by Kate Rudolph
“There is one sure way to tell if a pair is truly mated.” Her embers had not burned me, but I’d never tested more. I held out my hand and summoned my own flame, letting it build before opening my palm and letting the fire engulf it. “A true mate cannot be burned by her dragon’s flame. You cannot hurt me and I cannot hurt you. If you want the proof, grab my hand and see.”
Chapter Seventeen
Kristen
Trial by fire. Literal trial by fire. I stared at the flames engulfing Drikal’s hand and I wanted to touch. I’d always had a bit of an obsession with fire, one that a foster mother had been concerned would turn to pyromania when I was little. A bunch of doctors had agreed I probably wasn’t a danger, but they’d kept me away from matches and lighters just to be sure. Even then, had that been my dr—my wyvern blood showing through? Now that I was on Drakus I could actually breathe fire, so maybe a part of me had always been connected to it.
If Drikal was right, if fate existed and had brought me here, touching him wouldn’t burn. And I wanted that bond so much that I reached out and clasped his hand without hesitation, not testing the fire before I touched it but diving right in and holding on tight. Other than a bit of warmth, it didn’t feel any different than the air around me.
I could feel the dragonflame inside me, or maybe mine was called wyvernflame, and it reached out to Drikal. It wanted me to summon my own fire and mix it with his. If I’d known how to consciously do it, I would have. But before I could even try Drikal was pulling back.
“Fate has marked us as true mates,” he said. He reached for my hand, this time with no flame involved, and turned it over to make sure there was nothing wrong. It didn’t hurt. I’d been more injured from spilling hot coffee on it. “If we join our flames together it will seal our bond and mark us as truly mated, the first such pair in living memory.”
“I thought you said we were mates.” My mind was reeling. So much had happened that I felt like I was playing catch up all the time. First dragons, then wyverns, now mates. What came next?
“Fate has marked us. But only we can make that choice.”
Was it really a choice? Given how my flame had wanted to reach out to him, I didn’t know if I’d be able to resist the next time. I didn’t know if I wanted to. “And if I go home?”
“Do you want to?”
“No.” The answer came out before I had a chance to think about it, before I had a chance to doubt, and that, more than anything, told me it was right.
“Then stay. Whatever comes next we’ll face together.”
It wasn’t as simple as it sounded. It couldn’t be. When word got out that I wasn’t the dragon that everyone had been promised, that I was actually descended from their ancient enemy, Drikal would be tested. They’d tell him to send me away, maybe to kill me or hand me over to the wyverns. Staying would mean putting all of my trust in him, hoping that he wouldn’t hurt or betray me. I’d never given someone that power before. I left when things got hard rather than work to make them easier. But for the first time in my life I didn’t want that. I wanted to know what we could be together, wanted to see this thing through.
And so I kissed him. What else was a girl supposed to do when an alpha dragon called her his true mate and said he’d tear apart the world to keep her? Maybe it was too violent for some, but I needed to know the strength and depth of his feelings. Otherwise I’d never be brave enough to face my own.
He picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist, never pulling away from the kiss. Who cared about breathing when I could be breathing Drikal in? My fire raged inside of me and wanted to reach out, but I somehow held it back. Taking that final step sounded like a big commitment, and while I’d already made the biggest commitment of my life, I think we both knew that we needed to see what came next before we got the dragon version of married.
I needed him inside of me, needed to know that this was real, that I wasn’t going to wake up in the morning back in my cheap apartment in Oklahoma with no job, no lover, no family, and shitty friends. Everything had changed since coming to Drakus. I had changed, and not just because of the wyvern thing. I’d opened myself up to new possibilities, and a life I’d never before imagined was just within my reach if I was brave enough to grab for it. And given the hard length I could feel pressed against me, I could definitely grab.
Or gently stroke, as the case may be.
It took a little maneuvering to stand on my own two feet, but after a moment my dragon let go of me enough for me to do it. Drikal groaned as my fingers played over his length through his pants. The material was thick, meant to withstand rough terrain, but it didn’t dull all sensation. But that didn’t mean I wanted to torture and tease him. My fingers made quick work of the buckle of his trousers and delved into his pants. I took his cock in hand and stroked, watching him as his eyes lit with fire.
I was ready to ignite.
This was a man who could have anyone, and he wanted me. It didn’t matter that fate was involved. If there was some outside force pulling us together, I wanted to thank it for bringing me to him. How could I have ever thought that I could walk back through that portal and return home? This planet, Drikal’s keep, Drikal’s arms were more of a home than I’d ever had on Earth.
I shot him a saucy grin before using my free hand to back him up against a short stone wall that looked like it might have been part of an ancient fence. When Drikal’s legs bumped the back of it I got both hands on his pants and pulled them down before dropping to my knees. He’d given me so much pleasure over the last few days that I wanted to return the favor.
“You are a temptress,” he murmured huskily as I gripped his shaft and flicked my tongue over the tip.
Temptress? I’d earn the name.
He was big, satisfying when he was buried deep inside of me and connecting the two of us in a dance as old as time. But when getting my mouth in on the game, it was a bit intimidating. Drikal wasn’t one to critique, not when there was pleasure to be had. He groaned as I ran my lips over him, lapping up his flavor. When he moaned, my own sex rippled with want.
His hands were clutched against the stone, his knuckles white as he held himself in place. It was exhilarating to know just how much power this man had and how much he was keeping it under control so that I could do this for him. Watching him lose it all later would tip me over the edge. I knew he wanted to bury his hands in my hair and thrust against me, but until I gave him the go ahead he would hold back.
I took him as far as I could and his hips gave an involuntary jerk. That control was unraveling and I didn’t know how much longer this would last. But I didn’t want him to come in my mouth when I could have him inside me another wonderful way.
I pulled back and stood. He kissed me without hesitation, without a care to where my mouth had been. It was his body, after all, what was there to care about? He was a sensual creature and I loved the way he reveled in our shared pleasure.
But Drikal was ready to take control now.
He hitched me up and spun me around, setting me against the wall before glancing at it and pulling back. “You deserve a bed,” he said, eyes darting around as if he could make one appear out of nowhere.
“If you make me wait for a bed I’m going to shift to my other form and breathe fire all over you.” I could do that now. And for the first time since we’d discovered I was a wyvern and not a dragon I just let myself have fun with it. Let myself be amazed by the fact that I had a second form, that I could fly and breathe fire.
He pulled me close and kissed me again. “I told you your fire wouldn’t burn me.”
“It’s the principle of the thing. Now get to work.” My voice might have sounded grumpy, but I couldn’t stop grinning. No matter how intense things got between us, Drikal always made it fun.
Fun and intensely pleasurable.
He’d been the sensible one today and had brought a jacket, which came in even more handy when he laid it on the ground before laying me down on top of
it after having me shuck off my own pants. Comfortable? Not exactly. But when he came down on top of me and settled in between my legs I didn’t care about the hard ground under me or the scratchy wool of his coat. And when his eyes took on that dark intensity that they only ever achieved in bed, all thoughts of the world around us went away as my entire focus narrowed in on the man looming over me.
I was already wet, already yearning for him, and he found that out when the blunt head of his cock nudged at my entrance. I moaned as he sank in and had to grip tightly onto him. When we were together I never wanted to stop touching him and even when we were apart my skin could still feel the imprint of his on mine.
We moved together, our bodies joined and our hearts finally free to let go. There was no threat of me going back to Earth, not now that I’d made my choice. And we silently acknowledged that in the way we moved together. There was always that new relationship intensity, but until now every joining had come with a mix of desperation, as if any time could be our last.
But this was the first time where we both knew that we had many more to come. Maybe even a lifetime’s worth. It was daunting to realize just how far I’d fallen for the man inside me in such a short time, but I wouldn’t have changed a thing about it.
Sensation crashed over me, ratcheting up everything until my skin was on fire with want, and I would have promised Drikal anything so long as he promised never to stop. But no promises were needed, and as my body rippled around him and I cried out with release he came with me, spending and pulling me close as we lay there in the forest and soaked in each other’s presence.
The consequences of today were bound to catch up to us at some point, but it felt like as long as we stayed out here and together we were safe from the rest of the world. It wouldn’t last forever, but at least I had him.
My mate.
Chapter Eighteen
Drikal
I knew something was wrong as soon as we returned to the keep. Kristen promised to meet me in the hall for dinner but wanted to bathe before she faced anyone. She was standing strong, not cowering in the face of a keep full of dragons who would not like to know that they had a wyvern in their midst. We’d spoken a little of what we needed to do, but we had no firm plan. She had no connection to anyone in wyvern lands, her heart still as human as it had been when she’d been dropped on the planet. I would not surrender her to Greer if he demanded her, and I wouldn’t let my own people send her away. What would happen beyond that, there was no way to know until we found out.
I hated to ground her when she’d just found her new form, but she’d agreed it was for the best if she remained in human form until we at least amassed a few allies in what was sure to be an oncoming battle. My mother was sure to support us, given that she was the one who’d had Kristen brought here in the first place, and I hoped that Veyne as my friend and my second would do the same, but in my heart I suspected that he might not. He’d always called for a harder stance against the wyverns and hadn’t shied away from renewing the war. He would not be pleased that the alpha had taken a wyvern mate.
He’d have to get over it.
The sense of wrongness followed me as I left Kristen in our quarters and walked through the keep to my office. It was too quiet, as if rooms were being silenced the moment I walked in. There was a level of deference that was automatically conferred on the alpha, but this went beyond that. This was the kind of silence that only came when people were gossiping and the subject passed by.
I didn’t have to wait long to know what was going on. Almost as soon as I stepped foot in my office my mother followed me and closed the door behind her. She engaged the lock, something I rarely bothered with, and looked at me like I’d just set the castle on fire.
“Tell me it’s not true.” Her face was pale and her hair had started to fall out of the combs she used to keep it in place. She looked like she’d been run ragged and was ready to slump against a wall and grab a few minutes of rest. But my mother would never slump. She stood straight and fixed her gaze on me, daring me to contradict her.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But even as I said the words I could guess. Kristen and I had been a good distance away from the keep when she’d shifted, but many scouts would have still been able to see us if they were watching, not to mention anyone out for a flight. We hadn’t hidden because there had been no reason to hide. And though she’d only taken her second form for a few minutes, there was a chance she’d been spotted. Judging by the look on my mother’s face, she had.
“You cannot keep a wyvern in this keep and hope to maintain your position.” The word wyvern came out in a harsh whisper, as if she was concerned someone would hear her even through the closed and locked door. “I admitted I was hasty in forcing your hand, and I’ve apologized. But I never knew how wrong I could be. That Celestial Mates would send one of our enemy to you as if she might be suitable? It’s outrageous.”
“Kristen is not my enemy.” The fire that lived in my veins wanted to shoot out in defense of my mate. I’d thought my mother could be an ally in this, but her views right now made me want to do something drastic. But I’d always been a man of careful action and I wasn’t ready to flee into the night with Kristen. Not yet. “I maintain my position because I have earned it, and nothing about that has changed. Who do you expect to challenge me? Veyne? He couldn’t hope to hold together a coalition of alphas. Besides that, no matter what form my mate takes, she is no ally of the wyverns. That is her ancestry, but not her loyalty.”
“Your mate?” She looked at me like I’d grown a second head. “Drikal, you can’t be serious.”
“My true mate. My fire does not burn her. And not even you can make me send her away.” I’d taken my mother’s counsel to heart over the years. She was one of my most trusted advisers, with a keen mind and political instincts that could send her opponents to their knees. But in the end I was responsible for all of my decisions and I could not agree with her on everything, especially not this.
“Even if it costs you everything?” I’d thought she looked exhausted when she entered, but she looked even worse now with the revelation that fate had brought Kristen and I together. I wished this could be a joyous occasion, but we would save the celebrations for later. All I could hope was that my mother would eventually come around. Telling her that I loved a wyvern might have been a shock, but I’d never had another choice.
“It can’t cost me everything when I have her.” I hadn’t known that there was anything that would make me contemplate surrendering my position. I wasn’t ready to give up yet, but my priorities had shifted and if the choice came down to Kristen or the keep, it was Kristen every day.
With that answer, I saw my mother pull herself back together. It was clear she wasn’t happy about it, but she was still my fiercest ally. Even if she thought my decision was foolhardy, she’d find a way to help me. She somehow stood even straighter and gave me a curt nod. “If that’s what you chose, then we will need to be smart. Rumors are swirling and they’ll need to be answered. But as far as I can tell, only two of the scouts saw your… mate… change forms. And those two scouts have never been in battle with a wyvern. There is enough doubt that we have time to consolidate our allies. This will cost you something.”
And that was the woman who raised me. She was thinking steps ahead and I could practically see her writing a mental list of who might be persuaded to our side and who would cause trouble. Relief surged through me at watching her fall into her politicking mode. She may not have liked what I was doing, but she didn’t disapprove enough to fight me on it. Perhaps she remembered how much she’d loved my father and all she’d done to stay at his side, even when it cost her a position at the court. My mother understood all forms of love, and it was times like these that I realized just how much I was truly her son.
“Give me two days. We’ll see where we are then.” She didn’t wait for me to dismiss her. When we were alone we didn’t stand on ceremony, but once s
he was gone I slumped back into my chair and rested my head in my hands. Two days until everything blew up. This was going to be terrible.
Chapter Nineteen
Kristen
I could tell something was wrong when neither Ceri nor Safa greeted me as I joined Drikal for dinner. They’d never ignored me before, and the longer I was with Drikal, the more they seemed inclined to be my friends. Maybe it helped them with their social position, but since I needed allies I didn’t really mind. My paranoid brain wondered if they could somehow know that I was an interloper. But there was no way. If people knew I was a wyvern and not a dragon they’d have kicked me out or thrown me in dragon jail or something. I knew that Drikal was confident he could win the people over, but I wanted to put off that reckoning for as long as possible.
So I hoped that Ceri and Safa just hadn’t seen me, or they’d turned away from me for some other reason. There were whispers in the great hall as I approached Drikal’s table, and when he greeted me, his smile was strained. The hour between us arriving back at the castle and dinner must have been a tough one for him. I almost felt guilty about taking the time to soak in the warm pool, but perhaps staying out of sight had been the smart move.
“Is something wrong?” I murmured, my words only for his ears as I took my seat. It felt like all of his people were staring at us, even if it could have only been a small percentage. Though I suspected they were all taking turns. As one pair of eyes looked away, another focused in. This must have been what it felt like to be an animal at a zoo.
“Yes, but we’ll need to talk about it later.” He took my hand and kissed it before pouring me a glass of wine and digging into his food as if nothing was wrong.
And so we made it through dinner. The food sat heavily in my stomach, but I put on the same show as Drikal. If I was going to fight for this place to be my new home, I was going to need all these gathered people on my side. I couldn’t flee just because a few of them were staring at me.
