A Dragon's Seduction (7 page)

“Tell me to stop and I will,” Brayden murmured against her lips.

Stop? Was he kidding? She wanted to feel him. Touch him. Make him want her as much as she wanted him.

“I don’t want you to stop,” Callie whispered back. “I want to feel you against me.” She looked into his eyes with half-closed lids. “Feel you inside me.”

Brayden groaned and slid his hands down her back. He found the hem of her shirt and tugged upwards. His eyes darkened with pleasure as the shirt disappeared revealing firm, creamy breasts.

His thumbs blazed a trail to their rosy peaks. His lips soon followed sending wave after wave of pure bliss from her nipples to her stomach.

Callie held him against her. They stumbled backward and her legs bumped against the wingback chair. She clutched his back, her fingernails digging into taught muscles as she regained her balance. She could feel his inner power. Feel the sheer potency of the force inside him as her own Magik strengthened. She could feel it rising after years of dormancy. Rising and begging for freedom.

Callie let her Magik take control and shoved Brayden into the chair. His pleased gasp of surprise spurred her on. Her eyes, heavy with passion, locked with his. Then something passed between them. Something stronger than just hunger. Something more intimate and fragile that sealed the bond between them forever. In that instant Callie knew she truly was his. And no other man – mortal or not – could ever compare.

She straddled him and slowly unbuttoned his shirt, her fingers twining in the short, curly hair covering his bare chest. With her fingertips, she followed its path to where it disappeared inside his jeans. She paused with her hand on the snap of his jeans, then leaned forward and kissed his lips, her breasts brushing against his chest in a velvety caress. The sensation flooded her with a growing need, and she felt his beneath her. Through her silk pants and his jeans she felt his manhood harden, and she delighted in the fact she had pleased him. Her fingers left the snap and stroked his rigid arousal, feeling it throb against her fingers through the denim.

“Callie…” Brayden cupped her face with his hands and pulled her lips to his. “I need you now!”

“Yes,” she murmured. “Now!”

His hands left her face and found the elastic band at her waist. One hand slipped inside and brushed across the flimsy lace of her panties before finding the soft folds of her core. She heated, moistened and grinded against his fingers.

Her Magik intensified, bursting inside her like a grenade. She could feel its force taking control. Making her stronger.

Suddenly, Brayden hissed and gripped his stomach.

“What’s wrong?” Callie’s heart lurched.

“Dragon,” Brayden whispered hoarsely, a pained expression across his face.

Fingers of fear clutched her spine. Cyrus? Where? She looked around but didn’t see anything.

“Go. Lock yourself in one of the rooms. Hurry.” Brayden gripped the sides of the chair, white-knuckled, his biceps tightening.

“I don’t see him. I thought you said he couldn’t –”

“Not Cyrus.” Brayden’s eyes glowed a bright orange. “Me. I … can’t … stop … it. Go!”

Callie jumped from the chair and scooped her shirt from the floor. She turned back just in time to see Brayden’s hands lengthen into claws and his skin thicken into silvery-blue scales.

Callie clutched the shirt against her bare breasts and ran from the room. She heard the unmistakable snarl of a dragon as she ran up the winding staircase.

 For the love of Magik, where would she ever find a place to hide in a dragon’s lair?  

CHAPTER SIX

The dragon stormed through the chambers of the castle hissing and snorting in outrage. It ignored Brayden’s every attempt to shift back to mortal form.

Stopping in an upstairs doorway, the dragon pawed impatiently. Talons scratched the door like fingernails across a chalkboard. Its hisses echoed throughout the castle.

“Go away!”

The dragon reared its head and breathed. Lightning splintered the wooden door leaving a stench of burned oak in the hallway.

“I said go away!” Callie repeated.

The dragon lunged toward the door, crushing the wood like a toothpick. Callie screamed as it burst into the room baring razor sharp teeth and hissing like a beast from the pits of darkness.

* * *

Callie’s screams penetrated the barrier between the dragon and the mortal man. Brayden tensed and fought to bring the beast inside under control. His muscles ached from the effort. His body spasmed with each attempt.

 The dragon leaped into the air and landed beside Callie with a thud. The sheer force caused the four-post bed to rattle and the mahogany headboard to bang against the wall. A full-length mirror hanging on the adjacent wall crashed to the floor in a heap of reflective shards.

The dragon threw back its head and howled.

Callie slowly backed against the wall, careful not to step on the broken glass. She closed her eyes and murmured a quick spell. Then her eyes flew open and she looked the dragon in its glowing orange orbs. She held out her hands. A greenish-gold aura arced from her fingertips swallowing the dragon in its mist. White lights flashed throughout the room. “I command you, beast, to leave me be.”

The dragon tried to lunge, then retreated and shrieked as if doused with acid. It fell to the floor writhing and snarling. Within seconds, the dragon disappeared leaving behind the mortal man clad only in jeans lying on the floor at Callie’s feet.

“Callie?” Brayden croaked, feeling as if he’d been run over by an 18-wheeler. Every muscle ached, every nerve burned.

“What was that all about?” Callie stood above him with her hands planted firmly on her hips. Her eyes pinned him with blue lasers.

Brayden grimaced. “Self-preservation.”

“I thought you were supposed to be a good dragon. You know … a Gatekeeper. Keeping balance, guarding portals, yadda, yadda, yadda.” Callie let out a disgusted sigh. “You’re a firefighter, for Pete’s sake. You’re supposed to
save
lives.”

 Brayden winced at her accusing tone. “I know. This usually doesn’t happen.”

“Then why in the devil did you turn on me? I’d be better off facing Cyrus. At least then I’d know what I’m up against. This –” She pointed to the glass shards. “This came out of nowhere.”

Brayden sat up. Sharp pains shot through his temples and the room swayed. He tightened his jaw. “Not nowhere exactly.” He sucked in a deep breath. “Can you help me up?”

“Why? So you can claw me to death?”

“Callie…”

“Oh, fine. Here.” She reached down and grabbed his hand then jerked him none-too-gently to his feet.

Brayden winced again as another pain shot through his head. He waited for the room to stop spinning before he let go of her hand. “I’m sorry.”

“Look, mister, sorry doesn’t quite cut it this time.” She poked him in the chest. “I want to know what just happened back there and why.”

Brayden reached again for her hand. Callie snatched it back and cocked an eyebrow. He sighed then walked unsteadily to the bed where he sat down and patted for her to join him.

“I’m fine right where I am, thank you. Now start talking.”

Brayden plunged a hand through his hair. “I can’t always control the dragon.”

“So I noticed.” Callie smirked, tossing her hair back from her shoulder.

“Come on, Callie. I didn’t mean for this to happen.” His hazel eyes pleaded with her to understand. “I shouldn’t have touched you.”

Callie stilled. “Didn’t you enjoy it?”

The hurt in her voice stabbed him in the chest like a knight’s deadly sword. “Of course I did. You nearly drove me out of my mind with pleasure.” He gripped the taupe comforter until his knuckles popped. Just thinking about her body straddling him made him hot all over. “I wanted – want – you so much it nearly killed me. Literally. Sugar, your touch is like poison to a dragon.”

“Well, I certainly feel better now.”

How could he explain it to her without putting himself in more danger. If she ever found out the kind of power she had over him then she could use it against him. The question was would she?

He studied her for a moment. The hurt in her soft blue eyes. The uncertainty on her face. The sexy curve of her hip.
Oh, what the blazes!
“Come here, Callie.”

Her eyes narrowed into arctic slits. “No, I–”

“Come.” He again patted the bed beside him. “Let me explain.”

She took a couple of cautious steps toward him then stopped.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” His words were soft and gentle.

Callie moved to the bed and sat down beside him. Brayden took her hand in his. He rubbed her palm gently with his thumb. “If I’d known … if I’d realized…” He shrugged helplessly. “I would have never brought you here, you have to believe that.”

“What happened?”

“The dragon inside felt threatened.”

“By me?” Her eyes widened into blue oceans.

“You’re a sorceress. The enemy.”

“Because of an ancient squabble between our ancestors,” Callie scoffed. “Besides, I don’t even practice Magik. You’ve got to do better than that, dragon boy, if you expect me to believe you.”

 “The dragon doesn’t know that. It sensed your power and instinctively tried to protect us.” Brayden took a deep breath.
Not to mention the fact your kind destroyed my parents.
“This
ancient squabble
incited the Grand One to banish our races to opposite ends of Jarithia, forbidden to ever mix again.”

“That’s just plain ridiculous. The war was, what, a gazillion years ago?”

“A few hundred, yes.”

“I didn’t grow up in Jarithia, and I’ve only been there a handful of times. Is there still that much animosity among our races there?”

“Yes. In Jarithia, each keeps to their own end of the kingdom.”

Her mouth formed a small pink
‘O.’
“I didn’t realize. No wonder the dragon attacked me.”

“I’m sorry, Callie. I couldn’t stop the shift.” He hesitated for a moment. “I…”

She searched his face expectantly. “There’s more, isn’t there?”

His inner dragon snarled a warning, pawing in outrage at the mere thought of revealing his weakness.

Should he tell her? Could he even risk it? Brayden inhaled sharply. Death by sorceress. That’s what it was. Plain and simple. Yet…

A soft alarm interrupted his thought.

Brayden fished in his jean pocket and pulled out his phone. He glanced at the screen and sighed. “Another fire. Just west of Bourbon Street.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Cyrus?” Heart in throat, Callie waited for his answer.

Brayden shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not.”  He stood and pulled Callie to her feet. “I’ve got to get to the fire station. I want you to stay here where it’s safe.”

“Safe? Here? You’ve got to be kidding me.” She pursed her lips.

The corners of Brayden’s eyes crinkled. “Wow. One beasty little dragon rears its head and she thinks she’s not safe.” He slipped his arms around her waist and planted a kiss on her lips.

Callie’s heart flipped. Then flopped. “It
was
a fierce-looking beast,” she murmured, snuggling against his neck, breathing in the scent of musk, spice and pure male. Her stomach tingled and her body heated like a furnace on a cold winter morning.
Watch it, Callie. This is what got you into trouble the first time. Do you really want to battle the beast again this soon?