Page 36 of Born in Fire (Dragonblood Dynasty #2)

Chapter 36

J uno

Fire embraces me like an old friend.

The flames that should burn instead caress my skin, wrapping around my body in ribbons of heat and light. For one terrifying moment, I’m certain I’ve made a fatal mistake—walking into fire to reach Dorian.

Then something shifts inside me. Not memory, but deeper—cellular recognition. The fire isn’t my enemy. It’s part of me. Has always been part of me.

My skin begins to glow from within, light pushing outward through every pore. My body stretches, changes, transforms. Bones hollow. Muscles reconfigure. I should be screaming in agony, but the sensation is exquisite—like shedding a too-tight skin I never knew I wore.

Wings erupt from my back—not scaled like a dragon’s, but feathered with light. My arms extend, fingers elongating into primary feathers that shimmer with golden fire. My vision sharpens until I can count the scales on the dragons surrounding Dorian.

Dorian. My love. Chained and bleeding on the ground.

The sight of him—broken, wounded—ignites something ferocious inside me. Protective rage floods my system, burning away the last of my fear. Without conscious thought, I push upward, wings catching the night air.

I’m flying.

Flying!

The sensation is indescribable—freedom and power and rightness. Just like he told me the day that I died. I remember it now; so much is clear.

I bank sharply, circling the flame barrier, seeing everything with impossible clarity. Dorian’s blood pooling beneath him. The chains cutting into his wrists. The man standing over him, holding a glowing shard—his face a mask of shock as he stares upward at me.

Three dragons break formation, launching into the air to intercept me. Their massive wings beat powerfully, scaled bodies sleek and deadly as they climb toward my position.

I should be terrified. I’m not.

Power thrums through me, gathering in my chest, spreading down my wings. I don’t know how I know what to do—I just do. As the first dragon reaches me, jaws opening to reveal razor teeth, I extend my wings fully and release.

Golden fire explodes outward in a perfect circle. It engulfs the attacking dragon completely. There’s no time for it to scream—one moment, it exists, the next, there’s nothing but ash drifting on thermal currents. Just like Tyler. Gone in an instant.

The other two dragons falter, backwinging frantically. Too late. My fire finds them, too, erasing them from existence as effortlessly as breathing.

Below, mayhem takes over. The man with the Shard—I recognize him now as the leader who held Dorian captive in my vision—exchanges a quick glance with a blonde woman whose eyes glow with the same unnatural light as the crystal he holds. Without a word, they turn and flee, taking the remaining dragons with them.

I could pursue them. Some part of me wants to—the part that burns with righteous fury at what they’ve done to Dorian. But his life matters more than vengeance.

I dive, wings folding close to my body, plummeting toward the circle of fire. The flames part as I pass through them, landing beside Dorian’s broken form.

“Juno,” he whispers, eyes glazed with pain. Blood coats his chest, spreading in an alarming pool beneath him.

I reach for the chains binding his wrists. As my transformed hands touch the metal, it glows white-hot, then dissolves into nothing. The restraints fall away, but Dorian doesn’t move. His breathing comes in shallow gasps, skin ashen beneath his tan.

Freeing him isn’t enough. He’s dying.

The knowledge hits me with terrible certainty. These wounds are fatal—he’s lost too much blood, and something about the chains has prevented his supernatural healing.

But I know what will save him. The knowledge appears in my mind fully formed, as if it’s always been there, waiting for this moment.

The Heartstone.

I gather Dorian in my arms, cradling him against my body. He feels lighter than he should, or perhaps I’m stronger in this form. His head lolls against my chest, eyes fluttering.

“Stay with me,” I whisper, voice resonating with harmonics that weren’t there before. “Please, stay with me.”

I launch upward, wings spreading wide, Dorian secure in my arms. The city spreads below us, a tapestry of light and shadow. I fly with instinctive precision toward Caleb’s building, sensing the Heartstone’s location as clearly as a beacon.

Dorian’s heartbeat falters against my chest.

No, no, no!

I push faster, wings burning with effort. When Caleb’s apartment block comes into view, I don’t bother with doors. I aim directly for the penthouse balcony, the armored glass evaporating into steam as I pass through it.

The Heartstone sits on its pedestal in the center of the room, pulsing with gentle light. As I enter, still cradling Dorian, the Stone flares brilliantly—recognition and welcome pouring from it in waves of energy.

“Daughter,” it seems to say, though not in words. “At last.”

I have no time to question this strange greeting. I lay Dorian gently on the floor beside the pedestal, my wings folding against my back as I kneel next to him. His breathing has grown more labored, face contorted with pain even in semi-consciousness.

“Help me,” I say to the Stone, reaching toward it.

The Heartstone’s glow intensifies, tendrils of light extending toward my outstretched hand. As they touch my feathered skin, knowledge flows into me—how to channel, how to heal, how to restore.

I place one hand on the Stone, the other on Dorian’s chest, over his heart. Energy flows through me, using my body as a conduit. The sensation is overwhelming—power beyond imagination coursing through my veins, seeking the broken places in Dorian’s body.

His back arches, a gasp tearing from his throat as the healing begins. I watch in wonder as his wounds close, color returning to his face. The Heartstone pulses in time with both our heartbeats, creating a three-point harmony of energy.

Minutes pass, or perhaps hours—time loses meaning in the flow of power. Finally, the Heartstone’s light dims to its normal glow. Beneath my palm, Dorian’s chest rises and falls with strong, steady breaths.

My transformation recedes, wings dissolving into light that sinks back into my skin. I’m human again—or at least, human-shaped. And naked, I realize with distant surprise. The fire that embraced me consumed my clothing, but left me unharmed.

Dorian’s eyes flutter open, finding mine immediately. “Juno,” he breathes, reaching up to touch my face as if to confirm I’m real.

Tears spill down my cheeks, landing on his chest. “I thought I’d lost you.”

He sits up slowly, his own transformation having left him similarly unclothed. His hands cup my face, thumbs brushing away tears.

“Juno,” he whispers, wonder rather than fear in his voice. “You’re a miracle.”

“Not a miracle…” I hesitate. “A phoenix.”

His eyes flicker. “The rebirth from ash. The fire. It all makes sense now.”

I nod, memories slotting into place—not just of my life before death, but something deeper, more ancient. “I remember more now. Not everything, but enough.”

“You saved me,” he says, pulling me against him. “You walked through fire for me.”

I wrap my arms around him, feeling his heartbeat strong against mine. “I would do it again. A thousand times.”

We hold each other, skin to skin, heartbeat to heartbeat. When he finally pulls back, his eyes have darkened with emotion and something else—a hunger I recognize immediately.

“There’s something I need to tell you,” he says. “Something about us.”

I nod for him to go on.

“There’s a connection. I felt it,” he says, voice rough. “When we were separated. The pain.”

“I felt it, too,” I admit. “Like something tearing inside me.”

“It’s a mate bond,” he says abruptly, as if he’s not sure how to share this with me.

“A mate bond?” I frown at him. The words make sense, though I’m not exactly sure what they mean.

“It happens to us. Dragons, I mean. When we find our true match, there’s an instant connection.” He glances down, fingers tracing patterns on my bare shoulder. “I felt that with you the first time we met.” He looks up again, our eyes locking. “I knew , Juno. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew then that there was something about you. My dragon sensed it, too.”

“I threatened to ban you from the coffee shop. And then I wrote my number on a napkin for you,” I say slowly as the images begin to take shape.

“Yes!” He smiles. “You remember.”

I nod. “Not all of it. But small pieces are coming back.”

“Good. That’s good.” His smile widens. “You’ll get it all back, eventually. And I’ll help with what I can.”

“I know.” I stroke his cheek. “Tell me more about this mate bond.”

“It’s a connection, an unbreakable bond that draws us together. Dragons experience it with their true mates, the ones they’re destined to spend their lives with. We only have one. And it’s kind of a ‘forever’ thing. But it almost never happens with humans. That’s why I never imagined that’s what I was feeling with you.”

“But I’m not human,” I remind him with a small smile.

“No.” His gaze travels over me with reverence. “You’re something extraordinary.”

“So then, that’s it?” I ask. “We’re um… bonded?” It seems too simple.

He shakes his head as his hand slides into my hair, drawing me closer. “The bond is forming, but it’s incomplete. Among dragons, it must be sealed with a ritual.”

“What kind of ritual?” I ask, though from the heat in his eyes, I can guess.

“A marking,” he says softly. “An exchange of blood during sex, when…”

“When you’re inside me?” I breathe, suddenly loving this idea.

“In every possible way.” His eyes grow intense. “It’s permanent, Juno. ‘Till death and beyond. I wouldn’t ask if—”

I silence him with a kiss. “Yes,” I whisper against his lips. “I choose you. Now and always.”

His mouth twitches up at the corners. “Then we’ll do it. We’ll make it official once this is over and—”

“No.” I shake my head. “I want to do it now.”

“Now?” He looks surprised.

“Yes,” I say firmly. “Right now. Right here with the Heartstone to witness it. I told you once before that we never know how much time we have left. Today just confirmed it. I’m not waiting to do what’s important.”

“God, woman, you’re going to be the end of me,” he groans as I trace a fingertip down his belly.

“Or maybe the beginning,” I whisper.

His control breaks. He pulls me to him, mouth claiming mine with desperate hunger. We sink to the floor beside the Heartstone, its light bathing us in golden warmth.

His hands explore my body with worshipful attention, as if memorizing every curve and plane. His fingertips trace from my collarbone down to the gentle swell of my breasts, pausing to circle each nipple until they harden beneath his touch. When he lowers his head to take one into his mouth, heat surges through me, pooling low in my belly.

“You’re perfect,” he murmurs against my skin, his breath hot as he trails kisses down my sternum, across my ribs, to the soft plane of my stomach.

I explore him in turn, my fingers following the defined muscles of his chest, tracing scars both old and newly healed. His skin is impossibly hot beneath my touch, a reminder of the dragon fire that lives within him. When my hand drifts lower, wrapping around his cock, his breath catches, eyes flaring in the Heartstone’s glow.

“Juno,” he groans, the sound rough and needy.

I guide him between my thighs, but he resists, sliding down my body instead. His mouth leaves a trail of heat as he positions himself between my legs, looking up at me before his tongue finds my clit. The first stroke sends electricity racing up my spine, my back arching off the floor. The man has a goddamn gift for giving head. His hands grip my hips, holding me steady as he tastes me with deliberate precision.

When he slides a finger inside me, curving upward to find the spot that makes stars explode behind my eyelids, I cry out his name. He adds a second finger while his tongue continues its relentless attention. The dual sensation builds rapidly, my thighs beginning to shake as I approach the edge.

“Not yet,” he whispers, pulling away just before I fall. “Together. For the bond.”

He moves up my body, positioning the head of his cock against my slit. Our eyes lock as he pushes forward, entering me with exquisite slowness. I feel every inch of him stretching me, filling me completely. The Heartstone pulses brighter, as if approving our union, its light dancing across our sweat-slicked skin.

“You feel like home,” he whispers as I wrap my legs around his waist to draw him deeper.

We move together in ancient rhythm, his thrusts measured and deep. One of his hands slides beneath me, shifting my hips to change the angle, hitting a spot inside that makes me cry out with each movement. Pleasure builds between us, heightened by the growing bond, every sensation magnified and shared.

His pace quickens, control fraying as our bodies demand more. I match him thrust for thrust, nails dragging down his back, leaving marks that heal almost instantly. The dragon in him responds to my aggression—his eyes shift fully to gold, a growl rumbling from his chest as he drives into me with increasing urgency.

“The marking happens at the peak,” Dorian whispers against my neck, voice strained with restraint. “We bite—here.” His fingers trace the junction of my neck and shoulder. “It will hurt, but only for a moment.”

“I’m not afraid of pain,” I tell him, arching beneath him as he hits that perfect spot again. “Not with you.”

His hand slips between us, finding where we’re joined, his thumb circling the bundle of nerves that sends shockwaves through my body. I feel myself tightening around him, the pressure building to an unbearable peak.

“Now,” he gasps, his rhythm faltering as he fights to hold back. “Come with me, Juno.”

As we climb toward release, I feel his body tense, muscles coiling with impending climax. His eyes meet mine, a silent question. I nod, tilting my head to expose my neck.

The first wave of my orgasm crashes through me, muscles clenching around him in rhythmic pulses. At that exact moment, his teeth sink into the sensitive skin where neck meets shoulder.

The sharp pain amplifies my pleasure impossibly, sending me spiraling higher. Instinctively, I turn my head and bite down on the same spot on his shoulder, tasting the copper tang of his blood as he shudders inside me, his release coinciding with the final, most intense pulse of my own.

The bond snaps into place between us with an almost audible click. Energy surges through the connection—his emotions flooding into me, mine into him. Joy, pleasure, love, devotion—all magnified and reflected between us in an infinite loop. The Heartstone flares brilliantly, sealing the bond with ancient magic.

When the intensity finally ebbs, we collapse together, breathless and laughing through tears. The mate bond hums between us, a warm, constant presence linking us soul to soul.

“I love you,” I whisper, tracing the mark I’ve left on his skin. It’s already healing into a silvery scar—permanent, unmistakable.

“Till death and beyond,” he responds, kissing the matching mark on my shoulder. “Though apparently, death didn’t stick the first time.”

I laugh, the sound lighter than it’s been since my rebirth. For the first time, I feel whole—not just memories returned, but something deeper. Purpose. Belonging. Home.

The moment shatters as the door flies open. Caleb strides in, already speaking.

“We need to— Oh, jeez!” He stops abruptly, taking in the scene before him—his brother and me, naked on the floor beside the Heartstone, newly marked and obviously post-coital.

“For fuck’s sake,” he mutters, turning away sharply. “Put some clothes on.”

“Caleb, what—?” Elena practically walks into his back as he stands in the doorway. “Oh… Oh, hell!” She covers her eyes with one hand. “I am so, so sorry!”

Dorian moves with supernatural speed, positioning himself to shield my body from their view.

“A little warning next time,” he growls, though there’s more embarrassment than anger in his tone.

“There wasn’t time,” Caleb says, still facing the wall. “There’s a robe in the guest bathroom. Both of you—please. And make it fast. We need to talk.”

The pair hurry out like their asses on fire, making their way toward the kitchen.

Dorian and I exchange wide-eyed looks… and then burst out laughing.

“Oh, my God!” I manage to get out, hiding my flaming face against his shoulder.

“Well, that was awkward.” He grins as he leans forward and brushes his lips over the top of my head.

“Yeah. Just a little bit. I’m dying here.” My voice is muffled by his chest.

“No, I mean for them,” Dorian corrects me, raising my chin with his fingertip and looking into my eyes. “But they might as well get used to it.” He dots a kiss on my mouth. “Because I plan to do that a whole lot more. And he might just walk in again.”

“God forbid.” I smile back, my lips tingling where he touched them.

“God forbid we do it more, or God forbid he walks in?”

“What do you think? Silly!” I swat his arm.

He puts a hand to his chest in mock relief. “Thank God. Because we have a lifetime of loving ahead of us. And dragons live a really long time. You know that, right? Are you up for that?” A flash of concern colors his expression.

I smile back at him. “Dorian, we just learned that I’m a phoenix. And I’m pretty sure we live forever.”

“Forever?” he says.

“Yep. Think you can cope with me for that long?” I tilt my head.

The smile he gives me is radiant. “Yeah.” He kisses me. “Yeah, I think that might just be a good start.”

His lips are warm and soft against mine, and my heart swells as I lose myself to that kiss… because I know that I’m going to need a million answers to a million questions before I truly understand just who and what I am. But I’m pretty sure that I’ll find my path with this man at my side.

And I can’t imagine anything I’d love more.