The air between us crackles, heavy with heat and hunger, as if the fire surging in my veins now moves through her too. Her back arches toward my hand, her lips parting in a moan that fans the inferno rising between us, making this more than desire—it’s destiny written in touch, in heat, in fire.
A look of awe gradually eclipses the fear in her eyes, transforming her expression into one of wonder. Our lips meet in a fervent kiss, tongues intertwining with a desperation that’s more than lust—it’s instinct, compulsion, the ache of fate sealing. Her moan vibrates against my mouth as I tighten my hold, chest to chest, breath to breath. For a suspended heartbeat, the world narrows to nothing but the press of her mouth against mine and the crackling blaze that surges under my skin—ready to claim, to mark, to make her mine forever. in an intricate dance.
I guide her gently toward a patch of smoothed rock near the geothermal vents—our only shelter in this scorched hollow. A folded fireproof tarp, warm from the radiant heat, serves as makeshift bedding. As I unbutton her jeans and ease them down along with her panties, the sight of her body revealed in the low, molten glow strikes something primal in me. Anticipation pools between her legs, glistening, vulnerable, and achingly beautiful against the backdrop of volcanic rock and rising steam.
"Brace," I whisper, my voice a husky murmur against her skin before trailing fiery kisses down her neck and across her collarbone. She shivers, a delicious tremor when I reach the delicate curve where her neck meets her collarbone—just above her heart—and there, I blow a gentle trail of fire tracing a searingsigil upon her skin, its shape that of intertwined wings aflame with magic.
Her gasp is one of pure wonder, not pain, as she stares in awe at the glowing brand seared into her skin—an intricate sigil, glowing gold where my fire kissed her just above the heart. The shape blazes bright, then seals in a burst of heat—one sharp throb, then a faint, steady glow beneath the skin. Her fingers hover above it, not touching, but reverent.
Her lips part, breath catching in a mixture of disbelief and recognition—as if some primal instinct deep in her soul has awakened to the truth of what she’s become. From that brand, a radiant blaze unfurls, heat threading through her veins like molten metal. The sensation isn't painful but overwhelming with energy—like standing at the edge of eruption and letting it swallow her whole. Her spine arches involuntarily, a breathless cry escaping as argent tendrils ripple beneath her skin.
Her muscles tense, tremble, then release as if the very core of her being is being rewritten—flesh and soul reforged by sacred dragon fire, not magic but instinct, rite, and bond. Her eyes flare a brilliant silver, hair lifting as if caught in a phantom wind only she can feel. Around us, sparks swirl and dance—vibrant and alive—as dragon magic answers the call of destiny.
My heart lurches—a powerful thud—as I inhale deeply and catch new notes to her scent: an intoxicating blend of smoke, scorched cedar, and something primal and searing—like the first breath drawn from a forge just opened, the air laced with heat, grit, and the undeniable presence of dragon fire newly awakened. As I reposition myself between her legs, my arousal pressing insistent against her entrance, I pause, locking eyes with her—a silent plea for permission. She nods, breathless and eager, her legs wrapping around me, urging me forward with a fervent need.
I thrust into her slowly, the head of my cock parting her wet folds and eliciting a moan from us both. Each movement is deliberate, our bodies gliding together as the sensation builds within us. Her hips rise to meet mine as the pace quickens, our mutual moans filling the air—a harmonious symphony of desire. Our bodies move together with desperate passion—her nails digging into my back—as each thrust stokes the fire ignited within us both. Sweat glistens on our entwined forms, the heat between us growing ever more intense—a tangible force.
In this moment, she transcends her humanity; she is no longer merely human. She is ours—dragon-kissed and irrevocably bound by the threads of fate. But as I gaze down at her transformed form, awe sears through the remnants of control I pretend to have. My breath hitches. This isn’t just about destiny—it’s abouther. The woman who shattered my walls, who chose fire over fear, me over safety. I never dared believe the claiming could feel like this—like being cracked open and remade in the image of something sacred. My soul doesn’t just recognize her—it kneels.
The walls of the cave shake. Heated air funnels through cracks, stoking our joined blaze. Outside, mercs shout. Infrared sensors must be screaming.
Liv grips my shoulders, pupils luminous. “They’re still out there.”
“Then we send them back.” I hold her close, our sigils beating in unison, steady and sure.
We exhale—not flames, but a flare of heat and light that surges with the raw force of the bond itself, elemental and fierce, not dragon breath. The energy arcs outward, unseen by human eyes, but unmistakably powerful. We exhale together—twin streams of gold and silver fire. The cavern roof groans, obsidian flashing molten. Stone folds like wax, sealing the entrance in a cascade of slag. Ignis shouts cut off mid-curse.
Silence floods in, broken only by our ragged breaths.
She touches the mark I left on her, eyes wide. “I feel... strong. Like lightning bottled and barely contained.”
“That’s the bond—and the beginning.” Fierce elation surges through me, tempered by solemn resolve. “But that flare just painted a bullseye on every Ignis monitor. We need Blackstrike on this, secrets or not.”
Outside, distant sirens answer the heat spike. Data feeds will exfil in minutes.
I clasp Liv’s hand—warm, steady, unstoppable. Her fingers thread through mine with surprising strength, as if the new fire in her veins lends her more than just heat and will. It’s as if the essence of dragonkind—raw, unrelenting—now flows through her grip, forging her into something both terrifying and extraordinary.
My thumb brushes over the edge of the sigil still glowing faintly at her shoulder, and something ancient and solemn settles in my chest.
She’s not just mine. She’s become something more than either of us were alone—and now, we face the storm together. “Time to tell the dragons we’re at war.”
Above, another detonation booms across the ridge, lighting the predawn sky blood-red. The war, it seems, has already started.
CHAPTER 12
LIV
The cave still reeks of scorched stone and raw aftermath, smoke hanging in the air—an unwelcome sentinel refusing to leave. The silence feels haunted, not just by the collapse—but by everything I nearly lost in the fire. Somewhere in the distance, rocks scrape and settle, the final breaths of a dying avalanche exhaling into stillness.
But that silence is a liar.
I remember the moment everything gave way—how the cavern seemed to scream before it collapsed, a gut-deep groan like the earth itself was breaking open. The crack of stone on stone reverberates through my bones, a cannon blast of sound that shudders down my spine, followed by a roar—not a scream, but a detonation—of fire and collapsing debris. I’d been running toward the breach, shouting for the rookies to pull back, when the ceiling split. A wall of searing pressure hit me in the chest, and I flew—thrown or dragged, I don’t even know.
Then—his arms. Kade’s arms. Wrapping around me like steel. The blur of his face haloed in flame. I didn’t see him change, but I felt it—an ancient energy surging past the human boundary, something immense and furious tearing through smoke. Claws slicing through falling rock, wings brushing sparksinto whirlwinds. The memory is fractured, but the heat? I remember that. I remember the fire answering him. I remember knowing—without question—that he wasn’t just protecting me. He was claiming me, even then, in the middle of collapse. I lie curled against the wall of the cave, skin pressed to cooling basalt still radiating yesterday's fury.
No sunlight yet—only fractured gray bleeding through hairline cracks in the rock above—dawn teasing the horizon. My muscles ache from where I collapsed post-claim, and my throat’s raw from fire-scorched moans I barely remember. Kade must’ve covered me, draping a salvaged fire blanket over my shoulders. It smells of singed canvas, smoke and him.
Beneath it all—hot, relentless, alive—the mark he branded into me hammers, a forge bellows rhythm pounding in time with something deeper, something primal. It isn’t just warmth—it’s pressure, intensity, a searing rhythm that lodges in my spine and refuses to let go. A second heartbeat, forged in dragon fire. Mine. And his. Intertwined. Inescapable. Holy.
