Page 3

CHAPTER 3

CLAWDIA

G asping, I woke up to Charlie’s familiar brown eyes, and he startled as I lurched out of his arms to my feet, adrenaline buzzing through my body.

“Clawdicat, thank God you’re awake.” His deep sigh of relief was louder than the movement he made standing.

I blinked, trying to clear the blurriness from my sight, and slurred, “What have I missed?”

The woodland was still and quiet. Not even the birds dared to chirp as the corpse of the dragon lay motionless in the crater next to us.

Flashes of my vision made me shudder. The lingering cold in my limbs felt like needles prodding under my skin.

“You killed the dragon with Baelen’s blood power, and then you passed out. What happened?” He stroked my goose-pimpled arms and tried to pull me into a hug, but I was still too twitchy for comfort and pulled away. I felt like I’d been electrocuted, and Fafnir’s voice echoed in my mind.

“I’ll cut her neck as I take what I couldn’t before, and I’ll be the last thing she sees before she dies. This time, she won’t escape.”

He’s furious. He’s going to make sure we suffer the consequences. But as I stared at the green scales of the dragon glittering under the moonlight, I couldn’t help a tiny smirk. We’d hurt him. Finally.

I’d taken too long to answer, because Charlie asked, “Clawdicat, are you all right?”

I refocused on his face, his brows drawn down with concern. He was naked, his pale skin pebbled from the cold, and streaks of blood covered his shoulders and arms. I gasped.

“Charlie, you’re bleeding.” I rushed to him, my hands hovering over the injuries, and before he could open his mouth, I reached for his threads and turned them back to a healthy green. The dried blood remained, but the cuts he’d suffered from the dragon’s claws healed.

He growled at me and grabbed my hands. “I told you not to.”

“That was ages ago, and I can’t let you stay injured when I could easily heal you.” I waved him off and tried to hide the sudden dizziness blurring my vision.

“You just fainted. You can’t use your powers when you’re hurt.”

He cupped my neck, and I covered his hands, staring into his brown eyes, and using them as an anchor. I took a deep breath and assured him in a whisper, “I’m fine.”

“So why the fainting?” he asked, and his gaze searched for the secrets I held on the tip of my tongue.

He once told me he could tell Lydia was keeping secrets from him and that was why he didn’t think he could love her. Charlie’s gift for finding things, especially the truth, had always amazed me, but now I feared he would lose the trust in me if he knew I was lying.

But I can’t tell him. He can’t know about the visions yet.

I needed to speak to Nisha before I told them all so I could make them understand why I had to lie and mislead them. I didn’t want to lose them like Nisha lost her mates. Warning them about Fafnir’s revenge and telling them the dragon we just killed was Fafnir’s separated drakorian soul could wait until I had a plan to ensure it would all work out.

They are going to be so angry with me for keeping this all to myself when I promised I wouldn’t.

They would never hurt me, but the weight of their future disappointment and fear sat heavily on my shoulders.

As though I could stop him from seeing everything written on my face or in my eyes, I looked away and squeezed his hands.

“I’m not sure why I fainted. Maybe I was just doing too much with Baelen’s power, but I promise I’m fine.” I forced a smile and asked, “We need to get back to the others. Can you fly?”

“Yeah, maybe.” He blinked, and the confusion in his gaze pinched at my heart.

I whispered, “Let’s go.”

“Are you sure?”

I raised an eyebrow, unsure why he was hesitating. “Do you want to stay here in the dark forest with a dead dragon?”

“Fuck no.” He glared at the corpse. “We could celebrate the end of Fafnir if only we knew this dragon was actually him and not the clone.”

I swallowed hard against the guilt. “We can celebrate with the others. Besides, one less dragon attacking people is a good thing.”

“Yeah, but it would be nice to know if you got your revenge. After all he did to you, he deserves it. Pity he didn’t turn back so we could know either way.”

“Revenge...” I repeated slowly.

Revenge was an ugly term. I didn’t want revenge as much as I wanted vengeance. I didn’t want to kill Mary, but I wanted her to suffer. I wanted her to feel the fear Winnie and I felt. I wanted karma.

And I wanted the same thing for Fafnir. I wanted all the hurt he’d caused to be multiplied and given back to him. But I didn’t want to dirty my soul with any more terrible things. Especially not for him.

Despite how much I empathized with his plight as a child, he’d started anew in a time when no one knew him, and instead of changing, he dedicated it to murder, stealing magic, and organizing the hunters to continue his agenda. And now I’d seen him promise revenge against me personally.

“You probably weren’t even thinking about that, were you? My Clawdicat is sweet to everyone but me.” He kissed my forehead, but I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy it or respond. Charlie continued, “But shouldn’t we bury it or something? What if humans find it? Or the hunters?”

“We can send the task team out to do something for it. We can’t bury a dragon with our bare hands.”

“True.” His eyes unfocused, and I knew he was talking to Dralie, his dragon.

When he moved back a few paces, I closed my eyes and enjoyed the hot gust that came from his transformation and warmed my frozen body. Before I could open my eyes, he scooped me up in his claws, and I gasped as we took off into the sky.

Without the adrenaline of my vision and the dragon chase, I could focus more on the ride. I felt safer in his claws than on his back. Since we weren’t looking for a dragon ready to attack at any moment, Charlie and Dralie didn’t need their claws for anything but carrying me. Gliding above the tree line, I could peer through their claws and see the stars bright and twinkling above us. It was a lovely view.

Yet, with each beat of Dralie’s wings the frigid night air and wind chilled my bones to the core until my teeth chattered, and I trembled. Dragon travel is cold.

When Dralie wing’s faltered, my heart skipped a beat.

I pressed closer to the cool scales of their dragon chest as we descended through the trees toward a small wooden building. When we landed, I slipped from their claws onto unsteady feet and hurried toward the front door without waiting for Charlie.

The door was locked, of course, but I knocked. Banging my numb hands against the wood made me wince and I shivered as I waited for a response.

I called out, “Hello, is anyone there?”

“What are you doing?” Charlie hissed as he rushed over after shifting.

“Checking if someone is here. It would be rude to just barge in.”

He rolled his eyes and nudged me out of the way. “Move and let the master work.”

“Are you all right?” I asked.

He grimaced and heaved a potted plant up next to the door. Although there wasn’t a key underneath, there was a hairpin. It was good to know his finding powers hadn’t disappeared when Dralie appeared.

“We couldn’t make it back to the office block,” Charlie said in explanation for the early descent, “but Dralie says this cabin smells empty. It should be safe for us to rest for a bit.”

Guilt pinched my heart. “Whatever you think is best. I’m sorry if I pushed you to fly too soon.”

He shrugged and began picking the lock with the hairpin. “We’re still dealing with whatever that dragon tried to do to our head. We’ll be fine after a bit of rest.”

But I couldn’t wait for him to play with the lock and eventually get us in. I was too cold and tired. I shifted and scrambled out from underneath my clothing to jump onto the banister of the porch.

Charlie didn’t notice me jumping onto the roof and diving down the chimney, but when the door swung open and Charlie came in to find me on the sofa and licking my fur clean of soot, he glared.

“You’ve no patience, Clawdicat. Look at the mess you’ve made.” My gaze followed his finger to the pile of soot at the bottom of the chimney and the pawprints to the sofa.

I continued licking my paw. “I was cold.”

His eyes narrowed on me. “You could have been a cat when we were flying.”

The thought hadn’t occurred to me, but I didn’t want to admit that. I turned human and shrugged. “ But then I could have fallen out of your claws because I’m small.”

He grumbled as he headed to the bathroom, and I admired the view of his thighs and calves.

He turned around and began, “Are you coming—” but he covered his private parts with his hands when he noticed me looking and glared. “You can’t judge me for the shrinkage. You know it doesn’t look like this all the time.”

A surprised laugh bubbled up and out from me, and I relaxed as pure adoration washed over me. For a moment, I forgot about the danger we’d just faced. I forgot about the vision, the secrets I was keeping from him, and the fact we were in a stranger’s cabin in the woods. I simply relaxed into the pure warmth radiating from my heart.

“I love you,” I told him.

His eyes darkened. “Come and love me as we get washed up.”

I can’t turn down an invitation like that.

Pushing myself off the sofa, I walked over to him, swaying my hips as his gaze prompted a lustful heat to burn where his eyes touched. I passed him, and he spanked me, the smack reverberating loudly in the small cabin. I gasped and shot him a glare before pushing the bathroom door open. He smiled unrepentantly.

The bathroom had a small glass shower cubicle and a large bath by the window letting in so much moonlight it reflected off the white tub and white tiles to illuminate the room.

For a cabin in the middle of nowhere, the bathroom is amazing.

I glanced at the tub longingly, but we were both too filthy to bathe, so I started the shower and sighed as the warm water washed over me. Black streaks ran down the drain.

When Charlie’s cold body pressed against my back, I turned to push him out of my spray. He didn’t go far since the cubicle was so small. He simply swayed into the glass wall and bounced back to me, crowding me in a way that made me both nervous and excited.

But I wouldn’t let him see that. I pouted and turned back to the wall to grasp the bottle of soap in the niche. “Wait your turn.”

“Come on, Clawdia. I always wait my turn.” He nuzzled my neck, subtlety pushing me closer to the wall and walking himself further into the spray.

I turned, my nipples brushing his chest, my hands soapy and lathered with bubbles, ready to fight fire with fire. Starting at the cut above his pelvis, I moved my hands slowly over his stomach, abs, and pecs, and when my hands reached his shoulders, I stepped into him and the spray.

I whispered, “I recall you practically had me all to yourself last time.”

He growled deep in his throat as he leaned forward, reaching around me and tickling my ear with his lips as he said, “Not true. Your mouth sucked cocks when it could have been screaming my name.”

I swallowed. “Seems selfish to want my mouth too when you got everything else.”

I heard the cap of a bottle open behind me, and then his hands grasped my bum. I moaned as he lifted me up and pulled me against his hard cock. He pressed my back against the cold tiles and pinned me there with his body. The feel of him against my pussy made me clench wantonly, and I nibbled at his neck as I rolled my hips, rubbing myself against him.

He ignored my whines and trailed soapy fingertips slowly up my thigh to my stomach. “Does this feel selfish to you?”

I shook my head, my body straining for his touch, oversensitive yet burning for more. When his hand reached my breast, I gasped, and he swallowed it with a hard kiss. I clung to him, my nails scratching at his freshly healed shoulders.

I was on the cusp of begging for him to fuck me but he calmed, slowing our kiss, gentling his touch, and placed me back down under the spray.

His cock was upright, red and straining, so I knew he wanted me. I opened my mouth to ask what was going on when he smiled and said, “I’m so unselfish that I’ve run us a bath that’s probably overflowing by now. So, let’s soak for a bit. You look like you need it.”

I was both bemused at the turn of events and grateful for the gesture. Charlie couldn’t be called a romantic man, but stopping us from going too far in the shower so we could appreciate the bath was sweet.

I hadn’t had a bath since I was human a hundred years ago, and the longing to relax immersed in water was like a siren’s call.

The bath was full and piled high with bubbles when I left the cubical and Charlie shut the taps off on the tub. He held my hand as I stepped into it and moaned as the warm water rose around my neck, wrapping around me like a blanket.

Charlie joined me but sat at the other end, only tucking his feet and legs on the outside of mine. I frowned. “You’re far away.”

He leaned back and smirked. “Neither of us is going to relax if you’re pressed up against me.”

I pursed my lips. “We can relax in lots of ways.”

I could have relaxed a lot more had I gotten an orgasm out of our shower play. Instead, my body thrummed with want, and everything inside me wanted to reach for his hard cock hiding beneath the surface of bubbles.

He tilted his head as he considered me, and I smiled, taking deep breaths through my nose to try to cool my ardor.

What’s the matter with me? I’ve never usually been so … needy.

Charlie leaned forward, causing a wave of water to rush toward me. He grasped my hand and pulled me so his face was only inches away and he could search my eyes. “Do you need to come to relax? You want my cock inside you? Is that what you need?”

I shivered, and goosebumps rose on my arms. His dirty talk always had the most ridiculous effect on me, and desire curled in my stomach, low and desperate.

“Please,” I whispered, my lips grazing his.

“You saved my life today, so I suppose you should get a reward,” he whispered back, not pressing his lips any closer to mine.

“I did save your life…” I nudged my head so my bottom lip stroked more firmly over his and suppressed a whine when he still didn’t kiss me.

Tease. I cursed.

Then his arms swept my legs up and over his bent ones so I sat in his lap, his erection straining between us. The bubbles fizzled out as water covered them, and some clumps flew into the air with the swift movement, but I wasn’t watching to see where they landed. My witch, my dragon mate, cupped my chin and finally, finally kissed me until any heat that was lost in the transition from the shower to the bath was back with a vengeance.

My hands stroked his chest as our tongues tangled. His hands roamed over my back and chased away the chill. When I gripped his erection, he bit my lip and made a noise that set me on fire.

Like all our interactions, even when I was a cat and he human, we pushed and pulled, teased and played. For every action, there was an equal reaction.

So, of course, when he cupped my breasts, I squeezed his cock. When he pinched at my nipples, I clawed at his back. And when he nipped at my neck, I sucked on his earlobe.

His fingers brushed between the crease of my ass, inching toward my pussy, and I jolted. He chuckled darkly, and my breath caught when he pressed the two fingers inside me, sliding them deep.

“You’re so wet, baby, but I need you to fuck my fingers and get yourself ready for me.”

Encouraged by his dirty words, I moved, pressing myself closer and closer to his knuckles, desperate for as much as I could get from him. I lazily stroked his erection, sliding the soft skin through my grip and playing with the tip.

“That’s it. Good girl. God, this feels so fucking good.”

Those words. My body clenched around his fingers.

The erotism of his words, his lust-filled voice, and the scruff of his cheeks against my neck became too much for me. I was shaking and breathless and so ready to be pleasured out of my mind. I’d had enough of teasing.