Hyacinth, Scarlet - From the Ashes [Chronicles of the Shifter Directive 7] (Siren Publishing Epic Romance, ManLove)

by Scarlet Hyacinth

  It was a deliberate phrasing, because it wouldn’t be just fucking between them. It was making love, at the deepest and most profound level, and they both knew it. Graham reached for the drawer and retrieved a tube of lubricant from inside. He uncapped it and poured a generous amount of liquid over his fingers. He reached for Caelyn’s anus, slowly rubbing his thumb over Caelyn’s nether opening. Caelyn whimpered and spread his legs as far as he could, needing more, needing the feel of Graham inside him.

  Graham shushed him again. “Don’t worry, angel. I’ll give you what you want.”

  As he spoke, he slid one single finger inside Caelyn. Caelyn’s body greedily swallowed it up, already accustomed to the penetration. And still, Graham didn’t rush. Since Caelyn’s pregnancy had grown advanced, he refused to do anything that would put even the slightest strain on Caelyn. Caelyn could understand that and even appreciate it, but sometimes, it really became frustrating. When Graham added another digit and started to scissor them gently, Caelyn revised his assessment of their sexual contact. Some fucking would have been pretty good right about then.

  Graham must have overheard the errant thought, because he burst into chuckles. “Is that right, angel? It seems I’m not very good at satisfying you. Am I?”

  Caelyn opened his mouth to deliver a retort, possibly a scathing one, but then Graham’s fingers nudged his prostate and started to massage it mercilessly. Caelyn dissolved into pure need. He pushed back against Graham’s fingers, completely under his lover’s spell. Truly, Graham might have been a werewolf, but sometimes, he was the one who seemed to have magical powers. Just one touch and one smile had Caelyn completely lost in a daze of pleasure.

  “I’m flattered,” Graham murmured in his ear, “but you’re the enchanting one. My angel. My savior.”

  The werewolf pulled his fingers out of Caelyn’s ass and used more lubricant to slick up his cock. Caelyn’s heart raced in anticipation, his body burning with his lust and Graham’s. Instead of climbing on top of Caelyn, Graham lay back and pulled Caelyn over him. Caelyn ended up straddling Graham, his mate’s dick nudging against his opening. Caelyn didn’t wait for a single second. Supporting himself on his mate’s abdomen, he pushed down, moaning when he felt the head of Graham’s prick pop past the ring of guardian muscle. He might have actually impaled himself on Graham’s cock in one single motion, but the werewolf’s hands gripped his hips, steadying him and guiding the rhythm. It was painfully slow, and while it frustrated Caelyn at first, he soon found it was better this way. He felt every inch of Graham’s dick as it pierced him, and every second became an age as he took his mate deeper into his body.

  At last, Graham was fully embedded into Caelyn’s body. Bright need pulsed through Caelyn, the urge to move impossibly powerful. The werewolf gripped Caelyn’s hips even tighter, keeping him from acting on his impulses.

  Caelyn couldn’t help but whimper. “Please, Graham.”

  Mercifully, Graham didn’t deny him again. He started to guide Caelyn up and down his cock, his eyes remaining fixed on Caelyn’s face. “Don’t rush it,” he said once more as he allowed Caelyn to take over.

  Caelyn complied with his mate’s command. Following Graham’s lead, he rode his mate, first slowly, taking his time to enjoy every second of their coitus. The sweet penetration and the fire of the passion building between them quickly took the decision out of his hands, however, and he found himself moving faster and faster. In spite of his obvious protectiveness, Graham responded to Caelyn’s desires, and he thrust up into him, his dick brushing Caelyn’s prostate every single time.

  It went on and on, the two of them coming together through this act that meant both carnal pleasure and emotional closeness. Through their bond, Caelyn experienced all of the sensations that coursed through his mate, heard his thoughts and his desires. He opened himself to it, showing Graham his own heart, offering the werewolf everything he was and would ever be.

  His cock bobbed in front of him, leaking copious amounts of pre-cum and demanding to be let in on the action, but Caelyn made no attempt to touch himself. In fact, when Graham reached for his dick, Caelyn slapped his mate’s hand away. If Graham touched him now, Caelyn would come, and he didn’t want this to be over just yet.

  In this regard, not even Graham could fulfill his wishes. The pleasure rose to unbearable proportions, and Caelyn had no way to maintain his resolve. Arching his back, he exposed his throat, wordlessly begging for Graham to claim him.

  With a growl, Graham pulled Caelyn down and buried his fangs in Caelyn’s flesh. Just like that, orgasm exploded over Caelyn. For a few beautiful moments, their minds and souls were completely united, just like their bodies. Graham’s orgasm echoed within Caelyn, making his own bloom further, like a flower growing under the rays of the sun—no, like a fire fueled by pure molten desire. And throughout it all, the light of the life within Caelyn accompanied them, a promise of the future they had built together.

  “I love you so much, Graham,” Caelyn sent through their bond.

  Graham reached out to him as well. “Angel, I…”

  He never got the chance to finish the phrase. His words trailed off, and then, unexpectedly, the beautiful rapture came to a screeching halt. Caelyn opened his eyes, and he gasped in shock upon realizing Graham was not there. He frantically scanned the room, seeking for any sign of his mate. There wasn’t any. In fact, Caelyn was still dressed, lying on a small cot that had really had nothing to do with the bed he’d shared with Graham. And even Graham’s warmth and his scent were gone, dissipating into loneliness and abandonment.

  Caelyn reached for his abdomen, and he found it flat. Intellectually, he had known it would be so, but the pain and the loss that assaulted him were still unbearable. He screamed, tears flowing down his cheeks as he processed the exact extent of what he had lost. In his heart, he had always known he’d had a son. He’d felt it, all those times when he’d suddenly gotten ill for no apparent reason. On occasion, Karein had been there to hold his hair and comfort him as he threw up, but even then, it had seemed to him that Karein wasn’t the one who should have done this. He understood now that there had been things Karein had kept from him, and his pregnancy was likely one of them. Karein must have known about it, but he hadn’t mentioned it, probably not wanting to hurt Caelyn more in case it turned out that he wouldn’t find his mate.

  His sobs and cries must have been overheard by the other passengers of the plane, because the door burst open and Hareematek Tersain entered the room. “Are you all right?” he asked, his ice-blue eyes scanning the cabin as if he was expecting to find some sort of foe there.

  Caelyn stared at the draechen, trembling, unable to answer. He knew he shouldn’t become a burden for Hareem, since the dragon had his own problems and his own mate to find. Even so, when Hareem approached, Caelyn found himself lunging at Hareem and pulling the other man down on the bed. He embraced Hareem tightly, desperate to soothe the agony inside him. Hareem wasn’t what Caelyn needed, but even the unfamiliar, awkward hug served to anchor him, to give him strength and remind him of his task.

  When they broke away, Caelyn released a soft, self-deprecating laugh. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I…I just had a dream.”

  Hareem gave him a knowing look. “About your mate.”

  Caelyn nodded. If there was anyone who could understand, it was Hareem. “My mate and my child. I…I just feel like there’s no hope, like a part of me died and I can’t get it back.”

  For a few moments, Hareem didn’t speak. Caelyn was beginning to think he’d said too much, but then Hareem finally replied, “I can understand that. But you need to have hope. We’re going to find our mates, and when we do, we’ll get our children back, too.”

  “Do you really think they’re still alive?” Caelyn asked.

  “We would know if they weren’t,” Hareem replied. “Take heart. We’re very close to them now. And don’t forget that Karein is still fighting to undo what happened.”


  Caelyn remembered what Karein had kept from him, and realized that Hareem hadn’t been surprised upon learning of Caelyn’s baby. “You were aware of the truth about my son, weren’t you? Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “You know why,” Hareem replied. “It just hurt you needlessly. You’re already determined to get your mate back, and being aware of the existence of your baby didn’t change anything.”

  “I still had the right to know,” Caelyn argued, “to understand why…why I feel so empty.”

  Hareem sighed deeply. “The emperor just meant to protect you. He might not have done it in the way you preferred, but it’s not an easy situation—neither for him, nor for us.”

  There was no point to fight about this further, since it wasn’t strictly Hareem’s fault that Caelyn hadn’t been told about this. “Just don’t keep other secrets,” he replied. “Please.”

  In that moment, Caelyn realized that he was still holding onto Hareem, and that, even if the lovemaking with Graham had turned out to be only a dream, the orgasm had been very real. Therefore, Caelyn was sitting there with his clothes stained of cum, in close contact with a man whom he’d mostly considered a stranger.

  His face flaming, he pulled back as quickly as he could and enveloped himself in the blanket on the bed. He was so very embarrassed, most of all because he realized all too well that Hareem could scent the remains of his pleasure.

  Taking his cue, Hareem left the bed and started to walk away. “You should get ready,” he said from the doorway. “The plane is going to land soon.”

  Even if he was uncomfortable with their entire exchange, Caelyn couldn’t let him leave just like that. “Wait,” he said. “I realize we aren’t very close and we don’t know each other all that well. But…thank you for this, for listening to me, and for helping me to look for my mate. You can’t imagine how grateful I’m feeling right now.”

  Much to his shock, Hareem smiled slightly. It was an expression that Caelyn couldn’t remember seeing on the ice dragon’s face. “I think we have to stick together now,” the draechen answered. “There are very few people who will understand our mate bonds with werewolves. Even the wolves themselves might hate us. So we need to keep a united front if we’re going to succeed.”

  He was right. Caelyn didn’t want to think about it too much, but the fact remained that he was still married to Karein. Any werewolf they ran into would probably hate both him and Hareem. But Graham would be above that. He would believe Caelyn’s story and the connection between them. Caelyn needed to trust in that if he wanted to remain sane.

  “I appreciate it just the same,” he told Hareem. “And I believe that our mates will love us, just like they did once.”

  With one last nod, Hareem opened the door and stepped out of the room, giving Caelyn privacy. Once the draechen was gone, Caelyn slipped out of the bed and removed his dirty clothes. Thankfully, he had a small washroom and spare garments, so he could clean up with relative ease. He was uncomfortable with Karein lavishing him gifts, but the fact that he’d been assigned this room during this flight turned out to be very useful.

  He was ready in record time, and he left the cabin, joining Hareem in the main area of the plane. The ice dragon was currently talking to one of the guards who’d come with them. Caelyn didn’t actually know how much the draechen soldiers had been told, but he gathered Hareem must have anticipated possible problems from their part and picked his men accordingly.

  When Caelyn approached them, Hareem glanced toward him. “Please take a seat, Imperial Consort Caelyn,” he said formally. “We will be landing soon.”

  Caelyn complied and plopped down on a nearby chair. As he buckled his seatbelt, the plane began to descend. Caelyn glanced out the window, wondering what was waiting for them in the green forests beneath them.

  He had never been to this continent before. According to what Karein had told him, draechen had lived here alongside with other shifters and magical creatures since the beginnings of time. They had shared the area with humans who’d built a simple, respectful life and respected nature. Now, after Ornoz had extended to encompass its domination over it, the humans who’d survived all served the draechen. In many ways, the area was the one where the chokehold of the empire had become heaviest, because here, there was no real resistance from anyone.

  Truth be told, it had surprised Caelyn that Hareem wanted to come to this place to find their mates. He still couldn’t understand why werewolves would be living here. Not to mention that Hareem had chosen to avoid landing in one of the draechen settlements, probably on purpose. There was still so much Caelyn didn’t know. He wondered if he could be of any use to this expedition after all. He’d only ever served as a tool for his people, thrust in a marriage he hadn’t understood for the purpose of ensuring a truce between Elusia and Ornoz. However, he didn’t have any real achievements of his own, only an empty title that would be gone soon.

  Caelyn clenched his hands into fists. No, he couldn’t think that way. His mate was waiting for him. Caelyn might not have warrior abilities to rival Hareem’s, but he still had magic. He hadn’t gotten the chance to use it much in Draechenburg—after all, it wouldn’t do to remind everyone that the emperor’s consort cast illusion spells—but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there. Besides, more importantly, his desire to find his mate guided him. He would never lose hope, never.

  As the plane finally landed, Caelyn could barely contain his enthusiasm and anxiety. He held onto the armrests of his seat so that he wouldn’t jump up and rush out of the aircraft before it could stop. It was only the knowledge that such behavior from his part would draw unnecessary suspicion from the other draechen that kept him from acting on his impulse.

  At last, Hareem appeared by his side and extended his hand. Caelyn unbuckled his seat belt and took Hareem’s arm. Together, they left the airplane and stepped outside, onto the grass.

  They ended up in a large grove in the middle of the beautiful forest that Caelyn had seen from up above. The air was crisp and clear, and the mountains in the distance held something wild and untamed that reminded Caelyn of the dream he’d just had.

  “This is the area where our scouts last reported werewolf sightings,” Hareem explained. “I personally led a draechen patrol, but we didn’t find anything.”

  Caelyn guessed they probably hadn’t been looking too hard, or maybe Hareem had actively discouraged the quest. Naturally, he didn’t address that. Instead, he asked, “Will it be okay, with…everyone else?”

  He kept his voice down and shot a nervous glance at the draechen guards already surrounding them. Hareem just nodded. “The men understand our task. They have been told that they aren’t to harm the werewolves under pain of death. Both His Imperial Majesty and I made that very clear.”

  Relief flooded Caelyn. In hindsight, he should have known better than to worry, but he couldn’t help his anxiety and concern. “We’ll be traveling on foot from this point,” Hareem continued. “If you feel fatigued, just let me know and I’ll carry you.”

  Caelyn’s face flamed with embarrassment. What kind of impression did Hareem have of him that he would think such a thing was necessary?

  “I can walk on my own,” he said as he freed his arm from Hareem’s grip, his tone a little more biting than he himself had expected. “Thank you very much.”

  “I meant no offense,” Hareem answered. “It is merely that His Imperial Majesty also entrusted me with your care. Trekking through the forest isn’t easy. I would not be fulfilling my duties if I failed in ensuring your comfort.”

  “We have other priorities right now, and you know it,” Caelyn shot back. He wanted to stay mad, but that was counterproductive, so instead he inquired, “Exactly why would werewolves come here in the first place?”

  The change in topic worked. “The land is largely untainted by war. The species that rebelled couldn’t hold a candle when faced with draechen troops.” He smiled, but the expression held very little amusement. “Of
course, by the time we took over the New World, we’d also built up a large, cohesive army, so that might have had something to do with it. In any case, the end result is that prey is abundant, and wild animals are thriving. It’s really hard to distinguish a werewolf in shifted shape from a real beast, so they’re basically hiding under our very noses. Now, come. It’s this way.”

  Hareem guided him and the draechen guards out of the grove and into the forest. As much as he hated to admit it, Caelyn had to agree with Hareem’s previous assessment. There was no real path through the wild undergrowth, and the trees were so dense that Caelyn had trouble seeing. Thankfully, he got used to it pretty quickly and didn’t make a fool out of himself by stumbling on the roots. He congratulated himself for having changed in more practical clothes than his usual garments. He didn’t think he could have made the trek otherwise.

  Hareem walked decisively, like he knew exactly where he was going, but soon, it became obvious that this was not the case. Caelyn himself was pretty confused. His instincts told him that they were headed in the right direction, that his mate was nearby, but he couldn’t guarantee it.

  At last, Hareem stopped and looked around. He passed an agitated hand through his hair, and behind them, the guards grew restless. They were unused to such a show of emotion from Hareem’s part. Caelyn heard Princess Akarawem’s name being mentioned, though, so he surmised the men were blaming Hareem’s agitation on his twin’s absence.

  Hareem seemed oblivious to it. “It was this way,” he murmured under this breath. “I’m sure of it. Where did you go?”

  There was a tinge of desperation in Hareem’s voice, and Caelyn knew he had to intervene. He approached the draechen and asked, “Could I… Could I try?”

  Hareem threw a look over his shoulder, and for a few moments, Caelyn actually thought the man would refuse. He didn’t. Instead, he wordlessly gestured for Caelyn to lead the way.

  Caelyn took a deep breath and closed his eyes. It might have sounded strange, but he didn’t need his vision to see. He had to use his heart to guide him. His normal senses could be confused, but not his soul.