#6 Sex Magic & Dragon Fire

Isandra POv

The gardens of Gravemire were… beautiful. In the "I could die here and it would smell nice" kind of way.

Vines twisted around ancient arches. Flowers glowed in strange, soft pulses. A stone fountain in the center poured silver water, and enchanted butterflies the size of my hand flitted through the air like they were high on glitter and chaos.

Lila danced ahead of me, practically skipping between rosebushes and carnivorous shrubs. "Okay! So this one.." she pointed to a cluster of blood red flowers with teeth in the petals, "...will absolutely melt your tongue off. Don’t sniff it."

“Got it. Death flower. Check.” I made a note in the little journal I’d summoned from my N.O.V.A. this morning.

It even had a sparkly pen. Gods help me, I loved it.

"That one?" Lila gestured to a blue mossy patch. "Harmless! But if you step on it, it sings folk songs from the Underrealm for, like, hours."

“Terrifying.”

“It has a banjo,” she added.

I stared at her.

She giggled. “You’ll love it.”

We wandered deeper into the garden path, laughing and poking at things we probably shouldn’t. I was mid sentence, talking about how pretty the moonflowers were, when goosebumps raced down my arms.

I froze. Heat pulsed through my chest. Then lower. Much lower. “Uhhh…”

My thighs clenched. My heart skipped. I started sweating, instantly, as though someone had set my blood on low boil. “Lila…” I whispered, eyes wide, “I think something’s… wrong with me...”

Lila spun around, her entire face twisting into a glower.

“Oh HELL no.” She snapped her head toward the garden wall. There, leaning lazily against the stone like he wasn’t the literal cause of my meltdown, stood the sex demon himself.

Tall. Smirking. His black hair glinting in the sunlight. Wings tucked back like temptation incarnate. Horns like obsidian blades.

“You,” Lila snarled, pointing a finger at him like she was about to smite his ass. "Keep your sex magic bullshit to yourself, demon!"

The incubus just chuckled darkly, the sound sliding down my spine like velvet and sin. He didn’t even speak, just watched me. His eyes glowed. Blue and dangerous. Too pretty to be legal.

I flipped him off with shaking fingers. He winked.

“Motherfucker,” I hissed and grabbed Lila’s arm, storming out of the garden like my panties weren’t trying to commit treason.

“Gods,” I panted as we reached the front hall. “What the fuck was that?!”

“Incubus,” Lila said matter of factly. “They ooze lust. It’s literally how they eat. You looked like you were about to climb him like a tree.”

I slapped my hands over my face and groaned. “I feel violated.”

She laughed and hugged me tight. “Welcome to Gravemire. Get used to it.”

We split paths a moment later, promising to meet for dinner. I needed water. Or maybe a cold shower. Or possibly a priest.

I tried walking back to my suite without using the N.O.V.A.

Tried. Ten minutes later I was hopelessly lost, irritated as hell, and growling under my breath as I passed the same statue for the third damn time.

“Stupid hallways. Stupid sexy demons. Stupid castle with its smug glowing doors...”

I finally caved, ripped my N.O.V.A. out of my bag, and groaned. “How. Am I all the way in dragon boy territory?!”

“Because your internal compass is ass,” Gen replied helpfully. I flipped her off too. Growling, I stalked back toward the main staircase, rounding a sharp corner, muttering obscenities, and slammed to a stop.

Standing there like he owned the godsdamn world was a 6'6" walking wet dream. Gleaming green dragon scales shimmered over his tan arms and neck, catching the light like armor. He turned towards me. Holy. Shit. He had shoulder length dirty blonde hair, messy and wild. Golden eyes that glinted like treasure. Blonde stubble. A strong jaw. Cheekbones that could cut stone. And a body carved by war and vanity both.

His gaze locked on me, and suddenly his pupils slit into dragon form for just a second. Nope. I’m dead. Goodbye.

It was gone before I could blink, but it was enough to make my brain short circuit. He sneered. “What the fuck are you doing in my hallway, first year?”

I crossed my arms and snapped, “I got lost, dragon boy. Big deal. Piss off.” His golden eyes flashed dangerously. The temperature spiked. The air went thick and hot like the sun had leaned in for a better look. He moved in a blink.

Pressed me hard against the wall, his hand braced beside my head, towering over me.

“RUDE.” Gen howled in my brain. “SO RUDE AND YET I’M AROUSED.”

I could barely breathe. He leaned in, way too close, his warm breath skating across my neck. And then, he sniffed me. Slowly. Deeply. Right at my pulse point.

I whimpered. WHIMPERED. He let out a low groan. Like he’d just tasted something forbidden. Something addictive.

And then he was gone. Just turned and stalked away, boots slamming the stone like thunder. I stood there, gasping. “What the actual flaming fuck was that?!”

I didn’t wait for an answer. I ran. Full speed. My boots hitting the stone as I bolted back to my tower suite like it might disappear if I didn’t get there fast enough.

I threw myself on the bed and lay there panting, flushed, sweating, and horrifically aroused. My body felt like it had been struck by lightning, again. My skin still tingled where his breath had touched me. My thighs were clenched so tight it hurt. And my brain was screaming.

“Okay,” I gasped. “What. Is. Happening.”

“Dragon,” Gen whispered, half dreamy, half panicked.

“Big dragon energy. That man is made of fire and sins I want to commit.”

I slapped a pillow over my face and screamed into it.

Because honestly?

Same.