“I never knew his mother.”
“No, you would’ve been but a toddler when she died. Worse, he was off doing some stupid errand for Alazor. No one told him his mother had taken ill. And that is why he doesn’t ever spend more time than he has to in the presence of your grandfather.”
A second later, the middle door of the hall flew open, Karolus stormed through, slamming the door behind him. He marched past them both, leaving her wondering what she should do. Gregoreo placed a gentle hand on her lower back. “Come on, he needs you.”
“Me?”
“He’s needed his mate for seven years. You just weren’t ready for him.”
They made their way to an apartment she had never been invited to enter before. As she lifted her hand to knock, Gregoreo opened the door and waved her in. The room was strangely devoid of anything personal, bare walls and the simplest of furniture filled the room. Only the bar seemed to have anything of his in it. Second to the prime’s rooms, her mate should have occupied the next nicest and spacious apartment in Atlantis, yet he occupied simple servant’s quarters.
Karolus came out of his bedroom with a drink in hand. “I’m not good company. Gregoreo, escort her back to her rooms, please.”
“No, you need me.” Styssi might not know everything about mates, but she knew his need for her as sure as she knew hers for him.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have stormed off on you like that.”
“Talk to me,” she pled.
Gregoreo leaned against the wall nearest the door. “You know the old man is pushing your buttons, seeing how long it will take you to break.”
“Yesterday, he begged me to wait until next year, which is perfect for my plans, but now he’s egging me on like a damned T-rex looking for a fight. Threatening to banish me if I don’t toe the line, and baiting me to challenge him.”
“To what end?” The other man voiced her very question.
“Because if I take on prime, I am stuck here for the next year.”
“Stuck?” she asked, somewhat offended and a great deal hurt.
“I didn’t mean it like that.” He ran a hand down his face and placed his drink on the table nearest to him. “Remember what I told you about the other zodiacs? If I’m prime, I can’t possibly join the others and learn from the primes and their people.”
“And you believe it’s essential that you go? Can Gregoreo go in your stead?” Her focus split between the two men.
“He already is going. But primes won’t talk with him openly about prime business.”
She understood that but why would they with him. “But they will talk to you?”
“Yes, it’s understood I’m the next prime,” Karolus said on a sigh.
“No matter how reluctant.”
“I know it’s selfish.” He dropped onto the sofa. “Some would think it an honor.”
“You are not others.” She sat next to him and laid her head on his shoulder.
“If I’m banished, will you come with me?”
“What would he banish you for?”
“Styssi, if I am banished, will…” he repeated with urgency in his voice.
“Yes, of course I’ll come with you.” She didn’t hesitate.
“Will you bond with me tonight?”
Her lungs froze. So instead of being able to speak, she nodded.
He stood and pulled her after him. “Gregoreo.”
“I’ll have everything ready for when you return.” By ready she knew he meant food and the ice bath they would require when they exited the bonding room. “Here or in Styssi’s rooms?”
He looked to her to answer. “Here, please, and as quite as you can keep it. I think it best if my grandfather still believes we aren’t bondmates. He believes it gives him leverage that we haven’t mated yet. Let’s not give him reason to find something else when he thinks he already had the golden egg.”
Quietly, they made their way to the very depths of Atlantis. Into the chambers rarely used. This area most resembled the old city in Greece. They passed the underground ocean pool soon to be filled with ice, and into the single chamber within. As they approached, he lit the wall sconces. “Are you sure.”
“About us, yes.”
“Are you aware of what is about to happen?”
“Not really.” No one discussed mates and mating. Perhaps because of the rarity in finding a mate, or perhaps because they believed it to be a natural.
“Did no one tell you of the fires?”
“I’ve heard rumors.”
“Promise me, once we are in charge, that you’ll make sure every young woman understands what is to happen and her part in it. You have the power. It is within you to initiate the bond.”
“But, last night, I couldn’t,” she reminded him.
“I can help, but it must originate within you.”
Ever so slowly, he undressed her, kissing the areas he exposed until she stood before him naked and in need. He stripped off his clothing and walked her to the center of the room. “Do what comes naturally. Allow the flame to build and consume us. Our flames will become one as our souls merge. We must remain in contact with each other, face to face, and the ancient disk at our feet at all times.”
He referred to the seal of Atlantis, a plate of pure gold bestowed by the gods for the service the dragons had given. Yet, when the fall of the zodiac began, they attacked the dragons first as Zeus tired of his zodiac guardians. “I thought we had to be making love at the same time.”
“We do.”
“Face to face, with our feet in contact with the seal. How will it work?”
He pulled her to him lifting her right leg so it rested at his hip and allowed him access to the apex of her thighs. She hissed as his cock rubbed against her, flaming the heat within.
“Once you take me into your body, we’ll be connected, making us one. Only then can you wrap your legs around my waist. When the burn becomes too much, release it and trust me to care for you, protect you.”
She kissed him because actions spoke far louder than any words ever could. She infused it with all the passion she had, all the longing she’d ever felt. His heat burned her, kindling her own. Reaching between them, she took his cock into her palm and guided him into the heat of her body. They hissed in unison. He eased his hands over her hips lifting her into his arms driving deeper within her. Every stroke brought her ultimate pleasure and had her aching for more. Needing more.
Fire didn’t burn their kind, it barely tickled, but the embers within her hurt. She broke from the kiss. Throwing her head back, she opened her mouth to scream as a conflagration reached the ceiling. A second later, a hotter flame wrapped around hers, encompassing the room as whole before coming back and circling them.
The burning within subsided to a small ache on her shoulder just above her heart. She glanced into his eyes and saw the emotions she couldn’t hide any longer reflected. A deep-seated mature affection for the man who held her tight. It was not love yet, not in the sense that she believed it would be, but this was more than she had hoped for.
In a voice rough even for him, he whispered against her collarbone, “Now, we finish this.”
Before she could ask how, he started a rhythm, pumping into her with such ferocity and power, she could only cling to him, submitting, holding nothing back. Together, they crested in an orgasm so strong she screamed his name before the world went dark.
She awoke her heated body sizzled as cool water washed over her skin. Steam rose from the ocean water trying to cool her body temperature, much like it did lava spilling into its depths. Cradled in his arms, each step he took brought them deeper into the pool. She couldn’t talk with her mouth so parched from the fire.
Give me a moment, and I will get you a drink. I need to cool your skin first.
Are you in my head?
Does appear to be the case.
Did you know this would happen?
It was always a slight possibility.
What do y
ou mean slight?
There are few who receive the talent, at least in human form.
She accepted this great blessing and laid her head against his chest. His heat beat in perfect time with hers.
Chapter 4
He left her early in the morning after having made love to her three more times. Dragons were not known for gentleness, yet he had been as gentle as one could imagine through the night, taking his time and making sure she received everything she needed. The prime had demanded an early audience with Karolus and, many hours later, close to dinnertime, her mate hadn’t come out of the meeting.
Things seemed to have gone from angry to infuriating. One of the benefits of being bonded was she could feel his every emotion. One of the downsides, she could feel his every emotion. Whatever he discussed with the prime, it pissed her mate off. His anger grew by the hour. What was her grandfather up to? He’d already announced he would step down at the next Aquarius rising, but he was pushing her mate’s every button, likely trying to get Karolus to lose his cool and give him reason to banish him. But no one else would step forward to take on prime. Those able to run the valor were loyal to her mate. Those not loyal to him were terrified.
Before he’d left in the morning, she’d finally asked the question that had been bothering her for so long. “Why are you so reluctant to take on the prime?”
“Once I become prime, I’ll need to be here. This place, these walls, stifle everything good in us. We, Aquarians, are the air but are stuck between an extinct volcano and the Pacific Ocean. Our place is in the skies.” He sat up with the headboard at his back and the sheet barely covering his waist. “The women of the valor barely associate with their dragon selves. Hell, you can’t effectively blow fire. That is a crime in my eyes against the women. He purposefully created a situation where you aren’t allowed access to flight.”
“It’s been this way for as long as anyone can remember.” Though she’d resigned herself to the way it was, she couldn’t deny the exhilaration the air under her wings had been. “I have a thought, though. You worry you must stay here as prime. Yes?”
“I can’t take on prime and leave for a year. How will that help our people? They deserve a full-time leader, not someone who is split between commitments. And the other zodiacs will only let in those they trust.”
“Why not visit the other zodiacs for a week or two? Must it be for the whole month? I’m sure they would understand. Will other primes be going?”
“Yes, some will be present. I know Leonidas is keen for more information, but I can’t see the man not dealing with his business for a full month let alone year happening. Maybe going for a week is an option, and then I could spend a week dealing with financial business, and the other two back here with valor.”
“Financial?” This new track had her head spinning.
“Oh, yes, my dear. You are now a very rich dragon. The valor has a great deal of wealth, but it’s never distributed. I wanted to make sure every member receives compensation for their work, so I invested some of the money in the coffers with the prime’s approval. Though I wasn’t clear on what I felt should be done with it. He didn’t want to be bothered, so I invested, made more than I lost, and returned the initial investment. Over the decades, I have set up accounts for each member of the valor, and, once prime, I will give them access.”
“Do you think that is wise all at once to give them something they have never had without some sense of how to manage their money? I only take small barter payment for my midwifery services.”
“I hadn’t thought of that. Perhaps I will bring my financial advisor in to work with everyone.”
“Here? But…”
“He knows what I am. Hell, he knows who all the shifters are. His family has been in service to the lions and the bears for centuries.”
“Oh.”
“I feel there is so much about the world I don’t understand.”
He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “We will remedy that soon. The planet it so much more than this small island. We begin your adventure tonight. There is a carnival at an island close by.”
“But foniás”
“There are 196 countries, give or take, at the moment on this planet. Leonidas estimates there are just under 600 slayers to cover all those countries.”
“But they outnumber us,” she reminded him.
“And they have no idea where to find us. There are legends of dragons all over the world. The one about dragons here barely registers on the radar. Gregoreo and I come back a few days late every year because we take the time to leave a false trail for the slayers to follow. Mostly in the area around where Atlantis is thought to be. And when Zeus smote us, many dragons couldn’t find their way home which kept the slayers busy in Europe and Asia.”
“Are there more dragons out there?”
“A few, but not many. Our numbers are dwindling. Your grandfather is right about that. Either way, I would love to take you to the carnival.” He raised an eyebrow as he cast her a knowing glance, one guaranteed to make her knees weak if she had been standing.
“If you believe it is safe, I have to trust you.”
Moments later, he had been summoned. Now, at dinner, the argument continued. How either man had anything left to discuss, she couldn’t imagine, but every time her mate tried to escape the room, the prime kicked in with something new. Karolus had done everything in his power to end the argument, to defuse the situation, but her grandfather was having none of it.
“If we make it through this meal with his head still on his body, we must consider it by the grace of the gods,” Karolus mumbled so only she and Gregoreo could hear him.
Her response was to lean over and kiss him. What she couldn’t know, she couldn’t have predicted was the simple act of kissing her mate would turn into the fuel her grandfather needed.
“Weak,” the prime grumbled loud enough that it echoed off the back wall. When no one responded—not really knowing what he referred to and, in her mind, no one really cared anymore—they had been simply thankful for the brief silence. “Have you become pussy whipped? I see Styssi whispering in your ear. Does she pull you by your shoestrings, or perhaps an appendage?”
Styssi made a move to get up and defend them, but he placed a hand on her knee. Don’t.
She listened, not because he told her, but because she could sense something in him about to break. And she did fear her grandfather’s life might be teetering on a knife’s edge. I love you, my mate.
He glanced at her, wide-eyed. Though he didn’t return her words, he brought her knuckles to his lips. She knew the words were right. And her love. If he didn’t feel it yet, he would one day, she knew that a certain as she knew he sat beside her.
“Nothing to say? You can’t even bother to bond with her. Perhaps because you have others on the side out in the real world? I daresay Styssi is stupider than she looks to believe you will ever bond with her.”
Karolus jumped to his feet and flew at the prime, coming nose to nose with the older man. The screams from the hall silenced in her mind as if someone had turned down the volume. Her focus was on her mate alone. Don’t, she repeated in their connection, but it had little effect because, apparently, her grandfather could do nearly anything but insult his mate, and that he wouldn’t stand for.
“You are very close to banishment,” the prime announced, backing up a few steps and stumbling into a chair.
Gregoreo struggled, pulling back his alpha. Two others came to help, but Gregoreo shook his head. They bowed their heads, stepping back, if not completely, out of the fray.
“Then banish me.”
Oh hell, she thought, but her grandfather wouldn’t because he knew like everyone else that Karolus was the valor’s only hope. His frustration lay in the inability to control the other man.
“Like my wife, our daughter and now granddaughter, Styssi isn’t worthy of being the queen. Perhaps like the queen before her, she’ll die early, leaving you free.”
“I challenge you to Prime of the Aquarius Dragons!” Karolus roared then threw his head back and breathed fire that engulfed the ceiling, fading to embers as it reached the walls of the great hall. “I say you can no longer effectively rule, you diminish those we need to most. And I’ll have no one disrespect my bond mate. Not even her so-called grandfather, or our prime.”
Alazor stood, his face an unhealthy purple. He sputtered.
Karolus shook off Gregoreo and moved toward her. I’m sorry. I know you wanted to keep it a secret. I should have…
She brushed his hair from his face. Shhh, my love. Your announcement was perfect.
I lost control. I haven’t done that in years, decades actually.
Did it involve my grandfather that time, too?
I think it might have. He laughed.
“So, it’s true.” Alazor managed. “You’ve mated and now have been blessed with the power of telepathy.”
He centered himself. Took her hand in his and escorted her around the table to stand before the prime. “We are bonded, and if you ever insult my bride again, I won’t be held responsible for my actions. The challenge has been laid at your feet. Do you accept?”
Though not as purple, the color tinting Alazor’s edges couldn’t be healthy. “I accept.”
“Tomorrow night, I’ll meet you in the arena.”
“Tomorrow?” Alazor choked out.
Karolus lowered his voice. “If you believe an extra day of training will help you, then by all means we can make it the day next?”
“No, tomorrow night it is,” the prime responded.
“Until then, my mate, my second and I are unavailable to you.” Karolus grabbed her hand and squeezed tight.
“Win or lose, I still win. You’ll be stuck here within this volcano.”
“So you think,” her mate asked cryptically as they moved out of the great hall. “Do you wish to change?”
“What should I wear?” Styssi asked, eager to get his mind on something else.
“Jeans and something comfortable.” As they reached her apartment, he paused. “I’ll wait for you here.”
Crimson Kisses: Valentine’s Day Edition: A Zodiac Shifters Paranormal Romance Anthology Page 10
