by May Sage
She wanted to rip his head off. Especially when he lifted his hand, without any fear, caressing the head of her dragon.
And the beast lowered it, allowing it.
Elza was furious. What the hell? Dragons weren't kittens, dammit! Her beast never welcomed touch; anyone's, except Xandrie, her rider.
She took the reins of their body back, bones cracking as they shrunk, until she was standing in one of her skindresses, a green frock spelled to never tear as she shifted.
"What an ugly castle," were her first words.
Ash laughed. "I'll give you that. It would withstand a siege, however. Unlike yours."
"And the security sucks."
"We let you through."
"And," she added, "you're a dick."
He tilted his head. "All right, guilty. We should have talked things through before I left."
She blinked. Talk? No amount of talking was going to help the state of her nipples and panties. She wanted him, dammit. Like she'd never wanted anyone. So much it was making her grumpy, and incoherent, and so crazy she'd travelled through an entire continent out of the blue.
Seeing her confusion, he smiled. "Ah. You haven't worked it out yet."
"Worked what out?"
He made no reply. Instead, the heathen lowered his head to reach hers, and pressed his lips on hers, so very briefly, fleetingly.
She gasped the moment he stepped back. It wasn't so much feeling him there, but losing his lips made her feel like someone had torn a limb from her, stealing something she needed, something that belonged to her.
Ash was hers. The thing children were told about but no one truly found. Except people did. Rhey and Xandrie had found it. So had Talia and Vincent. And now, her. He was her mate.
She slapped him in the face. "How could you!"
How could he leave, knowing that?
Ash froze and his eyes flared. "Do not challenge me, Demelza. The last thing you want is for my beast to get involved right now. We will talk, like civilized people. And then, you will return home and never think on this again."
The likelihood of that was the same as Ertia being flat, the oceans being dry, and the sun rising in the west.
"Let me get you a drink."
The king of Absolia opened the doors leading to his apartment and went through. She took a deep breath before following him inside.
Insanity
All things considered, he should have met her in a public hall, with plenty of witnesses, not inside his apartment, just a room away from his bed. Ash had been incredibly restrained until now, even when she'd slapped him. Slapped him, pushing him, testing his dominance instinctively. He'd seen the blow coming, and he'd wanted to stop her hand, capture her wrists, secure them on top of her head and lick every part of her, teasing her until she begged him to stop. So, he'd let her. He would not, could not, afford to respond.
He took his time to top up his glass of wine.
"I have all kinds of spirits. Any preference?"
"Wine will do."
He served her a glass, using one of his tall, engraved crystal cups. The king's cutlery, silverware, and glassware always differed from that of everyone else. The only other person who drank from Ash's cups was Damion.
"Come, sit."
She crossed her arms in front of her, making her intention to stubbornly remain where she was obvious.
"Suit yourself."
He walked to his desk, retrieving the stack of folders he'd been working on, before heading to his armchair.
"What do you know of this kingdom?" he asked her.
She seemed surprised by the direction of the conversation. After a beat, Elza shrugged. "Not much. You stay private. If you ask mortals, all dragons are baby-eating, vile barbaric monsters, anyway. But they do fear those from the west more than us. They say you also abduct pretty girls and eat them."
"Only every other Sunday," he joked, making her roll her eyes. "Right, so you know nothing. After the Rift, when we separated, we'd taken these lands from bear and wolf shifters; two races at war. We settled right between wolf territory and bear territory and demanded that both races answer to us. In exchange, we gave them protection and saw that they needed for nothing through the harsh winters."
She nodded. "We have a similar agreement with the bears who occupied our lands before."
"I doubt that," Ash replied with a snort. He explained, "One of the facets of our agreement is that the dragon ruler has to wed all tribes. One wolf, one bear and one dragon. I mentioned my great-great grandfather started the tradition when we arrived in these lands. Well, to this day, it is required of the ruler. So everyone is satisfied, all is well in the land, and no one slits my throat in my sleep."
She opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, and then asked, "What?"
"I'm to get married with three spouses. I've picked one, if you'd like to know about him. A handsome lad. Powerful, too. And before you ask, yes, the marriages have to be consummated, repetitively, unless I want an actual civil war on my hands. You're my mate, and I want you more than anyone, more than anything. But I am king of Absolia, the only king this kingdom has, given that my sister refuses to take the throne. If I was to walk away, all three tribes would go to war. If I was to declare that I want nothing more than my mate, a dragoness—a foreign dragoness, at that—the bears, wolves, and probably the dragons, would all start planning my demise. I was gone for a day last month, and the biggest tribe of wolves already tried a takeover."
Elza held both of her hands up, saying, "Hang on a second. You're telling me that you have to get married to three people. Some dude, and two others, right?"
He nodded.
"And," she added, "that you decided to walk away from me, without even telling me you're my mate, because of that."
Ash paused, wondering where she was going. Elza rolled her eyes. "Men are so fucking stupid. Seriously. I swear you'd literally go to war rather than communicate openly with people."
He opened his mouth to object, but the fact that he'd run as fast as he could rather than have this conversation in Farden made any protest die on his lips.
"Your big issue is that you can't have me, your mate, without another couple of people, right? And you've picked some guy. Well, let me pick a woman I want to play with, and then we can call it even."
Ash looked up to her, eyes wide. He blinked, as if to make sure she was still there when his eyes opened. Then he asked, "You're joking?"
He had no other theory. Dragons did not...share. Not easily.
"How do I put this...I like men and women, equally. Always have. In fact, I tend to favor women, as they have a better understanding of women's anatomy, if you must know. I'm two-hundred-years old, and I've had at least as many proposals. I'm only unattached because I have no interest in submitting myself to a lifetime of dick. Or pussy. Now, if I can have both..." She trailed off.
In the meantime, Ash had somehow regained some of his senses. Enough to say, "You'd take me with this. With two other spouses."
"I wouldn't take you otherwise," she replied with a shrug. "And I still might not. Depends on whether I like that guy of yours. What does he look like?"
Ash handed her the folder, feeling so very numb. She took her time appreciating the first portrait. "Well, that is promising. We'd have to meet, see if we clicked, first. And as you've chosen that one, I expect to select the woman myself, of course."
"Of course," he repeated.
"And I'll return home, often. There's no question of my being away from Xandrie for long. It's just a day of flying in any case."
Were they...negotiating terms? He cleared his throat and nodded.
"And I want a year; with you, your pretty boy, my woman, until we recite any vow whatsoever. We have to see if it works, first."
Ash had reached his limit, he couldn't take another second of this without getting to his feet, crossing the room to stand in front of his mate, and frame her face with his hands. He kissed her, slowly, languorously, as
if he had all the time in the world to explore her.
He hadn't even dared to possibly hope that she might be all right with his insane duties. Now that she'd told him so, he couldn't wait another second. He had to taste her.
"Let's talk another time," he whispered against her ear. "For now, I just want to devour every part of you until you don't remember your own name."
Elza gasped as his mouth closed around her neck and sucked at her sensitive skin. "That works," she said, thankfully for his sanity.
Ash finally released the reins he'd firmly held over his dragon, and the beast leaped with a roar, pulling their mate with him until he was caging her in against the wall. "If you're fond of that dress, you may want to remove it yourself, Demelza."
She shook her head.
"Not particularly fond of it, no."
Good. Ash took pleasure in ripping the front of it open, freeing her heavy, firm breasts. Elza had the body of a warrior, taut and well defined, with wide hips and strong thighs. She was made for sin, from head to toes. Not a delicate flower he would have feared to break. She was...
"Perfection," he told her, getting to his knee, and lifting one of her feet to his mouth. He kissed the tip of her toes, the curve of her foot, her ankle, her calf, knee, then the inside of her thighs, before lifting his chin to the apex of her legs and closing his mouth around her sex. His tongue darted out to lick along her nether lips, and he sucked at her clit, hands around her hips to anchor her. Elza cursed, her fingers threading through his hair, then gripping his head and keeping him in place. He chuckled against her.
"No fear, love. I'm staying right here until you beg for more."
"I do not b—Oh, fuck!" she screamed when he nibbled her clit, moving one hand to curve a finger inside the heat of her pussy, while his thumb teased her ass.
He teased, coaxed, bit, licked, and sucked relentlessly, determined to prove her wrong. He could feel her entire body contract, so close to the edge, and every time she was about to come, he stopped. To her credit, it took her some time, but finally, she yelled, "Please!"
Ash laughed, looking up to her eyes, innocently. "Please what, mate of mine?"
For a second, she looked like she was seriously considering snapping his neck. "You're going to have to spell it out. After all, you know how men are about communication."
The dragon inside her made her growl, and the next instant, she had Ash by the throat, pushing him on his ass with one hard shove. Then she straddled his lap, one hand still around his neck, pinning him down, while the other opened the crotch of his clothes. She freed his erection, harder than it ever had been before, and impaled herself on him with a deep moan of satisfaction.
"Now be a good boy and stay," she said with a snarl, lifting her hips and lowering them back down on him, taking what she wanted from him. His groin tightened impossibly within an instant. Fuck. She most definitely knew what she was doing. Her sex was molten fire, and tighter than a vice; she squeezed him with every sway of her hips, going faster and harder.
Ash panted, his hips lifting to meet hers. He closed his eyes, and bit his lips, trying so very hard to keep from embarrassing himself by emptying his sacks before she came. Finally, finally, the walls of Elza's pussy closed in on his cock as she came, head back. He lifted his hips once more and exploded inside her, breathing harder than after a full day of flying. She fell against his chest, limp, just like him.
It was only then that one fact came to him. Shit. She was more dominant than him; his dragon had been just fine under her.
He was utterly fucked.
Plus One
The beauty with a younger man was that they recovered faster than their older peers. After taking him on the floor, Elza let herself be carried to Ash's bed, and then his bath, and then his plush carpet in front of the fireplace.
Many a time, the man returned to her neck; many a time, she felt compelled to either hold, nibble, or lick his, but to both their credits, neither of them did the one thing they couldn't turn back from. They didn't bite hard enough to break skin. She wanted to. By all gods, she wanted to. Her dragon was egging her on, demanding it. But a claiming mark between mates wasn't something temporary. She'd agreed to a trial, not a lifetime in these strange lands, with their strange—if highly arousing—customs.
Elza hadn't lied. She'd never considered a husband, or wife. She'd never so much as had a relationship; she wasn't built that way. Her interests went to both sexes, in equal measure, and she was loath to choose between her desires. But he'd also made a fair point. They were dragons. What if her beast refused to share him? Hated to see another close to her mate. There was only one way to know: they had to try that strange arrangement, without any obligation.
After she woke up the next morning coming around his tongue, she said, "I want to meet the guy."
Ash lifted one brow. "Now?"
He was between her legs, where he belonged, his dick hovering right before her pussy.
"Well, maybe not right this second, but today."
"Yes. Today," he agreed, before sinking back into her.
And so, when they got dressed, Ash called a page at his door. "Call the wolves to court, if you please. We'll meet them around midday."
The page had strained to catch a good look at her before fleeing with his request. Elza was somehow surprised, when they made their way down a few hours later, that so many people, nobles and servants, glanced and whispered in every hall and corridor. She pointed it out to Ash.
"It can't be the first time they've heard of their king fucking. You certainly knew how to use that tongue of yours."
Ash laughed. "Perhaps, but they've never heard of me fucking in my own apartments or staying through the night with a lover; or, for that matter, appearing the next day with one. Don't mind the rabble. They'll come to their own conclusion."
It was obvious that the dragons of the Absolian court were trying to intimidate Demelza. She smirked, keeping her head high, not bothering to grace them with a glance of acknowledgment.
They thought her weak and prone to swooning, no doubt. But it wasn't her first time being presented to an unfriendly court. Back in the days of the old king, Rhey's father, the court had been full of mean, unfriendly folks who did not like her, daughter of an old king, upsetting the balance they'd grown used to. She'd outranked most of them, but she'd been young, and they'd attempted to make her heel.
After taking on most females and some of the males in one-on-one combat, she'd been left well enough alone. She could guess things would probably work out the same way here. Eventually, she would have to fight to show she belonged where she stood, next to their king.
Today wasn't about them. Ash had called the man he wished to wed, the Archer wolf. Elza watched him as he entered the hall, at the head of half a dozen wolf guards.
The man advanced until he stood in front of the king and inclined his head. Then, he turned to her and offered her a lovely smile, taking the hand she offered.
"Demelza."
"Archer," he replied. "Charmed."
"Likewise."
Oh, yes. He'd do very well. A nice, low, rumbly voice and eyes that burned long after they'd turned elsewhere.
"Could I be talking to the woman responsible for Raoul and Timun's wounds?"
Ah, that. She winced. "That'd be me. Sorry?"
The wolf shrugged. "No apology necessary. We all need a lesson in humility from time to time. God knows my brothers were overdue."
Nice and friendly. She glanced to Ash.
"Elza and I would like you to join us for supper this evening, if you would," he asked, after reading her approval.
The wolf inclined his head formally. "With pleasure, sir, my lady."
Words had never been better chosen. Pleasure was the evening's motto.
The wolf was worldly; he'd travelled much, in a mere hundred years, seeing most of Midgard.
"But you've never seen Farden?" she prompted.
"I have, in fact. Not much of it, thou
gh; we sail to Durandan or Wellyem once a year, maybe. The dragon folk aren't welcoming of strangers, but your purses are deep for those who can bring silks and other gods. We import maille from the High Land."
She whistled appreciatively. "That particular trade is lucrative, no doubt."
Archer shrugged. "So long as we don't lose a boat to the dead seas, aye."
He'd sailed with his father in his youth, but after the man's boat sank, he sought work in the capital, selling his sword. The then the Alpha wolf, Ash's mother, hired him eighty years ago, and a decade after that, he was named beta by the pack. As such, he was given an immortality serum.
"Treacherous word, of course. I’m not immortal at all. While it will prolong my natural life and keep me from dying of most sicknesses, a good sword to the chest still works just fine."
Demelza was highly interested in that serum; they had no such thing in Farden. Mortals could live forever when bonded to a dragon, but so many of their folk, bears, wolves, and other kinds, soon died of old age like mere humans.
The men exchanged a glance. She had to roll her eyes. "Go on, spill. You can't hoard all knowledge."
"We can, and will," Ash declared. "What if everyone could live forever? And they'd still have children; their children would have children. Soon enough our world will be overpopulated and there won't be enough resources to go around. Only one out of ten earn this gift here."
"And you suppose we'd act any other way in Farden?" she asked, offended.
"I've seen your little paradise with my own eyes. You live in a dream. Most of your subjects aren't even taught to hold a sword. And..."
"And we've not shared a piece of technology outside of our cities; not a bit of it, although we have electricity, computers, central heating, energy walls and hovering cars in our garages. Please. You guys are way softer on your people than we are. A king marrying wolves and bears, as well as dragons? For hundreds of years, wolves weren't even allowed in our city walls. Rhey lifted the ban, but trust me when I say, we're just as disgustingly elitist as the rest of you."
