Ruby Dragon (Awakened Dragons Book 3) Read online

  Come with us, Red asked.

  No way. I don’t agree with everything they do, but this is my side. My place. I’m never going to be with you and the others.

  Red hated that but turned to his chains again, trying to focus on them in the opening Aegis gave him.

  Aegis’s head lifted slightly, as if he were listening for something. “I changed my mind,” he said, pushing back from Clarissa. “You aren’t my type.” Then he strode away from her abruptly, and she whirled on her heel to stare at Red.

  She walked over to him, cheeks flushed, clearly angry. Alpha females in heat were obviously a terrifying species.

  He was leaning back from her when he heard a loud crash and saw something explode through the large, antique window in front of them.

  He saw Luc land on the ground, shirtless and wearing only pajama pants, slightly cut up from the glass, holding something in his arms. As he straightened, Red saw Faye there, looking around hesitantly.

  Holy hell, they brought his mate?

  Faye glanced around until she spotted him, and fury blazed in her blue eyes as she took in his position in the cage and the woman in front of him.

  Faye ran forward. “Get away from him, you psycho!”

  Clarissa turned on her with a snarl and held out a hand. “Get back.”

  Faye froze in place mid-step, shocked. Her panicked blue eyes met Red’s as Clarissa walked around her in triumph.

  “This is the human you selected as mate?” she asked. “Hardly worth it.”

  He heard a low growl from Faye, and he saw her fighting the invisible bonds. Luc was frozen as well, looking angry with himself for being caught unaware.

  “That’s right,” Clarissa said smugly. “I can control your bodies. I can even make this gorgeous specimen stay completely still while I violate him.”

  Red wanted to die for being the damsel in distress in this situation, but he didn’t have much of a choice. He felt his body lock up as the wolf approached, grinning.

  “Don’t you dare… touch… my mate,” Faye gritted out.

  His eyes widened in surprise at the words, and Clarissa turned to scoff at Faye. “Your what? I’m sorry. I didn’t hear.”

  “My mate,” Faye repeated. “He’s my mate.” Her eyes met his, full of meaning, and he felt the chain slide off his neck.

  Go time.

  Fire surged through him, hotter than he’d felt in a long time, vibrant and powerful. Oh, she was going to get it now. He saw his chains glow white hot as he melted them, but Clarissa was too busy walking over to taunt Faye to see.

  When she reached Faye, she put one hand out as if to touch her face. But before she could reach her, a wall of flame shot up around Faye, in a tall circle, blocking her from Clarissa’s view.

  Red walked out of his cage, lifting a hand to send a fireball directly at Clarissa, too fast for her to dodge. It knocked her off her feet and onto the ground, where she rolled, trying to put the fire out, screaming.

  “Luc, where’s Zach?” Red called out.

  “Outside, fighting. You got this? I’m going to go help him.”

  “Go! While she’s down. Take Faye.”

  “I’m staying here,” she said from behind her wall of fire. “My ring will protect me.”

  “Red?” Luc asked, uncertain.

  “Go,” he said. Faye was right; the ring would keep her safe, mainly by making her immune to his flame. And he’d only just gotten her back. He wasn’t ready to have her out of his sight again. Not when he had his powers back.

  “Stay there,” he said. “I’m going to take care of this.” Fire balled in his hands as he focused, and he felt all the hair on his body stand up as the heat increased. He looked around the room at the wyverns, who were looking hesitant, and Clarissa, who had stood, slightly burned, and was yelling at them to attack, and unleashed a giant wave of flame from his body.

  Everyone shrieked and put up their hands as the orange fire engulfed the room. Wyverns jumped, flaming, from the window, screaming to the ground below, their wings too singed to fly.

  Clarissa was fighting back against the fire, her healing power making her able to sort of withstand it. After the wave, she was singed black but already healing.

  “It’s not going to be that easy,” she snarled.

  Red didn’t want to kill anyone. He’d never been a fighter like that. But threaten his mate or his happiness with his mate, and he wasn’t going to back down.

  Still, if he flamed this horrible bitch to ashes, Faye would have to see that, and he didn’t want her to think him a monster.

  “Screw it,” Faye said. “Burn her to pieces.”

  Red grinned. “I have a better idea.”

  “What’s that?” Faye asked.

  “Cold storage.” Then he unleashed another wall of flame, more to distract her, and rushed at her as she covered her face with her arms. He caught her around the waist and ran to the window, throwing her out while yelling to Luc.

  Luc swiftly caught her on the ground. “Got her.”

  “Freeze her,” Red yelled. “We can question her later.”

  “Wait,” Clarissa said, struggling. “I can help. I can explain…” But a second later, she was a block of ice, Luc having breathed on her.

  The wall of fire around Faye fell, and she ran into Red’s arms, holding him tight. “I’m sorry we fought. I’m sorry I was so stubborn. I’m sorry I didn’t see how awesome you were from the start.”

  “It’s okay,” he said, running a hand through her hair. “It’s fine.”

  “Um, Red?” He heard from below. “A little help?”

  He kept his arm around Faye and jogged to the window. “Shit.”

  There were waves of wyverns flooding out from the castle, rushing his friends, who were surrounded. “Stay here,” he said. “I’ll be back for you.”

  “Okay,” she said. “If you’re sure I can’t help.”

  “You already saved the day just by being brave enough to come here.” He kissed her forehead. “We’ll make up for lost time later.” Then he jumped out the window, landing with a thud next to his friends, surrounded by wyverns.

  “Um, guys,” Red said, “I only really have one setting.”

  “These are creatures made to hurt humans,” Zach said, sending another cloud of black shards to take down a group of them. “We can’t afford to be careful.”

  “Right,” Red said, watching Luc breathe ice over another group, freezing them solid.

  “They just keep coming. Too many,” Zach said. “If they were normal shifters, it’d be fine. But it takes so damn much to take out these mutants.”

  “If you’re sure they have to go,” Red said.

  “Look in their eyes,” Zach snarled. “There’s nothing there. They’re vacant.”

  Red did look. His natural setting was love, not war, but when he looked at the wyverns, running half transformed with their claws out, he knew there was no way love applied in this situation. Not unless he wanted his friends and his mate killed.

  “Shield yourselves,” he snapped, taking a couple steps back and letting fire build.

  “Hell yeah,” Zach said. “We get to see the fire dragon.”

  “Get in your shells,” he snarled, making sure Zach and Luc did just that. “I’m bringing out hellfire.”

  “Oh shit,” Zach said as the dark crystals covered him and Luc. They would be safe, as would his mate.

  Red took a deep breath, summoning up all the heat, all the passion, all the anger inside him, and unleashed it outward, holding up both hands and sending up a ten-foot wall of white-hot fire. It raged forward, catching the wyverns as it went, burning them into sizzling skeletons as unearthly shrieks rent the air.

  He hated ending life, but these creatures knew only evil. Were born to it. And he was no longer the man who stayed back enjoying life and not getting his hands dirty. Now he would take part with everyone else in keeping his world safe. And that meant doing difficult, complicated things sometimes.
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br />   When the flames finally died down, there was no trace of the wyverns left. The fire was still burning in a few white-hot patches, looking for other things to consume. He heard cracking and saw Zach’s black cocoon break open as he stepped out. Then Luc did as well, looking around.

  “Damn, we missed it,” he said.

  “So that fire, if I touched it…” Zach said, walking forward.

  “I wouldn’t. It can burn through anything on earth.”

  “Ah, so when does it stop?” Zach asked.

  “Now,” Red said, snapping his fingers. The flames went out.

  “Badass,” Zach said. “Man, just a few more dragons and we’ll be unstoppable.”

  Red laughed at that and then calmed himself, focusing on shifting for the first time since he’d woken up. He needed to fly up and get his mate.

  He felt his body expand, a lifting sensation spreading through him as he felt both powerful and light and invincible. He saw himself reflected in the pieces of Onyx’s discarded, shimmering shell.

  A giant red dragon with rubies glistening over his scales and rubies crusting his wings. And deep-purple eyes.

  He pushed off and flew up to the window, hovering in front of it as he saw Faye approach with mouth open. Her blond hair was flying every direction in the wind from his wings. He put his head forward, right next to the sill. “Step onto me.”

  She hesitated but then put a foot forward, crouching. She stepped onto his nose and then reached out with a hand, coming fully out of the window to rest on him. Then she promptly lost her balance and screamed as she fell forward, toppling into open air.

  He swooped and caught her in his talons, holding her close. “You didn’t think I would drop you, did you?” He lifted into the air with her, watching as the other dragons transformed to join him. “I told you I’m never going to let you down.”

  She hugged his talon with her tiny arms, and he grinned. “I trust you. At least I hope I do. After all, I mated you.”

  “Yeah, we’ll have to talk about your change of heart when we get back.”

  “It wasn’t a change of heart,” she said. “You were right that I always felt that way. But it was just… It took nearly losing you to realize that.”

  He understood. “All right. Let’s go home.” As they flew from the castle, he felt eyes watching him and looked back to see someone standing at the window from which Faye had jumped.

  A robed figure. Probably Aegis.

  For a second, he wanted to call out to him. Then the robed figure turned and disappeared from view, and Red put it out of his mind.

  The Aegis thing was a mystery for another day.

  Right now was all about him and his mate.

  14

  Red was grateful for the other dragons’ help, but right now, he just wanted to be alone with his mate, so he telepathically communicated with them to make sure they could handle the rest and then flew back home with his mate.

  Not to the mansion, though he now had pleasant memories there as well.

  No, back to where it all had started, the tiny apartments where they’d first met.

  He made himself invisible as they came out of the clouds to land on the rooftop together. Then he set her down, shifted, and pulled her into his arms without skipping a beat.

  It felt like he could breathe again, now that he was holding her.

  She pulled back and then kissed him, taking his mouth in a hard, aggressive way she never had before. He felt his whole body melt into her embrace, and a growl escaped his throat as her hands twisted in his hair.

  “I found out I’m a whole lot more possessive than I thought,” she said breathlessly, between kisses. She kissed down his jaw, over his neck. “Sapphire is going to have to guard that bitch when I’m around, because as far as I’m concerned, just being on ice isn’t punishment enough for her.”

  “Let the others take care of it,” he said. “I’m with my mate for the first time.” He pulled back to look at her, holding her hands in his. She was so small, so curvy, so brave. “Did you only do it because you were worried?”

  “No,” she said. “I was just being stubborn. I wasn’t trying to. But when you sacrificed yourself for me, I realized how stupid I was to doubt you. It’s just hard not to be reflexively scared after what happened. After I had such bad judgment.”

  “You didn’t have bad judgment,” he said. “You had a bad man. And I’m going to work every day to make you forget him.”

  “Already forgotten,” she said. “I already decided to focus on the future and stop looking into the past. Sometimes feelings will still trigger me, but the responsibility is on me, not you, to reassure myself things are different.”

  “I’ll still do my best to make things easy for you,” he said, brushing her hair back as wind whipped around them.

  It felt so cool there, on top of the world, far away from anyone who could reach them.

  “I could make love to you right here,” he said, whispering close to her ear, just louder than the wind. “Turns me on so much that you’re my mate.”

  She turned her back into his chest, pulling his arm down and around her as she leaned into him, enjoying his heat. “Me too. I should have just given in earlier.”

  His hands covered her arms, stroking over the silky skin. “Is it too soon to do it again?”

  She shook her head. “I’m never going to feel that way with you. I can’t get enough.” She giggled when she thought of the last time. “How on earth did you think to go from behind?”

  “It just seemed like a way to be so close to you.” He nuzzled her neck. “Plus, I loved the access to your body.” His hands squeezed hers. “How well I could feel you.”

  “It’s like from the first time I was with you, I forgot to be scared.”

  “That’s how it should be,” he said. “Every single time. So good you can’t feel anything but pleasure.”

  She smiled. “I’m getting that the more I’m with you.”

  “So my place or yours?” he asked, scooping her up in his arms.

  “Wait,” she squeaked. “People will see.”

  He scoffed. “I’m a dragon. What do I care?” He smirked. “Plus, I have my powers back. If Douchey McDoucherton comes back, I can burn him to a crisp.”

  “Um, please don’t,” she said.

  “Fine, burn his eyebrows off and kick his ass.” He relented.

  “That works.”

  “Hey, how come you want me to burn my attacker to a crisp, but not yours?” He furrowed his brows as he took the stairs down to their floor.

  She swallowed. “Because he’s weak. Little. He can’t threaten us anymore.”

  Red nodded. “Damn straight. Plus, we’re moving.”

  She looked nervous for a second, and he knew what she was thinking about without even reading her thoughts.

  “I know he left you with debts,” he said. “I promise to pay those off so you never have to think about them. And then I’ll write him a note with a very clear warning about what will happen if he ever comes near you again.”

  She rested her head against him, little curls everywhere. “Okay. I guess I’ll let you take care of everything.”

  “Hell yeah,” he said when they reached her door, and he set her down to unlock it. Then he picked her up and kicked his way in, splintering the wood. “Before you, I never wanted responsibility. With you, it’s like I can’t get enough of it.”

  She grinned. “Um, the door?”

  He looked at it. “Yeah, I guess I better do something about it. What we do together is for us and us alone. But you should start thinking about where you want to live with me. What you want to buy. We can have anything.” He sighed. “Can you imagine if I had stocks back then instead of a cave of treasure?” He shook his head as he shoved the door back into place and melted the metal to lock it in place. “That’d be crazy.”

  She looked at the door, still in awe of his powers. “Yeah,” she said faintly. “Crazy.”

  “No, c
razy is what I’m going to do to you in bed,” he said, picking her up and almost running to the bedroom.

  When they got there, he plopped her on the bed and crawled over her like a feral cat. Then he spun her around under him so his head was at the apex of her legs. “Mm, just where I like to be.”

  She gasped, writhing. “That was fast.”

  He took her hands and held them out to the sides and placed a kiss on her, right through her pants. She shuddered, and he smiled. “Mmm, I don’t even know where to begin. I could do everything.”

  “Is this sixty-nine?” she asked. “Because I like the view.”

  He lifted himself slightly. “Sure, but don’t do anything. This one is all me.” He took her zipper in his teeth and slid it up, letting his lips graze every inch of panties as he opened her pants.

  He let his breath linger on her sexy underwear and then tore it away with his teeth, using an extra-sharp dragon canine.

  “You’re ravenous,” she said, pulling her hands away from him to cover her face. “So embarrassing.”

  “I’ve seen every part of you,” he said, sliding her jeans up over her hips and legs, baring her from the waist down. “And every part is beautiful.” He nipped at her skin here and there, enjoying the way she jumped, the way her fragrance lit the air.

  It felt so good doing this with no part of him locked away. Free to be wholly himself.

  He breathed over her clit, inhaling her fragrance, and then flicked out his tongue to swirl around it. “Delicious.”

  “Oh,” she squeaked. “I can’t watch.”

  He flipped around so he was straddling her and pulled both her arms together and over her head. “Do you trust me?”

  “Yes…?”

  He kissed her, keeping her arms pinned as she writhed in pleasure, dipping deep into her mouth, enjoying the muffled sounds she made. Then he pulled back, using his free hand to run a claw down the center of her shirt, cutting it and the bra underneath straight down.

  He pulled off the rest of her clothing as she struggled to free her hands. “Ah-ah,” he said. “I’ll buy you more. Whatever you want. Right now, don’t hide from me.” He eyed her predatorily, high on the pleasure in the air. The heat in her gorgeous blue eyes. The damp glow of her silky skin.