Page 8 of Curse of the Midnight Dragon (The Moonlight Dragon #2)

Celestina

“It’s not too late to turn back,” I said, despite Soren’s promises that I was important to him and that this journey was important.

Soren was important to me, too. I didn’t want to put him or any of my friends at risk. I didn’t need to know about my past, or if I was magical, or why my parents had aided the Kingdom of Tiburnia. I didn’t need to know any of that. I could live out my days being who I’ve always been. Simply Celestina.

Heck, I wasn’t simply anything anymore. I was a princess now. And Soren loved me. Why would I need anything else?

“Really, Sky Girl? You’re going to make me repeat myself? Not that I mind. I’ll say this until you finally believe that it’s true. And not just because I’m saying it. But because you should feel these words and the truth of them here.” He placed the palm of his battle-scarred hand on the center of my chest. “You. Are. Important.” He repeated it, slower this time, “You. Are. Important. And finding out about your background, about your magic, about anything that can help us get that damned collar off you is important. Do you hear me?”

Tears clogged my throat and stung my eyes as I nodded.

He kissed my forehead. “I’ll repeat it again first thing tomorrow morning if you think it’ll help you remember. I’ll repeat it every morning of every day of our lives if I need to.”

“That might be excessive,” I said.

“We’ll see.” He kissed my forehead again before standing. He then slipped a dagger from his boot, putting it in its proper place where he stored his other weapons. He then slipped his tunic off over his head. “Damn, it’s been a long day,” he said scrubbing a hand over his face. “Those dragons nearly sunk this ship. And we have no idea why.”

“I’m sorry about that.”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“It feels like it is.”

He grunted. “You know we can’t talk about it. Not as it relates to you. Not without risking—” He pointed to the collar. “But we don’t know if that attack had anything to do with you. It could be because of something else. Probably is because of something else, seeing how they put your life at risk.”

“Are you going to tell me what that something else is?” I jumped to my feet. He’d distracted me with that pretty talk about how important I am. Then he’d taken off his shirt, which was an even bigger distraction. And it had almost worked.

Under Queen Beatrice’s cruel regime, asking questions, asserting myself came with punishments and, for the unlucky ones in the court, gruesome deaths. But while speaking up always felt like a risk—even away from her court—I wasn’t ready to forget Driscoll’s warning. “And let’s also talk about why you’re so worried about taking me to Tiburnia. Creepy Driscoll came to talk to me about it while Patty and I were prepping for dinner. He gave me a hint about why I should be concerned about the Tiburnians and why they’re a danger to me.”

Soren stepped toward me. “He did what?”

“He told me to remember the stories about the War of the Magics and which creatures played the biggest role in defeating the vampires.”

“And?” Soren asked, his eyebrows raised.

“And I did as he suggested. I thought about those stories.” I crossed my arms and met him chest-to-chest. And pretended that the collar wasn’t already starting to punish me for talking about the dragons. “I thought about how a certain mythical creature of the moon was a fierce protector of her fellow creatures. Now, if the Kingdom of Tiburnia, as you just said, has been looking to push out their borders, wouldn’t the possession of such a fierce warrior creature help them accomplish that? With such a creature clearing the path into the other three kingdoms, couldn’t they conquer the continent? Is that why they convinced my parents to help them? I bet the Tiburnians promised my parents jewels. They’ve always been attracted to precious stones. With a”—I gasped at the pain the collar was causing, but I was determined to keep talking about it even if I couldn’t say the word “dragon”—“ mythical creature to use as a weapon, they’d be unstoppable.”

“Nearly unstoppable,” Soren corrected. He wrapped his arms around me in a protective embrace. One hand rubbed up and down my back, unerringly going to the spot where the pain was the worst. And yet, he didn’t scold me for insisting we talk about it. He didn’t demand we stop. “But you’re somewhat off the mark with your theory. The Tiburnians aren’t as picky as you’re suggesting. According to Cullen, the leaders of their armed forces don’t understand the differences between the dragons. Any dragon will do. That they’d nearly won themselves a moonlight dragon would have been dumb luck on their part.”

“Do they know the difference now?” I asked as I leaned into his warm chest.

“No. The books that talk about such things are locked away in the Palladian Central Library in our capital. And this is one reason why we don’t allow outsiders access to our stacks.”

“I still disagree with you hiding your vast collection of knowledge away like that. But in this case, I suppose I’m glad.”

“The Fein have their reasons for not wanting to share.”

“And those reasons are…?” I wondered if he’d tell me.

His arms around me tightened just a bit. He sighed. “You know the stories of vampires. How we’re heartless killers. How we live in nests. How we can’t walk in daylight. And how we kill everyone we feed from.”

“But none of that’s true.” I had initially believed all those stories because I’d grown up hearing them and being afraid of what was lurking outside in the dark. And even though I’d been traveling with the Fein army, many of whom were vampires, I hadn’t realized who they were because I’d been taught that vampires were heartless and that they couldn’t walk in daylight. Except for feeding from the blood of other creatures—it didn’t have to be from humans—the Fein did none of those things the stories had said about them.

“There’s a reason those stories exist. They were created centuries ago by our enemies to make sure humans continued to fear and hunt our kind. This happened after we had fought back, after we’d created our kingdom’s walls and closed ourselves off from the rest of the continent, not so we could hunt humans in secret, but to keep our own kind safe from the human hunters.”

“Your enemies made the stories?” I lifted my head to peer up at him.

He was looking off into the distance, frowning. “They’re gone now.”

“Dragons?” I whispered. The collar sent the worst kind of stabbing pain into my lower back.

Soren swept me off my feet and into his arms. He held me tightly. “Dammit, this is why we can’t talk about these things. I won’t have the collar hurt you. I won’t.” He placed gentle kisses on my forehead, my cheeks. “I need you whole and healthy, my princess.”

“But…but this is important.” The pain, thankfully, started to recede. The aftereffects would linger, but it wasn’t as bad as some of the collar’s previous punishments. Sometimes Soren had the ability to curtail what the collar did to me, like this time. Other times, the collar seemed to take over and hurt me until I wished for it to finally end me.

“Yes.” His warm lips brushed against mine. “But you are even more important. Goddess, I love how you feel in my arms.” His lips closed over mine again. When his mouth lifted, we were both breathing harder. My fingers were gripping his biceps with what had to be bruising strength, not that Soren would ever complain. Or bruise. I’d never seen a vampire with bruises.

“But the danger?” I asked rather breathlessly, sounding just like a heroine in the romances I would read with my friends in Earst. “When we get to Tiburnia?”

“The danger is real, I’m afraid. Because of what your parents must have told the Tiburnians to convince them to attack Earst, it seemed to have whetted their desire to get their hands on you. We don’t know exactly what your parents said, though Cullen is trying to find out. But we do know that if it’s discovered you’ve entered their kingdom, they will do everything in their power to keep you from ever leaving. And if that happens, my options will be severely limited. If I attack or order Raya and Gray to defend you, the Tiburnians might kill you. And that…” He kissed me again with a passion that heated me from the inside out. “That would be intolerable.”

“Because my death is yours, too.” I hated that he’d bonded his life with mine. And I loved him for it. He’d done it to protect me and to show his parents and all the people of Fein that I was important to him.

Important .

Why was it so hard to accept that my life could be important?

“Princess, there’s no world good enough that would even tempt me to want to live in it without you.”

I swatted his shoulder. “Stop saying things like that.”

“Why? Because you’re afraid you might start to believe them?” He tossed me onto the bunk we shared, making me bounce on the thin but springy mattress. “Well, Sky Girl, that’s my goal here. To keep you safe while convincing you to believe in me. To convince you that you own my soul.”

His green eyes had darkened so much they were nearly black. “Since my words aren’t working”— they are totally working —“I feel like you need some physical convincing of my feelings.”

He climbed on to the bunk with me. His lips met mine. His touch was gentle. Moving slowly as if in reverence of me. “Celestina,” he whispered between sweet kisses. “Celestina.”

While a gentle Soren was something wondrous, I liked it when he played rough with me. I liked it when my lips were a little swollen and bruised and my thighs ached enough to make walking and sitting a chore. I liked feeling his marks on me the next day when every movement would serve as a reminder of what we’d done, when I might sit in a chair and remember his teeth and tongue tugging on my clit. It was like getting to enjoy the sex all over again. I dug my teeth into his earlobe to encourage him not to hold back.

He groaned. “Celestina.” While he’d never come out and admit it, I suspected he enjoyed a little pain with his lovemaking…just like I did. He bared his fangs as he smiled down at me. “Goddess, but you tempt me.”

“I want you,” I growled. “I want all of you tonight.”

Tomorrow, we would be walking into danger. Tonight might be all we had left for us.

“I would never deny you.” He lifted his wrist to his mouth and ripped at his skin with his sharp fangs. Thick red blood oozed at the wound. “Drink.” His voice was a husky invitation.

“I’m not injured,” I said, confused by what he was doing. I only drank his blood when I was hurt and in dire need of healing. Vampire blood had magical healing properties. When we were together like this, he drank my blood. And the effect would make me go wild with lust.

“I want you to drink for two reasons. First, my blood will heighten everything you feel. And secondly, after I get done with you, you will need the healing help my blood gives you.”

I squirmed at the thought of Soren taking me so close to the edge that I’d need his blood.

“So, will you drink?” He held up his bloody wrist.

“Uh-huh,” I squeaked. I wrapped my hands around his thick forearm and brought his wrist to my mouth. I licked the wound and then sucked. He groaned. It sounded deep and guttural and wild. I sucked some more of his rich blood into my mouth. It tasted metallic and sweet and like pure power. It made me feel like I might be able to glow in the dark.

“That’s it, Sky Girl, take some more,” he ground out.

As I drank in his blood, my own blood started to race through my veins like fire racing through dried kindling. I wrapped my legs around his thigh and bucked against him until I was wild with need.

“Enough,” he breathed as he lifted his wrist. No, I wanted more. I needed more. My mouth followed, my teeth biting into his skin, unwilling to let go. “This is just the beginning, I promise,” he whispered before replacing his wrist with his own mouth. Like a feral animal, I bit down on his lower lip. He groaned and shifted so that he was lying on top of me. He sucked my lower lip between his with bruising strength.

I wrapped my legs tightly around his middle, still bucking my hips. I was desperate to get to the part where he was inside me. His blood had put me into a mindless frenzy. And I fucking loved it.

“Not yet, Sky Girl,” he said unwrapping my legs from his middle. “We need to get our clothes off. And then I want you to take me in your mouth.”

Oh, yes. My mouth watered at the thought. I wanted to taste him. I needed to taste him.

“But before that—” He pressed my shoulders into the mattress. He then sweetly nuzzled my cheek, easing my head to one side, exposing my throat. My core clenched knowing what would come next. He struck hard and fast. The pain of his fangs piercing my neck had my entire body jerking. He took one long pull that I felt from the tips of my toes all the way to the edges of my ears.

He lifted his head. His pupils had grown so large, they’d completely obscured the green irises. “Princess, we’re just getting started.” He sounded as unhinged as I felt.

While my legs were no longer wrapped around his middle and I was barely touching him, having his heated blood coursing through me and hearing the need in his voice tipped me over the edge, I came hard and fast clenching against empty air.

“We need to get our clothes off,” Soren said as he pushed off the bed.

Unable to trust my voice, I nodded and followed him. I stood there, my legs shaky, as I tried not to fall over. But then again, we were on a ship. It could simply be that it was rocking in the waves.

Soren, with his absurdly steady balance, had his boots and leggings off before I could pull my tunic over my head. He helped me with my leggings, putting his hands everywhere I wanted them to be, while kissing me silly.

Soon we were both naked. But still standing.

Soren cradled my head between his rough hands as he peered intently into my eyes. “Princess, if you need me to stop anytime, if this becomes too much, just tap my arm or leg or say ‘stop,’ yeah?”

I swallowed hard. Would this be too much? He’d never given me blood prior to sex before. What was he planning to do to me that he thought he’d needed to do so now? My heart pounded hard against my chest in anticipation. I pressed the palm of my hands against his bare chest, not to push him away, but because I wanted to feel his light dusting of hair, and the movement of his muscles under his warm skin.

“Celestina?” He crouched down slightly so his eyes were exactly on my level. “Are you okay with me showing you how fucking much I want you right now?”

“Goddess, yes,” I whispered, while nodding like a ninny. I cleared my throat, but it did nothing to get rid of the raspy sound of my lust-addled voice. “Please.”

Soren groaned. With his eyes still trained on mine, he eased me down onto my knees in front of him. “Open your mouth,” he growled.

As I parted my lips, he took his erection in his hand and stroked it several times before feeding me the entire length. It filled my mouth and started to push down my throat. I gagged and sputtered.

“You’re doing so good, Princess. Breathe through your nose and take me deeper.”

Tears sprang to my eyes as his cock pushed into my throat again. I gagged, but not as harshly as before. His movements were slow at first, gentle, as if teaching me how he liked me to take him. I leaned into the soothing rhythm of the in and out. It took several thrusts for me to relax my throat’s muscles enough that I rarely gagged as he pressed even deeper into my throat.

He groaned and his hands fisted in my hair.

“Celestina. What you do to me. You make me…”

He pulled out and then slammed into my mouth. His hips moved faster. I had trouble keeping up with the demanding movements. But he kept pounding into me.

This. This is what I needed. His thighs rubbed against my sensitive breasts with every thrust, making my nipples pebble. Heat gathered between my legs. I wanted to rub myself against him. Against anything. But he held himself away from that part of my body as he continued to work my mouth and tease my breasts.

It was almost too much. I was going to have to tap his hip to get him to stop. Because I needed…I needed…

He jerked his cock out of my mouth. His breathing was as ragged as mine. His eyes lost to lust. He pulled me by the arms and helped me get my shaky legs back under me.

“Goddess, you make me want to explode.” He ran his hands up and down my thighs, pausing at my upper thigh as if waiting for me to stop him. I sighed and leaned against his chest. Even if I did feel wary by how hard he’d worked my mouth and that he’d stopped himself before finding satisfaction—meaning he’d be just as rough with my other parts—I didn’t want him to stop.

His lips touched my swollen lips, tentatively at first, and then he savored the taste of my mouth with the hunger of a man who’d been starved of affection. The intensity of his kiss threatened to overwhelm me.

“I want all your hard edges tonight,” I confessed when he peeled his lips from mine long enough for both of us to get a few good breaths of air. “I need all your hard edges. Don’t hold back any of it.” I kissed him, tasting his fresh scent. He rocked his tight groin against mine while running a hand through my hair, hair that now ached from where he’d held on so tightly.

With a quick move, he hooked his hands on my thighs and lifted me off my feet. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he sank his fangs into my neck. I gasped at the sudden sting. But he swiftly withdrew from the bite. My blood dripped from his fangs as he smiled at me. “Delicious. But not what I’m hungry for.”

He dropped me onto the mattress, and then buried his face between my legs. He hummed with pleasure and did a swirly thing with his tongue that had my hips lifting off the mattress. Sweet goddess, that feels good .

His fangs scraped me down there.

He wouldn’t…

He wasn’t going to…

He dug his fingers into my hips, holding me tight against his mouth as he kissed me oh, so gently. He thrust his tongue as deep as it would go. All my muscles relaxed. This…this was the best kind of torture. I could feel my core tightening as it inched ever so much closer to the edge.

His grip tightened some more. A heartbeat later, his fangs sank into my tender flesh. “Soren!” I cried out as I arched against the sudden jolt of pain. The pain was immediately replaced with an orgasm that pulsed in time with the beat of my racing heart as my blood rushed to the area.

My heart was beating erratically by the time he finally released me. He looked up and smiled so hard the corners of his eyes crinkled and the gold in his eyes glittered. “Now, that, Princess, was the fucking treat I’ve been craving.”

I nodded, unable to catch my breath or utter any words.

“Brace yourself.” He flipped me over onto my stomach. “We’re not done yet. Not even close.”

He settled his body behind me on the bed, using his thighs to spread my legs wider. He lined up his cock to my opening and slammed in all the way to the hilt. That was when the real fun began. His body battered mine for so long, I lost all sense of time and space. I became nothing more than a tingly sensation. And I loved every second.

“We’ll be docking in Tiburnia, tomorrow,” Soren said as I drifted in a cloud of orgasmic bliss on the bed. He pulled a warm blanket over both of us. “If you stay close to me and try to not fall on any swords, we should be able to get in and out safely.” He gently brushed a kiss against my still swollen lips. “I…I won’t let anything happen to you. I won’t. I can’t give you up. Not for anything, Sky Girl.”

His determination to keep me safe warmed me nearly as much as the blanket. But the way he held me close to him on our bunk, like he was afraid to let me go, made me wonder if he was telling me these things because he needed to convince himself that he’d be able to protect me from a city crawling with our enemies.

Oh, goddess. We were going to be anything but safe when we went to visit my parents. I prayed we’d be able to get in and out of the capital city without anyone dying.