Dragons Don't Forgive (8 page)

Two of my brothers have now found
mates. I can’t help wondering what they did that made their union
so special that their brides could transcend to dragon. My brides
were each unique and I loved them in my own way. But it’s obviously
been the wrong way. Or, maybe the Goddess just knows that I’m no
good.

I’ve never enjoyed the first years
after the claiming. I always hated when a bride cried and longed
for home. It was quite vexing and my patience wore thin more often
than not. When they finally settled into their destiny, the good
years began. As they aged, my fondness grew to love. Maybe it was
knowing my time with them was limited or maybe it’s because without
sex in the later years, the relationship turns to a deeper
friendship. Then, after their death, the lonely years begin again.
Each time I swear I won’t make the same mistakes. It all starts
over again and I don’t change. Did Bastian and Laryn somehow figure
out how to alter their ways and treat a bride as something more
than a beloved possession? After Acasia transcended, Bastian told
me each dragon must find the answer for himself. Acasia was so very
different from Laryn’s bride. I only met Roxanne once before I
burned her, but she was quite feisty for a bride, and Laryn was so
very proud of her. Laryn was different that time too. He obviously
changed his destiny by going against his hereditary traits. I’m not
that strong.

I sense Sierra before I see her. My
eyes zero in as she stands on a high cliff on an outcropping of
rock above the lake. I stop breathing when she performs a graceful
dive and enters the water. I don’t breathe again until she bursts
upward with a large smile on her face. She’s naked of course and
her impish laughter only makes her more beautiful.

“
Did I scare you?” she asks
with a sensual, teasing laugh. Without waiting for a reply, she
splashes me before diving below the surface.

I love to swim, so I follow her
beneath the water to try to locate my spirited she-wolf. The water
is murky and it’s difficult to see her. A sharp pinch on my ass is
not a fish. I manage to grab a handful of hair and bring her
against my body. As soon as her mouth clears the surface, she
begins laughing.

Her lips are too much to resist. I
grant her a hard kiss for scaring me. Our teeth clash as our lips
adjust and our tongues tangle in sensual mating. She wraps her legs
around me and threads her fingers through my hair demanding more.
I’m not yet ready. Oh, I’m ready to fuck her, but I want this to
last more than sixty seconds, which is the course we’re now on. She
tastes wild and passionate, sweet, and spicy all at once. It’s all
I can do not to ram my cock inside her. I twist her hair more fully
around one wrist and pull her head back while releasing her lips. I
stroke my tongue along her lower lip and all the way to her
neck.

Delicious.

“
I want you, dragon,” she
whispers as I flick my tongue against her throat.

I palm one of her breasts and suck her
nipple between my lips. Pure honey. I could eat small bites of her
for years and never assuage my sweet tooth. Her head goes back,
hair floating in the water and surrounding us. I want her too. So
badly. My cock sizzles with need and my heart burns with
longing.

I put aside my guilt and all the heavy
feelings I’ve carried for so long. I need to escape if even for
only a short time. The precious treasure between her thighs can
help me do that. I skim my free hand down to her waist and lift her
slightly higher against my chest so I can suck more of her breast
past my lips. Her legs tighten around me and sweet sighs travel up
her throat.

“
Love me, dragon,
please.”

I know what she asks. It isn’t that I
truly need to love her just that I fuck her. The problem is that
I’ve fallen just a bit. I can feel a small place in my heart open
for her. Calista has been gone little more than a year and this
she-wolf is pushing aside the memories of my dead bride. It’s
happening too damn soon, but I can’t seem to stop it. If I’ve
learned anything about taking a bride and caring for her, it’s to
never waste a day. It doesn’t matter that I screw that up with each
bride. I have so little time with Sierra and she comes with none of
the virgin baggage I’m accustomed to so why waste a single
minute?

I release her breast and take the
other into my mouth, sucking until her sighs turn to heavy moans.
She’s more than beautiful. When I release her this time, I give a
gentle tug to her hair and watch as her eyes slowly open. My voice
is throaty and filled with emotion. “Are you sure, Sierra? I want
you badly, but I’m not a good man.”

Her lips form the naughtiest of
smiles. “The last thing I want is good. Be very, very wicked with
me, Sarn, because that’s what I will be with you.”

Her whispered words careen straight to
my cock. Her pussy is lined up perfectly. I release her hair and
take hold of her hips. Our eyes stay fastened to each other’s as I
press her down until she takes my entire cock within her warm
folds. Her eyes are glassy, dark pools that draw me in. She takes
my cheeks within her hands and kisses me. Our tongues dance as our
bodies melt together in a slow friction burn.

Her eyes go dreamy with need as the
passion heats between us. She feels so damn good. I have an
ethereal connection with her, similar to how I feel with a bride.
It’s nothing like the mindless release I’ve had with the women I’ve
fucked this past year. Sierra is different. Our connection is
deeper, and a little more of my heart makes room for
her.

When I can no longer control myself, I
thrust harder and faster into her warmth. Her fingernails rake
across my shoulders as her legs clench tighter. The flame between
us grows hotter until she pulls her lips away and shouts her
pleasure. She pulses around my cock, which makes my balls tighten
further. With a final groan, I let myself go and release my seed
deep within her.

We cling to each other as cool water
laps around us while we settle. Her head rests on my shoulder and
my hands cup her ass to keep her close. I should be happy. She gave
me the gift of escape. I should cherish this moment and always
remember it as special. That’s not what I feel, though, because
sadness grips me.

When I reach orgasm with a bride,
violet light bursts from my body and bathes us. It’s unique between
a dragon and his bride. This didn’t happen with Sierra. I’m very
stupid for holding out hope that she could be the equivalent of a
bride and help me escape the curse. She wasn’t a virgin. I didn’t
choose her at a claiming. She is not a bride and this realization,
the absolute understanding of what it means, casts a shadow over my
soul. She can never transcend to dragon and be my mate. All the
pain of the last year rears its ugly head and carries me into the
dark torment I created for myself when I tried to kidnap Ashrac and
I burned Roxanne. Death is preferable to this endless mental
torture I cannot hide from. I can’t escape it even in the
incredible loving arms of a very special wolf shifter.

Chapter Eight

Sierra

Our joining was too amazing to even
put into words. I feel different somehow—older, wiser, settled.
Maybe now I am truly a woman and no longer the child I run from.
The only other man I’ve been with was pleasant enough after the
first time we had sex, but it was nothing like this. What I just
experienced was a joining of more than two bodies. Sarn completed
me in some indescribable way. My blood pulsed to the beat of his
heart and I felt a current traveling from me to him and back again.
I could rest within his arms for centuries and be
satisfied.

The only thing strange is that my wolf
is surprisingly quiet. Maybe for once, she’s as content as I am. I
finally pull my head from Sarn’s shoulder and look into his eyes.
He immediately avoids my gaze.

What the hell?

He will not turn away from me after
what we just shared. “Sarn, are you all right?”

He laughs, but it’s not a pleasant
sound. I reach up and jerk his hair so he’s forced to turn back to
me. “You will tell me what’s wrong,” I demand.

His stare makes me cold. There is no
violet in his eyes; they are black and filled with despair. His
words turn my warm body to ice. “Joining with you should be
different. I thought maybe you could replace my dead bride. I was
wrong. I’m bound by a curse that will haunt me forever.” He looks
away and I see the tears he’s somehow holding back. “I told you I
was no good,” he whispers.

I can’t believe he has said all of
this after our incredible joining. Are all men this dense? I think
about my brother and father. It makes me realize that yes, they
are. Sarn’s words hurt, but I also see and feel his pain. I need to
take his suffering and wrap it in my love so tightly that none
escapes.

I run my fingers over his jawline and
just the corner of his lips. The electrical current when we touch
is still there. Can’t he feel how special this is? I tip his head
so he must look at me. He closes his eyes and I wait. He inhales
deeply before he finally gazes at me again.

I give him a soft smile. “If you think
a few hurtful words will scare me away, you’re wrong.” I lean down
and bite his shoulder hard enough to make my point before meeting
his gaze again. I watch the outer circle of his pupils go violet
once more. “I don’t care about curses and mates and brides.” I kiss
him softly on the lips before pulling away just a bit. “I care
about you and me for as much time as we can find. Don’t be stupid
and try to take that away, Sarn. I have no intention of letting you
go just yet. And…” I pepper several small kisses on his lips. “I
would much rather make love than fight.” I smooth back his hair and
trail my fingers down his cheek. “I will cook dinner and tame your
savage beast. Then we will return to bed and I will give you
another try at how to act after sex.” My smile is teasing. “You
failed this time, but I’ll let you make it up to me.”

The pain in his eyes diminishes as my
words sink in. The ache is still there, but a small spark of hope
is growing. His lips take mine in a desperate kiss. I give him back
what he needs—understanding, love, and most of all forgiveness. My
poor dragon must stop this foolishness and cherish what we can have
for however long we have it. We kiss for what seems like hours, our
bodies are locked together in an intimate dance that ignites a fire
inside me once more. I’m more than ready to adjust my legs so I can
ride him and bring release to both of us. He pulls away and I growl
in irritation.

He’s smiling at me with relief written
on his face. I thrust my pelvis against his cock, which has
hardened again. He doesn’t take me up on the offer and walks us
from the lake with my legs tightly circling his waist. “Thank you,
Sierra. I don’t deserve you,” he whispers as I slide down his body
and my feet touch the ground. He takes my hand and pushes me back
so I’m lying in the tall grass. He follows me down and begins
kissing me once more. I’m incredibly relieved that I won’t be left
with this aching burn that needs to be soothed. I want him inside
me and try to wiggle into the needed position. He’s having none of
it. His lips begin a slow descent over my neck to my breasts. I’m
flooded with desire and not happy. Enough with the buildup. I.
Need. Him. Now. Deep inside me so this ache will crest.

When he gazes at me, his eyes are a
darker violet that I’ve yet seen them. “Relax, Sierra. I need to
make something up to you.” His voice is husky velvet as his warm
breath tickles low over my stomach. He kisses my belly and spreads
my thighs with strong hands. His lips move lower and I can’t gather
air into my lungs until he finally touches me. There.

He licks over my center, which makes
my hips lift up from the grass. I gaze down and he’s watching me.
He sucks just a bit and I can no longer keep my eyes open. His
hands are now splayed across my stomach and are holding me in
place. One hand glides slowly down across my flesh until he rubs
against my sensitive clit. I moan when his lips replace his hand
and he sucks once more. His finger enters me and he presses hard
against my belly because my hips are starting to buck with my need.
He’s strong and demanding as another finger enters me. My head goes
back and forth and I don’t even recognize the sounds coming from my
throat.

I need!

It’s a flame that has risen so high
I’m about to burn from the inside out. “Sarn,” I yell.

“
Let go for me, Sierra,” he
licks along the seam of my sex and I can’t take any more. A wave of
pure pleasure envelops me and stars burst behind my eyes. Sarn’s
tongue laps at me with the rhythm of my release as his fingers pump
in and out. I’ve never felt anything so exquisite.

I come down slowly and realize his
head is resting on my belly and my hands are in his hair. I feel a
flutter in my womb at the need I have to hold onto him forever. He
finally peers up and smiles.

“
Is that making up for what
happened earlier or should I try again?”

I laugh and he resituates himself so
I’m half lying on him with my head against his chest. “No, you
don’t deserve me, Sarn, but you are stuck with me.” I tilt my head
back a bit so I can meet his eyes. “But you can make up to me like
that anytime you choose.”

A short while later, Sarn stands and
pulls me up beside him. His cock is jutting out before him and I
realize he’s in need. He shakes his head and gives a small tug on
my hand. “No,” he says and leads me back toward the cabin. We
remain quiet, each lost in our own thoughts until we enter the
front door and I head to the kitchen area. Plates and cups are
stacked in the sink along with two dirty pans. “Did you have
company?” I question curiously.