Dragon's Claim

Chapter 9-2

LAYLA LAY ACROSS HER bed, relishing the feel of the satin bedspread beneath her bare shoulders. Miri had kept her up, wanting to share each little drawing she’d made until the small girl passed out on top of the table. Drake had been the one to gingerly lift her from her seat and carry her to his bed again.

While he tucked the little girl in and left the master bedroom all to Miri, Layla retreated to her own room. She threw off a layer of the sheer top she’d worn earlier and felt a breath of fresh air return to her lungs.

Now, she smelled his spicy scent fill the air and tilted her head to find Drake leaning in the door frame. His hands were tucked in his pockets, but he looked lost. She should be angry with him. She should be furious with him for not trusting her enough. Yet, she’d seen the fear Miri had pointed out so quickly and it almost felt like an echo of a place Layla had once been.

That deep striking fear had consumed her when she’d been cornered in the forest of Snowdonia. It had been five against one. While she was small and agile, it hadn’t been enough when there were five, massive bodies coming at her all at once. She’d been helpless as they tore her wings to shreds and plucked the scales from her body. Eventually, she’d dropped the dragon form in the hopes of a quick death, but they followed suit and the pain continued.

But she had survived.

Clearly, Drake had survived whatever happened to him, too.

His eyes roved over her. She sat up and patted the space on the bed beside her. Inside her chest, her heart was racing. Reason told her she was being stupid. The monster inside her waited with barely hidden excitement that warmed her core. This was not about those things, she reminded the monster.

Drake hesitated.

“Now,” she commanded with a purr. It took some guts to command the leader of a dragon family, but something inside her told Layla she had every right.

His eyes gleamed and he took the first step. Before she knew it, he was in front of her. Drake put a fist on either side of her and leaned in so that they were only a breath away from one another. Layla leaned back instinctually, but her hand rose to trace the stubble that grew along his jaw. She could feel his raw desire pressing against her thigh as he leaned over her and it made the monster inside her roll over in anticipation.

“Talk to me,” she breathed. “Tell me what is happening.”

Her words took the lust out of his eyes and his head dropped. It rested against her chest for a long moment. She felt the fury of being rejected burning through her again. It was not a s****l rejection, but one of trust and competency.

Still, her hands moved to push his hair back. Her fingers let the soft strands cascade over her skin. He leaned into her touch. When was the last time he allowed someone to touch him, she wondered? He was the leader, a man alone who was supposed to show strength and honor. It was not his place to seek out the pleasures of human women one night a month like her brother and cousins had done.

Her hands lowered so that she could lift his face and look him in the eye. She almost laughed at the puppy-like expression he gave her, bottom lip puffed out. Instead, she hid her laughter by claiming his mouth. Layla pulled the soft, lower lip between her teeth and flicked it with her tongue.

The sound Drake made was one of surprise and pleasure. He leaned into her kiss, exploring and reaching to see how far Layla would let him go. His hands traveled up her back, fingers brushing bare skin. She gave him more, little by little. Together, they fell back onto her small mattress.

Layla could not believe the way his kiss made her feel. Electrical jolts sprouted from her lips and rocketed down her body. They sat in her core and warmed her until she felt a hot dampness across her legs. Never before had she experience anything like this with another man. It made her tighten her fist in his hair, made her reach for his shirt.

Before she could rip the cloth away, his hand snatched her wrist. Drake broke away from the kiss, sudden and unexpected. Both of them were breathing hard. Layla lay back, dazed and utterly confused.

“You want truth?” Drake asked as he stared at her chest. His hands moved to cup her ribcage, the sheer size of them making her feel like a fragile bird in his hands. His thumbs grazed the curve beneath her breasts, distracting her.

“I want...” Layla struggled to catch her breath and set her mind straight again. “I want to feel like your equal.”

She knew it was a ludicrous request. He was a leader. She was a lower ranking dragon in her own family. It didn’t matter what kind of label was slapped on her because of this new embassy, Layla was not his equal. Why she’d just asked to be one as beyond her.

Yet, Drake smiled as he lowered his face into her chest. He sucked in a deep breath of her scent and she had to resist the urge to arch into the touch of his nose against her breastbone.

“You will always be my equal, Layla Taniff. There was never a day in which you were not meant to be my equal.”

Something clicked in her mind, but she was too addled by his touch to see it clearly. What was going on? What was he trying to tell her?

Drake pulled back to look her in the eye. The connection sent the pieces into place lightning fast and Layla found herself scrambling away from him. She pulled away until her back was against the headboard.

Mate, her heart screamed. The monster purred the word. She was bombarded by the realization from every direction. Why hadn’t she seen it sooner? If she had, she could have begged to stay in Wales. She could have put distance between herself and this man until she was ready. She could have stayed away forever, an ocean between them.

Her head fell back against the headboard, eyes on the ceiling as she tried to get herself under control. The wood behind her head was starting to singe and smoke with her anger. She wasn’t as mad at Drake for keeping the secret as she was at the universe for forcing this upon her now, or at all.

How could she stand strong when she stood to lose half of herself now? She worried that even less belonged to her now that Miri was thrust into their lives. From the fear that gripped Drake all afternoon, she had guessed the child’s parents were long gone from this world, leaving Miri with no one but them.

Her heart clenched. Why couldn’t she have lived alone? Why did she have to live with this? Every day would be a trial, waiting for the universe to rip away a part of her.

It was no wonder Drake had so much to fear. The dragon leader had known. He hadn’t fought the bond or the arrival of Miri. Like the mismatched family he commanded, he’d accepted Layla and Miri as another fact of life. Welcomed them, even, she thought.

Finally, she brought her eyes back down to meet his. He waited, patient, expectant, and concerned. Drake was a strong man, one who understood a bit of what she’d gone through. She suspected he’d gone through something similar, but had let the dragons around him chip away at his walls until he was no longer safely guarded behind them.

It was stupid, she thought, to let them do that.

“Talk to me,” Drake asked, his voice hoarse with the need he’d felt moments ago.

Layla’s own body betrayed her and mimicked the feeling. The air smelled of their mixed scents and she felt her body begin to warm again.

She shook her head, against his words, against the urges of her body.

“If I am your mate, then I need the truth,” she said, meeting his gaze with her own, glassy eyes. “Tell me what is happening so that we can fight it together.”

Drake nodded, but didn’t say anything as his hands moved of their own accord. They reached for her and gently pulled her back into his embrace. She should have fought him, should have tried to keep her distance so that her heart would remain shielded. Yet, she gave in to his touch, to his presence.

A long moment passed, where Drake caressed her ribs with his thumbs while he thought. Layla suspected he might lie or subvert the conversation, but he finally gave in. There was only one caveat.

“If I am to confess these things to you, then I want you to try to break down the walls you hide behind. You live in your own little world, afraid of letting anyone in, afraid of letting anyone see you as anything but strong. Those walls need to go down.”

Her brows crashed together as anger roiled through her. The heat rolling off her must have brought sweat to his skin, but he didn’t move from where he held her. How could he ask this of her? How could he ask her to allow pain and torment into her life? There was no way to survive this world if you were not strong. She’d learned that the hard way.

“Being alone does not make you strong,” Drake whispered into the dark of the room. His hand moved to cup the bottom of her breast as though he could not help himself when he was so close, when he was already touching her. “It makes you alone, makes it so that you must fend for yourself and yourself alone. It makes you cold.

“Allowing people into your life, your heart, helps you to become stronger because you have people who are willing to help you. They hold you when your world becomes unbearable, they make you smile and laugh. They stand beside you when the world threatens to take away all that you love.”

Layla’s lips pressed together and she shook her head. “Then why won’t you let me stand beside you? Why won’t you tell anyone what is happening?”

Drake sighed. His warm breath washed over her body, gentle and enough to put out the flame burning inside her.

“Because I have the same fears...” There was a long pause while he relived something long past. She reached up and touched the sides of his face with gentle hands, bringing him back to her. It was such a simple gesture, but she was in amazement at how easily it worked.

“I will tell you a story, then.” Drake rolled away from her so that his weight was no longer pressing down on her. Instead, he laid so that he could curl his body around hers, a shield against the memory as if it might return to attack while they were vulnerable. “I did not grow up here in the American Territory. When I was a dragonling, I could only dream about what life would be like in a sanctuary like this. My family moved around, travelling the countryside...”

“They were the raiding dragons,” Layla whispered into the darkness.

He nodded, the movement felt against her back. Her mate, the man who held a part of her heart in his hands already, had been a raider. It hurt to hear that, but she reminded herself of the person he was now. Layla forced away the images of the crumbled buildings and burnt barns, to focus on the man that lay behind her.

“There was no public dragon family in America yet. We took what we could to survive, because our kind weren’t allowed to take jobs, weren’t allowed to buy homes. I wasn’t as young as Miri, so I don’t have the excuse of innocence that she has.”

“You did what you had to do to survive,” Layla echoed his words. The States had not changed much for Drake and his kind, not in his lifetime. He’d had to forge a new life for his people.

“I must have been in my early twenties when another dragon attacked us. My parents were getting ready to move on, having just raided a number of houses for food and cash. My father did it for the thrill and brought me along like it was a trade to be passed from father to son.

“The other dragon was older. At the time, he seemed ancient and unstoppable. One eye was an empty socket of shadows when he struck my father. It happened so fast. One moment, my father stood before me in his human form and the next there was a dragon atop him. He used one massive claw to pin me to the ground while he ripped my father apart.

“I didn’t even try to fight back. At least, not until he turned on my mother. She was just a human woman. Not the best woman, considering how well she fit with my father, but she was my mother all the same. She didn’t stand a chance when the one-eyed dragon attacked her, too.”

Layla trembled in his arms. Not from fear, but from anger. She hadn’t even been born when this happened, but she felt the rage all the same. She wished she could have helped him, could have avenged him.

“The one-eyed dragon left me alive. He dropped his dragon form to tell me that I had a choice. I could die that day, or I could become the kind of man the world needed and live a long life. Stupid, young me attacked him. I should have scars from how he left me, but he left me alive. I was left there, surrounded by the pieces of my family while I healed. It gave me a long time to think, to gather hate around me.

“After that, I spent years hunting him. I had convinced myself I could take him on, until I came across a pair of teenagers lost and fumbling through the world with no one to look after them. They were stealing from convenience stores just to stay alive. There was my chance, I thought, to become the kind of man the world needed. The one-eyed dragon’s words made sense, no matter how much I hated him for it.”

“Let me guess, you found the twins?”

Drake laughed. His breath was a gentle tickle across her bare shoulder. “Believe it or not, when I first approached them they attacked me. I was invading on their territory, you see. Damn near got bested by a pair of half-starved children.”

“I see how well they’ve channeled that energy elsewhere.”

“Oh, yes. At first, I managed to channel it into this cabin. They helped me put it together, just a one floor building at that time. Once they grew older and we brought Isaac into the family, they decided to invest in the monstrosity across from us.”

Us. As though she’d already agreed to let him in, agreed to stay here and love him. The thought made her squirm in his arms. Could she? Could Layla be brave enough to let another into her heart despite the effects loss might have?

Because it wasn’t a matter of strength in this case. No, Maggie was still strong, despite feeling like half a person. The mater of her last leader carried on in order to mold her future into the peace she wanted to see. She carried on with her head held high and determination in her very bones.

It was a matter of bravery, Layla realized. Was she brave enough to bear that kind of pain should she lose Drake? Little Miri already wormed her way into Layla’s heart. In her mind, images of the tiny child being trapped in Drake’s situation made her chest rumble with a growl.

Never had she once believed she would be the mate of a dragon strong enough to lead a family of dragons. Drake led them, not by the ties of blood, but by their oath of loyalty, a much more fragile thing. She’d seen how he reacted to the idea of one of his own being hurt. He cared deeply for each and every one of them.

“Tell me about your element,” Layla said, because she’d never seen anything like it before - because she wasn’t ready to face the truth of their bond just yet. “I saw the smoke, but I don’t know what it means.”

Drake nuzzled her back, taking in the scent of her while he still had the chance. “I can’t tell you where it comes from or what family it’s a part of. My father wasn’t big on lineage and my mother was a human. All I know is that it doesn’t seem half as harmful as dragon fire. Not at first. The smoke is a kind of gas. In small doses, it can knock someone out or render them lethargic. In larger doses, it can be lethal. I hate using it, but it does come in handy.”

It was such a strange element to belong to a dragon, but he was right. If used properly, it was perhaps the most useful element. It could diffuse a deadly situation without ending in violence. It could be what helped him remain in charge of this massive family of dragons.

Drake was a rare man, a rare dragon. He was a fair and loving leader who cared about everyone, even the people outside his claim. Was it so bad to be the mate of such a good man? It was if she lost him.

Layla twisted in Drake’s arms until they were face to face. Her hands moved along his body, searching past the hard planes of his chest until she reached the waistband of his jeans. They popped open and a soft growl emanated from him. His hands gripped her hips and he jerked her into the growing bulge in his pants.

Bravery was not something she’d often thought about. There was blind bravery, the kind she’d been putting on every day as if in challenge of the universe, and then there was the kind of bravery it took to open your heart. What kind of a life was she living if she never opened her heart to anyone? That kind of loneliness and anger at the world could very much twist her into something like the one-eyed dragon Drake spoke of.

So, she pulled her shirt over her head and laid herself bare before him. She was surprised to find that she was not scared. Actually, there was a small bit of hope fluttering inside her chest, a feeling she might have mistaken for anticipation if she had not met his gaze through the dark. The look was echoed in his eyes as he smiled wide and reached to cup her face in his hands. She placed a hand against his chest and gently pushed him back so that she hovered over him.

The kiss he gave her was soft at first, it buzzed with hesitant energy while he waited for the question to be answered. Layla answered by parting her lips wider and inviting him in. She answered by reaching between them to free his c**k from his pants.

He was wider, longer than she expected. Her stomach gave a small flip. Could she handle all of that?

Layla broke from their kiss. Drake growled and reached for her to pull her back, but she was quick. She ducked out of his reach with an airy laugh and moved lower. Now, she could get a good view of his c**k, the length of it needing more than one hand to hold, and see his gaze on her at the same time. His eyes were hazy with need as he gripped the bedding beneath him.

She smirked, barely giving him notice, before she lowered her lips to his inner thigh. Men always wanted to mark women where the world would see, where the world would know. Layla pulled a bit of the soft flesh into her mouth and flicked it with her tongue while she worked the long shaft in her hand.

There was already a bead of moisture on the tip of his c**k. How long had it been since he’d lain with a woman? Had he been guarding his heart against the pain of love, too?

Layla pulled away from the soft skin and began trailing feather light kisses up his thigh until she reached the V of his groin. She looked up from where her mouth lingered over his skin. He was barely holding on, eyes half lidded as he looked down at her like he might snatch her up and flip her over. She smiled, the one she usually saved for prey.

In a way, he was prey tonight. She would have her way with him, torment him until there was nothing else on his mind other than her. It was the least she could do for the man who’d driven with her while she was afraid to fly.

Her lips led her up to his belly button, so that his c**k rested between her breasts. She could tell from the tremble in his body that he was fighting the urge to take her. She was impressed with his control. It must have come with the job. Layla laid another trail of feather light kisses down the other side of his abdomen, toward the soft skin of his other thigh. There, she licked and teased the skin until she’d left her mark.

There would be no other woman who would look at him. Her scent was all over him, all over his groin, along with her mark. Satisfied, Layla shimmied out of her jeans. Without the thick layer of cloth, her scent blossomed in the air and Drake could no longer restrain himself.

With a soft growl, he reached down for her hips and rolled them over so that he was on top. Layla thought he would plunge home inside of her, thankful that she’d taken to using her diaphragm, but a familiar look crossed his face. It was playful and promised pleasure. She should know, she’d worn it only moments ago. A jolt of anticipation hit her in the stomach, making her body tight.

His head dipped down and a tongue flicked the folds of her womanhood. She cried out with surprise, her hand reaching down for his hair. His tongue touched places that hadn’t been touched in a while. Why she’d worn the diaphragm was beyond her. Maybe, deep down she’d known and it had only been a matter of time before she fell into bed with him.

All that was struck from her mind as his tongue plunged deeper. It lapped in long strokes that hit every nerve on the way. She saw fireworks behind her eyes, explosions that danced in her abdomen. Drake laughed with pride, the sound sending vibrations of pleasure through her core.

“I’m going to make sure I do this at least once a week. Maybe a few times a week.” Drake nibbled the skin along the inside of her thighs and she felt her muscles twitch in response.

Layla writhed atop the satin bedspread. She couldn’t imagine doing this each week. She couldn’t imagine someone wanting to get on their hands and knees for her so often. But Drake made it seem like he enjoyed it, like he couldn’t get enough of her, of the taste of her.

*