The Seven: Four tales of passion, danger and love (48 page)

“Becoming a dragon?”

“No—what happened between us.”

“Never.”

“Then why now?”

He considered the question for a moment. “Maybe because our ink is more than just ink.”

“Meaning what?”

He stood and took his half-full plate to the sink, then turned to look at her. “I think I need to tell you how I came to have this tattoo.”

“I’m listening.”

“Let’s go into the den.”

“Okay.” She stood, picked up her plate and started for the sink, then paused. “Can I give this to the puppy?”

“Sure, but let’s put him in the laundry room if you don’t mind. Just until he finishes eating. Here, might as well add this to it.” He scraped the remains of his breakfast onto her plate.

“Thanks.” She took her plate and set it on the floor in the laundry room, the puppy on her heels.

“I’ll be back,” she promised.

The puppy was focused on the food and paid her no attention as she closed the door and turned toward Walker.

He gestured toward the den and they made their way to the couch. She took a seat on the end and he sat beside her.

Grace waited for him to start talking. Until now she hadn’t sensed any nervousness in him. Concern? Yes. She could feel his concern for her. He had to be wondering if she was insane. But he seemed so filled with self-confidence. Now she could feel the anxiety rolling off him like the scent of freshly applied perfume.

It sparked surprising emotions inside her. She wanted to comfort him, to make him feel at ease. But why? Why did she have such strong feelings for a man she’d just met?

“You don’t have to tell me.”

“Yes, I do.” He blew out a breath. “Okay, it was like this…”

Chapter Six

Two seven-foot tall gargoyles guarded the door to his private study. Living gargoyles. How had he convinced them to serve him? That was a question she’d ponder later. For now, she followed the tall dark-skinned man to the door, surveying the gargoyles with disdain. They’d refused to swear allegiance to her and for that, they had earned her derision.

The dark-skinned man tapped on the door softly. Moments later, a voice sounded from behind the door. “Enter.”

He opened the door and stepped aside as she entered then followed behind her and closed the door.

“You may go.” The man standing by the wall of windows on the opposite side of the room commanded.

The dark skinned man nodded and left. She waited until the man at the window turned to face her. “It is a waste of your time and mine for you to come.” The man at the window said softly.

“And yet, here I am, Severin.”

“Yes, here you are. So out with it and let us be done.”

She moved closer, noting the way his body tensed when she drew near. So her affect on him still held some sway. That was of note.

“She belongs to me. Even your visage cannot tempt her away from me.”

He dismissed her words with a wave of his hand. “Ever the arrogant goddess. You may have inked her, Nyah, but she does not belong to you. I marked her before you cast your spell.”

“A kiss is not a brand, or have you forgotten? Free will must be honored. Forcing her to walk with you will diminish your power. But perhaps that is what you secretly yearn for—a depreciation in your power so that when you surrender, you can justify it as something beyond your control.”

He chuckled and took a step closer. “An amusing, if erroneous, notion. You above all know that there cannot be surrender. You and I, we are locked in this war with a firmness than will not abate. It is our fate.”

Nyah nodded, feeling the old sadness creep in. He spoke the truth. They would forever play the role of adversaries, battling to shift the balance in their favor. And perhaps for a time one would hold sway over the other, but eventually the balance would shift. It was the way of the universe. Neither Dark nor Light could hold sway over the other for long for within each was a kernel of the other that would swell or recede, and thus affect the balance.

“And yet, you insist upon trying to assert control over her. Why this one, Damos?”

He regarded her for a few moments before answering. “That is not the name by which I am known, as you well know. But no matter. You seek to propagate the species, to give rise to a new breed of warrior. A new type of shifter created outside of the norm for their race.”

She shrugged, unwilling to address the issue. “While you have a more noble purpose in mind for her?”

He regarded her for a long moment and she saw the hidden longing in the depths of his eyes. “Nobility. An overrated notion. It is nobility that set us upon this path. A decree from your most noble mate.”

Nyah turned away so that he would not see the pain in her eyes. It was true. Zarad had sought vengeance against her when, after all the centuries of loneliness, she had turned to Severin for solace. His wrath at her infidelity had cost her everything. All she had left was her role in destiny.

To walk eternity alone.

It was a bitter fate, and that bitterness was something she battled every day. How easy it would be to succumb to the resentment, to turn to the man behind her, a man who craved her, possibly even worshiped her.

Yet she held steadfast to the course fate and her desire for revenge had set her upon. The alternative was beyond contemplation.

*****

Two hours had passed since Grace and Walker had sat to talk. Once he’d started the words had poured from him like a dam that had been breached. He talked until his throat ached with dryness and his chest was tight with emotion.

And all the while, she’d watched, tears streaming down her face as she listened. Walker had to fight his own demons. He let emotions he’d never allowed to pour from him, overwhelm him.

“When I realized that the ink she put on me healed me and gave me abilities that were—unbelievable, I knew I had to go back to being a firefighter. To honor Utah. I had to make sure no one else died on my watch. I know that sounds arrogant and self-important and I don’t mean it to be, but the way I see it is she gave me a chance that no one gets. A chance to be more and do more and I can’t turn my back on that. Not even if it means always being alone.”

Grace wiped at her eyes with one hand and then reached out with her other to touch him, gently clasping his hand. “You’re not alone, Walker.”

His eyes met hers and something swelled inside him. Something that had him acting without thought. He pulled her closer. “Can this be real, Grace?’

“I don’t know.” Her voice was but a whisper, her breath soft in his face as her eyes searched his. “I mean what about Leann? You still wear her on your arm.”

Walker looked down at the small tattoo on his left arm. Leann’s name in a heart. “I won’t ever forget her. I can’t. She was my first love and…and we never got to say goodbye. I’ll always love her—or at least the memory of her. But this…this is in a league of its own, Grace. I don’t know how to even begin to describe it. I don’t know what this is but if we are…changing and becoming dragons, then what does that mean for our lifespan. Are we doomed to die young or will we live forever? Will we age and can we have kids? We don’t have anyone to ask so maybe there aren’t answers. But ask yourself. Who else could we ever share our lives with? Who else would ever understand?”

“But Walker, last night…the sex. It was…it was intense…rough and exciting but…”

“But what?”

“But I don’t want to be nothing more than someone who has a matching beast inside that can satisfy your… I don’t know what to call it. Your dragon nature? I don’t want to be just the only option available. Do you understand?”

“I do. And I don’t want that either. But something else happened last night. I felt it. Didn’t you?”

Grace felt a sudden grip of fear. Answering that question revealed so much and despite what she felt or thought she felt, how could she trust him with such knowledge? She looked into his eyes, searching for assurance and miraculously, found it.

“I did. I know it’s crazy but I feel connected to you. Not just the dragon part, but me. I can feel you, Walker. Your emotions. It’s like…”

“We’re mated.”

“Mated?”

“It’s the only way I can describe it. Like we’re joined somehow.”

“Yes. But…but how can it be and how can it work? We’re strangers.”

“That’s how everyone begins. But if you want to walk away…”

“No.” She didn’t. Didn’t know if she could. Especially now that she knew his past and what he’d suffered.

“Then let’s give this a chance, Grace.”

“Okay.”

He smiled and leaned toward her. His lips were soft and the kiss was almost chaste, but it was the most powerful moment she’d ever experienced. A homecoming. She felt him. In her mind.

It claimed her. Completely and irrevocably.

“Walker,” she breathed against his lips.

The sound of his name falling from her lips like a prayer sealed his fate. Something tore through him like fire, consuming and burning, but not with pain. It was a cleansing fire, one that washed the pain of the past from him, soothing and healing.

There had to be a God because he’d just received another blessing, one that set him free from despair. He was not alone. He loved.

“I want you.”

“Like last night? You really want to do that to your house?”

He laughed. “No, not like last night. Not as the dragon but as me. I want you, Grace.”

“And I want you.”

Walker chuckled, stood and pulled her to her feet. Grace smiled up at him, then ran her left hand over his hip and stomach and then lower. Walker went a little weak in the knees when her hand stoked over the erection that strained in his jeans.

“We definitely need to take this to the bedroom.” Walker scooped her up in his arms, carried her to the bedroom and set her down beside the bed.

He stripped back the bedcovers, then knelt in front of her and pulled down her shorts. Grace’s fingers tangled in his hair as his tongue laved between the lips of her sex and over the nub of her clit. Walker took her to the edge of climax, then stood and pressed her back onto the bed, spreading her legs to kneel between them.

She looked up at him. “Tell me what you want, Walker.”

“You. All of you.”

“I’m yours.”

His. However he wanted. All of the things he had done with and to women flitted through his mind. No, none of that was it.

And suddenly it came to him. He wanted to make her want him, to give her such pleasure that she wouldn’t ever want another man.

He wanted to seduce her with his touch and his love. “What do you want?” He braced himself with his arms on either side of her and leaned down, running his tongue over one nipple, at first with the flat of his tongue, softly stroking, circling the areola.

“That,” she murmured and stretched appreciatively, pressing her breasts up. “I want you to touch me, taste me. Take me slowly and completely.”

He sucked her nipple into his mouth, flicking his tongue over it; at the same time, moving his left hand to the other breast, teasing the nipple with his thumb.

Grace stretched, wiggled and writhed beneath him. He felt some kind of strange energy rise inside him, something he didn’t quite understand but something that made him feel strong and powerful. His touch did this. His. Not the dragon’s, but his.

He moved down her body, kissing and biting. When he reached her sex, he moved his hands to spread her, exposing her clit. One touch of his tongue and her fingers were tightening in his hair, her pelvis arching up against his mouth.

Walker took his time, teasing her clit until her body virtually quivered, then moving to plunge his tongue inside her and heard her moan and gasp his name. When he did let her come, she quaked against him and groaned his name. He moved up her body, holding himself aloft above her with one hand on the bed and then guided himself to her wet center.

Grace arched up to meet him, wrapped her legs around him, and pulled him deep inside her. Nothing had ever, or would probably ever feel as good as the feel of her tight sex gripping him, her legs tightened around him and her hands clinging to his shoulders.

Walker lost touch with everything around them. He heard no sounds other than that of her breath or his name on her lips. He didn’t know if time was passing or standing still. Nothing else mattered and nothing else existed. There was only the two of them; locked in a dance of love that had opened a door he had not knownwas real. The door that led to unity.

This wasn’t like anything he had ever experienced. The sensations were so intense they were nearly overwhelming. It was something that transcended the physical. He felt like he and Grace were connected—heart and mind. He could feel what she wanted and responded in answer to those feelings.

In turn, he felt her fulfilling needs he did not have to express in words. As corny as it sounded, it truly was a dance of love that ended separation. He was not alone. She was with him, part of him.

He gave himself to it, not caring what lay beyond that wonderful moment. And when they finally lay exhausted in one another’s arms with evening creeping in upon them, he heard her soft whisper. “I love you, Ellis Walker.”

That changed everything. Today his loneliness ended. Today he belonged.

And from now on, nothing would be the same.