My beast screamed at me to stop her as my lips peeled back from teeth grown long and sharp. But to lose it in this collar was to die. I shuddered as the conflict threatened to tear apart the last vestiges of my control.
Xumi growled low in her throat, a sound that fired every instinct I possessed. She danced her talons along his neck and down his chest, pausing every few inches to sink them in. His skin quivered beneath the assault, but his face remained stoic.
The Dragona paused over his abdomen, and altered her stance until her fingers, and talons, were poised straight. One thrust, and she’d gut him like a fish.
“I don’t need you,” she said through gritted teeth. “And I find I am in the mood for blood.” I saw her triceps tighten.
Any semblance of control fled. I screamed, morphing partway through from a human sound to that of a Dragon. I thrashed against the grapples holding my wings. It did horrific damage, but the pain fed my rage as my bones shifted beneath my skin.
My Dragon was coming out to play. And it didn’t care that its emergence would kill me.
At this moment, I didn’t either.
But apparently, Matt did. His eyes widened in horror. “Talakai! Stop!”
Xumi whirled to face me. As my neck expanded, and the collar threatened to crush tissue and bone, I saw the rapid-fire calculation in her eyes.
She spun back to Matt and wrapped her talons around his throat. “Stop your beast,” she shouted to me. “Or Iwillkill him.”
I wasn’t sure I could, but her threat was the only thing that would ensure I’d try. And she knew it.
Her eyes narrowed as she stared at me, and her talons tightened. “I mean it, Talakai. Stop the transformation.Now.”
I fought my beast, bit by bit, back into my human skin. My throat ached, and my wings bled, but eventually I hung, gasping, from the chains.
Xumi turned back to Matt. She released his throat and trailed her talons down his naked body to cup his balls. He refused to look at her.
Her expression turned to one of determination, and she paced away from him toward me. She activated the controls and lowered me until I was at eye level. Danced her talons down my chest, watching as the blood welled up beneath them.
The pain of forcing my Dragon back within me fed into the pulse of lust generated by her touch. In seconds, I was rigid and quivering. I couldn’t look at her, and certainly not at Matt.
He must have been disgusted by my reaction.Iwas disgusted by my reaction. She hadn’t even used any pheromones. But when she stroked me, I thrust helplessly into her hand.
“Perhaps,” she purred, “he does have a use.”
My relief was destined to be short-lived. We had given Xumi what she most desired—leverage to make me care.
It wouldn’t save Matt when she discovered he couldn’t respond to her torture.
Xumi gave me one last stroke. “I would love to stay and play, but we have much to do. We are going on a little trip. I hadn’t intended to make the furball my newest pet, but now I think it might be fun.”
She leaned close. “The staff will come by to give you something to help you relax. I will see you once you come out of it.” Her expression darkened. Her hand closed around a testicle and squeezed until tears formed in my eyes. “You will both pay for my sons, my blue Dragon. I will have you screaming for that.”
I had no doubt it was the truth. But as she turned and left, it finalized something within me.
If Matt died, that would be it. I would tap into my inner Dragon.
And let it fly.
5
Anna
As I paced the floor in Cara’s academy quarters, I plucked at the flowing white shirt she’d given me and tried to re-establish the link with Matt.
To no avail. My mind swirled on the verge of panic, and my scattered self couldn’t find my inner alpha to force the Dire to talk to me.
Then, suddenly, he was there, in my mind. A warm, pulsing presence who reached for my jagged soul.
