Sacrificed to the Dragon: Part Three (5 page)

Rather than think too much on that, he guided her out the door and into the fresh air.

~~~

When they were at a safe distance from Arabella’s house, Melanie’s curiosity couldn’t take the silence any longer and she blurted out, “What can Bram do to help your sister that you can’t do yourself? You mentioned something about dominance, but I don’t fully understand what that means.”

“So you didn’t find anything in your research over the years about social structures within the dragon clans?”

She looked at him askance. “So you were paying attention to me on the first day. I wasn’t quite sure you were, given your level of assholery.”

From out of nowhere, Tristan chuckled. It was low and brief, but she loved how his short laugh made the corners of his eyes crinkle and lessen the harshness of his face. It made him even more handsome than when he was all alpha grumpy. Not that he wasn’t attractive when he went all caveman—or was it dragon?—in the bedroom, but this was different. This was a side of Tristan she wasn’t used to seeing.

This was a man she could see herself falling for.

His face relaxed with a faint smile and he said, “I like you this way better than when you’re reserved and quiet.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Good, because it seems with you, I can never be reserved, let alone quiet.”

His gaze turned heated. “Yes. Even through the dragon-haze, I remember how loud you liked to cry out in pleasure when I made you come.”

Warmth shot through her body at the memory of Tristan’s heat on top of her. She should feel bad about it considering Arabella was currently battling her own personal hell, but her hormones didn’t have a conscience.

Still, she wasn’t about to let his heated look derail her. She’d caught him looking at her back in the cottage with his flashing dragon eyes, and now he was doing it again. She knew what he wanted, but she was determined to get some answers before she let him fuck her again.

She cleared her throat. “So will you tell me about what Bram can do?”

His face took on a neutral expression. “Maybe. What do you plan to do with it? If you’re just collecting information for that book you want to write, I can’t tell you.”

She frowned. “No, I just want to know for me. Well, and...” She took a breath and said, “I also need to know what to do with our child. If this ‘dominance’ thing can be used on humans, I need some advance warning. I’m not going to let our little dragon baby try to pull one over on me.”

He looked over at her. His voice was controlled, almost like he was trying to hide some kind of emotion. “So you’re staying, then?”

“Yes, Tristan. Provided I survive the birth, I’m staying.”

He clenched his fist and his eyes flashed to slits and back. “You’re not going to die.”

She poked him in the arm. “Not even your level of stubbornness can prevent me from dying just because you say so.” He grunted as if he would argue with that statement and Mel decided to steer the conversation back on track. “Now, tell me about how dominance works with the dragon-shifters.”

He unclenched his hand and said, “Well, certain dragons are submissive, while others are dominant. Our inner beasts are a lot like animals in that respect. The more dominant ones have cores of steel. Not only that, they have stubbornness and both an inner and outer strength.”

That description fit Tristan to a T.

“So how can Bram’s dragon help Arabella’s?”

“Her dragon was dominant, once upon a time. These days, it’s like a ghost. Arabella has convinced her dragon to hide in fear, so when a strong one gives an order, hers will most likely comply.”

She frowned. “But she didn’t listen to you. And while I’m not an expert, you seem pretty dominant to me.”

He smiled. “I guess I should take ‘pretty dominant’ as a compliment.”

As much as she really wanted to, she resisted the urge to stick out her tongue at him. The asshole version of Tristan could return at any time, and she didn’t want to provoke him unnecessarily. For now, she was going to push her luck and ask another question. “So is that why Bram is clan leader? Because of his dominance?”

Tristan’s eyes moved to look at the hills and mountains in the distance. “Partly. In addition to his dragon’s strength, he’s a brilliant fit for the job because of his ability to be patient one minute and then stern the next. I don’t think I’ve seen Bram lose his head since he was a teenager. He has massive amounts of control, more than I could ever hope to achieve.”

She fought a smile at his admission of a fault. “How was he chosen?”

Tristan looked back at her and raised an eyebrow. “Inquisitive one, aren’t you?” She shrugged and he chuckled again. “Fine. I’ll humor your anthropologist’s curiosity for a little longer.”

Before she could think about it, she said in a dry voice, “Don’t strain yourself on my account.”

He chuckled and Mel loved the fact she could make him laugh. But as quickly as it had come, his laugh and smile were gone. She would definitely need to find a way to bring it back again. She might just make it her own personal challenge.

She nearly faltered at that thought. Since when did she care about making Tristan smile?

Luckily, Tristan’s deep voice stopped her from thinking too hard on that question. He said, “When the clan leadership trials opened up right before our last leader retired, the interested dragonmen and women had to pass a series of obstacles in their dragon forms.”

“So, like a display of skills, to prove to the clan the dragon-shifter could take care of them.”

“Yes. The very last trial is the most important because it tests how well a dragon-shifter can keep control over their dragon when in dragon-form.” He looked over at her. “Under pressure, it’s easy to let the dragon-half take control and lose your humanity.”

Melanie was hungry for more information. “So how do they test that?”

Tristan silently stared, his deep brown eyes assessing her. For a second, she thought he wasn’t going to answer. Then he said, “Several clan members attack a candidate, but not before chasing him or her and then playing a series of mind tricks. The test last three days, and it can be quite brutal.”

“But necessary.”

He gave a look of surprise. “Yes.”

She smiled at catching him off guard. She explained, “I’ve studied what little I could find about the dragons and their history, and a weak leader would be the death of a clan. You’re human, but you’re also part dragon. The dragon side needs to do what’s necessary to protect those they love.”

“And it’s not always neat and pretty. I would do whatever was necessary to protect our child, even fight a dragon to the death.” He stopped walking and faced her. “While I hope it doesn’t come to that, does the idea of me doing what’s necessary scare you?”

She stopped and looked up into his deep brown eyes. Her gut told her that her answer would be important to her future; mainly, if she would have one with Tristan as maybe something more or not.

Suddenly, the thought of never feeling Tristan’s body against hers or to never again argue or stand toe-to-toe with him caused her heart to ache. Whenever she was with this dragonman, she finally felt like herself. No pretense, no putting on her mask, just her. She’d never even felt that way with her own parents.

Add that to what she’d learned of his past on top of his trust in her by introducing her to his sister, Mel decided that if she wasn’t careful, she might even come to love him.

But since today was the first time he’d been civil, she was getting her hopes up a little too early. Regardless, she would be honest. “Sometimes, yes, your dragon-half scares me.” Seeing his face become shuttered, she crossed the few steps between them and placed a hand on his chest. “But I sort of like it when your dragon comes to the forefront. It’s a part of who you are, Tristan, and I don’t want you to hide it from me. Ever.”

He placed his hands on her waist and pulled her up against him. “Are you saying that for the sake of our child or for yourself?”

She could barely breathe at the feel of his hard body against hers, but she made her mind focus for a little bit longer. She wanted, no needed, to know something before she let him kiss her. And judging by his half-lidded look, he was on the verge of kissing the shit out of her. “Before I answer, tell me this: does your human-half still hate me?”

Chapter Five

Reaching out and pulling Melanie’s soft body up against his had been a mistake. It was taking everything Tristan had to keep both halves of him from ripping off her clothes and losing himself in the curves and valleys of her body.

But then she went and asked him if his human-half still hated her, and his inner dragon roared for him to tell her the truth. They could not lose her. No time to be stubborn. Don’t chase her away.

He pushed his dragon to the back of his mind. He wanted his human-half in control when he answered her. Because, as he stared into her searching green eyes, all he could remember was her telling Arabella how wonderful she was, or how she’d kept her cool in front of Bram and the clan at the First Kiss ceremony. Then there was the fact that she never wanted him to hide his dragon-half.

That combination in a human female was rare, and even Tristan was honest enough to admit it. He’d won the lottery when it came to his choice of sacrifice and the thought of her leaving him had the human-half of him saying, “No fucking way.”

His dragon gave a rumble before going quiet again. Apparently, his inner beast approved of that sentiment.

Tristan squeezed Melanie’s waist, took a deep breath, and said, “No, Melanie Hall, my human-half doesn’t hate you. If anything, I’d say the bastard is starting to like you a little too much.”

She smiled, but then it faded. Her brows furrowed and she tilted her head. “Now it’s my turn to ask if it’s for your sake or for the sake of our child’s?”

“Both, because right now you’re one and the same.”

Her eyes widened. “Tristan MacLeod is spouting fancy words? Am I dreaming?”

He growled. “I can say pretty words when I feel the need. It’s just that usually I’m too busy arguing with you, you stubborn woman.”

She grinned and he felt liked he’d been punch in the gut. Then she ran a hand up his chest until it rested on the side of his neck. The feel of the soft skin of her fingers against his skin sent a jolt straight to his cock. It didn’t take much for this woman to set him off.

As she started to stroke his skin, his dragon crooned.

He noticed the playful glint in Melanie’s eye and his human-half pushed back into control just as she said, “There is a time when I never argue, and that involves you, me, and your dragon naked.”

His breath hitched at the same time his dragon roared inside his head at the scent of Melanie’s arousal.
Take her. Devour her body. She is ours.

For the first time since meeting Melanie Hall, Tristan wasn’t going to argue with his inner dragon.

He lowered his head and kissed her. The instant her lips opened beneath his, he growled, stroked her tongue, the inside of her mouth, and then nipped her lower lip before he drew her closer against his body. When her hard nipples and soft breasts pressed against his chest, his dragon urged for Tristan to let him take control.

But Tristan told him, “
No. This time, she’s all mine.
”

The dragon was almost smug as Tristan fisted a hand in Melanie’s long hair and titled her head for better access. Her taste was fucking incredible. As her hot, slick tongue met his stroke for stroke, he ached to feel that silky, talented tongue caressing his dick.

Melanie moaned into his mouth as he squeezed her plump arse.

He released a drop of precum at the sound. Enough was enough. He needed to do a hell of a lot more than kiss her.

He broke their kiss, and whispered, “I need to be inside you, Melanie Hall. Will you let me fuck you under the sky?”

Her pupils dilated and the rush of her scent into the air told him all he needed to know, but he was determined to hear it from her lips.

He raised a finger and traced her bottom lip, and then the top before pressing his finger inside her mouth. She never broke her gaze as she licked his finger before sucking it deep into the wet heat of her mouth.

Yes, he was definitely going to have to let her suck his cock sooner rather than later.

As she pulled harder, he decided it was time to get naked because, bloody hell, at this rate he’d come from her just sucking his finger. He growled, “Say the words, Melanie, so I can toss you to the ground and devour you.”

She grabbed his wrist and pulled his finger from her mouth. She leaned in close and said, “Yes, Tristan. Fuck me under the sky.”

~~~

Melanie’s heart pounded in her chest as she asked Tristan to fuck her. While she’d been turned on during their weeklong marathon of sex, this time, she felt more. This time, she wasn’t giving in to prevent the dragonman from harming her or the clan. No, right now, she desperately needed to feel Tristan’s hands on her skin to soothe the ache coursing through her body.

But it wasn’t just her skin. She also was wet and swollen for him, her clit pulsing and throbbing for attention. It felt like if she didn’t have his cock inside her, and soon, she would die.