My heart pounds, but it’s not from fear. Only anticipation and impatience. And so much fucking love.

  “I have imagined this so many fucking times,” he says.

  His cock is hard against my thigh, and he reaches down, positioning himself at my entrance.

  “I dreamt of it,” I admit. “I dreamt of the primal hunt. Of letting you catch me. Claim me. But no amount of dreaming even comes close to the real thing,” I whisper back.

  His mouth curves in a sexy smile as he pushes inside me.

  I gasp, my eyes widening at the way he fills me, stretching me and sending waves of pleasure through me at the way he fits so perfectly. Then he begins to move, and I shudder, wrapping my legs around him until he seats himself fully inside me.

  For a moment, he pauses there, drinking me in with his dark gaze.

  “I want to hunt you,” he says darkly. “To fuck you. While the world watches. So they know you belong to me.”

  I gasp as his words send a dark thrill shooting through me. “I want that too,” I tell him.

  “When all this is over,” he promises. “I’ll take you home, and we’ll do that.”

  Slowly, he eases back and rocks against me again. And again. And again. His pace is steady, but it’s not enough. Need claws through me, driving my body until my hips are rocking and bucking, urging him faster.

  Legion’s eyes darken as he watches me, silently daring me to look away from him. But I don’t. I can’t.

  “Don’t stop,” I tell him, panting, aching, pleasure building.

  “We’re past that point, little assassin.” His voice is rough, his breath ragged as he slams into me over and over again.

  My own release is so close that I can feel myself hurtling toward it. Legion tenses, his pace faster as he rocks against me. I reach up, grabbing his face and pulling it down to mine in a hot, frenzied kiss.

  He growls against my lips and pulls back to flash teeth that have suddenly elongated to that of his dragon. He pauses, a question in his eye.

  “Do it,” I urge him. “Claim me.”

  He lowers his mouth to my throat, and his lips land on the hollow space there. A flash of pain is followed by waves of pleasure as his sharpened teeth break the skin in a bite that is followed by a rush of power.

  Legion gasps.

  Before he can recover, I sit up and bite his shoulder until I taste his blood on my tongue. Legion groans, and I know I’m not the only one rewarded with a renewed sense of euphoria.

  The mate bond crashes over us both, the emotion and power of it overwhelming to my senses.

  Legion drives into me harder, his arms holding me, his eyes raking over me as he sends us both hurtling up and over the edge of our release.

  His name is a cry that echoes off the stone walls as I come apart in every sense of the word. Every single part of me seems to shatter and then remake itself in that moment.

  Legion shudders and then bows his head as he finds his own release alongside mine.

  I wrap my arms around him, reveling in the feel of his skin against mine. His body against mine. His soul part of mine now.

  When we’re both able to catch our breath, I look up to find him watching me. At the look he wears, emotion ignites inside me. A sudden sense of fate surrounds us in this cold, damp dungeon. A bond I never could have imagined feeling with another creature.

  Mine, a voice inside me declares.

  My enemy, the death dragon, Legion Razginath, belongs to me. And I belong to him.

  Chapter 40

  Legion

  The sight of Tori splayed out before me, bared and full of my cock, stirs something inside me. It’s more than the mate bond. It’s a depthless emotion I’ve never let myself imagine was possible. Love.

  She is, in this moment, no longer my enemy. She is my one true love. Bracing myself for some forced urge to harm her, I wait and watch her chest fall with the last heavy breaths as she recovers from our mating.

  “What is it?” she asks.

  “Just enjoying the view.”

  She gives me a look that says she’s not fooled. But since no such murderous urge has taken me yet, I bend and kiss her to prove my point. She opens for me so easily, and I shove my tongue into her mouth greedily. I’m determined not to let this night together be our last.

  She breaks our kiss to rasp, “If you don’t stop this, you’re going to have to finish it. Again.”

  I grin at her, my cock already stirring at the thought. “Is that an order, little assassin?”

  She goes still, and I realize too late what I just said. Her expression falters, but I stroke her cheek, holding her gaze on mine.

  “Look at me,” I say. When she brings her eyes to mine, I tell her, “You are not like them. And I am not afraid of this. Do you understand me?”

  “I won’t ever trap you, Legion. I swear it.”

  “Belonging to you is not a trap at all, little assassin. You have made me free.”

  Her eyes widen at the implication of my words. “Are you sure? Did it… is your vow to her broken?”

  I hesitate, and her sharp gaze doesn’t miss it. “Something is different. The presence of the leash I felt before is gone. But I won’t know for sure until…”

  “Until she comes for you.”

  I hate the fear that springs to her eyes, and there’s only one thing I can think of to wipe it away now. “Come here.” I pull her up and rearrange us so that I’m sitting on the floor with her straddled over my lap.

  Her arms come around my neck, and I wrap mine around her waist, smoothing her hair as I press kisses to her chest and throat.

  “Tomorrow will come soon enough,” I tell her. “Tonight, it’s you who comes.”

  She laughs. “That was terrible.”

  I grin, knowing it successfully distracted her. “But is it wrong?”

  I push my hardening cock against her hot core and she tightens her grip on me. Even though I’ve just finished with her, desire slams into me all over again, and I adjust her, reaching for my cock, but she beats me to it. Her hand wraps around my length, and she strokes me slowly.

  I bite my lip, holding back a groan. This woman is much more dangerous than I ever knew if one touch can rule me this way. The look in her eyes says she knows it too.

  “Assassin,” I growl.

  “Dragon,” she returns, way too smug.

  I lift her up as she uses her hand to guide my cock to her entrance. Then I pull her hand away and drive into her so hard that she gasps. She clenches around me, a velvet iron grip that makes me twitch.

  “Fuck, you feel good,” I say.

  She rolls her hips forward, and all I can do is wrap my arms around her and meet her thrusts with my own until we’re both lost in one another all over again.

  Through the mate bond, I feel her enjoyment, which only heightens my own. My hands tighten at her hips as I lift her up then pull her down again. She pants my name, sweat slicking our bodies as she bites and nips at my ears and throat.

  My dragon surges beneath my skin, the monster inside me fully leashed by the woman riding my cock and ruling my heart in the same breath. When she lets herself go, my control snaps. My release shudders through me, wave after wave of pleasure, until we’re both panting and gripping the other like a lifeline.

  If this is what it’s like to give my heart and soul to another creature, I’m more than willing to have my will joined with hers at last.

  Chapter 41

  Tori

  Footsteps against the stone floor wake me. My discarded clothing covers my back like makeshift blankets, and my cheek is pressed to Legion’s shoulder. Reality crashes in around me, and I bolt upright, noting how Legion still sleeps sprawled on his back with me draped over him like a blanket. At the sound of the approaching footsteps, I scramble off him, fear gripping me.

  “Legion,” I hiss, shaking him awake as I scramble backward to put distance between us. “Legion.”

  He opens his eyes and sits up nearly as fast as I did, his frown deepening as he becomes aware of our current state. My eyes drop to his bloodied chest. The symbol hasn’t healed yet, which likely means he’s still vulnerable to Maricha’s magic. But that’s not what worries me now.

  “You’re naked,” I whisper, scrambling into my pants. “She’ll know⁠—”

  “What in the hells is going on here?” Maricha’s voice is sharp and cutting.

  I meet her gaze through the bars and nearly flinch at the fury she aims at me. Before I can answer, she turns her ire on Legion. Shock and fury line her expression.

  “Your order was to treat her like your enemy,” Maricha says.

  I can practically see the gears turning in her mind as she witnesses evidence of what she believed to be impossible.

  “And I have done that.” He stands, clearly unconcerned with his nudity, and hands me my shirt with a wink. “Darling. I believe this is yours.”

  “Legion,” I warn.

  He cuts me off with a searing kiss.

  When he pulls away, his eyes dance with a smugness that stills my fear. He turns back to Maricha. “This is how I’ve treated her since the moment we met.”

  Maricha’s eyes blaze with fury. “Impossible. Her skin is poison.”

  “Ah, the curse,” Legion says. “That’s broken. Thanks to you, Mom.”

  “You’re lying.”

  Legion runs his hand along my shoulder and down my arm as he says, “Am I?” Maricha looks ready to explode at the casual way he touches me. “We really are grateful you provided such an effective antidote to Tori the night you met her. Your own tears? We couldn’t have done it without you.”

  Maricha’s face flushes as she realizes what he means. “Step away from her,” she snaps. “That is an order.”

  I stiffen, waiting to see if her orders will have any effect on him now that we’re mated. The bond between us fills with a serene reassurance. Legion sending me his love. But beneath it is pain. The symbol isn’t making it easy for him to resist.

  Still, he doesn’t move. “No.”

  Relief mixes with new fear. I scramble to dress, knowing Maricha won’t hesitate to react once she realizes Legion doesn’t answer to her anymore. I barely get my shirt and pants on before Maricha screeches her wrath.

  “You will die for this, you little bitch!”

  A blade flies straight for me, but Legion pulls me out of the way so the blade clangs against the stone where I just stood. Maricha fumes and draws another knife.

  This one she lifts to her lips and infuses it with whispered words that make the small hairs on my arms stand on end.

  “Move,” Legion roars, shoving me toward the other side of the cell just as Maricha throws the second blade.

  End over end, it veers toward us as if set on me like a missile to a beacon. It sings past my ear before clanging into the stone beside my head.

  Legion snarls and grabs my hand, pulling me behind him as we both turn to face Maricha. But she doesn’t attack again. Instead, she utters some kind of incantation. The blades rattle then lift into the air and fly back into her hands.

  “You will both regret crossing me.” She looks at Legion. “You have reached the end of your usefulness. What a fucking disappointment.”

  She whirls, screaming for Uziah as she hurries back down the hall.

  When she’s gone, we both get dressed again. I hurry to the cell doors and rattle them against the lock. “We need to get out of here,” I say. “She’s going to come back with something much worse than a knife.”

  Legion steps up beside me. “Tell me to kill her,” he says.

  “What?”

  “Command me. It’ll ensure I find the strength to open this cage. We can escape.”

  “No.”

  His eyes flash with impatience. “I’m not afraid of being commanded. Not by you.”

  “I don’t care. I won’t do that to you.”

  “It’s the only way to beat them.”

  “Then we find another way.”

  He glares at me. “There is no other way.”

  “There has to be.”

  I step back, pacing in frustration as I try to think of another option.

  “If she returns, she’ll bring more men than I can fight,” he says quietly.

  I don’t respond, but he doesn’t let up.

  “They’ll kill you first. Slowly. They’ll make me watch. It’ll break our bond by severing our souls. And when you’re gone, she’ll use her dark magic to save me from following behind you in death. I’ll be bound to her again, with no way to break free. Forever.”

  By the time he’s done talking, his voice is rough. I hate that he’s right. That this is the only way.

  “What if you hate me?” I ask.

  “I could never hate you, little assassin. You are in my bones. Etched into every space of my heart. And there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”

  I bite my lip, touched at his words but torn in my choice. I don’t want to hurt him. How can I love him if I impose the one cage he’s always feared?

  Across the cavern, the dungeon door bangs open.

  Multiple pairs of footsteps march toward our cell.

  “I order you to kill Maricha Razginath.”

  My words are no more than a whisper. Pained. Awful—because of how badly I want him to carry them out.

  Legion steps back, his eyes narrowing as they take on a special, horrible gleam. I watch, terrified I’ve somehow transformed him into a monster. But then he swoops in and plants a sweet kiss on my cheek. “Your wish is my command, gorgeous.”

  His words are cheesy, his grin even worse. And I know nothing has changed. Except for the fact that he’s now a soldier under my command; a death dragon with one single target in his sights. And he won’t stop until she’s dead.

  I can’t say I’m sorry about it either.

  Maricha leads the charge as she marches down the hall toward our cell. Her hair whips out behind her, wide eyes full of intended pain and destruction. Legion ushers me back, and I press myself against the wall, waiting for him to make his move.

  He simply stands and watches them approach.

  Maricha stops several yards away and motions for the men with her to come forward. “Subdue him. Get me the girl,” she snaps.

  Legion was right.

  She’s so predictable.

  The vampires hesitate, all of them eyeing Legion warily.

  “For fuck’s sake,” Maricha snarls.

  She mutters something and sends a blade flying so quickly that I don’t see it coming. Neither does Legion. He grunts as it lands in his shoulder then grunts again as whatever magic it’s laced with takes hold.

  He falls to one knee, gripping the bars for support.

  “Legion,” I say.

  “I’m fine,” he rasps.

  Sweat lines his brow. I can feel him fighting off whatever it is. Or trying to.

  “Done,” Maricha says. “Now, bring me the girl.”

  A vampire comes forward, rattling keys in his hand. The rest of them watch me and Legion with wary, crimson eyes. My mate stares steadily back at them, exuding a stillness that I can tell sets them on edge.

  The door of our cage creaks open and swings inward.

  The guards crowd in, fangs elongated and various weapons drawn, all ready to obey Maricha’s commands.

  The vampire with the keys takes a single step inside before Legion shoves to his feet, yanking the knife out and brandishing it at the other soldiers. His roar is deafening, and his body shifts as he moves. In one step, his hand is clawed and his arm covered in scales. Another step; he’s pierced the throat of the closest vampire before hurtling him through the door at the others. Half a dozen of them are tossed onto their asses.

  “Run,” he roars at me.

  Another step and his legs are coated in impenetrable scales. More claws. His back is coated in scales and spikes. His tail swipes from behind while his claws clear a path at the front.

  This cavern isn’t tall enough or wide enough for his dragon form, but he doesn’t stop trying to shift. Through the bond, I can feel his struggle to fight against whatever magic Maricha laced her blade with. Before Legion’s dragon can fill the space and cut off my exit, I duck beneath him and race out of the cell.

  Maricha tries to grab me but Legion snaps his teeth at her and she turns to face him instead. I force myself to keep going.

  The hall into the cavern is lined with vampires in various states. I don’t stop or look at them. Instead, I keep my gaze on the end of the hall where the dungeon door hangs open. Behind me, I can hear Maricha screeching orders as her vampires attempt to stop or slow Legion’s dragon.

  They won’t.

  They’ll be destroyed trying.

  But I don’t intend to let him do it alone.

  At the end of the hall, I clang the door shut, shoving the lock down and sealing me and everyone else inside. From the other side, more vampires slam into the iron bars, reaching through in their attempt to grab me.

  “Open this door.”

  Uziah pushes his way to the front, glaring at me from the other side.

  “You wanted me locked in,” I said. “And now I am.”

  He curses at me, but I ignore him and turn back to where Legion’s dragon is wedged into the hall that’s nearly too small to hold his large form. Vampires claw against his scales, some of them attempting to stab weapons into wherever they can reach. Others climb the spikes on his back, looking for a vulnerable spot.

  I glance around at the stone walls, sure that what I’m about to do will likely kill us all. If I hadn’t accidentally done it up on that mountaintop, I wouldn’t even know to try it now.

  All I can do is hope that it’s enough.

  On a deep breath, I call out to the earth pulsing with plant life beyond these stone walls. The symbol carved into my skin is nearly healed, leaving my magic finally within reach again. It takes a few strained moments, but then my power slams into me, leaving me breathless.

  The surge is overwhelming after being cut off for so many hours, but I don’t hold back. Beside me, the wall cracks. Stone falls to the floor in large boulders, raining down along with smaller pebbles and sand.