The Dragon's Mate, page 3
‘You’re not wrong. The touch of—another can heal a dragon unlike any other type of medicine.’ Jabari’s tone was like a caress itself.
‘That’s so cool. I have to shift or at least partially shift, in order to heal.’ She changed her arms slightly, showing him fur popping out and then going back to smooth skin. The injuries disappearing as she did.
‘I think the vampires know of your kinds abilities to do so. Wolves are good healers as well, but I don’t believe their magic is as inherit as your kind.’ Jabari moved to sit with his back against the wall. The chains rattled slightly.
‘Do you think I can take them off of you?’ Asia knelt in front of him, examining the strange chinks in the metal. They were like nothing she’d seen before.
His big hand covered hers, stopping her from touching the place it was attached to on the floor. “Don’t. I won’t risk you being injured, Hirra.”
Asia shivered at his touch. “Okay. For now.”
JABARI GRINNED. SINCE the whirlwind had entered his Hell, he’d smiled more than he had in hundreds of years. Goddess, he would get Asia out of there if it killed him. There was no other option.
Her sweet scent enveloped him as she leaned forward, brushing her lips over his. Before she could make contact, he used a burst of magic to cleanse himself and her. No way in hell would he allow filth to mar either of them. ‘She is our mate. We will always take care of her properly.’
Jabari didn’t speak to his dragon. Right here and now was for Asia and him, not his dragon and her panther, although they too would connect. If the Goddess willed it, they’d survive, and they would grow old together. He learned a tough lesson years ago. The Goddess didn’t listen to his prayers, no matter how hard he prayed.
“Ssh. It’s you and me here.”
Jabari swallowed the lump in his throat. This female who was so much younger than him, was comforting him. He wasn’t worthy, dammit.
“You’re everything,” she said, repeating his words to her.
He lifted one of his arms, making sure he silenced the damn chains so there was no reminder of what kept him prisoner. His fingers worked to loosen her hair from the braid that was partially undone. Black silk spilled down around her shoulders. “Beautiful, Hirra.”
She tried to duck her head, red blooming on her cheeks. Jabari wondered if she would blush like that everywhere. He wasn’t a virgin, but before his abduction, he hadn’t had many lovers. Since his abduction, he’d had none. Goddess, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to do her any justice. ‘We can take care of our mate.’
If he could roll his eyes at the big beast inside his mind, he would’ve done it. Instead, he shut the door on the male, hoping he’d allow him to take the lead. A dragon snort echoed in his mind then it was quiet.
Jabari held Asia’s face between his palms. A ring of power glowed around them. Shit, was that their magic? He feared the vampires would feel the surge and come running to investigate. As he went to pull away, she leaned forward, kissing him with more need than finesse. Yet he lit up like a match to flames, igniting an inferno he had thought long extinguished.
“You’re my miracle, Hirra,” he whispered against her lips. Jabari eased them down onto the filthy floor, wishing it were a plush bed. To his utter surprise, lush bedding appeared under her, softening where he placed her. Fuck, he tried to rein in the magic that had to be like a beacon to the bloodsuckers, yet with each mewl she made, he forgot where he was. Jabari was sure this was going to be the one and only chance he’d ever get to have her. He’d be damned if he wasn’t going to savor her like the finest wine in all of the realm of Dragon.
Slow kisses led to more, his need ramping higher as she met him stroke for stroke along his tongue. He thought for sure she’d shy away from him, yet when he covered her mouth, she opened hers willingly, raking her nails down his back. He didn’t care that she was opening wounds recently healed; all he knew was she tasted sweet. A shudder raced down his spine when he lifted his mouth from hers, eyeing the vulnerable column of her throat. Fuck, he wanted to mark her as his.
“Goddess, you slay me, Hirra.” He slid his lips down her neck, licking where he wished he could stake his claim, moving along her slim collarbone.
Asia wrapped her arms tighter around his shoulders, feminine gasps slipping free. Then she tipped her head to the side, a silent sign of encouragement or permission for him to do just that. Goddess, he wished it was different.
“Don’t,” she whispered, tunneling her hand into the back of his hair.
He kissed the spot, licking over the muscle once before giving a little nip and moving down. Now wasn’t the time to worry about the future. His female was giving herself to him, he owed it to her to do the same. The greedy dragon he was, though, he wanted more. He wanted all of her to belong to him. Just as he belonged to her. Shoving the negative thoughts to the back of his mind, he took his time moving down her body, slipping the clothes she’d conjured out of the way. He was careful not to rip or destroy them in case her magic felled her when it was time for her to flee.
Jabari reached her breasts. They were small and perfect, like Asia. She grabbed a fistful of his hair as he licked the tip of one pert nipple, sucking it into his mouth. He opened his mind, wanting to share with her how much he enjoyed what he was doing.
Asia’s back arched upward, a cry escaping.
He switched to the other breast, plucking at the wet tip with his free hand. One day, he wanted to make her cry out so loud, her screams would echo off the walls. However, he needed to ensure her cries were only heard by him, which had him using more magic. His dragon rumbled. He disliked the thought of stifling their female too. Jabari peppered kisses down her torso, moving fabric out of his way.
At the apex between her thighs, he made room for himself. She smelled even better with her arousal coating her lower lips. Jabari glanced up, meeting Asia’s hazed stare. He pushed his hands under her ass, jerking her closer to his mouth while holding her gaze. “I have never smelled anything better than your scent. It’s like the sweetest nectar in all the realms bottled within your beautiful body. My mouth waters for a taste.”
“I... I don’t know what to say.” Her hips rolled beneath him.
He grinned like the cat who got the cream. The action not as foreign anymore. “You say nothing, Hirra. You feel.” Without waiting for her response, he licked her like a favorite treat. Using his tongue to map her, he took his time savoring Asia’s unique taste. With his hands, he jerked her against him, sliding his tongue inside her, going as deep as he could. He was greedy, tasting and taking, loving the feel of her body pouring into him. Jabari drank her down like a starving man feasting for the first time. Mine!
Asia melted beneath him. A tiny groan of need escaped her, and like a male who’d gone without sustenance, he lapped and licked until she exploded, calling his name.
His own guttural need rumbled out of him. Jabari rose up, gently feathering kisses over her abdomen, and over every little bit of red skin along his path back to her plump red lips.
Fucking Hell, she was more beautiful than anything he’d ever seen. A guttural sound of need wormed its way out of him as he shifted onto his elbows above her. Caging her in, he stared into her eyes, allowing her to see all of him. His need. His desperation. His—love. They weren’t human, no matter what form they were in, they were guided by a tale as old as time. Truemates didn’t need to know one another for years to fall hard and fast. Their hearts connect on a deeper level. Just as the suns set and rise every day and every night without fail, their love too would remain.
“So it’s not crazy feeling like I’ve known you my entire life?” Asia asked, her voice a hoarse whisper.
Jabari shook his head, unable to form words to adequately describe what his heart felt. He opened his mind, showing her the space she filled. No matter that his body wanted to slide into her in the most primal way, he vowed to take things slow, show her what love was like between mates. The Fates had gifted her to him, this beautiful, amazing female. He may never know why, but he’d savor every blessed moment with her.
“You’re beautiful and amazing too, Jabari.” She let him see through her eyes how she saw him.
He took a second or two to let his eyes close to keep the tears from falling. “Goddess, you can’t be real.”
She smiled, a slight tinge of red staining her cheeks. “Make me yours, Jabari.”
His eyes met hers again and held as he slowly eased forward. Her moan mixed with his as he pulled back and pushed forward again. He worked to hold back, taking his time to enter her instead of surging into her like a rutting bull. A guttural groan turned into a roar as he filled her in one final thrust, the sound reverberated off the cave walls. He used what power he could to ensure nobody, but he could hear her sounds of ecstasy.
“Oh, Hirra, I’m sorry.” He stilled inside her, kissing away her tears.
She took a shuddering breath. “No, don’t apologize. I—you—we are one.”
He couldn’t believe his good fortune, finally, after hundreds of years. He brought his mouth back down to hers, their tongues sliding against each other’s, like they’d done it hundreds of times. Each kiss more perfect than the last. He tried to be gentle, but her panther purred, the little rumble made him greedy for more. She met his need with her own demand, giving and taking like a beautiful dance.
Jabari moved his hips slowly at first, tender love and warmth flowing from him to her and back. It wouldn’t be long before the all-consuming need to come would overtake them, but for now he was content to rock back and forth and feel her tight sheath with each thrust.
Every slow glide, every kiss, every brush of her hand on his back, he was memorizing the feel of her on his soul. He reached for the last bit of control he had as he felt a tingle in his spine, his impending orgasm racing closer with each move he made. Jabari wanted to make the sweetest love to Asia all night and all day for weeks, years on end, but they were on borrowed time.
He shifted slightly, sliding his right hand down so he could lift her leg up over his hip and changed the angle of his thrust. The chains were no hinderance to his ability to ensure his mate was properly satisfied. Her cry of surprise and tightening around him made his cock twitch. Shit!
“I need you to come, Hirra,” he grunted.
“Right there, Jabari. Oh...right there,” she wailed.
Picking up his pace, he rolled his hips, hitting the tiny bundle of nerves at the top of her sex with each downward thrust. Asia cried out, her gorgeous eyes going wide.
“Ah, that’s it, my love.”
Asia’s cry was silenced by his mouth crashing down over hers, her orgasm so strong her hips lifted and fell, nearly unseating him. He couldn’t hold out any longer, following her seconds later with one final thrust, growling her name like a prayer. “Asia, my Hirra. Volim te na mjesece i dalje.”
They lay for long moments, hearts in sync. For the first time in what felt like forever, Jabari and his dragon was at ease.
“What does that mean?” she asked
Something primitive filled him. Satisfaction rolled over and through him as his cock twitched with the last of his seed spilling inside Asia. “It means I love you to the moons and beyond. My love has no end.”
CHAPTER FOUR
For Jabari, there would be no other ever. He’d lived a long time, but for dragons, their lives were almost infinite. If he and Asia were to bond and go through the truemate claiming, she too would have the same lifespan as him. However, he didn’t want to enslave her with him to live as he had. Even now, he could tell the enclave was rousing, preparing for the Gathering. There were few moments he had alone without one of the Watchers eyes on him. Whether it was a blessing or a curse that this small slice of time happened to be one of them he wasn’t sure. No, he would always treasure having known the precious knowledge of his Hirra. He cursed the fact that their time together was coming to an end. His dragon raked at him, the denial nearly splitting his mind in half. In the past hundreds of years, he’d begged the beast to speak to him, yet now, it was he who silenced the beast. For her they needed to be of one mind.
“Mi Hirra, I need you to promise me something. I need to know you will be safe and not try to find me or save me. You are more important than I am. You and you alone are the reason I am still alive, this I know. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?” Jabari lifted himself off Asia, hating the separation, hating the thought of never seeing her again.
She shook her head in denial. “No, don’t say that.”
He pressed one finger over her lips. “Look around you, my love. This place is filled with vampires who are so depraved. They’ll be summoning me to be brought to the Master’s chamber. It’s a huge opening they’ve created that fits all of the top tier vampires. The Master will be there of course, but he usually is hidden from me, or has a barrier blocking my view of him until I’m too weak to see him clearly. When I try to fight, they love it. When I don’t, they love it. No matter what I do, they feed off of it. They take my blood like it’s a feast, sucking every ounce until I have but a drop left in me. Sometimes, they chew every ounce of flesh from my body, leaving only bones. I regenerate, but it takes a lot of time. The last time I think it was a couple months before my arms grew back. No, don’t turn away. That is what they do. They feast on me because it gives them power. If you’re here, they’ll do the same to you, or worse.”
“How can I leave you here knowing they do that to you?” she cried.
Jabari pulled her onto his lap, brushing his hand down her back. He knew the only way she’d be able to do so is if he made her forget him. Goddess, it wasn’t fair, but it was the only way.
Much sooner than he wanted, Jabari stood with Asia in his arms. Her eyes rimmed red from tears. The weight of what he was about to do killing a little part of him. Knowing she’d be safe and protected if she knew nothing of him and this place, he kissed her forehead and then he entered her mind swiftly, erasing her memories. His dragon roaring in denial as they took the time to ensure they didn’t miss any vital piece of information. Of course, he didn’t want her to go searching for the family that didn’t deserve to breathe her air let alone have the chance to betray her again. So he layered over the Panther Claw with what he knew of the Iron Wolves, pushing for her to search for them instead. Once he was sure she wouldn’t remember him, he sent her into a deep sleep. With a burst of magic that he’d gained from their mating, Jabari did the last thing he wanted to do, but what he knew had to be done. He imagined her up on the surface, far enough away from the enclave and close to where he was sure she’d reach the wolves he’d heard murmurs of. When he opened his eyes, he was alone in his cell. The only evidence she’d been there was a faint scent of apple and spice, and his aching heart. A small wave had all evidence of the lovemaking gone. Her cell locked and his showed no sign of entrance or movement. He didn’t care about his own safety, but for her, he’d do all he could to keep them from delving into his mind or body for clues to her whereabouts.
The Watchers rotten smell became heavier. Jabari imagined himself the way he had been before Asia arrived, slumping back into the prone position, allowing his body to shift into the vision of the weakened male he’d been. The fiends would know something had happened once they saw Asia was gone, but they’d get nothing from him. He was going to die this night.
YEARS LATER...
Asia heard someone at the door to the cabin. Her entire body aching from the beating Kenneth had given her before he’d left. Goddess, she needed to get away and save her and her child before he succeeded in killing them both.
A deep male voice barked something she couldn’t make out moments before the door crashed in. If she’d been able to, she’d have screamed, but her...Kenneth had shoved a rag over her mouth before he’d left. Oh, Goddess, she lost count how many days he’d been gone. Her eyes burned with unshed tears, a sign she was dehydrated.
“Sweetheart, I’m gonna kill the fucker who did this to you,” the big male promised.
Fear and hope filled her at his words.
“I’m afraid to touch you but let me get this out of the way.”
She winced, trying her best to hold still so he could get the makeshift gag off of her. Kenneth had knotted it into her hair in the back to keep her from wiggling it off. Like she could do anything if she had been able to, except talk to Egypt. Oh, her precious little girl.
“I need to cut this off you. You cool with that?”
Her muscles hurt from tensing for so long, but the sight of the blade he pulled out of his pocket scared her. The male kept his eyes locked on hers as he cleanly and efficiently sliced through the cloth at her cheek without giving her so much as a nick. She coughed, and even that hurt. Her throat was drier than it had ever been. She tried to push the fabric out of her mouth with her tongue only panicking when it was stuck to the roof of her mouth.
“Let me get some water to wet the cloth before we try to remove it.” He went to the bathroom and wet a washrag coming back seconds later.
She didn’t care that he could see the filth that was the cabin or that she was naked and tied to the bed like a sacrifice. Nothing mattered except getting free and getting to her daughter. Every inch of her was covered in bites and bruises, her body unable to heal before the next round of beating would occur. Hell, she wasn’t even sure if she had any broken bones this time.
“My baby,” she whispered once they’d worked the cloth out of her mouth.
The male looked around the room. “What’s your name? What’s your kid’s name?” he asked.
“I’m Asia, and my daughter is Egypt,” she replied.
He squinted down at her like she had lost her mind. “Do you have a husband or family I should call?”
Fear made her jerk her head back and forth, needing him to help her get free of the ropes and free of the cabin. Free from Kenneth. “No, please help me.”
