Web Of Bones: Book II of the Dragon Mage Series (12 page)

Melly must have dozed off at some point
, because when they landed the sun was significantly higher in the sky. She had thought they would head back to the others, but apparently, that was not the plan, since when she opened her eyes they were in some kind of naturally enclosed glade. She could hear water splashing rocks but did not dare take her eyes off the dragon as he paced away from her and shimmered back to a rather large, enraged male. He turned and the dragon was still there in his eyes—it was just wearing a different skin. Seeing the slide of molten silver had Melisande backing up, even before he stomped toward her like some great war beast.

“
Solan...” she started, only to have him lift her once again by the waist, only he was not nearly as gentle as he had been with dragon talons.

“
What were you thinking?” His voice had dropped to his dangerous low timber, like gravel over rocks, and somehow the anger behind it managed to bite along her skin.

She winced, taking a deep breath
, and lifted her chin to meet those dragon eyes. She could still salvage this if he would only listen. “I had a vision. I need you to let me go on without you.”

“
No.” No hesitation, no room for discussion.

Melly grabbed both sides of his face and beseeched him with her eyes and voice.
“Please trust me when I say I have to do this on my own.”

“
No.” This time he growled the word while he shook her a bit to emphasize his answer.

“
I won’t let you die for me!” Her voice broke, tears hitting her eyes, even as she was tempted to wring the answer she wanted from his thick neck.

He studied her while she fought the tears that were falling, knowing she had to look pathetic and weak in his eyes.
“I know I am not as strong as the rest of my family.” She let go of his face long enough to wipe her eyes, and he held her suspended two feet in the air like she was no more heavy than a feather pillow. She raised her chin, her hands going to either side of his massive shoulders to try and shake him; of course, he didn’t notice the attempt and moved not one iota. “But I can do this. I can face the blood mage and win without you risking your life for me. Please, Solan.”

“
You died in my arms last night,” he said, his voice dropping even farther. “Unacceptable.” She could feel his hands like a brand heating her waist. “You ran from me without discussing your vision because you knew I would never agree to you going off on your own.”

“
Solan ...”

“
Unacceptable,” he interrupted, his voice continuing to spark against her skin. She could feel the magic building around them until her ears popped with the pressure. “You are mine to protect.” He shifted her so that he had one arm wrapped around her waist. The other hand he pushed through her hair until he could hold it in a fist behind her ear. His eyes claimed hers with savage intent. “Before we leave this glade you will understand what that means.”

Melly opened her mouth to say something, anything, but his claiming lips stole her thoughts and shot heat and power down her throat, until she groaned with the pleasure of his possession.
She felt his tongue and teeth, as he wasted no time on softness and took everything she had to give. She felt the pressure of his erection at her belly, the strength in his hands in her hair and at her waist, and finally understood why he had brought them to a secluded glade. And this time, Light help her, she didn’t have the will to stop him. Before she could even start to think of consequences, her own power had risen to meet his and she knew without looking that she was suffused with green mage light. At the feel of her power rubbing up against him, Solan dropped to his knees and growled. Pulling her loose dress over her head in one yank, he stripped the rest of her clothes until he could run his hands over every part of that glowing mage skin.

With a wisp of dragon power his own clothes dropped away, his weapons carelessly scattered.
His only thought was touching as much of himself along as much of his mate as he could reach.

Melly arched her back at the incredible feel of her soft skin against hard hot touch.
Her magic and his seemed to dance around them, melding and shaping their passion into a living thing that consumed. All they could do was feel.

The Wind danced and blew
; neither knew that it swirled a living barrier around their little glade. Neither had any idea that it protected them while they were so vulnerable, and at that moment neither cared about anything but the other.

“
Solan,” Melly breathed his name against his ear, and he growled, pushing her thighs apart until she could feel the hard heat of his cock. His hand pressed along her hips and thighs in one long caress, and she raised her knees around his hard thighs to feel more of him. He turned his head and took her lips again, and it was as if he drank passion right from her mouth. She pulled back, breathing hard; her own hands went to his face until she could push back the hair that fell loose around them. She could see the glare of her mage light reflecting in eyes, more dragon than man. Under the skin of his face, bones moved weirdly as if he fought a battle to hold his shape. It should have scared her, being at the mercy of such a beast, but instead she felt the passion swell with the magic around them. He looked down at her, this beautiful fierce creature with the lines of dragon pressing against his skin. “Do not fear me.”

“
I don’t,” she whispered back. “I love you.”

He lost control at that
. His teeth found her neck and bit down just as his cock slammed inside her, breaching her maidenhead at the same time he claimed her lifeblood.

“
Solan!” She screamed his name in pain that turned quickly to pleasure, as the magic tied them together, or tried. He filled her up, with his cock, his magic; she could feel his satisfaction and intense pleasure, even while something inside both of them knew there was more. He reared up, biting his own lip and then pressing the blood in his mouth to her lips so that she had no choice but to swallow it down, building the magic into a raging inferno that consumed them. He pulled his cock nearly all the way out of her soft pussy and then slammed back in, making her gasp and arch her back at the pressure/pain, and that raging swirl of magic that surrounded them flowed through each thrust, adding to the pressure build-up.

“
Melly?” He groaned, and she could see how much he was holding back for her sake. But she was not as soft and weak as they both thought, because she needed more. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and scraped her nails down his chest making his shudder in pleasure.

“
I am yours, Solan. Take me.”

“
I would not hurt you.” The words seemed forced from his throat, even as his hard cock swelled further inside her.

“
You won’t,” she said, and then curled up and bit his neck. After that, Solan lost what control he had managed to hold onto. He pistoned in and out, as magic bombarded them from all sides, and pleasure built until Melly felt she would die from it. Then with a cry that tightened every muscle in her body, she came, magic exploding outward in a cloud. A second later, a roar shook the trees and Solan collapsed beside her, careful not to crush her as he remembered how to breathe.

Still gasping heavily herself, Melly opened her eyes and saw a cloud of green and silver magic floating above them.
“Solan,” she whispered. He shifted more to the side off her body, pulling her into his side as he turned to look up as well, and they both watched it shimmer a moment before falling back to disappear with warm heat into their bodies. They both shivered together at the sensation.

“
What was that?” she asked, breathless now for more than one reason.

“
Our magic. Something has changed.”

“
Yes,” Melly thought, feeling the power inside her skin. It was hotter than it should be. She wrapped her arms around Solan’s chest and turned until she could lay her head on his shoulder, at the same time he pulled her tighter against him.

They were both silent for long moments
, feeling the magic flow around and through them.

Finally,
Solan spoke, and like the dragon male he was, he had thoughts on only one thing.

“
You will not put yourself in danger again. Promise me you will not try to leave me behind.”

Melly stilled in his arms.
Then she released her tension while cuddling closer. She was too spent to argue, but this was too important.

“
I’m trying to save your life.” Her voice was soft; she turned and kissed the shoulder she rested on. “Would you do any less?”

“
You are my life.” The words froze her next argument on her tongue. She could see him take a breath, his jaw clenching while he tried to find the words to express himself. “I would rather face a thousand such deaths than send you alone to face this darkness.”

“
Is it so hard to understand that I just want you to be safe?”

His hands tightened around her, pulling her tighter against his chest.
“I am a Knight of the Light, and a dragon mate. Would you ask me to be less than I am?”

She closed her eyes, and let her tears fall unheeded
. Moving up, she pressed her face into his neck, her hand rested on his heart. “No,” she said, her voice breaking on the words. “I would not ask that of you.”

“
Then promise.”

“
I promise.” She felt an awful tension leave his body when she said it, even as she felt the need to hold him closer.

He wrapped her tight in his arms, bowing his head to kiss her hair. “Sleep, little mage. I will keep us both safe. This is my promise to you.”

Solan Fire-Eater held his mate in his arms while she drifted off to sleep once again.
The last few days had been nothing but one battle after the other for his little mage, even if many of them had been internal. Looking around, he saw the damage that the wind had caused in the twisted branches and broken trees, though within their small circle it was untouched.
She is an amazing creature
, he thought. So sure she is not strong while every action shows otherwise. She had taken his passion as if she was meant for him, and he felt connected to her, but even as he wallowed in the feel of her in his arms, he knew they were not mated. It could be that the mage mark was blocking the mating, and the death of the mage would see it done, but either way, he was not letting her go. No matter what happened.

Just as he was feeling a niggling in the back of his
mind, the wind whipped through the glade and blew both their hairs into a frenzy. Melisande woke up with a gasp, turning with wide frightened eyes to look around the clearing.

“
He’s coming,” she said. “And he is not alone.” She turned those frightened eyes his way. “The weapons, the arrows, swords, knives, everything is poison. And he knows we are alone here.” She winced, grabbing her head. Her words were pained. “He knows what I know. Solan. They are going to concentrate everything on the sole purpose of striking you, however they can.”

He tossed her the clothes they had scattered around them.
“Get dressed.” His words were grim. This blood mage could get to her in her head, where he could not battle. It was past time to end this. She pulled on her dress and swept aside the tattered underclothes. His magic surged, and his leathers and weapons were back in place.

As soon as they were both
covered, he pulled her to his side and lifted her chin so that he could see her eyes. “Do you trust me?”

She breathed out a sigh and pulled her chin out of his hands, her eyes lighting with determination.
“I do trust you. They will use me as a distraction if they can. You have to trust me too.”

At the look on her
face, he had no choice; he had to lean down and kiss her, hard. “I will attempt to stay clear of the weapons. You just keep your distance from that blood mage and all will be well.”

“
Solan ...” she started, her eyes filled with visions he could not see. But she swallowed the memories she had of his death, even as he watched. She raised her chin and nodded. Now her eyes were filled with nothing but determination. “They will not touch me.”

He kissed her again, trying to put all his pride and love in that kiss
. When he pulled back, she was breathless. “Whatever you may think, little mage, you are everything a dragon’s mate should be.” Then he turned and waited to face the blood mage who would harm his mate.

“
Solan,” she said to his back. He felt her soft hand run down the leather there. “He has a fierce temper.”

She patted his back, then stepped back.
“Uncontrollable.”

Clever girl.
Solan smiled when the first marauder stepped into the glade.

“
Magnull,” he heard Melly say, her voice twisting with distaste, even as she stepped back, giving him space to fight. “The blood mage use them to nullify mage power with a touch.”

Solan looked at the man that she spoke of, dirty and
unkempt; he smelled as if he had been rolling in sewage, and he had eyes only for the Lady. He smirked her way even as the field filled up behind him with boisterous thugs, but no blood mage. “Just the one?” Solan asked, eyeing the man in question while he smirked towards the Lady Melisande.

“
Just the one so far.” She spoke and a second later Solan pulled a blade and sent it flying to land with a thunk between the eyes of the now-dead magnull. The field was fast filling with armed ruffians, but all sound died a fast death when the magnull fell.

“
Tell me if any more show up.” Solan kept his eyes on the humans. From the sounds in the forest, they were numbering in the hundreds. It was a veritable army of useless meat. If the blood mage thought he could take down a dragon knight with numbers, he was in for a rude awakening. Of course, if all of them had poisoned blades, that could make a difference. How much dragon blood did he have access to?

“
Anyone on this field when the battle begins will die today. If you wish to run, now is your chance.” Some looked around fearfully but seemed to take courage from the mob. Several pulled swords. Others readied bows—weapons that he had been warned were poison to dragons.
So be it.
Under normal circumstances, he might have felt compelled to pull his sword and fight as a man, but not today. Not with the knowledge of Melly’s vision. Not with his mate trusting him to survive, despite her vision.

With a breath of
magic, he shifted to dragon. In an instant, he was looking down on a field of ants that wished to separate him from his mate. He opened his great maw and spewed fire across the breadth of the field. When the little men started screaming and running around trying to put out the fire, he was tempted to barrel over them and stomp them into the ground. A niggling thought from his human side warned him to keep back. Instead he turned, the sharp planes of his muzzle wide, razor-sharp teeth on clear display, and breathed fire on the rest of the charging fools.

Melly closed her ears to the screams and raised her hands, whipping the wind up just enough over the flames to fan it and direct it over anyone still untouched by fire.
Already the battle had shifted, as the people in front cooked, more blocked from the true heat of the flame tried to get away with superficial burns, only to run into the people pressing forward from the rear. In the forest behind them, there was a great roar and then she heard a bellowing laughter that could only be Lux. The Dragon Knights had joined the fight. Flashes of light burst at random through the dark forest; at one point, a group had come around to hit them from the back, and Melly raised the four of them in a funnel cloud and, with a whip of her hand, threw them into the worst of the flames. She winced at the crunch when they landed, and then the screams. She would deal with her actions later, when she had the luxury of time and regret. Right now, she concentrated on keeping anyone from distracting her mate. He would not die today because of her inaction.

She felt the wind shift and turned to the side to catch sight of another man coming at her from behind, his face holding a look of maniacal glee and centered on her.
Magnull.
She raised her hand to flick him away; instead, he fell at her feet an arrow in his throat. She looked up and around only to catch sight of the fire mage high in the trees. Braedon winked at her with a wicked smile before sinking back into the concealing branches of the forest. Even knowing he was there, she could not see him where he hid.
Huntsman indeed.

When Furee dropped in dragon form to
take his place beside Solan, the rest of the terrified holdouts took one look at the two dragons and fled. The battle intensified in the forest where the humans tried to disappear, only to face two more dragons from the sound of it. The screams intensified and then dwindled to spurts while fire erupted and a boisterous laugh echoed through the trees. Terrified men poured back out of the forest; what was left of them found themselves caught between two dragon factions with no hope of escape. They died screaming amidst the flames.

Melly winced at the sound but refused to lower her guard.
The blood mage had not appeared yet, but she could feel him close, stewing in his fury. She knew the exact moment he turned to make his escape.
No. This ends today.

She turned
in a circle, sending the wind out in all directions with a sweep of her hands. She knew he was close, but she didn’t know where. When the wind whistled back, it blew up her hair and ruffled her dress. She turned and sprinted as hard as she could into the concealing forest. Melly jumped over the warning arrow that thwacked down at her bare feet from the trees. The smart thing to do would be to heed the warning, wait for her dragon to finish roasting his enemies, and hope they caught up to the slippery blood mage before he disappeared again. But she was not feeling so smart right now. She ran faster. She could hear Braedon’s curses as he tried to follow. But even the huntsman familiar with the forest could not keep pace with the wind through the trees.

Just past a break in the
trees, she felt the magnulls grip her arm as she flew past. It stopped her with a jerk, but it did not have the effect it should. She could feel his satisfaction at the ambush, and the glee of the blood mage that waited in the center of the natural clearing beyond. But with the magnull touching her, she still felt her magic. She smiled into his sneering face, and picked them both up with a cyclone wind and crunched him against a tree. The blood mage’s glee turned to shock as she came to a stop several feet away from him, the wind still dancing at her feet.

“
How?” He spat the question her way as the shock turned to rage.

“
A magnull has no effect on dragon magic.” She raised her chin and stared into the face of her nightmares without fear. “And I am a dragon’s mate.”

The
blood mage screamed his rage, his red eyes pulsing with unnatural death magic. “Once he is dead I will claim you, and the power in your blood, as my own.”

Before Melisande could answer
, the wind whipped around the clearing, and she backed up knowing what was coming, as she felt dragon magic swirl around her in a protective coat of warmth. An obsidian dragon landed in the space between her and the blood mage. He shifted to man in a swirl of dragon magic.

“
You will claim nothing but the death you ask for,” Solan growled. His silver eyes iced in rage as he finally faced the blood mage who had caused his mate so much pain.

Seeing all his plans come to nothing
, the blood mage screamed his rage and pulled a blade from inside his robes, running at Solan in a blind fury. Melly raised her hand to bring the wind, fear in her throat, knowing that the blade was poisoned.

In a move
too quick for her to see, Solan had the blood mage by his throat and knife hand, the blood mages own poisoned knife thrust deep in his own chest. Solan leaned close, looking into the shocked eyes of the blood mage as the fire drained from them slowly. “To kill me with your poison,” he growled. “You have to be able to administer it.” He shoved the hand with the knife farther with an angry jerk, so that it pierced his black heart. He then dropped the blood mage to the dirt at his feet. Dead.

Melisande screamed as her insides caught fire.
She collapsed to the ground. Pain ate her nerves from the inside as her heart stuttered. She reached for her dragon. The last thing she saw was Solan coming for her like an angry cloud, blood on his hands, and an unfamiliar terror in his eyes. Then there was nothing but blackness.