Dragons Don't Love (8 page)

How can I not laugh?

I’m laughing so hard now that I can
barely breathe. I can’t stop even when he lifts me and tosses me
over the side. I laugh the entire way down. What does it matter if
my guts splatter on the earth? I didn’t manage to do the one thing
I swore my entire life that I would accomplish. I didn’t even say
goodbye to my parents because of the course I was set
on.

I have no idea when my laughter turns
to sobs. Of course Laryn catches me. He doesn’t carry me back to
the tower, though. Inside his talons, I can’t see where we’re
going. When I tumble to the ground, he carefully nudges me with one
sharp claw. I come to my feet and the shock of what I see stops my
tears.

I stand at the edge of a cliff
overlooking water. I’ve never seen anything like it. The water goes
on for as far as I can see. The water laps against jagged rocks far
below us. A breeze hits my face and I inhale deeply. It’s such a
strange scent. The dragon places his legs to either side of me and
I snuggle between them.

“
This is where I come when
the world is just too much,” he whispers into my mind.

How does he know? I sink back against
his belly and stare out over the amazing sight. “Thank you,” I
reply softly. I wipe tears from my eyes. “I never told my parents
goodbye.”

“
Both of mine died in one
wretched day.”

He hurts too. I have no idea why that
makes me feel better. “I truly meant to kill you yesterday,” I
sniff.

I feel his chest rumble. “You are
incapable of killing me. I was surprised, though. It made for an
interesting claiming ceremony.”

“
It did, didn’t
it?”

I start laughing again and he breathes
fire over my head. Some of the sparks float away on the breeze and
slowly sink into the water.

“
Would you like to ride on
my back? No bride has ever ridden me without a saddle until
you.”

I tip my head and gaze up his long
dragon’s throat to the underside of his chin. His top teeth
protrude slightly over his bottom jaw. They are incredibly sharp
and I should be terrified. “I would love to ride back. Have I
ruined all chances of you training me in the ways of
war?”

“
A promise is a
promise.”

One full day has passed and I have
feelings for this dragon. Or maybe they are for the man. I grin.
It’s hard to have feelings for a dragon with a blue
member.

Chapter Sixteen

Laryn

“
Bring your guard up and
protect your left side, human,” I shout as she drops her shoulder
again. If I hadn’t pulled back, she’d have a gaping
wound.

“
I’m trying, you blue
demon,” she says while gasping for air. “And you’re human
too.”

I give her my finest smirk. “Don’t let
this outstanding human body fool you. I’m all dragon, sweetheart.”
I twist my wrist and her sword flies over the side of the
tower.

We’ve trained each day for a week and
spend hours building her endurance. Then, an hour with swords and a
final hour in flight, though the flying is for the sheer fun of it.
When I arrive at her room to begin our training sessions, she’s all
business and never complains about the muscle-aching work I have
her do. She runs, lifts heavy bags of grain, and runs some more.
Her eyes light up when it’s time for sword practice. I’ve made her
start over and reverse her bad habits. She’s frustrated yet follows
my instruction to the letter. I’ve worked with Ashrac many times.
He complains and loses interest quickly. Not my bride.

I feel bad that she is locked inside
her room at night. It’s for the best, or so I tell
myself.

I bring her a breakfast meal each day
because I can’t wait until mid-morning training to see her. Sharing
the meal goes against my personal rules for my new bride, but some
rules are just made to be broken.

At the end of the day, we also share
the evening meal in my rooms. There is a greater purpose for this
interaction. I always begin with very few words and act aloof. She
hates it. Slowly, as the evening progresses, I touch her in small
ways and move closer as we relax after the meal.

At the lightest brush of my skin, I
hear her sudden indrawn breaths and see the shivers that cross her
flesh. I caress her with my eyes and when she can take no more and
her gaze begs me to continue, I pull her closer. She will
eventually vocalize her needs to me and I will be the winner of
this sexual game we play. I slowly kiss my way across her neck and
the tops of her breasts. Her hands wrap in my hair when she can no
longer resist touching me. Only my lips graze the places I have
deemed the most sensual for her. Yes, I suffer too, but it’s the
end game that entices me to continue.

My marks cover her neck and the tops
of her breasts. Her sweet sighs as I make them fill me with a
feeling so strong it’s hard to breathe. It’s not love, though. It’s
possessiveness. She’s mine and I want the world to know it. The
other dragons forever teased me for marking my brides. Let them
tease; I want to see this bride covered in the suction bites and
kisses I place on her flesh. At last, when I have her deeply within
my spell, I ask her to beg for more.

Her muscles go tight and her dreamy
eyes fill with gold sparks. And each night, I know she’s the most
stubborn human I’ve ever encountered. She rivals a dragon’s
pigheadedness when it comes to begging me for what her body
craves.

Right now, we’re standing on the
perch, her breasts are heaving and my marks are quite visible with
the sun shining upon us. I truly can’t help my smirk. “You know
what this means, human.” I begin removing my clothes and when I
drop the last item on the ledge, I shift. She spends the time
catching her breath and gazing at my magnificence. Stubborn woman
could have every inch of me with only a little begging.

I’m beyond proud that she never
complains about what we do next. With sweat pouring off her
glorious body and her limbs quivering, she runs up my tail and
leaps upon my back. We fly to the bottom of the tower where she
springs off before I have a chance to properly land. Then her
punishment for losing the sword begins and she starts running up
the stairs. A few days ago she barely made it to the top. Today she
doesn’t stop. When she reaches the upper most ledge, I’m waiting.
She charges up my tail and finds her seat again. I love that she
doesn’t use a saddle and her bare thighs squeeze tight against my
neck. It’s torture of the most erotic kind.

I’ve had several new outfits made for
her. The one she’s wearing today is particularly revealing. A
bronze clasp holds the leather hip straps and small twines of
supple leather secure to the bronze and cover her pussy. Barely.
She uttered not one complaint when I opened her door so she could
follow me to the practice perch. I rebuke myself for having such a
revealing outfit made. Again, torture.

With her riding me, I ease my cock’s
forescales back and give the swelling a bit of relief. It’s how
I’ve controlled myself each day. In her current state of attire, I
need additional therapy and I’m hoping cold water will help. “Would
you like to swim?”

Her body is usually relaxed while
riding, but now it stiffens. “I don’t swim, dragon.”

This surprises me. “You
cannot?”

Her ire rises again. “I wouldn’t say
it if it were not true. I never learned to swim. When the village
children went swimming, I went hunting.”

Hmmm. “Why would a female hunt?” I
don’t know all the ways of the human village, but I know the men
provide meat for their families.

She doesn’t speak for a few minutes.
This is quite strange because she always has a ready comeback to my
inquiries. “A wall collapsed on my father’s legs and he could no
longer walk. I learned to hunt so we wouldn’t go
hungry.”

“
No one offered your family
aid?” I bristled and she squeezed her legs tighter. Exquisite
torture.

“
The village had lean years
and no one could afford to help us.”

I knew of these years in the village
and remember delivering many large sacks of grain. It was almost
too late that time. It’s easy for us dragons to forget the human
realm exists. At least until the claiming is eminent. The drought
about fifteen years ago was bad and completely slipped by our magic
realms. I think it was Sarn who suggested we check on the village.
“How old were you when you began hunting?”

“
Six.”

She practiced her sword skills while
hunting. “Is that when you decided to kill me?”

She whispers honestly,
“Yes.”

So young and so incredibly
foolish.

It matters not. For some reason her
attempt to kill me makes me proud. Not that I will tell her that.
She has yet to beg and I really need that cold water. “I’ll teach
you to swim. It’s much like leaping from the tower. If you trust me
you will learn.”

She hesitates for only a few seconds.
“Then let’s go swimming.”

“
Hold on.” I’m excited to
teach her something new and I add a burst of speed.

When we fly over the water, she does
the exact opposite of holding on. She moves around until her small
feet dig into my scales. She stands upon my back completely
fearless.

I love her. No. I do not. I barely
like her. We haven’t even fucked.

“
We’re going in.” I don’t
give her time to respond. I lift my nose and buck my body. She
flies over my head and I shift to human mid-dive. I hear her splash
before I hit the water. It takes me a moment to spot her. Panic
shows in her eyes, but she isn’t struggling. I gather her in my
arms, kick my feet, and push us upward.

She coughs between smiles as she draws
air into her lungs. “I guess my first lesson will be not to suck in
a breath after I go under,” she says as soon as she can
speak.

The water does nothing to relieve my
aching cock. She’s never looked more beautiful. “Here’s another
lesson.” I tip my head down. “Breathe through your nose,” I say
huskily. I’ve never actually kissed her mouth. I’ve been saving
myself from this particular torture. It’s time.

Salty, cold sweetness fills
my senses as I take her lips in a deep kiss. I wrap her ponytail
around my wrist and hold her head still. Not that she’s going
anywhere. Her lips melt against mine and I increase the pressure.
She opens her succulent lips and my tongue slides in. My tongue
swirls and glides along her teeth and her tongue. Her taste rolls
over me and my cock becomes a pole of pure iron. It would be so
easy to take her here—slide that small bit of cloth aside and
pierce my bride for the first time.

No. She must beg first. I will win our
challenge because I am dragon and far more stubborn than any human
female. I withdraw my lips and she slowly opens her eyes. I read
desire in their depths. She wants me. A few simple words and she
can have me.

Her eyes come back into focus. “Will
you teach me to swim now?”

Not anywhere near the words I want to
hear. It makes me quite disgruntled.

I teach her to swim with a complete
lack of enthusiasm. She doesn’t seem to notice. Her lips are
quivering and her teeth are clacking when I halt the lesson. “Put
your arms around my neck and circle your legs about my hips.” I
turn so my back faces her in the water. “If you fall when I shift,
I will grab you with my talons.”

“
Oooo kkkk ay.”

I shift and using my wings, I push
from the water and shoot up to the sky. Somehow she remains on my
back. Some of my irritation dissipates. She is such a warrior. I
don’t fly far. She is freezing. She wisely leans in low and absorbs
some of my body heat, but I can still feel her
shivering.

I head to a small cove. There’s a
large log at the edge of the water. I breathe fire and it blazes.
With another breath of fire, it rolls farther into the cove and
continues burning. I land on the beach and I’m surprised when she
doesn’t immediately jump down.

“
Iiiim tttttooo
cooold.”

“
Allow your body to relax
and don’t fight this.” I rear back and immediately lift my tail and
buck as I lower my head. My bride flies up, I shift to human and
catch her.

I get a small giggle for this
extraordinary feat.

“
You’re freezing.” I carry
her to the fire and set her on her feet. I begin unbuckling her arm
guards. Next, I kneel and remove her boots. She remains silent
until I unclasp the front hook of her lower garment.

“
No, please,” her concern
stops her from stuttering.

“
Yes,” I say in my firmest
voice. “You have nothing to hide from me and I will not allow you
to take a chill. I’ll wait until you beg before fucking you, but I
will not be stopped from seeing your body. Close your
eyes.”

Against her exacting nature and
without argument, her eyes slam shut. I continue removing the
cloth. Every inch of her is exquisite, made for me and pleasing to
my every fantasy. Her breasts full, waist small, hips wide, and
skin so incredibly soft I want to mark her everywhere. When I
finish removing her top and lower garments, I run my hands briskly
over her flesh to warm her. Her eyes remain shut tight, which
scrunches her face just a bit and purses her very kissable lips.
Finally, I pull her close against me. Her back is to the fire, so
my body warms her front. It’s the best I can do. And the best is
killing me. My cock is between us. It aches to find its home. Her
shivering lessens as I untie the band holding her hair and thread
it out behind her so the fire heats it. I can see over her back and
the round globes of her ass are almost my undoing.