Fury of Desire Read Online Free PDF Page B

his brothers-in-arms too much to risk them in the pursuit of foolishness. Smart was always welcome. Dumb-ass stupid, however?
    Not so much.
    Which meant he couldn’t bust a move or go AWOL. Not with Venom and the rest of the boys flying in his wake. Wick ground his fangs together. Fuck him, but he wanted to make a break for it. Fly to his favorite spot deep inside Mount Rainier and curl up next to a river of lava flow while his comrades found suitable females and fed. He snorted in disgust. Droplets of magma swirled from his nostrils, ghosting over his horns as he shook his head. All hail his upbringing. Brutality at the hands of his captor had left him phobic, not wanting to be touched, never mind touch in return.
    A bad taste washed into his mouth. Wick swallowed, combating his unease. God. He was a pansy, a lily-livered chicken, for his aversion. Most males relished time with the opposite sex. Enjoyed the slap and tickle. Craved the contact and mutual pleasure. Not him. He dreaded it, feelinginadequate, unprepared, unable to give the bliss-fueled ecstasy a female demanded while males of his kind fed. Shit. He didn’t even know what that meant. Had never experienced true pleasure, never mind provided any for another living soul.
    Too bad compulsion and hunger didn’t care.
    He was a slave to his nature and the energy his kind needed to survive. The Goddess of All Things had seen to that, cursing his race long ago. Some said she’d cast the spell to exact revenge. Others thought her methods a judicial righting of wrongs. Wick didn’t give a shit either way. All he cared about was the outcome, and Dragonkind’s utter dependence on human females—to not only procreate but also connect to the Meridian, the electrostatic current that fed his kind. Ringing the planet, the energy source nurtured plant and animal alike. The process was an automatic one for all living things, with the exception of Dragonkind. Thanks to the goddess—and her colossal snit—the direct link between the Meridian and his kind lay shattered. Now, a male needed a female to survive. Which entailed connecting to the Meridian’s energy stream through her. Getting up close and personal, so close skin touched skin and…
    Wick stifled a shiver. Brutal punishment with sharp teeth and a big-ass bite. Unfair? Without question. Too bad
fair
had nothing to do with it. Silfer the dragon god had screwed up, pissing off the wrong deity with his cheating ways. Now all of Dragonkind suffered for his stupidity. Which sucked, but hey…
    It was what it
was.
Flip the dossier closed. File it under Fucked Up and get on with it.
    Good strategy. The best, really… logical, straightforward, precise. Too bad none of that helped him. He couldn’tquell the dread. Or turn off his brain as he lined up his approach, gliding over building tops and the avenue below. Cloaked by an invisibility spell, he scanned the city streets. Seattle was busy tonight. Humans were everywhere, huddled into their coats, collars turned up, hands jammed in pockets, the fast click of high heels echoing as they hustled along sidewalks. Music drifted, thumping bass rolling out of nightclubs, enticing males and females out of taxicabs, toward neon signs and closed doors.
    Another Friday night. Same outcome.
    Humans liked to party. The faint smell of alcohol and perfume told him the scene was in full swing. Good for Venom. Not so great for him. It meant there would be lots to choose from, and more action than he could handle.
    The thought cranked Wick one notch tighter. He didn’t want to do it. Then again, he never did. The brush of strange hands against his body—the unpleasant rush of sensation—made him cringe and curl inward, away from the prickling pain of overload. Away from bone-bending pressure and the mind-warping hunger that shoved him to the edge of endurance, messing with his control.
    Fight or flight.
    An instinctive response, nature’s own and one Wick couldn’t avoid. Not that he