by Lucy Lyons
Her breathing sped up and his dragon hearing picked up the runaway thudding of her heart. Her muscles clenched as she crushed herself against his face, moaning loudly. Astrid fisted her hands in his hair and Tem lifted one on her legs, then the other over his shoulders and dove as deep into her with his tongue as he could.
Her hands clutched his hair and she cried out in pleasure. Her tight walls clenched around his tongue as more of her juices released onto his tongue. Tem held onto her tight as she rode his face thrashing with each contraction of her body.
Astrid slumped against the wall.
“Oh, my God,” she breathed.
Tem lifted her and her legs slipped off his shoulders. With a wolfish grin, he crushed his lips to hers and claimed her mouth again.
What are you doing to me?
Worshipping your delicious body. I can’t get enough of you.
Astrid broke the kiss and leaned her head against his shoulder.
“God help me,” she whispered. “I can’t get enough of you either.”
Tem kissed the top of her head and then lifted her into his arms. In a few short steps, he was at the bed and he pulled her down with him as they fell into it. She laughed, but when he turned her on her back, her eyes opened wide.
His heart was racing as she lay under him and he saw her swallow hard.
“I want you badly,” he said. “But I will take my time.”
“I don’t know if I want you to.”
“Trust me, you want me to go slowly. You are too precious to hurt in any way.”
“I know you won’t hurt me,” she said her eyelids fluttering.
Tem was heartened by her trust in him and it made him all the more determined to make her first time something she’d enjoy.
“I want to see you,” Astrid said.
Tem got his knees and pulled down his sweats. She rose on one elbow and stroked his half hard shaft. Tem shuddered and put his hand on hers.
“I want you too much.”
Astrid took away her hand and lowered her head as if he scolded her. Tem raised her chin with his fingers.
“That’s a compliment,” he said.
“I don’t know what to do,” she said her lips trembling.
“You know more than you think,” he said gently.
“I want to please you. I’m afraid I won’t.”
“Oh, sweetheart, there is no way you can’t. You can see how much I want you.”
Astrid looked between his legs where his sweatpants tented with his hard-on.
“Hey, where’s that woman that was so eager to go down on me?”
“It’s one thing to do that, and another to—”
Her consternation melted him.
Tem drew her to him. “We won’t do anything you don’t want to,” he said gently. He kissed her again, this time gently and slowly and he felt her relax against him. Tem stroked her body in long lazy strokes, her breast, her stomach and she made little whimpers as he did. His dragon was impatient and shook within from frustration, but there was no way Tem was going to force this on Astrid. This moment was too important.
He brought his fingers to her mound and reveled in the softness of her skin. Tem’s breathing hitched as he flashed on pushing his tongue inside her.
“Sweet, sweet, Astrid,” he said. “You taste delicious and I want taste you. But I’m also going to make you ready for me. Do you want that?”
“Yes,” she said almost as a moan. “When you touch me the only thing I want is you.” She gave him a smoldering look from under half-lidded eyes and Tem almost lost his resolve to go slow.
He leaned over and kissed her coppery bush and then took long licks along her inner thighs on each side. She hissed when he pulled away between her legs and then sighed when he slid his index finger inside her. She was so soft and hot that he nearly lost it there as he imagined sinking himself deep within her.
She writhed under the attention of his finger and he sunk in another, curling them to stroke her g-spot.
“Oh,” she said.
“You’re so tight, baby,” he whispered.
“I need you, Tem,” she gasped. “Please.”
He couldn’t take it. Tem pulled off his sweats and kicked them away. He knelt between her legs and stroked his cock staring at the petals of her flesh glistening from her wetness. He guided the tip of his shaft there and pushed against the tight hole.
“Oh,” she whimpered.
“You okay?”
“You feel so big,” she said. “But good, so good.”
Tem rumbled his approval. “Baby,” he said and he pushed forward a little, filling her entrance with his cock. Sweat beaded on his brow from the effort of holding back. He rocked back and forth teasing both of them with that motion. He was barely inside her and needed more.
“Tem,” she pleaded.
He lifted her legs and urged her to wrap them around his waist. He grabbed her hips with both hands, trembling with sweat dripping from his brow and inched forward inside her. She was so tight he gritted his teeth. He didn’t know if the resistance he felt was because how tightly her walls gripped him or if he had encountered her cherry.
“Hold on,” he gritted and inched forward. She shook underneath him.
“Are you okay?”
“Tem, you are driving me crazy. Come on, baby. I need you. All of you.”
“Oh hell,” he said and pushed forward as heat and wet engulfed him and became the center of his world. He could not hold back any more and sunk as deep as he could go. There was no holding back now and he was lost in the rapture of taking her, in that place of no thought that was all sensation and no words. As his rhythm built she bucked her hips with his so that they crashed together and came apart, again and again. She screamed his name and clenched around him in waves.
So tight. So tight. His passion climbed higher demanding release and he shook from the force of his desire. He bent to her neck intending to kiss her. Instead he found her flesh so tender he sucked in to his mouth and then sank his teeth in her skin. At that very second, he understood that this woman was more precious to him than any piece of gold in his personal hoard. She was his entire world and would be until the day he died.
The need to possess her utterly swept through him like liquid fire and he exploded, shaking. As his cum jetted in powerful spurts and he pressed against her furthest inner walls, he howled her name so loudly it filled the room.
They held each other tightly as they came down from the heights their lovemaking took them. Their breathing calmed and Tem licked where he had bit her.
“Why did you do that?” she said.
Tem didn’t know what to say. Yes, instinct had taken over, just like it always did when Tem was with Astrid. But this was something more. He had suspected this would happen and he did try to warn her.
“It’s an ancient thing, so old we’ve nearly forgotten it. It isn’t done now, at least I haven’t heard of any mate bondings like this. I’ve claimed you, Astrid, or rather the dragon part of me did. You are mine now and will be forever.”
“Claimed? Like in marriage?”
“Oh, no. It’s much more serious than marriage. It’s the mate bond.” He picked up her hand and held it to his heart. “Feel my heart. It beats in time with yours and will until my dying breath. I am yours as much as you are mine.”
“Mate bond,” she said. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“That is because,” boomed another voice, “it’s not allowed.”
Tem stiffened and pulled away from Astrid. In Astrid’s doorway stood the Queen of dragons, her eyes glittering with a fierceness that spoke of deadly retribution.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Astrid
At Rhea’s entrance, Tem stood. Astrid hurried to cover herself with the top sheet of the bed while her cheeks burned as Rhea gazed at her scornfully. As embarrassed as she was, Astrid was mortified that Tem was standing there naked, but his eyes contained restrained anger. He stared at the dragon Quee
n in defiance and Rhea glared back with her hands fisted at her side.
Astrid’s heart beat faster in fear. She knew little about Rhea but she had seen Tem’s destructive abilities in action. As a student, Astrid had suspected that there as a stricter hierarchy in dragon society than was generally known. Having met Rhea was instructive, but Astrid had little to go on to parse the politics of dragons.
Tem held out his hand to her.
She will not hurt us.
How can you be sure?
She stood next to him and Tem put a protective arm around Astrid’s shoulder.
“So, Templeton Rawlins, you defy me yet again,” said the Queen.
“Rhea,” said Tem coldly.
“At least you know my name,” she said sarcastically. “Do you recognize me as your Queen?”
“We’ve always had a difference of opinion.”
“Is that what you call your insubordination?”
“Trust me, Rhea. I’ve never been subordinate to anyone.”
“That much is obvious. But this, you and her, I cannot allow. This union is a threat to all dragon kind.”
“A threat? It doesn’t matter. It is done.”
“And I can undo it.”
“Really, Rhea?”
“As your Queen, yes. It is under my authority and within my powers. I haven’t had to in thousands of years, but I will if the need arises. Mate bonds, especially with humans, are dangerous to dragons and you know why.”
Astrid was lost. Pieces of important dragon knowledge were painfully missing from the human database. Why would mating with humans be harmful to dragons?
“Dangerous? Who is the threat, Rhea? You’ve been many things over the years, but the one thing I did not expect you to be was a liar.”
“Liar!” Rhea stormed.
“It seems you have revised our history.”
“Have I?”
“I have heard a story from Astrid. So tell me, Rhea, why have we not heard about these seneschals?”
“There wasn’t just one dragon that fell to the charms of, of this subspecies.” She spat out that last word as if it were a poison. “They were polluting our gene pool.”
“The only polluting element here is your racism. And you put us in peril because of it.”
“Me? I was trying—I did— save dragon kind!”
“What happened to the seneschals, Rhea?” said Tem coldly.
Rhea studied her nails casually. “What needed to be done…”
“What happened to the seneschals, Rhea?!” Tem shouted.
“We killed them,” said a deeper voice. Tem and Astrid turned their heads to see Calvin standing in the doorway of Astrid’s room.
“Believe me, had I realized that you were coming here, I would have stopped you if I could.”
“What are you doing, Captain?” said Rhea in a warning voice.
“Telling the story we should have told the younger ones all along. Rhea is right. The seneschals and the dragon Lords grew too close. That was our fault.”
“Captain!”
“No, Rhea. You see what happens when you hide things. The ability to become a seneschal is too deeply buried in their DNA for us to have killed off all of it.”
“You, Calvin?” said Tem. “You participated in the slaughter?”
“I did what my Queen commanded me to do. But Tem is right, Rhea. We became murderers of humans and we lost our conduits to the human world. We did do more harm than good.”
“I knew you were cold-blooded Rhea,” spat Tem, “but murdering innocent humans?”
“They were not innocent!” Rhea raged. “They broke our laws and consorted with their dragons.”
“Not all of them,” said Calvin gently.
“Enough of them! Enough to pollute our gene pool! How long will dragons continue to be dragons id we mate freely with that?”
Rhea pointed to Astrid, who drew closer to Tem. Astrid grew afraid despite Tem’s closeness because she did not know what the dragon Queen would do.
“Be careful,” growled Tem. “You know nothing about Astrid.”
“She’s human! That’s all I need to know! Guards!” she screamed, “arrest him.”
Tem pushed Astrid to the bed. “Stay down!” he hissed as a stream of dragons rushed in and surrounded Tem. Astrid looked around for a weapon to use, but there was nothing. It hit Astrid that Rhea had given her a room so bare that it contained nothing, not a lamp, or statue, or even a bowl of fruit, which could be used as a weapon. She might be able to use the bed sheet, but she was using that to cover her body. But it looked like things were happening quickly and she needed to be prepared. She fumbled for her dress, which had fallen under the bed, and dressed quickly while she watched the tight tableau unfolding before her.
The guards stood before Tem as if they didn’t know what to do despite their Queen’s demands. Astrid gathered that they had a healthy respect for Tem’s battle abilities.
“Arrest him,” demanded Rhea. Her face was tight with anger and she was visibly shaken.
“Come on, men. Arrest your general,” taunted Tem.
General? Astrid sucked in a deep breath. Tem was the dragon’s military leader? What else did Astrid not know about Tem?
“Tem!” protested Calvin. “You can’t expect them to choose between you and their Queen.”
“Why not? Do we not expect our leader to act in the best interests of us all? She failed that.”
“Tem,” warned Calvin. “Even I can’t make that choice.”
“I think,” growled Tem, “you’ve made your choice. Astrid.” He held out his hand to hers. “We’re leaving.”
Tem pushed past the soldiers with Astrid in tow.
“No!” screamed Rhea. “You will not leave.”
The dragon Queen grabbed Astrid’s arm and pulled. Tem whirled and pushed Rhea angrily away. Rhea stumbled, fell to the floor and the guards, seeing the assault on their Queen, rushed Tem.
Things happened very quickly and Astrid stood in the center of the storm. Calvin helped Rhea to her feet. Tem fought the guards that had fallen on him. His arms and legs were a rapid blur as he tried to hold his ground against desperate odds. But there was only one of him and twenty dragon soldiers and when he felled one man, two more were on him.
“Astrid, run!” he called. But in the split second in which she tried to decide whether to obey or stay, strong arms gripped hers. Heart hammering in her chest, she tried to pull away.
“Stand still, human,” hissed Rhea Gentrix, “and I will not harm you. But move and I will be happy to.”
Astrid swallowed hard as Rhea’s nails pressed painfully into her skin. Her heart sank as she saw several guards grab hold of Tem as he struggled and some others deliver painful blows to his midsection.
“Let go of me!” he roared in a voice that shook the walls.
“Captain,” said Rhea.
Calvin stepped forward. In his hands were two wide bracers and from their dull gray color, Astrid deduced they were iron.
“No!” cried Astrid.
“Quiet!” snapped Rhea. She grasped the back of Astrid’s uniform in her steely fingers and dragged Astrid toward the door.
Astrid flailed her arms trying to gain purchase against the dragon Queen, but Rhea was far stronger than she looked.
“Tem!” she cried when she saw Calvin snapping one iron bracer around Tem’s forearm and then the other. Astrid caught Tem’s eyes, which were filled with a look of betrayal and defeat.
“No! No! No!” screamed Astrid as Rhea dragged her out of the room and roughly down the hall until they came to a section of portico that looked out over the wide courtyard.
“Shut up!” shouted Rhea. She turned Astrid to face her and roughly backhanded her. Pain shot though Astrid’s jaw. She saw stars and then the world went black.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Tem
Tem woke with his ears ringing and every muscle in his body screaming. He sat dully in the dark space he occupied and worked
to piece together what had happened.
Rhea. Oh yeah. He remembered the look on the ancient dragonesses’ face as she watched him beaten by his own soldiers. It was a moment of victory for her, but one Tem intended wouldn’t last long.
Astrid. Oh, god, Astrid. The fear and pain in her face as that witch of a vixen laid hands on her and dragged her away would haunt Tem to the end of his days.
Tem tried to stand, but found to his consternation that the thick bands on his forearms were locked to the chair in which he sat. The iron bands, bracers as they were more properly called, restricted his ability to shift.
“Damn you, Rhea Gentrix.”
He was worried about Astrid and what the dragon Queen would do to her.
Astrid.
He called to her in his mind, but she did not answer. Immediately he was concerned. Had Gentrix done what she promised? Had she dissolved the bond between him and Astrid?
Tem didn’t know that such things were possible, but then apparently Rhea had hidden much information from them.
Rhea considered mating bonds a danger to dragons? Why? Did it have anything to do with her breeding program? That made some sense, but there had to be more to it than that. Rhea had always hidden the bulk of the knowledge about mating bonds from the dragons. Why? There was a deeper secret here. Tem was sure of it.
But all he had were questions and an ache in his heart because he was separated from Astrid. That was far worse than the pain in his body, because those would heal. He suspected the longer he and Astrid were apart, the more the ache could grow.
You are right about that.
Rhea! Damn it! She was in his head.
And outside the door.
The locks clinked and the door creaked open. Rhea entered holding a lantern that she hung on a hook by the door. It cast a faint light, just enough for Tem to see he was in a small bare cell. Even if he didn’t have the bracers on, he’d never have been able to shift in this size room.
His chair, he saw, was pushed against the furthest wall, which explained the chill at his back. To his right there was a sleeping platform of the same gray rock that made the walls of his cell.
