Disclaimer: No, I do not own Gakuen Alice or Destiny Kills… yadda, yadda, yadda… blah, blah, blah… whatever… not mine okay?

A Dragon's Heart – Chapter 3

Luka looked shocked and Hotaru's eyebrows raised a fraction at this information. Like him, neither of them had ever seen a real sea dragon.

Hotaru pulled a cord on the packet she was holding and it expanded into a small inflatable boat that was shaped like a turtle which she tied off to her goose. Luka hopped into the boat and reached forward help move the woman onto the boat and for just the tiniest of moments Natsume had the urge to snarl at him for trying to touch her.

Luka must have sensed something in his energy because he paused for a moment to give him a puzzled look. Natsume gave himself a firm mental kick in the head before he passed the woman up. What the hell was wrong with him? Maybe the woman was part siren to cause such a fierce response in him.

Once they were all in the boat and moving to shore, Luka took a small first aid kit out of the backpack he was wearing. "Jeeze, she's a mess. What happened to her?"

From the moment she had come out of the water, Natsume had not taken his eyes off her. Luka was right, she was a mess. Her face was mostly covered in cuts and scrapes, and the whole right half of her face was swollen and bruised beyond recognition. It was impossible to tell what she normally looked like, much less if she was pretty or ugly.

Her body didn't fare much better. The bruising continued down most of her right side, and from her left hip and down both her slim legs were deep claw marks. Obviously the bronze had tried to take her with it on its way down. Natsume had to admire her spunk though. It was amazing she managed to get as close to the cove as she did in her condition.

The red quickly outlined to the other two what had happened and Natsume was surprisingly grateful to see Hotaru's brother waiting on the beach for them along with several others from his select group. Before he could even offer thanks, Hotaru gave him a flat stare.

"You owe me." She said coldly. Typical Hotaru, everything was about what she could get out of it. Schooling his features he gave her a cold look in return and raised a single brow.

"I might be willing to let you keep that room you tinker in as your private lab." He really didn't want to waste his time negotiating right now. He would much rather spend it trying to fix up the sea dragon.

"For coming to get you and the sea dragon, the lab is a given." She responded with a flat uncompromising tone "But I expect you to supply it in return for calling my brother for medical assistance."

"I didn't ask you…"

"Please, your energy is flaring so badly it's making my skin itch and you only do that when you are angry or worried. I'm sure everyone on the beach can feel it by now too.

A bit embarrassed, Natsume realized that the cold little black dragon with a penchant for tinkering with inventions was correct. As much as he was trying not to physically touch the sea dragon, he couldn't seem to stop his spiritual energy from touching and caressing hers. Moreover, after he had seen how injured she was, he was unconsciously trying to feed his strength into her. As if by doing so he could somehow will her to be healed.

Who was he kidding? He didn't have any gift for healing. Destruction is my only gift, he thought to himself bitterly. Reluctantly he pulled his energy back but was secretly pleased when the mystery woman's weakening energy tried to grab and cling to his to prevent it from retreating.

Damn, if this woman was even a tenth as attractive as his response to her indicated, then he was going to have to bed her. It wouldn't even be an option for him.

Dragon natures were fairly true to the old legends. They liked to steal and hoard glittery treasures and they left mass destruction and death everywhere they went. In fact, if one looked close enough at many of the crime families spread throughout the world that specialized in theft or assassination you would probably find they were actually a dragon clan in disguise.

Another nature that they were true to was stealing pretty women. A young dragon's sexual appetite was voracious. It was very common in most clans for young dragons to sexually bully or even openly assault weaker dragons, the half-human dramans, or the handful of human servants they kept in the clan.

Sometimes they didn't even care if their victim was the opposite gender. On two different occasions Luka had been cornered by young pure bloods who thought his pretty face and weak half-dragon body would be a perfect target for their raging hormones. That is, until they found out Luca wasn't as weak and easy a target as they thought and he wiped the floor with their asses.

For Natsume as the only other true red dragon aside from his grandfather in the clan and the most likely heir, sex was never a problem. Women had always been provided for him. They would be waiting for him when he went to bed, and they would be gone before he woke up. It wasn't something he was proud of or even something he wanted to talk about, but keeping concubines in the clan was better than having a red dragon in the throes of dragon lust rampaging about. It was necessity, pure and simple, no romance involved.

For those like Aoi and Luka who still believed in romance, there was the belief that when a dragon falls in love and mates they will be faithful for life. He'd seen it happen with his mother and step father, but for himself, his hopes were not very high. He had yet to meet anyone who made him feel anything stronger than not-too-annoying-almost-tolerable other than Aoi and Luka. Even Hotaru and the others of his special group barely rated as friends.

So it came as a double shock for Natsume who only ever saw having sex as a precaution against disaster that he would not only want a woman he hadn't even really met, it was that he would want her badly.

It probably wouldn't even matter what she looked like. The way his body was thrumming, nothing short of finding out she had a very dedicated mate would hold him back.

When they reached the shore, Natsume let Luka repeat his explanation of events to the others while he watched Hotaru's brother Subaru send his healing energy into the unconscious woman.

Secretly he had always been jealous of the black dragon's healing gift. All dragons had the gift of flight, speed and fire, but over the past few generations, secondary gifts called alices had started showing up. Unlike most dragons in their clan, Subaru had a legitimate job as a medical doctor. His alice allowed him to use his energy to speed up healing in mystical creatures.

His annoying sister Hotaru had that weird tinkering gift of hers and was determined to find a way to perfectly merge mechanical science and magic together. Her mate, Hayate, could move the wind and even Luka had a gift that allowed him to talk to most animals.

As far as he could tell, Natsume himself had no true alice power. Unless you call being ten times more powerful with fire than anyone in his clan and the ability to use it at night an alice power. But what good was that? He was a dragon. He could burn and destroy without the extra firepower thank you very much. And who really cared if he could also use fire at night?

For a moment he wondered idly and rather unexpectedly what abilities sea dragons had. Looking at the injuries of the woman lying before him, he guessed self-healing wasn't one of them. She still looked horrible.

She was a slim thing. More of an athletic build than scrawny he guessed, judging by the way her soggy clothes were clinging to her lean frame. Her shirt and shorts had been torn in a few places revealing a peach colored bra and panties with little white polka-dots and white lacy trim. They should have looked silly, even childish, but instead the printed undergarments looked… sassy… was the best word he could come up with. They were kind of sexy, with a cheeky, fun, flair to them.

A mental image was starting to form in his head about the kind of woman she was and the more details he picked up the more interested he became.

Studying her a bit longer, a crease appeared between his brows. "Imai," he demanded gruffly causing both siblings and a few others to look at him "why isn't she healing?" By now the gouges in her legs and the bruises on her face should have noticeably faded.

Subaru gave him an irritated look "I'm not certain. My power can't seem to reach her and her spirit energy is almost non-existent. Are you sure she is a sea dragon?"

Natsume gave him a hard glare for questioning his word "I saw her transform myself." Eyeing the wounds on her legs he pointed to them. "The claws on the hunter weren't natural. They were metal and smelled toxic. Could a poison be stopping her from healing?"

The dragon born doctor paused in his thoughts for a moment then nodded. "If it were a drug to somehow cut us off from our power then yes, it's possible. Actually, it would make sense. Especially if it forced us to drop into our human shapes. It would make us more manageable."

Natsume growled in irritation while the others on the beach looked varying degrees of displeased. No sane dragon wanted to be a laboratory test subject and the thought of being powerless around a group of human scientists bent on picking you apart was disconcerting. With an irritated growl he turned to the doctor again. "We need to get out of here and I've got to inform my grandfather the clan might be in danger. Imai, do what you can and we will take her with us for now."

That caused a few raised eyebrows. "You're taking her with us?" his sister, who had arrived with Koko and Mochu, asked surprised.

"She stuck her neck out for me. It'd be a crappy thing to do to just leave her here to bleed to death when there may be other hunters close by."

Koko, who's alice was a very annoying ability to see into a person's heart and what hid there scoffed at him. "Are you sure that is the only reason? You seem to be awfully interested in her. Bet she's got a hot face to match the sweet body."

Without even putting conscious thought into it, Natsume summoned fire from his fingers and shot it at his almost friend. The idiot was lucky for his mind reading ability that allowed him to read attacks because that was the only thing that saved him from his smart mouth.

The others on the beach who knew Koko wouldn't make such a dangerous accusation if it wasn't at least partially true all looked at him with different expressions of amusement and surprise. He gave them all a harsh glare. "We are going now!" he barked trying to ignore the heat from his cheeks.

First he was attacked by a dragon hunter, then overwhelmed by unexpected lust for a stranger, and now humiliated in front of his subordinates.

This day was total crap.

Terms

Air Dragons – Look just like classic European dragons. Huge bodies with leathery wings, sharp talon-like claws, spiked tails. They come in a wide variety of colors with red and gold being the largest and strongest followed by silver and black. The strongest color dragon is the leader of the clan or clique. They have the ability to fly in dragon form and can control fire and move with super speed in human or dragon form. Air dragons can only use fire during the day with the exception of Natsume. They are also physically stronger than the average human. They are a patriarchal species and the males have control over fertility when mating.

Dramans – Human/Air Dragon hybrids. In the past dramans were killed at birth or condemned to slavery to the clan they are born in. Traditional clans dislike them because they dilute their noble race. Dramans usually have different bits of full air dragon powers. They may be able to transform, or may use fire, but the use is abnormal. Transformations can be painful, fire use may be weak, a draman may even use fire at night. Because they are generally weaker, they are a constant target by full blooded dragons. It is common for them to be raped by a full blood dragon in the throes of dragon lust.

Sea Dragons – They look like classic Asian dragons with serpentine bodies with short legs. They come in pretty much any color a fish can come in, which means just about any color. They are isolationists choosing to live apart from other magical creatures. They live in small family groups rather than clans. Sea dragons can exist underwater in both dragon and human form. They are a matriarchal species and females control fertility. Powers will be discussed later.

AN: The above terms are taken from the book Destiny Kills by Keri Arthur. I have added to the characteristics a bit in parts that are not covered in the book but I need for my story.