Taming the Dragon (5 page)

EIGHT

Tess wasn’t exactly sure how she’d gone from delivering
a necklace to living with a dragon in the space of twenty-four hours, but by the
second night with Kaden, it seemed like that was exactly what had happened.

The day had been one of the strangest ones she’d ever
experienced. And considering some of the musicians she’d hung out with, that was
saying something.

They hadn’t been able to find Wicked Little Things. Tess
remembered the street, where she’d been when she’d taken the turn that had
brought her to Morgan. But when she’d driven her battered old hatchback back to
the area, the shop was just...gone.

More, it was like it had never been there in the first place.
The bookstore she’d walked by was there, and the pastry shop she remembered
being just past it. But there was nothing but an expanse of brick where Morgan
Le Fay’s weird little store had been.

Kaden hadn’t seemed surprised. That had made exactly one of
them. Unreturned phone calls were one thing. A disappearing store was quite
another.

“Trickery,” he’d muttered. So she’d gotten take-out from one of
her favorite sandwich places for lunch, because...well, what did one
do
with a dejected dragon?

Feed him, apparently, Tess thought as she watched Kaden dig
into his pork lo mein from across her little table. The sandwiches had been such
a big hit that she’d decided to try him on Chinese for dinner. So far, so good.
The man loved food, sex and music, not necessarily in that order.

She guessed it was fortunate that she loved all of those
things, too...especially when they were happening with him. And he seemed to
have lightened up about the whole “You are my possession” thing, which made
conversation more pleasant. Weird, but pleasant.

“I’ve never had food like this. In my land, wars would be
fought over such...such...what did you call them?”

“Noodles.”

“Noodles,” Kaden agreed, giving them a look he usually reserved
only for her before digging back in. Tess watched him for a few moments, then
shook her head. Between them, sitting among the opened cartons of Chinese food,
was what looked like a silver jewelry box. Which it was, in a way.

Inside of it was all of Kaden’s treasure.

According to him, most dragons had small, bespelled boxes so
they could make quick getaways with their hoard. Tess had already looked inside
a dozen times. It continued to contain lots of tiny treasure. Treasure he
insisted they would take to whatever hiding place he selected for them, which
was a thing she had told him numerous times was not happening. Not that he had
listened.

Not listening seemed to be one of Kaden’s special talents,
right along with the smoke that came out of his mouth on a regular basis.

The flash of irritation had heat suffusing her skin. Tess
frowned, put down her chopsticks and scratched her forearm. She’d been having
hot flashes ever since yesterday, and sometimes her skin didn’t feel right. Or
her vision. Or her teeth. The reassuring heat of Kaden’s necklace rested against
her skin, and once she’d given her arm a scratch Tess reached up to fiddle with
it.

It was only when Kaden spoke that she realized he’d been
staring at her.

“You are...feeling all right?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.” The way he was looking at her—worried—had her
changing the subject. He probably thought she had human cooties or
something.

Kaden watched her a moment longer, then dropped his gaze back
to the noodles, his expression pensive. Tess didn’t like to see him troubled.
Kaden seemed like he’d had plenty of that in his life. And her instincts to
soothe him were so strong and omnipresent, she realized, she’d almost stopped
questioning them.

Her stomach sank. She needed to find Morgan somehow. She had a
lot of questions, and there was nowhere else she could imagine she might get
actual answers that weren’t “Because you are mine.”

“So I was thinking,” Tess said, poking at her rice with a
chopstick, “about these hunters of yours.”

Kaden immediately looked wary. “Mmm?”

“There has to be a way to get them off your back. They’ve been
chasing you for centuries, right? But you’re a dragon! There has to be a way to
stop them, destroy them, defeat them...something.”

Kaden snorted. “They are not all human. They have
magic-wielders among them, even here, though I think the blood may have become
weaker as it has been diluted over time.”

“Okay, fine,” Tess said. “You’re still a dragon. You
get...well, big, right? And breathe fire? Grow scales?”

“Yes,” Kaden said, standing. “And no.” He stalked away from the
table so quickly that it took Tess a moment to register that she’d somehow
offended him. Stubborn, moody creature, she thought, pursing her lips and rising
to go after him.

“What did I say?” she asked. He stopped in the middle of her
living room and turned, stiffly, to face her. His expression was inscrutable,
apart from the fact that he was obviously unhappy with her.

“I am no weakling,” he said.

Tess blinked. “I know that.”

“All I wanted was to be left alone,” he snapped. “You want me
to fight them. The witch demanded I fight them. For what? Everything that was is
destroyed. I’m trapped no matter what I do. All I wanted was to be left to my
treasure. That’s all that’s left. I don’t even have anything to live for, much
less die for, and the hunters will
never
stop
coming. That is but one lesson I brought to this world with me.”

“But Morgan is a witch. Look, she obviously got involved for a
reason. Maybe she wants to help—”

Kaden’s voice was full of barely leashed fury, and though Tess
knew he wouldn’t hurt her, the strength of his emotions had her taking a step
back.

“Her world is not mine. Our doorways are not hers. She can’t
get me home, and she offers me nothing but some foolish notion of reclaimed
honor. Perhaps she just wants a pet dragon to fight her battles for her. No one
with magic is to be trusted. All they want is control.”

“And is that what you think I am? Just another way to control
you?”

Through her hurt and anger she saw Kaden’s features tighten. He
shouldn’t be able to make her feel like this, Tess thought. But then, she
shouldn’t want him like she did.

“You are just...unexpected,” Kaden allowed. It didn’t escape
Tess that he sounded unhappy about it. “I protect what is mine.”

“You keep saying that,” Tess said. “But you might want to start
thinking about the fact that I’m not some piece of jewelry that you can pick up
and tuck away while you pass out for a century or so. I have a life here, and
dreams. And unlike you, I
fight
for what I
want.”

The barb hit its mark. “I have tried fighting,” he snarled. “It
is hopeless. You don’t understand anything,
human.
”

“I understand plenty,” Tess said. “I’m sorry for what happened
to you. I know what it’s like to lose things.”

“I lost my entire family. Everyone.”

“Well, at least yours wanted you,” Tess replied. “Mine never
wanted me. I got shown the door the day I graduated from high school, and I
never looked back. All my mother saw me as was competition for her boyfriends’
attention, and I don’t even know who my father is. Trash, no doubt. That’s what
she likes. That’s what I swore to God I would never be. So here I am, and I
don’t have much, but at least I haven’t given up!”

“Accepting your fate is not giving up. I wanted nothing but to
be left alone,” Kaden shot back, and the words landed like a punch in the
gut.

“Then don’t let me stop you,” Tess said quietly. Before she
could find a reason to stay and keep banging her head against the brick wall
that was Kaden, she turned on one heel and left.

NINE

He found her on a bench in a little park a couple of
miles away.

If she noticed the dark shape that passed over her before he
landed in human form, she showed no sign of it. Nor did she turn her head to
look at him as he approached. Her arms were wrapped around herself tightly—she
hadn’t bothered to grab a jacket, and the air was chilled.

He had hurt her. He hadn’t intended to, but that didn’t make
the wound any less real.

Kaden walked slowly to the bench and sat beside her, leaving a
little distance between them. She said nothing, but this close, he caught a
scent that was much like the sea, deep and mysterious. Tears. He had made her
cry. The knowledge agitated him in a way he was completely unused to. He wanted
it fixed. He wanted everything fixed, damn it. And he had no idea how to
begin.

“Tess,” he said softly. “I...am sorry.”

She didn’t move.

“Sure you are.” Her voice was slightly foggy from the tears.
“Sorry I have this necklace stuck around my neck, sorry I showed up yesterday. I
didn’t ask for this, either, but hey, it’s all about you, right?”

He should have known she would respond with fire instead of
ice. In some ways, it was more familiar to him. Still, undoing what he had done
would be a delicate task. Even a dragon could get burned.

“No. That is, it should not be. All about me, I mean.”

That did earn him a glance, and the sight of her eyes, still
damp, created a painful ache in his chest. This was all new to him. He had paid
little attention to the stories of those who were bonded. He’d been young, and
he hadn’t cared.

Now, he wished for even a single other dragon to speak to about
this. About these
feelings.
Everything he had locked
away seemed to have returned with the arrival of this one small woman.

“No, it shouldn’t be. I don’t want to be locked away somewhere.
I’m my own person, not property.”

He hesitated. “And what...do you want?”

Tess blew out a long breath, but she finally turned fully to
look at him.

“I want to be able to do what I love. I want to live, Kaden.
See things, do things...make music and maybe have some people listen. I might
not have come from much, but I decided a long time ago not to let that get in
the way of what I can build for myself.”

He could see the picture she painted for herself vividly, and
knew that she could achieve it. At least, she would be able to if she weren’t
wearing his
dragyn-ka
. Soon, she would make the
change from human to dragon and become just as he was—hunted, different. Alone
in so many ways. He had no illusions that a woman like Tess could ever be happy
tucked into a cave for hundreds of years.

It was only now that he realized how much that mattered.

The bond was strong and deep. Tess was indeed made for him.
But...she was right. She was not the treasure he had clung to for so long. In
another time, another place, he would have celebrated her appearance in his
life.

Now, he was at a loss. What could he offer?

“I think you are...a wonder,” Kaden admitted, feeling foolish
as the words passed his lips. But that vanished in the face of Tess’s smile,
touched with sadness though it was.

“Well. I feel the same way about you, for what it’s worth. I
just...it’s so fast. I don’t know—”

“You don’t need to know,” Kaden said, and he lifted his hand to
stroke his fingertips down her cheek. The gentleness of his touch seemed to
surprise her. Tess fell silent, allowing him to touch her.

They sat that way in comfortable silence for a time. Kaden
explored the contours of her face, her jaw, with his fingertips, marveling at
the softness. He wanted to memorize the way she felt. He already knew that soon,
the memory was all he would have of her. Such a short time with the woman who
might have been his fated mate. But he was glad to have been given it.

He could not put her in his silver box. Nor could he pull her
into a life where that wonderful spark of hers would dim, perhaps die...if she
even made it that far. His choices had been taken from him.

Kaden would not take hers.

“Come home,” Kaden said. “Be with me.”

Tess looked at him, then nodded slowly. “We have things we need
to talk about, Kaden.”

“Tomorrow,” he said. “Just give me tonight. Please.”

He could see her relent, could see the depth of her need for
him reflected back at him in the instant before she slid into his arms. But the
way she held him, was...different. Not born of desire, but of something far
deeper. Perhaps he was imagining it...but Kaden still savored it. It was
something he had thought lost to him forever.

“I want to help you,” Tess murmured.

“You are,” Kaden replied. Then he pulled her to her feet, her
hand still in his. He had never been a sentimental creature, but keeping that
connection between them felt good, right.

And together, they turned for home.

TEN

Something was different.

Maybe it was the way he looked at her. Maybe it was the way he
waited patiently, kneeling in the center of her bed, for her to come to her. But
Tess could feel that things had shifted between her and Kaden. Their fight
seemed to have cleared the air, and helped him to understand some things. But
there was more she wished she’d said that she didn’t quite know how to
express.

Not yet.

Tonight, she would simply savor that he wanted
her
to lead. Tomorrow, they could begin to figure out
how to fit their very different lives together. There had to be a way, Tess
thought. Because for all that Kaden’s attitudes could infuriate her, she felt
the truth of their connection as deeply as he seemed to. She didn’t want to go
into hiding.

But she didn’t want to be without him. Even now, that was out
of the question.

Tess took a deep breath, unhooked the clasp on her bra and let
it drop to the floor. She heard his approving growl and smiled. Her nipples
pebbled, not from cold but from a fresh wave of desire. The muscles in her lower
belly tightened.

“You wish to torment me,” Kaden said.

She smirked, trying to replicate the arrogant look he often
gave her. Tess let her panties drop to the floor and tried not to feel
self-conscious as she went to him, the feel of his eyes on her bare skin making
her even hotter than the charm at her throat.

She paused at the edge of the bed, eyeing him suspiciously.
“You’ll stay still until I tell you. You did say that.”

He drank her in, gold eyes burning. “I am a dragon of my word,
atirra.
”

She smiled. “I’ll hold you to that.”

Tess crawled onto the bed and the positioned herself before
him, straddling his knees with her own. She rose up a little to trace her hands
over the markings on his skin that she’d admired, but had little time to
explore. They were beautiful, tribal, black as night and somehow perfect for
him.

“I love your tattoos,” she said.

“I was born with these,” Kaden replied, his voice slightly
strained. “No two dragons are marked the same.”

She savored the heat of his skin beneath her hands as she
looked up to meet his eyes. “Really? That’s amazing.”

“You wish to have a conversation this way?”

His hands had bunched into fists, and it was hard for Tess to
hide her smile when she realized just how hard he was trying to keep his hands
to himself, as he’d promised. She let her hands slide down his chest to his
hips, then scraped her nails lightly over his lower belly, making him shudder.
Then, slowly, deliberately, she leaned forward to trail her tongue down his
chest. His muscles flexed on a low, harsh groan.

“Tess.”

In answer, she went lower, licking and kissing until she had
lowered herself to the head of his cock. She nuzzled at the hot, silken skin,
heard Kaden make a soft, broken sound. Then she put her mouth around him and
took all of him in, a long, languorous stroke that made his hips surge
upward.

Tess moaned, not protesting when she felt Kaden’s hands tangle
in her hair. He tasted of the sea, and she began to suck him, swirling her
tongue around his rigid shaft as she began a slow, tortuous rhythm. The noises
he made in the back of his throat each time she took him fully into her mouth
had moisture pooling between her legs, and it was a relief when he pulled her
away.

She could only imagine her face was as flushed as his was.

The power pouring from him was incredible. And still, this
time, he held back, though she could see how difficult it was.

“Let me,” he said. But it was no order...for the first time, it
was a request.

Tess had only begun to nod when she was flipped onto her back,
covered from head to toe with well over six feet of hard, naked dragon. He
felt...incredible. His skin was hot and smooth, and she could feel all of his
tightly coiled strength rippling through her where they touched. He loomed above
her, braced on his elbows. Only the tips of her breasts brushed his chest with
every shallow breath. The feel of the light abrasion shot directly between her
legs, swelling her, making her slick with need.

Once again, she was at his mercy. But this time, she’d chosen
the position.

“I need to touch you,
atirra,
”
Kaden said, his voice harsh. “To be inside you.” To illustrate his point, he
pressed his hips forward, and Tess could feel the hot length of his cock against
her inner thigh. She sucked in a breath, her own hips lifting toward him as
though they had a mind of their own. Her entire body thrummed with desire.

“Do it,” she said.

She caught a flash of Kaden’s triumphant smile as he slid his
cock deep inside her, burying himself to the hilt.

Tess arched against him, her mouth opening on a silent moan.
She couldn’t speak, couldn’t breathe. He filled her completely, stretching her
so that she fit him like a second skin. He made a sound, a soft, rough
expression of pleasure that had her tightening even more, pulsing around
him.

Kaden hissed something guttural, and still, she understood
it.

“I need you. Just like this. Tess.”

So did she. Tess grabbed the back of his neck and pulled his
mouth to hers, meeting him in a hot, openmouthed kiss.

The other hand drifted to his hip.

“Now,” was all she said, breathing the word into his mouth.

Tess wrapped her legs around him as the movement made her
shiver, made her tighten around him as her body began to rise again. Kaden
thrust into her again, then again, picking up speed. Tess watched his face
hazily, and slowly she realized he was still holding back.

For all his bluster, could he really be concerned about what
she would think?

It touched her unexpectedly...like so much about him. And all
of it arrowed straight to her heart.

“All of you,” she breathed. “Give me everything.” She felt
something deep within begin to stir, something she’d never known was there
before. It uncoiled, stretched...and began to fill her thoughts with wicked
things she’d never even imagined. She dug her nails into his hips, hard. Kaden
bared his fangs.

“Be sure, Tess. I want to take you as a dragon takes his
woman.”

He
was
holding back. Knowing it was
all it took for this new part of herself to snap its tether.

Tess surged against Kaden, wrapping herself around him tightly
and dragging her teeth across his neck. The sudden movement startled him for
just long enough that she nearly managed to flip him over...but not quite. He
brought her back down to the bed, eyes blazing, pinning her arms on either side
of her head. Tess bucked beneath him, consumed with need in a way she had never
been. Kaden slammed into her with a roar, and her voice joined his.

He began to take her, his violent thrusts shaking the bed.
Tess’s hands balled into fists as she urged him on, the pleasure growing ever
more intense until she was nearly blind from it.

When his teeth sank into the tender curve at the base of her
neck, she came without warning, a sudden implosion that had her entire body
bowing upward, rigid as the climax coursed through her. Tess closed her eyes and
heard a wild, animal-like cry tear from her throat. Kaden gave one more hard
thrust and then tore his mouth away to give a cry of his own, shuddering as he
poured himself into her.

When the waves had ebbed enough for them to be able to move
again, Tess sank deeper into the mattress, unsure about what had just happened
and whether she would ever regain proper use of limbs that had gone at least
partially boneless. Kaden slumped over her, then pulled her against him and
rolled onto his side, fitting himself along the back of her so that they were
like two halves of the same whole.

It was the strangest feeling. The strangest, loveliest feeling,
Tess decided, trying to hang on to it as her exhausted body sank determinedly
into sleep.

Kaden no longer felt like a stranger...and for the first time
in her life, she felt whole.

She never felt him slip away in the darkness before morning.
But something in her sensed it when he took the
dragyn-ka
from her neck, and she shivered alone in her dreams.