Chapter Six

‘Over the river and through the woods’ kept running through her mind, although she knew damned good and well they weren’t headed to Grandma’s house. Fighting the continual waves crashing into her brain, threatening her very consciousness, Willa finally gave up the fight, sinking into the painless darkness, welcoming the respite like an old friend.

But that was not to be…

Inundated with memories that were not her own, thrown into a world she didn’t recognize or understand, Willa had no choice but to ride the waves of Asher’s addled mind. Churning darkness, bolts of angry, red lightning, and splashes of deep crimson blood streaked the canvas of her mind. Rage, the need to break free, to flay the skin from the faces gawking at him seethed and swarmed, a living being seeking vengeance within her as she relived Asher’s persecution from his perspective, not a passive bystander.

The White Coats, as he thought of them, were back. Dark eyes gawking through clear plastic safety glasses over mask-covered mouths chatted back and forth, their clinical observations unfeeling and coarse. They treated him as an inanimate object, unable to hear, to speak…to feel. Theirs to toy with, to abuse, to experiment on until the day came that they pushed him too far and he finally, blessedly made his way into the Heavens. 

The sizzling sound of bacon frying in an iron skillet and the stench of burning meat filled the room as the silver they used to subdue him ate away at his flesh. Over the years, the White Coats had tried various pills, injections and even gases to subjugate him, only to find that his incredible metabolism shredded all modern medicines.

Vivid recollections of the White Coats he’d massacred, the images of their broken corpses littering the observation rooms, their blood covering the stark white ceilings, walls and floors brought an evil grin to his lips. It gave him the strength to push past the pain of the silver barbs of the leather band around his neck and take a much-needed breath. If he could, Asher would’ve chuckled as he saw the Taser in one of the technician’s pockets when the woman slightly turned and laid her clipboard on a nearby table. It was a damn shame they’d finally found a high enough voltage to take him down because the Dragon’s taste for vengeance grew with every beat of his heart.

The beep and hiss of machines attached to his body by wires and electrodes created a macabre syncopation that made the hair at the nape of his neck stand on end. Cold rubber on his skin preceded the nasty bite of alcohol right before the woman slid a needle into his arm, slowly depressing the plunger, delivering an olive-green, murky solution into his vein.

Calling upon Solveig, the Dragon King with whom he shared his soul, Asher welcomed the influx of warm healing magic bathing his body. Adding as much of the mysticism of his heritage as he could summon, all he could do was wait and see and pray that it was enough to ebb the misery he knew was coming.

Tick! Tick! Tick! The large, black and white, institutional clock on the wall marked the time. It’s red second hand counting down the seconds as if it were the timer on a bomb.

The White Coats stared with rapt attention, their pens poised above their charts, their anticipation of his impending suffering palpable. Revulsion and animosity mixed with the adrenaline from Solveig’s rage. Asher’s muscles flexed and bulged, the force of the motion so strong that the thin cotton of the scrub pants he’d been wearing for months ripped from crotch to hem down both legs.

Trying to remain calm to allow the Berserker to come forth, Asher panted through gritted teeth. In his reflection in the stainless-steel light above his head he could see the ruby scales of his Dragon slowly covering the backs of his hands.

“Come Solveig. Let the Wild Warrior free. Tear these bastards limb from limb. Feed on their entrails. Make them pay.”

But it wasn’t enough.

It started with a prick, no more than a nuisance where the needle had pierced his skin, but that was just the prelude. All too soon his every nerve began to throb, rippling spasms made his hands involuntarily curl into his arms and his toes to fold into the balls of his feet. Biting the silver bit in his mouth he heard the crunch of breaking teeth and the snap of his jaw bone, but still they fought. Asher and Solveig attacked, refusing to give in to the inhumane cruelty for the White Coats pleasure.

Gradually spreading over his entire body, the slithering of its spiny tentacles leaving a trail of misery in their wake, the drugs finally took root in the pit of his stomach and large muscles of his thighs. Cramps and progressive nausea racked his body. Waves of bile, acidic and vile, rose in his throat, refusing to be dissuaded as they spewed from his mouth, down his chin and onto his chest.

Uncontrollable itching, like an entire colony of fire ants nipping at every inch of exposed skin proceeded thousands upon thousands of angry, festering welts popping up like bright red balls upon his skin, growing so quickly that within seconds they were exploding with a caustic phlegm that stung his open wounds. Hours later, weak, still shaking, cold sweat covering his body, his dry, swollen tongue stuck to the silver bit, Asher watched the White Coats exit the room, smiling at the results of their concoctions, already discussing what was to come.

Gagging, crying, unable to catch her breath, Willa forced her eyes open, rolled to her knees and sprung to her feet. Spinning one way and then the other, she pushed her tangled locks from her face and swiped the spittle from her lips with the back of her hand.

“Where am I?” Her voice was ragged, gravely, evidence that she’d been screaming in her sleep. “My dream? No,” she shook her head, stopping as her eyes found Asher. “His nightmares, the truth of his reality.”

Closing the distance between them, she knelt at his side, trying not to gasp when she saw blood still steadily dripping from his wrist. Sitting down, she gripped the bottom of her long, full-length skirt with both hands, ripping several strips from the hem. Gently lifting his arm onto her lap, she examined the mutilated muscle, bone and tendon of his wrist. Leaning in, her brain refusing to accept what she saw, Willa sat back, looked at Asher’s ruggedly handsome face and mumbled, “How could you…” Taking another deep breath as a single tear slid down her cheek, she tried again. “You chewed off your own hand to escape? To get to me?”

With her gaze returning to his injury, she laid a tender kiss upon the skin above his wound before sitting up and retrieving a strip of fabric from her lap. Wrapping the cloth around the stub of his arm just as her Grandpa had taught her, she quickly bandaged his wrist, refusing to think about the agony he must have suffered.

With a mere thought, she banished the silver shackle and chain still attached to his right hand before tying off the ends of the last piece into a tight knot, she looked at her handiwork and mumbled, “Not bad, if I do say so myself. We’re gonna need to get that cleaned and rebandaged as soon as possible. Some peroxide would be nice. Wonder if there’s a drug store nearby.”

Grumbling a mixture of Gaelic and English that made her heart clench and tears return to her eyes, Asher’s head thrashed from side to side as his good hand reached for her. “Shábháil dom mo maité. Willa, where are you? Willa, i gá duit.”

Never one for languages, Willa thanked her Granny for making her at least learn a bit of what Eleanor called her ‘mother tongue’ Willa leaned forward, laid her lips to Asher’s forehead and whispered with as much reassurance as she could, “I’m here now. I don’t know if I can save you, but I promise I’ll never leave you.”

Unable to stop the tears from streaming down her face, the images from her Dragon’s horrific memories flowing on a constant loop, center stage in her consciousness, she searched through what she’d seen for any indication of the identity of the evil scientists. Completely consumed with finding any clue to who they were or their whereabouts, she was completely unprepared, squealing aloud when Asher’s arms came around her waist, and pulled her onto his lap.

Her butt had barely made contact with his thighs before his lips slammed into hers, demanding entrance. Arousal thickened in her blood, growing with every swipe of his tongue and touch of his hand on her body.

Whimpering with need, the satin of her bra teasing her hard nipples as his injured arm pulled her tighter against his bare chest, her nails scored his back as he delved deeper into her, fanning the flames of desire with his bold moves and unabashed desire.

Straddling his lap, Willa gasped into their kiss as Asher rolled his hips, his cotton-covered erection bumping her clit, making it throb with her need to come. Her panties were soaked. Her body shook with the need to be one with her Dragon. Raking her nails down his back, she dug her fingers into the taut muscles of his ass, keeping his where she needed him most, thrusting her hips against him, racing to the first orgasm of her life.

Reading her mind, Asher pushed his hand between their bodies, pushing down his pants and slipping under her shortened skirt in one fluid motion. Fisting the crotch of her panties as he tore his lips from hers, he ripped the fabric from her body and slid his cock into her pussy.

Screaming as the divine sensation of pain and pleasure coursed through her body, Willa’s eyes met Asher’s. Clear for the first time since she’d first found him in her mind, the clouds of the Madness perching at the edge, waiting to take him back, but that precious moment in time, he was with her in body, heart and mind.

Refusing to stay still, Willa dug her knees into the dirt and rocks on the floor of the cave, lifted her hips until only the head of his cock remained in her body and after a single heartbeat, slid back down her Dragon’s erection with the determination to bring them both to climax as soon as possible. Groaning with ecstasy, the fingers of his good hand digging into her hip, his other still wrapped around her waist, Asher’s hips rose to meet hers, driving even deeper than the first time, making Willa wild with desire.

Over and over, up and down, deeper and deeper, she could feel him everywhere. He filled her completely, the walls of her pussy stretching, massaging his throbbing cock, forcing them both to let go and fly.

A twinkle in his amber eyes was the only warning Willa got before Asher pulled her closer, slid his back down the wall and thrust into her with the raw power of both man and Dragon. Somehow, he knew exactly what she needed, even before she did. Their change in position caused the base of his cock to rub her swollen clit and his entire length to tease her g-spot.

No longer able to hold back, Willa gave one final thrust, tightened her muscles around Asher’s erection and threw back her head, screams of her release echoing off the stone walls of the cavern. Roaring his release just seconds after hers, he emptied himself into her quivering sex, triggering her second orgasm before the first was complete.

Fighting to open her eyes as Asher’s movements slowed as his grip on her hip loosened, Willa’s eyelids finally raised and what she saw stopped her heart in its tracks. There he was, the wild man from her visions, the Dragon who’d ripped off his own hand and absconded with her like a thief in the night, a contented smile on his face and love in his eyes.

Laying on his chest, their bodies still intertwined, Willa laid butterfly kisses on his heated flesh as she chuckled. “Mars always said that one day my mouth was gonna write checks my ass couldn’t cash.” Loving the feel of his injured arm languidly rubbing up and down her back, she sighed, “But what a way to go.”