Dragon Equinox (Immortal Dragons Book 6)

by Ophelia Bell

  Chapter 31

  Numa

  Numa woke to the warm brush of lips across her own and the familiar scent of ambrosia filling the air. Her eyes flew open with a surge of adrenaline, and she stared up at the god she loved.

  “Dion, you’re awake!”

  “Yes, little one,” he said, then frowned. “I imagine I can’t call you that anymore, can I?” He gripped her hand in his and twined their fingers, lifting them before his eyes. Holding them up, he spread his fingers again so their hands were pressed flat, fingers tip-to-tip. His hand was still larger than hers, but not by as much as it had once been.

  Around her, the other four men roused, Cade and Zephyrus slipping up behind her while Bekim and Theron took up their spots on Dion’s side of the bed.

  “How do you feel?” Zephyrus asked.

  “Alive,” Dion said, pushing up to a seated position and pulling Numa back in for a kiss. His lips lingered on hers, savoring and teasing until she was breathless. He pulled back with a soft hum and a lazy smile. “Definitely still alive,” he added, tilting his hips up until the sheet slid off his erection.

  “I see some parts of you maintained their godly stature,” Cade commented. “But do you have the stamina to take on a dragon?”

  “I am willing to try,” he said, fixing his gaze on Numa and slipping a hand into the bodice of her dress. His palm grazed over her nipple as cupped her breast, heating her core, but she grabbed his wrist and forced him to still. Reluctantly, she tugged the covers back up over his arousal despite her urge to straddle him and ride him to completion.

  “Not yet,” she said. “I need to make sure you’re all right first. This change you’ve gone through is not insignificant. Will you regain your powers? Your … horns?”

  He frowned and raked his fingers through his hair, then grimaced as he discovered what was lacking. “Ah, that’s not good. The odd thing is that I still feel power, but it’s coming from another source. If it isn’t a divine link …” He closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate. After a moment, he shook his head and let out a soft chuckle. “This will be interesting.”

  “What is it?” Numa asked.

  “It seems I’m still linked to Meri’s bloodline. Which is no longer hers, of course. Not since I took over. But there are several million humans who were linked to her, and it now appears they are linked to me, the poor fools.”

  “That’s a bad thing?” Bekim asked. “Seems like having a divine link would be a blessing.”

  “At the moment, the link means nothing to them. I can take advantage of the power of the bloodline if I wish, but have no real need to use it as long as I’m satisfied living the life of a mortal. I will eventually regain my divine power—that will happen whether I like it or not.”

  Numa relaxed and rested her cheek against his chest. “That’s a relief.”

  Dion toyed with her hair and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Aye, but I’m in no hurry to reclaim that burden, as much fun as it was to see the five of you drunk on my seed. As the power returns to me, it’ll infect those bound by blood to me as well. And while those poor humans might have gone unnoticed by Fate before, with a divine link, that is no longer going to be the case.”

  Numa bristled at the mention of her father. Though she knew Fate had many aspects that affected the world in different ways, she still viewed the whole eternal entity with little love.

  “Why in the world would Fate care about a bunch of humans?”

  Dionysus snorted ruefully. “Because they are linked to me now. And because we defied the bastard by sharing you instead of making you choose between us.”

  Numa pushed up off his chest and glared at him. “You would not dare make me choose…”

  Dion shook his head and smiled, holding up his hands. “Trust me, this is by far a more ideal arrangement than I could have hoped for.” His gaze swept lazily around at Numa’s other mates. “And I admit it satisfies me to have defied Fate so well. But there is always a price. It means Fate will have the power to manipulate the lives of those humans that might have otherwise remained at peace. Not to mention the humans themselves won’t have a clue what hit them. They will be affected in ways we can’t predict, not the least of which will be an ability to recognize others with divine power in their blood.”

  Numa’s skin chilled. “How many humans are affected by your blood?”

  Dion shook his head. “Millions. Enough that it will be impossible for the higher races to hide from.” He let out a sigh and shrugged. “But perhaps the bigger blessing is that it will distract Fate from meddling in the lives of the higher races for a while.”

  “Small blessings,” Numa agreed. “But this is not good. We’ll need to do damage control if we intend to remain integrated with humanity, especially if a large part of the population will recognize what we are. These humans aren’t in danger, are they?”

  “Only of being the pawns in Fate’s little games. Depending on Fate’s mood, that usually just means meddling in their love lives. But until I have regained my power there is nothing to worry about. We have plenty of time to enjoy each other, and I get to play the weakling for a bit longer and let the rest of you cater to my needs. But I might need you to go easy on me…”

  She gave him a slow smile and pushed the sleeves of her gown up. “Perhaps these will help you last while I make love to you?” She bared her forearms and the pair of matching golden rings that adorned them. Slipping them off, she tugged the covers off his cock again and slipped the rings down his now-flaccid length. By the time she had both rings secured around him, he was fully hard again.

  He reached for her, hauling her onto his lap while he pushed her gown off her shoulders, baring her breasts to his hungry gaze. Numa surrendered, arching into his mouth as he descended, capturing one nipple between his lips. She shuddered in pleasure when Bekim’s lips found her other nipple and sucked, and then Zephyrus hooked his hand at the back of her head, urging her mouth to his. Theron and Cade slipped in behind her, their hands roaming her bare skin, ridding her of the rest of her clothes and helping Dion’s cock gain access to her already soaked channel.

  She sank down his thick shaft with a sigh, awash in their desire, the steadily growing power of their auras merging around her like a protective bubble. And even though no crisis depended on the full build of energy and its eventual release, they worked her up to the very limits of her endurance.

  “Beg,” Dion said, slowing his relentless pace as he fucked her.

  “Beg,” Cade said, grazing his mouth along her neck and across her ear as she arched back, supported from behind by the big man whose sole purpose seemed to be to drive her mad with the need to come.

  “Beg,” the West Wind whispered with every light caress of a breeze across her skin and around her nipples.

  “Beg,” Bekim and Theron rumbled in tandem as their fingers spread her wider, teased her clit, and invaded her slick and tender backside.

  “Please!” Numa yelled, finally relenting to her own well of power that had filled with enough energy to create ten portals.

  They answered her plea, pushing her to the edge and beyond, and this time all the power and all the love she had to give flooded from her in a joyful cry.

  Another portal opened in that moment, but this one was in her heart, a doorway big enough for five men to slip inside and give her all they had in return.

  Ready to complete the story? Pick up the full-length epilogue of the “Immortal Dragons” series!

  DRAGON AVENGED

  A year has passed since the explosive conclusion of the Dragon Council’s quest to find their mates and destroy their mortal enemy. The world of the higher races is on the verge of a dangerous shift. The dragons have one more ritual to undertake to ensure their secrets are kept and the human world remains oblivious to their presence. One woman is the key to their safety.

  With powers and a bloodline no other creature in existence possesses, Deva Rainsong is finally on the verge of understand
ing her purpose. She must cast the spell required to reach all the humans tainted by the enemy, even if it comes at the expense of her innocence. But Deva’s nature craves a true awakening, and her rapture might just be the thing that saves them all.

  Read on for an excerpt, or buy now.

  Dragon Avenged

  Chapter One

  A warm spring breeze roused Numa from an afternoon post-coital doze. She hummed softly under Zephyrus’s caress and shifted positions only to realize that the West Wind was no longer lying beside her in bed. The breeze tugged at her tangled hair, flowed down her shoulders, and lifted the silken sheet, tossing it off before nudging her into full alertness.

  “Zeph?” She frowned, darting a look around the lush quarters in the Haven’s palace that she and her mates had called their own for the past year. She’d made love to Zephyrus and Dionysus earlier that afternoon, opting for a recharge and a nap while her other three mates joined the crew of nymphs preparing for the Equinox festivities just two days away.

  The wind swirled around her and she puffed out an irritated cloud of green smoke. Zeph’s magic caught it and shaped the cloud into an arrow aimed at the doorway to the room.

  “Fine, I’m coming,” she muttered, slipping out of the bed and summoning a gown to drape over her as she headed into the corridor. She followed the little ball of green smoke as the breeze toyed with it, pushing it in a haphazard spiral ahead of her.

  The palace was a maze of crystalline corridors that gave the illusion of being underwater, with blue light filtering through in eerie ripples. She missed her home in the Glade with its wide open skies, multitudes of high clifftops, and plenty of room to stretch her wings, but the Haven was the better place for Dion to rest while they waited for his powers to regenerate.

  Her body still hummed with the remnants of their last coupling, a sure sign that he was nearly at full divine power again. She followed the breeze through a pair of double doors out onto a palatial covered porch where she paused and took him in, the extent of his recovery hitting her for the first time since he’d lost his powers.

  He was leaning against a column, gazing down onto the activities below. His huge, muscular body was relaxed and languid, the same light breeze toying with his silken black curls. Zephyrus leaned on the balustrade across from him, lean and silver-haired, the worry lines beside his mouth completely gone as he regarded the god with affection. Laughter drifted up from the courtyard, along with her other mates’ voices raised in amused banter. Zephyrus saw her first, his eyes lighting up before darting a meaningful glance at Dionysus.

  Her beautiful god practically glowed with health and vigor, and the marked difference in his size was even more apparent now that he was standing next to Zephyrus, rather than lying on his back while she rode his cock to oblivion. He was healed.

  Dion said something she couldn’t hear over the noises from the courtyard. He glanced at Zeph, then followed the West Wind’s gaze to Numa. His lips tilted in a cocky smile and he turned around to face her fully, leaning back against a column.

  “You’re awake,” he said. “I worried I gave you too much at the end. Did I finally find your limit, little one?”

  “Impossible. You know better.” Her chest warmed and she couldn’t resist smiling at his taunt.

  “Indeed,” he rumbled, his burgundy gaze sliding down her body like a caress, promising that he lived for nothing more than to keep testing her limits.

  Numa sauntered toward him, returning the look with a brazen one of her own, but taking the time to thoroughly inspect his aura while she closed the distance. The magic surrounded him in a brilliant golden glow, stronger than she’d seen it in ages, but that wasn’t the only signal of his returning strength. He was a full head taller than Zeph, not counting the pair of thick horns that protruded from his head high enough to graze the ceiling. A year earlier he’d barely been taller than Numa, after his power had been sapped in his effort to control their enemy long enough for them to vanquish the evil bitch. Six months ago he’d finally surpassed Cade’s size again and was gradually growing, though his horns were only nubs. She’d been aware of the changes, subtle though they were, but until now it hadn’t really registered how close he was to his true divine self again.

  “Welcome back,” she said. “Just in time for the celebration.”

  She slipped up to the balustrade between Dion and Zeph, her entire being warming at their proximity. Below them, the main courtyard of the palace was alive with activity. Nymphs darted around, draping flowered garlands over everything. Theron and Bekim were at one end with Cade, adding the final pieces to the roof of a pavilion that the nymphs were already swarming over to decorate.

  Her three ursa mates hopped down a few moments later and stood back to admire their handiwork. Numa could barely see the artistry due to the throng of nymphs adding the finishing touches. Finally the activity slowed, and they all paused and oohed and ahhed over the finished spectacle.

  “What is it for?” she asked.

  “Spring fertility rites,” Dion said, then bent close and rumbled, “and none too soon.” He dropped one big hand to her ass and squeezed. “Now that I’m at full strength, we can put that baby into you that you wished for.”

  As if attuned to Dion’s voice, the three ursa turned and looked up at them. Numa’s breath quickened at the expectant looks in their eyes. The baby she wished for had been just a dream for the past year. With five mates, it had been impossible for her to choose which should have the honor of impregnating her, and so she’d resisted allowing it to happen accidentally. Dion had finally urged her to confess her true wish—and so she’d admitted her desire to somehow have a child made from all of them, which she knew was a ridiculous thing to hope for, if not impossible.

  “Oh . . . can we really?” she asked, darting a hopeful look up at Dion, then to Zephyrus, and finally down to Cade, Bekim, and Theron below, who looked like they were ready to leap the two-story distance to reach her and take care of business on the spot.

  Zephyrus lightly stroked her cheek. “With Dion’s power, we can.”

  “But not today,” Dion said.

  “Oh,” Numa said, deflating.

  Dion’s laughter boomed through the courtyard, infecting everyone below with mirth. Nymphs dove into the fountain and splashed each other playfully, their games swiftly turning to carnal fun.

  “Soon, little one,” he said, sliding his hand up her back. “My power has returned, it’s true, but there is far more to be had in two days on the Equinox.” He turned and tucked a fingertip under her chin, urging her to look up at him. “There is a more dire concern to address first.”

  The one worry they had all been acutely aware of, yet avoided discussing most days would finally need to be addressed. “The bloodline,” Numa said.

  Dion nodded down toward the orgy of nymphs that were now tangled half in and half out of the fountain. A pair of the recently returned Thiasoi satyrs dove into the fray to the delighted squeals of the females. “They are already feeling my return to power, but my link to the nymphaea is nothing new. Meri’s bloodline is mine now too, and the humans who are part of it may be a danger to the higher races once it fully affects them.”

  Zephyrus twisted his mouth in amusement at the scene unfolding below. Cade had a pair of nymphs clinging to him, very patiently attempting to peel the two females off on his way into the palace. “No doubt it won’t be nearly as fun for the humans as it is for them. My brothers have been monitoring things in the human world. They have begun to see signs of awareness in the humans with the bloodline, but since we warned all the higher races to go to ground before the Equinox, these humans are only noticing each other. They don’t understand what it means yet.”

  Apprehension twisted in Numa’s gut and she clenched her teeth. She forced herself to relax when her three ursa mates entered and joined the conversation. “We can’t expect all our kind to hide for fear of discovery. The dragons have done enough hiding.”

  “We
’re all tired of pretending,” Cade said, crossing his arms. “The Ultiori have been dismantled. How much danger are we really in if the humans of the bloodline discover the truth?”

  “There are millions scattered around the globe with the potential to recognize any of the higher races for who we are,” Dion said. “How they react remains to be seen, but the larger concern is allowing that knowledge to become widespread. If modern human communication is as powerful as I understand it is, without intervention of some sort, all of humanity might know of our existence within a matter of days. It would be dangerous for it to happen that quickly. We need to control the flow of information, and that begins with the bloodline.”

  Numa gazed up at Dion, curious. “You already have a plan, don’t you? Do you have enough power to control the entire bloodline?”

  Dion smiled bitterly. “Potentially, but that would be the wrong approach. Meri’s methods of mind control are not what I wish to employ to handle this challenge. There is the added complication of the mutations many of the humans possess. The bloodline is as varied as Deva’s, though none of the humans with it possess more than a few drops of divine power, thanks to their link to me. And they all have souls. Attempting to meddle with them unwillingly could corrupt them.”

  Numa pursed her lips, following the thread of Dion’s thoughts. Meri’s creation of the Ultiori had involved infusing humans with the blood of the higher races, her own in particular. Once her puppets interbred, that blood, along with Meri’s nymphaea blood, was passed down the generations for thousands of years, their numbers increasing to the millions. It had allowed Meri access to immense power at the end, a power that had nearly cost them control of the Source. If Dionysus hadn’t intervened, Meri could have beaten them. Now their biggest worry was being discovered by all of humanity, which had its own set of complicated drawbacks. They couldn’t treat this issue lightly.