Claimed by the Dragon King (High House Draconis Book 5) Read online

  Kyla followed, and saw another line of vampires emerging from the trees. To her left and right, other shapes were rushing down the road, coming from other vantage points around the Keep to join in the battle.

  Darkness was practically concealing the trees from her now, and she saw that this group was more organized. Several creatures of almost pure shadow walked among them. Old vampires then, if they were able to call this much darkness to them while the sun was still up, protecting their charges from the skies.

  Even as the thought entered her mind, she looked for the sun, but it was gone. Darkness was descending over Drakon Keep. Kyla frowned. They hadn’t been fighting that long. There was no way the sun was gone from the sky.

  She cast a few angry red bolts of magic at the assembled horde, but they were intercepted by shadowy darkness and shattered well short of their targets.

  “Come, inside,” Galen said, and she jogged back inside as the gates closed behind them.

  Outside shadows struck, but the golden protective dome of Drakon Keep’s wards dissipated the attack. Kyla watched for a moment, knowing the attack was more out of frustration from the vampires than an actual attempt to bring the wards down. None of them out there was that powerful.

  When the gates finally clanked into place and sealed her inside, the reality of her situation came rushing back to Kyla. That, along with the effort she’d expended earlier in the cavern below the Keep, and the battle she’d fought just now, combined to leave her exhausted and swaying on her feet.

  Resting heavily on her staff, she closed her eyes, catching her breath. Footsteps announced Galen’s presence, back in his human form.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Tired. Just tired, I think. Didn’t really hurt me. But I used more magic today than I have in a long time. Wasn’t thinking,” she said, mumbling all the words through her exhaustion.

  “Come, let’s get you back to the Keep so you can rest.”

  Arms closed around her, taking her from her feet. Kyla tried to protest, but she barely had enough energy to open her eyes as winds closed around them once more, lifting her from the ground as they flew back to the Keep.

  Heat poured off Galen. Kyla had never noticed how warm he was before, how hot his touch was as he had held her close during their previous wind trips. Her drained mind chalked it up to being because of the battle, but as they landed at the front door of the Keep, she blearily noted that there was another reason.

  “Where’s your shirt?” she murmured as they went inside.

  Kyla hated feeling weak, hated relying on others, but right then, in that moment, she was grateful for Galen’s presence. In his arms, she somehow managed to feel small, safe, and yet not worth any less as a person because of it.

  “It, um, was damaged during the fight,” Galen said awkwardly, striding through the halls.

  The maze of lefts and rights once again had her lost, but soon enough they were entering a set of rooms.

  “This isn’t my room,” she said, not recognizing the décor, or the bit of layout she could see. “Where are we?”

  “We’re in my room.”

  16

  He set her down on the bed, carefully taking a knee as he did so and remaining there, his waist hidden, out of sight of her as she lay back onto his pillows.

  What are you doing Galen? Why did you bring her to your room? You should have gone to the guest rooms.

  “Can I ask you something?” Kyla said sleepily from the bed in front of him.

  “Of course,” he said, glad for the change of topic.

  “What did you shout at the vampires out there? You said something to them, something like I was under your protection.”

  He nodded. “Yes, something like that.”

  “Why?” she asked, her head rolling to the side to look at him.

  Galen noted the way her eyes roamed over his shirtless upper body for several moments before returning to his eyes.

  “What do you mean, why?” he said, confused. “Was I supposed to just let them have you out there? That doesn’t seem like a very nice thing to do.”

  “You dragons have no love for us mages. Nobody would have batted an eye if you’d let it happen,” she said a bit more coherently as she slowly recovered from the exhaustion of the battle.

  “I would have,” he said. “I would not have been able to let myself live with it.”

  She nodded. “But why did you phrase it like that. You told them that I was yours.”

  Galen looked away. He’d hoped she hadn’t picked up on that. The words had just sort of slipped out from his mouth, a battle challenge spurred by his dragon. He himself wasn’t sure why he’d said them, or what had possessed him to proclaim such a thing. She wasn’t his, certainly not in that sense.

  Her eyes roamed over him again. “Galen, you’re hurt,” she said, sitting up.

  Panicking, Galen pressed his waist into the edge of the bed. “I’m fine,” he said, gently tugging on one shoulder, trying to get Kyla to lie back down, so she could sleep.

  Sweatpants were right there, he could see the drawer, but he couldn’t get to them without making her aware of what he was doing.

  The mage frowned at him. “What are you doing? Why are you acting so weird? Let me help you,” she said. “I have healing magic training too.”

  He brushed her off. “It’s nothing. Just some cuts that the shadows managed to inflict on me. They’ll heal, I promise.”

  “I can help them heal faster,” Kyla said stubbornly, giving him a look that said he should just quit arguing and let it happen.

  “You’re tired,” he said, but Kyla was already working, her eyes half closed.

  Soft red light glowed in the palm of her hand and she ran it over a cut on his upper chest. The magic sizzled and spat little sparks as it worked, pulling the skin closed and stopping the bleeding.

  “Where else?” she asked, lifting his arms, noting the cut on the back of his ribs. “Turn, let me get at that,” she insisted, sitting up further.

  “I’m okay, I promise,” he said, desperately wishing she would lie back down.

  “Galen…”

  Crap.

  “Yeah?” he said dully, knowing what was coming next.

  “Why are you naked? Where are your pants? Where is your underwear?” Kyla asked him in a tight, throaty voice.

  He could see her eyes fixated on his rear, the bit of it that she could see, at least.

  “The shifting process,” he said lamely. “It, uh, it destroys clothes.”

  “Right. Right I knew that,” she said in the tone of someone remembering forgotten knowledge. “Uh. Well, let me see that rib.”

  “It’s fine, I promise,” he said awkwardly, trying not to meet her eyes, waist firmly pressed against the bed, as well as everything below it.

  “Now,” she said sharply.

  Galen sighed and awkwardly shuffled, preferring to turn almost completely around in the other direction, so she could have a full view of his rear, and not of his front. He figured it was politer that way.

  The exasperated sigh from Kyla told him she understood what he was doing. A moment later, he felt her magic heal that cut as well.

  “You’ve got one on your leg,” she said, her voice quite steady. “Stand up, I’ll get it too.”

  “No,” he said. “No it’ll be fine, I promise. There’s no—”

  “It wasn’t a question, Galen. I’ve seen naked men before. This isn’t anything new to me. Get over yourself.”

  He cringed. “Kyla…”

  “Stand. Up. You saved my life. I’m going to help you heal. End of story. Now up!” she said, snapping her fingers.

  Bowing his head, Galen slowly rose to his feet, exposing his midsection—and the raging hard-on he’d been trying desperately to conceal from her.

  He watched her eyes go wide at the sight, even as he swiftly turned and placed both hands over his cock, working to hide it.

  “Oh. Um.”

  Galen
nearly died at the way she licked her lips, focus completely torn away from the large gash on his thigh.

  The temperature in the room had gone up several degrees, and the longer Kyla stared at his now mostly blocked member, the more stifling the air became.

  “Here,” she said absently, running her hand over his thigh, missing the wound the first time. “Let me fix that.” Her second pass closed it up, but her eyes never left his hands and what they hid from view.

  “Thank you,” he said, knowing he should leave, yet wanting nothing more than to stay.

  “Is that…is that also because of the change?” she asked, looking up at him.

  Because of his height and the fact that she was still seated on the bed, Kyla was forced to crane her neck back to look up at him. In fact, she was at the perfect height that if he just turned his waist toward her…

  No. You will not take advantage of her while she is tired after battle. Control yourself, Galen. You are supposed to be King. Act like one, put others before yourself.

  “I should go,” he said, ignoring her question.

  “Oh.”

  Was that disappointment he heard in her voice? Could she possibly want him to stay? Galen had noticed the way her eyes were practically locked on his crotch, but that was probably because she felt as awkward as he did. Here they were, the aftermath of a fight, and all he could think about was pushing her down into the bed and climbing on top. How weirded out she must feel!

  “You’re tired,” he said, reciting the words, yet not meaning any of them. “Sleep.”

  “I’m not that tired,” she countered. “Besides…I don’t know if I could sleep right now. So much adrenaline, and then seeing you in your dragon form—magnificent by the way—I just don’t know if sleep is an option.

  Galen just nodded. Was she…was that an invitation?

  You can’t do this. You know why.

  Kyla reminded him so much of her that in some ways it actually hurt. Yet despite his vows to himself, he couldn’t deny the way she made him feel. The desires she awoke in him that he’d so successfully muted for centuries.

  His attention was jerked back to the present as Kyla slid around on the bed until her legs were hanging off—one on either side of him.

  Galen’s willpower crumbled as he realized that she wanted him as well. It was the first time he’d been interested in a woman since…since a long time ago, and now she was reciprocating that.

  Was it possible? Could it possibly be that...?

  There was only one way to find out.

  Forgive me…

  He took Kyla by the shoulders and pushed her back onto the bed, noting the way her pupils dilated ever so slightly as she caught a glimpse of his cock before his mouth covered hers and they fell into one another.

  17

  Um. He’s a shifter. A dragon shifter! What are you doing, lady?

  Fire from Galen’s kiss scorched her brain clear of such thoughts.

  Him. She was doing him. It was crazy, and it took her way beyond the neutral limits that the Archmage had told her to keep. When he’d told her not to get involved with any sides while investigating the shifter alliance, he’d meant simply helping out one House or faction within a House.

  Neither of them had thought that she might actually come to not only like, but end up sleeping with one of them. Yet here she was, and truthfully, Kyla didn’t give a shit.

  Galen felt good pressing down on top of her, his firm muscular bulk a heated blanket of sexy goodness that she welcomed. His kisses were hotter than lava, and she frantically returned the passion, wrapping her arms around his neck, legs hooking onto his waist, pulling him down into her.

  His cock rubbed up and down between her legs, sometimes finding the mark, sometimes sliding just shy of it, and driving her crazy with every little thrust, despite the fact she was still clothed.

  “We shouldn’t be doing this,” Galen protested through her lips.

  “I know,” she agreed—but she didn’t stop kissing him, and neither did he pull away.

  She realized that he was probably thinking this was just as crazy. He was going to have sex with a mage. With his long lifespan he remembered fighting her kind, and now here he was bedding one.

  But it just felt so right. Kyla couldn’t deny the way her body was reacting to him. It had done so in the cavern after they’d fought each other, and it was awakening to his touch once again here in his bedroom.

  This was meant to happen, and she was done fighting it. Judging by the way Galen’s hands were tugging at her shirt, anxious to get it off, she figured he was feeling much the same.

  Sitting up slightly, she aided his efforts to reveal her naked body, watching his eyes as they roamed across her, his bottom lip curling up under his teeth as he smiled at what he saw.

  “Wow.”

  The single word just then did more to arouse her than anything more long-winded. Just a simple, stunned proclamation before he covered her mouth with his once more.

  His lips seared hers, burning their way across her jaw and down her neck. Galen’s breath drew goosebumps across her collarbone as he kissed there and continued down, pausing to pay attention to both breasts, flicking his tongue across her nipples before he ventured across her stomach.

  By this point his fingers were hooked into her pants, buttons already undone, ready to strip them from her. She barely remembered the next few moments, her attention fully focused on what she knew was about to happen.

  Prepared as she was, it didn’t help when his tongue slid across her. Fresh arousal shot through her body, igniting nerves and heating the furnace between her legs some more. She was on edge, and every touch, whether it was his arms wrapping around her thighs to hold her securely, or his tongue as it circled round her clit, edging her into heightened arousal, all served to embed the memory in her mind forever.

  “Galen,” she moaned, repeating his name several times as he worked her over quite easily, his tongue turning her to mush in his hands.

  For his part, the dragon shifter was loud and encouraging, making plenty of noise as he pleasured her. Kyla felt relaxed and comfortable, and her own cries mixed with his groans as she thrust her hips at him, practically begging him to keep going.

  Never had she felt so uninhibited and relaxed during sex. His large hands roamed over her body, caressing her breasts, gripping her thick sides with an ease and strength that sent a thrill through her core. They always returned to her thighs, however, holding her legs open, giving him complete and full access to her most vulnerable area.

  And he repaid that trust by pushing her closer and closer to the edge, building the pressure within her to a new limit, a level she couldn’t sustain for long. Galen seemed to know that, and just when she felt she couldn’t take it any longer he slipped not one, but two fingers inside her.

  Moving them in and out in time with the rhythm of his tongue as it played across her clit with an increasing swiftness had Kyla shaking.

  “I can’t, I can’t take it. Don’t stop,” she moaned, her hips lifting from the bed. “Fuck, Galen. Oh my God. Oh fuck. Oh shit. Don’t stop!”

  He didn’t. She cried out loudly as the orgasm slammed into her like a runaway car, beating her body into submission with wave after wave of unbelievable ecstasy. Galen played her body masterfully right up until she couldn’t take it anymore, then he withdrew to let her curl up into a ball and whimper, completely and total spent from his actions.

  It was unlike anything she’d ever experienced before, such attention to detail and to her pleasure, uncaring of himself at the time. Kyla’s heart hammered against her chest, and she struggled to breathe, still assaulted by the slowly fading bliss as the echoes of her climax rang through her.

  “Holy shit,” she gasped once her lungs had enough air to let her. “You…you’re good, mister. You’re really good.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Galen rumbled happily, climbing up onto the bed.

  She started to open her legs for
him, but a gentle press of his hand on her thigh stopped Kyla cold.

  “Just stay like that,” he said. “You’re okay.”

  At his not-quite-tender mercy, Kyla lay on her side, knees pulled closer to her chest. She lifted her head, catching one last glimpse of his magnificent cock before he lined it up with her opening.

  “Holyfuckingshit,” she exploded in one breath as the tip of his cock spread her open.

  “Does it hurt?” he asked nervously. “I’ll go slow.”

  “No. No, no. More,” she ordered, stunned at how perfectly he fit, stretching her just a little, but not enough to hurt. He slid in easily, she was more than ready for this, and when he was firmly pressed against her, she shivered at how full and womanly she felt with him inside her.

  She’d never felt like this with another man. Nothing even close. Nobody had made her feel this way. Vulnerable yet safe, sexy yet womanly. It was a new experience, and she wanted more of it.

  Kyla wanted more of the dragon shifter. A man she’d expected to be a dumb brute, who was proving to be smart, courageous, well-spoken and more honorable than many mages she’d met over her lifetime. Not to mention a tender and caring lover, who knew her body better than any human.

  “Oh, God,” she moaned, head lolling back onto the mattress as Galen moved in and out of her with deliberate slowness.

  “You’re so fucking tight,” he groaned, leaning over her, smothering her in more of his delicious kisses. “I don’t know how long I can take it.”

  Biting her lip, she grinned up at him. “Is that so?”

  Then she squeezed around him.

  Galen’s face bulged and she saw every muscle in his upper body tighten at once as he flexed. His core went from defined to ripped and his biceps swelled.

  “Don’t stop,” she ordered wickedly, releasing around him.

  “That’s not nice,” he complained, his hips crashing into her harder as he recovered.

  Kyla gasped, loving the feeling as their bodies came together. She wanted more of it, and her cries told Galen just what to do to please her.

  “If it makes you feel better,” she moaned through the pleasure-numbed fog of her brain. “I’m not going to be able to last long either. This is hitting the spot just right.” Her eyes rolled back into her brain as he grabbed her legs and started pulling her in even as he thrust at her.