Sorac stared at her with a shocked expression. “You know about them?”
“I make it my business to know everything there is to know about my fellow captains.”
In truth, she’d only found out about his brood fifty years ago. He’d kept that secret well-guarded until then.
“How?” he asked at last.
“You slept with a soldier under my command. Got her pregnant.” Vaspara huffed. “Brakaya couldn’t train during that time. Annoyed me more than a little.”
“Sorry,” Sorac coughed. “Shouldn’t have poached from your ranks.”
“No, you shouldn’t have, but you were also my friend, and you always seemed like the fatherly type, so I told Brakaya there’d be a big promotion if she didn’t rid herself of it.”
“Ah. I wondered why she’d been so eager to keep it. I didn’t have to promise her as much as I’d thought.”
“Worked both angles for the best payout, did she?” Vaspara snorted. “Anyway, imagine my surprise when she presented me with an egg three months later. I told her to take it to you upon threat of death. At which point I followed in secret to make sure she obeyed and then later, I followed you to the cavern under the Battle Goddess’s temple.”
“You saw my nest?”
She nodded. “The succubus’s egg was number fourteen.”
“Yes.” Sorac cleared his throat. “The unplanned one.”
“Hmm. Tall. Blonde. Big breasts. Succubus. Sound like someone you know?” Vaspara could have been describing herself. Sorac had picked a female who looked as much like her as he could find.
“It wasn’t actually intentional,” Sorac stared ahead, but Vaspara didn’t miss the bloom of blood under the tracery of fine scales covering his skin. “Had too much to drink when I was cycling.”
Vaspara snorted. Although she was sure he was telling the truth. Mixed heritage sometimes caused unforeseen complications as she could attest to. She’d known Sorac for a very long time and knew he hated one aspect of his dual natures.
He went into heat once every hundred years. She wasn’t sure if it was his firedrake nature or that of a fertility god that triggered his cycle.
“I normally arrange it with a willing female from a battalion under my command and enlighten her to everything that will happen. I also make sure the female has no interest in raising the child.”
Scales, shoulder spikes, and all, Sorac was one of the finest-looking males she’d ever laid eyes on. It wouldn’t take much convincing for a woman to fall into his bed. It probably didn’t take that much more to convince a few ambitious types to gestate an egg, especially if they didn’t have to raise the firedrake’s young afterward. But what was the point of collecting a big clutch of eggs and never hatching them?
“Why the stipulation the female have no interest in the egg after she’s... birthed it?”
“Two reasons. First, if everyone thinks I’m simply disposing of unwanted offspring, then no one will think to look for my nest to use as collateral. Safer for both myself and my unhatched little ones. And second,” he glanced sharply at her, “why would I want to raise my drakelings with a woman I don’t love? My nature may force me to copulate with a random female once a century, but I’ll be the one to pick my brood’s mother.”
“This is a firedrake thing, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” He hissed in pain as he put too much weight on his bad leg, but after a moment he continued his explanation. “I normally arrange everything well in advance.”
“What happened that last time?”
“I was tired of being coerced by my nature and decided to be stubborn.”
“Didn’t work so well?”
“No. I tried to drink myself under the table for the duration of the cycle, but at one point I sobered up enough to come to seek you out.”
Vaspara felt something strange stir in her middle. “You never made it though, did you?”
“No. When I reached your chambers, you were with another male, feeding.” Unhappiness flashed across his face before he glanced uphill at the terrain still ahead.
Vaspara felt an echoing resonance deep in her soul. Sorac had needed her, and she hadn’t been there for him. It was a useless feeling because even if he’d come to her, she couldn’t have given him what he needed. As a captain in the Battle Goddess’s army, having a child was the fastest way to get a demotion. Not to mention making her vulnerable to her enemies.
All the same, she still felt like she’d let the firedrake down. He’d always had her back and had helped her out of a few scrapes in her time. Once, after a particularly brutal battle with a gargoyle patrol, she’d been too injured to make it back to camp and Sorac had hunted until he found her even though he’d sustained wounds himself.
When he’d seen she was in no shape to travel any farther without feeding, he’d gone back to camp to collect one of her male soldiers and flown the man to her side. Sorac had then stayed and guarded her until she’d fed and recovered.
There had been several other times throughout their lives they’d saved each other. That had forged a powerful bond between them.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to find someone better to assuage your need,” she muttered.
“Don’t be. We are both ruled by our natures.” Sorac sighed. “The other succubus used her magic. I wasn’t in any state to resist.”
“It doesn’t surprise me Brakaya waylaid you. She and I were in competition for many years. Sleeping with one of the captains is very prestigious. Plus, she hated me and knew you and I were friends. She likely thought she was stealing you away.” Vaspara snorted with dark humor. “She was probably bitterly regretting that decision in the middle of popping out that egg.”
“Most likely. Normally I go to the female when the egg is near term and use my magic to remove it from her painlessly.”
Morbid curiosity stirred. “I know you didn’t offer Brakaya that same option, why?”
He grunted, but she didn’t think it was from the patch of rough terrain they were crossing.
At last, he drew in a deep breath and answered. “She took my choice away. I wouldn’t have been feeling particularly forgiving under normal circumstances, but then that next morning she gloated.”
When he glanced at Vaspara, she found herself momentarily mesmerized by the red of his elemental fire lighting a bright ring around his irises. His voice when he continued was a low growl. “She claimed she was a more skilled lover than you. More skilled in all things. She would continue to warm my bed if I helped her displace you as leader of your battalion.”
Vaspara grinned at him. “What did you do to her?”
“There may have been threats that if something happened to you, I’d eat her and not in the way she’d enjoy.”
“Hmm, that must have been around the time she stopped being a thorn in my side.”
“Well, at least that night resulted in something beneficial.”
There was that, she supposed.
Talking seemed to help take Sorac’s mind off his pain. She scrounged for something else to talk about, but her mind kept circling back to his brood.
“Eggs. How is that even possible with a female who’s not a firedrake?”
“I admit, that was a surprise the first time. I later asked the eldest of the herb witches what they knew about firedrakes. It seems male firedrakes produce unique egg-seeds. Once they enter a womb, they seek the female’s eggs and swallow any they find. Once a female egg is fertilized, the remaining mass from the male seed later grows into the egg’s shell.”
Vaspara made a face. “Swallows the female’s egg... I’m visualizing little monsters swimming around in your man-jizzrile devouring everything in their path. I’m never having sex with you.”
“You asked.” His laugh soon turned into a groan.
“How much farther?” she asked, feeling a renewed spike of concern for him. She was still sharing magic to keep him going, but she didn’t have much more to offer.
“Almost the
re.” He sounded as relieved as she felt.
Eventually, they reached their destination. The structures were so well disguised by vines and branches Vaspara hadn’t even spotted the makeshift shelters until two of Sorac’s servants called a soft greeting. Callum, Sorac’s manservant, and Sylas, the human’s fifteen-year-old son, came forward and took the firedrake from Vaspara.
Soon the rest of their servants were rushing forward, exclamations of concern and demands to know what had happened on their lips.
Mattis, Vaspara’s oldest and most trusted servant, limped through the small crowd, growling out orders for calm. Once peace was restored, he came to stand next to Vaspara.
“Sorac’s a tough bastard. He’ll pull through,” Mattis said as he watched other members of his family aid the firedrake’s servants prepare food, medicine, and a place for him to rest.
At the sound of his calm confidence, Vaspara relaxed. She trusted Mattis almost as much as Sorac. The spry grandfather had once been one of her lovers many, many years ago until he’d proven much more valuable for his wise counsel than any momentary benefits she gained from a feeding.
Only when the servants had a spot prepared in one of the shelters did Vaspara sever the link she’d forged to share power with Sorac. The drain on her depleted magic stopped, but the sudden lack left her feeling more than a little useless, but she still followed the others into the vine-covered tent.
Taking up a position along one fabric wall, she stood like a silent sentinel as Alaya, Mattis’s daughter-by-marriage, who was a competent herb witch, began tending to Sorac’s injuries.
Chapter 3
SORAC JERKED AWAKE. Immediately he cataloged his surroundings. A tent canvas rippled above his head, and the breeze carried distant voices to him. Someone had covered him head to toe in a heavy blanket.
When he moved, his leg ached but was quickly forgotten when he discovered he wasn’t alone in the makeshift camp bed. Another warm, living weight was beside him under the blanket. Pushing aside a corner, he gazed upon Vaspara’s long blonde hair. She was tucked up against his side, her one arm draped across his chest.
She was still fully clothed, minus her armor, but that didn’t seem to deter his body, which was ready for her. Closing his eyes again, he relaxed back against his pillow and drew Vaspara more firmly against his side. She didn’t even stir at his touch or at being shifted.
More than a thousand years he’d waited for this instant. A grin spread across his face, then quickly faded.
Knowing Vaspara, the moment wouldn’t last. As soon as she woke, she’d immediately leave the bed and never comment on the reason she’d crawled under the blanket with him.
If he let her.
His brows drew together, and a smirk touched his lips.
He would not let things return to the way they’d been.
Vaspara had admitted her feelings yesterday, and that changed everything. Now he saw the potential for a bright new future for the two of them and his brood.
The reason he’d fought tooth and claw to gain his position and survive all the horrors he’d seen in his life was because of this woman in his arms and his precious brood of fourteen eggs still back in the fortress. Only having his clutch here with them could have improved this moment.
He wasn’t a fool. Rescuing his clutch wouldn’t be easy. Although it might prove much easier than convincing Vaspara she’d be the perfect mother for his brood.
“I love a good challenge,” he whispered into her hair, “and the reward for success will be like nothing I’ve experienced before.”
Beside him, Vaspara shifted, and a soft, sweetly endearing snort escaped her. After a moment, her fingers flexed against his naked chest in a small caress.
The next moment a small grunt of pain escaped Vaspara as she lifted her head from his chest. He drew in a surprised breath. Her skin was almost grey, and the bags under her eyes looked like day old bruises.
“Vaspara why haven’t you fed yet?” He reached out and touched her papery skin and then her hair, which felt as coarse as straw, nothing like its usual silky texture. Her skin even seemed to sag from her bones.
“I couldn’t leave you, not when you were so weak.” Her fingers flexed against his skin as hunger entered her gaze, but she still didn’t initiate a feeding even though she desperately needed to.
“Silly succubus,” he purred as he stroked her hair from her cheek. “Let me provide you with what you need. I swear there is no danger.” Then with a chuckle, he added, “I won’t even get you pregnant.”
His lips found hers, and she moaned in desperation and hunger. Soon she was kissing him harder, the caress of lips on lips punishing and devastating and delightful at the same time. Her hands settled to grip the spikes on his shoulders where his scales were longer and tougher.
As her lips broke their kiss to trail down his throat, he felt the moment she fed on him. She was still fully clothed, and already his power rose in answer to her need, feeding her his love along with his desire.
For her, this would only be sex. He knew it, and he was fine with that. They had all their lives ahead of them. That was time enough for this to become something more profound. This time, he was merely happy to provide her with something she needed.
Suddenly she shuddered and drew back, her lips breaking away from his.
“What’s wrong?” he asked as he gently smoothed a hand down her back. “Why did you stop feeding?”
“I can’t do this.” One hand came up to caress his brow, her fingers stroking higher to the crown of bone at the base of his short horns. “You’re too weak. I won’t see you set back your healing. I’ll go find a servant.”
“No, you won’t.” He drew her back down until they were again pressed tight together. “You’re too weak. I’m not letting you out of my sight. Take what I offer. There is no risk of you getting pregnant, I promise.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t. My power is the opposite of yours. I grow stronger with the giving of passion. The more pleasure we share, the stronger we’ll both grow.” His words seemed to sink in for she stopped resisting and pressed herself back against him, latching on to his mouth as if she planned to suck out his soul.
Mentally smirking, he admitted there was something else he’d love to surrender to the suction of her lips, but that could wait until after she’d recovered.
“Clothes off,” he ordered and helped her when her limbs were too weak to manage it on her own. Soon she was as naked as he. Stroking his hands over her skin, he marveled at the silky bounty that was his to explore. Each touch and caress seemed to rejuvenate her a little more, and soon she was touching him in return.
Sometime later, he grimaced and muttered a swift warning when her greedy fingers nearly had him spilling in their clasp.
Vaspara’s expression softened. “How long has it been?”
“Years.”
“Years?!” She parroted.
“Four years. Last time some fool challenged me for my title. I was injured. Not unlike a succubus, sex speeds my healing and replenishes my magic.” He cupped her face and caressed her bottom lip, gently exposing her sharp fangs. His firedrake nature wanted her to use them on his body. “I stopped wanting other women a very long time ago. Only my hundred-year fertility cycle could sway me. It’s another firedrake thing, I think.”
“But I’ve seen you ogle females often enough, even pursue them, making jokes about finally catching and bedding them. You’re not exactly subtle in your lusts.”
“A deception to hide how I felt about you. Love is perceived as a weakness; you know that.” He gave her a sad smile. “The reputation about how my seed always strikes true usually keeps unwanted females running in the opposite direction. It was very handy unless I actually needed to bed a woman.”
“Well, you seem to want me, and I have zero interest in running at this exact moment, so I’ll make sure you’re good and healed by the time I’m done with you.”
&n
bsp; Vaspara, normally so fierce in battle and daily life, now showed him a rare gentleness as she rose up and then slowly straddled him, being careful not to jar his leg or put too much pressure on any of the other bruises and wounds covering his body.
While this gentle Vaspara threatened to bring him to his end far too soon, the tender look in her eyes soothed any worries he might have about not being the legendary lover she deserved. There would be time for that later.
Now there was only Vaspara above him, touching him, urging him on with a gentleness that likely surprised her as much as him. He didn’t want it to end, but like all things, this too had an ending. Afterward, he gathered her in his arms and cuddled her close as his eyelids grew heavy.
“Sleep well, my oldest and most dear friend,” Vaspara whispered against his ear as he drifted off.
Chapter 4
AND JUST LIKE THAT, a succubus was ruined for life, Vaspara thought sourly. The sex probably wasn’t even that great by their usual standards with neither of them at their best, but the power raised between them was the purest, sweetest substance she’d ever tasted. There was no musky or bitter taint. It was strong and clean and rejuvenating.
She wanted to taste it again already, to caress, nibble, and lick every bit of his exposed skin.
Sighing out a mournful sound, she rolled off him, being careful not to jolt his injured leg. She settled beside him on the narrow sleeping pallet. Slowly, her mind rallied as thoughts became less sluggish.
Her eyes narrowed in thought. He damn well better have been correct about not being fertile. It was bad enough that as a half-fertility deity he could make a barren woman’s womb fertile. If he was ever fertile at the same time as her...
Goddess! Just imagine it! She’d make a terrible mother.
She was probably safe from that, but there were other concerns. This couldn’t happen again. He was in love with her. She had a rule about that. She didn’t sleep with men who fancied themselves in love with a succubus. It was too much of a nuisance.
The Complete Gargoyle and Sorceress Boxset (Books 1-9) Page 151
