He slowly started to move a hand up her ribs to put his plan in motion when someone pinched his arm. He broke the kiss with a growl, only to find Bram staring at him with a warning in his eyes. Tristan pulled Melanie tighter against his body. This was his female. His. He needed to get her away from the other males. He didn’t even trust his clan leader. Any male that saw her would want her.
Tristan looked down at his female, her eyes wide, her lips red and swollen, and moved to kiss her again. His dragon’s need was pounding inside his head: Mark her. Protect her from the other males. Make sure everyone knows she’s ours.
He had barely started stroking inside her mouth again when he felt a grip on the back of his neck and he growled louder this time as he forced his lips from the warm female to find Bram staring at him. When the clan leader whispered, “Stop it,” his leader’s words broke through his lust-haze. He glanced down at Melanie, her lips slightly parted and her eyes filled with desire. Then he looked out to the crowd, and realized the enormity of what he’d nearly done. He’d been so very close to fondling her breasts, or possibly more, on a stage in front of his entire clan.
Bloody hell. What was wrong with him?
If his near public indecency wasn’t bad enough, his dragon was roaring for him to kiss her again and then fuck her as soon as possible so he could brand her with his scent. Bram said something, some sort of traditional words, but Tristan was losing the battle with his dragon. If he didn’t leave right now, he could very well toss Melanie over his shoulder, bring her to his cottage, and fuck her with or without her consent.
No. He wasn’t that type of male. He wouldn’t break his contract or force someone against her will. He needed to leave.
Without a word, he rushed down the steps of the dais and pushed past his clan members until he reached the cool night air. As he struggled to keep his human side in control, he headed for the landing and take-off area. Apart from fucking Melanie, the only thing that would calm his dragon would be a long flight followed by a tough hunt.
He stripped his clothes and imagined wings sprouting from his back; as his body grew large, his hands turned into claws and talons, and his skin turned into a tough, black hide. When he was finally a fifteen-foot tall dragon, he spread his wings, used his powerful hind legs to jump, and beat his wings to take him up into the air.
Once he was high above the Stonefire community, he let his dragon mostly take over.
As he continued to beat his wings, his inner beast let out a long roar of frustration and said, I want the human. The other males will take her in our absence. We need her. Let’s go back and claim her. She is ours.
Tristan forced his wings to keep beating, making sure their flightpath took them away from the great hall. But if we return, we’ll miss the fat bucks I wanted to hunt. Fresh meat will help you forget about the female. Now is the only time we can go.
His dragon remained silent for a second before he said, Yes, let’s hunt. It will give us more energy to claim our female.
Not wishing to debate the finer points of when or how they’d claim Melanie Hall, Tristan said, Right, then let’s go.
Changing their direction slightly, Tristan headed for their favorite hunting spot in northern England.
As the tension started to ease from his body, the human-half of Tristan started to realize he was fucked. His dragon’s possessiveness wasn’t normal. The only time a dragon would get so out of control was when they’d tasted their potential mate.
And Tristan’s dragon-half wanted a human named Melanie Hall.
~~~
End Part One
~~~
PART TWO
Chapter One
One second, Melanie Hall had been enjoying the most passionate kiss of her life in Tristan’s arms full of tongue, teeth, and delicious friction of lips. And the next, he’d pushed her away and bolted from the hall without so much as a word or even a backward glance.
She watched in confusion as Tristan exited the building. Was this part of the normal First Kiss ceremony? Or had something gone wrong? She absolutely hated not knowing what was going on around her.
Once Tristan was gone, everyone turned around to stare at her. Some were whispering while others were shaking their heads. She had no idea if Tristan’s actions were normal or not, but clearly the dragon-shifters knew something she didn’t.
She focused on that, trying to find out what they knew, to keep her hurt from showing. She’d never been kissed like that before, as if Tristan had been starving and she was the only thing that could ease his hunger. Yet, at the end, Tristan hadn’t been able to get away from her fast enough.
She felt Bram’s hand on her arm and she looked up at him. His expression was guarded when he said, “Come. Sit down with me, Melanie.”
His voice broke through her shock and despite her resolve to stay strong, her voice cracked. “I don’t understand. What just happened?”