Dragon Betrayed (Immortal Dragons Book 0) (9 page)

Chapter Nine

B
elah stared at the empty space her brother had occupied, still processing what he’d told her. The confirmation that her fire would enable marks to be etched into her skin had her mind racing with possibilities. The escalation of Nikhil’s games made her want to be marked by him in some way more and more. She wanted memories of his touch. Tangible evidence that he’d been in command of her body. As much as she would love to mark him to keep him with her forever, she wanted what he gave her now even more. She would rather carry memories of these times than mark him and have a shadow of the man she loved exist beside her day by day.

The small spikes digging into her upper thighs now made that desire achingly sharp. She could feel the pain, but it was no more than an acute pressure. How much more sensation would she receive were his toys to actually break skin? Her hands went involuntarily to her breasts and she closed her eyes, imagining a pair of scarabs attached by teeth piercing through her nipples. Even the imagined pain caused her body to shudder with need.

Ked’s question remained in her mind. Had her brother done this to her? Perhaps, but so indirectly he should bear no blame now. She had lived with the pain of loss for so long, and the stigma of their shame, that she needed these small reminders to feel whole. The grief had filled her so thoroughly that when it faded, she was left empty. Nikhil had filled that emptiness with his brutal attention in a way that made sense to her for the first time in ages. Not even the pleasure provided by her pets or their eager gifts of magic had sated her so well.

The door to her study opened and shut softly behind her. Belah closed her eyes and breathed in Nikhil’s familiar scent, her skin prickling in anticipation of his approach. Part of her ached to tell him all her secrets, even that ancient darkness that still lingered deep inside.

The truth was that her union with her brother had altered her forever, even after the child she’d carried of his blood had been born and taken. She never let herself think of the child anymore—where he might have gone or what kind of dragon he’d become. Was he even an immortal like his parents? Their mother had refused to share the truth, and Fate had made it clear Belah was never to know.

Nikhil’s presence was unlike any other mate she’d taken in the past. He didn’t seek to fill her with light and love, but pulled her into his darkness and held her there by every thread of pain he inflicted. And she reveled in it more with each passing day.

The closer he came, the more her body ached for his potent touch. The flesh between her legs swelled into a tight knot, hot with wet desire and throbbing to be parted by his body in any fashion he saw fit. Yet when he finally reached her he merely rested his large hands on her shoulders, warm and comforting.

His breath teased at the loose strands of hair at her nape, beneath the upswept waves of her locks. With silken caresses, his lips trailed over the bare curve at the side of her throat while his hands drifted lower. He said nothing, but as his touch continued down her body, his fingers dug in harder. He cupped her breasts, pulling the sides of her gown apart to reveal her creamy flesh, then pinched her nipples harshly, twisting and tugging at them until she cried out. The gown fell to her waist and with a rough tug, he forced it to the floor at her feet.

Again his hands dug into her curves, kneading and squeezing with all the strength she knew he had, marking her the only way he could with the force of his own desire. She loved the bruises he gave her, but they were too fleeting. Still, in the moment, they were precisely what she needed.

Belah sighed under Nikhil’s touch, leaning back against him as his hands dipped lower to wrap around the bands at her thighs and squeeze. A harsh cry escaped her throat at the sudden rush of sensation. Her chest arched forward and she turned her head, giving her mouth to him and moaning into his kiss while he kneaded the bands harder into her legs, each new bit of pressure inciting fresh jolts of desire through her.

Her arousal flooded out of her, hot and wet, coating her thighs and the leather of the bands. The fertile scent wafted to her nostrils and she spread her legs. Nikhil responded with a groan, ending the kiss with a bite of her lower lip and gazing down her torso, eyes blazing.

“These must be your new favorites. Maybe we try something similar, but closer to your cunt next.”

He released his hold and the pressure around her thighs subsided, leaving a dull throb behind. He traced the edges of the leather bands, drawing her slick juices along the top edges between her thighs, so close to her aching flesh she nearly begged for his touch. Nikhil seemed too enthralled by her reaction, and too fascinated with whatever new idea had popped into his head.

“Try whatever you wish, my love,” Belah said, hoping that just now he would at least try to give her pleasure.

“Mmm, perhaps a bauble or two for the prettiest part of you,” he said almost idly. His fingertips slipped further in and teased along the edge of her outer lips, drawing moisture back and forth over the sensitive skin. The heat between her legs grew unbearable and Belah moaned, nodding distractedly. She let out a sharp hiss when he gripped each fold of flesh between thumb and forefinger and pinched hard. A deep chuckle rumbled forth from him. “Yes, I think my little beast would enjoy that, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes,” she gasped, the affirmative as much in response to his question as to the sudden thrust of his fingers filling her cunt and twisting inside her.

Abruptly she found herself turned and bent over the window sill, breasts pressed against the far corner of the wide ledge. Behind her, cloth rustled, and a second later, Nikhil rammed his thick, hard flesh into her. He grabbed both her hands and twisted her arms behind her back, pinning her wrists together with one hand while the other gripped her upper thigh again, squeezing at the spiked leather in time with his relentless fucking.

Beyond the edge of the window she nearly hung out of, Belah had the most glorious view of moon rising full and bright over the river—
her
river—and her kingdom beyond. Everything outside this little bubble he kept her in belonged to her, as far as her eyes could see. Yet inside the span of his gaze, she belonged to him. He commanded both her pleasure and pain, and at his command, her body shuddered and fell apart with the power of her orgasm. Nikhil’s heavy cock swelled and flooded her insides with his own climax at the same time.

In the haze of the aftermath, he sat her down on a nearby bench and cleaned her up. He made a conscientious master, which should not have surprised her. Men followed him into battle, after all. It was only natural for her to fall under his spell so easily. She loved the contradiction of his tenderness in the wake of the exquisite pain he could give her, and the pleasure that accompanied it.

He knelt before her and unbuckled the leather strips around her thighs. Belah gasped at the rush of sensation followed by relief from the pain. The absence of it was every bit as exhilarating. The frown that creased his brow worried her.

“What is it?” she asked.

Nikhil brushed his fingertips over the reddened indentations in her legs and shook his head. “I thought you only a fast healer the last time you wore these. I didn’t see your skin after you took them off before. Why is there no blood?”

“My body can’t be pierced by human implements. No sword or spear, or even needle, is capable of breaching my skin, even in this form.”

Nikhil’s gaze shot to her face, his dark eyes wider than she’d ever seen them, but his frown deepened in spite of his surprise. Slowly, he narrowed his eyes as he took in her own forlorn look. “You don’t sound happy about that fact,
‘Iilahatan
. Yet it is fitting for a goddess to be so incorruptible. Why do you look so sad now?”

Belah’s chest warmed at the sound of concern. “Of all the men I have ever bedded, you are the only one who I have ever wished
could
corrupt me. Your touch makes me forget the burdens of immortality. I want more than you can give through your own power.”

“I would gladly give you everything you wish for, if you can tell me how.”

Her confession to her brother rushed back, yet Belah hesitated to share it with Nikhil. The timing wasn’t right. She still needed to give their relationship more time, explore how far he would really go in fulfilling her needs, before she shared her desire to have him mark her. It may have been a foolish wish, but she wanted the unconventional mating to happen on the same day, with a private ceremony, and only after she had told him everything. Because after he was marked—even if it was by a younger, weaker dragon—things may still change. She simply wanted more time to enjoy him before they did.

Still behaving as the tender, caring master, Nikhil helped her dress and walked with her back to her chambers. In spite of the short walk, the silence between them made her ache to tell him everything now.

His aura flickered with his undisguised disappointment. She didn’t understand why this aspect of her nature should bother him so much until they reached the room and he sat in one of the wide leather chairs, looking even more dejected. He pulled a golden box from the folds of his robe and set it on the table beside him, giving her a wan smile.

“It was going to be a surprise for tonight,” he explained in response to her raised eyebrows. “But now that I know your skin is so damn impenetrable, I suppose my cock piercing your pussy will have to suffice.”

Curious, Belah walked to the table and touched the box, running her fingertips over the exquisite relief design that covered the lid—a wide pair of wings spanned the width, with the shape of a woman in between. He’d brought her a gift. One he couldn’t give her because her own nature had interfered.

“My love, don’t look so sad,” he said, wrapping an arm around her and tugging her down onto his lap. “The little clips you use for your other jewelry make sense, now that I know. These were meant to be different… to pierce you… but I can have clips attached. Open it.” He picked up the box and set it into her hand.

Shakily, Belah lifted the lid from the box. As she did, Nikhil’s free hand began roaming over her torso again, caressing gently and undressing her bit by bit. His fingers circled distractedly around and around one nipple when she peered into the box. Three golden hoops lay within, each one boasting a tiny jeweled scarab with blue-black wings and pincers extending up and around, becoming the loop that would have pierced her flesh, if that were possible.

“Why are there three?” she asked, certain she knew what two of them were for, but confused about the third, smaller hoop.

“Mmm… for my three favorite parts of you,” Nikhil rumbled, and dipped his head to capture her stiff nipple between his teeth while his fingers drifted to the other, plucking and squeezing it until Belah gasped when he hit just the right level of pain. Belah shifted on his lap, arching her chest closer to his mouth and enjoying the hard press of his erection into her backside.

“The third?” she asked breathlessly, though she knew from the tugging of his fingers at her waist where he was going. The closure of her belt came open finally and the panels of her gown parted across her hips, giving him access. He pressed his fingertips between her thighs, teasing lightly over the slick hood of her clit.

“I want to see you adorned with gold and jewels like the goddess you are. We’ll have to improvise somehow.”

“No, Nikhil. Show me what you were going to do before I ruined your surprise. Please.” Her words came out as a plea that was contrary to her normal commanding tone, but he did this to her. He made her want to grovel at his feet for pleasure. To be used however he saw fit. “Just pretend I never told you.”

“Very well,
‘Iilahatan
,” he said and urged her off his lap. He brushed past her with a proprietary squeeze of her behind that sent a thrill through her. Whenever they were alone together, he was every bit her master.

“Come,” he commanded, standing in the opening to her balcony with several lengths of rope draped over his palms. Reaching up, he threaded them through the steel loops embedded in the doorframe above him and let the lengths hang down. There was more length than was necessary to bind her arms above her head. Belah’s mind whirled with curiosity about how elaborate his plan must have been. She hadn’t intended to tell him the secret of piercing her skin tonight, but now she wasn’t so certain she could keep it to herself.

She went to him and turned with her back to him. He raised her arms one by one and wrapped her wrists in the ropes. Instead of spreading her legs and tethering her ankles to the lower eyelets, he did something new. With a gentle touch, he lifted one leg and wrapped it several times in the rope just above her knee, tightening the wrap with an elaborate knot that was just snug enough to keep the ropes from shifting, but not so tight as to restrict her circulation. She watched in fascination as he looped the rope through another eyelet above her, raising her leg so it hung parallel to the floor with her knee bent and her toes pointed to the ground. He tugged gently at the end of the rope, pulling until her leg swung wide, then secured the end of the rope with a knot.

When he lifted her other leg, she found herself suspended in air and had the strangest urge to let her wings extend to maintain her balance. The itch subsided when Nikhil completed the binding and reached back around her, letting his hand slide from the ropes up the inside of her thigh to brush his fingertips over her spread folds.

He whispered in her ear while he stroked her clit. “I imagined how lovely your pretty cunt would be with a jewel permanently attached. You are already the picture of perfection,
‘Iilahatan
. You deserve to be adorned in gold. My most prized little beast, so pliant and eager to please. Would you have liked to have a jewel attached to you right here?” He squeezed her clit gently between thumb and forefinger, to emphasize exactly what part of her anatomy he referred to.

Belah loved jewelry of any kind, but it had never occurred to her to attach any to the parts of her Nikhil seemed so keen on decorating. That he prized these most sensitive parts of her so highly made it all the clearer to her how perfect a mate he was. If only marking him wouldn’t destroy the things she loved so much about him, she would do it in a heartbeat.