Demand of the Dragon (5 page)

Hot spikes of desire pulsed down Caleb’s body, constricting his
muscles, hardening his cock to the point of pain. His own climax wasn’t far
away. If Lucy touched him, just once, he might lose the rein he gripped so
tightly.

As if she read his mind, Lucy reached between their bodies and
gripped his shaft. She gasped into his mouth as he throbbed into her hand. Her
touch was soft where he was hard. A feather-light caress where he was pulled
brutally tight.

“These. Off,” she said when his fingers swept urgently over her
panties.

As Caleb backed away, staring into her heavy-lidded gaze, Lucy
slipped out of her underwear.

She was absolutely stunning. And all his. What sparked between
them was so much more than a challenge, so much more than friendship that had
lost control, or a few moments of passionate abandon. What the hell was
happening?

He groaned, biting back a curse, as he thrust against her,
against the stone.

Using both hands, he peeled the soaking tank from her body and
cupped her breasts in his hands. They were so incredibly soft. Heavy and filling
his palms.

As he bent lower to suck one of the perfectly pink nipples into
his mouth, she ran her fingers through his hair, grasping with greedy fingers.
He wanted to give her what she wanted—the pleasure with the blissful pain—but he
didn’t want to hurt her. Gently, he licked the rain from her nipple, then
scraped the tiny peak against his teeth. When she groaned, arching back, lifting
her lips, he nipped at the sensitive flesh, causing her to cry out.

Caleb flicked his tongue against her nipples, as his hand found
her core once more. His fingers slid into her, cruelly slow, until she spread
her legs, widening her stance. Using Lucy’s rapid breathing as a guide, Caleb
found her pleasure spot and circled there, until her body began to shake.

This was all he needed. Everything. His world. He could stay
here awhile, tease her, and bring her to a soul-shattering climax again and
again. He’d get so much pleasure watching her mouth drop open in ecstasy as she
came. Being selfless when it came to sex was a foreign concept, yet with Lucy,
it felt so right.

As Lucy began to come apart, sagging down the wall, Caleb’s
stomach twisted in wicked indulgence. He plunged his fingers into her warmth,
stroking her from the inside, relishing in her peaking desire.

With a strangled cry, Lucy’s inner muscles clenched around
Caleb’s fingers, intense little tugs that hardened him to stone.

“I want you inside me,” she breathed. “Now.”

Aching to feel the tugs of her core against his cock instead of
his hand, Caleb nodded. Held painfully taut, he roped one of Lucy’s legs around
his hip and poised himself at her center.

Lucy breathed hard, expectantly, her magnificent breasts rising
and falling with each labored heave. Her skin glistened with moisture, and her
mouth—he’d never tire of staring at her mouth!—fell open in a seductive O that
Caleb ached to trace with his tongue.

Powerless to hold back, Caleb sheathed himself inside her in a
single, forceful stroke. They groaned in unison, their bodies moving in time
with each slow, languid thrust. Lucy was a tight fit, a glove that molded around
him perfectly.

There was no greater feeling than this. What he’d felt for Lucy
all along couldn’t have been lust. There were other feelings buried beneath the
surface of friendship and physical intimacy. Feelings he’d denied. Until
now.

Caleb shut his eyes as chills gathered at the base of his
spine. He plunged deeper into her warmth, right up to the hilt. Claimed her
mouth. Hiked her leg higher on his middle and grasped the lush round of her
backside. He drove into her again and again, each hard thrust climbing toward a
trembling peak.

“I’ve dreamed of this,” Caleb said, each word deeply staccato.
“You feel so good, Lucy, so fucking perfect. You feel―” the breath dropped out
of his lungs as he met her hungry gaze “―you feel like heaven.”

Lucy threw her arms around Caleb’s neck and hopped up, wrapping
both legs around his waist. “Take me there, then.”

“Gladly,” he breathed against her lips.

He rammed into her again. And again. Waves of molten heat
surged through his veins, tightening and constricting, threatening to overflow
with each vigorous thrust into her core.

But he held back. He burned with the desire to make Lucy come a
second time.

He lifted her hips to the tip of his shaft. Shook with
anticipation. Slammed her hips over him again, drowning his cock in her slick
heat. His eyes rolled back as sensations gathered into a storm in his
middle.

Lucy’s breasts smashed against Caleb’s chest, sliding against
his rain-slick skin. Her core tensed and pulsed, promising another release.
Caleb’s body responded on a primal level, aching and throbbing, straining with
ravenous hunger.

“Come for me, Luce.” He slipped a hand between their bodies and
massaged her clit, teasing the slick nub until her hips convulsed against
him.

As she bucked against the stone, pulsing with ecstasy, Caleb
let the sensations thundering inside him wrench him over the edge. With a final,
resounding push, he released his seed, giving Lucy all he had to give.

Chapter Five

Lucy had expected Caleb to be a great lover...nothing
could have prepared her for how soul-shattering he truly was. For those precious
moments, when he was deep inside her, gazing into her eyes, calling her Luce—the
way he used to do, with that gentle, loving lilt—Lucy would’ve sworn he cared
for her.

That he actually loved her.

Although he hadn’t said the words, she felt something different
when they were together. There was a spark. A knowing. A warm, numbing sensation
in her heart. Part of her thought she was picking up the vibe from Caleb the way
riders do with their dragons. That the heart-tugging came from inside him.

But now, staring at herself in the bathroom mirror inside
Thorne Castle, Lucy knew she was being ridiculous. She hadn’t been claimed as
his rider, yet. The heartwarming feeling she’d detected was still there, just as
strong as before. It must’ve been her feelings she was picking up.

She dressed in a gray tank top and jeans—the only spare clothes
she’d brought for their journey—then tied back her hair and leaned over the
sink. Her cheeks were pink, flushed from their steamy encounter, and her eyes
were glowing a brighter shade of blue than she’d ever seen them.

It had everything to do with the amazing Draco waiting for her
in the other room. The Draco who made her feel as if she was the only woman in
the world he wanted to be with.

But what would happen if they couldn’t find Tristan? How could
she marry Geezer knowing how she felt about Caleb? Now that he was back, she
wanted him, not the Draco her brother had demanded she claim.

The whole situation had just catapulted into seriously
complicated territory.

After a quick double check of her appearance, Lucy opened the
bathroom door and nearly ran face-first into Caleb’s wall of a chest.

“Took long enough,” he said, smirking.

He’d changed into jeans and a white cotton shirt, which
perfectly matched his carefree persona. His dark hair was tousled and falling
down in front, and was still wet from the rain. She longed to run her fingers
through his hair again, to feel its silky strands brush between her fingers.

“I still can’t get over the fact that you were here, guarding
the portals with Tristan.” She stepped past him into the cold hall. “How long
were you stationed here?”

“Not long.” He led the way to the shadowed great room, where a
massive hearth rested on the far wall and a stone-arched doorway veered off the
side. “Maybe a month before...”

...
before
Tristan
disappeared
.

“I see,” Lucy said.

Why couldn’t he have told her what he was doing? And why did
she still feel like there was more that he wasn’t telling her?

“Do you want to see the portal?” Caleb stood against the
hearth, his arms folded over his chest. “I can take you down there if you need
to see it.”

Lucy couldn’t explain the reason, but she wanted to see the
portal that robbed the last three years from her. She had Tristan’s medallion,
and once she popped open the chest, she’d want to get out of the castle and on
their way as soon as possible. She knew it.

If she wanted to see the portal, it was now or never.

Lucy nodded, willing her frayed nerves to settle.

Caleb took Lucy’s hand and pulled her past the hearth and down
a long, winding hallway that snaked around the southern wing. A narrow stairwell
appeared on the right and descended into the dark, around and around, spiraling
into the earth. They rounded the corner, taking the stone steps slowly, one at a
time. The lower they traveled, the colder the air grew, freezing Lucy’s breath,
and numbing her hands. They seemed to descend forever in the dark, silently,
holding onto one another. Just when Lucy thought they should turn back, that she
really didn’t need to see the portal, Caleb slowed. The stairs ended at a
wood-slatted door that Lucy had never seen before.

Someone had built the door to keep people from finding what was
on the other side.

Caleb fiddled with a heavy-duty combination lock that secured
the handle, then popped it open and swung the door wide. Was he the one who had
built the door?

“There it is.” Caleb moved aside so Lucy could see the portal
with her own eyes.

“It’s so―” the portal was set into the back wall of a narrow
room. It was black and oblong, no bigger than a television set “―tame.”

Not at all what she’d been expecting.

She stepped closer, but Caleb held her back. “Probably best for
you not to get too close. The portal is sealed, so that no other creature can
come out of it, but portals are temperamental things and can expand or contract
at a moment’s notice. You could still get sucked inside from this end.”

She eyed its hidden depths, squinting to make something out
inside the dark mass.

“You don’t want to be anywhere near this thing if it decides to
expand,” he said. “I’ve seen it take up this whole room like an enormous black
hole.”

Her feet turned to stone. “Is that what happened that night?
When the beast came through?”

As Lucy dragged her eyes away from the swirling black mass and
set them upon Caleb, her breath caught. He looked as if he’d seen a ghost. Hell,
his tanned skin had faded so pale, he could’ve been the ghost.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, squeezing Caleb’s hand. It’d clammed
in seconds, chilling through her palm. “What’s the matter?”

He shook his head, but answered anyway. “Lucy, there’s
something I’ve got to tell you.”

Here
we
go
, Lucy thought. He loved someone else. He valued
their friendship so much that he wanted to stop getting physical. He had to
leave to secure the rest of the portals on the isle and she’d never see him
again.

“Tell me.” Lucy’s heart ached as if someone had carved out a
hole. “Please, just say it.”

“Your brother’s disappearance, the mourning you went through,
every tear you’ve shed for him...” He swallowed hard and brushed his thumb
across the back of her hand. “...it’s all my fault.”

Blood that had frozen in Lucy’s veins while waiting for a
response thawed then flowed heavy.

“What do you mean?” she asked. “How is any of that your
fault?”

“I should’ve been here,” Caleb whispered, his voice grave. “I
left him to work this portal alone. It’s relatively stable and has been for as
long as we know. I knew Tristan would be able to control it...I didn’t expect a
beast like that to come through.”

“Caleb, you couldn’t have known what was going to happen.”

“If I’d been here, if I hadn’t been flying around the Sindraco
village, we would’ve fought the beast together. Tristan wouldn’t have gone into
the portal. I wouldn’t have followed. This whole mess would’ve never
happened.”

Lucy read the guilt in his eyes and could almost see the weight
of the past bearing down on his shoulders. A few key words plucked at Lucy’s
memories of that night. “You came down to the Sindraco village the night Tristan
disappeared?”

Caleb nodded, his Draco specks shimmering honey-gold. “I went
to find you. I had to see you, though I don’t really know why.”

“I thought I saw you that night, flying over the southern ridge
of the village. I waved, but you didn’t see me.”

“No, I saw you, but I couldn’t land. I knew I couldn’t have you
the way I wanted, but I couldn’t stay away from you, either. Guess not much has
changed.”

“Caleb—”

“I came back to the castle the instant I heard your brother’s
cry.” Caleb’s strong hands found her shoulders. “Please forgive me for bailing
on my duty to stand by your brother’s side.”

“I don’t think it’s my forgiveness that you really need.” He
needed to forgive himself. “But if you want it, you have it.”

He seemed to tighten from her words, his jaw clenching into a
solid rock. “I don’t feel any better. You gave your forgiveness too easily.”

“Would you rather I rake you over the coals?”

“No, but damn it, all this wouldn’t have happened this way if
I’d done my job.”

“You went after him, Caleb.” Lucy cupped Caleb’s chin in the
heart of her hands and stroked his cheeks with her thumbs. “You went inside a
portal without hesitating, without knowing what was waiting for you on the other
side. You lived in a wasteland without giving up the search. Hell, you’re still
searching now. Doesn’t that count for something?”

“You are the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.” The dark,
depths of his eyes twinkled. “I know I’ve behaved like an ass, but it’s only
because I don’t know how to put what I’m feeling into the right words. Luce,
I’ve never felt this way before. I think I’m in love with you.”

Lucy’s heart raced. Could she freeze this moment? Savor it?
Stick it in her bag and take it with her? Her eyes fluttered closed. She had to
hear it one more time.

“Say that again,” she said.

Caleb caught Lucy’s mouth and kissed her so softly that the
rest of the world melted away. “I think I’m in love with you.”

Caleb’s words, and this moment, meant everything to her. Even
though he’d added
I
think
to
the beginning, as if he didn’t want to admit that
he’d fallen in love with her fully, Lucy knew how much it took for Caleb to say
what he had.

With a sigh, Lucy said, “And I think I’ve loved you since the
first moment I met you.”

He seemed to shudder, his shoulders giving a little hitch
before he scooped her up and squeezed his arms around her middle.
This
was what counted, and what mattered.

But her world still wasn’t complete. Her brother could be out
there somewhere and they needed to find him. Lucy tugged on the chain around her
neck and brushed her thumb over the face of Tristan’s medallion.

“Come on,” she said. “Let’s go get that chest.”

With renewed energy surging through her system, Lucy led the
way this time, up the stairs and down the hall. When she reached the second door
from the great room, Lucy stopped. A small
S
had
been carved into the top of the door.

S
for Sheffield.

Lucy pushed open the door, and strode inside. The room used to
be den, with tiers of books lining the walls and cobwebbed sconces flanking the
shelves. A maple wood desk stood in the center of the room, a lone guard in a
cramped chamber.

“Is that it?” Caleb asked from behind her.

The chest was just like Lucy remembered: mahogany, robust with
intricate carvings, dwarfing the desk where it sat. If someone were to rest in
the cracked, leather chair behind the desk, they wouldn’t be able to see over
the chest to the door.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” She tried to swivel it towards
them. It didn’t budge. “Heavy, too.”

“Do you know how to open it?” Caleb asked, as he stood beside
her.

“We’ll see.” Lucy removed the medallion from her neck and
placed it inside a hollowed-out portion on top of the chest. It fit perfectly,
sliding into place. As she pressed down on the center, the chest released a tiny
click. Slowly, praying that an answer waited inside, Lucy lifted the lid.

Tiny chips of diamonds were scattered around the velvet bottom
of the chest.

“What the hell are these?” Caleb asked, skimming his hands
through the dull fragments.

Lucy’s mind raced. “They’re diamonds.”

“Really?” He turned a few over in his hand. “They look like
worthless pebbles.”

“They’re not worth much.” An idea struck. “Unless you want to
swim into Merfolk territory.”

Caleb tensed, dropping the diamonds back into the chest. “Why
would anyone want to do that?”

“Because there are active portals in Merfolk territory.” Lucy
zoned out as memories invaded her mind. Memories of a friend she and Tristan
played with when they visited the coast. A friend who strayed far from home and
showed them a cave only accessible by water. “Just like the portal in Emerly’s
cave.”

“Who’s Emerly?” Caleb’s dark eyes smoked like coals in a
furnace. “What cave?”

Lucy couldn’t help smiling at the revelation that had been
tucked away for so long. “She’s a mermaid we met when we were kids. She lives in
the Drakein Cliffs where we used to play, or at least she used to. There’s a
cave she showed us that’s only accessible by water with an active portal in the
center of it. Tristan must’ve been saving these chips to go back there someday.
Do you think there’s a possibility Tristan could’ve escaped through that
portal?”

“I don’t know,” Caleb said, striding past Lucy. “But if you
think there’s an unsecured portal in the cave that your brother used to visit,
we should go there first. Portals have a tendency to anchor on certain shifting
energies. If Tristan has passed through it before, it could’ve recognized him
and pulled him that direction again.”

After pocketing a handful of the diamond chips, Lucy followed
Caleb down the hall and into the great room. He veered straight for a dresser
tucked beside a teeming bookshelf.

“It’s almost midnight,” she said. “Don’t you want to wait until
daybreak?”

“I’m not waiting another second. I owe it to your brother to
find him now.” Caleb rummaged through the top drawer, came up with a tiny,
leather satchel and tossed it to her. “Take this. If we’re meeting up with a
mermaid, we’ll need it.”

Lucy held the bag in her hands, feeling something heavy shift
inside it. “What is it?”

“Gold. If we want information, that fishy friend of yours is
gonna want something in return. Mermaids can’t turn down a heap of gold.”

Caleb was right. Merfolk were known to be greedy shifters,
stealing what they could from lost ships and bargaining with the other shifting
races for expanded territory. But Emerly had been different. Not once had she
ever asked for gold. She’d asked for Lucy’s friendship and trust. She’d asked
Lucy and Tristan not to reveal her whereabouts to their Draco clan.