Dragon Hunter Book Two: A Dragon Shifter Serial (Dragon Hunter Chronicles 2) (6 page)

They chatted until the food arrived, being careful not to speak of what had occurred outside until they were certain they wouldn’t be interrupted. All four were hungry and made quick work of their meals in the meantime.

“So, Lumen,” Aegis said when he’d eaten his fill. “Was the clue enough to work with?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “In all honesty, I’m as lost as before. I’m hoping that Neko can help me with it later. She’s a clever thing.”

“I think you put far too much faith in my cleverness,” she replied. “I’m sure I’m far more lost than you are.”

“When we get back to our hiding spot, I’ll fill you in on what he told me. And then we’ll see what we can figure out together.”

“All right.”

Neko grabbed her arm, a sudden shot of pain reminding her of Vail’s assault.

“Are you okay?” Lumen asked.

“Fine. I could probably use a painkiller, though, and some fresh bandages.”

“Listen,” said Aegis. “You two head off. Do what you need to do. We’ll settle the bill.”

“Thank you,” said Lumen, signing briefly to Lyre. “We’ll do our best to figure this out, and I’ll be in touch.”

“I know it,” said Aegis, smiling at Neko, who grinned back. “Take care of this bastard, would you?” he said, nodding to Lumen.

“I will. Unless he hides my fucking knives again.”

When they’d left, Lumen turned her way once again.

“First thing in the morning,” he said, “We’ll need to begin our hunt. Are you ready for it?”

She nodded, her heart pounding in her chest.
First thing in the morning.
But first, she was going to spend the night with Lumen, in his home beneath the lake.

“
Y
ou can rest
in a little bit,” Lumen said as he opened the hidden doorway to pass through into the stairwell. “I know you’re tired. I’ll run you a bath at home.”

“Home,”
said Neko. The word held so much meaning, and yet she’d only set foot in the place once, and briefly at that. It wasn’t so much a home as a safe haven, a hiding spot to protect them from the perils that roamed London’s streets.

But at this point, anywhere that she could be with Lumen was beginning to feel like a warm, protective shelter. Her own country house was no longer safe from Vail or from Umbra—it was vulnerable and too conspicuous. For now she would reside underground, hidden away with her Dragon protector.

But it struck her that she hadn’t yet seen a bedroom in the strange subterranean flat. Where would they sleep? And what about clothing?

“I’ll have some items brought by tomorrow,” Lumen said, as though reading her mind. “I’ll look after anything you need until you can return to your own house.”

Something in Neko’s chest sank. For the first time she realized that she didn’t want to return there—at least, not without him.

“All right,” she said softly.

“Are you doing okay?” he asked. “You seem…”

“I’m fine.”

“Tell me what’s on your mind.”

Quickly she struggled to cover up what she was truly thinking and feeling—the shattering realization of how attached she’d become to him. It felt, somehow, like a weakness, rather than a strength. An admission that would cause him to lose respect for her.

“I haven’t seen any Lapsed since the one who attacked you, which I find strange,” she said.

“It is, a little. They were becoming a regular occurrence for several days.”

“What do you suppose it means?”

“Possibly nothing. Or it could be that Umbra—or another Controller, for that matter—is amassing them for his purposes.”

“Vail will have told him what we talked about this morning,” said Neko. “That you spoke of the Four.”

“Probably. You still wish that we’d killed him, don’t you?”

“Yes. If only for your—our—protection.”

“If we can gather the Four, Umbra will have no power against us. Vail’s life—or death—is insignificant in the grand scheme of things.”

The walk back passed relatively quickly and easily, much of it downhill. The two were quiet, and Neko had the impression that Lumen spent much of the time deep in thought.

When at last they returned to the bright flat, he led her through a door to a large room that she hadn’t yet seen: the elusive bedroom.

At its centre was a large, white wooden bed, its headboard carved in ornate spiralling patterns, its bedding soft and welcoming.

Guiding her through, they came to another vast bathroom, larger than any she’d ever seen in any house or flat. Like the rest of the strange abode its light poured in from above, the day’s remaining sunlight seeping in through the lapping water of the lake.

“Come,” said Lumen. “Let’s get you—and me—cleaned up.”

To Neko’s right was a large, claw-foot tub. Lumen leaned over and plugged its drain before turning on the taps.

“Take off your jacket, if you would,” he said.

Neko peeled the leather away, wincing as the sleeve dug into the bandage on her arm. Lumen took the garment from her and draped it over a white upholstered chair to one end of the room.

“It’s dirty,” she said. “It’ll ruin the chair…”

“Don’t worry about that.” Lumen’s eyes were on her arm, his fingers gently stroking her. “May I?” he asked.

Neko nodded, and he carefully eased the bandage away.

“The cut is clean, at least. I’m going to have to wash it further, though, and that may hurt.”

“I can take pain.”

“Yes. I’m sure you can. But I hate the idea of hurting you, Neko.”

She turned her gaze to him and away from the wound. His perfect, expressive eyes were on hers, delving into her again, and she wished she could climb into him in the same way that he seemed to make his way into her soul. There was so much inside him that she hadn’t yet discovered. So much that she wanted to know.

But in that moment, the thing she wanted most was to feel his lips on hers. A kiss, at last. To taste his flesh, to know what it was like to be intimate with him. Insane to think that a few hours earlier her mouth had been wrapped around his cock, and yet they’d never yet shared that simple expression of affection.

“Let’s get you looked after, then we can rest,” he said. The words were so soft. Silk, slipping along her bare skin.

Neko nodded. “Mmm.”

He opened the cabinet, extracting more cotton gauze and a bottle of some sort. Unscrewing the bottle, he dabbed the liquid on the cotton before turning back to her.

Neko’s eyes moved about the room, marvelling at its strange, filtered brightness.

“Lumen,” she said softly.

“Mmmm?” he asked as he pressed the alcohol-covered gauze to her wound.

“I’m just saying your name. This place reminds me of the sound of it. As though there’s light all around you—around us.”

His eyes met hers again. “With you in my life, there is light at all times,” he said. “You give my name new meaning.”

Neko shivered, the fine hairs on her arms rising.

“You all right?” he asked, his left hand stroking her upper arm.

She nodded. “Fine. Just a chill.”

She watched him patch her up, cleaning the wound and re-bandaging, before she found the courage to speak again.

“Thank you, Lumen. For all of this.”

He smiled before turning to look at the bath tub, which was still filling with hot water.

“Are you going to take a bath?” asked Neko.

“No, but I think that you should,” he said.

“Am I that smelly?” She winced, recalling her earlier self-consciousness about her scent when she was about to meet with the Dragon Guild.

“Not at all. You smell incredibly delicious, in fact,” he replied, his eyes narrowing. She was beginning to recognize that look of pure desire. “But I want you to be comfortable, and I think a bath would do you good.”

Neko sat on the tub’s edge and dangled fingers over the water, letting their tips dip in. “Thank you again, then,” she said.

“You’re welcome, again.” For a moment Lumen looked as though he might leave the room, but he stopped himself. “Listen, Neko. There is one other thing that I should explain,” he said. “About the Four.”

“Oh?”

“The second verse—
Each Kindred, his destiny found, Each Seeker with her rightful mate
.”

She turned to him, the goosebumps returning. Standing up, she looked into his eyes. He looked hesitant, almost afraid to speak further.

“What does it mean?” she asked.

“I am one of the Kindred, as you know.”

“Yes, I know.”

“And as for my destiny, Neko—it’s you. I’ve told you as much. I know it now. You are the Seeker who’s found me.”

Her heart leapt, but instinct told her to fight this. To once again deny the possibility of fate steering her—steering them both.

“We’re back to that, are we?” she said. “It turns out that I’m meant to wind up in your bed, only because of some old tale? You do realize that’s not how life works. That’s not how
I
work.” Even as the words came, she wasn’t at all convinced any more of her own stubborn skepticism. If anything, she was beginning to believe whole-heartedly that they
were
, in fact, meant to be.

“You will end up in the exact place where you want to end up,” he said. “Not because of a myth or a legend. But perhaps because our fates are intertwined. Because we were meant to find one another, and because we were made for each other. You know, Neko—deep down, you
know
—that our growing attachment follows no rules. It is a force beyond our control, whether you admit it or not. You feel it, just as I do. I can sense it in you. I see it in your eyes, in your very body.”

Neko turned to look once again at the tub, steam rising from the water that had nearly filled it now. He was right, of course. Deep inside, she knew as well as she’d ever known anything.

She was his.

But it meant turning herself over to trust and to faith, both in destiny and in him. And that was both the easiest and the most difficult task in the world.

Lumen spoke again. “And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to splash some water on my face and then retire for a little.”

He turned to the sink embedded in the counter opposite the bath tub, and lifted his shirt, peeling it off and laying it on the marble counter.

And for the first time, Neko’s eyes were able to take in the splendour of his body. Each muscle defined in his back as his front, his shoulders broad, his pecs hard and sculpted. She could see all of him, reflected back to her in the mirror. Perfection, amplified by streams of soft light.

Good God, he was the most beautiful thing.

She turned off the tub’s taps, waiting and watching as he went about his business.

He faced the mirror as he turned on the water and splashed the cold liquid over his face and neck. Neko was about to force her gaze away, ordering herself to stop being so incredibly bold in her examination of his body. But in that moment something caught her eye, her stare landing on the mark.

Familiar and strange at once, etched deliberately into his flesh.

Her breath stopped, her heart pounding hard, relentless in her chest.

Two parallel markings snaked up and down horizontally in a zig zag pattern, deep pink against white flesh.

“What is that?” Neko asked, her voice hardly more than a whisper.

Lumen froze, seeing her expression reflected in the mirror. He turned to her before speaking. His arm still raised, the fingers of his other hand went to the mark, slipping over its surface.

“You’ve seen this before,” he said. “You know it.”

She nodded.

“Where?”

Neko turned her back towards him and lifted her own shirt, pulling it over her head. Peeling her bra strap down, she revealed her bare shoulder to him.

Engraved in her shoulder blade, her scar, identical to his.

S
he remained still
, her breathing heavy, back facing him. Lumen watched her body heave, her beautiful, muscular back and torso tapering to a narrow waist.

“What does it mean?” she asked.

His fingers traced the mark, touching her so, so delicately. “Do you really want to hear me say it? I think you already know the answer.”

She could feel his breath on her shoulder, tender, warm, sensual.

“Yes,” she replied. “Please, say the words.”

“You and I are…”

“One,”
she breathed.

Lumen’s large hands pressed softly into her shoulders then moved down, fingers gliding possessively along her arms.

“Yes. You have the mark, and we are bound to one another,” he whispered, pulling his hand up to sweep her long hair from her neck. Leaning in, he kissed her skin. Her head bending backwards, hand reaching for the back of his neck, drawing him closer.

“Do you want this, Neko?” he asked. “Do you believe it now? Do you want everything that our bond entails?”

“I want
you
, Lumen,” she said. “You know I do. So badly that I can’t think straight. I’m done with denying it.”

His hands slipped down to her waist then, moving around to her taut stomach. And then they were easing upwards, brushing over her ribcage, his body drawing itself into her back.

“Tell me to stop if you must,” he said. “And I will.”

“I won’t.
Never.
” She could hardly speak, glad that he was holding her for fear that she might otherwise collapse in a heap.

Her breath hitched as his hands touched the underside of her breasts, slowly inching their way upwards, slipping over her nipples. He peeled the bra away, his thumbs sliding over the hardening tips as she gasped.

“I want to suck these,” he said, pinching them gently. “Do you know how much?”

“I can imagine. I
have
…imagined,” she said. “I’ve imagined everything you could do to me—everything I could do to you. What it would be like…to have you inside me.”

The words seemed to act as a repellent. On hearing them he pulled back, dropping his hands to his sides as though an unseen force had caused him to retreat.

No—what did I say?

“I’m sorry,” he said. “There’s something you need to understand. It’s not fair to go further without full disclosure. Even if fate has decided what’s going to happen, I need to tell you.”

Neko slipped the bra straps up onto her shoulders again before turning to face him. His pale eyes held a sadness, almost an apology.

“What is it?” she asked. Was he rejecting her suddenly? Had something happened?

“If we go through with this—if we are together, your life will never be the same. You will change, Neko. You
need
to understand that.”

She smiled. “I can imagine I will,” she said. “I’ve heard rumours about you Dragons…”

“I’m not talking about my sexual prowess, or anything like that. I’m talking about what will happen to your body.”

“My body? Are you worried about birth control? Because I’m on the pill…”

“No. Nothing of that sort. Here, sit,” he said, moving her jacket off the white chair and guiding her to seat herself. “You mentioned to me once that you knew of the Rituals—the sexual ceremonies of my ancestors.”

“Yes….Oh, my God. Are you suggesting that we’re going to involve another man?” The thought, Neko had to admit, wasn’t entirely horrific. Two Lumens would be…impressive, if overwhelming.

“No,” he laughed. “The Ritual is an archaic rite, and no longer observed. In the past it was used to grant a woman the powers of the two men. But even if the bond is only between one woman and one man, a certain give and take occurs. In our case, you will gain something of my skills.”

That first night when he’d been with her in her house, he’d mentioned that he could give her powers. Was that what this was all about?

“I’ll become a shifter?”

“No,” he managed a quiet laugh. “Only one with a shifter’s blood can come into those capabilities, and you’re all human. But you will find your senses heightened. Your skill for stealth improved. And likely other things will alter, as well.”

“You’re telling me—warning me—that I’ll become some sort of supreme ninja Hunter with panther-like grace and skill?”

“Well, I’d insist you’re already
there
. Let’s just say that you will find yourself…improved in ways that I can’t entirely predict.”

“And this is a negative?”

Lumen frowned. “I don’t know—is it?”

Neko didn’t reply. Maybe it was, after all. Did she really want to change into something else? There was no telling what might happen; how it might feel. And there would be no return.

“Take your bath,” he said, stepping away. “And then you and I can talk further about this.”

A swell of disappointment hit her chest. They’d been so close to the intimacy that she’d craved. Why stop now?

“Remember, Neko, that this isn’t a decision to be undertaken lightly. What happens between us wouldn’t be a simple fling. This is your life that you’d be offering me, just as I would offer you mine.”

“I understand,” she said.
I think.

As Lumen turned and walked away, she undressed, climbing into the tub and turning towards him just as he disappeared into the bedroom.

“Wait,” she called as she dipped her body into the hot bath.

He turned back, stepping into the doorway. In his eyes, the hunger she’d seen so many times from him. But he didn’t say anything. Too generous to speak his mind, she supposed.

And so it was to her to be the selfish one.

“Please—don’t go,” she whispered.

H
e moved back
to the tub, trying to avoid looking down at her beautiful body, the ebbing water lapping over her exquisite breasts. Silently he knelt down, taking the wash cloth that she handed him and dipping it into the water.

“Neko…” he said. “Are you sure you want me here?”

She extended an arm, taking the hand that was holding the cloth and pulling it towards her. Slowly, gently, she swept it over her neck, pulling it downwards and offering him the control.

“I’m sure,” she said. “It’s taken every ounce of strength for me to admit it, but I’m sure.”

Lumen let the hand slip down, dropping the cloth into the water as he stroked the place between her breasts.

Neko’s eyes closed, her lips parting as he explored her. His finger tips moved over her chest, barely touching her hardening nipples. Then down her belly, grazing her skin until they reached the place between her legs.

“I would devote years to this,” he said, fingers slipping over her clit. “To the pleasure it gives you.”

“I know,” she said, opening her eyes and looking at him. “It’s an extraordinary thought.”

“You’re an extraordinary woman.”

He lifted his hand again. Fingers stroked her cheek, moving to her chin as he turned her face towards him. She didn’t resist. Shyly her eyes met his, searching for that look of his. That mixture of need and want, of hunger for her.

She held her breath, waiting. Please don’t go away again. Please.

“I have to kiss you now,” he said.

She drew herself towards him, welcoming him, encouraging.

His lips were soft, swollen, need coursing through them both in that moment. Hungrily their tongues met at last, the sweet honey taste of want offering the briefest satisfaction; a sample of everything to come. It should have been enough, that, and yet it only served to make each of them want more. Selfish, greedy lust flowed through them both in waves. Beautiful, wonderful, erotic beyond measure.

“I want you,” Neko whispered against his lips. “Whatever it means, Lumen, I want you inside me. Not just once, but over and over again. I want to be a part of you, and you of me. It doesn’t matter if it changes me…because don’t you see? You’ve already changed me. Utterly, completely.”

“Are you certain?” he said. “My sweet, beautiful Neko…”

She nodded. “Yes, I’m certain. I’ve known since the first moment I laid eyes on you.”

Pressing his palms to the tub’s edge, he rose to his feet and took her hand. Slowly he guided her to stand, helping her to step out of the deep tub. Her naked body dripped water over the soft, white mat underfoot, and Lumen sighed at the sight of her.

Kissing her again, he leaned down and put one massive arm behind her legs, lifting and carrying her into the next room, laying her down on the soft bed.

Lowering her onto her back, his eyes followed his fingers as he slid them over her torso, tips brushing her breasts, pausing at the peaks of her nipples. Her breath deepened at the sensation; he was controlling her body, bending it to his will.

And she loved every second of it.

Rising onto his palms he moved over her, lips brushing against hers before finding her chin, her neck, her chest, landing soft kisses as he moved down, inch by inch.

His tongue explored the spot between her breasts, suggestive, sensual and teasing, before his lips found one nipple and pursed around it, tongue teasing its tip as he sucked so, so gently.

And then the other.
Oh, God.
A woman could die from so much perfection.

He moved lower, his expert lips and tongue searching out every erogenous inch of white skin until his lips met the thin line of dark hair leading him to that delicious, sweet place between her legs. He drew his tongue along it, her pelvis thrusting upwards, legs parting.

“Your body is wonderful,” he murmured. “So fucking wonderful.”

Lumen smiled as his eyes moved briefly to her face. Her hands were covering her eyes in a sweet, shy gesture. But on her lips, a smile. Pleasure, satisfaction. Happiness, even.

Neko had succumbed at last, it seemed.

“I’m going to finish what I started this morning,” he said softly, landing a delicate kiss on her sensitive clit. “Your body is begging me for my tongue.”

Neko didn’t speak, but moved her knees farther apart as though to confirm what he’d said.
Yes. Please. Kiss me here.

Lumen tasted her again, his tongue slipping the length of her opening.

“That feels so good,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. “So much better than fantasies…”

“No fantasy,” he said. More magical licks. “Only the reality of my mouth on your sweet pussy.”

Slowly she pulled her hands from her eyes to look at him. To watch him taste her.

You’re mine,
she thought.
You’re mine, Dragon, and I don’t even know what to do with all of this bliss.

Finally, her face at peace—she was, she told herself, purely happy in that moment.

The admission told her that she had finally come to terms with this. That she’d accepted what life had thrown their way, regardless of how insane it had all seemed.

She laid her head back, her eyes moving to the soft ebbing light above. The lake, lapping silently, their magical ceiling offering shelter from another world.

And in the moment when she came her eyes shut tight, fingers twining themselves in his thick hair.

“I want you,” she gasped. “I want you inside me…”

Her eyes opened to the sight of him moving over her, the swollen head of his cock prying her apart. This was it, she thought. They would truly belong to one another. Everything was about to change.

She wrapped her fingers around his enormous arms, preparing for the sensation to take hold as they became one, bonded.

Light poured over him, a glowing swath of warmth coating his flesh.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said. “You don’t even know.”

She smiled at him. “So are you,” she said.

It was only when a black shadow moved overhead that her hands clenched around his arms, a quiet panic overtaking her, instinct dictating that something was wrong. Lumen pulled back and away, turning his head to look upwards, sensing the same danger.

“What
is
that?” Neko asked, torn out of their perfect moment. “A cloud?”

And then another shadow came. And another, circling above them in a slow, even pattern. Dark entities threatening to dismantle what they’d only just begun to nurture. Above them, multiple dark forms were now moving, groping about in the water that had offered such reassuring shelter only moments earlier.

“It’s no cloud,” Lumen said, rising to his feet. “It’s the Lapsed.”