The Dragon King's Shaman

Pandora's box

Avery

That kiss had flamed through me, setting my body alight. Areas I assumed were long dead and out of business were all setting out their welcome boards.

I’d just been thinking about some of the horrible things that happened with Kai when Erik wiped it all away with one swipe. I was supposed to be guarding my heart. What was he doing to me?

Barely a drop of romantic interest for years, despite being surrounded by excellent male specimens. Even Alec’s ‘Abs leader board’ from our diet-coke breaks felt like clinical evaluation. Desire was a foreign emotion to me. Even in the early days when Kai reeled me in, I hadn’t felt a fraction of this need. But Erik took a wrecking ball to my walls and my good sense. It must be the mate bond because here I was patting the bed, inviting him into the bedroom.

He looked undecided in the doorway. The kiss was passionate enough to tell me it wasn’t lack of desire making him pause. I saw the moment his internal warring gave way.

He sat down next to me, staring at his hands. “Avery, listen. I don’t want you to feel unsafe. I need you to tell me if anything’s too much.”

“I don’t really know, Erik. I know I enjoyed kissing you very much.”

He smiled at me, and his face lit up. He looked impossibly gorgeous, with his hair a bit mussed up and his lips puffy from making out like teenagers.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said.

The reverence in his voice undid me, and I closed the gap, meeting his lips again.

He gave a surprised grunt, then joined in enthusiastically, his gigantic hands sliding back into my hair and holding me like something precious. His tongue swirled into my mouth, and I let out a moan. Heat buzzed through me. My core ached with unfamiliar sensations, and tingles chased through my whole body. His skin felt so warm underneath my palms. I stroked his arms. They were so muscular. My hands trailed down his torso to those hard planes of muscle I knew were there. I toyed with the hem of his t-shirt.

“Avery.” My name rumbled from deep inside him. A warning.

It wasn’t wise to push him, but I wanted to. I wanted to feel alive again. This gorgeous man was supposed to be mine, and right now, everything felt so right. I took the plunge and pulled his top up. He lifted his arms and broke our kiss. He looked even more mussed up now, his gorgeous chest on display. My eyes ate up the sight in front of me. His chest displayed a huge tattoo of his majestic dragon. The hard planes of muscle I’d tried not to look at when he was training seemed sharper up close. My breathing hitched, and my heart pounded.

My gaze flickered back to his face, his pupils full black now. A shiver of boldness went through me, and I gripped the hem of my top, pulling it off. A shudder ran through his body, and his breath stuttered in his lungs as his eyes caressed me with their heat. I flushed when I realised I was wearing an old, slightly grey bra.

Great Avery, D minus in seduction.

Erik’s eyes drifted to my n*****s that were practically waving at him. He brought his hand up slowly. Gratitude for his consideration flooded me. I took the plunge and removed the ugly bra. This time he groaned, and his hand advanced quicker, his large palm engulfing my small breast. To be touched with such reverence undid me further. I arched into his hand. It felt wonderful. I felt feverish and unlike myself. His lips found mine again urgently, fingers tweaking at my n*****s, causing more heat to pool. His lips trailed down my jaw onto my neck. Open-mouthed kisses that caused me to moan as his skilled hands kneeded my breasts.

“Stunning.” His tone was still rumbly and guttural. It sent shivers down my spine.

His weight pushed me gently down into the bed, all the while peppering kisses down my chest. Erik paused, pulling a n****e into his scorching mouth, and I arched off the bed. Gentle but firm hands explored my skin, leaving blazing heat in their wake. I explored his warm skin. The feeling of it against mine caused my hands to ache. The sensations grew. He was everywhere on top of me, his lips so warm, hands pulling at my zipper, then a ripping noise.

Cold water flooded me. The pressure on my waistband. I didn’t want this. He had to stop. Breath hyperventilated out of my lungs. Everything was closing in me.

“No, no, please.” I thrashed and pushed.

A sob left me. He was stronger than me. I couldn’t stop him; I couldn’t stop it. Pain tore through my chest. I couldn’t get enough air.

“Avery, Avery!” The room flooded with light. “Avery sweetheart, it’s okay, it’s me, Erik. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

I focused on his face. He looked devastated, his hands out in front of him like I was a wild animal. It wasn’t Kai; it was Erik. We’d been… Oh God! I curled into a ball and broke down in tears.

“Hey, hey, come here.” Erik gently touched my shoulder, and I jumped.

The sobs tore through me. I’d ruined it. I was back there for a moment.

You’re so useless.

“I-I’m sorry,” I choked out.

Erik gathered me into him, his scorching upper body pressed against mine. How had I mistaken him? Mistaken the comfort I felt being close to his body. That scum is still there in my mind! I was so damaged and broken.

“You aren’t broken,” Erik said, kissing my hair and rocking me in his lap, which made me cry harder. “Shhhh. I’ve got you. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I went too fast. I wanted you too much. I’m sorry.”

His apologies destroyed me. He shouldn’t have to apologise. I wanted it too, but that poisonous snake slunk back in. We laid like that for a while. I cried, and Erik rocked me. Eventually, the rivers ran dry, and a headache formed behind my eyes. I must have looked terrible, even less sexy than that old bra.

Erik wiped my tears and snot away with a tissue. Gross. He pulled his t-shirt over my head, and I felt less exposed.

“Can you think of what specifically triggered it? I never want to upset you again.” His voice was strained.

Why had it happened?

“It was the ripping sound, I think. He used to… to rip my clothes. In the early days when he let me wear them.”

A plume of smoke shot out of Erik’s nostrils, and I coughed.

“I’m sorry.” His voice was deeper, and when I looked at him, I jolted as the bright green, reptilian, slitted eyes of his dragon stared back at me.

“I will rip him apart for what he did, my mate.” His grumbly, guttural voice sounded like rocks blasted by fire.

It should have terrified me more than the flashback, but strangely, it comforted me. I’d never had someone to chase the nightmares away before. To defend me in the way I knew Erik would.

“Thank you,” I said, burrowing into him.

I didn’t deserve him. I felt like I’d run a marathon. Erik adjusted us so I could lie on my side, and he curled around me like a massive body pillow. I relaxed into his powerful frame, and with his steely protection at my back, I let myself go.