Burned (Drake Security #5)

Chapter 12

Chapter

Twelve

LORD

R eluctantly, I put my clothes back on and pack up to travel again. Alrick seems to be stalling as much as I am, but maybe that’s just my wishful thinking. As we continue our journey, my thoughts swirl with conflicted emotions.

Severing the bond is absolutely the right thing to do, so why does it feel like the worst thing ever? My dragon would rather chew off his own tail than break the bond, but he’s clearly confused. Regardless of the obvious chemistry between us, there’s no possible way it could work.

But maybe… I turn to glance at Alrick as he twists his long hair into a loose bun at the base of his neck, revealing the soft curve of his neck and tempting me to drag my tongue across his flesh.

Maybe while we’re on this journey we could just pretend this is real and viable. Surely, I’ve earned a few fleeting moments of joy. As this thought lingers in my mind, my dragon perks up, surging forward to draw closer to Alrick, who is just a few steps ahead of me. At least one of us is clear on what we want.

I look forward again, focusing my keen vision on the mountains up ahead, my chest tightening as they get closer.

“It shouldn’t be much longer.”

Alrick glances back at me, his brow creased. He nods before blowing out a breath that moves a wisp of hair from his cheek. “You can see better than me, right?”

I nod. “Yes. If we make good progress the rest of the day, I’d say one more overnight and we’ll make it there sometime tomorrow.”

“Cool.” He pauses, allowing me to catch up, then brushes his arm against mine. “The rest was good though. The water felt rejuvenating.”

“I agree.”

We walk alongside each other in silence for more than an hour, navigating the brush and tree branches. Once we reach another clearing, Alrick twists his head back and forth and bends slightly backward.

“Does your back hurt?”

Alrick shakes his head. “Nope. I stretch to keep that from happening. Something my dad taught us growing up. Prevention is key since we never know when an enemy will attack.”

The reminder of what he is leaves a bitter taste on my tongue. I’m tempted to ask what happened the night he was nearly killed, but I think a part of me doesn’t want to know the details. Maybe if I did though, it would make breaking the bond more appealing.

He’s killed my kind.

At least, his family has. I can’t accept that, no matter how desperately I want to touch him again. I wait for a reaction from my dragon but he’s weirdly silent. No reaction to our mate killing dragons? Really?

“What’s it like being raised in a dragon family?”

Alrick’s question causes me to misstep for a second. I catch myself on a tree branch before I completely tumble over.

“Is that okay to ask?”

“Yes, of course. I was lost in thought for a moment.” Glancing at him, I see true curiosity reflected in his gaze. “It was wonderful. Very loving and filled with joy. We’re born in clutches, a group of eggs that hatch at the same time. I have siblings much older and much younger than me.”

“You were hatched? That’s really true?”

“It’s true. I was born before the others in my clutch, as I mentioned, so I’m the oldest. Dragons tend to stay closely attached to their clutchmates, and I would say I’m even closer to my brothers than most. We live together, work together, do everything together. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“You actually like them? It’s not just an obligation for you?”

“I adore my brothers and now their mates.”

“Mates?”

My chest tightens when I realize my slip. I suppose it doesn’t hurt to explain it. “Mates, yes. When dragons are hatched, the path to our destined love is also created. Without our knowledge, everything we do ultimately leads us to that person. My brothers have all found theirs in the last couple of years.”

“But you haven’t?”

My dragon surges forward again and a puff of smoke escapes my lips. Alrick tilts his head.

“No,” I manage to say. “I haven’t.”

“Does it make you sad?”

Shaking my head, I have to look away from his beautiful face to avoid blurting out what I’ve done. “No. It’s just not my time yet. I trust fate to guide me.”

“Is it different from just a regular relationship? Like, how do you know it’s a mate and not just someone you’re into?”

“It’s very different. You know it on a soul level, driven by your dragon.”

“So, like a soulmate?”

“In the truest sense, yes.”

“Your dragon basically knows then?”

“Yes, often before the man does.” I offer a slight smile. “It’s made for some interesting experiences.”

“Like?”

“One of my brothers matched with his polar opposite. Nico is headstrong and full of rage, but his mate is a bossy little thing who knows exactly how to put him in his place. Arson mated with a wolf shifter, which is most unusual. Wolves and dragons aren’t exactly best friends. The only stranger pairing would be a dragon and a vampire.”

“Or a hunter and a dragon.”

I hold back a gasp as my chest tightens again. Did he actually say that or did my thoughts conjure it?

“Do dragons mate with humans mostly? Or other… uh, species?” he asks.

“There’s no trend. With my brothers, two mated with humans and two with supes.”

“What’s the other supe?”

“An incubus.” I chuckle. “He tried to kill our younger brother, or at least appeared to. Turns out, he was Valentino’s mate. As I said before, fate is a strange thing sometimes.”

Alrick nods as he pushes a leafy branch out of his path. “Incubi are real.”

“Yes.”

“We’ve heard about them, but honestly so much of it sounded like folklore. For the longest time, I didn’t actually believe in dragons. I thought it was some kind of family tradition to call ourselves hunters, but that dragons weren’t real.”

“When did you learn we were real?”

“When I turned twenty-one. We used to be told on our sixteenth birthdays, but over time, someone decided that was too young. Too many young men were lost to dragon fire.”

My dragon reacts with a whimper that I have to choke down.

“Your family members were killed by dragons?”

“I’m told. It was long before my time. Even my dad never directly knew anyone who was killed. When we turn twenty-one, we’re taken on a hunt. It was years before I saw a dragon, but when I did…” His words trail off as he huffs a breath.

Instead of prompting him, I give him space to decide what he wants to share.

After a few seconds, he offers an oddly shy smile. “I was blown away by how beautiful it was. So majestic and…” He shakes his head. “It took my breath away.”

His words of admiration take me by surprise.

“At that moment, I couldn’t understand how it made any sense at all to destroy it. She was just a woman living her life until my dad provoked her into shifting. I watched from behind a rock as my dad fought her, wounding her. She shrieked, and then the sky darkened with a wave of other dragons coming to her rescue. We were told to scatter, that there were too many of them for us, but my feet wouldn’t move. I couldn’t take my eyes off the wounded dragon crawling across the forest floor. Against everything I’d been taught, I went to her.”

I’ve stopped walking now, completely mesmerized by his story. He notices, pausing also.

“Her eyes were filled with fear,” he says. “I told her I was sorry. I apologized to the dragon.”

“What did she say?”

“She told me to go before her family found me. She could have let them attack me, but she didn’t. She let me escape into the woods.” He scratches his beard. “You’re the first person I’ve ever told about that interaction.”

“I’m honored to hear it.”

Alrick huffs a laugh. “Yeah, well, if my dad knew he’d lose his shit. Now here I am, seven years later, unable to draw my sword on a dragon. There’s a ton of pressure on me but…” He averts his eyes, looking at the ground.

“But?” I put my hand on his arm.

“I should probably shut up now.”

“Why? Because you think I’ll use this information against you?”

“You could.” He lifts his head, holding my gaze. “But I know you won’t. You’ve had plenty of opportunities to kill me if that’s what you wanted to do.”

“Glad you noticed.”

I see the flurry of emotions that pass across his features, and as he steps so close his breath warms my face, my breath hitches, my dragon pushing forward.

“He’s looking at me again.”

I nod. “Yes. I told you he likes you.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know the answer to that.”

Alrick reaches forward, tangling his fingers gently in my beard. “Do you know that I would never hurt you?”

“Yes.” And I mean it.

“Then that’s enough for now.”

ALRICK

I force my fingers away from stroking Lord’s soft beard. I was on the verge of admitting that the thought of driving my sword through a dragon’s heart repulses me, but it’s a betrayal of everything I’ve ever been taught to believe, and it just felt too heavy to voice those thoughts.

I’ve only ever hinted at it to Viggo, but he shut me down. Maybe he didn’t want to be burdened with the knowledge that his own flesh and blood is broken. If Digby or my dad knew, who even knows what they’d do. Disown me? Mercy kill me? I shudder at the thought.

Lord’s presence beside me is a quiet reminder of how I truly feel versus what I’ve been raised to be. With him, I have a sense of freedom I’ve never experienced. I think I could tell him all my deepest secrets and with his handsome face and understanding eyes, he’d accept them.

I should hate him, but I can’t. I should even fear him, but yeah, still can’t. I want to fuck him.

Touch him.

Kiss him.

And gods, do I want to hold him.

A flutter spreads through my chest, drawing my gaze to him. He offers a slight smile, and I know he can feel my emotions. He knows I want him. I’m looking forward to setting up our night camp again, weirdly reluctant to get to our location. Is that my feeling or his? Why would he want to be tied to me any longer than he has to be?

As the hours pass and the sun that was beating down on us begins its decline, I start to think about our earlier talk. His dragon likes me, but he doesn’t know why. Why does that feel like such an honor? For all I know, his dragon could be attracted to something basic like how I smell, and it has nothing to do with me at all. It is an animal, after all.

That’s not the vibe I get when Lord’s eyes shift and the dragon looks at me though. It feels like affection. Maybe even stronger than that. My traitorous thoughts imagine a world where I stay with Lord and his dragon, one where I’m his chosen mate.

I nearly laugh out loud at how ridiculous a notion that is. Fate couldn’t possibly make a mistake like that. Our families would never allow it. This isn’t Romeo and Juliet , and even if it was, it didn’t exactly work out well for them.

Day quickly turns to dusk, and Lord gestures up ahead to what looks like a cluster of trees and rocks.

“I can’t believe I found it again,” he says.

“What?”

“Come see.”

I push through the trees, stopping abruptly at the sight before me. A small brook trickles at my feet, and beyond that is a cave covered by moss and trees.

“I stumbled upon this once many years ago,” Lord says, picking up his pace. “I was feeling melancholy. Just dragon teenage angst.” He grins at me. “I took to the skies, letting my wings and the wind take me wherever, and I ended up here. I spent the night staring up at the stars and pondering my existence. It was one of the most peaceful moments of my entire life, and I’ve found it again.”

“It looks like a great place to camp for tonight.”

“It is.”

The nostalgic smile on his lips causes an odd reaction in me. I feel… lighter.

“The water is heavenly too. Untouched by humans.” He kneels by the brook, scooping water into his hand and offering it to me before taking some for himself.

Though I’m aware I could get my own, I take the offering, sipping from his cupped hand. As I do, his eyes meet mine, and when he blinks, the dragon is there.

“Delicious.”

Lord nods, his gaze moving from my eyes to my mouth. “You must be hungry by now?”

I relax my shoulders to let the pack slide to the ground before reaching forward and gripping the back of Lord’s neck. He gasps as we crash into each other, our tangling tongues cool from the lingering water.

Lord tugs at my shirt while I fumble with the button of his jeans. Desperation spreads through me as I work to get him naked once again. Once I get his pants open, I tug them down, falling to my knees along with them, ignoring the pebbles and twigs that dig into my skin.

I gaze at his beautiful face, pleased when I see the bright orange with black slits looking back at me.

“Am I pleasing to your dragon like this? On my knees, ready to worship you?”

“Gods, yes.”

His heavy cock bounces and a stream of clear, sticky liquid gathers on the tip. My mouth waters and I lick my lips before I flick my tongue out to taste him. Lord’s eyelids flutter, encouraging me, and I open wide to swallow his length.

His body jerks and I’m met with another shot of tasty precum. It isn’t supposed to be smoky and sweet, but that must be the dragon in him. Lord tangles his fingers in my hair, twisting and tugging enough that it leaves a pleasant sting, while I give it all I’ve got, trying to get his thick cock down my throat.

He moves his hips, fucking my mouth gently, and I dig my fingers into his supple ass, feeling every muscle ripple as he moves.

“So beautiful,” he murmurs. “So perfect. What a treasure you are.”

His words confuse me, but at the same time, they soothe something inside me. It feels like being sick, then being given the comfort of medicine. All my aches and pain, mental and physical, seem to melt away as he praises me.

I tilt my head back, relaxing, and Lord takes the hint, increasing his pace as he fucks my throat. My eyes water and my jaw hurts, but nothing could make me stop. My dad could walk up right now, and I wouldn’t tear my eyes away from my beautiful dragon.

My beautiful dragon.

Holy fuck.

Is that how I feel?

Lord’s grunt draws my attention back to his face and away from my confusing thoughts. My own cock throbs with the need to release, but I’m completely focused on his pleasure. Mine can wait.

“Oh fuck,” he moans. “So good.”

Without words, I nod, scratching my nails over his skin. He hisses with pleasure, his hips jerking as he floods my mouth with scorching hot cum. Orange scales pop across his skin and as his mouth falls open, I catch the hint of sharp teeth and a longer-than-usual tongue. My eyes go wide as he uses my mouth to ride out his orgasm, and I swallow every delicious drop, truly amazed by what I’m seeing.

A few seconds later, Lord stumbles back, breathing fire and smoke as he catches his breath. Okay, now this could be addictive. I can still taste the smoky release on my tongue, and I lick my lips to catch any lingering drops.

Lord sinks to his knees, his eyes flashing before shifting back to his human ones. Still pretty.

“Thank you,” he breathes. “I wasn't expecting that.”

“Same.” I look down at my cum-soaked shorts. I wasn’t even aware of my own orgasm. I was too caught up in his. “Guess I’ll rinse my shorts.”

Lord chuckles. “I had hoped to return the favor.”

“Maybe later. We have all night.”

My comment hangs in the air between us, and as my chest tightens, I know we’re both aware that this interlude between us won’t last forever. After tomorrow, there’s a strong chance I’ll never see him again, and I’m not sure I’m okay with that.

But that’s future me’s problem. Tonight, I’m going to indulge as much as I can.