by Ophelia Bell
“He knew he would have to leave us both and he hated it, but he saw no other way. He told me that he’d fulfilled at least one vow by staying with me until I was free, and that he intended to stay true to his other vow no matter how hard it would be. You need to know that I didn’t agree with his plan, which is why I offered to take you to the Sanctuary at Midwinter and show you how to get into the Haven. I only wish it were possible to go sooner.”
Another lie. At least, it was a half-lie. A day ago he’d have been telling the truth by stating that wish. The portals into the Sanctuary from the Outside could only be opened four times a year, at each equinox and solstice. They were still a few weeks away from the winter solstice, but after knowing Aurum for even a day, he was beginning to wonder whether Calder deserved either of them.
He wished they could enter the Sanctuary now, at least, so he could finally be reunited with his mother, could learn the ursa name she’d never given him. But he wished he’d never made his promise to Aurum to take her to the Haven. If he hadn’t, perhaps he could talk her into staying in the Sanctuary with him.
Aurum let out a soft sigh and squeezed his hand, raising her other to his cheek. “We’re both stuck here with each other, for now. It may be no better than the prison cell you shared with him, but I can try to make it better for us both. Just don’t forget that we’re in this together.”
She bent her head and leaned into him, and Nicholas couldn’t help but open his arms and wrap them tightly around her back, his throat tightening as she embraced him.
“You’re right,” he said, brushing his lips over the crown of her head. “I guess I forgot for a minute that we’re both missing him. It wasn’t fair of me to ignore your feelings.”
Aurum let out a long sigh, her body seeming to mold tighter to his. “All I can think about is what you said earlier, about how he was the only lover you were allowed to choose and how that wasn’t really true—the fact that he was your only option means you had no choice. Being stuck with me in here isn’t any more of a choice for you, either, but I need you to know that I made the choice to be here, and you at least can choose to have me or to not have me and let the water of the pool help ease your need for release.”
He clenched his eyes shut, warring with himself over her offer. He’d already overstepped his boundaries with a woman who wasn’t his, but Gaia, did he want to give in. Would it be so bad if she needed the same comfort he did?
Calder had often told him not to worry so much about the captive dragon females he was taken to fuck; that as long as Nicholas enjoyed himself, they would take pleasure in it. Calder had also said that dragons often had several mates, and that when he finally met the female fated to be his, he might be one of many. That prospect had never seemed to bother him, but Nicholas wasn’t sure if that tolerance would extend to him or not. But that wasn’t the real issue, was it?
“I don’t like the idea of using you every time my body needs this kind of outlet. And what if I want more than just … to fuck? What if what I want is …” He found it difficult to articulate all the things he had imagined doing with her, and burying his cock inside her pussy was only a small part of it. Their tangle on the floor with the chocolate earlier had lit a fire of curiosity in him that he couldn’t put out, and he’d intended to go spend some time in the water with his hand and his imagination to try to work it out of his system.
“Zhrihiva. Look at me, please.” Aurum stroked his cheek and Nicholas reluctantly opened his eyes. “I’m not a prisoner or your Ultiori jailers, and I’m not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do. You can always look at me—and touch me—if that’s what pleases you.”
At her invitation, he let his gaze drift over her body, from the fullness of her lips down her graceful neck and the rounded swells of her breasts. To have this much license with a female was new to him, and his palms ached to touch her everywhere, but he held back because he couldn’t help but wonder whether any part of her actually wanted him to touch her, or if she was just tolerating it for his sake and for the sake of her own conscience.
He let out a deep sigh and shook the thought away. “It’s all right. They actually weren’t that terrible, aside from the humiliation of being their breeding stock. And when Calder told me their secrets I didn’t feel so alone.”
Aurum stood up a little straighter. “Their secrets? What secrets?”
Nicholas frowned at her. “I thought it was all common knowledge now, since I’m free.” Aurum’s expectant look told him otherwise, so he continued. “That Nikhil’s been blood-melded with a nymph all this time and she’s been controlling him. At least, she was until the link was broken recently. That’s why Calder let himself be captured. He was just biding his time playing prisoner … well, mostly playing. The old cells they kept us in were much harder for him to break out of than the new ones, but he still had some tricks. He could have escaped ages ago, but stayed because he wasn’t able to get me out, too. I’ve known most of my life that the Elites and Nikhil had no more choice than I did about their situations. The rest of those Ultiori fuckers can burn in Hell.”
“Oh,” she said, relaxing a little, her brows still furrowed and her gaze distant while she pondered something. “Does he know who the nymph was?”
“Yeah …” he began, then paused, uncertain whether to divulge the details to her or not. She already knew about Calder’s vow, but that was the extent of what he’d shared with her about her future mate’s mission.
Taking a deep breath, he said, “She was one of the Thiasoi. One of his comrades-in-arms guarding the Haven. When she betrayed them, all the rest of the Thiasoi went after her. Calder’s the only one of the original guard left. We were so close to getting to her before you guys came for us. We had a trap set for her, but she was wise to us. He went back to the Haven to get help …”
He trailed off when the pang of loss in his chest threatened to make it impossible to speak, but now that he knew how to identify her emotional pull, he understood it was mostly her despair that was eating at him now.
“Hey,” he said, raising a hand to her cheek and tugging her bottom lip away from her upper teeth that were gnawing on it. He rubbed his thumb over the soft, supple flesh, then impulsively bent to kiss her.
She let out a surprised little gasp in response, but soon relaxed and sank into him again, letting his tongue tease between her lips and tangle with hers. He could live on the taste of her if he had to, and almost had to force himself to pull away again.
Aurum gave him a half-smile. “I’m glad you agree that this mission of his is a ridiculous excuse to leave us.”
Nicholas snorted and rolled his eyes. “You haven’t had to live with the guy for the last two centuries. If you stayed imprisoned in a place for as long as he had with such a singular purpose, you might be a little nuts about seeing it through to the end, too.”
She gave him a sardonic look. “You could say we did, actually. If my siblings and I hadn’t started having those dreams, we might still be locked in here.”
“The dreams of your … ah … fated mates, you mean?” he asked, careful not to say Calder’s name, though a part of him cringed at the thought of broaching that topic with her. He’d heard enough about the dreams from her brothers—he really didn’t want to hear Aurum recount the dirty details of her dreams of Calder. His mind was filled with enough images on its own without hearing her version, though he doubted it could be much filthier than his.
Her eyebrows rose and he caught her smiling slyly at him. “Nicholas, half the time when you mention Calder your heart seems to be breaking, but the other half I start to wonder if the two of you did nothing but fuck when you were together. Tell me the truth. How much of what you feel for him right now is love versus lust?”
He groaned and closed his eyes, wishing for a moment that she’d disappear so he could deal with his shame in solitude. When he opened his eyes she was still there, gazing up at him expectantly.
“Okay, fine. I wa
s imagining you with him, being fucked by him the way he used to fuck me. Or the way I’m going to fuck you in a minute. Now come here.” He bent, scooping her up in his arms, and turned them both toward the pillow-strewn rug in the center of her house.
He laid her down, grinning when she blew out a breath that magically dissolved their clothes.
Aurum laughed, and the entire world seemed to brighten at the sound. She pulled him down beside her and pressed him back against a pile of the huge cushions, then straddled his hips, her warm, wet core pressing against his belly.
Nicholas’s cock hardened and twitched against her ass, ready and aching to be buried in her again. She started to shift down, but he grabbed her hips with one hand and held her still, raising the other hand to grip the back of her head and pull her down to his mouth. He kissed her hungrily, savoring her enjoyment of the moment that so perfectly obliterated every ounce of longing he’d felt before they came into the Glade. Gaia, this woman was like a drug.
She hummed softly against his lips when the kiss ended, her forehead pressed against his. “I thought you were going to fuck me again,” she said.
“I will. I just need you to tell me what the hell you keep calling me, Goldilocks. Is it some ridiculous little pet name? ‘Silly goose,’ or something like that?”
She laughed again and peeled his hand off her hip, then lifted up and sank down onto his cock. “Hmm … it is a pet name, but not a silly one.” Her wet heat clutched him, the warmth sinking into his very cells as she began to undulate her hips, never moving her forehead from his. Her golden gaze pierced his, her breaths coming in soft pants.
“Then what is it?”
“Zhrihiva coro is old draconic for ‘silver heart.’ It’s another name we call the moon.”
“Mmm,” he said, murmuring into her neck and inhaling her as he pumped into her tight sheathe. “Am I the moon to your sun, then? I like that.”
“Yes, zhrihiva coro. While we’re in here, you are.”
He clutched at the sides of her head and kissed her with all the passion and need that filled him. He had no choice but to give into the joy she gave him. The alternative would be too hard to face just yet.
Chapter 14
Aurum
Aurum feared she would come to regret those words—that while they were in the Glade, he would be the moon to her sun. After his loss, the best way to help him move on was through losing himself in another person. What did the humans call it?
A rebound.
Except she should have found a different gold dragon to help him. In fact, any other unattached gold or blue would have been able to fulfill that role.
It should have been anyone but her, and not just because she would wind up leaving him soon to go and be with the first lover who had left him. Nicholas was just too easy to love, and the more time they spent together, the more difficult Aurum found it to imagine leaving him behind.
She reveled in the way he kissed her, forcing those worries away—because like it or not, she’d made the choice to help him, and if she cared about succeeding, she had to fully commit to it. Her own fears and pain couldn’t dilute her emotions, because spending two weeks in such close proximity with her meant he would be affected by those emotions as acutely as if they were his own.
Who was she kidding? It had only been a few days since they’d met. Only a few hours since they’d first made love, and she was already trying to convince herself that her feelings were fabricated when she knew better.
He wasn’t the second male from her dreams, but he deserved her entire attention while they were together, and like it or not, she was happy to give him what he needed.
At the very least, they deserved each other’s comfort. When they got to the Sanctuary at the end of their time together, she would do everything in her power to help him find someone new.
Until then, yes, he was the brightest point of light in her world. His kiss a delicious combination of passion and lust, his gaze filled with equal parts adoration and wickedness. When she pulled back and braced herself on his chest, his hungry gaze drifted down and his hands both came up to cup her breasts, pushing them together. He lifted his head just enough to capture one nipple and sucked, the hot pull of his lips sending a jolt of pleasure to her clit.
She rode him harder while he teased her, alternating between each nipple.
Then he leaned back and just watched her, slowing his pace and gliding his hands up and down her body, around her hips to squeeze her ass and tease a slick finger between her cheeks.
She was about to ask him what dirty thought was lurking in his mind when he grinned up at her and said, “I’d love it if I could share you with him. Have my cock buried in you like this while he takes you in the ass.”
His fingertip breached her barrier and she gasped, suddenly on the verge of orgasm again at the very idea of being sandwiched between the both of them.
“Nicholas! Oh, Sweet Mother, that’s good.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? His cock feels so good when he fucks me with it. I know you’re going to love it as much as I do.”
“Tell me …” she panted, all her worries vanishing in the face of nothing but pure, carnal curiosity about the man they both craved. “Tell me what you do together.”
Nicholas plunged his finger deeper inside her, the tight friction sending a rush of heat through her core. She had to pause, hovering halfway down the length of his cock, afraid she might lose her mind too soon. She bit her lip and watched him, his eyes fixed on hers while he proceeded to slowly fuck her ass with his finger.
“Sometimes he takes me hard, reminds me that my body is all his. Fucks me like a wild animal so that my cock explodes without even being touched. Other times I turn the tables on him, pin him down and tease him, make him beg me to fuck him. But the first time was my favorite. He sucked me and then climbed on top of me like you are right now, spread his legs, and took me deep in his ass. I was afraid I’d hurt him. Christ, he was so tight. Will you fuck me like that, Goldilocks? Right now?”
His finger pivoted in her ass, emphasizing what he was really asking her. She smiled down at him, thrilled that she’d made her promise to give him everything he asked, because that meant she couldn’t say no to this, either.
She slid off his cock and his finger disappeared from her ass. His eyelids fluttered when she shifted just enough to reposition him, pressed his tip at her tight rear opening, and lowered herself.
Nicholas’s thick cockhead was coated with her juices, but she had to push and bear down to get him past her snug barrier. Her entire body heated when the ridge of his head popped past, signaling he was finally in.
“Ohh, yes,” he groaned, holding her hips and guiding her as she sank down onto him.
Her empty pussy throbbed, and the delicious stretch of his cock in her ass made the world seem crafted from sensation. She shook from the need to orgasm, but wanted to fulfill his fantasy, to fuck him the way Calder once had. She flexed her thighs and rose up, letting out a low moan as the smooth heat of him slid along her sensitive, clenching opening.
“I’m not going to last,” she whispered, barely able to catch her breath in between each long, tight stroke.
“Let go, Sunshine. I’ve got you.”
He held her hip tightly with one hand while the other slid up her inner thigh. Pressing his thumb to her clit, he pushed three fingers deep into her slick pussy, rubbing her outside and in.
Aurum’s world imploded, body quaking and shuddering as her climax gripped her. She couldn’t move, paralyzed as she was by the bombardment of sensations. It escalated when he cried out and began rapidly pumping into her ass, his cock pulsing as he shot his own orgasm into her.
“Oh, fuck! You feel so fucking good.” He didn’t let up, his fingers still fucking her and driving her orgasm longer and harder. “That’s right, Sunshine. I want you undone by my cock. I want to watch you come like this a thousand times before we leave here, thinking about Calder every time, s
o that when you’re fucking him, I’m right there with you. Inside you. Always.”
“Always,” she repeated, trembling as she collapsed on top of him, gasping for breath.
Nicholas kept whispering, his lips soft against her neck. “We might only have a couple weeks in here, but I want to be so deep in your soul that you can’t shake me even two centuries from now, because there’s no way in hell your sweet magic will ever be forgotten. The two of you will be a part of me for the rest of my life. It’s all I ask is that I can stay a part of you too.”
Aurum sighed and nodded blissfully in his arms. “You’re going to be a hard one to forget, zhrihiva coro. Even if I wanted to, I don’t think I could.”
Chapter 15
Calder
The roar of the Source’s water drowned out everything but Calder’s constant frustration. Standing behind the massive curtain of the waterfall that provided protection, as well as a constant flow of magic to the Haven, was the most peaceful spot in the entire place, despite the violent pounding of the water hitting the solid rock of the riverbed.
Water against stone. The stone never budged, but over time, a deep depression had been worn into it. The very bottom of the falls was the deepest spot in the river’s bed, said to reach all the way to the underworld, if anyone chose to dive down and let the force of the falls push them far enough.
Calder’s return home was supposed to be a launching point for his campaign to hunt down and punish the nymph who had ruined their lives and sent them all into hiding for the last three thousand years. But Nyx’s irrational desire to shut down the entire Haven over some misguided need to protect its population had stymied his momentum. For the past week, he’d alternated between arguing with his mother, attempting to appeal to his uncle’s sense of reason, and fending off the advances of cadres of horny nymphs who saw him as nothing more than a sperm donor.
