“We rest,” Drax replies. “Tomorrow, we go hunting for a mage.”
NINETEEN
DRAX
My mate.
I can’t make myself stop clinging to Mac, even after I’ve pulled us back into the underworld. I can’t stop breathing in the dizzying, addictive bonfire scent of his skin. I can’t stop the way my arms and body curl around him, tucking him protectively against my chest where no mage or any other creature will ever be able to take him from me again. And, for once, I don’t feel any resistance from Mac’s side of the bond.
His dragon comes to the surface and scales ripple across his skin.
“How are you feeling?” I ask, my throat tight with worry, making my voice even gruffer than usual. I manage to ease my grip on him just enough to hold him at arm’s length so I can look him over, checking for any signs of injury or mistreatment, while I probe our bond at the same time. “Did he hurt you? Are you hungry?”
“Rune was by far the nicest captor I’ve ever had. He was a vegetarian, but that’s about as much as I can complain about.” He lets out a huff of a laugh, along with a tendril of smoke from his nostrils. “Well, that and he did some kind of mage fuckery to keep my dragon on lockdown. I guess I feel kind of weird still.”
He rubs his hands over his face then rolls his shoulders like he’s trying to make his skin feel right on his body.
“You need to stretch your wings. Your dragon needs to reassert himself after being magically sedated for days.”
Mac looks at the wall on our left, then the one on our right.
“Auri’s hallways are ridiculously wide, but they’re not wide enough for a dragon,” he says with another chuckle.
“Then we shouldn’t stay at Auri’s.” I shrug, wrapping my hand around Mac’s wrist and pulling him through the void one more time. Instead of taking him back to the human realm, I tug us through space to my favorite lake of fire, with a forest of barren trees surrounding it, two volcanoes in the distance, and the sky a deep shade of purple from the mixture of ash and fire in the air. “You can fly here, can’t you?”
He looks back and forth, the same way he did in the hallway, and then a smile curves his lips.
“Yeah, this should work.” He grabs his shirt by the back of the collar and tugs it over his head. Instead of rippling and disappearing, his shimmering scales cover his chest and slowly creep down his arms. I remember his reaction when I touched them before, the tremble that rocked his body and the moan he swallowed down. His scales are too tough for most weapons to penetrate, but they’re sensitive.
He sheds his pants next. Like his chest, his thighs are already covered in scales, and so is his cock, swinging soft and thick between his legs. My mouth waters and heat stirs inside me. Mac’s eyes wander over my own bare body like a caress, lingering a few extra seconds on my swelling erection. He arches an eyebrow and gives me a playful smile.
“Was the flying idea just a ploy to get me naked?”
“More like an added benefit,” I answer honestly, curling my hands into fists at my sides to keep from reaching for him.
It feels wrong to resist my mate, especially when I can feel his desire flowing through our bond, but Atlas explained to me that sometimes you have to let them come to you.
“Do you want a ride?” Mac waggles his eyebrows, and my gaze drops to his cock again. He barks out a laugh. “On my dragon,” he clarifies.
I shake my head. “No. You fly, I’ll be here.”
I sit down on the ground, the lush moss making for a nice cushion to spread myself out on. Mac closes his eyes for a moment, and I watch with awe as his muscles writhe and stretch, his whole body swelling and contorting. With a satisfied groan, his human form melts away and his dragon towers over me.
“Hello, beautiful,” I purr, reaching out to pat his snout. He blinks slowly and nuzzles into my touch for a moment, our connection swelling with happiness and contentment.
“Let me put on a show for you, mate,” he growls. That word on his dragon tongue sends jolts of pleasure through me.
He crouches, then launches himself into the air. I lie back, tuck one arm behind my head, and watch him soar across the sky. He flips in midair and changes direction. His wings flap and his large body bobs, learning the resistance of the new atmosphere and how the wind behaves. He barrel rolls and flies in loops, showing off as he repeatedly tucks his wings and dives towards the ground, catching himself at the last moment every time then soaring upward again.
I whistle and cheer, delighting in the lightness and freedom I can feel pouring through our connection.
Mac dive bombs again, heading straight for me this time. Is he trying to see if I’ll flinch? Is it a playful trust dive? He extends his wings at the last second, but instead of taking off into the sky again, he collapses into his much smaller human form and falls the last few inches to land on top of me.
I grunt as he collides with me, catching himself with his hands braced on the ground beneath me and his knees on either side of me so he’s straddling me. Bare skin on bare skin, both of our cocks half-hard, a playful smile on his lips. My body quakes with need and my cock stiffens rapidly, but I keep my arms tucked behind my head, waiting to see what Mac wants. He leans closer, bumping his nose against mine, and his expression sobers.
“I don’t know about this mate stuff,” he confesses in a whisper, his lips brushing mine with every word. “Our connection feels real, but we hardly know each other.”
“So, let’s get to know each other.” I know I sound eager and desperate, but there’s no place for shame when it comes to my mate. “Sex is a great way to get to know each other.”
