Dragon Greed

by Kelly Armenta

  When he set down the fork I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed the skin just below his jaw. I closed my eyes as he stood and carried me out of the kitchen and down the hall. He sat me on the edge of his tub and buried his fingers in my hair, tilting my face up to his lips. My hands burrowed under his T-shirt and he pulled back from me to start the water and remove his clothing. My boots went next, and then I helped him undo all the snaps down my front. My dress was caked with blood from the floor of my room and the bodies of those I’d healed. Jace tossed it to the corner and stood back to look at me. His fingers trailed over the tattoo on my breast then up to the puncture wounds on my neck. “You are home now, right where you belong,” he told me softly then lifted me into his arms. Stepping into the bath, he settled himself on the seat and cuddled me into his lap. His tears came soft and silent, and I held him tightly as they washed away the fear and anxiety he’d bottled up over the past ten days.

  He lathered my hair and we bathed each other. At some point I turned to find Gareth standing next to the tub, his face looking lost, his eyes haunted. We helped him undress and held him gently. He seemed to need to talk, but couldn’t find the words. I ended up apologizing and promising to try not to do what seemed to distress him so terribly. It seemed I distressed him a lot. When I’d apologized to his satisfaction we reached for each other and he told me in actions why it was I had the power to distress him so terribly.

  And when we were all squeaky clean and exhausted he carried me to Jace’s bed and we three cuddled and fell into a peaceful sleep, pressed tightly against each other.

  I smelled coffee and pushed back the pillow from off my face and stretched under the covers like a contented cat. “Mmmm,” I murmured and reached for the naked body next to mine. I squeaked and bolted straight up in the bed when I realized it was neither Jace nor Gareth beside me. A pale bronze eye blinked back at me and I grabbed for the sheet and held it tight against me, realizing Stela wasn’t the only one sharing my bed.

  “I was beginning to wonder if she’d ever wake,” Talon muttered and I glanced to my left and noticed the dagger and blood tattoo with a grimace.

  “I like the way she wakes. Like a big cat,” Stela added.

  “What… what are you two doing in here?” I asked, my voice sounding small and hesitant.

  “The others went out to run errands and we’ve been left to mind the Queen,” Stela told me calmly. The door opened and Kit strolled in. He was carrying my mug of coffee. I pushed up on the pillows holding the sheet against me and gratefully reached for the cup. Talon and Stela growled at Kit who simply ignored them, looking completely unperturbed.

  “Kit, where did everyone go?” I asked as I held my coffee under my nose and pulled the scent deep into my lungs. The smell nearly made me drool and I realized it had been much too long since I’d had any. Beside me Talon muttered and flicked his eyes from Kit to me.

  “Gareth and Jace took Dane to… run errands. I believe Owen, Aerandir, and Cursed went with them. Amras and Cael are riding while practicing archery in Amras’ room and all of the others are sleeping. Roa’ and I are on guard duty,” he replied.

  I chewed my lip and glanced down at my light coffee and frowned. “That’s just great. Basically they all cleared out to make way for these two?” I asked in a disgusted voice while Kit tilted his head and considered me.

  “I could get rid of them for you, Mistress. Then you and I could have that discussion,” he added in a seductive voice. I grinned and would have reached for him but Stela was in my way and he did not look happy at the prospect.

  “Are you still angry with me, Kit?” I asked in a teasing voice.

  “I made you coffee didn’t I?” he replied with a grin.

  “They aren’t all being fawned over by some floozy somewhere, are they?” I asked and sat just a little straighter in bed.

  Kit chuckled and shook his head, “No Mistress.”

  “Good, because you know how annoyed that makes me,” I told him and he grinned and nodded. “Kit?” I asked and glanced up at him with a grimace.

  “Yes Mistress.”

  “This doesn’t feel right to me,” I told him and glanced around the room. “This is Jace’s room… could you?”

  “Yes Mistress,” he replied and snapped his fingers.

  “Thank you,” I told him when the world stopped tilting and I found all four of us in the same positions, only in my own room. Talon and Stela shook their heads and looked around curiously and I glanced between them. “This is my room. I don’t entertain anyone but Jace and Gareth in their rooms. I hope you will respect that,” I told them. Stela simply raised an eyebrow at me while Talon placed his arms above his head and made himself comfortable against my pillows. My gaze swept my room and I noticed the headpiece Owen had conjured for me before my trip with Immy, next to my flute and smiled. I’d have to ask Owen later what manner of stones they were. The thought made me think of my sleeve laden quiver. A thought I immediately dismissed before exploring any further.

  “Padparaschas,” Kit offered and I tilted my head and looked at him. “They are orange red sapphires, rare and hard like diamonds,” he added then frowned slightly and glanced toward my closet before adding, “Fitting don’t you think?” he asked with an up tilted eyebrow and a sly smile. I quickly nodded in agreement, thinking that an orange red aura was the color of lust. “It matches theirs,” and he waved his hands at Talon and Stela while I glanced at each of them and couldn’t help noticing they were covered in it.

  “Remind me to thank Owen later,” I told him and took my first sip of coffee. It was like ambrosia and I rolled it over my tongue, slowly letting it slide down my throat, while Kit hummed for me and next to me Stela and Talon made strangled noises and sat up abruptly.

  “What was that?” Stela breathed and I smiled and took another sip.

  “My Mistress enjoys her morning coffee,” Kit told him with a mischievous chuckle. “Without it she becomes… cranky.”

  “Kit…” I chided softly after swallowing down more of the heady brew.

  “It is very sweet,” Talon muttered and made noises like he tasted it on his own tongue.

  “And pleasurable,” Stela added. “I enjoy sweet things myself.” I drained the cup and handed it to Kit then pushed back the covers and crawled toward the end of the bed. “Where are you going, Your Majesty?” Stela asked in a concerned voice.

  “Restroom,” I replied. “Then the training room. You can join me if you like.” And they both reached for the covers and looked like they planned to join me in the bathroom. “Not in the bathroom… in the training room,” I told them with a frown, while Kit chuckled.

  “I think you should come back to bed,” Talon told me with a frown.

  “What is a restroom?” Stela asked. Talon shook his head and I turned in the doorway to stare in horror at Kit, who looked more shocked than I did, if that was possible. “Kit?”

  “Yes Mistress,” he replied with a grimace. “I will take care of it.”

  “Thank you!” I told him and nearly bolted to the toilet. “I didn’t really trust either of them not to join me and wanted to get into the shower before they had a chance to realize I was not going to be crawling back into bed immediately. I managed to get the soap out of my hair and was just rinsing my body off when the door opened and Stela stepped in. His body filled the shower and he pressed me back against the tiles.

  “Hmmm, these new conveniences are charming,” he told me and placed his head under the water and let it run down his perfect body.

  “Did you kill Talon?” I asked and handed him the shampoo, which he just looked at curiously so that I ended up showing him how to open it. I found myself soaping his hair while he murmured and pressed his body against mine suggestively.

  “Your Demon took him to meet the Wyrm. I was more interested in finding you.”

  “Is Spot okay?” I asked as I showed him how to get the soap out of his hair.

  “If you mean your Wyrm, then
he was fine last night while he assisted us in fighting the Kindred,” he replied and ran his fingers over my sides and across my back. His hands felt hot as they touched me, hotter even than the water which cascaded over us. He had no hair aside from that upon his head, even his chest was as smooth as Amras or Cursed’s. He was hard and thick and there would be no need to increase his size as it seemed that he was easily one of my largest men. He seemed pleased with my thoughts and told me, “Two thousand years is a very long time and I was never a patient man,” as he breathed against my ear. I reached for the soap and slid it over his body between us while his fingers reached to assist me.

  “You smell like forests and something tangy,” I told him as I glanced up into his pale bronze eyes.

  “And you smell sharp and spicy. Like nothing I’ve ever experienced,” he murmured and his fingers slid around my face and cupped my jaw, tilting my head back for his lips. “It is quite heady, and makes me wish to eat you all up. A Drake could easily lose his head and heart to you,” he remarked and angled me back against the tiles so he could hold me there and press his body to mine.

  I murmured and slid my palms up his chest, then rubbed my nipples against him while his lips found mine and I felt my blood flow faster in my veins.

  “You are such a tiny thing, so small and delicate for one so fierce,” he breathed as his fingers slid into my curls when I moved against him. “I find I like that very much.” I reached for him and wrapped my fingers around his base while he pulled air into his lungs and I slid to the floor in front of him. He made a startled sound as my lips moved over his head and then he groaned and sank his fingers into my hair when I sucked the length of him into my mouth.

  Stela’s hips began moving for me and I wrapped my arms around him, enjoying his taste and feel. I was pleased by the way his breath came in small pants. He pulled himself from me and with a growl lifted me up and onto his body. I reached between us and guided him into me, then wrapped my legs about his waist. He placed one arm around my back and the other around my bottom and proceeded to stroke me slowly at first, then more frantically as I reached for him mentally and shared the way his body felt inside mine. He growled and I nipped his shoulder, and then lathed the spot with my tongue as he made hungry noises for me.

  “Lower your shield,” I whispered and nearly cried out when I felt his mind flow over mine. He was a sexual creature, denied pleasure for more than two millennium, and had never felt anything compared to our minds touching one another. He was close to orgasm, but held back. I felt he wanted to extend this moment and I smiled and tightened my body around him, then cracked open my red door and breathed my desire into him. The combination was too much, and he cried out, and then shuddered against me while I felt his mind and body release within.

  He slid to the floor taking me with him, his breathing was harsh. His head rested against the tiles behind us and I sat upon his lap and considered him with a grin. “That certainly did not go how I expected it to,” he gulped air and informed me.

  I ran my fingers over his chest for a moment enjoying the way his skin felt beneath my fingers. “No? And how did you expect it to go?” I asked him in a teasing voice.

  He cracked open one of his beautiful eyes and gave me a chagrined look. “I expected you to be the one panting and gasping for air,” he replied and I chuckled and leaned forward to kiss him.

  “I imagine after two thousand years, you just might be a little out of practice,” I told him calmly and wrapped a strand of his hair around my fingers.

  “No, I think this has more to do with you than me,” he replied and his eyes slid shut.

  I tugged at his hair and he opened them again, grinning back at me. “What exactly does that mean?” I demanded with a frown. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer.

  “I was a fertility God, and before that I occupied a space upon a Court. Believe me when I say… you are more woman than I have ever before experienced.”

  I chewed my lip and considered his comment, feeling a little uncertain. I hadn’t been at this for very long and never really knew if I was doing something I shouldn’t be. “Is that bad?” I finally asked, and both of his eyes popped open and he stared at me in surprise.

  “Nooooo, that is a very good thing, and I begin to see why others are allowed to entertain you.”

  “Really, and why is that?”

  He chuckled and kissed me just below my collarbone. “So you do not kill us all,” he replied and my eyes widened in surprise.

  “Talon comes,” I breathed, having scented him over the shampoo and soap and sex smells. And when the door opened, Talon glanced down at us with a frown.

  “Ah, there you are finally,” Stela remarked. “She isn’t even breathing hard. It is most distressing.”

  Talon gave him an odd look and glanced at me where I sat on Stela’s lap, his erection still within me. “If you are going to join us, then hurry up. You are letting out all the hot air,” I informed him. He looked surprised for half a second then reached to undo the belt around his waist. Apparently he’d left the rest of his armor and weapons somewhere else. I watched him curiously as his red flap slipped off him, and I made a low sound that caused Stela to jerk within me. Talon looked nearly alarmed but stepped into the shower and pulled the door closed behind him. I had been under his skirt before when looking for weapons and knew his manhood lay nestled within a patch of white curls. At the moment, it was neither nestled nor resting. His hair was unbound as he knew I preferred it, and I reached for his calf and pulled him under the stream of water.

  I found the shampoo and soaped him while he held himself still above me, his eyes wide and slightly glazed. Beneath me Stela’s breathing returned to normal and he began running his fingers and hands over my body. When Talon was clean and soap free I urged him closer, my eyes lifted to his as I ran my tongue over him and he sucked air into his lungs. My body clenched as he jerked, and Stela made a pleased sound and raised his hips to me. My fingers wrapped around Talon and I pulled him deeper into my mouth, while his knees nearly buckled and he let out a startled noise for me. If anything, he lasted less time than Stela, who was just starting to enjoy the feel of me riding him when Talon lost control and came for me. He went to a knee and sucked air into his lungs while I rinsed out my mouth and watched him lean against the wall of the shower curiously.

  “You see?” Stela asked him. “It is distressing.”

  “Yes, yet I am at a loss as to what can be done about it,” he replied breathlessly. “She seems to have this effect upon me. The last time she merely touched me and elicited the same response.”

  “I too felt release at the touch of her hand,” Stela replied and I remembered the feel of something hot and sticky striking my leg in the Great Hall.

  “What’s worse, I was not even in the room with her last night,” Talon replied in an amazed voice. “Her passion reached out to me from clear across the den. How is a man to sleep or concentrate when she has this affect upon him?” he demanded softly.

  “Perhaps it is something one gets used to,” Stela offered and I watched the two of them glance at each other then back to me.

  “It explains the large number of men about her,” Talon offered. “She does not even need to be in the same room to satisfy them.”

  “You should have seen the Seelie Court on the first night she arrived,” Stela remarked. Even I sensed it from within the throne. “Her lust caused an orgy the likes of which I had never before seen.”

  “What is it about her? She is unlike any Queen before her. I have never been disturbed in my sleep like this, even when Misanne mated.”

  “Misanne… did not enjoy her duty,” Stela replied with a touch of disgust in his voice. “She was lazy and vicious even before she went into the Everlasting. She was like dark night and bright day to our Lexi here.”

  They both looked at me curiously and I gave them a smile and rolled my hips upon Stela’s lap. “I like my duty,” I told them with a grin. “Are
we done then?” I asked, my voice sounding amused as I glanced between them while they both frowned back at me, then looked at each other.

  “I don’t think she should look like that,” Talon growled and Stela nodded.

  “I think she should be panting and gasping for air. Perhaps begging one or both of us to take her.”

  “I’d like to see her moaning and writhing beneath me. In the Everlasting, she was close. But then her need was upon her and I’m not certain I can take credit for her actions. She seems to have no problem doing so for the others. I have seen her beneath several of them, sometimes at the same time!”

  I looked at them and smiled neither offering criticism nor assistance. In fact I was quite amused at their antics and very interested to see where it might lead us. Obviously neither of them had met a modern girl, nor knew how to please her. Perhaps with a little effort both of them would learn. In a way, they were worse off than poor Marcus who might have been a virgin but at least he was not naïve.

  “Marcus was a virgin… but managed to bring her to her pleasure more times than I could count,” Stela growled.

  “She had the rest of us nearly dancing in the hall! It was why the Blue dragged us here ahead of them,” Talon frowned and told me while I grinned and had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing.

  The door opened with a yank and Kit stared down at the three of us, his arms crossed over his chest. “Mistress, if you are done playing with these new men perhaps you might wish one of us,” and he stepped back so that Amras could be seen behind him, “to assist you?”

  “Kit!” I yelled at him, and Talon and Stela turned to look at them with twin frowns. Then Talon glanced at Stela who hesitated and merely shrugged.

  Chapter 17

  “I was going to go to the training room,” I told him with a frown, and he rolled his eyes and reached out his hand for me.

  “I believe this will be more beneficial to you than running around swinging a sword at imaginary foes,” he replied with a grin. I glanced up at him, and then to Amras, who had a knowing smile on his face. I pulled myself off of Stela, who sucked in air and watched me closely. Amras handed Kit a towel which he used to wrap around me, and with the door still open, he leaned in and turned off the water. “This is a shower. We take them at least once a day here,” Kit informed the men. “Sometimes more often if Lexi makes us hot and sweaty. No one likes a smelly body.”