The Brotherhood 3: The Dragon's Tongue Read online

  Praise for the writing of Willa Okati

  The Brotherhood: Amour Magique

  What an intriguing story to start a series with! Ms. Okati has come up with a novel idea of an incubus who needs friends and wants to help them. But I’m not surprised, her stories are always creative and unique. I can’t wait for the next book.

  -- Joyfully Reviewed

  With a unique plot and a host of sexy characters, The Brotherhood: Amour Magique is a winner... From humor to intrigue, to sexual sophistication, this is a first-class read.

  -- Nancy Jackson, Coffee Time Romance

  The Finest Line 1: The Sighting

  Cleverly written, with plenty of witty charm, readers will enjoy the first installment of The Finest Line series, The Sighting.

  -- Patricia Green, Romance Reviews Today

  Steamy and soul-stirring, The Sighting chronicles the ebb and flow of the relationships of at least two couples and takes readers along on their struggles. Betrayal and malice also make an appearance, making The Sighting a suspenseful read.

  -- Michelle, Fallen Angel Reviews

  Amour Magique andThe Sighting are now available from Loose Id.

  THE BROTHERHOOD 3:

  THE DRAGON’S TONGUE

  Willa Okati

  www.loose-id.com

  Warning

  This e-book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and may be considered offensive to some readers. Loose Id e-books are for sale to adults ONLY, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.

  * * * * *

  This book is rated:

  For substantial explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable (homoerotic sex).

  The Brotherhood 3: The Dragon’s Tongue

  Willa Okati

  This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Published by

  Loose Id LLC

  1802 N Carson Street, Suite 212-29

  Carson City NV 89701-1215

  www.loose-id.com

  Copyright © January 2006 by Willa Okati

  All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared in any form, including, but not limited to printing, photocopying, faxing, or emailing without prior written permission from Loose Id LLC.

  ISBN 1-59632-220-9

  Available in Adobe PDF, HTML, MobiPocket, and MS Reader

  Printed in the United States of America

  Editor: Olivia Wong

  Cover Artist: Sinamin

  Dedication

  To A.D., now and forever my Muse.

  Prologue

  Dreams are strange and frightening creatures. Far more alive than one might think. The night mare is a true beast, thundering through the heads of those who have never lived, those unable to ever die, and everyone caught in between.

  Not a horse -- or not just a horse. The night mare takes the shape which pleases it best. She can be a he, a they, a we, an it, a legion. A stallion or a dragon or a snake. The form chosen always reflects her prey’s darkest fears.

  She is a true predator, knowing exactly where to strike. Never a killing blow, of course, but a scratch infused with poison. Toxins designed to linger and haunt even in the waking world.

  And contrary to common lore, the dream beast also has particular favorites, one of whom was Collin, by day a stockbroker and by night, in secret, a member of the idiot incubus Liam’s “Brotherhood.” The night mare despised Liam. He continued to steal all her best toys, and she could do nothing to stop him.

  Therefore, while it lasted, she would enjoy what time she had remaining.

  Collin, alone in his bed, was her target of the moment. He hated dreams. Beneath his carefully polished surface, the wreckage of his mind was more to the night mare’s taste than a field of charred wheat stalks.

  Such a host of bad memories to draw from!

  The night mare keened into the chilly night as she touched his mind.

  Think back, Collin. Far back as you can. Remember being happy.

  Yes. There.

  “Tell me, if you can. Is there anything better than lying here, together, on a day like this?”

  Toss. Turn. Shift. Remember ...

  “Not all businessmen are born with sticks up their asses, Collin.”

  “Mmm.” Collin rolled to his left, nuzzling a messy kiss into his lover’s sweat-damp ribs. “Fortunately, the men I think worth getting to know like having other things inserted there.” He trailed the tip of his tongue across the length of a long bone. “Deeply, wetly, forcefully inserted.”

  He ran a hand down his own chest, imagining that the broad swathe of sunlight they lay in soaked into his muscles. Feeding the fire that burned inside him. The fire he shared with the ones he chose to fuck. A lust for life, a taste for sex, and power to reach out and take whatever he wanted. Whoever he desired.

  Once upon a time.

  Moan. Cry out. Whimper in your sleep, little man.

  Collin made a point of several things when it came to his love life.

  Play hard to get so they come running.

  Be a mystery no one can resist trying to figure out.

  Decide who and what he wanted in his own time, and run his prey to ground.

  Drink deep of all his chosen partners had to offer, then leave them dry while they still loved him. Still wanted more.

  Never go back. Never walk into a trap. Never get tied down.

  He lived his life by those rules.

  Not anymore.

  Turn. Thrash.

  Another memory ...

  Collin stretched, basking in the light and heat.

  “Prick,” his lover grumbled. “Here I am perishing from the heat, and you? You’re like a lizard basking on a rock.”

  “Lizard? I’d say a snake. A python. How about a dragon? I could do a dragon.” Collin raised his hips and ran a hand down his own body, loosely circling his cock. He’d been erect and ready for a while now, but felt lazy in the warmth of the day.

  Anticipation always made arousal sweeter.

  “Maybe I just want to play by myself. I know what gets me off better than you do.”

  “Yeah, right, Collin. Which would be why you brought me out here, to watch you jack off in a sunbeam?”

  “Could be.” Collin’s lips curved. He pumped his cock once, squeezing the bulbous tip. “I know what I like best.”

  “I don’t?”

  “Did I say so?”

  His partner flopped down in mock despair, a damp mane of cropped curls tumbling over Collin’s thigh. “You’ll drive me crazy. You know it, don’t you? It’s what you want.”

  “Now you’re getting the idea.”

  The man grabbed Collin by the waist and burrowed his mouth into Collin’s taut belly, nipping and licking away the beads of sweat gathered there. Together, they wrestled, lazy and playful at once.

  Toss. Twist. Writhe.

  “I’m a man of discriminating taste.” Collin’s partner-of-the-moment wiggled closer still. “Now, will you lie still and let me do what I’ve come for?”

  “Maybe.” Collin ran his hand through the man’s hair. “Let me think about your offer.” Idly, he stroked his own cock, flush and hard against his stomach. It spasmed unde
r his touch, wanting more attention than a mere lazy brush of fingers.

  “You’re fooling no one, you know.”

  “No? Then suck me off already.” Collin gave his partner’s head a careless shove and laughed to see him pout.

  Roll. Curl into a ball. Try to hide.

  Fail.

  Have another taste.

  Collin’s hips bucked up as his lover bit at the underside of his cock. The man took it all in stride, moving with Collin’s body to knead his hips with his hands.

  “Yeah. Yeah, just like that,” Collin mumbled. “Quick, before we get caught. C’mon, hurry, hurry, hurry -- God!”

  “God isn’t part of this,” his lover said in a voice like crunching gravel. “Are you?”

  Now for the best part: memory given a twist, a taste of the night mare’s teeth ...

  “What?”

  Collin’s lover crawled off him and unfolded upright, standing tall. Taller than his inches. Stretching, growing thinner, until his head hit the sky and blocked out the sun. The world went dark around them, black and cold, while the man -- man? -- cackled.

  An icy finger reached down to cut a scratch across Collin’s chest, nipple to nipple. Collin couldn’t see how badly he’d been wounded, not in the pitch black, but he could feel abundant pain. He screamed despite himself.

  “Idiot,” his lover’s strange new voice rasped. “You let yourself trust me. Let yourself believe in love.”

  Collin struggled upright, cock forgotten, erection shriveling. They no longer mattered. The darkness and cold did. “Give me back the sun!”

  “No. It’s mine.” The monster giggled, utterly insane. “Now, what do we do with you?”

  Collin scrambled backwards. The ground gave way beneath him, soft as jelly. His feet stuck, leaving him trapped. “Don’t!”

  “I already have. And I think I know what I’d like to do next ...”

  Collin began to shake, terror and bitter cold snaking into his bones. He stared at the utter blackness that had been a blue sky, frantic for any sign of his lover left in the beast.

  “This will teach you to trust.”

  A brief second -- a whoosh of frigid air as the monster struck -- and Collin screamed again, rough and ragged, while sharp teeth tore into the meat of his belly. Over and over again, his voice a high wail as the monster devoured his guts, his heart, his cock -- and laughed all the while.

  Laughed ...

  An echo of the night mare’s laugh. She arched her neck, aiming for another, deeper bite --

  And went tumbling through what passed for air, legs splaying wildly as a newborn filly. She caught a single glimpse of twinned, snakelike eyes. Eyes made of fire.

  Heard a warning hissed that even she could not ignore:

  Leave him be.

  He is to be ours. We have chosen him.

  We. Us. His body and soul are our territory to claim.

  The night mare shook her mane. Who dares?!

  Wings of thinnest leather lashed about the night mare’s head, beating her softly, driving her far and away.

  Dragons, one of her enemies said, the word simple and final as death.

  Death to her favorite pastime. Her enjoyment of this man, this Collin.

  He belongs to us, the second being added. Be on your way, little monster.

  Four fangs flashed bright in the darkness.

  Run away.

  The night mare, gathering hooves beneath her, ran.

  Is he well? the first dragon asked of the second.

  He will be, in time. Better still when he comes to us. Tonight. Now wake, Collin, wake. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. A far better life than you have ever known ...

  Beep!

  Beep!

  Beep!

  Beep!

  Collin’s eyes snapped open as he took a ragged breath. The dark cool of predawn filled his bedroom. No sound but the alarm clock’s insistent shrilling and, underneath its noise, the whoosh of the central air set on fifty degrees. His body was covered with cold sweat, drying on his skin underneath the thin sheet he used in lieu of a duvet.

  No one lay in the bed with him. No one had in years, definitely not in this bed. The best money could buy. Collin didn’t get much sleep, but when he did, he wanted it to be worth his while. Scotch, tranquilizers, and a mattress so soft it had to be a sin. Everything designed to keep him too doped to dream.

  Unfortunately, none of it had ever worked.

  He always woke like that, having to remind himself that nightmares weren’t real. Manifestations of the subconscious. Old doubts and fears playing bogeyman in the mental killing fields. All they could do was lurk in the backs of men’s minds and slip out to taunt them when they tried to rest.

  They were weak. All it took to banish the visions was an alarm clock and the light of day.

  Cold light.

  Casual sex and sunny days were both long buried in Collin’s past, where they belonged. They’d taught him one thing, though, the most important lesson he’d ever learned: there is no such thing as trust or love.

  He lived by just the one rule, now.

  Collin blinked once, twice, and again. Ran a palm over his cheeks and chin, then with precise movements calmly turned off the alarm clock. He reached up to switch on a dim lamp.

  He sat up, gazing across the stark bedroom to where his chosen suit of the day waited for him, neatly laid out on a special rack. Gray as winter ice, thin as silk, cut to cold perfection.

  Time to begin another day in paradise. To spend the day in an iceberg of an office counting other men’s money, gloating over his own fat portfolio of riches, and turning down the rabble who begged for appeals he’d already denied once and would deny again.

  To them that had, more would be given. To them that had not, even more would be taken away. Such was the way of the world.

  It was the life he had chosen. His chance at power, grabbed up without regret or a single look behind.

  A day in a life where he never smiled or laughed, not at all.

  A life in the cold and the dark.

  Chapter One

  I’m a powerful man.

  People know better than to challenge me. Maybe it’s in my eyes. The way I dress. How I walk. A cold smirk when they want to be patted like puppies. I don’t put up with any bull. No flattery. No circular logic. I know what I want. I get it. Simple.

  No one stands in my way -- for long. If they know me, they know better.

  So, no one screws with me. Not anymore.

  Except Liam. Irritating little girly man.

  How did he get me to agree to this?

  I don’t do dance clubs. Especially gay dance clubs. I can just imagine what this Amour Magique looks like inside. Another noisy, sweaty, stinking warehouse. Bare walls, ugly floors. Glaring lights. Blinking strobes. Packed full of half-naked pretty boys just above jailbait age. Maybe. Everyone looking for boner inspiration and an easy lay.

  Some of them still naive enough to be here looking for love.

  Idiots.

  Whoever came up with the concept of “romance” should be shot. Repeatedly. If they’ve got any inner strength at all, people don’t need this thing they call love. Gay or straight, love is an unnecessary complication. Lust -- that’s better, more true to life, but it should be controlled all the same. If you let yourself be led around by the cock, you end up pussy-whipped.

  So to speak.

  Not me. Not now. Not ever.

  No matter what Liam says.

  The night air of Charleston was sticky with damp heat and the promise of a thunderstorm. Weathermen said no way, but Collin knew better. He could always smell a storm on the wind. Any kind of storm.

  Glancing up at the pollution-clouded sky, he made a face. Something about being outdoors gave him the creeps. Give him four walls and a door he could shut. Then, he knew where he was. Safe.

  Anything could happen when you left your cave.

  He knew.

  Collin looked at the o
uter walls of Amour Magique once again. His lip curled. What a dump. Sooner I can get this over with, the better. Speaking of which ...

  Are you almost done?” he snapped at the shorter man who’d taken it into his head to wreck Collin’s life.

  “I am -- now. There!” Liam finished tugging at Collin’s shirt. “Delicious! So much better than the suit you had planned to wear. To think you arrived dressed in work attire -- ugh!”

  Collin glared at him. “I came from the office,” he said. “At your insistence. You didn’t mention anything about stopping long enough to tart myself up.”

  “Tsk, tsk, tsk, Collin. Honestly. You are being treated to a night at Amour Magique! Drinking, dancing, making merry. How could you accomplish any of this in a three-piece suit of dull gray? So boring.”

  “I like boring.”

  “I’m sure.” Liam pursed his lips. “Attractive, available men generally think otherwise.”

  Collin resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Liam, we’ve been over this. I’m not here to get drunk, get jiggy, or get laid. I’m here because you put my nuts in a vise with corporate. Period.”

  “Well, I would not have had to twist the screws if you had cooperated. You did give your word you would come tonight, Collin. I take a man’s oath quite seriously. Attempting to back out because of a supposed ‘crunch’ at work? Really, now. As if I do not know very well you have every memo and spreadsheet under absolute control. Do you think me a fool?”