His thoughts began to slip away as he got lost in her. Her scent, her softness, and the sound of her breath.
“Harder,” she breathed.
Wrath complied, increasing his pace and force. The result was breathtaking. Her dark hair strewn across his pillow, her face a picture of blissful agony. She met each thrust with a movement of her hips, her lean body writhing in this most erotic of dances. Her sheath was tight around him, sending waves of ecstasy through his body.
Then she cried out, saying his name and burying her face in his shoulder while her pussy pulsated around him. There was a sharp pain in his shoulder as he reached his peak and emptied himself inside her.
Her head fell back on the pillow, blood on her lips, and the scent of iron in the air. She was dazed. She’d bitten him. It was another clue about what she was. It had happened to him before, a shifter female getting overly enthusiastic.
Any second now she would…
“Oh my God. I bit you!” Jess said.
Wrath grinned. “Don’t worry, it happens. You’re obviously part shifter,” he said as he slid out of her and then collapsed beside her on the bed. “If we were the same type of shifter it might be an issue, but as it is, it’s nothing. It just means I pleased you.”
Jess sat up and stared down at the wound, a pained expression on her face.
“Do what feels natural, love. Clean it. I know your inner animal wants to.”
Jess leaned down and tenderly licked the blood away from his wound while Wrath stroked her hair. It was so animalistic, so feral, so fucking hot. He felt his dick responding.
Wrath pushed her onto her back, got to his knees, and put her legs over his shoulders. It was time for round two.
~
Jess had one arm and one leg stretched across Wrath’s body. He held her with one arm while she rested her head on his chest. He finally felt sated, calm.
“Tell me what it was like when you were a kid,” she said.
“I don’t remember much,” Wrath said, idly twirling a strand of her dark hair around his index finger.
“Did you always know you were a dragon?”
“No. My mom was married to a brickmaker when I was born. It was funny, he made bricks but lived in a house made of reeds. After I burned down our house, by accident, my stepdad made me help him with the bricks for a new house. I was maybe four or five. Anyway, they had to bake in the sun. That was taking too much time. He had another order to do so—when no one was around—he told me to burn them. That was one of the first times I made fire intentionally.”
“I guess a house made of reeds wouldn’t be the best place for a dragon. Your parents should have known better.”
“It wasn’t that they didn’t know. Things were different there. You don’t even think about wood these days, you know? But wood was a luxury item in Akkad. There wasn’t enough to frame houses or make furniture. Rich people had windows with wooden slats to cover them. Reeds were the more common building material. If you had more money you could afford bricks. My stepfather couldn’t afford to use bricks for his own house. He had to sell everything he made.”
“How did the dragons find you?”
“They didn’t. My mother found them. She was pregnant at the time. I understand now why she took me to Kur. She was afraid I’d accidentally hurt the baby. She lied and said she was taking me to a man who could cure me, get rid of the magic so I could be a good big brother. She left me standing at the door and promised to come back for me. That’s when I met my eldest brother Etel. He told me there was no cure and there was no way in hell my mother was coming back for me.”
“I imagine that didn’t go over well. How old were you?”
“Six or so. It was a bad time. Turns out, my mother was an upper-class prostitute until she fell out of favor for being diseased. She took up with the first man who would have her. I think she wanted to keep me and tried to make it work, but I was too much for her to handle. I didn’t understand it at the time, but she did what she had to do.”
“I guess it was better to live with your own kind. They’d know how to handle you.”
Wrath laughed. “I was the third dragon, the first fire drake. No. They didn’t know how to handle me. Kur tried to torture me into compliance. You know, magic isn’t all good. If I were human, I’d have fainted or died. Probably both. But I was awake for every agonizing minute. I should have just obeyed him, but that felt wrong, disloyal to the only father I knew. Kur didn’t know how to raise a child. Etel raised himself and then Alal. Kur didn’t like the way his sons behaved so he tried to raise me himself.”
“Did your brothers help you?”
“They’re the reason I’m alive. Etel worked on Kur while Alal worked on me. Eventually things got better. Kur realized the torture didn’t get him anywhere and I realized fighting him at every turn wasn’t good for anyone, especially me. My brothers came and went. I left home when I was around thirteen or so.”
“Where did you go?”
“I had wings. I went everywhere. Wherever I went I either played the god of fire or one of his priests. I eventually settled in Egypt. Some people thought I was Hephaestus. It was better than working for a living.”
And so they talked. It was after midnight when Jess fell asleep.
~
Wrath held Jess in his arms for a full
