by Ophelia Bell
Ignoring the question, Gavra said, “I thought ursa guardians worked in pairs. Don’t you have a partner?”
Silas snorted. “You could say that, but Raj and I aren’t exactly on civil terms lately. I was hoping to be reassigned inside at this solstice, but it looks like that crazy ghost is the only Windchaser around, and I don’t think he likes me very much.”
“He was only threatened by you. He’s over it now. I could persuade him to carry a message inside if you let the rest of us go with him.”
Silas clenched his jaw. “You don’t understand. My ass is on the line if I break protocol. Raj would know, and he wouldn’t hesitate to rat me out—anything he can do to gain points with the clan leaders.”
“And you aren’t out to gain points?”
“I’m not out to lose them, either. It’s hard enough to find a female inside as it is. There are just too many males; the females all can have their pick. Did you know Princess Emma’s cousin took three mates last year? Three! And now that I’m not even bonded with a partner anymore, I’ll be lucky to get chosen at all. Nobody wants just one lonely ursa male.”
“I would choose you, if you let us inside,” Gavra said, resting his hand on Silas’s wrist. The ursa’s hand was still lightly holding his cock, as though the contact comforted him, and he looked down.
“Is that an offer?” Silas asked, his voice turning rough. “Imagine the females a pair like us could get.”
“There would only be one for us, but she’d be perfect,” Gavra said, sliding his hand over Silas’s and up until his fingers encircled the upper half of Silas’s cock. He squeezed gently.
“Yeah?” Silas sighed, removing his own hand and leaning back on his elbows. He tilted his hips up into Gavra’s grip. “You already know, don’t you?”
“I’ve seen her in dreams. I’ve seen you, too. That’s how I know you’re mine.”
“You keep doing that to my cock, how can I say no?”
Gavra shifted his focus to the hot length of hard flesh gripped in his hand. Silas had a beautiful cock that made his mouth water. His musky scent flooded Gavra’s senses and his own cock strained at the fabric of his conjured pants. He wished he had more time with this male, to get to know him before doing what he knew he must do for his sister’s sake. And for his friend.
“Do you mean it?” Silas asked, reaching out a hand and cupping Gavra between the legs. He applied pressure with the heel of his hand, pushing up along Gavra’s length. The dragon groaned.
“I mean it. You’re mine, so it’s just as well you lost your partner. Let me mark you, and come inside with us so we can find her together.”
“Hmm. How do I know you’re not lying?” Silas leaned toward him, his hot breath tickling Gavra’s neck. He tugged at the button of Gavra’s pants, unfastened them, and pulled his cock free, slowly stroking, and Gavra tilted his head back with a groan of pleasure. “How do I know this isn’t some ploy to get me to let you through?”
The ursa’s expert touch nearly made Gavra forget the thread of their conversation. Reining in his desire, he said, “Let me fuck you and you’ll know I speak the truth. If you don’t believe me afterward, I’ll convince the others to let Nicholas in alone.”
Silas slid closer, his solid body almost flush against Gavra’s now, one leg draped across Gavra’s knees, both their hands rhythmically stroking each other. His lips brushed along the column of Gavra’s throat.
“If you make me believe I’m yours, I’ll do whatever the fuck you want, but for the record, I’m skeptical. I may have fucked a dragon or two in my life, so I know how fantastic it is. I have yet to meet someone who blew my mind so hard I couldn’t live without them.”
Gavra gripped Silas by the hair and twisted his head around, staring into his eyes. “When I fuck you, you’ll know.” He captured the other man’s mouth in a frenzied kiss. Silas groaned and clutched at Gavra’s head, responding with equal hunger.
The urge to mark Silas overwhelmed him, but he couldn’t react prematurely. One thing at a time. With one hand, he gripped Silas by the shoulder and spun him. The ursa fell to all fours, laughing.
“Challenge accepted,” he said, smiling over his shoulder at Gavra.
Gavra wasn’t in the mood to joke, but his magic had worn off and Silas was still eagerly involved, which was a good sign. With a rumble of desire, he ran his hands down Silas’s back, rubbing his cock against the other man’s ass. His tip shone in the moonlight, wet from the drops of his arousal that had escaped, but that alone wouldn’t be enough. Still, he gripped Silas by the ass cheeks and spread him open, twisting his hips and letting the tip of his hard cock tease at Silas’s clenched opening.
“You’ll want to relax for me, love,” Gavra growled, moving one thumb to the puckered rosette and applying slight pressure until Silas moaned and pushed back against his touch.
“Fuck, don’t you worry about me, dragon. You are far from the first.”
That didn’t matter to Gavra. He still wanted Silas slick and ready for him. Begging, even. Pulling away, he bent and extended his true tongue, tickling the forked tips at the apex of Silas’s crease and circling his anus without teasing directly. He slipped it down, applying more pressure at the base of his balls before sliding the full length of his tongue around both heavy orbs and stroking as he entwined them.
Silas’s musky scent increased with each pant of pleasure, and when Gavra laved up the length of the other man’s cock from behind, he was greeted with a copious flood of pre-ejaculate. The sweet liquid tasted delicious. If he’d had more time, he would have sucked Silas dry before fucking him.
While his tongue stroked, he teased at Silas’s ass with his fingertips, doing no more than toying with the opening, pushing in slightly and smiling to himself at the way the ursa’s tight hole greedily opened up to allow him in. Maybe Silas liked it rough, liked to hurt a little. This wouldn’t be entirely pain-free, but Gavra liked a smooth entrance.
“Please …” Silas moaned when Gavra removed his fingers.
He swirled his tongue around Silas’s balls, took each one in his mouth and sucked, savoring the orb like candy. Then with a saliva-soaked tongue, he kissed Silas directly on his opening, pushing the tip past the eager barrier to lubricate it well.
“Fuck … me…” Silas groaned, pushing back into Gavra. “I might owe you a … oh, fuck …”
Gavra moved close, covering Silas with his body and aligning their hips. “Owe me what?” he asked, brushing his lips against Silas’s ear. He stroked the tip of his cock around Silas’s opening once more, then pushed past in one long, swift thrust.
“Sweet fucking Mother, that’s good,” he groaned, pressing his forehead between Silas’s shoulder blades.
“Owe you an apology. Gaia, I’m sorry, so fucking sorry. Fuck me, but you were right.”
“I know,” Gavra said, wrapping one arm around Silas’s shoulders and pulling him up and back so that Silas sank down onto his lap, impaled on his cock.
Gavra thrust deep, his senses filled with Silas—the tight clench of the ursa’s ass around his cock, the way he clutched at the hand Gavra held against his chest, entwining their fingers like they belonged bound. The sound of his rough grunts and moans as he tilted his hips up and back to meet each of Gavra’s thrusts. The strong scent of him, how it was one with the forest, yet separate—distinct.
The moonlight hit Silas’s hard cock, still glistening and engorged, bobbing with every movement. Gavra slipped his hand down Silas’s chest and gripped his shaft, squeezed the tip to gather the moisture that had escaped, and stroked. He’d have a taste of Silas’s essence tonight somehow, even if he had to lick it off his own fingers.
“Let me mark you now, Silas.” He could feel the swelling pulse of his lover’s aura, signaling his impending climax. He wanted to make the man his before this ended. “Let me mark you and take you with me. We can find our female together. She can choose us as a pair, like the ursa females do.”
Silas groaned incohe
rently. “Gonna come …” he breathed.
“Please,” Gavra said.
“No … ah!” Silas yelled, the sudden outburst confusing Gavra, but the tight clench of Silas’s muscles around his cock threw every other thought from his mind.
Lights exploded behind his eyes, Silas’s aura brightened and burst. His cock pulsed in Gavra’s hand, hot liquid spilling over the backs of his fingers. Gavra’s cock reacted to the sudden, delicious surge of power, going off like a shot deep inside Silas’s ass.
Shuddering pulses continued through them and they rocked forward, both falling to the ground, still joined. Gavra couldn’t move—didn’t want to move—so he stayed there on his side, clutching his lover to his chest, grazing his tongue over Silas’s shoulder in a little, wishful pattern. The ursa hadn’t agreed to a mark. He shouldn’t give one without Silas saying yes to it first.
Finally, Silas squeezed Gavra’s hand and let out a shaky sigh. In a thick voice he said, “You were right. I’m … I don’t fucking know what to do now, but you were right. Who knew I’d ever want a man who wasn’t an ursa like me as a partner?”
“I told you, I knew you were mine. Take my mark and come be with me.”
“No,” Silas said, pulling away and sitting up. He bent his knees and gripped them with both hands. “It isn’t that easy. It isn’t that I don’t want to, but like I said, my ass is on the line. I break the rules, show up with your mark on the inside, I’m anathema. I like living in the Sanctuary. I don’t really want to be exiled. The only reason I took this guardian job was because I thought Raj and I made a good pair, that he had the status to attract a high-ranking female. Turns out he only wanted me because I have marginally better bloodlines—my cousin’s mated to the Queen’s nephew, so there’s that.” He paused his impassioned explanation and gave Gavra a hopeful look. “You could stay out here.”
“I can’t stay. I need to help my sister get inside the Haven.”
Silas growled. “This is fucking bullshit. You say you dreamed of the female meant to complete us. How do you know it’s really her?”
“Because I dreamed of you, and here you are—in the flesh. Fate sent dreams to myself and all my siblings. Two of us have already found our mates. The rest of us are still seeking ours. I know you believe in Fate, if you are a true ursa.”
“Yeah, but I also believe in covering my ass. I want this, but it’s just fucking bad timing. If we were inside and I met you there, there might be a precedent, but if I ever want to get back into the Sanctuary, I can’t be marked by a fucking dragon. They’ll know I was the one who slept on the job and let you guys in.”
Gavra gave Silas a wry smile. “Then I won’t mark you … yet. But I will make you a promise, Silas …” He stood and reached down to help Silas up. As he fastened his pants, he said, “I will bring your message to the Rainsong clan leader. You will return to the Sanctuary, and when you do, I will make you mine.”
Silas closed his eyes and shivered, his aura shimmering with a freshly fucked glow and the pleasure of hearing Gavra’s words.
“I’ll hold you to it,” he said. His brow furrowed and he stared over Gavra’s shoulder in the direction of the others. “When you start back on the path, wait until just before dawn to complete the last arc of the circle. That’s when Raj begins his patrol, and seeing it all lit up will alert him. I can distract him to give you guys time.”
Gavra nodded and turned to go. A sharp curse reached his ears and a large hand gripped his shoulder, pulling him around again. Silas clutched at his head, kissing him savagely.
“Please tell me you aren’t risking a war with my entire race just to get your sister laid.”
Gavra shook his head, giving Silas a grim look. “There’s more at stake than love, but at the end of the day, isn’t love the thing that matters most?”
Chapter 23
Aurum
Aurum’s dark mood gripped her like a cold fist. Around her, she sensed the others reacting, their own emotional states descending from the hopeful excitement of their trek and impending entry into the Sanctuary into a hopeless apathy. That was her doing, she knew, but she didn’t care right now.
Silas could have been her ursa. He had the right coloring, with his sleek, black hair and dark eyes. She thought his skin was the wrong tone, though—the male in her dreams was more golden-brown, like a man with fairer skin who spent his days naked in the sun. Silas had rich, mocha skin like Vrishti’s that betrayed his Indian bloodline.
Numa’s presence beside her helped while they waited for Gavra to use his power to convince the ursa guardian to let them continue with the ritual. Her sister didn’t speak, only sat holding her hand and creating a soft cloud of her fragrant green breath around them.
Aurum inhaled, letting her sister’s magic work to calm her, to replace her frustration with its telltale sense of euphoria. As her mood improved, so did the moods of the others, who she could sense behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Nicholas and Vrishti seated near the pillar, talking softly. Aodh hovered nearby, his need for the ursa female a visible purple glow that tinged his aura. But none of the three seemed affected by her power any longer.
“I am sorry,” Aurum said.
Numa squeezed her hand. “For what? You believed he might be the one you’re missing. I confess, I had the same impulse at first, but it didn’t feel right. My ursa mates must be inside somewhere.”
“It’s just so frustrating not knowing. The second I saw Calder, I knew he was the one from my dreams. His energy was right, and he looked right too. Now when the dreams come, his face is the one I see, but the other man is still in shadows. Why won’t Fate show him to me so I can know?”
“Perhaps Fate knows neither of you are ready yet. I’m sure when you are, you will know.”
Aurum let out a long sigh, nodding into the darkness. She was so tired of wondering, all the while wishing she wasn’t so positive Nicholas wasn’t the one. So much about him did feel right, but there were too many details that were wrong. His appearance was the most obvious, but the male from her dreams was fearless enough to fly.
Nicholas still balked at the sunrise because it highlighted the emptiness of the open sky—something that she loved beyond measure. His aura still made that fear evident, whether he knew it or not.
Footsteps sounded behind them, and they both rose and turned. Gavra came trotting back to the group, his aura a low, sated pulse around him and his skin glowing a pleasant turquoise. He’d certainly made good use of his time with Silas.
He stopped by the pillar and rubbed his hands together, smiling around at them all triumphantly. “We’ll have no more interruptions tonight, as long as we pause to wait until just before dawn to finish the circuit.”
“Nice work,” Nicholas said, rising and clapping Gavra on the back. “I hope you didn’t traumatize him.”
Gavra’s mouth quirked in a sly smile. “Oh, his world will never be the same. We should tread carefully once we’re inside, however. You are the Windchaser escorting us. Silas warned me that the ursa may not be happy about our breach, and the burden of responsibility will fall on you, whether we like it or not. It’s the least we can do for his willingness to help. I’d prefer not to pass on any blame to him.”
Aurum’s eyes widened at the golden glimmer of energy that infused his aura when he spoke of their recent acquaintance. Gavra had done more than subdue the ursa with his magic. In fact, it looked more like something had been done to him. The ursa’s energy still infused Gavra’s aura as though her brother were holding onto it.
“I’m not afraid of taking that risk,” Nicholas said. “If it means I get to meet my family for the first time, I’ll do whatever is necessary.”
The others gathered around, and Nicholas rested a hand on the first milestone before nodding solemnly and setting his feet on the path once more. His deep voice reciting the tales he’d come up with to convey their life stories rolled over her like the rumbling prelude to a storm. For a man so afraid of
the sky, he reminded her of it far too often. His voice like thunder, his scent like rain, and the power of his energy that infused her when they made love so much like the feeling of elation she got when she flew.
She fell into step behind him, focusing on following his footsteps and listening to him as they made their way along.
After another two hours of walking, they reached the second milestone and their path lit up behind them, the glow an autumn gold this time, rather than the green of the Rainsong arc they’d traced on the first leg.
The next arc gave off a silver gleam when they completed it another couple hours later. Aurum’s skin prickled with anticipation of their journey being completed. She scowled at Gavra when he held them back.
“I’m sorry, sister. Silas said we must wait here until just shy of dawn. We’ll complete the ritual in time, but we don’t want to cross paths with the other guardian until his patrol has taken him beyond the end of our circuit.”
So they sat in the darkness and waited, Aurum closing her eyes and digging her fingers into the earth to attune herself to the time more closely. As long as she focused, the rotation of the planet beneath her was as evident as if she were on a moving vessel. The subtle shifts in light and sound told her where they were at their very point on the surface of the globe in relation to the sky above and the impending sunrise.
When the cosmic shifts told her they were no more than two hours from dawn, she hopped up, brushed her hands off, and said, “We must go now. Are you ready, Nicholas?” Glancing around, she failed to see him at first, until she spied his smiling face in the pre-dawn light. He leaned against the pillar with his arms crossed.
“Been ready for a bit, but you looked so peaceful in your meditation, I didn’t want to disturb you.”
Rolling her eyes, she walked over to him and shoved him bodily onto the path. “Smart-ass. Let’s go.”
Her stomach churned with every step, the energy of the entire group rising as they went, until they were all nearly running along the path. The atmosphere around her buzzed with power, the chilly, damp air occasionally giving way to warmer gusts from somewhere unknown. The scents carried on those strange currents were foreign too, and they excited her.
