Dragon Heat (3 page)

her fragile-looking figure.

‚I can’t promise you that. I am sorry,‛ Tardieh said with true

sadness in his heart. ‚My father is the king, and he was betrayed. He will

not stop until he gets his revenge.‛ But he saw her point now. His beloved

Romania had suffered greatly from that war between the dragons of the

east and the vampires.

She turned away from him and said, ‚If the circumstances were

different, if your father were

what would you do?‛

Tardieh didn’t have to think twice. ‚I would stop the attacks and

try to end the war in another way.‛

She faced him once more. Her eyes were full of hope, a hope he

could not dare let grow further, so he rattled off. ‚But he won’t. He

believes I am not ready to rule. He thinks I am naive to think all races can

coexist in harmony.‛ And maybe his father was right. After all, it had

been Tardieh’s gullibility and arrogance that led him to the trap and

allowed him to be captured by the draconians.

‚We’ll see about that.‛ She kneeled in front of him again. ‚We have

more pressing problems at the moment.‛ She started untying her blouse.

Tardieh stared at her in confusion. ‚What are you doing?‛

‚I don’t want you to stain my blouse.‛ After untying the front lace,

she lowered the blouse down her shoulders and stopped just above her

nipples. Tardieh could see her delicate torso and the top of her full breasts.

His fangs began to elongate of their own accord.

‚No. I will not feed from you,‛ he said, trying to look away but

failing miserably. It was too dangerous. He was too weak, and he did not

trust himself to only take what he needed. In his current state, the

bloodlust would easily overpower him.

‚You need to feed, Tardieh. The razbian guards have probably

realized what happened and may be on our tracks already.‛

‚No. I will not take from you.‛ He turned his face to the side and

took a deep breath. Big mistake; her blue mist smell was unbearably

inviting.

Leaning on her hands, she crawled forward and slowly positioned

herself between his legs. He could not stop himself; he turned his face

back toward hers. His gaze fell upon her luscious breasts barely hidden by

the thin fabric, and finally landed on her throat. Her veins. Pulsing blood.

She leaned even closer, her cheek touching his. Her voice dropped

to a whisper. ‚You know you need to feed, Tardieh. Your wounds will not

stop bleeding until you do, and it will ultimately lead the razbians straight

to us.‛

Tardieh swallowed hard. Her scent was intoxicating.

She raised her chin, positioning her gorgeous neck inches from his

lips. ‚Drink from me. Take my vein.‛

He couldn’t resist her anymore. He grabbed the nape of her neck

with both hands, holding her still. Her pulse quickened; the faint smell of

fear enveloped his nostrils. ‚Too late now, lass. You will have what you

asked for.‛ He opened his mouth, letting his fangs extend fully, then bit

her. She made a short, startled sound and tensed in his arms. With her

blood spilling inside his mouth, every coherent thought escaped his mind.

All he could think of was more, more blood. Sweet, delicious blood.

In the twinkling of an eye, he swapped positions with her before

she could try to run away. He laid on top of her, his long body touching

every part of hers. He felt her relax under him. No one could resist the

erotic ecstasy spilled by a vampire’s bite. It did not turn humans or dracos

into vampires, but the vampire’s fangs released a poison that neutralized

a victim’s neural senses, opening them up for the physical enjoyment of

the exchange. When done properly, the experience was very pleasurable

for both parties involved.

Tardieh continued to drink from her. He could feel his strength

returning at a faster rate than he had anticipated. He enveloped his arms

around her waist linking her lower body to his. He felt her moving slowly

with him, their bodies separated only by the thin material of the stolen

trousers and her kirtle. He had to stop—he had already taken in

excess—but the fantastic feeling of her warm blood flowing inside his

veins and her soft body below him was too much to resist. Her legs

wrapped around his hips. His shaft was fully erect, aching to meet her

core, no doubt moist by now and ready for him. He heard her groan softly

but not in pain.

Another sound invaded his ears: footsteps on grass. Not close but

not too far from where they were. Struggling to resist his inner part

screaming to take her right then and there, he raised his lips from her

delicate neck. ‚We have to go.‛ He could barely hear himself. He tried

again. ‚We have to go. They are coming for us.‛

That woke her up from the trance. She opened her eyes and met

his. He was still lying on top of her. Her gaze set upon his lips, watching

his fangs recede. Blinking quickly, confused, she tried to move out of his

embrace. He let her do it by sliding sideways but had to catch her when

she tried to stand up and swayed. ‚Whoa, easy there, lass. It will take you

a few moments to regain your bearing.‛

The sound of a massive explosion made them both turn toward the

mountains. The dracoian prison was in flames.

She tried to stand up again, and this time she succeeded but

wobbled once more. Tardieh held her naked shoulders, steadying her. Her

skin felt soft beneath his fingers. ‚They are coming. We have to go at

once.‛ Her voice came out a few octaves below her usual commanding

tone. She took a few steps away from him, straightened her blouse and

turned in the opposite direction as the footsteps. ‚There’s a village not far

from here. If we hurry, we can reach it before the razbians reach us.‛ And

with that she started running.

It was so easy to catch up with her. His wounds were completely

healed, and he felt an immense energy flowing through his body. Never

had he felt so invigorated so quickly. After all, his body had starved for

how long? It would have taken him at least a good day’s rest to fully

recover. Who was she? Or more to the point,
what
was she? Dragon blood

was powerful but not that powerful. Tardieh grabbed both of her arms

and stopped her.

She looked at him with a mix of annoyance and confusion. ‚What

are you doing? There should be at least a couple of dozens razbian

soldiers coming straight at us. We need to go, now.‛

‚Yes, we do but not by foot.‛ He enveloped her waist, bringing her

close to him. His shaft immediately responded. The damn thing had no

sense of impropriety whatsoever.

Gathering his strength, he focused on the image of his home village

and let the darkness surround them. In the corner of his eye, he saw the

guards approaching them fast. But they were too late; the translocation

was already happening. Her startled gaze locked on his. He couldn’t talk

but hoped he could give her some reassurance through his stance. Before

long, the forest gave way to total darkness, and Tardieh welcomed the

familiar feeling of free falling. As soon as it happened, it was gone.

Opening his eyes again, he realized he had managed to transport them to

the exact street corner he wanted. Despite the whole ordeal, he felt great

and almost one hundred percent again.

He gave her a small grin. ‚Not bad at all, hmm?‛

The girl looked dizzy at first but soon recovered. ‚Where are we?‛

‚At the base of my castle. We are safe here.‛

‚No,
you
are safe here. I’m still a draco in vampire territory.‛ She

started down the dark alleyway. The moon had fully risen by then, and

Tardieh could see her slender hips swaying down the path.

‚I can give you protection. Come with me, and you’ll be safe,‛ he

said. For some insane reason he wanted her to stay.

She turned back to him. ‚No, this is
your
home. It is time for you to

go and keep your end of our bargain.‛ She came closer and stopped a few

feet from him. ‚Promise me you will. Promise me you will stop the

attacks.‛ Her honey eyes were intent on him.

‚I cannot promise you that.‛ His chest ached, but he could not lie to

her. Not after everything she’d done for him. Her eyes filled up with

sadness and disappointment.

She started down the alley once more. Tardieh quickly grabbed her

wrist. ‚But I do promise this.‛ That made her stop, so he carried on

without hesitation. ‚I will do everything in my power to convince my

father to stop them. And from this night onward, you will always have an

ally in my kingdom.‛

Her lips quirked in a small smile. ‚That is enough for me,‛ she said,

watching him under long lashes. ‚Thank you, Tardieh. May the Soartas

guide you in this new cycle of your life.‛ She turned away again and

started down the narrow street once more.

‚Wait! Tell me at least your name.‛

She stopped but didn’t face him. Tardieh could see only her profile

and her wavy dark hair cascading down her back. ‚Zoricah. My name is

Zoricah.‛ And she disappeared into the shadows.

Tardieh could not believe his ears. He had just been saved by

Zoricah, the draconian demigoddess.

New York, Present Day

The techno music pumped at full blast. The dance floor was packed

with seminaked bodies dancing to the hypnotic rhythm. Cascade was the

hottest nightclub in New York. The name derived from its main feature:

an enormous water fall that filled the whole southern wall and descended

upon an amorphous swimming pool. The dance floor was on the opposite

side of the spring and the bar on the western wall. The lights reflecting on

the water enhanced the mystical vibe of the place. An enormous glass

dome displayed the stars above. The VIP areas were located on the second

floor, a large upper circle that ran along all four walls like an indoor

balcony, as well as on the third floor. A very selective group of patrons

had entry to the latter where private lounge rooms and suites were

carefully secured.

Yara had her eyes on a specific VIP booth on the upper circle. It had

taken her less than thirty minutes to locate her target.

‚Hey, babe, how are you?‛

May Apa Dobrý help her, not another one!

This must have been the tenth guy to come on to her in the last

twenty minutes. True, she was glad that her carefully chosen outfit had

proven to be serving its purpose. She was wearing a crimson halter top

tied up just below her firm breasts with a low-rise miniskirt that left

nothing to the imagination. She topped it all off with a pair of red lace-up

seven-inch sandals, large golden hoop earrings, and marble bangle

bracelets. Yep, she was very pleased with herself, but she had had enough

of those sad excuses of male gender disturbing her evening. This one must

have

been

either

blind

or

suicidal

for

he

ignored

her

get-the-fuck-out-of-my-sight look and ran his hand on her naked, flat

stomach. ‚So, does this belly button have a name?‛

Yara took an inquisitive look at the happy hand that had

apparently found its home on her well-defined stomach and slowly raised

her eyes to scrutinize its owner. The sad bastard was really under the

illusion he could actually score. She didn’t say a word. She didn’t have to.

She slowly reached for the misguided hand, which had already migrated

a few inches south, and without taking her eyes off the male slime bucket

in front of her, she twisted it. Too bad it was to the wrong direction. With

curious amazement, she saw the guy’s eyes flicker from certainty to

disbelief to denial and finally pain. When he was about to spoil her fun by

screaming like a girl, she sealed his lips with her other hand. ‚Now, now,

babe
, you’re not going to make a fool of yourself by crying like a baby

looking for mommy, are you?‛ He swallowed and tried to retrieve his

hand in vain. His face went white, and he gave a little squeak that

reminded her of an annoying piglet.

‚I suggest you leave her alone before she decides to have your

hand for dinner,‛ Sam said, arriving with their drinks.

The guy looked at them both, trying to kick his brain into second

gear.

‚Let him go, Yara. Play time is after we do our homework.‛