by Lili Zander
Craning my neck, I lap at the tip of Luddux’s thick rod, moaning at the taste of his precum. He kneels closer so I can suckle the head, and I swirl my tongue around him as Xan does the same between my legs.
My insides tighten, and my muscles clench. My mates know exactly how to please me. I can’t resist Xan’s clever mouth and skillful tongue. My climax crests gently, soft waves of pleasure washing over me.
I pull my mouth off Lud’s cock and meet his bright blue eyes. “Truth or dare,” I tell him.
He arches a brow. “Dare.”
I come to all fours. “I dare you to make love to me.”
“Felicity…”
“I want you inside me. Please…” I lay my hand on his cheek when he hesitates. “Harper is pregnant too, and she’s doing it. You know Vulrux would never risk it if it wasn’t perfectly safe. It’ll be fine.”
Desire wars with caution. “If this is what you truly want—”
“I do.”
“Then we cannot deny you.” He lies down on his back, his cock jutting out, hard and ready. Before I straddle him, I reach for Xan.
“You too. I need both of you.”
He hesitates only a moment. “All right, beautiful.”
I crawl up over Lud, marveling at the size and beauty of his body, all muscles, bronze skin, and gloriously hard cock. Mine, all mine. Lowering my hips over his cock, I guide him inside. I’m so wet that he slides right in.
Lud echoes my sigh as I sink all the way down. “Ahh, little one,” he grinds out. “So good.”
My inner muscles ripple as I adjust to his size. I arch my body and toss my hair back, looking over my shoulder at Xan. “You too.”
He kneels behind me, fingers finding my cleft, slickening my hole to take him.
“Not yet. I have a dare for you.”
“Oh?”
“Ride him,” Xan orders. “I want to see you move.”
Bracing myself on my arms, I grind down on Lud, biting my lip against crying out as his massive rod hits a pleasure spot deep inside me. With each drag, the pressure builds and builds until I’m begging. Xan keeps his fingers at my backside, fucking my ass in time to my rocking rhythm.
“That’s it, Felicity. Take him hard.”
I rock my body, canting my ass up and down, giving both men a show.
With a wicked grin, Lud snaps his hips up, thrusting deep into me. My whole body shudders as I come apart. My arms give out, but Lud is there, holding me tight, grounding me, his lips caressing my face.
“So beautiful,” he whispers. “I will never get used to the sight of you falling apart for me.”
Xan still has his fingers in my ass. He keeps probing, stretching and stimulating me until my pussy clenches at the naughty sensation.
“She likes that,” Lud says with a grin. “She’s squeezing my cock.”
“You didn’t cum,” I realize, lifting myself up a little.
“Not yet.”
“Ready, Felicity?” Xan’s fingers leave me, and his cock probes my back hole.
So ready. I can’t get enough of them. “Please…”
“What’s that?” His lips curl into a grin.
He wants me to beg. At this moment, there’s nothing I’d rather do. “Please take me, Xan. I need you. Please fuck my ass.” I push back, sucking in a breath as the large head of his cock presses in.
“Breathe, beautiful,” Lud reminds me. Xan inches in slowly until I’m ready to beg him to go faster. Little shockwaves of pleasure pulse through me, making my insides clench. My whole world centers on the two cocks stretching me.
“Fuck me,” I chant over and over. “Fuck me please.”
“As you wish.” Xan lightly tugs on my hair as he starts to move. Sparks fly through me. My feet kick a little, and I shudder, overcome with the wild heat that fills my body.
“It feels so good,” I sigh.
Xan nips my shoulder. “And we’re just getting started.”
Somebody’s cocky. “Well, get on with it,” I tell him. I push my ass against Xan and gasp as he obliges, sliding in and out with firm strokes that send my body into orbit. When the two of them climax, pulsing deep inside my body, I shudder my own release and slump back into their arms, sated, satisfied, and content. Happy.
They take turns kissing and cleaning me. I snuggle in their arms, savoring this moment. “I never thought I’d be this lucky,” I whisper.
“Nor did I,” Lud murmurs. He kisses me and rests his hand on my belly. “A youngling,” he says, sounding awed.
Xan laces his fingers in mine. “You’ve given us the greatest gift we could ever hope for, Felicity,” he says.
I blink back the tears in my eyes. It’s been a hard road getting here, but this moment makes it all worthwhile. “Our child will have the best fathers he or she can ask for. Two of them. I’m so glad I found you.”
“As are we. It is a second chance.” Lud stretches out beside me. “One we will not take for granted.”
“It is destiny.”
25
Felicity
PRESENT…
The next few days are busy, but I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life. During the day, we’re busy with chores, but at night, Xan, Lud, and I make love.
I’m cleaning some fish in the dining area when Olivia approaches me, a stricken look on her face. “Bryce just came and yelled at me,” she says, sitting opposite me. “And I realized I’ve been the most thoughtless fool in the world.”
Even Olivia can’t dampen the glow of happiness that fills me. Everything’s okay with Lud, Xan, and me. No, things are better than okay. We went through fire, and we came out stronger for the experience.
“What are you talking about?”
She bites her lip. “I’m really, really sorry,” she begins. “I thought that you were unhappy with Luddux and Xanthox because they hadn’t told you they were working with Herrix and Belfox. I didn’t realize that you thought they were going to leave you behind.” She looks absolutely miserable. “When Belfox and Herrix grabbed me, they told me that the only reason they were using me was because Luddux refused to leave you behind. I was their Plan B. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you.”
I stare at her. Had we talked, she could have saved me so much heartache, so much pain.
But would it really have made things better?
I would have still wondered if Xan really loved me, because he’d never said the words.
Luddux would have still been shouldering the burden of what happened to his daughter alone. He would have still been broken up by his failure to save her. I would have still misunderstood.
No. As tempting as it is to blame this on Olivia, the truth is, Xan, Lud, and I needed to learn to communicate with each other. We needed to learn to overcome the hurts of our past and trust in the strength of our bond.
Three months ago, I would have looked at Olivia and seen Chloe. I would have looked at an honest mistake and seen malice.
But I’m in a good place now, and I want to let the past go. There are only fifty of us here, and Arax is right. We need to all work together. We need to be a proper team.
“That’s okay,” I tell Olivia. Viola’s right. When she’s not pretending to be a ditz, Olivia isn’t that bad after all. And she’s certainly not Chloe, who would have never, ever apologized for what she did. “We’re fine now. It all worked out.” I smile tentatively. “We’re a long way from home, and shit’s about to hit the fan. What do you say we start over?”
She returns my smile. “I’d like that, Felicity.”
26
Xanthox
PRESENT…
Dariux has been rather melancholy lately. I never cared much for the man, but after everything I learned about him in the sea camp, and after everything he’s done to help Luddux save his daughter, I’ve prepared to admit I’ve been wrong about him. Turns out Felicity is much better at reading people—even Draekons—than I am.
Everyone is finally in one camp. There are forty-f
our of us. Nine-humans, twenty-one from my exile batch, and fourteen from the Firstborn’s batch. It’s crowded on top of the cliff. Everywhere I turn, there are people. It makes me yearn for the peace and quiet of our treehouse in the lake camp.
After the nearly non-stop flying of the last week, we have very little by way of chores today. “Enjoy your day off,” Nyx says to me cheerfully. “You’re going to be on patrol duty tomorrow.”
A day off is a rare treat. Even better, Felicity doesn’t have much to do either. “I just have to mash the kunnr so we can make wine,” she says cheerfully. “And then I’m done. You want to get out of here?”
“Luddux could use the distraction.”
She nods soberly. His mind keeps returning to his daughter. The uncertainty is eating away at him.
“And so could Dariux,” I add.
Felicity looks surprised. “Dariux? Why?”
“If I had to guess, it’s the loss of the ThoughtVault. For sixty-five years, Dariux had a quest, a purpose. And now, it’s over. He’s been a bit flat. Let’s see if he wants to go with us?”
Her lips twist into a teasing smile. “I thought you were jealous of Dariux,” she says.
“I told him that I’d rip him from limb to limb if he ever did something untoward.”
Her mouth falls open. “Seriously? I’m not sure whether to be irritated or flattered.”
I brush a kiss across her cheek. “You are my mate. The love of my life,” I tell her, a growl in my voice. “And yes, I’m possessive about you, little one.”
She stands up on tiptoe to kiss me back. When she pulls away, I’m seriously regretting suggesting that Dariux come with us. After the pain of the last few weeks, neither Luddux nor I can get enough of Felicity.
Nyx learns we’re going to fly to the meadows east of the Na’Lung range. “Oh good,” he says. “Dennox isn’t back from his patrol yet. Can you take Beirax supplies on your way?” He sighs in exasperation. “Exiling the scientist on the Dsar Cliffs seemed like a good idea,” he says. “But it turns out that if you put someone on the top of a cliff that can’t be scaled, you’ve got to fly them food and water every two or three days.”
“Sure,” Luddux says. “Where are the Dsar Cliffs?”
“South-east of here,” Nyx replies. “An hour’s flight. You can’t miss it. It’s the tallest peak in the range, and it’s almost flat on top.”
Dariux looks alert. “Almost flat?”
Nyx nods. “You can’t really see it from the air,” he says. “But when you get closer, you’ll notice what I’m talking about.”
Lud and I transform. Dariux settles between Lud’s scales, and Felicity clambers on my back. We’ve spent most of our waking hours in the air for the last three or four days, and Felicity is getting a lot more comfortable on dragon-back.
We take off. It’s a lovely day, warm and sunny, and I’m looking forward to exploring this part of the prison planet, so different from our camp. We fly over dense jungle. To the east, I can see the meadows that are our ultimate destination. To the southwest of me, a river snakes through the foliage. Dariux has mentioned that it eventually connects to the sea to the south of Lake Tuli.
For the past sixty-five years, we’ve been bound by the distance we could travel on foot. But things are different now. Enough of us can fly that we can travel through the air, faster than we’d ever thought possible.
Once Raiht’vi is found and the immediate threat dealt with, I want to explore the entire planet, not just this continent. I want to see what lies beyond the great desert to the north. What lies west of the sea. I wonder if Felicity wants to travel too. It’s not the inter-planetary travel that I was used to before I was exiled, but in many ways, exploring this uncharted world feels more exciting.
Lud dives. Thank Caeron one of us is paying attention. I bend my neck and see the oddly-rectangular peak that Nyx described.
The Dsar Cliffs. Nyx is right. It really is distinctive.
The two of us land on the flat plateau at the top. Felicity slides down to the ground. I transform and put my arm around her. “You’re getting pretty comfortable flying, aren’t you?”
She chuckles. “I suppose I am. No barrel rolls though. I still have ongoing nightmares about falling.”
I’m about to ask her what barrel rolls are when I’m distracted by Dariux. He’s walking around, a frown on his face. “This is strange,” he says.
“What’s strange about it?”
“I thought Nyx was exaggerating,” he says. “But he wasn’t. This is really flat. Too flat to be natural.”
I stare at him. “What are you saying?”
“Umm, guys,” Felicity interrupts. “Forget about that for a second. Where’s Beirax?”
27
Felicity
PRESENT…
Beirax has disappeared.
The plateau is large, maybe quarter the size of a football field. But there’s nowhere to hide, and the Zorahn scientist who was responsible for stranding us on this planet is nowhere to be seen. He’s either thrown himself off the side of the sheer cliffs, or he’s flown away. Those are the only two possibilities, and neither of them is any good.
“Viola thought there was a third exile batch,” I say uneasily. “You think they took him?”
“How?” Lud asks. “As far as I know, there are no women on this planet. The scientists didn’t want us transforming into dragons, and they definitely didn’t want us mating and having youngling. If there is indeed a third exile batch, how did they get here, and how did they take Beirax? It could only be done from the air.”
Xan looks around. “Was he rescued by a Zoraken ship?”
“But we’ve been patrolling every single day,” I protest, fear stabbing my heart. “This is really close to our camp. If Zorahn soldiers were this close to us…” My voice trails off and my hand moves protectively over my stomach. I won’t let anything happen to you, little dragon, I vow silently. But cold fear continues to grip me. There’s less than fifty of us. How can we defend ourselves against an army with guns?
“Forget Beirax for the moment,” Dariux says soberly. “We need to find a place to hide.”
“They’ve been looking,” Xan replies. “It’s not easy. We have to be near water. Sheltered from the hairus and other predators. Somewhere high enough that we won’t drown in the rainy season. And above all, somewhere where the scanners won’t easily detect us.”
Dariux isn’t listening. He’s kneeling on the ground, scraping at the coarse purple grass with the handle of his knife. I move closer to Xan and Lud, who are standing in the middle of the clearing, watching Dariux with identical puzzled expressions on their faces. “I’m trying not to panic at the idea of a Zorahn ship this close to us,” I confess softly.
Lud takes a deep breath. “Me too,” he says.
Oh God. Poor Lud. Of course he’s freaking out at the idea of something happening to his child. His daughter has already been torn away from him. This has to be his worst nightmare.
I’m about to put my arm around him consolingly when Dariux shouts out. “Look at this.”
My mates hurry forward. I’m about to follow them when I trip over a stray root. I start to fall, and I put out a hand to stop myself from landing on my belly.
But as I hit the ground, it seems to give way under me. A hole opens up in the middle of the plateau. I scramble for the sides, but I can’t hold on. I scream in terror as my fingers give way.
And then I’m falling.
Time seems to slow to a halt. My life doesn’t flash in front of my eyes. I just see their faces. Lud and Xan. Against all odds, we ended up together. Against all odds, we surmounted the challenges we faced.
I’d hoped for forever. I wanted to hold the baby growing inside me. I wanted to see Lud and Xan beam with pride as they held their child for the first time. I wanted to see Lud have the second chance he so desperately craved.
Would our baby have been a dragon? Would he have been able to fly before he could w
alk? So many questions left unanswered.
I’ve had recurring dreams of falling all my life, and I’m plunging to my death. The universe has a really ironic sense of humor.
Then I see them. Xan and Lud, hurtling toward me, their arms extended, and their bodies shaped into arrows to pick up speed.
No! This hole, shaft, whatever it is I’m falling down, it’s not big enough for them to transform and unfurl their wings. They’ll be crushed. “Why?” I scream. “Why are you doing this?”
They don’t reply. Their expressions tight with concentration, they reach me and wrap their arms around me. “We’re never going to let you fall,” Xan whispers.
I swallow the lump in my throat.
Xan maneuvers himself so he’s underneath me. Lud puts his hands around my waist, holding me tight.
And then they do something impossible. They shift in mid-air. One moment, my mates are hugging me. The next moment, I’m shielded between two ferocious dragons.
But it’s too late for them to extend their wings and try to fly out. The ground is approaching with alarming speed. There’s nothing we can do.
Then there is a jolting, shuddering impact.
Followed by darkness.
28
Luddux
PRESENT…
Our youngling.
Consciousness slowly returns, and with it, alarm. Every inch of my body feels battered and bruised, and next to me, Xanthox’s body is bent at an angle that sends a sharp stab of fear through me. “Felicity?” I whisper, too afraid to look around, unprepared for what I might see.
“I’m here.” She sounds close to tears. “I’m fine. But Xan…”
“He’s still breathing,” I say, clinging desperately to a thin strand of hope. Xanthox took the brunt of the crash. His body had shielded Felicity from the worst of the impact. If our youngling is unhurt, it’s because of him. Because of his sacrifice.
