by M. K. Eidem
In the next heartbeat, she was flat on her back on their bed with Kirall's naked Battle Beast standing between her splayed legs. Kur, her mate was truly magnificent in this form. His thick thighs supported nine feet of solid muscle, covered by intricately interlocking scales. In this form, Kirall was a deadly, two-legged killing machine, for anyone but her. For her, he was a lover and mate, who would never allow her to be harmed, not even by him.
Rising up on her elbows, Autumn watched as Kirall dropped to his knees and pulled her to the edge of the bed, hooking her legs over his shoulders. His hot breath bathed her vulnerable skin as his razor-sharp teeth carefully separated her intimate folds exposing her clit.
"Yes, Kirall," she gasped as his tongue teased her clit, circling and squeezing it the way he only could in this form. Instinctively her hips tried to rock against his mouth in spite of the danger, but Kirall's grip held her firmly in place.
"More, Kirall," she pleaded, knowing her sounds aroused her mate. Kirall reacted by stiffening his tongue and pressing it into her. She could feel every inch of that long tongue as he fucked her with it. Driving deep, he reached that spot that drove her crazy. Her womb clenching every time he stroked it, her pleasure growing to an unbearable level. When his growl vibrated her clit, she screamed out her release.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Kirall's Beast eagerly swallowed down the sweet juices of his mate's release. Kur, he loved her. Loved her softness, loved her acceptance, loved the sounds she made while he loved her, and he wanted to hear more. Letting her legs slide from his shoulders, he rose. Gripping his mate's waist, he tossed her into the center of the bed then crawled after her.
"Kirall!" Autumn's half shout/half laugh was cut off when Kirall flipped her over and pulled her up on all fours.
"I'm not done with you, little Aud-um," he growled, then with the head of his cock at her slick entrance thrust into her private lair.
“Yes!” Autumn cried out, rocking back into his thrust. "More! Harder!"
Kirall willingly obeyed his mate. Leaning forward, he covered her body with his and interlacing their fingers began thrusting harder and deeper, giving her what she demanded. All too soon it wasn't enough and was too much. His balls, heavy with seed, were tightening with the need to release. His cock was swelling, preparing to lock him inside his mate's incredibly tight channel, giving his seed the best chance to create life. It was something now possible since he and Autumn were mated. But he refused to allow any of that to happen until his mate screamed out her pleasure one more time.
"Come for me, Aud-um. Let me hear your sounds," he growled, thrusting deep one last time as he bit down on the mating mark he'd given her on Earth.
"Kirall!" Autumn screamed, her claws sinking into the bed as her entire body seized as her orgasm exploded through her.
Kirall's roar shook the room when Autumn's channel clamped around him. It forced his seed to explode from the very depths of his balls, bathing her womb in life-producing heat.
Sated, his Beast retreated, and Kirall collapsed onto his side, making sure to keep Autumn close as his cock was still swollen inside her. Kur, he loved this female, and he would spend the rest of his life, making sure she knew that. He would also make sure she was never hurt again.
"That was amazing," Autumn murmured.
"It always is with you." He kissed the already healing bite mark on the base of her neck. His cock softening as he pulled her closer, reluctantly leaving her Lair.
"Hmm," she snuggled back deeper into his embrace, "I was going to talk to you about something, but I think it will have to wait until tomorrow."
They were both just starting to drift off when the door of their Suite suddenly burst open, and four dark forms filled the room. Kirall was immediately out of bed, his enraged snarl echoing off the walls as his Beast emerged even before his feet touched the floor, ready to defend their mate.
Autumn was instantly up too, her claws extending, ready to defend her mate.
"Where's the threat?" the largest form growled.
"Father?" The tension slowly eased out of Kirall's Battle Beast even though he didn't shift back. "What are you doing? Why are you in our Suite?"
While Kirall spoke, Autumn slipped into the robe Kruba provided then turned on a light. Turning around, she recognized Kiran, Zeb, Jariath, and Radko, even though they were in their Beast forms.
"Your Beast roared," Kiran said. His gaze quickly took in his son's state of dress, or lack thereof, the state of the bed, and the robe Autumn had quickly covered herself with and realized what had caused that roar. "My apologies. I thought you were being attacked."
"Kiran?" Niccele's voice came from the hallway. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes, my love," Kiran replied as he began ushering his other sons out of the room.
"Enjoy the rest of your night," Zeb's Beast snickered over its shoulder.
"Zeb!" Kiran growled at his son.
"We will," Autumn spoke for the first time since they'd entered, giving Zeb a teasing look. "A great deal more than any of you will. Well, your mother and father might argue with that. Your room is right next to your parents’ isn't it, Zeb?"
That wiped the smirk off Zeb's face, and Niccele's laughter was heard in the hall.
Chapter Three
Kirall lay on his side the next morning, propped up on an elbow as he watched his mate sleep. Kur, she was beautiful. He grimaced slightly, using the Deity's name was something he did without thinking, but now, having met Kur, it seemed strange. Still, his mate was beautiful and unique. So special.
"What has you thinking so hard?" Autumn murmured, opening her eyes to gaze up at him.
"Just thinking about how beautiful my mate is," he told her, leaning down to kiss her sleepy smile.
"Hmm, thank you," she said, returning the kiss, "but I don't think that was all you were thinking."
"Beautiful and smart," he kissed her again.
"The bond helps." Reaching up, she caressed his cheek. "So what's bothering you?"
"Nothing, I was just thinking about what Kur said." Turning his head, he kissed her palm.
"About choosing wisely?" she asked.
"Yes."
"So was I. It's what I was going to talk to you about last night."
"You've thought of someone." Kirall didn't make it a question.
"Yes."
"As have I."
"Who?" she asked, curious who her mate would choose.
"Dacke," he told her.
Autumn didn't say anything for a moment. Not because she was surprised at his choice but because she had been considering Kirall's longtime friend as well. Dacke was the one who'd initially been sent to help the Terceirians fight against the Varana. Dacke had been smart enough to recognize he needed more help and contacted Kirall. It was Dacke who had offered Kristie to Kirall when he'd believed his friend was going into a Joining Heat, even though Kristie was supposed to be for him. Autumn had gotten to know the Dragoon during their time on the Inferno, and even though Dacke was the one that had told Elder Lando she was a Superior, she knew it had been forced out of him.
"I think you should contact him and have him come to Kruba," she told her mate. "Today if possible."
"Alright, I will," he agreed. "You don't seem surprised. Was Dacke who you were thinking of too?"
"One of them," she told him sitting up.
"One?" Kirall frowned, shifting positions as she did. "Who else were you thinking of?"
"Nixie," she told him and waited for his reaction.
"Nixie? My sister?" Kirall made no attempt to hide his shock.
"Yes."
Kirall rose from the bed and began to pace, unconcerned about his nakedness. "Autumn, my sister can't become a Supreme."
"Why not?" Autumn demanded as she rose and pulled on her robe.
"Why not?" He gave her a disbelieving look. "Because she's female!"
"So am I," she reminded him.
"Yes, but you're mated."
&nbs
p; Autumn's eyes narrowed at her mate. "I know you did not just say that the only reason I'm powerful is that I'm mated."
"Of course not!" Kirall ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Have you met my mother? I know females can be powerful all on their own, but we're talking about Nixie here. I love my sister, but…"
"But what?" Autumn demanded.
"She still lives in my parents’ Lair!" Kirall exclaimed.
"Because she’s not allowed to live outside it!" She walked up and poked a finger in her mate's chest, causing him to wince. "That's not right, Kirall. If she, Ravannah, and Aisling want to live there, great, but if they don't, then they should be allowed to have their own Lair, just like you were."
"They have to be able to empower one first," he told her, capturing her finger so she couldn't poke him again.
"How do you know they can't?" Autumn demanded, forcing herself to calm down.
"I…" That had him pausing because the fact was he didn't know the answer to that question.
"Nixie has assured me she could empower a Lair," she told him quietly.
"You've already talked to her about this?"
"About becoming a Supreme? Without talking to you first?" Reaching up, she cupped his cheek. "We are mated, Kirall. I wouldn't leave you out of something as important as this, especially not when it involves family. But I also won't exclude someone because they’re family. Kur said bonds needed to be created in ways they weren't before. What better way than this?"
Kirall released his mate's hand and walked out onto the balcony. She made a good point, but this was his sister. He wanted her protected just as he wished to defend his Autumn. If Nixie became a Supreme and were unmated, she would be relentlessly pursued by males hoping to become her mate.
"She would be better able to protect herself as a Supreme," Autumn said quietly, coming to stand next to him at the railing. She knew her mate and knew what he would be worried about.
"What?" He gave her a questioning look.
"As a Supreme, Nixie will be able to partially shift like I can, and with a fully empowered Lair, no one would be able to pass through her boundary without her permission. Well, except for us since we would be the only more powerful Supremes."
"That would be true," he agreed and realized his mate had given this a great deal of thought. "Kur, my parents will be beside themselves."
"Not if her Lair is near them," she suggested quietly.
Kirall recalled what she had said shortly after they'd returned from Dramman. "You want Nixie to claim Vrakar? My Lair?"
"Your old Lair," she corrected him.
"Yes, my old Lair," he agreed.
"Which is currently fully empowered and sitting empty."
"You're serious about me turning my Hoard over to Nixie too?" Didn't she know what she was asking?
"Yes," Autumn couldn't believe he'd thought she hadn't been. "It's not like we need it."
"True, it's just…" Kirall trailed off not knowing how to express this.
"Just what?" she asked, frowning up at him.
"I've spent years collecting and empowering those jewels."
Autumn couldn't believe she hadn't considered that. She remembered how fanatically Jack had guarded his 'treasures.' "So they’re important to you. Like Jack's crystal is to me."
Kirall jerked in surprise at the comparison because they were two totally different things. Autumn refused to give up Jack's crystal because it would be like losing her brother all over again. For him, the jewels in Vrakar were about pride. Pride that he was able to empower a Hoard at such a young age. Even the Black Breath he'd chosen as his relay jewel was because of its size. It shamed him to think Autumn thought he would value them equally.
"No," he told her. "They’re not, and you're right. We don't need those jewels. Kruba has more than enough empowered jewels."
"You're sure?" She gave him a quizzical look.
"Yes. Vrakar and everything within it shall be Nixie's, whether she chooses to become a Supreme or not."
"Oh, I think she'll choose to become a Supreme." Autumn gave him a slow smile. "And if for some reason our Hoard ever does need re-empowered, well… we know exactly how to do that now, don't we."
"Yes we do," Kirall growled and bending down tossed his laughing mate over his shoulder and carried her back to their bed.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Several hours later, Autumn and Kirall finally made it to the morning meal. The rest of the family was already there and finishing their meal.
"Nice of you to finally join us," Zeb quipped.
"Shut up, Zeb," Nixie told her brother.
"Make me," Zeb taunted his sister.
"You might regret saying that one day, Zeb," Kirall told his younger brother as he and Autumn began to fill their plates.
"Right," Zeb snorted his disbelief.
"Why did you think we were being attacked last night?" Kirall asked his father as he and Autumn sat down, ignoring Zeb. "No one can penetrate Kruba's boundary without our permission."
Kiran looked at his mate for a moment then to this son. "I know. I'm sorry. I received several troubling transmissions last night, and when I heard your Battle Beast, I overreacted."
"But why?" Kirall asked.
Kiran leaned back in his chair before he spoke. "Unrest is growing about what has happened over the last few days."
"Because of what Tove did?" Autumn asked, taking a bite of food. "Good."
"Because of what you did," Kiran corrected, his gaze going to her. "You forced Macawi and Maaike out of the Lair while Tove was in the custody of the Council Guards. They had to flee Krapis with only what their dragons could carry. It has upset many."
"They're concerned that it will happen to them." Kirall instantly understood, and his father nodded.
"Yes. You and Autumn are both powerful Supremes who have both been recognized as Elders, which is unheard of. Now Kruba's boundary is expanding. Many fear they will be next.
"Kruba's boundary is no longer expanding," Autumn told Kiran as she set her spoon down.
"What?" Both Kirall and his father asked.
Autumn just shrugged, her gaze traveling between the males. "I instructed it to stop after it had absorbed Tove's territory. While I refuse to allow Macawi and Maaike to remain that close to my Lair, I see no reason to force anyone else out until I know whose Lairs are beyond theirs, or if they are a threat."
"Torn's Lair, Valval, is on the next lower peak," Niccele told her. "He is Tove and Macawi's eldest son."
"They have more than just Maaike?" Autumn wasn't sure why that hadn't occurred to her before.
"Two males, both older. Torn and Toan," Niccele told her.
"Seriously?" Autumn asked in disbelief.
"What?" Niccele asked.
"Tove, Torn, and Toan? They couldn't be more original than that?"
"It's a common honor to pick a male's name that closely resembles their sire’s," Niccele told her. "Is it not that way on Earth?"
"Yes and no," Autumn told her. "It’s common for the firstborn male to have the same name as their father, continuing the family name. If there are more males, it's usually just a name they like or another family name."
"And your females?" Nixie asked.
"Sometimes it's a combination of the parents’ names, a family name, or it can just be a name they like or one that seems to fit the child."
"So Autumn is a family name?" Niccele asked.
"No. Autumn is a season on Earth. It was when I was born. The leaves on the trees had begun to change and matched the color of my hair." She ran her fingers through the red strands. "They said it was fate and named me Autumn."
"What a beautiful sentiment," Niccele said softly. "Your parents must have been truly amazing people."
"They were. You would have liked them." Autumn found herself choking up at the thought of her parents being here on Mondu. "They would have loved to have seen all this, especially my brother. He always believed in dragons."
&nb
sp; "Because he was one." Kirall covered her hand with one of his own. "When we have offspring, one of them will be named Jack, and your brother's namesake will soar through the skies of Mondu."
"Are you saying…?" Niccele trailed off, her voice full of hope.
"No!" Autumn and Kirall instantly said, looking at her.
Niccele raised her hands in surrender. "I was just asking."
"Kur, Mama, give us more than a month."
But Niccele's question had cut through the tension and sadness in the room, causing everyone to smile.
"So that's were Macawi and Maaike fled to?" Nixie asked. "To Torn's?"
"Yes," Kiran told them, "and they are claiming that not only was the attack uncalled for, but brutal."
"Uncalled for?!" Autumn glared at Kiran. "Macawi's mate had in his possession a crystal that he could only have obtained from General Terron, and Macawi refuses to tell us when he obtained it."
"She says she doesn't know," Niccele reminded her.
"She's lying!" Autumn spat out, her anger returning.
"How can you be sure?" Niccele asked.
Autumn's gaze locked with her mother-in-law's. "Are you telling me you don't know everything about your mate? That you wouldn't notice him wearing two relay jewels for over twelve years?"
"I would have noticed," Niccele admitted quietly.
"So did Macawi, and I'm sure Maaike did too since I've been informed she has a 'fascination' with golden jewels." Autumn looked back at Kirall who grimaced.
"And the brutality of it?" Kiran asked quietly.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Autumn's gaze went to Kiran. "I don't know what's involved when one territory overtakes another."
"It's a battle between the Hoards, Autumn," Kirall told her quietly, pulling her eyes to him. "They clash along their boundaries until one is either completely depleted or one retreats. If a Hoard becomes depleted, then those residing in it are at risk. They must decide to either stay and perish with their Hoard or flee and abandon it."
"And Macawi and Maaike chose to flee." Autumn wasn't surprised that it was their choice.
"Yes," Kiran told her.
