"Anik fought other dragons?" Maks asked, clearly surprised. "He seems so … calm. And I didn't realize that there had been other dragons on the continent before Dane and I arrived."
Ben's face hardened. "They came from Europe before I was born, so I've only heard the stories. They intended to claim these lands. There has always been more here than my ata needed, which is why he didn't mind when the two of you claimed these territories as your own. But the dragons who came before … they did not want to live in harmony with the people already here, so they weren't welcome.
"And yes, he'll keep Wesley and Elise safe," Ben answered my earlier question. "If Ivan crosses into our territory to the north, he'll let us know immediately-but this Ivan won't be able to harm the humans my ata protects."
His voice rang with confidence, and it put my mind at ease about the safety of our friends. And with three dragons here on the island, Maks's brother wouldn't be able to hurt any of us … especially not our child.
25
~ Maksim ~
Devin had already gone to bed by the time Dane arrived later that night. Ben and I met him down at the beach, and instead of heading to the house, we stayed down there to talk about Ivan. Ben gathered some driftwood and started a fire, and without having to talk about it I knew that all three of us felt better out in the open, where we could shift at will if needed.
"It's disturbing to think that your sire has been tracking us all these years," Dane said to me, frowning. "I don't understand how he's managed it."
"Probably humans," Ben said, matching Dane's frown. "Based on the stories that my ata has told me, I'm sure he compelled them to act as his eyes and ears." That made sense. "I just don't understand why he's so set on getting his hands on your child," he added, turning to me.
My dragon raged at the mention of it, and Dane answered, sensing my distress.
"Our kind is too long-lived," he said sadly, shaking his head. "The dragons I knew in my youth saw the world as nothing more than a territory to be continuously divided up, conquered, and fought over. They keep themselves so removed from humanity that the only thing that matters to them is the strategic power plays among their own kind. Maks's sire fathered him not because he found the love of a mate, but because he wanted a pawn to help continue building his legacy."
"He's never forgiven you for ‘stealing' me from him," I said to Dane. "But it's Ivan and his human father who paid the price."
Mating for dragons was rare, and I knew that my sire wouldn't have fathered another child after me for hundreds of years, if ever, had he been able to shape my destiny the way he'd intended. When I rejected him, he'd impregnated another human man as quickly as possible.
Without giving the man his fire, though, carrying Ivan had used up the human's body, draining it of all vitality until the pregnant man had practically been a walking corpse. And then my sire had ripped Ivan from the man's emaciated body, making him a corpse in truth and raising my brother to believe that it was his right to use, manipulate, and even kill humans for his own pleasure and convenience.
Thinking about how Ivan must view my mate-as a disposable vessel for the child within him rather than the necessary piece of my soul that Devin actually was-made me see red. But it also made me sad. Ivan had no doubt been so indoctrinated by our sire that he wouldn't recognize his own fated mate if the man was standing right in front of him. My brother would never know the love and wholeness of that bond, and even now, two hundred years after I'd failed to save him, I was swamped by guilt.
I should have tried harder.
"We won't let anything happen to your family," Ben reassured me, squeezing my shoulder. "I can stay as long as you need me-until the child is born if you'd like-and Ivan will not get past the two of us."
"Three of us," Dane said. "I don't really want to be away from Wesley that long, but if we can't convince Ivan to leave you alone, I'll stay, too."
"If we truly can't convince Ivan to leave you alone, we'll need to decide what to do about him," Ben added. "In the end, the dragons that my ata fought could not be reasoned with."
"He killed them?" Dane asked, wincing. It was hard to kill a dragon, but Dane had done it, once.
"He killed two of them," Ben said, his face full of regret at the necessity. "And then the others left."
"No one is going to kill Ivan," I said forcefully.
"If he won't leave-" Ben started to say, frowning.
"No!" When Ivan had threatened Devin, I'd wanted to kill him myself-but when he'd stood before me on the beach in pain, my first instinct had been to ease it. Not that he'd welcomed my help, or even wanted it-and of course I would protect my family first-but no matter what else he was, Ivan was still my family, too.
Even if I had failed him when he was born.
"He's still my brother," I said. "We'll find another way."
Ben held my gaze steadily, then finally gave a sharp nod. "He's family," he agreed. "We'll find another way."
We talked long into the night, and when the moon finally rose I headed back to the house. Ben was going to fly to the mainland in the morning and find Ivan. He wouldn't confront him, just keep an eye on him … for now. Dane would stay here on the island, and he and I would trade off patrolling the rocky perimeter in case Ivan came back without Ben having a chance to warn us.
Devin was asleep when I crawled into bed and pulled him against me. I didn't need anything from him, I just wanted to hold him. I just needed to know that he was safe.
My cock, though, had other ideas.
As soon as he was nestled against me, the feel of all that warm, smooth skin started to work its magic on me. He fit against me perfectly, and even though I knew he needed his rest I couldn't stop myself from growing hard when he wiggled his ass against me in his sleep.
My hands started moving of their own accord, sliding up his sides, curving around the roundness of his stomach, traveling up to graze his sensitive nipples.
"Maks," he breathed, not quite awake.
He arched back against me, and I couldn't resist nuzzling his neck. Licking at that spot that always got me, the soft vein that fluttered at the base of his throat when he got excited. I pressed my tongue against it, groaning a little when I felt his pulse start to race. Sucking on it when he reached a hand around and pulled me against him tighter.
"Oh, God," he moaned softly, grinding against me slowly. "This is what I need, Maks. Please … ."
I didn't need much convincing, but then I remembered what had happened earlier and I forced myself to stop moving against him. I put my hand on his hips and pushed him away, putting a little space between us.
"The baby," I reminded him. "It moved today. Dev, I don't know if it's safe."
"It's safe," he said firmly. "Fuck me, Maks. Do it."
I bit back a smile at my little mate getting all forceful. Sometimes I found it hard to believe he'd said no to me for so long, back when he'd been married to Sarah. Now that I'd claimed him he was … always eager.
"It's fine, Maks," he insisted now, wiggling his ass back toward me again. "I asked Wes."
"You what?" I started laughing. Even in the dark, I could feel his skin warm as he full-body blushed.
"Just do it already, Maks," he said bossily, rubbing himself against me. "Please. I need to feel you inside me."
I needed the same thing, and I decided to trust him on this.
Every time I fucked him, I was blown away by how utterly right it felt. He was my fated mate, and being inside him was better than anything I'd experienced in the two hundred years before him. His tight heat had been made just for me, and right now I wanted nothing more than to lose myself in it. I spit on my hand, rubbing it against his tight little pucker.
"I don't need that," he panted impatiently. "I just need you. Fuck me, Maks. Please."
I lined myself up and pushed inside him, my fingers tightening on his hips as I thrust all the way home. It felt fucking incredible, and I opened myself up to our bond, letting him feel exactly how good his snug ass felt around my cock.
"God," he gasped. "More."
He didn't wait for me to give him what he wanted, but started thrusting his ass back against me, sliding himself up and down my throbbing length. He angled himself so that I hit his prostate, and I felt his body shudder at the same moment that our bond let me feel the delicious tension move through him.
I wanted to give him more of that, and I knew what he needed. He wasn't shy, but he liked it when he didn't have to ask. I couldn't roll him onto his stomach, so I put a heavy hand on his hip to hold him down and started fucking him hard and fast, driving into his sweet little ass like a piston.