The Dragon King

by Candace Blevins

  Jonathan shook Aaron’s hand with a wry smile. “I like you. I didn’t expect to, but…” He shrugged. “I adore her, and yes, I knew I was saving her sanity. I’ll take care of her in your absence.”

  Aaron nodded, pulled me into a kiss that turned scorching and had me flushed and breathing hard, and then was gone.

  I looked to Jonathan and said, “He can be a little, ummm, intense, sometimes.”

  Jonathan nodded, but his face was all business. “I’m assuming you can give me a sit-rep?”

  I looked to Isaac, who said, “Situation report. He’s ex-military. Aaron is, too, but he speaks English around you.” He turned to Jonathan and said, “She can, indeed, though I’m guessing she won’t tell you everything up front. Because of this, you’ll have either me or Abbott Hamilton with you until Aaron returns. You can’t protect her if you don’t know everything.”

  Jonathan looked at me in question and I shrugged my shoulders. “If you were me, would you tell you everything right off the bat?”

  His smile told me he approved. “No, Your Majesty.”

  I touched his arm and said, “My name’s Sophia. The first time’s the hardest. Say it now, please.”

  He shook his head but obeyed me. Kind of. “Queen Sophia.”

  I laughed and said, “You know what I meant, Jonathan. We’ll be out in the real world and you can’t refer to me by my title.”

  “It feels wrong. You’ve been the Princess in my head for so long…” He shrugged and looked sheepish. “I can shift to Queen, but to call you by your first name as if we’re…” He shook his head again.

  “Disobeying a direct order so soon?” I asked with a smile, but I was only semi-joking.

  “No, Sophia. I’m sorry. You’re right, I just hadn’t expected things to be so…casual.”

  “I’ve discovered I like casual,” I told him with a smile. “I remember my lessons, and when necessary I’ll be formal. I’ve discovered most situations in Faerie require me to be the icy queen who can’t be friends with people, but here?” I turned in a circle with my arms out, and looked back to him with a grin. “There’s so much royalty around me, so many people with power even greater than mine, and everyone is casual with each other. I fit in, Jonathan. I’m happy here.”

  His smile was genuine as he said, “I can see that, and it makes my heart sing. Let’s sit down somewhere and you can give me as much of a situation report as you’re comfortable supplying.”

  Abbott let us borrow his office, and Jonathan was uncomfortable being alone in a room with me at first but soon got over it as we delved into the specifics of what I felt he needed to know at this point.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Sophia

  The next few days were a whirlwind. Aaron saved the soldier, my father unsuccessfully tried to have me captured again while Aaron was out of town, and Jonathan settled into our routine.

  “How do you keep it all straight?” I asked Aaron one night as we got ready for bed. He was running Drake Security, handling top secret things for the United States Government, dealing with other supernatural crap he said I didn’t need to worry about right now, and trying to help me gain my father’s crown.

  “Millennia of practice, but we have other things to discuss.”

  I nodded. “Jonathan told me he was going to talk to you about what he thinks is my crazy-assed idea.”

  He put his hands on my shoulders and looked at me with an intensity that told me what he was about to say was terribly important. “I was there when your father sat on the nest to keep the eggs warm after your mother was shot. I saw him cry in swan form. I brought him food, talked to him, tried to help him through his grief. He had a small gathering of people close to him when he buried your mother, and then again when he buried your two brothers and your sister, when their eggs didn’t hatch. I don’t approve of the way he raised you, but I understand he made a vow to always keep you safe. The Eagle King has tried to kill you twice now, but your father is in denial, unable to accept that his close friend and confidante could even consider such a thing. Raul’s people have tried to capture you, but your life wasn’t at risk when they did. I absolutely approve of a phone or video call with your father, and then I’m willing to entertain the idea of inviting him to the ball, but only after you’ve slept on the decision, after your conversation with him.

  “You have his email address?” I asked him.

  “I do.”

  “If I write the letter, will you help me finesse it?”

  “I will, but my guess is what you write will be what he needs to see.”

  “Yes, probably, but I need another set of eyes to be sure I’m not giving something away I shouldn’t.” He held me a few minutes and I told him, “I’ve decided to trust Jonathan with everything.”

  I felt his nod as he said, “I agree.”

  “Okay, then. I want shower sex before bed. You good with that?”

  His eyes went dark and he pulled me into his arms as his lips crashed into mine.

  We were both naked and under the warm running water within minutes, and I didn’t want or need foreplay today. I wanted his cock, inside me, and I wanted to ride him.

  Sex no longer hurt, and saying I had the hang of it now would be an understatement. Aaron was an incredible teacher, and while I might still have trouble talking about it afterwards, I had no problems letting him know what I wanted while riding the high he put me on when he worked my body.

  I’d also learned that while Aaron rarely did what I commanded during the day, he almost always obeyed me when he was horny. So today I worked him with my hand a few minutes before telling him, “Pick me up, Aaron. Sit me on you. I want to feel this inside me.”

  He shook his head and his lips crashed into mine. He didn’t have to hold back like he did at first, afraid of overwhelming or scaring me, and I loved knowing he was giving me all of him.

  With him bent to my lips I could reach my arms around his shoulders, and I used the leverage to lift myself and wrap my legs around his waist. I knew he wouldn’t let me fall, so I let go with my arms and reached back to hold him in place as I sat down on him, and heard him groan as my warmth sank around and over his hard length. It was still tight, but it only felt good now and I leaned back with his arms around me, savoring the spread as he filled me, opened me.

  Aaron used his hands to hold me in place as he plunged the final few inches in, and I screamed, “Yes,” and then, “Move! God, please!”

  He didn’t disappoint, and held me as he drew his hips back and then slammed in hard enough to bounce me all the way off him, but then pulled me rapidly back with his arms. I didn’t need him to position me to hit the right spot anymore, I knew how to move my own body into place, and as soon as I was there I started screaming gibberish and ignoring the fact the water was hitting my face as I looked to the ceiling and screamed in ecstasy.

  The rushing water, the tile around us, everything melted away and it was just Aaron, his cock, his arms, and his hips as they slammed into me over and over.

  I alternated leaning back with burying my face in his neck, and he kept up the same pace no matter my position, no matter how much I helped or didn’t.

  I came four times before he did, and when we finally came together it lasted an eternity, my nails in his back, his hips grinding into me with his back arched and one long, low, rumbling growl vibrating through his chest until it was almost the roar of a dragon when it came out of his throat.

  When my body finally came down from the peak, I was holding onto Aaron for dear life as I tried to catch my breath, and he sat on the tile bench and held me until my heart stopped beating triple-time. He then proceeded to shampoo my hair and body, paying special attention to my breasts both during the sudsing and rinsing portion. When he’d lovingly worked the conditioner through my hair, he turned the water off, stood me up, had me bend and put my hands on the bench, and then thoroughly occupied my time while I waited for the conditioner to do its thing.

  L
et’s just say my hair was really soft when we finally left the shower.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Sophia

  My father’s image came onto the large wall screen in the secured conference room of Drake Security, and I felt both love and anger. Thankfully, I didn’t have to worry about altering my scent, so I only concentrated on my facial expressions.

  “Father. It’s good to see you again. I hope you’re well?”

  “I miss my daughter, Sophia. My life is incomplete.”

  “I will soon marry Aaron Drake. This is going to happen with or without your blessing, but I’d much prefer it happen with your blessing. I want you to walk me down the aisle. Is there a way we can get from here to there, Father?”

  “I will never accept you wedded to someone other than a Swan, Sophia. You are royalty.”

  “I know you’re aware he has a swan form. He’s the Swan king in Faerie, and I believe this qualifies him to be my spouse in the human world.”

  He was quiet, so I struck during a vulnerable moment. “Did you authorize the Eagle King’s foiled assassination attempt on me?”

  “Rumors, Sophia. He knows you’re important to me and would never…”

  I interrupted with a shout. “I was there, Father! It isn’t a rumor! He tried to kill me, and would’ve succeeded if Abbott Hamilton hadn’t rescued me at the last possible moment. Vincent had his hands around my throat, choking the life from me! Not only that, he tried to kill me in front of you on Shining Rock Mountain! You saw it with your own eyes!”

  “It was a misunderstanding on the mountain, he was going after your Dragon, not you. Tell me what happened during the assassination attempt, it has to be another misunderstanding.”

  It hadn’t been a misunderstanding on the mountain, but I’d get nowhere arguing the point so I told him the story. “We left Abbott Hamilton’s place of business around three in the morning. We were less than a block from the building, not yet to a main road, when cars came at us from all directions. I smelled Eagles and Owls. Aaron was doing a good job of fighting them, but there were so many. I used my stun gun, and had pulled my real gun out to begin using it when the Eagle King came at me and knocked it from my hand. Aaron was on the other side of the car, fighting to get to my side, when the Eagle King wrapped his hands around my throat. The world went fuzzy and then black. Someone heard the fighting and told Abbott, and he flew to us and saved me. Aaron was in the process of getting to me, and likely would’ve managed it in the next couple of seconds, but with Abbott there, no one stood a chance. They killed most of the attackers, but the Eagle King flew away.”

  My father looked doubtful, so I said, “I’ve seen Abbott question people, to see if they’re telling the truth. I know you have a Master Vampire on your side. Have him question the Eagle King, so you can find out for sure.”

  “I can’t help but think you’re playing the divide and conquer game, Sophia. It breaks my heart for us to be at odds with each other.”

  “Then let me live my life, Father. I’m a grown woman and I’ve kept myself alive despite your allies trying to kill me. Would you rather us be estranged for the rest of our lives, or would it be better to find a way back to each other?”

  He didn’t look convinced, so I took a breath and told him, “Then hear me now, Father. If you manage to force me back into captivity, I will never, ever forgive you. You have one way back into my life, and that’s by allowing me to make my own decisions. Now, the choice is yours — am I in your life or out of it? I’ll call you again tomorrow at the same time.”

  I disconnected the call, took four steps, and sat heavily in a chair. I’d wanted to stand to talk to my father, but I hadn’t realized my knees would go weak when I faced him.

  I looked to Jonathan first, and he said, “Great job, Your Majesty.”

  We’d come to an uneasy truce, where he spoke to me as royalty when in private, and called me Ma’am or Sophia when in public.

  I looked to Aaron and he said, “If anything will change your father’s mind, that will.”

  I shook my head. “I’m going to send the email. The one about you telling me what he was like when he sat on the eggs, see if I can soften him a little more.”

  He nodded, I looked to Jonathan who also agreed, and I read through the email and made a few small changes to include pieces of our conversation so it would look as if I’d just written the entire thing.

  When I’d sent it, Aaron looked to Jonathan and said, “Sophia and I have something to do down the hall, it should take around an hour and then we’ll be ready to go home. Feel free to spend the time in the workout room or the range, we’ll find you when we’re ready.”

  Jonathan hugged me as I rounded the table, telling me he was proud of me for standing up to my father. I noted a strange look on Aaron’s face and debated asking him about it, but followed him to the interrogation room instead, stopping at the bathroom to empty my bladder so I wouldn’t pee all over myself while we did this.

  I knew what to expect, knew it was going to hurt, and hoped I could keep from begging him to stop, this time. I followed as he led me to a soundproof interrogation room, designed for questioning supernatural prisoners. I was afraid Aaron’s idea of interrogation might involve things he learned from Mabel, so I chose not to ask why it had to be soundproof.

  He closed and locked the door, helped me take my clothes off, and then bound my wrists and ankles in steel cuffs designed to hold someone in an X shape.

  He stood before me, leaned down, and kissed me, his lips forcing mine open, his tongue invading as his forehead touched mine and his hand went to the back of my head. I felt energy going into the chakra at my forehead from the front and back, and kissed him back as I screamed in pain.

  Electric charges surged through my brain, lighting up every nerve pathway at once until I thought I might die. He moved his hands to put them around my throat, and pushed energy into my throat chakra. He stopped kissing me now, the pain too much for me to handle him at my mouth, but he kept his body pressed against mine because we’d learned this helped me handle the torment.

  He moved down my body, forcing more energy than I could hold into my heart chakra and then solar plexus. I begged for a break when his hands went to the front and back of my lower abdomen, but he pushed his fiery strength in once again without pausing. I knew why — doing it all at once gave the biggest benefit to pain ratio. Still, I only wanted a few seconds to catch my breath.

  I understood on a logical level he was expanding my capacity so I could hold more magical energy and thus would be able to defend myself better, or manage more teleportations or longer levitating while in Faerie. I knew we needed to do this, and he wasn’t cruel when he did it, but he understandably had to distance himself from my screaming and begging in order to do it. I wished I was strong enough to take it without pleading for him to stop, and entreating for only a few measly seconds to catch my breath, but I wasn’t.

  The chakra he was about to push energy into is tied to creativity and reproduction. It includes the womb, which means my clit lit on fire as he pushed energy in. I fought the steel restraints, though I knew I had no hope of breaking free, and I screamed and begged and promised him the moon for only a few seconds of respite so I could get on top of the pain and not feel drowned by it.

  The five chakras he’d just filled are all aimed front to back, but he was about to do the first and last chakra, and these two are directed up and down. He put one hand on top of my head, put two fingers inside the entrance to my vagina, and forced energy into me yet again.

  Electricity filled me from the base of my spine to the top of my head now, filling all seven chakras at once as Aaron pushed it in faster than I could let it out.

  If filling them individually had been a ten on the pain scale, this was a seventy, and I was certain the entire building should be able to hear my screams despite the soundproofing.

  I was near passing out from the pain when he finally stopped, and he put a homemade piec
e of candy in my mouth designed to help sooth my throat from the screams. He released me from the shackles and carried me to the edge of the room, where he sat on the floor, leaned against a wall, and held me in his lap until I began to recover.

  He was never impatient after working with me, and always held me until I was ready to get up. When I did, I walked to the shower in the corner of the room. Not all interrogation rooms had them, but this one had what amounted to a showerhead with a drain under it, and no extra walls. Aaron followed me, took his clothes off, and washed me. All I had to do was stand and let him take care of me.

  We weren’t completely finished, but as the conditioner was setting on my hair he pulled me to him and fed energy into my entire aura, not just my chakras. It felt good for a few minutes, all warm and snuggly, however, as more came in than I had room for, it grew uncomfortable and eventually began to hurt. He knew the instant I could take no more and stopped pushing it in as he kept holding me, telling me how good I’d done, and how I’d held more today than last week.

  He rinsed my hair and dried me with a super-soft towel I was certain most prisoners didn’t get.

  As he helped me dress I told him, “Thank you.”

  He misunderstood and said, “You’re tired, Soph. I don’t mind helping you dress.”

  “No. I mean, yeah, thanks for this, but I was originally talking about helping me increase my capacity. I wish I could take it without begging and screaming, and I can’t imagine how much it must hurt you to have to do it. I’m not sure I’d be strong enough to hurt you like that, even if I knew it was really helping you in the long run.”

  “I begged and screamed when it was done to me, too. Don’t be sorry. Besides, when we have kids, once they’re teens you’ll be doing it to them when I can’t be home to do it. The first and last chakras are handled a bit different when you aren’t working on a lover, but the overall procedure is the same. I’ll do it most of the time, but there’ll be times it will fall to you. I already know you’re strong enough to do it. You’ll hate it, and will probably take them out for ice cream later, but you’ll do it.”