I gasped as a jolt of raw lust shot straight to my core. The tiny bud between my legs throbbed, and I felt a gush between my thighs.
He brought his other hand to the back of my head and drew me in. Ran his lips down my throat, stopping to nip at the hollow of my neck. I shivered, and he pulled me closer. Wrapped his arms around me, skin to skin, our bodies pressed together. His erection rubbed against my mound, hot and demanding. Awakening a strange, fierce hunger deep in my core.
I ran my hand down his back. Felt the smooth skin, the layers of hard muscle underneath. He felt so real, so warm and alive. How could this be?
He drew me to the floor, laid me on a pile of soft cushions that had somehow appeared, blurring once again the line between reality and illusion. When he lay down beside me, I reached for him again. I caressed his cheek, ran a finger over his full lips.
Up close, he was even more beautiful, with dark hair to his shoulders. A stray lock fell across his forehead. I brushed it aside and gazed at him. Warm brown eyes looked back at me steadily.
He never moved, just let me look and touch. I caressed his cheek, my fingers grazing the faint dark stubble along his jawline. Masculine bodies had such striking contrasts. Soft hair, smooth skin, then hard, rough stubble – hinting at the steel that lay below.
I moved my hand lower, exploring. Traced a path down his chest until I reached the head of his cock. I gasped. It was hot. So hot, like the flames that consumed him and gave birth to his dragon form. I ran my fingers up and down the thick shaft, watching his face the whole time. He drew in a breath, and sparks of fire flickered in the depths of his eyes.
Still without speaking, the nameless dragon lord parted my thighs and slid between them. I put my arms around his back and pulled him close, desperate to have that hot hard cock thrust into me. Take my virginity and set me free to revel in this wild wicked passion he’d awakened in me.
I felt the warmth of him, the weight of him, the smooth hard head of his cock breach the entrance to my slick core…
And then he was gone.
My eyes flew open to find my arms up, encircling nothing but air.
I lay there in the deserted temple, shocked and confused, trying to make sense of it all. The Prophecy, the battle I was destined to fight. The wildly seductive dragon lord I nearly gave myself to without a qualm. If he was a dream, it was a shockingly real one. My pussy was dripping wet. The tiny bud between my thighs throbbed, and I felt a clawing, restless hunger.
Finally, exhaustion took over. My phantom lover had disappeared, but the cushions he’d laid me on were real. I sighed wearily, closed my eyes again, and let the darkness overtake me.
Chapter Six
Antonius mounted the steps to the temple. Inside, silence reigned.
He’d heard the Oracle chanting from where he waited in the shadows, then her voice, indistinct. As was meant to be. No one alive save the reigning monarch was allowed to hear her recite the Prophecy.
Over the years, he’d learned bits and pieces of it from Vidos and his father before him. They’d let things slip on those nights when they’d descended into bouts of despair and drowned their sorrow and fears in too much drink. Over the centuries, other monarchs wrote down what they remembered of the Prophecy and left the knowledge for their heirs. They locked their secrets away in an ancient wooden chest he’d found in the king’s bedchamber after Vidos passed away.
It was that chest he’d brought with him on their journey, those scrolls he’d been studying.
With a heavy heart, he entered the temple. The cloying smell of incense hit him at once, his lungs filling with smoke he could almost taste. Through the haze, he made out Melisandre’s body curled up at the foot of the dais.
Antonius rushed across the vast chamber and fell to his knees beside her.
“Do not be alarmed. She sleeps.”
He glanced up, startled. The Oracle stood before him. She wore a deep-purple gown, and her flowing golden-blonde hair shimmered with light, glowing as though each strand was lit from within.
“My lady.” He bowed his head.
“My beloved.” She stretched out her hand.
Antonius took it, and as he rose to his feet, the years fell away. He smiled and took her in his arms, the dashingly handsome, virile young man he’d once been. Long long ago.
He ran his hand through her hair. “Beautiful as ever.” He sighed. “I have missed you so.”
“As I missed you. Your duties have kept you away longer than ever before,” she replied, stroking his cheek gently. “I’m sorry for your loss. I know Vidos was like a son to you.”
“Thank you, my darling. How did she take it?”
“As well as could be.” The Oracle looked down at the figure slumbering at their feet. “She’s but a child. I have prayed to the Goddess to give her time to learn the skills she’ll need and find the strength to do what she must do.” She shook a finger at Antonius. “You should not have read the scrolls, you know.”
“What will the Goddess do? Strike me dead? We’ll all be there soon enough if she doesn’t succeed.”
He pulled her closer. Captured her lips in a fierce kiss that held all the pent-up passion he kept hidden away until they were together. “Come, my love. We’ll let her sleep. Be mine once more – for this time may be our last.”
Antonius slipped the cloak off his shoulders and covered the slumbering queen. Then he swept the Oracle into his arms and carried her away.
Hours later, he stood at the foot of her bed. “I must go.”
She gave him a wistful smile and started to rise.
“No. Stay there,” he said. “I want to remember you as you are right now. Not the Holy Oracle sitting all alone on her ornate throne, but the incredibly beautiful, passionate woman tangled in the bedsheets with a satisfied smile on her face. The woman I fell in love with the first time I saw her.”
He headed for the door then stopped.
“Before we leave, you should tell her.”
“The rest of the Prophecy?” The Oracle shook her head sadly. “She’ll learn her fate soon enough. Danger is at hand. It doesn’t matter what she thinks or wants or feels. Her duty now is to her people, not to her heart.”
Chapter Seven
Drayke
“You bitch.”
I snarled at her.
She laughed. The old crone took one look at my rock-hard cock, starkly outlined through the bulge in my pants, and let out the shrill cackle that always made my skin crawl.
She’d shown me the scene from the temple before. Part of my preparation for taking on the quest. But tonight she played it out for me so I was right there. I could feel Melisandre’s smooth sleek skin, smell her pussy, wet with arousal. Feel her hand stroking my cock. First tentatively then boldly. Running her fingers over the head and down the shaft.
I felt the heat of her pussy, her slick juices coating the head of my cock as I got ready to slide it inside her.
And then the witch made it all disappear.
“I want to make sure you have some incentive,” she replied.
“For this mission of doom you’re sending me on?” I snorted. “You’ll have to promise me more than a hard-on that goes unsatisfied.”
She let out another cackle. “You’ll have more than your cock to worry about before your quest is completed.”
I should have gotten used to her viciousness by now. I’d met with her many times in this fortress hidden behind the temple at the top of Mt. Jarazal. Ever since that first night, I’d been her puppet. She pulled the strings, summoned me here at will, always talking about my damned destiny. She’d teased me, showing me bits and pieces, but never the full picture. This time she lured me here with the promise of finally revealing the part I was to play in this drama.
I was more than ready to begin. My life had become unbearable. Though I had tried, I was unable to completely control the Dragon within me. At times, the fever consumed me, and I crav
ed the power of fire with a fierce and mindless hunger. The need was so great I was barely able to sneak away fast enough to shift without being caught in the act.
My father never knew, but I think my mother suspected something. I’d catch her looking at me from time to time with tears in her eyes. I’d smile, go to her, and put my arms around her. And she’d whisper, “My darling boy. May the Goddess grant you peace.”
I was glad she’d gone to be with the ancestors. She’d be spared the pain of my death. For I suspected the reason I hadn’t been told the full truth was that the Oracle knew I wouldn’t survive my encounter with the Lord of Darkness.
“Pay attention,” she snapped, yanking me out of my reverie. “The time draws near. Your destiny awaits.”
She closed her eyes, and her voice took on the hypnotic sound it did when she went into a trance. Channeling the unseen spirits. “Your quest begins tonight. You must go to the queen. Earn her trust.”
One eye opened, and she regarded me craftily. Her tone changed to the slightly mocking one I’d come to expect when she opened her mouth to speak. “Fuck her if that’s what it takes.”
The old fraud was playing me again with her phony trance. I choked back a blast of rage. It was my life she toyed with.
She closed her eyes and continued, taking on once again the intonation of the Holy Oracle. “It has begun. The Lord of Darkness has awakened. He seeks to enslave our world, to make all who dwell here bow to his will. Blood will flow. Pain and misery will pour over the land. Even now, his followers meet in secret to plot the overthrow of our kingdom.”
Him again. She’d spoken of the Lord of Darkness before in her many doom-laden rants. Long ago, when she first began, I chalked them up to the ramblings of a sad old woman locked away alone far too long. I even wondered at times if this mythical lord was an old lover who’d spurned her and left her to languish in this hellish place, elevated to the image of evil incarnate by years of rancor. But over the years, as I prepared, I listened to the tales told by elders. Legends of a time when fierce dragons flew through the air and a great battle raged in our land. I studied ancient history written on the scrolls in her library. I stared at my reflection in the mirror and saw the reflection of my own beast. I came to believe her words – and tonight, despite the fire burning within me, they sent a chill down my back.
“It is written that the strength of the Lord of Darkness lies in the sacred sources. There are five in all. He stole them from the gods and harnessed their immense power. But in the last great battle, the Woman Clothed with the Sun took them back after defeating him with her spell. She hid each one in a secret place. His followers searched for centuries and found four of the five. They guard them carefully, for when they find the last, he will be able to tap into their power once again and become strong enough to claim the World of the Seven Stars as his own.”
She turned a sightless gaze on me. “Your role is to find the source from whence your dragon was born. Destroy it.”
Find the sacred source that gave birth to the beast within me. If I did, and I managed to destroy it, would I also put an end to my dragon self? The more she spoke, the more questions arose in my mind. But I knew better than to interrupt her by now.
“The dark lord seeks to conquer the queen. Claim her body and own her soul. He will make his offspring the rightful heirs to the throne and condemn our world to a thousand years of misery and pain. You must protect her. For it is written that she alone will deal the fatal blow. Only she can pierce his heart, enchain him, and send him back to the hell from which he came.”
“You are not alone,” she went on. “Four more will join you in your battle to defeat the enemy, each one with a special gift. Five valiant souls on the quest to seek out and destroy five sacred sources. But in the end, each of you must face your darkness alone.”
This part was new. Four others with special gifts? What creatures did they shift into?
The pace of her words increased. Her tone of voice became more urgent. “When your quest ends, the warrior will appear. He has his own task to perform. But you must learn to work together. To share your knowledge. To share your queen. For only with all five of you by her side will she defeat the Lord of Darkness.”
I couldn’t stay silent any longer. “What do you mean ‘share our queen’?”
Her eyes flew open, and she spoke once again in her normal tone – shrill and slightly mocking. “I mean share, boy. Take turns ramming your dicks in her.”
I shook my head. She’d always been crude. Spoken to me as another male would if we were in a tavern drinking ale and exchanging bawdy stories of our exploits between the sheets. Even when I was no more than a lad.
But tonight she’d taken things to a new level. Showed me more than ever before. Made me feel as well as see. My cock was still swollen from Melisandre’s touch. My balls ached. The dragon inside me wanted her with a savage hunger.
Suddenly, I’d had enough. I was tired of the Oracle’s endless games. The spouting of damned prophecies written in riddles.
“So before I even claim her, you’re telling me I have to let some other man fuck her, too?” I shouted. “And not just one. We’re supposed to share her five ways?”
“You will,” she replied calmly. “You must. She will draw strength from your seed. From each of you a different kind of strength.” Her voice grew somber. “Melisandre has her own skills, her own powers. Powers she has yet to discover. Each of you needs her as much as she needs you. Only by uniting with your brothers to cherish and protect her will you all succeed.”
“You’re a daft old bitch! I don’t know why I keep coming here to listen to you.”
She gave me an infuriating shrug. “You made your choice long ago, when you first stepped into the fire. Now, you cannot choose. You can only do. You are no longer ruled by your head, but by the beast that dwells within you.”
The beast. She’d brought out that beast in me, with the seductive power of fire. Made me believe I could master it. I was not much more than a child back then. Had I known what was to come, I’d never have condemned myself to the flames. And now she had the gall to rub it in my face.
I rushed toward her, determined to wrap my fingers around her scrawny neck and choke off the words. But she stopped me dead in my tracks with a wave of her hand.
“You cannot control your beast. Nor can I. But I can still control your human form.”
I tried to charge forward, but I was trapped. Rooted to the ground.
Rage bubbled to the surface, the rage that dwelt deep inside me all the time now. Hot and red, like the flames. Like magma from the volcano she’d summoned from the earth that first night.
I could feel my skin splitting apart as the fire built inside me. Scales forming on my blistered body. The wings sprouting from my back. The unbearable pain…then the rush of unimaginable power.
I unfurled my wings as I breathed in, spread them wide. Rose to my full height and fixed my eyes on her, determined to destroy this abomination forever. I opened my mouth – and a tongue of fire shot out.
Over and over I roared, spewing flames. But she’d erected some sort of invisible barrier around her and try as I might, I could not burn it down.
She showed no fear. Simply nodded. “Go,” she said. “I’ve accomplished what I set out to do. Your beast has awakened. Go – and claim your destiny.”
I flew.
Three strides took me to the entrance of the fortress, two more covered half the distance of the temple beyond. Stretching out my wings, I used the momentum to launch myself into the air and soared through the opening in the dome of the temple.
The night winds carried me high above the jagged peaks of the mountain.
Darkness blanketed the land. I traveled fast, great wings covering the vast distance effortlessly, fueled by rage at the Oracle. By anger at my fate. I navigated by the Seven Stars, an innate skill I discovered long ago. One I possessed in my dragon form.
I’d been to the capital before and when I drew near it, I recognized the palace. Alighting on the roof, I closed my eyes and forced myself to a calmer place, smothering the fire within. I couldn’t always control when my dragon emerged, but over the years I’d learned a few tricks to quell it.
Gradually, my body returned to its human state. When I opened my eyes, I found myself naked as always. It didn’t matter. Darkness still reigned.
My dragon had sensed the queen’s presence. Her scent, that intoxicating aroma of pussy lurking beneath the delicate scent of her skin and her hair, led me to her bedchamber. I climbed from the roof down onto her balcony. The doors stood open to capture the breeze.
Melisandre slept. I stopped at the doorway, drank in the sight.
Though the Oracle had shown her to me many times, this was the first I’d seen of my queen in the flesh. She lay atop the crumpled covers, as though she’d flung them off in the night. Her pale skin glowed in the starlight. A tumbled mass of wavy golden hair fell over her shoulders. A few red-gold strands curled around her breasts, as though caressing them. I longed to replace them with my hands. My lips.
Her body was just as beautiful as it had been in every fantasy. More so now that I knew it was real. She lay on one side, her head pillowed on her arm. Her body was fit, the curves sleek. Full breasts, tipped with nipples soft and round and pink. But I’d seen them darken and pucker with arousal.
Her body narrowed at the waist then curved out again. I caught the rounded silhouette of her ass, then my attention was drawn by the mass of tight golden curls between her thighs. There was enough of the dragon left in me to catch the unmistakable scent of arousal from across the room, and my cock jerked to attention.
I started toward the bed. Go to her, the Oracle had said. Win her trust. I had no idea how to accomplish that. No clue what to say.
She stirred and rolled over onto her back, as though sensing my presence. Her eyes opened, and she glanced toward the doorway.
Fire Born_Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance Page 4
