Hour of the Dragon - Heather Killough-Walden Page 0,137

it.”

He remembered catching the scent of her blood when it happened. Many supernaturals enjoyed the exchange of blood during sex or feeding; blood was primal because most supernaturals were by and large primal as well. That day the scent hit him almost mercilessly. He would never forget the instant craving that followed, even while he was furious with the van driver for not watching for pedestrians. He almost had van driver for dinner that night.

But now he was thinking about her blood again, so he willed her to go on, staying silent while she figured it all out at last. He needed her to understand why he was going to do what he was going to do to her. Why he was in fact already doing it.

Anna’s eyes were sparkling like real cut amethysts now as she put the pieces of the puzzle together. “But I wasn’t wrong, was I, Ares? You really were too far back to have caught me. At least… as a human.”

All Ares had to do was nod.

Understanding dawned in her eyes. “I wasn’t cut on your jacket, was I?”

He shook his head.

“What was it then? A… a claw? A scale?”

He smiled. That day, she could have been killed. If he hadn’t been what he was, if he hadn’t been inhumanly fast, she would have been killed. After that, Ares kicked himself a thousand times for talking her into going it alone. But years of contemplative nights later, he’d come to realize that there was no fault to be claimed in supporting her. In fact, neither of them had done anything wrong that day.

The fault lie with him in the days that followed, because he ignored the proof fate had given him that to the dragon in him, Annaleia Faith was the most important thing in the multiverse. And dragon knows best.

He leaned over Annaleia and very gently brushed his lips against the scar he forced her to bear to him. He couldn’t help it. He needed to be closer to her, and he knew what this did to her.

But his act had more of a consequence than he’d anticipated. Oh fuck, he thought as her scent wafted over him. She smelled like soap and shampoo and flushed, warm skin – and rain. He felt his own pupils dilate and for the first time in his life while in her presence, they began to turn. They were shifting into dragon form. His muscles tensed, his body stiffening in every possible way.

It was his turn to shudder then, his breath fanning against her creamy skin. His hands curled tight around her arms, his fingertips aching and his teeth pressing through his gums, sharp and unforgiving.

When she moaned and bucked a little against him, he straightened and looked into her eyes.

Her pupils were blown.

He pulled his will over her back just a little, and the collar of her sweater slipped out of her fingers to hide the place he’d just kissed. He steadied himself and said, “Leia, there’s one more thing…. After your fall, do you remember what you told me when I suggested you not ride for a while?”

God, he’d been such an idiot. As if she would have ever agreed to that.

“I told you that I wasn’t a quitter. I was tough like a tiger, damn it.”

Yes, she had. Those had been her exact words.

“And what did I say?”

“You said tigers had been hunted to near extinction by humans. It wasn’t smart to be one.”

He smiled, knowing full well that his fangs were now showing. The colors of the cave’s interior were beginning to shift for him, the contrasts becoming more stark as his once black eyes took on a purple glow not unlike hers. She stared into those eyes with the fascination of a deer in headlights as he commanded, “And now tell me Raindrop. Tell me what it was you finally said you would have to be instead.”

“I….” She exhaled raggedly, her lips glistening wet as she swallowed again. “I said I….” He laughed darkly. He could have flooded her again with that power he’d pulled back on. But dragon or not, he loved her with every twisted fiber of his three black hearts. So as he moved in, his hands sliding along her waist, his strength curling around her, he graciously allowed her to figure it out on her own.

“Yes?” he prompted. One arm wrapped firmly around her, pressing her to him as his other hand slid up her spine to plunge into