax take him, the beast within him coming as well. And when he leaned into her throat to make her his, his dragon took him a little and they both tasted their mate’s blood.

Danburn held her to him as she lay limp beneath him. Rolling to his back, keeping her safely in his arms, he looked up at the wall of the castle that had brought them together. Because he had no doubt that without the stone’s help, he would never have been able to explain to her what he was. Holding her with one hand, he dug his hand deep within the soil under them and thanked them.

You are most welcome, my lord. She is the one and true, as you have guessed.
He had, but until now hadn’t been sure.
The mountain and I have a gift for her if she would accept it from you. It has been within us since long before you woke us to work with you.

I cannot know the mind of her. Whether she will or will not accept your gift will be up to her
. The earth said that it understood and he felt something fill his hand. Before he pulled it from the earth, he asked it about her ability to talk to them.

Nay, it was not the bullet as she believes. It did awaken that part of her, but it was there, all along, for her to use should she need it. I think she relaxed enough after her injury to allow us to speak as you and I do now.
He said he didn’t understand that.
When the mother shot the child, the bullet entered a place that should have killed her. But with the power, her power that was hidden there for her, it was not able to destroy what she was. Instead, it woke it. Bringing to life what she would need to find you.

You knew that she was meant for me
. The earth said that it knew a great many things he did not.
I am sure that you do. And I am humbled in that knowledge. But I am not sure that she is as easily convinced as I would hope she is
.

You will never know unless you ask her. And I would, if I were you, ask from now on. With this claiming, she has more than she had before. And she can harm you.
He thought that the earth meant his heart and said as much
. Nay, not only your heart, my lord, but you as a person and dragon as well. She is stronger than even you believe her to be. But she wakes now. Talk to her and give her our gift, please. It will keep her safe even when you are not there to keep her in your arms.

Danburn looked up at Kendrick, who was indeed awake. He could see the confusion in her eyes, as well as some embarrassment. He kissed the tip of her nose, thinking that it was as wonderful as the rest of her body, and felt the item from the earth move in his hand again.

“I have a gift for you.” When she started to rise, he held her with his hand. “Please, not yet. It really isn’t from me, but from the earth. She said that it’s been beneath her for longer than I have been here.”

“I don’t need a gift.” He had hurt her, and unlike the other time, he knew why. When she struggled to move again, he rolled her to her back and settled over her. “Please let me up. I don’t need you to treat me like a whore.”

“No, and I never meant to either. Do you believe me when I tell you what I am?” She didn’t say anything. “You know about us, the dragon and me, and that we claimed you. Do you know what you’ve given us?”

“My all.” He nodded, and she looked away from him. Asking her to look at him again, he was afraid that she’d not do it, but she finally relented. “I don’t want you to pay me for this. I don’t want you to cheapen it.”

“I never thought to pay you, not for giving us such pleasure. As I have said, the earth has a gift for you. You already have everything that I have…I have nothing left to give you. But should you want something, I will find it for you.” He watched her face as it heated. “You are beautiful when you are embarrassed. More than usual.”

“What is this gift? And please don’t lie to me. For some reason I can’t make you tell me the truth, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t lie.” He told her that he’d never lie to her. “Everyone lies to me, Danburn. Unless I make them do otherwise.”

“I will not lie to you. Not ever. I will not keep things from you either, which to me is the same thing.” He pulled the gift from the earth. “This is from her, the lady of the earth. She asked that you accept it from her, please.”

Danburn had a feeling he knew what it was even before she picked it up from her chest and began to clean the grass and roots from it. Rolling to his back again, he sat her up on his lap and watched her. She was beautiful. She was his and his forever. When she held the ring in her hands, he smiled at her, taking it from her hand and slipping it on her finger.

The ring fit her like it had been made only for her, which he supposed it had. And the pink and white diamond that sat upon the stone band was as big as any he’d ever seen, and he’d bet more pure. Pulling her to him for a kiss, Danburn felt as if he’d just taken her as his wife, and he could not have been happier. But he thought he’d wait a while in telling her his feelings. Yes, it was by his own admission a lie, but one that would keep him from harm.

Chapter
6

Louisa wasn’t sure what was going on, but she was happy with the results. People were doing what she wanted them to and she didn’t have to keep asking them for it. Plus, her sister was coming to see her today. And while she was here, Louisa was going to tell her what those men wanted who had shot her and see how she was going to fix it for her. This time, Louisa was going to be good, she’d tell her.

It was hard to do with all the things she wanted to try yet. Louisa was still a little hurt at Kendrick for not helping their mother when she’d been out of work and living under the bridge for so long. But Kendrick had told her that their mother had tried to kill her, and that she was dead as far as she was concerned.

“But she’s not.”

Kendrick had said nothing but continued to refuse to help her. So Louisa had done her best to get her mom things that she wanted. Mostly it had been food, but there were times when she’d had to get her drugs too, and that was when Louisa would get herself into trouble again. Then her mom had died.

She had to admit that things were easier since her mom had passed away. Going to look for her all the time was the reason she’d had to have Kendrick bail her out of jail a couple of times. Her mom would get into places that weren’t safe, and Louisa would have to stay with her to make sure that she wasn’t hurt. The fights between them, she and her sister, had been terrible, and had left Louisa feeling like a part of her heart was beat up.

The nurses were really nice when they came in to give her things. Her meals were always nice, and there was plenty of food. The doctor answered her questions when she asked him. No one treated her like she was on welfare here, and they all seemed to go out of their way to get her whatever she wanted, so long as it didn’t interfere with their work or her getting better. That had been the hardest part to remember for her, not to get in their way when they were busy. When she was alone, however, she thought of what she’d seen.

Someone had told her about the castle way back off the road, and she had decided to go and see it for herself. It had only taken her an hour to walk to where she thought it was supposed to be. But she’d gotten turned around again, and had lost her way. When she’d come out of the woods she could see the castle, and had started that way when she heard the shouts.

Louisa thought they were yelling at her at first. She’d slipped back into the woods to run when she saw the men. A lot of them were standing around with guns and rifles, so she moved deeper into the wooded area, but stayed where she could still see what was going on. The man who seemed to be in charge was yelling at some guy that was tied to a tree, and telling him how disappointed he was in him.

“All this time, here you were stealing from me.” The man said that he hadn’t been. He didn’t know where the drugs had come from. “They came from my stash. That’s where you got them from. Right, August? And now look at what I have to do. I have to take time out of my busy day, making all these workers come here and watch you hang yourself because you can’t live with the fact that you bit the hand that feeds you. This will be a lesson for them too. Not to steal from me no matter what.”

“I didn’t do it, Mr. Bullock. I swear it.” The rope around the man’s neck was thick. But the stool under him was nice and sturdy, so she thought he was safe from falling. Louisa had no idea what the man in the suit was talking about. August didn’t look to her like he wanted to kill himself at all. When he spoke again, she wanted to tell Mr. Bullock to listen to the man, that he might need some help. “Please, Mr. Bullock, I swear to you I never stole from anyone in my life.”

As she watched with the rest of the men who looked to her like they’d rather be anywhere but there, Mr. Bullock kicked the stool out from under August. As he hung there, his face getting darker and darker, she wanted to go and save him, but nearly wet her panties when a man was suddenly in front of her. One of the men with a gun.

“Hello, Louisa.”

The small scream startled them both. Louisa left behind her nightmares and looked at her sister, frightened. Reaching out to pull Kendrick to her for a much needed hug, Louisa started telling her what had happened to have gotten her shot, babbling much too fast for Kendrick to understand her. She asked her to slow down and think as she told her. Kendrick was here now and she’d be safe.

“You were shot, the doctors said. When did that happen? Was it the man you were talking about, this Bullock person?” Louisa wasn’t sure she cared for the big man with Kendrick. He was bossy and seemed to think that everyone was his underling. “Then you ended up in my lake.”

“Your lake? No one owns a lake, silly.” He said nothing but looked at her. “I went there to look at the castle. I suppose you’re going to tell me that it belongs to you too.”

“It does, as a matter of fact. My mother and I live there, and now so does Kendrick. But you didn’t answer me about who shot you. Was it Bullock or one of his men?” Louisa looked at her sister, wanting her to deny it, but she was looking at the man. That was when she noticed how her sister was dressed.

“You win the lotto? I mean, wow, those are pretty clothes. I got mine all wet, so I’m going to need some more. Do you have any extra money I can have?” Kendrick said she’d talk to her about it later. “I want to be pretty like you, Kendrick. I’m betting you have a little extra. There is this new shop on Twelfth that has some pretty things like you have on. I’d like those to wear. Nice things like you have on.”

“I don’t have anything, Louisa. In the event you’ve forgotten, you took all my money when you broke into my home again. What about this man, this Mr. Bullock? You said that he killed August. What happened after that?” Louisa wanted to talk about the clothing, but her sister was right. The more information she had, the quicker she could make it so she could get some pretty things. “When were you shot the first time?”

“I was running. He tried to shoot me when he came up on me, but his gun was jammed up or something. So I ran at him, then took off toward where I’d seen the castle. It’s really nice too. You should see it…well, I guess you did see it if you’re living there. Can I go and stay there too? It’ll be really cool to tell my friends I live in a castle now.” Kendrick cleared her throat. “Oh yeah, the man. He shot at me one time and it buzzed by my head. Then one of them hit me in the arm here. After that, I wasn’t sure if he was still shooting at me or if I was getting hurt running. I found the pretty lake just about when I figured out that I couldn’t run anymore. All my things got ruined in the water when I jumped in. When can you get me things to wear, Kendrick? I want pink, not green like you have on. And the castle. I want to see where I’m going to be living in the castle too.”

“How long did they chase you?” She wanted to tell the man that there were more important things to talk about than the men who were no longer here, but he asked her again and again until she finally had to think.

Louisa thought about how long it felt like she had run. Tree branches had hit her in the face so many times she’d felt like it was raw. And she’d fallen a lot too. Mostly at the end…that was when she thought she might die.

“I remembered I had that phone you gave me and I called you. I don’t know why you didn’t come right then and get me. I did tell you I was in trouble. I even told you that some men were coming after me. When I’m at the castle, will I have my own room or will I have to share it with you? It looked really big, so I’m betting I can have my own place, right?” She glared at Kendrick when she thought of how her sister had not been there for her. “You’ve been doing that a lot lately. Not coming to help me.”

“I was working four jobs to pay my bills and dig you out of any trouble you got into. Every time you came by my place, you’d find my stash and take it. It mattered little to you that it was my rent money or my food money. I got my electric shut off too.” Louisa told her she was sorry and asked about the clothing again. “I don’t have the funds to get you anything right now. And you’re always sorry after you do it, Louisa. But that doesn’t help me when I have nothing to pay my bills with.”

“I try really hard to make things work for me. I had a job too, but I kept messing up remembering when I had to be there. And when I wrote it down, that guy there would change it around on me, so I’d end up being late or something.” She glanced at the man, then looked at Kendrick again. “I don’t know why you never let me just live with you. I wouldn’t have to be on the streets where I get into trouble all the time. Once we’re in the castle together, you can set me up with an account of my own and I won’t have to bother you so much for things. You’ll have to make sure there is always money in it though. I know how you hate to be bothered about money.”

“Perhaps if you got yourself a job and worked at it, you’d not be in trouble either. You seem like a reasonably intelligent woman. Why not get yourself together and stop thinking people are going to bail you out all the time?” Louisa wasn’t sure, but she thought maybe he’d just insulted her. “And you are not coming to live with us. Not in the castle or any of the property surrounding it.”

“Why not? I saw the place, and it’s big enough for all of us. Kendrick, tell him that I have to live there. It’s like a dream come true for me.” Kendrick looked at her. “Tell him that you have to take care of me. You have been all my life, and I don’t want you to stop doing it now. And as soon as I have some pretty things, I’ll be just as happy as I can be.”

“There won’t be any money, no account set up for you, and no clothing that you don’t need. You’re not going to move into the castle, and you most certainly aren’t going to be taking any more money from me. I’m done, Louisa. And the only reason I did it for so long was because I thought I had to. But I really don’t. You can do this. I did. Just get out and make it work for you. You’ve caused me enough trouble over the years.” Louisa thought she was kidding with her. It was the same speech she’d given her time and time again. “I’m not going to do this anymore, Louisa. You have to stand up on your own two feet.”

“But I’m hurt. And we’re going to live together in that big castle, the three of us.” Her sister said nothing, and Louisa didn’t even bother looking at Danburn. He was the cause of this. “I’m guessing you think you want to impress this guy and all because he let you sleep in his castle. Is that it, Kendrick? You think he’s going to give you something and you don’t want me to have it? That’s not too fair of you. Mom always said men only had one thing in mind and when they got it, they’d toss you aside. If there isn’t enough money for me, I’m sure I can find someone to buy some of his things. When I move in with you, I can figure that all out.”

“He’s asked me to marry him.” Louisa looked at Danburn and snorted. There was no way this man wanted to marry her sister. “And I’m going to.”

“He asked, he didn’t do it. And we both know that he’s too good for you. Look at him. I bet his suit alone cost more than your old place did. And we both know that your stuff, when you had it, wasn’t all that good.” Louisa glanced at Danburn when he stood up. “Just look at him, Kendrick. He’s not for you. He’s too much. And when he’s done with you, he’s going to toss you out on your butt, and then you’ll need me.”

“I’m not going to toss her out anywhere. Have you always been this negative to people who try to help you?” She asked him what he thought Kendrick had done for her lately. Or him, for that matter. “Who do you think is putting you up in this private room, catering to your every need? You’re only here and getting this good of care because Kendrick is your sister and I’m going to marry her.”

“If she had come to me when I told her I needed her to, then I’d not be hurt in the first place. This is all her fault anyway.” He looked at her, shocked, but Louisa was telling him like it was. “Listen, Kendrick. When I move in the castle with you, I’ll take care of you so that he won’t send us packing without any money. I swear to you, every day I get hurt or something happens to me. Once we’re all living together, things will be better, don’t you think? Living in the castle is going to be so cool. My parties are going to be epic. Mom would have loved it too, living up there in that big monster place. She’d be here if you hadn’t just abandoned her.”

“Abandoned her? You mean like she did after shooting me in the head? When she left me there to die? You mean like that?” Louisa tried again to tell her that she’d been hungry and needed a place to live. “And what if she had shot you, Louisa? Would you have the same feelings for her had it been you lying on the floor bleeding to death?”

“You make it sound so serious. My goodness, Kendrick. You didn’t die, did you? You got to hang out in a hospital all the time with a warm bed and food.” She showed her the scar on her arm that she’d been using as a backup when Kendrick got all bossy with her. “You remember how I got this? When we were running from the law that got called on us when you were injured? I didn’t have any warm bed like you did. I was running with our mom.”

Kendrick came toward her and lifted her hair up. Louisa wasn’t sure what she was doing until she saw the long scar along her head. It was wide, and no hair grew there. She backed from Kendrick when she grabbed her hand and put it on her head. Louisa jerked her hand back when she realized what it was and where it had come from.

“Do you feel that one, Louisa? The scar that I have from when you and Mother decided that instead of you being shot, it would be me?” Louisa told her she wasn’t being fair. “I’m not being fair? How do you suppose that works?”

“Well, like I said, you didn’t die, did you? I don’t know what all this fuss is about anyway. I just wanted to tell you that I’m glad to see you. And when I get out of here, I promise you I will try my best not to steal from you again, and I won’t let anyone come into your house and steal stuff. Not unless they want to hurt me again for money. You know that was the only reason I let them in to take your bed and couch.” Louisa smiled at Kendrick when she just stood there. “Come on, you know you want to help me out. It’s what we do. I get into trouble, you bail me out. We’re sisters.”