Sorcha's Heart Read Online Free

glade with its alluring aroma of food. Twice more she circled the clearing, human mores fighting dragon hunger. At length she landed, stifled her ingrained scruples, and allowed new instincts to govern her actions. A cat-like pounce landed her on the broken body of the white-faced black bull. Powerful jaws ripped through tough hide and tore muscle mass from bone and sinew. Purposefully not thinking, she devoured the meat, slaked her thirst in blood, and felt the agony in her belly extinguish under the nourishing onslaught.
    Hunger assuaged, she raised her head and watched Caedyrn demolish his meal. Efficient, like those long-ago raptors — not a sliver of flesh remained on the skeleton when he sat back and crunched a single bone he’d selected with care. Compared to Caedyrn’s carefully piled stack of bones, the remains of her meal were a disaster. She looked away, preferring not to revisit the scene of carnage. The devastated carcass with its twisted mass of bone and sinew opened the way for too many disturbing thoughts.
    Caedyrn seemed to sense the burgeoning attack of scruples, for he chose a bone from his own stash and pushed it toward her with his snout. “Relax. Chew a bone,” he said. “It’s good for your teeth, and it makes a nice finish to a feast.”
    Sorcha’s heart skipped a beat as his flaming red gaze met her own. A new hunger sparked, one that had nothing to do with the needs of her stomach. Human dignity fought for control, but this new hunger spread like a wildfire, and with soul-scorching intensity. She stared at the virile black dragon and her over-full belly threatened to rebel. No, absolutely not. She refused to desire a dragon.
    Masculine scent tempted her nostrils; she turned away, concentrated on the bone he’d given her to chew. Her tongue wrapped its length, and her loins clenched, provoking a wave of fire to race through her extremities. She closed her eyes, but images of the massive red-eyed demon haunted her.
    She couldn’t mate with her enemy. She wouldn’t lust after a nonhuman male, no matter how attractive, how strong, how muscular, how...perfect he was.
    Gods and goddesses, she didn’t seem to care about his species, or her own! She burned to join with him, to absorb his thrusts in her own cushioning softness. Enemy — mentor — lover. Transformation, indeed! She needed divine assistance to resist this beautiful male.
    A sudden, urgent need to fly seized her, and Sorcha withdrew from their link and threw herself into the cool evening sky.
    As her strong strokes carried her higher, she felt an insistent barrage of thoughts hammering against the barrier she’d erected. A bellow ripped the evening calm as Caedyrn launched himself into the wind. The intimacy they’d established allowed her to hear the overtones of confused impatience in his roar. Human shame and draconic desire fought for dominance as he caught up with her frantic flight.
    “ Land!”
    He didn’t wait for agreement, but shot above her and used his mass to force her to ground. She plummeted the last few feet and absorbed the impact with quivering joints. Caedyrn managed to land close beside rather than on top of her, but the distinction didn’t matter. Sorcha’s lust ripped open the mind-link and lashed Caedyrn with the full force of her desire.
    The black dragon turned his head and observed her through partially closed eyes. He stroked her back with the tip of his wing, a soothing hum issuing from his throat. After a quiet moment he crooned, “Breathe easy, little wizard. There will be time for that when you’ve adjusted to your new form. Dragon mating is strenuous and not for the faint of heart.”
    Shame won its battle and flooded her soul with disgust. She’d always detested spilling her emotions, and this had been a torrential flood. Elspeth would be appalled. Her mother had given up so much to bring her into the world. She’d refused to give her up, as wizards who had children were expected to do, had