Luck of the Dragon

“Yes.” Alec leaned in and kissed the column of her throat. He needed to get her away from the crowd, so he untied the sash at his waist and handed it to her. “Tie the sash around my neck.”

“What?” Lucy said.

“Thanksgiving for what the Fates have willed.” Alec smiled before leaping into the air and changing into his dragon.

…

Lucy spun in the dark sky, and the moon and the stars tumbled with her. The casino roof glittered underneath them like an opened jewel chest. The shock of being airborne stretched her body wide, so her hands and feet splayed to the four corners of the earth, and then she tumbled and fell, head over toes, toward the concrete sidewalk of the Strip. The flashing neon signs blurred and rushed away with the speed of her descent.

Exhilaration changed to panic in one heartbeat.

She was going to die. She was going smash into the ground. It was going to hurt.

A lot.

Lucy screamed, full throated and loud, right before she landed hard on the back of Alec’s black dragon.

“Holy Mary, Joseph—”

And Peter. Alec’s voice finished in her head with an amused inflection. Tie the belt around my neck.

“Are you talking in my head?” With fumbling fingers, Lucy tied the black sash around the dragon’s neck, so that she held a silken rein of sorts. She threaded her fingers through the soft fabric and fought down the galloping thunder of her heart.

Yes. We can communicate with our minds. But the words are not private, so be careful when others are around.

Lucy focused her thoughts and shot them to Alec. You let me fall on purpose. I could have been killed!

Under her, the dragon bucked and nearly unseated her. I would never let you be hurt.

Lucy believed him, and elation pushed away her terror. Whatever happened between her and Alec, this moment would not come again.

She leaned close into the dragon’s neck, feeling secure and mostly safe. Even if she fell, he would catch her. At their left, the tines of the Crown Jewel rose, but Lucy couldn’t see or hear the rooftop festivities. Under them, the lights of the other casinos flashed, making the whole experience seem surreal.

The dragon’s horns spiraled from his head like polished onyx. His muscular wings flapped through the night sky with elegant ease and so much power that the ride was smooth.

Lucy’s leg muscles spasmed uncontrollably as if she were falling again, but she fought down panic. She would not give in to the fear. She breathed in a steadying breath and focused on the wind on her face and the powerful creature under her. She was riding on top of a dragon, over one thousand feet in the air.

Are you afraid? Alec asked in her mind.

Words flooded her mind—yes, no, yes—Lucy considered them and responded truthfully. There is nowhere else I want to be in the world. No one else I want to be with.

Alec lifted his dragon’s head away from the moon and arched up. Up, up they climbed, sweeping aside veils of clouds, until only the stars and night sky surrounded them. The moon brushed loving moonbeams over their backs.

When they leveled out, Lucy released her hands and traced the edges of the dragon’s circular black scales. They were warm and alive under her fingers, like the softest leather stretched over muscle and bone. The promise of a greater joining than she had ever known beckoned to her. She wanted to join with this man. She clutched her legs tighter, making her pulsing center throb against the warm scales of his back.

Alec dove through the wispy clouds and leveled out over the desert. The barren land looked like a gray moonscape. Rocks that might have been red in the daylight towered around them, shadowy sentinels, guarding in the moonlight.

Where are we going? She didn’t really care, as long as she was with him. Lucy leaned forward and squeezed her eyes against the wind.

Here. Alec landed softly on the sand and shifted to his human form. He caught her against his human chest and eased her down his body. The power of their flight shifted to passion between one breath and another.

Alec traced a warm finger down her face and laced his hand with hers. “I should have known that you would have a hard time accepting the truth of our bond.”

“I thought you were just playing with me.” Lucy pulled away from him. “And my head kept screaming that it was all just crazy. I mean, dragons? Come on.”

Alec crossed his arms, and tense emotion furrowed his face.

“But I know now.” Lucy rose to her toes, kissing him with all the frustrated love in her heart. Electricity arced between them, and the wind picked up. Alec ran his hands up her sides, his touch sending shivers dancing across her skin.

“I love you. I want to be with you.” She looked at him, feeling her breath stick in her chest. “Do you believe me?”

Alec stepped back to a ledge carved into a tall stone. He leaned against it with a nonchalance belied by his next words. “You have to be sure. Do you want this? Do you want me and my dragon?”

“Yes.” Lucy ran to him, happiness swelling her chest.

Alec smiled and pulled her to him on the ledge. “Touch me.”

Lucy reached out trembling hands and helped him pull his tunic over his head. She trailed her fingers up the muscles on his chest. In the moonlight, they were like the barren desert landscape, ridges and valleys of hard muscle. She lowered her mouth to his pecs and sucked gently, then pulled the nipple between her teeth. Alec shook under her.

“Look what you do to me.” Alec leaned back and closed his eyes.

Lucy’s heart swelled, and she trailed nipping kisses along the taut cord between his neck and right shoulder.

“Lucy.” Alec grabbed her around the waist and easily flipped her beneath him. His hands at her back and head protected her from the rock surface. He paused and gently removed his hands, untying the side of her cloth so it fell away.

He traced a warm hand down her naked breasts to her belly, and then trailed his hand lower. “You are so beautiful.”

“Alec.” Lucy lay back and extended her arms behind her head. At once open, vulnerable, trusting him. He leaned down to kiss her. Lucy met him halfway, slanting her head to get closer to him.

The brush of his lips against hers coaxed her mouth open. Her nipples tightened with desire that spread hot fire through her limbs.

Lucy’s legs fell open and Alec slid a finger into her heat, leaving no distance between them. Rightness fused through Lucy. Magic, like the jewels draped over her, swelled in her chest and fanned through her body as if she were an ember coaxed to flame.

Alec increased the pressure of his fingers, rubbing her center with her own wetness. He moved his mouth to her breast, circling her nipple with his tongue. Pressure built inside Lucy, and she jerked against him, pushing her lower body flush to his, feeling the hard ridge of him at the juncture of her things.

Lucy’s breathing came shallow and gasping, until it seemed she would flare out without more of his touch. “Come for me now.” He stared into her eyes, the barriers between them gone.

Lucy held her breath and closed her eyes, easily tumbling into oblivion. Her body shook so hard that Alec wrapped his arms around her hips to hold her on the ledge.

“Mine in this life and beyond,” Alec whispered. The words sounded ritualistic, and he wound the sash around their fingers so that they were bound. “Look at me.”

Lucy opened her eyes as he plunged his body into hers. The feel of him inside her, stretching her, made her cry out in pleasure. Slowly he picked up speed, and her body tensed with heightened arousal. The build up from