Dragons Don't Cry (3 page)

“Do you like that?” he asked in a voice that
sent chills across the same skin he’d just heated.

“Do it again.”

His top lip curled upward, and I wanted both
his lips on me. On my breasts, my nipples. Oh, gods, what was wrong
with me? I swatted his hand away without thinking.

Now his startled eyes flashed red. Intense
crimson. Dragon’s eyes. I opened my mouth to scream.

“Sleep.”

***

Acasia

His roar woke me from my nap. The dragon had
returned. I threw back the covers and hurriedly pulled my robe
tighter, belting the sash and wishing I had something else to wear.
The roar sounded again. I actually started running. The noise came
from the tower where the dragon had first taken me. The smell was
horrible and increased as I drew closer.

I stopped at the top of the stairway and
looked down into the deep cavern below. A large quivering animal
faced the dragon. Its breath came out in huffing gasps. The dragon
stepped closer, talons clicking against the stone. The animal
didn’t back up, standing its ground as it faced death.

And death came.

The dragon’s sharp teeth captured the animal
by the head and ripped it off with one crunch of its powerful jaws.
Blood sprayed as the dragon’s front claws landed on the body. The
head flew ten feet away. He pulled off a front leg and chomped it
between his savage jaws. He spit the bones aside and flipped up the
carcass with his nose, swallowing it whole. A bulge from the large
beast outlined in the dragon’s throat as he devoured it.

I thought I might be sick again, but before
I looked away, his red gaze settled on me. Blood ran down his chin,
a piece of something stringy falling from his mouth. This is how he
would eat me.

Tomorrow. I was the meal.

I climbed over the stone separating the
stairway from the dragon’s perch. I walked to the very edge. I did
not intend to die the same death I’d just seen. I inched to the
side and peered over. I noticed the dragon, but my eyes fastened on
the stone floor below. “I’m sorry, mother, I cannot make you
proud.” I jumped.

His roar swelled and almost burst my
eardrums as I fell.

“Stupid woman named Acasia.” The yell
bellowed as soon as the roar tapered off.

Talons grabbed me from the air and brought
me close to the dragon’s chest. The shiny red scales were soft, not
hard like they looked. He’d saved me. Would he eat me now? He
settled me down in the middle of the blood from his snack, or
dinner, or whatever the hell it was.

I looked up and up until I gazed into his
eyes. “I do not wish to die that way, dragon. Now I will plead.
Make it quick, get it over with.”

“You would kill yourself for a faster
death?”

I heard the uncertainty in his voice “’Tis
not the death, ’tis the torture of it and the waiting.”

A great hulking arm came toward me and his
nail flicked out, connecting with my side. I flew back a few feet.
He did it again and I stumbled farther. After the third time, my
back was to the wall, and the dragon dropped his neck, turning so
one eye glared into mine.

“I do not eat humans, silly woman. Your
taste is unpleasant.”

At his words, my feet gave way and my ass
hit the stone floor hard. His eye dipped, moving down to stay level
with mine. His nostrils flared, hot air blowing my hair back. He
breathed in, his long snout running indecently along my body,
actually touching the robe.

“I do not like the smell of your fear.”

I sat on my sore bottom, stunned. My anger
rose. Never in my entire life had I felt so furious. I pulled my
arm back and my fist flew. Instantaneous pain. “Ow, that hurt.” I
swear his nose was made of iron.

This time when his head flew back, his
throat arching and fire flaring outward, I knew what he was going
to do.

The damned dragon laughed at me.

Chapter Five

Bastian

Cursed female. I paced in my chamber. She
slept in the adjoining room, put asleep with magic because I needed
time to think. She’d tried to kill herself. Never in all the years
of claiming my brides had one tried taking her life.

It shook me to my core.

One hundred years before another companion
and she would take herself from me.

I’d waited what seemed like eternity since
Bethanne’s passing. This female, who I almost didn’t claim, would
leave me within hours of coming to my kingdom. And on top of that,
she’d struck me. Damaged her hand while trying to hurt me. Death
was not an option for her, not yet. She would live at least another
fifty years and keep me company. Entertain me. Make me laugh.

I looked around my chamber. I could chain
her in these rooms with some of my treasures. But I knew in my
heart the restrictions would slowly kill her. I’d learned from
former brides that human females needed some freedom. After they
settled into their life with me, I took them with me to other
realms. Allowing them freedom to walk among their own kind. Through
the long hours of discussion with Bethanne, she’d told me her needs
and made me understand. Each bride had different ones and it could
be years before I understood what this one wanted most.

In the years since Bethanne’s death, I’d
forgotten. I brought my anger to the claiming field, letting it
burn. It continued even after Acasia first awoke. I’d threatened
her life as I flew away—“I’ll eat you tomorrow.” And she’d jumped
over the side—embracing death—thinking to leave me alone.

My human roar was nowhere as loud as my
dragon’s, but it helped me gain control. When my anger settled
slightly, I walked into her chamber. I whipped the covering back
and saw the curve of her breast. I craved her full nakedness. I
examined every inch that I could see knowing she would sleep
through my perusal. Even beneath the material, her incredible form
curved in all the right places. Her breasts were full, and I had a
small glimpse of one nipple, small and rosy. I wanted to suckle,
flick the tip with my tongue. I arranged my cock beneath the human
jeans. I should have put on looser material. I focused my gaze on
her face. Soft in sleep, beautiful in innocence. I wanted this
woman. Needed to slide into her body and bury myself within her
sheath. One of her hands curled beside her head. I uncurled her
fingers, seeing the slight bruise and swelling from hitting me. If
she touched me slowly, my scales would give way. Only in violence
did they turn to armor. She’d hit me violently, making me laugh.
But now, I pictured her body twisted, bleeding, and lifeless if I
hadn’t caught her.

I sat on the side of the bed, running my
fingers through her hair. I would not touch her flesh unless she
awoke and I saw desire in her eyes. But I could touch her hair, run
my fingers through the strands and bring them to my nose. Her
heavenly scent made my cock throb harder, thicker.

***

Acasia

I dreamed of him again. Touching my hair,
leaning over me, scenting me. My thighs pressed together, a need
I’d never felt building. Sexual yearning, I knew exactly what it
was. My girlfriends had told me about the electrical throb, but
their explanations fell flat.

I opened my eyes.

“Woman named Acasia get out here.” The roar
filled my ears, hurting my eardrums.

Damned dragon.

I tightened the robe, walking from my room,
into the library, through the arched door and down the long
hallway. He stood on the ledge at the top of the stairs clicking
his talon. I cast my angry gaze at the offending appendage. He
stopped. Smart dragon.

“We must talk,” the words were slightly less
harsh, but still echoed loudly within the circular stone walls.

“Do you like to converse with your food
before you imbibe?”

“Stupid woman named Acasia. You tempt my
anger.”

“My name is Acasia, not stupid woman named
Acasia.”

Smoke came from his nostrils. I guessed it
signified his anger.

I needed to know. “Why did you save me?” I
asked softly.

The smoke dissipated and his heavy breathing
slowed. “I have come to apologize.” Each word seemed pulled from
his throat.

“For saving me?”

“Quiet,” he thundered.

I was thinking of punching his nose again,
but just fisting my hand hurt. I looked down and saw the swelling
and bruising.

“You try to injure a beast covered in
scales, stupid female na…” He stopped himself.

My lips curled up slightly.

“Do that again.”

I looked over my shoulder, thinking he spoke
to someone else.

“Smile for me,” he commanded.

What? “No. You’re a beast—mean, threatening,
a bully. Why would I smile?”

“Because I demand it.”

If the walls were anything but stone, they
would be shaking. The stupid beast. “Well you can take your demand
and shove it up your red, fire-breathing ass.” My entire body
trembled with slow-rising fury.

“I apologize and you rebuff me?” His tone
finally lowered and I could hear his puzzlement.

I sighed and gave half an inch. “I asked my
question first and you didn’t answer. Answer me and I’ll consider
accepting your apology.” Oops. Smoke floated from his nose as soon
as I finished my statement.

“I’ve forgotten the question, stupid
female,” he huffed.

I didn’t think it would be a good idea to
laugh at him. “My name is not stupid female. Try Acasia…
A-caa-sh-a.”

A slight spark may have flashed in the black
smoke. “Names are too intimate. I will not use your name.”

I controlled my need to stomp my foot. The
obstinate brute. “Then try calling me female, if you must, but if
you really want to apologize you might take ‘stupid’ from the
beginning.”

“You are crazy.” His wings flapped.

“You are stubborn. I asked why you saved me.
That was the question and I’d like an answer.” I waited as his
wings settled again.

His neck extended, his head moving closer. I
backed up a step. He breathed in noisily. He must like my scent,
because he’d done it before. My dream man did it too. It must be
the roses from the bathing soap.

“I do not wish you dead.” The husky words
left goose bumps on my flesh.

I understood nothing about this beast. “Then
why kill the helpless animal in front of me?”

He blinked. “I wanted to scare you.”

“To death?”

“Humph. No, I crave entertainment. You are
interesting. I wanted to see what you would do. I did not foresee
you throwing yourself over the ledge.”

He couldn’t possibly be this simpleminded.
“I chose the quicker death, but…” I straightened my back a little
more hoping he didn’t think me weak. “I do not wish to die.”

The lids of his red eyes blinked again
slowly. “Good, I do not wish to chain you. Bethanne said it saddens
human females.”

Bethanne. I knew that name. She was claimed
by this dragon one hundred years ago. We studied her in our history
lessons. “How long did she live?”

His front legs came out, landing a short
distance from me. He flopped down, his head resting on his huge
feet. His nose almost touched my robe. Sadness spiraled throughout
every inch of his body clear to his tail, which circled around and
settled over one of his legs.

Desolation dulled his usually bright red
eyes. “Thirty-two years I have lived without her. She was twenty
when she came, and she lived to be eighty-eight. Sixty-eight years
is not long enough to keep someone when dragons live forever.”

My breath caught. I wanted to cry. It was
his voice—depressed, mournful, completely devastated. His mammoth
teeth no longer scared me. I reached out and touched his nose with
my left hand because my right one was still sore. Soft, so
incredibly soft and warm.

“A dragon needs no pity,” he snapped
half-heartedly.

I pulled my hand back. “It’s empathy. I
studied Bethanne when I was young. Hers was one of the more popular
claimings.”

He made that sound again. “Humph. She was
feisty like you, but different too. She cried for months and I
hated her tears. I stole the books in the library for her.”

“You stole them? From where?” How could
anyone with books allow someone to steal them?

“They belonged to another realm. A place
with more books than your realm has people. Will you smile for me
again?” His half-hooded eyes caused my blood to pump faster.

I fought within myself because I wanted to
give him what he asked. “Why would I smile for you?”

“What would you like? I can steal you
anything.”

I didn’t think about my answer. “You don’t
need to steal what I want most. Freedom. Take me home.”

A spark of anger flared in his eyes.
“Anything but that.”

Chapter Six

Acasia

His fingers sliding across my arm woke me
up. I didn’t open my eyes; I knew it was my dream man. “Is it
really you?”

“Do you want it to be?”

A touch of recognition in his husky voice
startled me, but this had to be a dream. “Yes, I do.”

“May I touch you?”

I sighed, aching for his warmth.
“Please.”

His hand moved up past my shoulder to the
curve of my neck. I moved my head, giving him better access. A
roughened finger trailed lightly across my skin, skimming over my
jaw until it ran along my lower lip. I caught the finger between my
lips and heard his sharp intake of breath. I opened my eyes
slightly.

“Do not. Leave them closed, my lady.”

His insistent voice was almost pleading, and
for some reason, I obeyed. I remembered what he looked like, and
fantasized that he moved downward, touching me lower.

“Like this?” His fingers left my lips and
traveled to my breasts.

I covered my eyes. Oh, gods, no; in my
dreams he could hear my thoughts. He cupped my flesh, laughing
huskily at my embarrassment.

“So soft,” he whispered against my hands,
his warm breath causing a tremble to run through my body.