His expression darkens. "Which means attempting the ritual again. Making me watch while he kills someone I—" He stops, jaw clenching.
The mate bond thrums with what he doesn't say.
"The Brotherhood needs two dragons." I set down my papers, finally meeting his burning gaze across the cave. "You need tactical advantage. A partner who can match Mikhail's fire while you guard against escape routes."
"No." The word comes out rough, edged with something darker than warning. He crosses the space in rapid strides, heatradiating from his skin before he even touches me. "You don't get claimed because it's strategically useful."
"And if that's not why I'm choosing?" I hold my ground even as his proximity makes my pulse spike. "If I want this for my own reasons?"
His eyes darken. The rigid line of his jaw shows the restraint it costs him, the barely leashed violence humming beneath his skin. He doesn't step back. Doesn't give me space.
"Isla told you what happens." His statement doesn't require confirmation. His voice drops lower, rougher. "Dragon fire. Transformation. No going back."
"She explained the mechanics." I close the final distance between us, rising on my toes to bring my mouth within breath of his. "Instant DNA rewrite. Permanent. Requires fire, storm, and ocean. We have all three."
Wind howls past the cave entrance as if summoned. Storm clouds mass on the horizon, darkening the sky with supernatural speed. Rain begins to fall, steady and cold, nature responding to the tension crackling between predator and prey.
Finn's control shatters. His hands come up to frame my face, his touch burning like a brand against my skin, his fingers threading through my hair with possessive force. "Once I start, I won't stop. Dragons don't ask, they take."
"Then take." I rise on my toes, bringing my mouth within breath of his. "I'm choosing this. Claim me."
His control shatters completely. His mouth crashes down on mine, not gentle, not soft, pure possession and hunger barely leashed for days finally breaking free. This time there's no pulling back. This time his hands are already tearing at my clothes, fabric ripping under the force of his urgency, dragon instinct taking over where human restraint fails.
The storm rages outside. The ocean pool reflects lightning through the cave. Dragon fire burns beneath his skin.
His mouth moves to my throat, teeth scraping over my pulse point with possessive intent, and heat explodes through the mate bond like wildfire catching dry timber. Every nerve ending lights up. My back hits the stone wall and his body presses against mine, all heat and barely controlled strength and hunger that's been building since the moment we met.
"Mine," he growls against my skin, his voice dropping to something more dragon than human. "You're mine now."
The claim rings through the cave—a promise and a threat to anything that tries to take me from him.
And I surrender to it completely.
CHAPTER 11
FINN
The storm rages.
Rain hammers the stone. Wind screams past the cave entrance. Lightning splits the sky, illuminating Lila's face in stark flashes of white. She pulls back from the kiss, hands braced against my chest, breathing hard.
"Wait." Her voice is steady despite the pulse hammering in her throat. "There's something we need to discuss first."
Every instinct screams to ignore the words, to finish what we started, to claim what's mine. But she's looking at me with scientist focus, desire warring with logic even now.
I force myself still. "What."
"The claiming. The transformation." She doesn't look away. "I need to know there are no other consequences. Disease. Pregnancy before I'm ready. Anything that could complicate what comes after."
Smart. Practical. My scientist is planning variables even now. She can think clearly while standing in my arms with her clothes half-destroyed, and that control makes the claiming urge surge harder.
"Dragon fire burns away human weaknesses. Disease, infection, cellular damage." I keep my hands on her hips,holding her against the wall but giving her space to think. "You'll be immortal. Immune to everything that kills mortals."
"And pregnancy?"
"Dragon fertility is controlled. The transformation gives you centuries. We choose when. Not before." I lean closer, letting her feel the heat radiating from my skin. "No barriers. No condoms. Just you and me and dragon fire rewriting every cell in your body."
She gasps. "That's what I needed to know."
