Witchbane (Book 5 in The Twilight Court Series)

by Amy Sumida

  “It's all I can do to keep walking calmly beside you,” Raza said under his breath. “I want to carry you to the nearest room and bury myself in you before you change your mind.”

  “Wow, that's some mental imagery you're giving me, dragon,” I shook my head. “Don't worry, I won't change my mind. That question was the final step for me.”

  “A test?” Raza lifted a sin-black brow which was nearly lost against his matching skin. The motion made his rigid brow bone look sharper, more inhuman. Dangerously beautiful.

  “If you like,” I breathed.

  “And I passed,” this was a proud statement, not a question.

  “And you passed, you arrogant ass,” I chuckled.

  “And you love me.”

  “And I love you,” I agreed as we reached the high table.

  Where Daiyu sat fuming, casting daggers at me with her eyes.

  I smiled triumphantly at Daiyu as Raza pulled the empty throne out for me. The Queen's chair. That action alone said even more than his kiss. It was a declaration of Raza's intent, and a proclamation of how I was to be treated in his court. I slid into the seat with a sense that I was right where I belonged.

  Cat snarled low at Daiyu, and then slid in between my seat and Raza's. She loved being in the middle of things. Daiyu cast her an annoyed look, but wisely did nothing further. Frankly, you can be snotty to me, but if you treated Cat wrong, I'd kick your ass. Maybe the dragon queen sensed that or maybe she simply felt that being mean to an animal was beneath her. Whatever her reasoning, it saved her an ass whooping.

  “Seren,” Rayetayah leaned over to kiss my cheek, his black, feathered wings rustling against the back of his chair as he did so. “It's good to see you. A relief, to be honest.”

  “A relief?” I lifted a brow.

  “Rayetayah,” Raza's tone was a warning.

  “Oops, did I say the wrong thing?” Raye winked at me. “What I meant to say was, I'm glad you've finally swooped in to tame the beast.”

  “Why am I burdened with an heir who thinks he's humorous?” Raza rolled his eyes.

  “I thought it was funny,” I whispered to Raye, and he chuckled.

  Raza saw his seelie guests to some seats, and then he sat beside me. He claimed my hand instantly, and I caught another vicious Daiyu stare over Raza's bicep.

  “How are you, Queen Daiyu?” I asked, my words dripping with sweetness.

  “Hungry,” she replied with a wicked smile.

  “More meat for Queen Daiyu,” Raza said to a server behind him, deliberately misunderstanding her.

  But I understood Daiyu just fine. And she understood me. Our gazes met across the wide expanse of Raza, and the dragoness gave me a small nod. Challenge accepted. She had no intention of backing down, despite the scene she'd just witnessed. I wasn't worried. Raza's answer had given me an unshakable confidence. He'd fight Danu herself for me, a dragon queen would hardly be an issue.

  This dragon king was mine.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  After the longest meal of my life, Raza had a steward show the seelie fairies to some guest rooms. Then he took my hand and we walked silently to his bedroom. Fairies passed us in the halls, bowing and murmuring goodnight, but for the most part, it was just us. Cat watched us both with wide, happy, puppy eyes, wagging her tail like a dog from HR. She followed us into the bedroom, and I think that's when it finally occurred to Raza that she had no intentions of sleeping outside.

  “Now, Cat,” Raza frowned at her. “I would like some privacy with your mistress.”

  She huffed and laid down on the rug before the fireplace.

  “Do me a big favor, and go sleep in the bathroom for now,” I told her.

  Cat got up with a deep sigh, and padded into the bathroom. I followed her in, bringing her a blanket to curl up on, and then closed the door behind her.

  “That was easier than I thought it would be,” Raza chuckled nervously.

  I eyed him. His hands were moving from his pants to his sides, then they smoothed the front of his tunic. His voice was a little breathless, and his chest was rising and falling erratically. If I didn't know any better, I'd say the dragon was nervous.

  “She's used to it,” I shrugged. “Normally its the dressing room...” I trailed off as I realized I'd just brought up an aspect of my love life with Tiernan. Not cool. “I mean...uh,” now I was the one who was nervous.

  “It's alright,” Raza said as he came forward and took my hands. “I'm not going to get jealous about things that happened in the past. I was willing to allow you to take Tiernan as your consort, remember?”

  “Was?” I teased.

  “Now that you're here, and he's...” Raza shrugged. “No, I don't want you with him anymore.”

  The words sent a happy zing through my belly. Eureka! That's what had been bothering me about that whole multiple men thing. I couldn't stand the thought that they would be okay with sharing me. Because there was no way in hell I'd ever share either of them. I mean Raza. I would never share Raza. Tiernan was... would be... someone else's to share or not.

  The thought didn't sadden me as I'd expected. Not with Raza standing there, looking at me like his every dream had just come true. I bit my lip and reached up to remove his crown. A memory came back to me “Will you look back on this day and wish you'd been the one to crown me? Regrets are the worst bedfellows, Seren.” Raza had said to me before his crowning, and he'd been so right.

  “I'm glad I was the one to crown you,” I set the crown on the bedside table. “You were right to insist.”

  “I'm also glad it was you,” his hands slid around my waist, claws scraping lightly over the material of my dress. “Seren,” he exhaled with a smile, “I can hardly believe you're here.”

  “What happened to the cocky dragon who was so convinced I would come to him?” I eased forward into his arms.

  “It was all pretense,” I felt his lips brush over my forehead. “I've alternately raged and despaired every day we've been parted.”

  I jerked back to look at him in surprise, “I told you I loved you.”

  “And still you wouldn't be mine,” he said softly. “You sent back the crown, Seren.”

  “I...” I chewed at my lip.

  He tapped my exposed tooth with a talon, “What's a dragon to think when his intended returns the greatest piece of treasure he could give her?”

  “Not the greatest treasure,” I whispered and laid my hand over his heart. “That was already given.”

  Raza growled low and swooped down to scoop me up. His mouth fell on mine, lips nearly bruising in their intensity. My belt dropped to the floor with a heavy thud. I felt my tunic lifted, cool air on my skin, then the feeling of warm flesh pressed to mine. My arms wound about his shoulders, my legs around his waist, and Raza carried me to his massive bed.

  Moonlight streamed in through the windows, outlining his dark body in gleaming white. Raza laid me down gently, and I admired the sheen of his skin as he slipped the boots from my feet, then the leather pants from my legs. I pulled at his own leather breeches, smiling at the similarity in our clothing, and then looked up into his glowing, golden eyes. They were mesmerizing.

  “It feels like I've wanted you forever,” Raza whispered, and then he looked slowly, and very deliberately, over my naked body.

  Raza's eyes brightened even further, and one hand reached out to follow the path of his stare. Wicked talons trailed over my cheek, down my neck, and over the crest of my breast. I watched my flesh dip with the careful pressure he exerted, shivers coasting along my skin. The talons turned, curving upward, and he drew them down my stomach, pushing them more firmly into me. The pressure increased as they dipped over my belly, and slipped down between my legs. The smooth curve of a single claw dipped into my cleft and parted me, shocking me into a gasp as my legs fell open. The sensation was delicious and very naughty.

  And it was just the beginning.

  Raza swooped down suddenly, shoving my thighs apart as he placed
his face intimately against me. His mouth covered me, his tongue replacing his talon, and I bucked up against him, moaning in delight. His thick shoulders edged my legs even further apart, his wings folding out of the way as he slid his arms under and around my thighs. Gripping me firmly, he held me in place as he feasted, growling and violently rubbing his face into me.

  My hands went to the swaths of his inky hair, and I sank my fingers deep. Raza growled louder, pushing me further up the bed with his shoulders, until I had to brace my hands against the stone wall to keep from hitting it. His tongue darted into me, thrusting possessively, and it pushed me over into ecstasy. I screamed, writhing against him, and then finally clawing at his hands when he kept going, way past my release.

  “Raza!” I shouted. “It's too much. Please.”

  He lifted his head with a snarl, and licked his lips, a savage look settling over him. Raza crawled up my body, biting his way along my skin, and then took my mouth in a primal kiss. I could feel the tension thrumming through him, and as he settled his length against me, his wings whooshed out as if he couldn't contain them any longer. He reached between us and took himself in hand, ready to slide home.

  “Hell no,” I growled and shoved him over.

  He fell back onto his outspread wings, pillows tumbling to the floor as he floundered. I straddled him and pushed him down by the shoulders. Raza bared his teeth to me, snarling, and started to push back. I'd never seen him so barbarically beautiful, but I wasn't about to let him have all the fun. I bared my teeth right back at him, and then licked a line right up his belly. He hissed in a breath and fell back, eyes closing in pleasure. I settled over him and took my time kissing every inch of his glorious chest. When I flicked his nipple with my tongue, he roared and bucked. I was sure the whole castle would know what we were up to.

  Ask me if I cared.

  Raza's wings fluttered beneath him like a wounded bird trying desperately to fly, but I was merciless. I slid down his legs, parting them as I went, and sucked him into my mouth. This beautiful piece of manhood had been haunting me ever since I'd first caught a glimpse of it. A thick, sleek, black shaft, crowned by a crimson tip. Shocking at first, then insidiously seductive. I had wondered what it would taste like. What it would look like weeping with desire.

  It tasted like sin. A rich, dark flavor, like the hint of salt along the rim of a brandy snifter. Something luxurious and carnal which would linger on your tongue, allowing you to savor it. I savored Raza. Every inch. Slow enough to make him thrash, his hips jutting up against me. Then fast enough to make him pant. I licked and sucked at him, sliding my hand up to the piece of bone that formed a small protrusion over his pelvis. I stroked the silky edge of it as I slid my lips down his length, and he cried out sharply. Over and over I slid my lips up and down him, until Raza finally sat up, grabbed me about the waist, and threw me back down on the bed.

  “I need to be inside you, this very instant,” he growled, grasping me beneath my knees.

  Raza lifted my legs up and out, spreading me open and angling me towards him. I inhaled sharply at the swift movement, but he didn't pause and he didn't bother to guide himself with a hand. He was so hard, he found his way without assistance, slipping through my slick skin with the ease of a sharp knife through warm butter. One shove and Raza was lodged in me to the hilt.

  We both shouted, a sound of pleasure and relief. Finally!

  Then he was pumping into me, and I discovered what that little pelvic protrusion could do. Every thrust had it hitting me right where I needed it to. As if the pleasure of his perfect cock wasn't enough, that little bone added an extra jolt of sensation which skyrocketed me into screaming, clawing, mind-numbing ecstasy. The only word I could seem to remember was his name, and I moaned it into his ear as he drove into me. Raza. Raza. Raza. I couldn't stop and it seemed to be exactly what he needed to hear. He surged over into his release with another echoing roar.

  With the last of his strength, Raza rolled to the side, folding his wings back as he pulled me into his chest. I settled in against him and his body eased around mine, arms and legs sliding under and over me till I was laying more on him than the mattress. My cheek pressed to his chest, my head pillowed on his arm, and his head tucked in over mine. A perfect fit.

  I sighed, more content than I'd been in a long time. Then I noticed the tremors coursing through him. His muscles were tight to the point of palsy. I pulled back just enough to see his face.

  “Raza?” I whispered in concern.

  “I'm so sorry, mo shíorghrá,” Raza swallowed hard. “I wanted our first time to be special, and I ruined it. One look at you, and I lost my control. I took you like an animal. I've dishonored you and myself. Please forgive me.”

  “Are you out of your damn dragon mind?” I gaped up at him. “That was the best first time ever. I can't even imagine how you could have made it more special.”

  “You... you liked it?” Raza blinked down at me in shock. “But I... practically ravaged you.”

  “Baby, you can ravage me whenever you like,” I licked my lips and looked him over. “In fact, right now would be fantastic.”

  “Truly?” Raza's eyes started to glow again. “I didn't scare you? Repulse you?”

  “Raza, those weren't screams of terror,” I smirked at him.

  “No, I suppose they weren't,” he started to smile.

  “We can try for gentle after we work out this pent up desire,” I offered. “But for now, I don't want your control. I want you wild and real. Give me everything you got, dragon. I want it all.”

  “Then you shall have it, mo shíorghrá,” Raza vowed. “You shall have all of me. But I will take all of you in return.”

  Once more, we lost control together.

  Chapter Fifty

  I woke up with a face full of wing and my arms full of Raza. My first thought was that I'd happily wake up this way for the rest of my life. No, that's a lie. My first thought was “Is it still night?” (because of the wing in my face) then came the rest of my life thing. That second thought had startled me fully awake. How awesome had Raza sex been, that I was already thinking in terms of forever?

  I thought back to the looong night and smiled. It had been spectacular. Raza stirred beside me, the hand he had around my waist clenching to pull me in tighter. It had been the same when I'd left the bed in the middle of the night to let Cat out of the bathroom. Raza had convulsively clutched at me. I had to wake him up to get him to let me go. Kinda sweet actually.

  “Seren?” Raza's voice was rough, even deeper than usual. It made shivers race down my spine.

  “Hey you,” I whispered and nuzzled in to kiss him lightly on the lips. “How are you feeling?”

  “Dazed,” he smiled and lifted his hand to my face. “You're mine. At last.”

  “Weird, huh?”

  “I was thinking more along the lines of spectacular,” he leaned in for a deeper kiss, but I pushed him away. “What's wrong?”

  “Morning breath,” I held up a hand. “After last night, it must be horrid. Give me a minute to freshen up.”

  “After last night?” Raza lifted a brow. “I feel like I should be offended by that. Since the only thing you were putting in your mouth was me.”

  “You dirty dragon,” I chided him with a smile. “You know what I meant.”

  “Go on then,” he laughed. “Why don't you start the shower when you're ready for me, and I'll join you?”

  “Now that sounds like a plan,” I slid away from him, and dislodged Cat, who was sleeping directly behind and below me, at the foot of the bed. “Oops, sorry, Cat,” I stopped to give her a few strokes.

  “When did she get into bed with us?” Raza lifted up on an elbow to look over at the puka, and I froze.

  The man was magnificent even, no, especially in the harsh light of day. He was in that classic Playgirl pose, on his side with one leg angled forward and an elbow crooked to lift his torso. His chest was on full display, every sculpted ridge, and his folded win
gs formed dramatic angles behind him. Like sword hilts sticking over a warrior's shoulders. The black silk sheet was pooled low over his hips, giving me a glimpse of that magical little bump on his pelvis, but I could see nothing of the even more magical bit below it. I may have whimpered.

  Cat whined.

  “Seren?” Raza chuckled. “Are you alright?”

  “I... just having a thought,” I cleared my throat. “You need to go out, Cat?”

  She jumped off the bed and gave me the perfect cover for my lusty reflections. I opened the door for her, and she ran out. I shot Raza a quick smile as I headed towards the bathroom, not wanting to risk a longer look. We needed to leave his bedroom at some point. Or did we? My smile turned wanton as I shut the bathroom door.

  No, we did. Aodh and the seelie representatives would be waiting for us. And after the roars that had echoed through the castle last night, it would be even more embarrassing if we didn't leave Raza's room that morning. So I went about my morning business, and then turned on the shower. I had barely soaked my hair when Raza came into the expansive stall. Thank goodness for that- the size of the stall I mean, not Raza coming in. Raza's presence was nice as well, but goodness had nothing to do with.

  Raza helped me get super clean, and then lifted me by the thighs and pressed me into the warm, stone wall. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and held on as he proved to me that dragons could be very flexible. I hoped the water and the thick walls muffled my screams, as well as Raza's roaring, but I had a feeling that we were giving the castle another earful. I still didn't care. In fact, there was one castle visitor whom I hoped heard it all very clearly.

  Eat your heart out, Daiyu.

  Raza and I satisfied ourselves with a fast release, so we could go about our day without going totally insane with wanting each other. Then we dried each other off. Raza led me out of the bathroom and up to a new wardrobe, which I hadn't noticed the previous night. It looked nearly identical to the one beside it, which is probably why I hadn't seen it. I'd assumed Raza's wardrobe was simply larger than I'd remembered. But no, this was a new piece of furniture entirely. Raza had brought it in and filled it with gorgeous articles of women's clothing. He held the door open with a smile.