I tried listing my strengths in my head and pretty much came up empty. I didn’t think swords or martial arts were going to help. In fact I had just done a good job proving this thing wasn’t going to be impressed by my speed or agility. So what else could I do? I had refined being irritating down to an exact science, but didn’t think that would work. I was just starting to be able to move things around with my mind. I could apparently speak with certain animals, and they with me. And I was fairly good with touching others with my emotions… hmmm, I wondered, and my eyes narrowed. Something Gareth had once said stuck out in the back of my mind. I think we’d been discussing Belinda at the time. Something about only Golds being female, but the throne before me had sifted to Bronze. And females were only ever gold or red or blue or green. I was fairly certain that’s what he said. This meant this Dragon… was a male. I pushed myself up off the floor gracefully and nearly smiled when the thing slowly lifted its head and flicked out its tongue.
Obviously brute force wasn’t going to get the deed done. Maybe what we needed here was a maiden. And what was it Dragons were known for? Why stealing gold, razing herds and… eating virgin maidens. I wasn’t exactly a virgin anymore, but I was still female. Even better, I was a Dragoness! I strolled across the floor toward the beast, thrusting out my chest and rolling my hips while I smiled shyly and lowered my gaze, watching it through my lashes. The vibration started up in the floor again and a low humming noise whispered across my mind. The eyes whirled and I lifted my arms over my head and twirled slowly, my turn bringing me nearly within reach of the tail again. I moved to the right, away from my Grandfather, and back toward the court, keeping my eyes on the Dragon, who flicked his tongue again and slowly rotated his head to follow me.
With my mind I reached out and slowly stroked the space between his eyes and watched in anticipation as he reared back then bared his teeth at me. “Hmmm…” I murmured, and sent my mental touch under his chin and down the underside of his throat. He growled and snapped his teeth at me while he flared his wings slightly in a warning. “Here Dragon, Dragon,” I called to him in a teasing voice and mentally scratched at the ridge just above his eye, the same place which always seemed to send Spot into ecstasy.
The Dragon made a harrumphing noise and pulled his tail back around to the front as I came to a stop back where I’d originally started. His claws flexed several times and I considered his body. Now where on a male Dragon is the most sensitive spot, I wondered, not having ever really given it any thought before. Sheesh, where on any male is the most sensitive spot? I rolled my eyes when my mind was suddenly filled with amused voices all muttering things that caused my ears to turn pink. I didn’t need the distraction and raised my upper shield and sighed softly as the peaceful sounds of silence surrounded me.
The Dragon made a strange noise and shook its head while its large bronze eyes started whirling. I looked at it curiously and lowered my Dragonsward, watching as its eyes slowed then stopped. Smiling, I raised my shield again and his eyes began whirling once more, and this time the tail whipped across the floor toward me, missing me by just inches. I watched it closely, noticing that my shield seemed to excite it, though I wasn’t sure why. Tilting my head to the side I tried something new. “Hello handsome, can you hear me?” I called to the Dragon, and it made a chirping noise that ended on a warble, that was not so unlike the sound Talon made.
Within my mind a picture formed, sent by something… definitely male. It was a glyph or symbol and I could see it but did not understand its meaning. “I’m sorry I do not recognize what that is,” I told him softly, then moved another step or two in his direction. His tail flicked slightly but stayed where it was. “May I approach?” I asked in my most innocent voice. He seemed to consider my question but did not move. I took a step forward, inching my way toward him slowly while in my mind several other images flashed… the last I recognized as the symbol for man and woman. It was a symbol used by one of the ancient races of South America, Peru I think. And they were called… the Chavins. My memory for these things was usually very good, but seeing as how they lived several thousand years ago and given the fact I was a little distracted, it was difficult to recall all of the details.
The Chavins lived during the late Bronze Age and had a language that included a series of glyphs and pictures which only their priests could read. I think they made blood sacrifices to their god and they were all about… fertility and harvest. They worshiped jaguars, hawks and a very large snake… a large winged snake. In fact it might well have been a Dragon. It seems interesting that the throne would be feeding me pictures of a long dead race, a race that specialized in bronze sculptures of females representing fertility and the harvest. I wasn’t certain what it was trying to tell me. Actually I was somewhat surprised that I remembered any of this. I’d have to thank Mi later for all the interesting facts rolling around in my brain.
The Dragon made that strange chirping noise and I stopped, holding my breath. I was about four feet from his body and his eyes were still whirling, although they had slowed considerably. After several tense seconds I made to move forward, and widened my eyes as I felt his tail shift behind me. I watched it rise slowly and move in my direction through my peripheral vision. I swallowed and held perfectly still while the sharp spear-like end gently brushed up the inside of my leg. It stopped an inch or so above my knee, where it stroked my thigh as the throne made the chirping noise again. With each stroke the spear rose a little higher, and I felt a strange panic begin squeezing at my lungs.
“Hey there big fella ah… what are you doing?” I breathed while he tilted his head and I felt the tip of his tail catch on the material of my panties. I pulled air in through my teeth as the tail slid over the front of me and under the edge of my panties. There was a tug and a tearing noise and I felt my underwear slide down my other leg. So much for being discretely covered, I thought, and swallowed heavily. These damn Dragons were hard on a girl’s unmentionables. His claws flexed, and his tail ran over the back of my thigh with a gentle pressure that nudged me forward. I stepped out of my underwear and took a step toward him. Obviously he wanted me closer and I wasn’t about to argue as that was the direction I was trying for anyway.
His tail continued to press me forward. His body shifted and my eyes widened, then I nearly screamed in horror, as the protrusion at the base of his tail began growing. Oh no… this could not be happening to me, not twice in the same day! My feet stopped abruptly and I pressed my body back against the pressure of his tail while my eyes jerked up to his.
Cool feet and cold marble do not make a good combination when you are trying not to be pressed forward. I bit the inside of my cheek and put up my hands as my feet began to slide across the floor, dragging the rest of me with them. “Ah… can we discuss this?” I breathed, and felt an image flash across my mind and nearly swallowed my tongue. The picture was of a woman impaled upon a Dragon. I felt my stomach heave as it registered clearly in my mind.
Inside me, Goldy began making a pleased noise and I was torn between anger and horror that she would be so excited at the prospect.
Chapter 11
I needed to do something soon or I’d find myself truly seated on the throne, I thought, as he pulled me to within two feet of him. My feet were still skidding and his tail was pressed up against my bottom under my dress. I only hoped I wasn’t also flashing the entire Court with my bare backside. His penis had grown significantly and lay like a sword against his lower stomach all bronze and ribbed and gleaming in the light. When I glanced down at him it moved, and I forced myself to swallow my horror and fear, and then jerked my eyes to his. Oh God, I hope they weren’t serious about this. There was no way that was going inside me.
His eyes looked excited and his head moved toward me while I pressed back against his tail and watched him shift forward. It was easier to focus on his head which was actually very attractive. He had two bony ridges running up from his nostrils and the spikes over his eye ridges loo
ked very sharp. The horns on top of his head were about the size of my wrists and nearly as long as my forearms, also very sharp looking. His eyes had darker bronze colored lines spreading out from the centers, like lightning bolts, and got lighter the farther from the center they went. I gazed into them and saw myself reflected there, pale and flushed and frightened looking. This wouldn’t do, I thought, and ignoring what lay between us, I reached forward slowly and lifted my hands toward the softer scales of his underbelly. He chirped low and soft while I pulled myself together, took a deep breath, then placed my hands on him and forced every memory of every satisfying love making session I’d ever had into his body. It was like holding a lightning rod and the electrical current flowed between us while he reared back his head and roared. His body convulsed and something hot and sticky hit my leg. Something I so didn’t want to think about as I closed my eyes and shoved session after session into him.
His scales shuddered and jerked beneath my palms and he began vibrating slowly. Behind my eyelids a light glowed, and I snapped them open to see the same pure golden light I had shared earlier with Tdem, now flowing out of my hands and into his body. Light exploded out of his eyes and mouth. The vibrations became stronger until even the marble beneath us began roiling, and I cried out and fell forward onto his body. At the contact, a rending noise filled the air and behind me the Court cried out. The throne split and seemed to eject something onto the floor to my right. I held myself up by a scale and glanced down in total shock at the huge, perfectly naked bronze skinned man lying upon the floor at my feet. He coughed once and pushed himself onto his forearms; while I quickly turned around and seated myself on the throne just as it began flowing beneath me and reforming itself back into my Grandmother’s chair.
I stared down at the man and simply said, “You must be Raimondi Stela.”
“And you must be… my Queen,” he replied in a deep voice that caused my hair to stand up on end. “I declare,” he informed me. I sighed and simply looked at him with a pained expression, while he rose gracefully from the floor and stood before me in all his naked glory.
“Would you mind telling my Grandmother’s court why you were trapped in her throne?” I asked calmly, and I had to give myself kudos for somehow managing to keep my eyes on his’… though it was damned difficult.
He flashed a smile down at me and placed his hands loosely on his hips while I tried not to stutter or drool. Heavens above, the man was beautiful and unlike anyone I had seen here at court, or anywhere else. He had a smoky look about him that reminded me of Alan, only he was about five inches taller and nearly twice as wide. I didn’t think he was taller than Owen but it must have been close. He had hair like nothing I’d ever seen, and my fingers itched to bury themselves in the pale bronze length just to see if it was truly as soft and luxurious as it looked.
“Waiting for you,” he informed me and I struggled not to choke on my tongue, while behind him a murmur rose up from the crowd. He glanced over his shoulder, then back at me and lifted an eyebrow.
“Been waiting long?” I asked and he smiled again and nodded.
“Too long,” he replied and his eyes slid down his body. I couldn’t help my gaze from following his, which was really too bad for him given the state he was in. One would have thought after the satisfaction I’d fed him that he might have been the one stuttering and drooling. I winced and glanced around him toward my Grandmother, who was standing at the base of the dais looking shocked.
“May I get up, Ma’am?” I asked her and she tore her eyes off Stela’s glorious behind and glanced at me briefly before nodding. I stood abruptly and took two steps to the left, away from Stela who I didn’t trust enough not to grab me and have a go right there on the dais. “I take it this wasn’t supposed to happen?” I muttered, more to myself than anyone else.
“Normally I just sigh or put my head on their shoulder to indicate I am pleased. I believe your Mother got my tail in her lap, which she did not appreciate, I might add. Nor did she handle it as well as you did, but then she’s very repressed,” he leaned in and whispered. My eyes widened and swung between him and my Grandmother, who was climbing the stairs towards us. “I am not sure why you didn’t just sit on my lap to begin with,” he breathed as they drew closer. “But then I enjoyed our foreplay very much. I’ve never had a Queen try to ride me in such a manner,” he added with a mischievous gleam in his eye.
“Because no one told me I wasn’t supposed to. And I begin to see why they sacrificed virgins to you,” I muttered and turned to face the Queen as calmly as I could.
“None of them were worthy,” he slipped behind me, using my body as a shield and leaned forward to whisper, “Not like you.”
“That’s no excuse to eat them!” I growled and he chuckled and placed his hands on my waist while I stiffened and nearly jumped.
“Who said anything about eating them? No, I simply… shared with them the pleasures of the flesh and then sent them on their way. I discovered a long time ago, I am not terribly fond of virgins,” he purred against my ear, and I felt my mouth go dry and had to lick my lips.
“Lexi?” my Grandmother asked, as she stopped in front of us. Behind her, Lord Aerandir and another guard I did not know stood with their arms over their chests. Aerandir glanced between Stela and myself and raised an eyebrow, while the tips of my ears turned pink… again.
“I’m sorry about your throne,” I told her and glanced over my shoulder to see that it had returned to its former shape and color, and looked just as harmless as it had before I’d approached it. “This is Raimondi Stela. Obviously he is Bronze and has declared,” I informed her. “I believe he already knows who you are.”
She looked like she didn’t know what to say to that and fell back on her manners. “It is a pleasure to… finally meet you,” she informed him and he bowed his head to her over my shoulder.
“Your Majesty, it has been an honor to serve with you these long centuries. You are as beautiful as you are wise.” His praise seemed to fluster her and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. That would not be a good thing I decided.
“Ma’am, if you please,” I asked in an urgent voice. “May my Demon approach?” I asked and she dragged her eyes off Stela and nodded. I closed my eyes and dropped my upper shield, and had to lean back against Stela as so many other minds flooded mine. I swallowed and called for Kit, while I nearly cringed at the anger and upset aimed in my direction from the left of the dais… the place where my men were currently congregated. Kit moved up the stairs on his own two legs and came to a halt to the left of my Grandmother. He did not look happy with me and folded his arms over his chest and gave me his disapproving glare. “Hi,” I told him and licked my lips again while he stared at me from angry red eyes.
Behind me Stela leaned his hips into me, pressing his hard length purposefully against my lower back. When I would have pulled away from him he held my waist and kept me in place. The two of them sized each other up and I could almost taste the testosterone in the air. “He needs clothing and can you… fix my dress?” I asked, and he narrowed his eyes and snapped his fingers. He covered me in a long sleeved fitted black leather coat that snapped up the front from just below my jaw all the way to my knees. The snaps stopped at the knee but the coat continued on to brush the floor. My feet were encased in tall leather boots with four inch spiked heels that ended somewhere mid-thigh. Under the coat was… nothing and I looked at him and winced. When I shifted I felt my nipples rub the cold lining material and had to bite my lip. The last thing I wanted to do was complain, or I’d find myself wearing the outfit with holes in all the most inappropriate places. Judging by the look on Kit’s face, I was pretty sure that would have been his solution, and he was just waiting for me to say something to make it happen.
Behind me I heard Stela mutter and was almost afraid to look. When I did, I turned immediately to Kit and did some glaring of my own. Kit finally growled and snapped his fingers, and this time Stela was dressed
more appropriately, instead of in a big floppy clown suit. I am sure all of this amused the rest of my men, but it was highly inappropriate given the fact that we were in the throne room standing next to my Grandmother, the Queen.
“Your Demon seems jealous,” Stela informed me with a grin. “That bodes well for me.”
“Hmmm,” I muttered, ignoring both of them. “Ma’am, are we done now?” I asked, while inside me Goldy tore her eyes off Stela and growled softly. Everyone near me glanced down and I winced and made a helpless gesture with my hand when my Grandmother looked at me.
“It seems child that your friend does not agree. What is it that has upset her?” she inquired.
I wasn’t certain but I had a bad feeling, especially when Goldy turned and looked at the King, then glared up at me. I sighed and chewed my lip. “May I speak privately with you for a moment, Ma’am?” I asked. She looked puzzled but followed me when I stepped away from the others toward the back of the dais. “Goldy thinks I can free the King,” I leaned forward and whispered near her ear. “I tried to tell her you may not wish him free, but apparently it just annoyed her more,” I added while she stood there with her face shuttered.
Dragon Greed Page 14
