Wicked Dark Dragon (Dragon Heat) (5 page)

“It’s okay. Is it bad?”

“It will heal.”

“With scars?”

“They’ll be faint.” Overwhelmed by the need to reassure her, he kissed the top of her head. Their gazes clashed in the mirror’s reflection, his a bit wide-eyed at the realization of how intimate he was behaving toward her and Ivy’s bright with wonder at the sudden shift in their relationship. Back in the relative safety of their cell, he had been able to maintain control, but out here, with Ivy at constant risk, his inner beast was too dominant. His dragon wanted to mate her and be done with it.

Clearing his throat, he said, “We’ll get a pretty necklace to cover them, if they bother you.” Realizing he had just offered to buy her jewelry, he headed off a heavy discussion by picking up one of the boxed toothbrushes encased in plastic and ripping open the packaging. He thrust the new tube of toothpaste at her, too. “Here.”

“Thanks.”

Ivy looked so damned happy for the chance to properly brush her teeth. She had been making do with a tube of toothpaste, a cup of water, and her finger every morning and night. With full bellies and clean mouths, they were directed to the showers. When it became clear the Knights intended to watch, she grew frightened and embarrassed. Disgusted with those lecherous assholes, he touched her cheek and commanded her attention. “Look at me.”

She stared up at him with such anxiety. “Mad, please…”

“I’ll shield you. After a hot shower, you’ll feel better. If they see anything, it doesn’t matter.”

“Why not?”

He lowered his face until his lips ghosted along the shell of her ear. “Because I’m going to kill them for everything they’ve done to hurt you. Whatever they see tonight, they take to the grave.”

She went rigid as his harshly whispered words registered. When she pulled back to peer up at him, her eyes had gone completely reptilian in appearance. The golden irises were now flecked with ruby, and her pupils were elongated and thin. His vow to seek vengeance on those who had harmed her had awoken the dragon’s bloodlust within her. Her scent shifted slightly, and he drew it deep into his lungs. He muscled down the primal need to mate that her changing scent provoked.

Gathering her courage, she stepped back and peeled out of the shirt he had given her. She covered her small breasts with one arm and placed her hand down to shield her sex. Turning her back on him, she moved under the closest shower head and twisted the knob. Hot water soaked her hair and spilled down her back.

Entranced by the sight of Ivy’s body, he raked his needful gaze along her naked skin. He had always been fond of bigger women.
Zaftig
was the term Griff always used for the women he chased, but that definitely wasn’t a word that could describe Ivy. Built like a ballerina, she seemed so fragile. His mind took a natural detour, and he wondered what it would be like to have her in his bed. If she ever invited him between the sheets, he would have to be gentle and easy with her. She was much too precious to harm with carelessness.

God, how he wanted her. Shedding his clothes, Mad tried to regain control over the hormones raging through his body but failed miserably. He used his bigger frame to block the Knights’ view of Ivy’s wet, soapy skin. With their arms chained together, they had to work in unison to get clean. Although she was cooperative, he didn’t miss the way she kept her eyes fixed forward on the tile and refused to look at him.

She gasped when he swiped his lathered palm down her back. There was no way she could reach that patch of skin herself, not with the heavy chains weighing down her arms, so he did the gentlemanly thing and helped her. As his hand glided along the curve of her spine, he suddenly wished they were far away from here. A hotel, his house, her dorm room—anywhere but this awful hellhole. The first time he touched her so intimately should have been something special and sweet, not this sordid and forced spectacle for the amusement of their guards.

Forget about the guards. Take what you want.

Mad glanced over his shoulder as the raspy voice of the Seer invaded his mind. Ivy must have sensed the evil presence of the Knights’ secret weapon because she shivered. He rolled his neck and tried to block the psychic’s mental attack but he wasn’t nearly as adept as Ivy.

Grabbing the small bottle of shampoo that had been left for them, he squeezed a dollop into his hand and worked it into her hair. He stepped closer to her, but mindful of the erection her scent and alluring beauty had inspired, he made sure it wasn’t too close. Ivy relaxed as he massaged her scalp and spread the coconut-scented foam through her hair. He helped her rinse and then stepped back when she pivoted toward him.

The cuffs spun around her wrists as she twirled under the chains, using the slack to allow her to face him. He stiffened when she wrapped her arms around his waist. With shaky fingers that betrayed her uncertainty and nervousness, she dragged the bar of soap up and down his back. How much courage had it taken for someone who was so obviously inexperienced with men to touch him like this? He could smell her anxiety, but she soldiered on and kept her soapy hands on his skin. Her cheek was pressed to his chest—and the throbbing head of his hard cock nudged the soft flesh of her belly.

She wants you.

Go. Away.
He hated that this evil crone was trying to manipulate him. Even more, he despised the way his weak body responded. Why couldn’t he control himself? What was so different about tonight?

Breathe in deeply, Welshman. Her scent has sweetened. She’s in heat—for you.

He tried to hold his breath but it was impossible. He had to breathe, and the Seer was right. Ivy was hot for him. She was excited, aroused, and nervous. The delicious scent of her drove his inner beast fucking crazy.

Take her. Mate her.
Claim
her.

“No!”

Ivy jumped, dropping the soap and jerking her hands back. The chains attached to her wrists slapped his arms. “I’m sorry.”

He grasped the fingers of her right hand. “I didn’t mean you. I meant
her
.”

Ivy’s eyes darkened with concern. “Is she talking to you? I can feel her, but she’s not bothering me.”

“She’s bothering me.” He backed Ivy up until she stood under the showerhead and watched the hot water rush over her pink skin. He prayed it would dilute the enticing and alluring scent of her. Looking down at his dark-haired sprite, he lost himself in her curious gaze. Her lips were reddened, and when her pink tongue swiped the upper one, he swooped down to capture it. At the last possible second, he stopped himself. Ivy’s shuddery breath skated across his cheek. Eyes closed, he tensed his jaw. “I’m sorry.”

“What’s wrong with you? You feel different to me. You feel…dangerous.”

“I am.” And he didn’t know why. Unless…

His gaze darted to the dinner they had eaten. No, he had tasted the food and it was safe. He glanced at the soap and toiletries but those all smelled right. How else might he have been drugged? He hadn’t put anything else in his mouth except for—

“The toothpaste,” he announced with a growl. “They put lust root in the fucking toothpaste.”

“Lust what?”

“It’s an old plant that can’t be found in the wild anymore. Ignatius ordered every last plant searched out and destroyed after the Knights captured Reinhard and forced it on him.” The viciously cruel memories of what his friend had suffered still soured his stomach. “It’s the reason he changed his name. After his rampage, he disappeared for many years, and when he came back, he was an entirely different person.”

Ivy swallowed. “Rampage?”

The wavering fear in her voice cut him like a razor to the heart. “I won’t harm you, Ivy. I will kill myself before I force myself on you.”

Her eyes widened at his vow. “Mad! Don’t say something like that.”

“I mean it.” He stretched his neck again. “Don’t worry about it. I’m stronger than the lust root. There wasn’t nearly enough in one tiny dose to make me lose my mind.” He might not lose his mind but his control on his body was slipping. His steely erection pulsed in time with his heartbeat. Visions of burying his face between Ivy’s thighs to taste her sweet nectar tormented him. The very thought of sinking into her tight, virgin pussy was enough to make him growl.

But he wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t take from her something she had so preciously guarded. “I’ll be in pain for the rest of the night but I’ll survive.”

“Oh, Mad.” She caressed his jaw. “What about me? Why aren’t I feeling it as strongly?”

“You’re not a full-blooded dragon. Your body chemistry doesn’t react the same as mine.”

“Oh.”

You can’t win this battle, Welshman. Take the girl. Mark her as your own.

Shrugging off the Seer’s annoying voice, Mad said, “We’ll be fine. There’s nothing they can do to me that will make me hurt you. The Seer can’t—”

The sentence died in his throat. Clutching his head, he cried out as a horrific stabbing pain lanced his brain. Ivy cupped his neck and gazed up at him with worry. Her lips moved, but he couldn’t hear anything but an eardrum-piercing screech. Logically, he knew the torments weren’t real but that didn’t make the pain any easier to bear.

Swaying on his feet, he slammed against the wall. He managed to stay upright but Ivy fell hard on the tile. Wincing, she scrambled to stand and put her hands on his chest. “Mad? Mad!”

He couldn’t answer her. His brain was boiling, and his blood pressure was rising dangerously high. His heart thumped painfully in his chest. An invisible but inhumanly strong hand squeezed the air right of out his lungs. Seized with panic, he realized the Seer was using her abilities to hurt him without ever laying a finger on him.

Shit! I’m dying.
He gripped Ivy’s arm. The look in her terrified eyes punched him in the gut. He had failed her. He had come here to protect and save her and failed miserably. With the last bit of strength, he urged her to fight.

Just hold on, sweetheart. Hold on.

L
eave him alone!” Ivy shouted the words as four Knights rushed them and pried open Mad’s mouth. She tried to fight them off, but one of them grabbed her wrists and held her back, forcing her to watch as another poured a vial of the purple liquid onto his tongue. Mad choked and coughed, but the Seer’s hold over his body was too great. He swallowed down most of what he had been given, more of that lust root no doubt.

Just as quickly as they had dosed Mad with the vile concoction, they turned on her and pried her jaw wide open. The cold and bitter liquid spilled onto her tongue. She tried not to swallow, but one of the men smacked her across the face, the force of his strike making her gulp with shock.

Their duties done, the Knights retreated and left them alone. She fell forward against her Beast. “Mad? Mad!”

Pale and covered in slick, cold sweat, he slumped forward and slid all the way down the wall. The heavy ink scrolling along his shoulders and arms and covering his chest looked so very dark against his graying skin. The blood was draining from his face and leaving his lips thin and sickly purple. Only one part of him remained a healthy, lively color.

Ivy gulped at the sight of his extraordinarily thick and long erection. She had always expected a man his size would be well-endowed, but she was still taken aback. Despite her shock, she didn’t shrink away in virgin fright. To her sheer distress, the feral whisper of the dragon within urged her to stroke his hot flesh and ease the ache he must be feeling.

“What do you want?” she called out to the Seer while she caressed Mad’s handsome face. The thought of him succumbing to the Seer’s torture filled her with such an aching, throbbing emptiness. Her feelings for the dragon were so very complicated, but she couldn’t deny what her heart said was right. And he was it. He was the one she had been waiting for all her life. Just as she had always suspected she was something more than human, she had always believed that there was someone special out there for her. “Please don’t die, Beast.”

He doesn’t have to die. Save him. Ease his madness and pain.

No.
Ivy refused to play into the Knights’ hand.

You’re being so stubborn. I’ve seen your dreams. I’ve listened to your thoughts. You want him. See the way he burns for you?
Take
him.

The Seer spoke the truth. Even before she had met Mad in the flesh, she had been fascinated by the mysterious man who visited her dreams. After their erotic interlude in the club dreamscape, she couldn’t shake her desire for him. The way he insisted on holding her while she slept didn’t help matters any. He curled that big, strong body of his around her. The soothing heat of him and the security of his powerful arms cradling her close were enough to make a girl swoon.

Mad made her want things she had never before desired. He made her want to know all the secrets her friends had uncovered years earlier. The sultry, sensual side she had never felt comfortable indulging suddenly demanded to be unleashed. It was as if something dormant had been awakened within her. Maybe it had. Perhaps her connection to this great beast of a dragon had touched off something supernatural and feral in her. The potion she had been forced to swallow wasn’t helping.

That second dose of lust root will make him ravenous, girl. If the potion doesn’t kill him, I will. My Knights were promised a show. They’ve never witnessed the mating rituals of the dragons. Give them a taste tonight—and I’ll let your Beast see another sunrise.

Ivy glanced back at the guards standing in a semicircle around them. Eyes shining lecherously, they stared on with obvious excitement. Painfully aware of her nakedness, she gulped anxiously and bit her lower lip to keep it from wobbling pitifully. Crouching closer to Mad, she tried to hide as much of her body as possible from the guards watching them. She thought of the warning her mother had given her about getting into sticky situations. She had read enough chilling news stories about young women outnumbered by men to know how this would end if she didn’t do as ordered. Recalling Mad’s description of his friend going on a rampage when overdosed with the root, she feared what might happen if she didn’t take the pressure off, so to speak.

A trickle of blood leaked from Mad’s nose. Green fluid the color of antifreeze dripped from his ears. His laborious breaths scared her. This wonderfully fantastic mythical man-beast hybrid was so very strong, but she didn’t know how much more of this he could take. The Seer might be bluffing—but Ivy couldn’t take that chance, not with the man who made her body thrum and her blood sing.
Not with my mate.

Making up her mind to do whatever the Seer wanted in order to save Mad, she picked up one of the towels from the stack that had been left for them and gently wiped away the blood and fluid trickling along his skin. Leaning over him, she peered into his glazed eyes and prayed he would let her inside…

Second by second, their physical surroundings collapsed like dominoes. An image from Mad’s memories—the locker room of the gym he owned with his cousin—appeared before her. She replicated the details with his help, creating a familiar environment that would set him at ease and block out the Knights and chains. Using her ability to connect to Mad while they were both asleep was one thing, but this was totally new territory. She hoped she wouldn’t fail.

In this strange wake-dream world she had crafted, Mad roused with a sharp inhale and bolted upright. He snatched her close and rolled to his knees, shoving her behind him in one move. His head whipped side to side as he searched for their guards, but they weren’t visible to him. He whirled back on her, grasping her upper arms and hauling her upright. “Ivy? What’s going on?”

She put both hands on his broad chest and petted him. His once cold and clammy skin was blazing hot now. Even in this dream world, he smelled more delicious, the woodsy scent of him curling around her and making the very tips of her toes tingle. “Calm down, Mad. This is our place. It’s our world. We’re safe here.”

“No, we’re not. They gave me more of the lust potion.” He sniffed her mouth and grimaced. “Shit. Not you, too!” He tried to shove her away from him. “You have to get away from me. I could hurt you.”

“You won’t hurt me, and I’m not going anywhere. We’re staying here, in my world. I’m going to help you.”

He clasped her face in his big, rough palms. “What have you done?”

Running her fingers along his, she gripped them and dragged them away from her cheeks. “I’m saving your life. She’ll kill you if we don’t—”

“Don’t what, Ivy?” His eyes widened as the penny dropped. “
No.
” His emphatic rejection surprised her. “I’m not doing that to you. Not like this. Not here.”

“It’s just sex, Mad.” She said it carelessly but her stomach pitched with fear and embarrassment.

“It’s not
just
anything, Ivy. Not when it comes to you,” he said tenderly. “We aren’t doing this.”

“Yes, we are.” If the Seer could control Mad’s body, why couldn’t she? “I’m sorry.” She pushed hard against his chest and shoved him against the wall. “It’s the only way to save you.”

“Ivy.” His gaze turned frantic when he realized he couldn’t move his legs or arms. He was locked in tight and stuck in that standing position. “Don’t even think about it!”

Blocking out the men who were watching and the Seer who was threatening to kill him, Ivy committed herself completely to the fantasy. “It’s just you and me, Mad.” She peppered playful kisses all over his sculpted chest. “A girl and her dragon.”

“This is a dangerous game, Ivy.” He breathed heavily. His voice had taken on a deeper, huskier tone.

“Yes, it is. It’s life or death.” She rose on tiptoes but was far too short to reach his lips. “Kiss me, Mad. Kiss me the way you did in our dream.”

The furious set to his mouth relaxed. He capitulated faster than she had expected. Clearly the potion was working. With a low and needful groan, he lowered his face and nuzzled their noses together. His lips finally made contact with hers. A flutter of something wild and wicked rocked her core. Closing her eyes, she surrendered to his seeking kiss, the first they had shared in the real, physical world.

A burst of fiery passion blistered between them. Sliding her hands along his strong arms, she rejoiced in his commanding kiss. Even bound with chains and her mind, he proved to be as dominating as ever. She might be the one with the freedom to move, but he was the one with all the control.

When he backed off the kiss, she issued a whimper of protest, but he wasn’t about to give in to her. He nipped at her lower lip, tugging her sensitive flesh between his teeth and biting down gently. “Let me move, Ivy.”

She found the strength to refuse him. “No.”

“Ivy.” His mouth brushed hers but didn’t linger. “I can give you pleasure.”

“That’s why I can’t let you free.”

He frowned down at her. “Don’t you want me to make you feel good?”

“Oh, you have no idea.” A delicious ripple burned through her core and settled between her thighs. If she let him loose, he would break her concentration and shatter the dream. Once fully awake, there was no telling what Mad would do in his drugged state.

Running her hand down his abdomen, she inched closer and closer to the rigid shaft that she had been sneaking peeks at during their shower. His breath hitched when her fingertips sifted through the thatch of curls guarding his cock. She hadn’t ever been this close to a naked man but she wasn’t naïve or totally innocent. She didn’t know exactly what she was doing, but she was going to fake the hell out of some confidence.

“Tell me it’s okay to touch you, Mad.” She was willing to do whatever was necessary to save him, but she wasn’t going to cross
that
line.

He growled, the sound so low and rumbling it made her clitoris pulse. “Touch my cock, Ivy. Make me come.”

His command made her throb in all the right places. Breasts aching and pussy clenching with desire, she clasped his erection and stroked from the wide base to the blunt tip. His searing flesh branded her skin, and his girth was so great her fingers didn’t even come close to touching. Could she even take him when the time came?

“Tighter,” Mad urged and captured her mouth with a possessive kiss. “Both hands, Ivy.”

She melted against his solid body and did as instructed. He thrust against her palms and grew more insistent with his kisses. His mint-flavored tongue traced the seam of her lips before flicking inside and touching her tongue.

An arc of pure and unadulterated lust raced through her chest and settled in her belly. She noticed he smelled different again, now muskier and spicier. She rubbed the tip of her nose against his skin and inhaled his scent. Drugged by the aphrodisiac, Ivy grew hotter and more aroused. Her feminine center pulsed almost painfully and she squeezed her thighs together to lessen the ache. A slick wetness seeped from her core and stained her thighs.

His seed. Take his seed.

The need to taste him overwhelmed her. Though she had never performed oral sex, she knew the mechanics and basics of the act from reading racy novels and satisfying her curiosity with a glossy skin flick or two. Slowly, she knelt at Mad’s feet and gazed up at him with utter adoration. She licked her lips to wet them and then dotted quick kisses along his shaft.

“Ivy, you really shouldn’t.” The warning edge to his voice did little to dissuade her. When she circled her tongue around the head of his cock, he groaned and fisted his hands at his sides. “My seed isn’t safe.”

His words gave her pause. “You’re sick?”

“It will change you.” His voice had dropped half an octave and grown rougher. “There’s no going back once we go down this road.”

Taste him
.

“I’m not turning back now.” She wrapped her lips around the thick ruddy crown. The taste and feel of him in her mouth, the velvety heat over hard steel, was unlike anything she had expected. There was no way she could do any of those wickedly arousing tricks she had seen in the online clips she’d giggled over with her best friend Eris, but she had a feeling Mad didn’t really care. His cock was gliding in and out of the willing mouth of his woman.

She experimented with different techniques, taking him with long, slow down strokes or bobbing fast and shallow and holding just the tip of him between her lips. Judging by the sounds he made, Mad enjoyed all of it. Some of her girlfriends had complained about giving head, likening it to a transaction that was simply part of maintaining a relationship, but she found it rather exhilarating. It made her feel powerful to see Mad quivering and trembling before her.

Humming enthusiastically around his cock, Ivy sucked him harder and faster. She remembered all the pointers she had picked up from friends telling their naughty tales and used them to make Mad lose control. His hips pumped subtly and his fingers flexed at his sides. His staccato breaths deepened and grew forceful. “Ivy.”

Emboldened by his groan, she added her hands to the mix. That was all it took to shove him over the edge. He pulled back but she followed his movement and captured his cock. He tried to hold back but biology won the battle. The first splash of semen hit her tongue, and a surprised whimper escaped her throat. The sweet taste of him set off a craving she couldn’t control. She took him deeper and swallowed down the delicious essence that spilled onto her tongue.

Revitalized by the swap of sexual energy, she licked him clean, refusing to waste even one drop of Mad’s seed. The wild thing inside her wanted all of him. Dropping back against the wall, he tried to regain his breathing. She kissed his upper thighs and the spot just beneath his navel. It was a sweet and tender moment that was abruptly and rudely ruined.

The jeering Knights shattered her dreamscape, hurtling them both back into their cold, stark reality. The world she had created crumbled. Now they were bound in chains and providing a spectacle for the men who held them captive. Shame swept through her. Had she really just done
that
in front of a crowd?

Enraged by the humiliation she had suffered, Mad stunned her by gripping the chains in his massive hands and tearing them apart. Metal links clattered to the floor. In the blink of an eye, he shoved her into the nearest corner and launched himself at the closest Knight. Without the shock collar around her throat, the Knights couldn’t hurt her from afar anymore, and he was taking advantage of it.