Dragon Beloved: A Reverse Harem Dragon Mythology Romance (Dragon Gladiators Book 3)

by Zara Stark

  Raiden had the decency to look slightly guilty. "I've actually done that."

  "What am I going to do with you?" I asked, pulling my tenth stitch through his wound.

  "Whatever you want," Raiden said so quickly that I shot my head up and saw a goofy grin on his face.

  "I guess I walked right into that one," I snickered and continued on.

  A few minutes passed in silence before I tied off the end of the thread.

  "Well if you were human, you'd probably die of infection but I guess that'll do for a dragon," I grinned up at Raiden, using his thighs to stand up. "Sorry it's not the best stitching, you'll probably scar."

  "Another one for my collection," Raiden shrugged, grabbing my hands off his thighs with his own, he steadied me on my feet.

  "Ahh," I wobbled and popped on the bench next to him. "My legs are asleep from being on my knees for so long."

  Raiden chuckled and massaged down my legs with his hands, obviously trying to help me get blood flow back into my legs but it had an entirely different effect. My body tingled at his touch. His eyes were focused on my lips. Was he going to kiss me?

  "Woah what did we miss?" Azar laughed. He, Cobalt and Nevada walked into the shower room.

  "Dammit," Raiden grumbled. The moment was gone.

  I sighed. "Way to ruin the moment, Zar," I sighed.

  "Did I? What was all that about being on your knees for too long?" Azar laughed and Cobalt rolled his eyes next to him.

  "Not like that!" I gasped. "I was treating his wound."

  "Is that what we're calling it now? Kinky," Azar laughed and I stomped over to him and swatted at his chest.

  "You're so annoying," I told him, unable to hold back my own laughter.

  "Tournament is over, the feast will be starting soon, the Concilium wants us to show our faces," Cobalt explained, his eyes locking on the curse mark on my chest. I guess that meant we didn't have a choice.

  "Do I have time to shower?" I asked.

  "No!" All four of them shouted in unison.

  "What?! I love showers," I sulked, weaving past them to go to the bedroom. "Give me five minutes to get dressed."

  They continued to talk as I went back to the room to pick out an outfit. I opened my wooden wardrobe and pulled out a deep navy gown covered in metallic gold constellations and put it on, securing my hop holster on top of the dress. I frowned at how dirty my arm cast was, there wasn't really much I could do about it. I dropped my dirty armor into the makeshift dirty clothes hammer I had made when the four guys had started leaving their clothing all over the room. I looked at my hair in my small vanity mirror and sulked. It was absolutely wild, there was no way I could leave it down for the night so I tightened the bun it was in. When I left the room a few minutes later the guys were dressed in their ceremonial armor. I could've drooled. What was it about their dress armor that was so damn sexy? The polished metal? The leather straps crisscrossing their muscled chests. I had no idea.

  We made it to the feast in record time, the sooner we showed up, the sooner we got to leave. All five of us stayed close together, not wanting a repeat of when Azar and I were attacked. When the food was served, we all left our plates full, each and every course disappearing from out plates untouched. I wasn't about to get poisoned again even though my stomach growled angrily for food. Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us twice, shame on us. We made sure the dozen or so Concilium warlocks there saw us before we took our leave.

  Magical lanterns floating in the air guided us back to our castelli. At the door, Nevada, Azar, and Cobalt went inside and as I went to follow Raiden caught my good hand in his grip and pulled me back around to face him.

  "You okay?" I asked Raiden as he readjusted his hand so out fingers were threaded together.

  Raiden swallowed hard, making his Adam's apple bob dramatically in his throat. He looked away and met my eyes again. "Take a walk with me? Look at the stars?"

  "Are you sure? What if we get attacked?" I asked.

  Raiden sneered. "Our poor attackers, they would die so fast they wouldn't even have time to come to terms with dying."

  "Okay, if you're sure we'll be alright," I laughed lightly.

  "Whatever happens, I know you and I can handle it, there's no doubt in my head that we can take anyone on if we're together," Raiden told me, pulling me away from the castelli and leading me through Rome.

  "Where are we going?" I asked. I looked up at the sky. The view was definitely a better view that you would get with modern light pollution back home in the city but the magical lanterns were so bright it was hard to see the stars.

  "Just outside of Rome," Raiden pointed ahead. "On a little hill."

  He grew quiet after that, carefully leading me outside of Rome, extra conscious of keeping a slow pace for my shorter legs to keep up with him. It took us a while to make it through Rome, through all of the partying civilians and dragons alike. Music played from almost every building and laughs and cheers echoed through the ancient streets. The heavy smell of wine permeated the night air.

  Anticipation filled me as Raiden led me up a hill. It was so dark, only the distant fires of Rome lighting our way. The grass was warm beneath my sandaled feet and dotted with purple butterfly weed blossoms.

  Raiden released his tight grip on my hand. He pulled off his golden cape and laid it on the grass, gesturing for me to sit down. I did and looked up at him expectantly as he gracefully sat down next to me. In the dark, his pale eyes and hair seemed to almost glow.

  "Why did you bring me out here?" I asked, smiling at him.

  "We've been so busy fighting for survival and dealing with betrayal, you haven't really gotten to see any good parts of the ancient world," Raiden looked up at the sky and my eyes traced the profile of his face, taking in the strong but handsome bone structure of his face. My gaze followed down the scar on his cheek that dipped down his jaw and onto his chest. "You've been rushing since you got here, I thought it might be nice to let you take it easy for once. Just to sit back and look at the stars. I remembered that you liked to do that as a kid. Watch the stars at night and watch the clouds during the days."

  My heart warmed. How thoughtful.

  "I do love some stargazing, I can't remember the last time I did it," I scooted my bottom close to his and leaned on his shoulder as I looked up at the sky. My cheek rested on his bare shoulder. "Are the stars different now than they are in the modern day?"

  "Not really, forty thousand years ago yeah a lot would be different but all the classics everyone knows are the same. They've just moved in the sky a bit between now and two thousand years in the future," Raiden explained, lifting a finger up at the stars. "See there's Ursa Major."

  "The big dipper?" I asked.

  Raiden rolled his eyes at my terminology. "Yes, the big dipper."

  "And there's Orion's belt," He moved his finger to point to a different spot. I squinted my eyes, trying to see what he saw. I was much better at cloud gazing, guessing animals and random things from the fluffy shapes of clouds. I wasn't very good at identifying constellations, I was fascinated by it but I was not talented at it.

  "Is that the one with Beetlejuice in it?" I asked. I loved that movie.

  "Betelgeuse? Yes," Raiden sighed, pointing to another spot. "There's Scorpius."

  "Hmm, looks more like a hammerhead shark to me than a scorpion," I grinned. "I'm going to rename it Hammerheadicus."

  "You can't just rename a constellation," Raiden lectured me, even though he sounded annoyed, a soft affectionate smile played at his lips.

  "Who's going to stop me? So that's Hammerheadicus," I pointed to my newly renamed constellation and then pointed at another one, a weird one with a lot of branches and one really long arm with a v on the end of it. "That one is now construction crane-icus."

  Raiden laughed, shaking his head. "Sagittarius."

  I ignored him and point at a square on with a triangle on top of it. "I'll call that one brick house after The Commodores."

 
"That's Libra," Raiden told me.

  "How is that Libra? It doesn't even look like a set of scales, it looks like a house!" I complained. "Who came up with this stuff? I want to get a petition signed to change it."

  Raiden grabbed me by the shoulders, dragging me into his lap as he slammed his face down into a hard kiss.

  I immediately returned his kiss before my brain decided to return for a moment and I pulled back. "What the hell?"

  "You were going off on another tangent, I had to get you off of it somehow," Raiden gave me a guilty little grin.

  "If you really want to get me off, there are plenty of ways to do," I told him, waggling my eyebrows at him suggestively.

  "I guess I walked right into that one," Raiden mocked what I had said earlier.

  "You didn't just walk into that one, you slammed open the door and ran through screaming at the top of your lungs," I rolled my eyes at him.

  “Fair enough,” Raiden shrugged.

  I shifted in his lap so that I was straddling his powerfully muscled legs. My dress rose up to bunch at my upper thighs.

  Raiden stared at me and a low rumbling growl escaped his throat. A victorious little smirk twitched at the corner of my mouth as I leaned in close.

  I breathed close to his ear and felt his entire body tremble underneath me. I was starting to feel that same giddy feeling I felt around my guys. That triumphant feeling of someone wanting me, being attracted to me. That immediate confidence boost that came with it. But I shoved that feeling down. Tonight wasn't about me, it was about Raiden and I would make sure he knew it.

  I nibbled lightly at his earlobe, noticing the helix tip of his ear was slightly pointed like Azar's. I traced kissed down from his ear to his throat and came to a pause beneath his jaw. I felt Raiden's body stiffen beneath me as if was trying so hard to stay still and not move.

  "You know what I think Raiden Aurelius," I whispered to him.

  "What?" Raiden hissed between clenched teeth as if the words were nearly impossible to get out.

  "I think despite all your bluff and bluster, you're secretly a romantic," I hummed, placing more kisses down his body. I stopped at his collarbone and went back to his neck. I could feel the frustration and eagerness quaking in his body. Frustrated that I was being a tease.

  "Don't you tell anyone," Raiden growled at me, his cyan eyes alight with desire, his pupils blown.

  "I'll shout it from the rooftops and you couldn't do a thing to stop me," I grinned at him, turning my gentle kisses into sharp nips, scraping my teeth along his skin.

  Raiden moaned beneath me, unwittingly thrusting his hips into me. I almost gasped, biting it back. No, I was teasing Raiden, there would be no turning of the tables.

  I ran my hands up from his biceps up into his hair, threading my fingers into the soft, golden spikes.

  "This entire night is romantic, isn't it? A beautiful meadow overlooking the city and the stars above us, only the warm glow of candlelight and starlight illuminating our evening. I think you're very romantic, even if you won't admit it to yourself," I told him, giving him a particularly sharp hip to a spot just beneath his sharp jawline.

  His large hands went up to curve around my hips bones, clenching tight. He pulled me down onto him, groaning. A small whimper escaped me and I bit my lip to keep from crying out. He was so hard and felt oh so good between my legs.

  His gaze snapped up to mine. "Octavia, are you trying to hide your pleasure?"

  "What?! No!" I gasped in mock shock.

  He rolled his eyes and thrust up into the cradle of my hips again and I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood to keep from crying out.

  "Really?" He asked again, repeating the same terrible, amazing motion.

  "Fine, yes, I wanted tonight to be all about you. Rewarding your patience," I rocked my hips into him and instead of moaning, he glared at me.

  "Reward? I'm not a dog," Raiden hissed. "I'm a dragon and I don't beg for scraps. I take what I want. I hoard what I treasure. Make no mistake, Octavia Alexander, you are my treasure."

  "I didn't mean it like that," I groaned as Raiden moved against me. I threw my head back and clenched my eyes shut to keep from crying out.

  "Of course you didn't. What you didn't take into consideration when you were so selfishly trying to please only me instead of yourself is that I can bring you to orgasm anytime I want," Raiden growled.

  "Such arrogant claims," I had heard guys say things like that before and it had always been a resounding failure. I couldn't help but believe Raiden though. I met his eyes and was astounded by the intensity in them.

  "Oh no, it's not arrogance, it is fact," Raiden grinned maliciously. A shiver ran down my spine, I was in trouble now. That was the same look Raiden gave when we were kids and Cobalt had dared him to jump off a local bridge into the river. Raiden had told Cobalt that it was stupid but then Azar had started to cluck like a chicken. Raiden got that same determined look and jumped off of the bridge and into the river, breaking his leg. My dad never believed me when I told him Raiden broke his leg, he saw Raiden a few weeks later and Raiden had been just fine, all healed by then. Now I knew he was a dragon, my dragon.

  His hand released the punishing grip it had on my hip bone and snaked up the silk of my dress. Long, rough fingers finding the sensitive bundle of nerves at my center. His fingers sparked with a small jolt of electricity sending me spiraling into an orgasm. My body quaked against him and I burrowed my face in his neck so I couldn't see the haughty smirk on his face.

  When I caught my breath, I looked back up at him.

  "Told you so," He grinned.

  "You've had that power this whole time and we're just now using it?" I chastised.

  "Allow me to make up for lost time," Raiden crooned smoothly. He didn't even ask before he did it again, putting a bit more electricity into it this time. Static electricity crackled around us, pale blue light sparking around us, illuminating the meadow in an ethereal flow. The orgasm hit my body even harder this time, it felt like fireworks going off in my brain. Not the cheap little ones you can buy in a parking lot somewhere but the big blasting fireworks you see at Disneyland. Raiden had just given me the best orgasm of my life.

  "You need to give me a little warning before you do that," I gasped against him, lifting my shaking body up so I could give him a kiss.

  He met my kiss and deepened it. His tongue twisted against mine reverently. Worshipping me like the treasure he claimed I was to him.

  Raiden's hand left from under my dress and he snaked it around my back and used it to turn us both, roughly tossing me onto his cape. He wasted no time in covering my body with his own, undoing the knots holding my dress together at my shoulder with nimble fingers. Pulling the silk apart, he left me naked except for the modern bra I still wore every day.

  "I can't wait any longer, Tavia, not when you're sweet cries fill my ears and your beauty taunts my eyes every second of the day, I thought your armor was tempting enough but seeing you laying in the grass, bathed in starlight and skin flushed from pleasure, I've never seen a more arresting sight," He whispered against my skin.

  "See? Romantic," I chuckled, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him into a kiss. He propped himself on top of me, resting his weight on his elbows and returned my kiss.

  We kissed for what felt like an eternity, our tongues at war with one another. Until, without warning, Raiden slammed into me.

  I hissed in pain melding with pleasure. I didn’t wait to adjust to the fleeting discomfort and rocked my hips against him, urging him to move.

  “I knew you would like that,” Raiden whispered devilishly into my ear as he ground against me. I locked my legs around his hips and pulled him even closer to me. I dug my nails into his shoulders and used them as leverage to meet his every thrust.

  "I knew it, I knew you would be perfect for me," Raiden growled into my ear as he continued to slam into me. It was a good thing that we were all alone and far from the city because I couldn't contr
ol my ecstatic moans and whimpers of encouragement as Raiden continued to piston his hips back and forth.

  I felt another subtle shock inside of me and instantly orgasmed again, the powerful release spread throughout my entire body. I felt like I was on fire and underwater all at once, in the best of ways. Raiden didn't stop his punishing pace.

  "Oh my God, you can do that with any part of your body?" I whispered into his lips when my shaking subsided.

  "Yes," Raiden grunted, gritting his teeth. I looked up at him towering over me, at the animalistic look in his pale eyes, how mussed his usually well-groomed hair was and how his muscular chest rose and fell with his rapid breathing. I loved seeing Raiden all unbound like this. Losing control, his worse fear, and he liked it.