A Dragon's Heart (12 page)

O
utside
, it sounded like all hell was breaking loose. It reminded Lexie of that fateful day back at the mansion owned by Felding, the day she hid under the desk.

The day she had met Perry and Tor.

Whatever happened from here out, Lexie knew she’d never look back. She would never run from what scared her again. Even if Monica had been a traitor, a ruse to get at her and her dragons, she knew she had the courage to do what was right, even if it required putting herself in danger.

“How do you think it’s going?” Lexie asked, confident in the knowledge that Tor and Perry could probably handle whatever Sid had brought with him.

“Don’t try my patience. That is unless you want to wind up with a bullet in that beautiful skull of yours,” Sid said, pressing the gun into her temple as his other hand grasped her arm.

Not even a moment later, Lexie heard a terrible wrenching sound, and the two engraved wooden doors that led inside were torn off their hinges and tossed to the side like toothpicks, where they plowed into the ground with a loud crash.

“Over my dead body!” Lexie heard Perry’s voice rise over the dust from the doors and smoke pouring in from whatever had been going on outside. Then, emerging from the smoke, she saw Perry’s tall, muscular form appear, taking long strides toward them.

The two guards that had come inside with Sid rushed at him. But before they could even reach him, Perry’s hands pushed out to his sides, and both men flew off the ground with a shriek, hurtling away from him and impacting the walls with such force they were knocked out cold.

Sid’s grip on Lexie’s arm tightened, and he pulled her closer against him as he faced the still-striding silver dragon.

“Don’t come any closer, or I’ll finish her off! Don’t tempt me!” Sid shouted, his voice unable to conceal the nervousness beneath his words.

But the man before them was not the cool, calculated, reasonable Perry Lexie had come to know over the past few months. No, this Perry’s gaze was cold and unfeeling, burning with unfathomable rage so powerful the air around him seemed to buzz with energy, as if the very ground would crack beneath his feet.

Perry halted twenty or so feet from them, but his hands were still tensed at his sides, the muscles in his arms taut, his silver eyes focused with razor-sharp intensity on the man holding her. 

“You do that, and I’ll rip your limbs off one by one.”

Behind her, Lexie could feel Sid’s resolve quickly weakening and panic setting in. The rush in her heart at seeing Perry appear was quickly being replaced by terror at the possibility that Sid just might do it.

All of a sudden, she felt the gun pointed at her head pulled away by an unseen force, and she turned just in time to see it wrenched from Sid’s grip, flying across the room and clattering to the ground down the hall far from reach. Right after that, the hand that gripped her arm loosened, and she came free of his grasp and ducked to the side, putting as much distance between her and Sid in as little time as possible.

“Silver dragon. Right,” Sid mused.

“Damn right. Now I make you pay for ever laying a finger on our mate,” Perry said, taking another step toward him.

“Not if I can help it,” Sid countered, cracking his knuckles and rushing at Perry with blinding speed, so fast his form was like a blur.

But as fast as Sid was, Perry reacted quicker. Before Sid could even reach him, a table at his side lifted off its feet into the air, hurled at him, crashed into him, and sent him off his feet, breaking into a hundred pieces as it did.

With incredible reflexes, Sid got back onto his feet, rushing at Perry again. He was clearly a shifter of some kind, stronger and faster than any human. Just as he cocked his arm back to strike, he was lifted off the ground with just the smallest movement of Perry’s hand and was sent flying backward into a marble column. 

Even at a safe distance, Lexie could feel the whoosh of air and the impact as Sid was crushed into the stone pillar, sending chunks of marble cracking to the ground and a faint cloud of dust spreading over the surrounding floor.

For a moment, Sid didn’t move. Then he stumbled forward, coughing, as he tried to regain his balance. But while he did, Perry strode closer to him, murder in his silver eyes. Sid turned to face him, but before he could do anything, he was lifted off his feet and tossed across the room again, crashing through couches and end tables and vases and finally tumbling to a stop a ways away.

Perry didn’t stop, just continued walking ominously toward his quarry. When he reached him, his hands pushed upward into the air, as if lifting something heavy, his muscles straining against it. Next to him, a large statue of a lion carved from marble began to lift off the ground, moving toward Sid and hovering in the air over him.

Before him, Sid tried feebly to move away from then gigantic statue looming above.

“You think you can fuck with dragons and get away with it? You think you can fuck with
our
mate!” Perry shouted at the bloodied, barely moving man as he cowered, helpless to escape, looking as if any second he’d finally snap and send the marble edifice crashing to the ground.

“Perry, stop!” Tor’s voice boomed across the gigantic room that had turned from a lavish, welcoming entryway to a battleground in seconds.

For a moment, Lexie saw conflict in Perry’s cold, enraged gaze as he struggled between what he wanted to do and what he should do.

“Cool it, chief. We need this guy alive, remember?” Tor spoke again as he walked quickly across the room toward his partner, carrying something (or someone) over his shoulder.

You don’t need to do this, Perry. I’m safe. 

Lexie focused all her attention on Perry as she tried to send him her thoughts.

With a whoosh of air and then a thunderous crash that shook the entire house to its very foundation, the stone lion fell to the ground. When the dust cleared, Lexie made out Sid, curled up in a fetal position mere inches from it.

It was finally over.

Tor finally reached Perry and put a hand on his shoulder, and Perry’s whole body seemed to relax, his anger seeping away into exhaustion. 

Tor leaned down to set his burden on the floor, and Lexie realized it was Monica, slightly singed with gunpowder and dirtied from outside but otherwise none the worse for wear.

Anger exploded inside her as she strode toward the other woman. Tor was supporting Perry and just had to watch as Lexie pulled Monica up by the collar and slapped her across the face.

Monica gasped and slumped to the ground, her hand over her reddened cheek, as Lexie stood over her, gasping.

“I was planning to leave her untouched,” Tor said, scratching the back of his head. He looked the most singed of any of them, but he also looked the most invigorated by the fight. He was made to be violent.

Perry, on the other hand, appeared a little worse for wear. His silver hair had come loose from its queue on both sides of his face, and he was breathing deeply, looking quite tired but still a little fierce.

“Traitor,” Lexie said. “Asshole. No one messes with my mates.”

The room was quiet before she realized what she had said, and she looked around at the dragons in shock. Then she remembered Perry calling her their mate during the fight, when he was so angry with Sid.

They all seemed to have realized it at the same time. Dragon-hearted or not, they were meant to be together. They just worked.

They were all looking at each other in wonder when Monica cleared her throat and interrupted.

“I know you have no reason to give me mercy, but I have something useful to share if you like.”

Tor glared at her. “Shut up.”

Perry cocked his head and gazed at Monica carefully. After a few seconds, he looked over at Lexie. “You saved her. Sacrificed yourself for her. Is that true?” Perry’s wide silver eyes locked on Lexie now as he waited for an answer.

“What?” Tor asked.

“Read her thoughts,” Perry said, nodding sideways at Monica. “She remembers it.”

Lexie’s heart pounded as she remembered what she had done.

“That’s not fair,” Monica whined, and Lexie crouched in front of her, rage surging through her.

“No, what’s not fair is you put all of us in danger just to gain some profit for yourself. And you’re going to live and not get any of what you deserve, because the dragons will hand you over to the humans after they wipe your memory. And that’s what’s not fair.”

Monica opened her mouth to stutter a reply and then closed it. Tor pulled her up and tucked her under one arm and then walked over to Sid and did the same. He walked with both of them toward the basement, and Perry shook his head and let out a sigh.

Lexie knew where he was going. To lock up both of them until someone could come deal with it.

But who? Both Tor and Perry needed a break after this. They all needed to be together. She could sense it. And she wanted it, deep in her bones. She’d had both of them in different ways at different times, but now she wanted them together. Both inside her. Both a part of her. Both one with her.

Perry looked at her with mild shock as he heard her thoughts, and then a small smile graced his elegant features. “We’ll be gentle,” he said.

“Screw gentle,” she muttered, giving him a grin.

Then they heard footsteps at the front door and saw three tall men pushing their way inside.

At the front was Kel, the blond, white tiger shifter that had brought Monica in the first place. “Where is she?” he demanded.

“What are you doing here?” Perry asked.

“We were all worried when you said Tor was missing,” a dark-haired man with bright-green eyes stated. He had short, professional hair and was wearing a suit and jacket and looked like a cop. “And the whole thing with the girl Kel found didn’t sit right. So we did more looking into her.”

“I’m sorry,” Kel said, looking genuinely contrite. “I thought that many articles couldn’t get it wrong. I jumped to conclusions.”

Perry shook his head and then pulled his hair back to retie his queue. “It’s not your fault. We should have done our due diligence with her as well before we left her home with Lexie.” He grinned at Lexie and then Kel. “Turns out Lexie might be a dragon-heart after all.”

Lexie bit her lip, not knowing what to say to that. She still wasn’t sure.

“Oh yeah?” Kel asked as Carter and Jace walked down to the basement in the direction Tor had headed.

“Yeah,” Perry said. “Threw herself in danger to save Monica because she thought the men were there to take the dragon-heart, and Lexie wanted to protect her for us.”

“Sounds dragon-hearted to me,” Kel said, folding his arms and looking a bit proud.

Lexie just shrugged. “I’m not brave in general, as much as I want to be. But I guess for Tor and Perry, I can be stronger than I thought. All I knew was I loved them and I’d do anything to help them.” She gave a little sigh. “That was it.”

Kel nodded. “Well, you all have a lot to work out.” As Carter and Jace reappeared, holding on to Sid and Monica, Kel turned to look at them. “Let’s get these jerks out of here so our friends can catch up.”

Tor was following behind, glowering at the backs of the people who had dared try to harm them. Tor would always be an amazing protector that way. Loyal to a fault.

But she wondered what had changed to make the dragons call her their mate, since Perry had done it before he knew she was a dragon-heart.

Did it have something to do with Tor being gone?

Perry glanced at her. “We do have a lot to talk about. We appreciate you taking care of this for us,” he said to the tigers.

Kel saluted. “We’re not going to have you erase their memory yet. We’re going to keep them at one of our places and get recorded statements, in case anyone in the shifter world needs them after you erase their memory.” He jerked a thumb at Sid. “I’m pretty sure Carter will make sure that one is locked up for a long time, though.”

Tor folded his arms. “Fine by me.” He looked adorable with his hair in all directions and a smudge of gunpowder right over his cheek. What the hell had happened outside when she’d heard all those loud noises?

She was just glad they were fine.

“We’re glad you’re okay, too,” Tor said, speaking to her after reading her thoughts.

“All right,” Kel said. “Enough mushy stuff. That’s our cue to get out.” Carter and Jace gave mock salutes as well, and the three tall, handsome men disappeared from view. Presumably, there wasn’t much to clean up outside. She guessed if she looked, she’d see a big, burned wreckage with no survivors.

“They were shifters gone wrong,” Tor said. “If they had lived, they would have attacked other innocents.”

“I understand,” she said. Then she felt her legs go weak, probably from the constant stress, and walked over to put her arm around Tor’s waist. Perry came around the other side, and together, they all walked up the stairs to their room.

A
fter a few minutes
lying on the bed together, letting their heart rates return to normal, Tor jumped in the shower while Perry and Lexie went downstairs to get food. There was a quiet, exciting tension between them as they prepared the sandwiches they would eat as their meal.

They still weren’t talking about what had happened yet, because they needed to get their strength back first. But Lexie could already tell things were going to be different, and that made her happy in a way she couldn’t even explain.

They brought the food up to share with Tor and ate it in the bedroom as they waited for him to finish. When he came out, dark hair wet and tousled, blue eyes glowing and relaxed, a towel wrapped around his waist, the first flickerings of lust started inside her.

Perry seemed aware, too. He was sitting across from her in a chair by the window, and they both turned to stare at Tor as he came in.

Lexie put down what was left of her sandwich. She was too excited to eat any more. Just earlier that day, she thought she’d have to give up everything. Now it seemed she might just get her happy ending after all.

“So earlier, when you were fighting Sid, you called me your mate,” she said to Perry. “Did you know I was a dragon-heart or something?”

Perry shook his head. “I went looking for Tor, as I said I would. When I found him, he was trapped in dragon form because his dragon didn’t agree with our choice to try things with Monica.” He looked at Lexie apologetically. “Both of our dragons were already in love with you. I guess by then, we should have realized things had changed.”

She bit her lip and nodded. “I guess. But you didn’t think I was dragon-hearted, so what could you do?”

Perry sighed. “And it was there, watching Tor suffer, trapped in his dragon, that I realized there was no point in fighting it anymore. Who cares what a rulebook says when it’s hundreds of years old and things have changed? Nothing for Tor or me has ever been usual. We don’t work as part of a team of six; we work with other shifters like tigers. And we knew, clear as day, that dragon-heart or not, you were our mate and we didn’t have any chance of happiness without you.”

Lexie couldn’t speak. She felt so overwhelmed with happiness.

Tor looked deeply into her eyes. “We don’t need a third dragon partner. We just need you. You make us twice the dragons we are without you. Will you be our mate?”

Perry just nodded in assent and waited for her answer.

She wanted to scream yes, but she had to make sure of one thing first. “Are you sure you want me, even if I’m not a dragon-heart?”

“Yes!” Tor and Perry shouted in unison. Then they looked at each other and laughed.

“We’re sorry we put you through this,” Perry said. “But we’ll never undervalue you again.”

“In that case,” Lexie said, “I accept.” She rushed forward onto Perry’s lap, and Tor wrapped himself around her, and for a long moment, they just stayed there, caught up in how wonderful it was.

Then Tor pulled back and let out a shaky breath. “That just means there’s one thing left.”

“And what’s that?” Lexie asked, though she felt like deep inside her, she already knew.

“Mating,” Perry said.

Lexie’s blood lit on fire at the thought of it. Finally, she could be with her lovers without anyone holding back. Truly together as one. “I can’t wait,” she said, reaching her arms up to Tor as Perry came behind her.

They sandwiched her in, nearly smothering her with warmth and love in a way she would never get sick of.

“Let’s go to the shower,” Perry said. “I want to take her there.”

She scrunched up her nose. “Won’t it be crowded?”

“You haven’t seen this shower,” Tor said, scooping her up and carrying her toward the bathroom as Perry followed.

She tried not to hold her breath as Tor carried her into a room filled with gleaming brass and creamy marble. There was a giant tub in the center where she’d previously had fun with the dragons.

But in a room past that, where she’d never gone, was a full room with a tiled floor and several soft-padded benches covered in waterproof material. The room was surrounded by glass, big enough for a handful of people, and there were at least four showerheads all around them.

It was truly a shower built for dragons.

As Perry stripped off her clothing, Tor turned on several of the showerheads and let steam build in the room, fogging the glass and making their privacy even more absolute. Here, in this room together, surrounded by steam and love, they would complete everything they’d started between them.

Perry continued to strip Lexie bare, and when she was in front of him, seated luxuriously on one of the benches, naked and dripping with steam, he knelt between her legs with worshipful eyes, taking in all of her as Tor stepped forward.

“This is up to you, Lexie,” Tor said. “We both need to be a part of you, but we can do it however you want. Or we can wait. We both want to be inside you, but we will do whatever you command. We can’t do otherwise.”

His eyes were pleading as he stood in front of her, beside Perry, who was still on the ground. Hungry and pleading for her to take what she wanted, to set her own boundaries and rules and allow them to worship her in ways she had never imagined.

“I want both of you,” she said. With that, she leaned forward and moved her mouth over Tor, causing him to let out a groan. At the same time, Perry leaned over and sucked on her, his tongue mingling with the droplets of steam on her skin to create delicious heat and wetness all over her. His hands ran over her thighs as she focused on the incredible feeling of Tor in her mouth, reaching up a hand to stroke over the length of him that couldn’t fit in her mouth.

He was succulent, velvety soft and rock hard, too big to take much more than the head. But what she loved most was his groans, the way his eyes rolled back as she licked over his slit, and the way his body tensed against her.

And the way it was hard to even focus on what she was doing and how good it felt because of the fireworks Perry was causing with what he was doing. It felt so damn good, so damn right, to have all three of them working together. It wouldn’t have worked for everyone, but for them, it was damn perfect.

They knew each other’s bodies, and Perry worked her expertly as she enjoyed stroking up and down on Tor’s cock.

As Tor got close, Lexie gasped as she was grabbed and turned and pulled against him, her back to his, his member pulsing at her entrance. She moaned and pressed back as he slowly slid inside her, stretching her with every inch, and Perry stood and came in front of her with hungry eyes, reaching a hand down over the front of her sex as she adjusted to Tor inside her.

Perry’s body was up against her, his muscular chest stroking her nipples as he rubbed against her in time to Tor’s slow strokes. It was hard to breathe with the steam around her, yet she loved how each breath seemed to hydrate her and make her even more sensitive as the tension wound higher in the room.

Perry’s free hand closed over her breast, thumbing over her nipple as she moaned. Overwhelmed by Tor’s invasion of her body but wanting even more than that, she pushed Perry forward onto the bench behind him.

His hard cock was ready, waiting, and she bent forward to suck on it as Tor caught her around the middle and supported her.

Shock waved through her as she realized she had both of them inside her. She heard Perry bite back a moan and felt him arch, his cock twitching in her mouth, and she let out her own moan of pleasure around his dick.

Behind her, Tor was being still, clearly trying to be careful, to retain control as they found the perfect position together. He was so strong that he could support her with one hand as she bent to pleasure Perry, and his free hand stroked over her clit, distracting her as he slid out and then into her again, adjusting to their new angle.

It felt amazing, and he was hitting her G-spot with every thrust.

Meanwhile, she could feel Perry reacting to her, nearly losing control as she watched his silver hair, wet with sweat and steam, trail over his face as he breathed rapidly.

He was so fucking beautiful, and from here out, he was all hers. Him and the huge beast behind her, who was handsome and strong and protective. She could barely believe it was real. But with the soft but hard feel of each of them inside her, the power she felt knowing she could pleasure them both at once, be everything to them both at once, she knew it was as real as anything could be.

Right now, she was their world and they were hers.

Tor increased his speed, his hand tight against her belly as he held her up and the other stroked her clit, speeding up with his thrusts. Perry thrust into her mouth, and she caught him, loving the feel of him, the power she had over this intelligent, formidable man.

Perry was close to losing control, and she saw it in his eyes. He jerked away from her and pulled her to standing just as Tor thrust into her, pushing her over the edge. She looked up in shock at Perry as the waves crested over, and felt him grab her behind the neck and slam his mouth onto hers for a kiss that shook her to her very soul.

She wrapped one arm around him and one around Tor as Tor came inside her, with her. She felt him jerking and tensing and was happy to her core as she heard him groan in ultimate release.

Then quickly, she was turned to Perry as Tor withdrew with a ragged gasp and embraced her from the front as Perry was behind her.

Perry lifted her onto his hard cock and came inside her. She was wet and ready for him, still clenching from her own orgasm, and because of that, she could feel every ridge of Perry, the whole of him as he stretched her deep inside. He felt different than Tor but equally amazing, and she rode him as Tor knelt to worship her stomach, his hands grazing her breasts as his tongue rode the inside of her belly button in an intensely erotic way.

She arched as a dizzy sensation began to come over her, one that was faint and pleasant but frightening at the same time.

“Guys,” she gasped as she felt another orgasm racing toward her. “I don’t… Something is happening.” Something that had never happened in any of the times they’d made love together. Then again, she’d never taken them one after the other.

“It’s the mating,” Tor said, looking at Perry, who was completely lost in the moment, buried in his mate and hell-bent on pleasing her.

When she went over the edge for the second time, she felt lost in the middle of a whirlpool, as if the whole world were swirling and centering around her, and all she could see was her and Tor and Perry, joined together forever.

“I love you,” Perry said as he released inside her, joining with her as their bodies convulsed. Tor stood to wrap around her, making sure she was protected on all sides as she went. She saw Tor bite his own finger and reach over toward Perry, and then she felt a prick on her neck as his teeth lightly settled over the skin there in a soft bite that was loving and bittersweet at the same time.

She didn’t know exactly what was happening, but she knew it was all a part of the magical world she was involved with now. There was no going back, so she just held on to her dragons as the world swirled along with the steam and her entire universe seemed to collapse upside down.

She felt everything go black just as Tor caught her in his arms and heard Perry vaguely asking questions.

She could feel herself being carried out of the shower and laid on the bed but was still overwhelmed by her inability to breathe or think through the fantastic shock of it all.

Something was different inside her. Something had exploded in her mind and would never be the same, and she didn’t know what it was.

She slowly opened her eyes to see herself naked on the bed and her dragons staring down at her in concern.

Her body was still humming with the pleasure of her orgasms, the warmth of being with her partners, the steam that had been all around them.

“What happened?” she asked.

“You tell us,” Perry said, crouching in front of the bed with his elbows on it and cocking his head.
You’re the one who went through it.

She gasped as she realized he hadn’t spoken that last part. “I can hear your thoughts. That must have been what made everything feel crazy.”

Really?
Tor grinned at her.
I don’t know if I’m pleased or a little worried that we have to watch ourselves now.

She laughed and pretended to be mad. But it was hard to pull it off when her whole body was still glowing from orgasm and having been claimed.
Oh really, Tor? What are you thinking about me that I don’t know?

No, not that.
He scratched his head, grinning bashfully.
I guess I just have to cut back on the dirty thoughts.

Never,
she replied. “Okay, we can talk now. I still need to get used to the thought-reading thing.” She pulled Tor on the bed with her and reached for Perry, who reluctantly got up to join them in bed.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked. He was back to his calm, logical self, but he was also sexy and soaked with sweat.

They all lay on the bed naked for a moment, reveling in what happened. Lexie noticed she could tune into their thoughts more or less if she wanted to.

“So does that mean I’m a dragon-heart?” she asked out loud, still more used to that kind of communication.

“I don’t know,” Perry said. “Do you feel like you have any powers?”

“I don’t… think so,” she said, wondering if she should feel disappointed.

Tor propped himself up on one elbow. “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “As long as you’re ours, we’ll protect you.”

“But I want to protect you,” she said, trying to sit up, but both men pushed her back down, making her relax.

She took a deep breath and listened closely to her body. Nothing felt different. She tried to remember the powers Tor had talked about. She didn’t feel healing, like the blue dragon, or super strength, like Tor. She tried to move a pen on the desk with her mind, but that didn’t work either. And she definitely didn’t feel the poison of the black dragon inside her.