by Ophelia Bell
“I’m sorry things didn’t go your way,” Rowan said, “but that’s no reason to punish the dragons for the choices the humans made.”
“On the contrary. In spite of our carefully made plans going awry, the results were even more amazing than we could have imagined. When the Catalyst’s Twins were conceived, we wondered if it was only in the areas where we had no control—where the Brood made their choices against our wishes—that the results we hoped for might finally be achieved. And then when you arrived, we were presented with another sign that in spite of how rigorously we make our plans, fate has a way of asserting itself. You are a miracle, as are the unborn children of the Catalyst. So we have decided to let fate take its course. We are giving up, Rowan. After we finish here, you will have your wish. The Court will take over jurisdiction, and we will simply control the use of the Verdanith as we did before.”
Rowan’s heart ached for the tall, lovely woman. She involuntarily pressed at her bindings, hoping to comfort Aurum, but the tightening of the coils reminded her there was still no escape.
“What do you think went wrong with your plans?” Rowan asked.
“You did. But it was inevitable anyway. We were fools to think we had full control. Dragons have always been victims of fate and we thought we might stay a step ahead of it for a change. We were wrong.”
“Wrong about what? Just me? I’m sure I’m not the only one out there like me.”
“No. But you’re the only one birthed of two generations of Queens. The only one who could be a harbinger of what might come.” She lifted a delicate hand to Rowan’s cheek. “Your presence here is enough of a sign that we were mistaken all along. We have failed and it is up to your generation to protect our race.”
“Protect us from what?” Rowan asked the question even as every other member of the Court in the Glade sent it to her telepathically.
“That I can’t yet say,” Aurum replied. “But we know we are in danger without your help.”
“You’re giving up… allowing the Court to rewrite the laws. Yet you still seem intent on punishing us. Why?”
“Punishment is necessary for more than just censure. It’s also a test to determine whether you are a viable conduit to recharge the Verdanith. You couldn’t have known, and neither could the others, but one of the other three would have been chosen for the task. Punishment was to encourage your complete submission, which is required to transfer our power into the Verdanith. We’d like you to have the honor for other reasons, however.”
“Don’t tell me you have more secrets.”
“No more secrets. Just this last task if you choose to submit. But before you agree—before we give into fate completely—there is one last thing we must do.” She turned and strode to the edge of the platform, took a breath, and turned back to look at Rowan, her expression resolute. “Kris’s children are sacred. Right now I hope the Udara are ensuring the children thrive until we can complete this task. The Twins will need protection as they grow. But they are not destined to be our protectors. They are the ones who will power and protect our savior. You are the offspring of several generations of Dragon Queens. If you are willing, when you submit we all will infuse you with our essence. When you leave the glade, you will be impregnated with the Ashemis. The essence of all our power, combined with yours.”
“Ah…so what will my hypothetical baby be saving us all from?”
Aurum didn’t answer. The larger form of Ked, stepped in front of her. “You will save us from ourselves.”
“Ked, no. It isn’t time.” Aurum moved back in front of the large dragon with an irritated look.
“When is it time? When Sutylutha’s curse is already tearing us down? We failed, Aurum! We’ve doomed ourselves out of our fear of our own race. The Mother created the six of us to ensure the race’s safety and longevity and we failed. Rowan is right to request what she has.”
“The curse hasn’t come to fruition as far as we know, but the presence of the Twins and Rowan are signs that it will come to pass in spite of our efforts to avoid it. Fragmenting the Verdanith was the only way we could control the bloodlines. And now reassembling it is the only way we can find the source of the curse if it exists. We can’t even be sure what form it will take, but once the Verdanith is at full power we will know soon enough. We need Rowan to recharge it and her daughter’s power to help us repel the curse.”
Kol’s gentle nudge was enough of a signal. In spite of her reservations about all the other things they’d just suggested, this was what they were hoping for, and the thing Rowan vowed she’d do anything to secure.
“If that option is on the table, I will at least negotiate.”
The pair of dragons turned to stare at her.
“You’re at our mercy, yet you suggest negotiation?”
“Are you going to give the Court jurisdiction or not? If not, I will continue to refuse you.”
“And if so?” Ked asked, moving close. The dragon seemed much larger right up against her. She pressed back against Kol’s solid body and he wrapped both arms around her. Ked’s black eyes focused on hers, then slid down her body, leaving every inch of her skin tingling. One large hand cupped her breast, toyed with her nipple with excruciating tenderness, then he bent and flicked his tongue against it.
“You do taste different from the others,” he said, humming in appreciation. “Purer. I wonder…” He dropped to his knees. Rowan watched him mutely as he eyed her pussy, then slid two hands up her thighs to spread her open. A second later he had his entire tongue shoved deep inside her and she writhed against his mouth.
Holy fuck, Ked’s tongue seemed to vibrate inside her. She clutched at Kol’s arms, pressed her ass back against him. That cock of his needed someplace to be…
“Ked!” Aurum yelled.
Abruptly the invasion ended.
“You didn’t answer my question,” Ked said.
Kol’s fingertips sank hard into Rowan’s hips.
“Sweetie, if you’ve got something to share, out with it,” Rowan said to him.
“I am not at liberty to speak to the Council now. Only the accused can make arguments. Tell them the Court would gladly continue protection of the race if we also have jurisdiction over the laws.”
“Um…What question was that?” Rowan asked out loud.
“If we give the Court jurisdiction, what will you do? Will you refuse our request?”
Rowan closed her eyes tightly. She wondered for a moment if she could request he go back to what he’d just been doing with his tongue.
“No. As long as Rafe submits and is a part of it, I will do it.”
“Every dragon here must be a part of it, the males with their essence, the females with their magic. Now that we are all inside the glade, the Verdanith won’t accept our sacrifices until they are equally given. To the stone and to its proxy. That would be you. As soon as it’s charged, our first task will be to channel energy to the Catalyst’s children.”
Kol’s whisper tickled her ear. “Good work. Let’s just hope our loverboy is on board.”
A single glance at Rafe spoke volumes. He smiled at her and in a soft voice filled with reverence said, “I submit.” The two words he spoke out loud were only half his full message, however. In her mind Rowan heard the rest: “…to you for eternity.”
Racha released a relieved sigh and hung back while the others converged. Roka was the first to reach his friend. He led Rafe to the center of their circle and urged him to kneel. Kneeling in front of the Shadow, he made quick work of stroking Rafe to completion with one hand before the others came forward.
Rafe leaned back on his heels and looked at Rowan, his eyes bright and his chest heaving from his orgasm. He smiled and said, “You want to watch?” He gestured and the others came toward him. “Whatever you plan to do to her, you’ll do to me, first,” he said, fixing his gaze on each of them in turn.
“I will be right back,” Kol whispered in her ear.
“You don’t have to, do
you?”
“I plan to do it to you, love. So yes. I do. This will at least give you an idea what you’re in for.”
Still tied, Rowan had no choice but to watch while the others took turns coupling with her lover, and through it all she received the vivid impression that he enjoyed every second. They all took their turns, sometimes two or three at a time. Each time he or one of the others climaxed, the Verdanith grew brighter
Rafe lay limp and gasping after they each finished, one by one leaving to plunge into the pool to bathe. The Verdanith pulsed brightly beneath him, lending an unearthly glow to his skin.
“I love you,” she whispered.
Rafe’s lips twitched in a smile and he lifted his head. Sweat soaked his hair and it clung to his forehead and neck in dark strands. His eyelids drooped low, but he focused intently on her. He said nothing, only the smile on his face and the intense emotion that washed over her indicated his understanding of their shared situation and his acceptance of what they both knew she must do.
Chapter 8
“Do you submit?” Kol asked Rowan for the final time after the group had bathed.
“Yes.”
The bindings instantly released. Her strength left her, but Kol caught her in strong arms. His beautiful face was before her, kissing her. “You did good,” he whispered. “This is the easy part now.”
“The part where you fuck me finally?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, the part where we all do.”
He held her close and laid her down gently in the center of the platform. Deep warmth seeped into her back. “What is it?” she asked, trying to move to see, but the hands of all the others held her down.
“It’s only the Verdanith,” Aurum said, kneeling beside Rowan. “Your power will be the final charge. You need to stay in contact with it for it to transmute our essences into the seed that will become the Umbra.”
The immortal White, Aodh, knelt at Rowan’s other side and exhaled. Her sight became obscured with a solid white mist. She could see no one. She could only feel the hands on her, holding her down, and the deep, hot heat of the Verdanith against the center of her back.
Suddenly the memory of Rafe’s anguished objections their first weekend together flooded through her mind. She was pure, like he had said. And here she was, consciously agreeing to being the thing she’d objected to the most. Their entire race needed her to be their broodmare. She wanted it as much as anything, but it seemed a small sacrifice to make to be able to have him.
“Rafe, where are you?”
“I’m here, baby,” his voice called to her, and a hand pressed against her hip, warm and comforting. It moved along her contours up to her breast. “I’m here,” he said again, the sound moving around above her head. Strong, gentle hands lifted her head just enough for him to move beneath, letting her rest against his crossed calves. His warm lips pressed against hers from above, and she sighed at the welcome contact, letting herself get lost in the familiarity of him even as the others began to touch her. He kept contact with her, caressing her face with soft fingertips and kissing her every so often.
“Ready her,” a deep voice said. Was that Ked? Gavra? It had to be one of the immortal dragons. Aodh even. She didn’t recognize it as one she knew, though the mist could be transforming the voices, too.
Several hands gripped her legs, spreading her wide and pulling her knees up to her chest. Other hands held her arms down to the warm stone. Still others were on her body, cupping her breasts, teasing between her thighs.
She gasped when a hot tongue unexpectedly hit her clit, the teasing flick of it making her quiver and want more, but it left only to be replaced by another tongue, similar but thicker, more insistent. This tongue wanted her to come. Wanted her essence. It, too departed after only a few brief licks that left Rowan’s pussy aching. She was on the verge of begging now. She’d submitted and yet they were only teasing her. She needed more.
And they gave it to her. The hands held her thighs still. Her hearing became acute, every sound making her turn her head in an effort to discern who was moving. She inhaled deeply through her nose, hoping to catch familiar scents of those she had come to know as her family over the last few days. Rafe was easy enough to sense through their shared bond, and his constant contact. Another she was sure of was her brother, whose hand was one of the ones resting firmly behind her knee, keeping her spread open for the others.
“Tell me what you see. I’m blind here,” she sent to Rafe.
“You’re beautiful, unfurled as you are. An exquisite crimson flower, and we are the bees.”
“She is ready,” Roka said, his voice coming from between her spread legs. The scent of him was familiar enough from their first meeting. Abruptly his hot, thick cock pressed against her spread cunt. He slid his tip around in a circle against her clit, torturing her for a moment before slamming deep enough to make her cry out. That was what she needed, Oh, God.
Their hands continued to hold her thighs while he pounded into her. Mouths found her nipples. A familiar voice or a scent told her who was close, but she decided it didn’t matter. They were all giving her what their entire race needed.
Roka’s cock slid deftly in and out of her, the thick ridge around the tip rubbing inside with delicious pleasure. The hands and lips that shared her mouth and breasts never let up. She imagined the magic seeping into her, was sure she could feel every tingling thread of it as her pleasure grew. The threads sank deeper into her core with each steady stroke of Roka’s cock until the knot of it that filled her womb was too much for her to contain. The blinding ecstasy burst from her and she cried out, arching up against their caresses with her first orgasm. A second later Roka answered, his hips smacking hard against hers with his final thrust as he came.
He withdrew quickly and another took his place. First, with quick, agile fingers that teased at her cunt. She heard the sound of someone licking fingers.
Aurik commented, “She tastes delicious with hot Guardian spunk in her.”
Rowan almost made a retort, but before she could, the hot, sweet scent of female sex hit her nostrils. A second later someone’s thighs brushed against her cheeks. She darted out her tongue, curious, and encountered exactly what she expected—a slick, swollen pussy. Essence or magic was what she’d been told they would give her. She didn’t need to be fucked to get all of it. Rowan tilted her head and darted her forked tongue out, teasing it around and around the thick bundle. The possessor of the clit gasped and rocked her hips lower. Rowan wrapped her lips around the throbbing little nub and sucked, barely aware of the new cock shoving into her from the other side. Sweet juice flooded her mouth, both tangy and salty, with a slight bite of hot spice. The breathy moan the female let out was Rowan’s only clue that it was Aurin she serviced. The salty spice that mingled with Aurin’s tang must be Geva’s seed. Their combined flavors coated her tongue when she sank it into Aurin’s slick depths.
Soon, Rowan’s pussy wouldn’t be denied. Aurik fucked her so expertly she lost track of other things.
“Suck her clit. Don’t think about me,” Aurik said. Rowan sucked, but it was impossible not to think about him. At least not until the pussy pressed over her mouth spasmed and its owner yelled a few profanities in a language Rowan had never heard and the bright power of Aurin’s Nirvana flowed through her.
The cock buried in Rowan’s own snatch swelled and pulsed when Aurik came. Then he disappeared, leaving her disappointed.
But only a moment later something massive brushed hot against her inner thigh. Large hands clutched her to spread her wider and a thumb caressed her slick folds, sliding up to rub gently over her swollen clit.
“Stay wet for me,” Kol’s deep voice said.
“I don’t think that will be an issue,” she replied with a small chuckle that transformed into a surprised gasp when he plunged into her to the hilt, his path amply lubricated by the semen of the two that preceded him, along with her own juices. His hands slipped beneath her hips to hold he
r up higher. The angle caused his cock to press with excruciating precision against her inner wall, his strokes becoming more deliberate and focused so that he rubbed maddeningly against the same spot.
“That’s it,” Rafe said from above her. “He’s found your weakness, hasn’t he? Give in to him, Rowan. Sweet Mother, I love watching your face when you come.” His lips came down on hers again and she surrendered. Her pussy clenched in hard spasms around Kol’s cock, relentlessly milking him until he cried out and his hot seed shot into her.
The silken warmth of another pair of thighs slid along the tops of her shoulders. Rowan tilted her chin and opened her mouth, her tongue extended just enough in anticipation of the slick heat of another female. Racha’s verdant scent already clung to Rafe, and now Rowan found herself immersed in it. The Queen faced the opposite direction as Aurin had. While she snaked her tongue around Racha’s quivering folds, she felt the woman’s hands grip Rafe. He shifted slightly beneath her head and sighed.
“She’s an attentive leader,” he said to Rowan before she could comment.
“Fuck her while I do this. I want to taste you on her.”
Rafe murmured her request to Racha, and the Queen moved, turning the other way. Rowan was forced to extend her tongue a little further when Rafe moved out from under her head. Racha’s breathy moan was the first sign of Rafe’s penetration and Rowan darted her tongue out to find where her lover’s shaft sank into Racha’s tight opening. Rowan teased and licked at them both in equal measure, determined to taste Rafe’s spend mixed with her Queen’s delicious juices. Distracted by her quest, she was only partly aware when another thick cock found its way into her sopping cunt.
Rafe let out a harsh groan and his movements slowed. He pulled out of Racha and sank back in, the motion seeming to mimic the cock that slowly fucked into Rowan from the other side. Rowan had ceased to wonder who was where, losing herself to every sensation below her neck. At least she had some control over what happened above.
