Her Dragon Hero (9 page)

From the furious glare which could scorch the paint off a wall, he thought it best to give her some space, but not much—he wasn’t going to let her out of his sight.

He watched her dive under and licked his lips, his cock hardening, it hadn’t actually deflated. Her body clad in that little outfit made him want to rip it off her, and at the same time shield her from other prying eyes of the human men nearby.

The ripple of energy caught his attention and he scanned around for the source, taking his eyes off Amber for a split second. The feel of her panic gripped him, and the realisation hit when he glanced down to see the sudden, black water where it once was clear. He felt the distinctive kind of dark magic of...“Demons!” he growled, his own powers charging like electricity in the air, his eyes bleeding back to their normal colour, not caring if any human saw him.

How dare demons snatch his mate from right under his nose! Rage, like wildfire, raced through his veins; he and his dragon roared as one. No one and nothing took what was his and lived.

“Brimstone!”

He caught sight of Slade who, no doubt, felt the power of the teleport and raced through the water, alarm on his face. There was no time to wait. He took a lung full of air and dived into the water, letting his dragon burst free while he followed the teleport into the darkness.

Although teleporting was an easy way to get around, it left residue magic which faded after a short time. So, a magic creature who could teleport himself could follow another.

He wasn’t called Brimstone the Crusher for no reason. First, he would tear their limbs off and beat them with them, before slicing open their chests with his talons, ripping out their hearts, and crushing them between his claws.

* * * *

Twice, Amber squeezed her eyes shut, only to open them and find the same thing. Did she hit her head and now was living through a plot from one of her books? She was sure she passed out from lack of oxygen and woke up in the dark, shivering with cold, and a full moon shining over a large, glassy, frozen lake. Under her still swimwear-clad body were smooth pebbles of a shore. Standing staring out over the lake was the oddest creature she has ever seen.

Have I wandered onto the set of a horror or zombie movie?
Soon, the thing standing next to her would remove the really good, special effect mask and tell her everything was fine, and he was only an extra in a film.

Huddling, she tried to stop her limbs from going numb, which was already too late for her feet. She attempted to stand, but the bitter cold was too much to bear, and she crumpled back to the ground, doing all she could to not turn into an icy-pop. So much for drowning, she would die of hypothermia instead.

“Bloody hell, it’s cold.” Even the split ends of her hair shook.

The creature turned. She saw its red, glowing eyes with nothing like the beauty of Brimstone's. No, these were malevolent and pure evil. The creature's skin was a horrid, weathered, black leather and, sunken against sharp angled bones, raised horn-like bumps ran from its forehead over the top of its skull, disappearing behind the clothes it wore. Despite a fleshy, muscled upper torso, its lower arms were long and bony.

All doubt vanished. This was no human, disguised as a creature from the beyond.
Demon
. The word popped into her head.

Man, this would be great research material if she wasn’t scared out of her mind and about to freeze to death.

“You’re not in hell, yet, human.”

She shuddered at the grating pitch of the creature’s voice, worse than fingernails scraping down a blackboard.

She hesitated asking another question, really not wanting to hear it talk again. Another feeling taking residence in her chest was the keen absence of one large, seven foot man, as if a part of her soul has been rather sharply removed. She wanted…no, needed…to see him, feel his arms around her. She wrapped her own arms around herself, trying not to shake from the cold, and stumbled to her feet.

“Brimstone.” She didn’t realise she whispered his name until the thing talked again, making her wince.

The creature sneered. “He mated you. I can smell it and see his mark. It will be an easy trap, they will both come, and they will both die.”

“T…trap? Die? Just w…what the h…hell are y…you?”

She couldn’t stop her chattering teeth.

“Silence, human, or I’ll rip out your tongue.”

Brimstone's abrupt charm suddenly felt like a chocolate fudge sundae with all the trimmings. She missed it, missed him. Damn it, how did she end up being the helpless female from one of her stories, waiting for her larger-than-life hero to swoop in and save her?

Good god, she was. Man, she was so going to change her female characters if she survived and got back to her warm hotel. She groaned, realising she didn’t have her own hotel room. This was real and fucked up, and the numbing cold told her it was not fiction.

Hang on, what did it mean 'trap'?

The creature obviously didn’t think of her as a threat. He turned his back, still staring out over the lake. Anger warmed her belly. She took a deep breath, stilling her shaking to grab a large rock in her hand and rise to her feet.

If he was an actor, she was about to be in a lot of trouble, but if it was a demon, then no foul, but she would be damned if she let anyone hurt the one man who made her feel more treasured and desired than anyone ever did.

Sure, he was rough around the edges, but the look in his eyes when she caught him staring at her made her heart pound and her stomach flutter. Not to mention, his amazing body she could stare at and explore for eternity. What was there not to want?

Creeping up behind the thing the best she could, she raised her trembling arm, ready to clock the thing over the head. A loud roar made her jump in fright as a stream of red and orange flame lit up the night sky, and she saw the huge, red dragon it came from.

“
Amber!
” Brimstone's deep, worried voice sounded in her head.

Holy shit, that’s my Brimstone?

“
Yes, my love, it’s me. Hang on
.”

The tattoo on his chest was nothing compared to the real life version now diving straight at them. He was huge and his scales gleamed brightly in the moonlight. Momentarily lost for words, all she did was stare, he was so…so…“Magnificent.”

The creature turned, snarling at her and making her stumble back a step.

“No, human, they are dead,” he hissed, before turning and yelling. “Now, come now, we need to kill both dragons.”

“Oh, no, you fucking don’t, he’s my dragon, asshole.” Amber swung with all her strength, but the thing was too quick, catching her hand before it could connect with the side of his head. Pain exploded across the side of her face when he struck her and she spun, falling sharply onto the stony shore.

The distraction was enough.  Brimstone swooped in, the creature screaming as Brim's huge talons caught it, lifting it from the ground and into the air. She winced at the crunching sound when Brim tore it in two with his powerful claws.

The dull thud of its remains hitting the ground made her stomach churn. She took in a slow, shuddering breath. Brim’s ruby jewelled eyes gleamed when he landed and chuffed warm, woodsy air over her. Oh, god, the warmth felt so good.

A little bit hysterical from the shock of everything happening, she clambered to her feet, hands on her hips, and glared up at her big, red dragon looming over her.

“Well, about time! Are you going to get me out of here, or let me freeze my arse off?”

A shimmering red mist surrounded the huge, red dragon and he shrunk down to his human height. While stepping through the mist, she watched the last of his scales melt into his body. Standing totally nude, in all his delicious, buffed up glory, he yanked her roughly into his arms, the heat of his body making her want to crawl under his skin.

“By the gods, Amber, I’m never letting you out of my sight again, even for a second!”

“Nice to see you, too. What the hell happened? What was that thing, and where the fuck are we?” she managed to demand with her face squashed against Brim’s hard, lovely, warm chest.

“That thing was a hunter demon. It teleported you here. I don’t know where we are, but I can tell we’re still in the Human Realm. Are you hurt?” He held her away, his red eyes scanning for obvious injuries.

From behind them, a large golden dragon flew in, landing gracefully on the rocky ground. In the same manner Brimstone transformed into human, Slade walked casually from his golden mist in human form, also completely nude and utterly gorgeous. No matter how handsome Slade was, however, she didn’t feel anything towards the other man-dragon other than admiration for a nice body and friendship.

“By the gods, it’s cold,” Slade muttered.

“Oh, noticed that, did you?” Amber couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of her tone while glaring at Slade.

“Don’t look at him.”

Brim’s tone held a hard edge of jealousy. It would have boosted her feminine pride if not the dark, cold, and creepy demons.

Brim gripped her chin, tilting her head to examine the side of her face. His growl was bone chilling. “I’m going to bring him back to life, so I can kill him again.”

“Ah, there’s the romantic we all know and love,” Slade quipped.

“Shut it, Slade.”

Then Brim did the oddest thing. He bent and started licking her cheek, and near the corner of her eye.

“Eww...what are you doing?” She squirmed under his wet ministrations.

“Be still, I’m healing you.”

Slade chuckled. “Dragon saliva has healing properties. You will heal quicker now, anyway. A human mated to a dragon has some advantages.”

Amber rolled her eyes. “Great. Any more kinky and perverse things I should know about dragons? No, don’t tell me now, just get us the hell out of—wherever here is.” Amber still squirmed until Brim finished with his own brand of medicine before tugging her back into the warmth of his arms.

Slade sighed heavily. “I would agree. Unfortunately, I detected several more portal ripples. More demons heading this way and fast,” Slade said, his eyes scanning the darkness.

“Fuck.” Brim stiffened.

“Well, not with my boys in this state.” Slade glanced down at his flaccid penis, which was an impressive size even when not erect. “Talk about freezing one’s nuts off. They’ve shrivelled to the size of peas! Can we kill these fuckers and get the fuck out of here?”

“All this magic and you can’t change with clothes on," Amber said. "I’m going to go blind. The only naked nut I want to see is shelled peanuts and Brim’s.”

She suddenly remembered what the demon said before the dramatic Brimstone rescue. “That demon thing mentioned something about a trap and needing you both dead. Why?”

“I have many enemies, my little mate. I have killed many demons in the dragon army. Demons often sneak into our realm to cause havoc.”

“It’s what he does best, kill things, and I help out, watching his back,” Slade added.

Brim snorted at his friend. “And how many times have I saved your dragon ass?”

Slade waved his hand. “Semantics! So, how we going to protect Amber and kill the eight demons now creeping in, and I must say very clumsily, to our current location. You know what will happen if we try to teleport her out.”

She felt Brim's chest rumble with an angry growl, not to mention her own body was shaking in fear.

“I’m going to enjoy shredding their insides for daring to take her.” He rubbed his hand down her back, trying to sooth her.

How could she fight against demons? Helplessness swamped her. She groaned, realising: “I really am the helpless heroine, aren’t I?”

“It’s not all bad, sweet,” Slade grinned and winked at her. “Think of what a great book this will make, if we survive.”

“Or, go utterly insane. I’m human, and humans are not used to dealing with paranormal stuff we think doesn’t exist.”

Brim stiffened, his hand stilled. “Time's run out.” She craned her neck back to see him staring off into the darkness. Slade moved to stand at his back.

“Slade, shift. Amber, I’m sorry, but you’ll have climb on my back and hold on, we’re going to have to fight.”

She was sure it was the fear and insanity of her situation making her more mouthy than usual. Brimstone brought out the best and the worst in her. “Oh, goodie. I get to ride a dragon in my swimsuit, in the freezing cold. Where the fuck are we, Alaska?!”

Brim just grunted in his usual way and let her loose. She stumbled back to watch again in awe as the mist formed around them, and two dragons rose out of the magic mists. Brim lowered his long neck. He had a mane of black hair and, when she stepped up to put her hands into it, found it surprisingly soft.

“
Hurry! Climb on and hold tight
.”

Using his leg, she hoisted herself up and sat on the base of his neck, near his front legs. It was a little uncomfortable, and she wrapped his hair around her hands. "Don’t blame me if you have a bald spot after this—and what’s with the telepathy?”

“
All dragons can speak to their mates while in dragon form,
” Brim projected directly into her mind.