Page 2 of Destined By Dragonblood (Blood Born #2)

I hated to believe my human side’s alpha nature hadn’t been able to locate Ashley after ten years of searching, but I’d grown desperate.

Eyes closing, I sought out my inner beast, the one Father had taught me to rule with an iron fist—the lesser beta-like creature within me that I refused to bow down to.

Rarely did I allow him equal rein, but I felt I had no choice.

“I need you.” I muttered defeat I rarely admitted to, unleashing his instincts instead of only his beastly form I required to take flight.

Embers hot as lava flared in my gut as I lowered the walls between us, a rumbling of life cracking through the manacles I used to shackle his natural inclinations.

Yips sounded and quickly faded, saddening me for scaring my new friend away when I could have provided a better existence for him.

A cackle of glee over sudden freedom flared like flames in my chest, nearly bursting through my skin, but I managed to retain my human form.

Relief oozed through my pores as my inner beast settled, shivers pebbling my skin. A sense of rightness I despised began to weave our minds into each other, allowing both of us equal control. He tended toward greediness, so I lay in wait, ready to smother him at a moment’s notice if necessary.

I quickly glanced around, heart aching over the missing dog.

Breathe…

Embracing our true self, we opened our airway fully, drawing oxygen deep into our lungs, scenting through the beast’s senses rather than our lesser human’s.

Clogging exhaust burned our nostrils. A wafting stench of sewage curdled our guts.

Putrid traces of body odor and cigarettes clung to those passing us by.

Cloying perfume and spiced aftershave hit our nose, both of which caused a grimace to stretch our lips.

Vanilla, sweet as syrup?—

Our eyelids snapped upward. Movement slowed as though we’d suddenly been submerged in water. Silence descended, stifling regardless of the beauty before us.

Like a siren, our female called to us while stepping from Tolzman’s doors into the breeze, dark strands floating past her face, covering the eyes we lusted to see.

Flushed, high cheekbones, a dainty, pointed chin…

full lips our tongue lusted to stroke and taste, urged us to drink our fill and flooded our senses with everything that she was and imprinted them for all of eternity into our memory.

Arousal swelled through our groin like a tidal wave, causing an instant ache as she paused mere feet from us.

We leaned toward the source of our need, energy rippling outward like a massive swell, attempting to drown us in desire.

While my human half disliked anyone touching us other than those worthy of our attention, this female made our skin itch for caresses and kisses.

Need .

She lifted a trembling hand to tuck nearly-black hair behind a perfectly formed ear, baring what we longed to see.

Dark lashes framed the violet-colored eyes our human side had caught a glimpse of in Dakota’s vision.

Though less in brightness and intensity, there was no mistaking the irises of the woman before us.

The faintest scent of her dragonblood filled our merged noses and lungs, assuring us she was our female.

She was much more human than beast, but her beauty, the allure of her scent, caused my superior half to not care about her lesser blood as much as I’d expected.

Ours .

Indeed, she was.

The instinct to hold and protect her set like stone in our mind and heart. We would move heaven and earth to see her safe from harm, content with life, and smiling with joy.

Ashley stared at us—no, through us—as though the essence of our presence escaped her.

She didn’t feel or recognize the energy fate wished to utilize to weave us together, same as I wouldn’t have done without my beast’s instincts.

The draw of dragonblood fated mates went completely unnoticed to the one meant to be by our side.

She blinked and turned away, giving us her back as though we meant nothing to her.

Pain ripped through our chest, and reality snapped back into real time, bringing with it the vivid bleak city surrounding us that reiterated our loneliness we’d fought to fill for too many years.

Nothing would offer release to our aching cock but her wet warmth, her submission to our tender touch.

Follow .

While in flight to New York, we had already made a plan for claiming her.

Like Elijah’s, my beast wasn’t above coercion, but the human half of us preferred to have our female come to us willingly.

Softened for our gentle initiation, accepting of her place—recognizing who owned her body and soul.

That part of us didn’t want her obedience and submission given unknowingly or grudgingly.

Accomplishing such a task required a firm grip. Control.

And patience, which our beast side struggled with.

I shackled my inner dragon’s instincts before he realized what I did, taking charge. He grumbled at me in my head, but I muzzled him, my sole focus on the one hurrying down the sidewalk in front of me.

She kept her head lowered and could easily disappear into a crowd undetected. But not to me. Having seen and scented Ashley through my beast’s senses, she stood out like a beautiful rose among thorns, the brightest star in the night sky. She was a beacon of hope, the promise of a new beginning.

Ashley and I might be meant for one another, but I wanted contentment and perhaps a true love like I longed for yet had failed to see or feel in. And that needed to be earned above the supernatural draw between us that I hoped she would experience when I was ready to reveal myself to her.

After a childhood of having to watch a disjointed triad of Blood Born fated mates, I yearned for the type of harmony spoken of in poetry and songs. Equal give and take on all three sides, a sharing of hearts atop minds that would be linked once we properly bonded.

While severely less in intensity without my beast’s abilities to smell, hints of vanilla continued to tease my nose and keep me aroused as I followed my sweet female through the mass of people hurrying to escape the bustle of the city.

Ashley descended into the depths of the subway, and I shut out the rest of the world from my mind.

A dark blue peacoat covered her narrow shoulders and the top half of her backside.

Black slacks with a wider leg around her ankles brushed against what appeared to be leather boots.

Even with the inch or so heel, the shoes wouldn’t bring the top of her head to my chin.

She was a delicate little thing in need of an alpha of my stature and strength, but not enough dragonblood swam in her veins to inform her the one she must long for stood an arm’s length behind her.

Even shut into a stifling subway train, Ashley took no note of me on her right side or how my naked body craved hers with pulsing throbs throughout my cells.

Through clicks and clacks of the rails, we moved, the bumps shifting us side to side but not bringing us into contact with each other where we huddled amidst the crowd.

I couldn’t tear my gaze off the paleness of Ashley’s cheeks, the ripe pink of her mouth, and the hint of freckles over her nose.

She didn’t attempt to cover what some would see as blemishes with makeup.

No fake contour shaded her skin, nor did mascara clump her lashes together.

Ashley O’Connor bled beauty from every pore, the kind of perfection others paid thousands to achieve.

Even with her curves hidden by the coat keeping the fall chill at bay, I found her more alluring than any human I’d set eyes upon, and traveling the entire planet had allowed me to behold every race known, every species un known, to man.

She made my mouth water, my groin ache, and my heart race.

A muffled voice announced we’d entered New Jersey, and I stuck close to Ashley as she exited the train a short while later.

I followed her down Walnut Street on silent, bare feet, continuing to drink in her luscious scent, my thick shaft pointing toward her like a homing beacon.

We slowed at a row of condos, and I moved farther into the shadows even though she wouldn’t be able to see me with her human eyes until I uncloaked myself, which was out of the question in my current state of undress.

With a quick glance around as though finally sensing a stalker, Ashely quickly unlocked her front door and slipped inside her home, which was bracketed on either side by others of similar build and color.

The sound of various bolts slid into place behind her, prohibiting me from entering without force, which I refused to do.

As the minutes passed, daydreams flooded my mind, and I allowed myself to fantasize over our future.

Far beyond merely sinking into her tight heat and flooding her with my seed but building a life together.

Cooking alongside each other. Cuddling on the couch, sharing about our day.

She was employed by Elijah, which meant she held a good work ethic.

She also hadn’t cut out early but must have stayed to finish up whatever task she’d been assigned for the day.

I allowed myself to envision our beta between us, creating the bridge that would physically and emotionally tie us together for life.

I could only imagine how the bond would snap into place, dropping all walls among us, allowing thoughts and feelings to flow through us like an unhindered stream, healthy and vibrant, full of life.

Euphoria would be found in her arms, heaven on earth alongside our beta.

A real smile curved my lips for the first time in too many years to count. Hope swelled inside me to the point where I inadvertently lowered my guard, and my inner beast whimpered his need to know such happiness.

I want.

Refusing interaction with my dragon came easy. Not hearing him when he reminded our human half of his existence proved harder since I’d removed the walls between us while in Lower Manhattan, thus granting him power that would linger for a short while.

I yearn.

Closing my eyes briefly, I allowed him to further experience the misery I’d managed to shed from my mind while flying away from Elijah’s mountain home.

We’d been found wanting and set aside, but I wasn’t jaded enough that I didn’t desire the same as my beast did.

I longed to share in the physical as well.

The touch of skin I rarely allowed, the heat of arousal, the release of climax that had been brewing in my sac since first scenting Ashley.

Take what belongs to us.

I’d given the bastard an inch, allowing him speech, and he took a mile. Using full sentences to make demands hadn’t been tolerated in close to a decade.

However, the temptation to do as he pushed tensed my body toward action rather than stifling his voice as I ought to.

The truth that I could easily break into Ashley’s condo without raising alarm and claim her before she thought to scream caused my muscles to tremble and shaft to throb.

I had yet to sniff over her skin and fully indulge in her scent.

I didn’t yet have the pleasure of tasting her sweet breath on my tongue.

But the idea of doing both hardened me to the point of pain, and a bead of pre-cum welled on my swollen cockhead.

I ignored the lone droplet sliding down my length.

A pulsing stream should have oozed from my body like Elijah’s had done whenever he’d experienced arousal.

Proof we are beta .

“Be silent ,” I growled. I disregarded him and the lack of moisture as I’d been doing since learning about an alpha dragonblood’s sexual mechanics, focusing on the dark panel of glass keeping me from fulfillment.

The beast began to hiss and claw at his inescapable bonds instead of insisting on what I refused to accept.

“We will study Ashley’s ways,” I stated, hoping to shift his focus to what truly mattered, same as I had done. “Learn about her life, those she surrounds herself with and loves. Her habits, what she does for enjoyment. Only then we will decide on a course of interaction.”

Curses over my flesh’s dominance echoed in my head as my dragon shrieked his displeasure.

“You forget yourself.” Centuries of practice made keeping hold on my inner beast easy once I muzzled him.

He sulked in silence as I tore myself away from our female’s presence for the nearest intersection.

I shifted skin and muscle, elongated bone into the shape that allowed me flight, all while retaining control over my beast. One leap upward and a flap of wings shot me into the dark sky.

Night caressed my scales as a lover might, something I hadn’t had the pleasure of enjoying in far too long of a time.

No one since Elijah had touched my flesh—dragon or otherwise—because of their unworthiness, and both my beast and I trembled in our shared need for release.

We had found our female, but every part of me craved more than softness and gentleness. My skin tightened with the need to feel biting pain. Stinging lashes. Impact play that would send endorphins rushing throughout my body and empty my brain of unceasing thoughts.

With Ashley located, I expected to soon cross paths with my beta, the submissive male who would complete us. He would have no interest in inflicting what the secret part of me sometimes craved, therefore, I would allow myself a single night of weakness before fate settled into place.

Since Elijah was no longer an option to give me what I ached for, I would have to locate a club in New York that catered to those who preferred pain with their pleasure.

Surely, finding a human dominant wouldn’t be difficult.

I would allow him to hurt me but without skin-to-skin contact.

He would offer the kind of release I needed one last time before I walked away from that part of me.

Then I would prove myself worthy in Father’s eyes by claiming my place as alpha over my destined mates.