Dark Magic (The Chronicles of Arandal)

Chapter Eleven


As she obeyed his last command, he made a low sound and came down beside her, lifting her hand away from herself and kissing her fingers before folding his own fingers around hers.

“Enough.”

His touch was gentle as he stroked his hands up and down her back.

She pressed her face against his shoulder, still fighting tears.

One of his hands found her chin and tipped it up so that his mouth could come down on hers.

He moved his lips against hers, brushing, sliding, settling.

“I shouldn’t have done that to you.”

“You wanted to know I was…serious.”

“Yes. And now I need your forgiveness.”

“Then you have it.”

“Will you always amaze me?”

“I hope so,” she murmured.

His tongue slipped into her mouth, playing with the line of her teeth and the sensitive tissue just beyond her lips.

When he moved away from her, she made a small sound of protest, but he was only standing up so he could get undressed. First his boots. Then his shirt.

Her breath caught. His body was as magnificent as she remembered, well muscled and smooth.

As she watched, he worked the tie at the top of his leggings. When it was opened, he pulled the pants down and kicked them away.

His magnificent cock stood out stiffly from his body, long and thick. Could she really take something so huge inside herself?

As she wondered about that, he came back to their makeshift bed, making a rough sound that was almost a growl as his arms cradled her body against his.

At the skin-to-skin contact, electricity arced between them. But his words tore at her.

“You should be afraid of me. Why are you not afraid?”

“I know you too well.”

When he started to speak again, she brought her mouth back to his, moving her lips the way he had done to her, then boldly sliding her tongue into his mouth.

He made a surprised sound as she imitated what he had taught her.

When he cupped her bottom and pulled her against the hard shaft that still worried her, she ordered herself to relax. Women had done this for thousands of years. With men. But this man was different. In so many ways. And most of them were good, she reminded herself as he tenderly kissed her cheek, then rolled her to her side.

“Devon. Oh, Devon,” he murmured as he slid his hands over her body, stroking her arms, her neck, her breasts. When she arched into the caress, he bent to take one distended nipple into his mouth, sucking strongly, drawing on her.

Welcoming the hot, needy feeling that enveloped her, she raised her hand, flattening her palm against his chest, feeling the beating of his heart. In a bold move, she leaned forward, circling one flat nipple with her tongue, pleased at the way it beaded as his heartbeat quickened.

His response made her feel powerful.

In the next moment, he reached down to tangle his fingers in the blond hair at the top of her legs before slipping lower, into her moist folds.

She had aroused herself, but it was nothing compared to his touch. He did what she had done to herself, dipping inside her and circling, then moving all the way up to her *.

She felt the storm gathering inside her as he continued to stroke her, angling his hand so that he could press against the throbbing place of greatest sensation as his finger stroked the inside of her.

She felt her tension climbing, climbing. He could bring her to climax again, the way he had before. But that wasn’t what she wanted. Closing her fist around his cock, she squeezed, wringing a cry from him.

“Devon.”

He covered her body with his and plunged inside her.

There was a moment of pain, but it passed quickly.

He moved in long strokes, in and out, angling his body so that his cock rode against her *. And when an explosion of pleasure took her, she cried out his name.

He went still above her, then raised his head and looked down into her eyes.

“I think you didn’t know where this was leading,” he growled as he bent his mouth to her neck, and she felt another small pain as sharp teeth pierced her flesh.

His mouth sucked at her as his hips rose and fell, his being vibrating with tension. Then she felt him go rigid, felt him suck more strongly as his body jerked.

She lay breathing hard, overwhelmed by what they had just done, as he eased off of her and rolled to his back.

When she turned her head, she saw her blood on his mouth. Maybe that should have horrified her, but she only felt limp and relaxed.

She had come here to save her people. They had receded into the background as he fulfilled a longing she hadn’t known existed within her. She wanted to tell him what making love with him had meant to her, but she was afraid to reveal too much.

“I took your blood,” he said in a harsh voice.

“I gave it to you,” she answered.

He sat up and looked down at her. “You knew I drank blood?”

“Not you, but I read about the dragon. I knew blood had something to do with it.”

“I don’t just drink it. I live on it.”

She nodded.

“That doesn’t shock you?”

“Maybe it does.” She kept her gaze fixed on him. “You said you killed Cragor. But you’ve taken his place, haven’t you?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

He kept his gaze fixed on her, his voice hard. “Female dragons and their young live in caves with their community. When the females mature, they stay with the group. The males are driven away when they reach adolescence. They come back only to mate.”

“Why?”

“That is the way it has always been. We go off and find our own cave. Or we stalk an old dragon who already has a dwelling—and great riches. If we can kill him, we can take over his domain.”

“That’s not…very nice.”

“I told you I wasn’t moral.”

“You and Cragor battled?”

“Yes.”

“He was old?”

“Yes.”

“How long ago?”

“A hundred and fifty years.”

“But you look like a young man.”

“I am a dragon.” He gave her a hard look. “Old male dragons become bitter and angry—because of the life they are forced to lead. When they can’t be with their people, and they can’t live with humans, they grow angry and frustrated. They lose all sense of morality. I did the world a favor by ridding it of Cragor.” She saw him swallow hard. “But I will turn into a being like him.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way.”

“I think I know more about it than you do.”

Maybe not, she thought. Still, she changed the subject.

“Where do the women dragons live? Not in these mountains.”

“You ask a lot of questions.”

“I always have.”

“The female dragons live in another…world.”

“How is that possible?”

He shrugged. “I can’t answer that. I only know that we must go through a…gateway to get here.”

“What’s it like there?”

His voice took on a dreamy quality. “Warmer. Darker. Comfortable.”

The words and the tone of his voice told her how much he had lost by being cast out. Did it have to be that way? Was there something she could do about it? When she realized ideas were spinning in her head, she stopped herself.

“No humans live there,” he added.

She tried to imagine a world without people.

“There the dragons have many animals to sustain them.”

“And here?”

“I have a herd of deer that feed me. They come when I call them. They are my friends.”

His friends. She tried to imagine how lonely he must be. That would drive anyone to bitterness. Or madness.

Emotions welled inside her. She felt something for this—man—that she had never felt before and didn’t understand now. She only knew that her heart seemed to swell inside her chest.

“Human blood tastes better,” he said, then looked away. “So I must stay away from the communities of men. If I take too much from one person, I kill him. Or her.”

“You didn’t kill me.”

“I could have.”

“But you didn’t want to. I think you’ve learned control.”

He made a dismissive gesture. “I frighten humans—with good reason. You were very brave or very foolish to come here.”

She lifted her chin. “Call it what you want, but I feel better than I ever have in my life.”

“And you think I can save your people.”

“Yes.”

He stood up, pulled on his clothes and looked to the cave entrance, where she saw the dawn coming.

“I must sleep,” he said.

“But…”

“We will talk when I wake up. But first, I will get you food and drink.” He walked toward the cave entrance and vanished.

She got up and pulled on her gown and the gold chain, then hurried to the place where he had been. While she was trying to sort out where he had gone, he reappeared, holding a tray of meat stew, fruit, bread and small cakes, along with flasks of cold water and wine.

Her eyes widened. “Where did you get that?”

“From the other side of the mountain.”

“So quickly?”

“Yes.”

He walked back toward his bedroom. “I will sleep—until the sun is low in the sky. You are welcome to stay here. Or not.”

He swept his hand toward one of the rugs and she saw the sandals she had taken off on the other side of the sharp rocks. He had brought them to her, so she could walk back the way she had come.