The Academy Volume One

by Maxine Mansfield

  “Now that I’m protected from all danger, have your wicked way with me, wife. I have a powerful need of thee.”

  Lizbeth laughed all the way to her soul. “I’d love to do just that right this very moment, husband, but morning will be here before we know it, and there are still four talismans to make.”

  Adan looked confused. “Four more?”

  Lizbeth nodded. “Yes, for Sarco, Uthiel, Leeky, and Ray. Now that I know how to make the spell work, we must protect them also. Hurry and fetch me a small piece of leather from each of their garments. If we do this quickly, there may still be time for us to have our way with each other.”

  He grabbed her about the waist and brought her up tight against his hard, hot body. His cock pulsed with a life of its own along the junction of her thighs “Oh, no, Lizard. We may not have a later. There’s no way of knowing what tomorrow will bring. The talismans will wait a little while longer.”

  The shimmering, leather pouch nestled between them vibrated to the same mesmerizing rhythm Adan’s cock did. Lizbeth couldn’t resist rubbing herself against his length. Her tunic overheated her already too-warm skin and restricted her movement. She leaned up on tip-toes, a breath from Adan’s ear, and whispered. “We can’t do anything ’til you get me undressed, Barbarian.”

  Before the word Barbarian was even completely out of her mouth, Adan had the tunic up and over her head and tossed to the side. Skin to skin, heart to heart, they stood a moment, relishing the passion reflected in each other’s eyes.

  It was Adan who finally broke the spell. His voice was low, gravelly, and winded, as if he’d run a race. “God Draka, Lizbeth, what you do to me. I need you so badly.” His cock drove home his point as it expanded to an even greater length and width against her belly. “I want to take you now, fast and hard, up against the wall, on the table across the room, even on this cold stone floor. I don’t care.” He sighed and leaned his forehead to hers. “But I won’t. You are a princess, my princess, and with my child. You deserve a soft bed, my lady.”

  He lifted her into his arms and began up the steps.

  Lizbeth squealed. “Put me down. We’re naked. Someone’s going to see us.”

  Adan laughed. “Let the world watch, Lizard. I don’t care. It’s much too late to stop now.”

  ****

  Silk sheets and downy softness enveloped Lizbeth and cooled her heated skin as Adan laid her gently upon their bed. Her proud barbarian stood above her, staring down with a look of pure determination on his handsome face. His eyes burned blue-hot heat, his nostrils flared, his lips opened in invitation, and his rock-hard cock riveted her attention like a cobra about to strike.

  Lizbeth wanted to cry. Adan was right. This could be their very last chance to make love, and it was all her fault. Instead of crying though, she smiled up at the man she loved. Last time or not, she would make it an experience they’d both never forget.

  Smugly she reached out a finger and stroked the velvety-soft head of his cock. “My, what a wild-looking serpent you have there, my lord. Is it dangerous? Does it bite?” She leaned forward, bracing herself on one elbow, and flicked out her tongue, licking just the very tip.

  He sucked in a breath. “Don’t tease me, Lizbeth. My control is at an end.”

  She gave him her most innocent smile. “Promise?” She winked as she slowly slid her lips over the head and down the shaft, sucking as she went.

  Adan growled. “You little minx. I warned you.”

  Before she’d taken another breath, Lizbeth found herself flat on her back with Adan firmly settled between her thighs. He took her mouth in a kiss filled with promise yet laced with regret. Their lips melded, their tongues warred, and their breath became as one.

  “Now, Adan, please,” she whispered against his skin.

  His answer was a quick plunge into her pussy. His cock filled her completely while his balls slapped her ass. He pounded in and out of her slick passage in a frenzy. As if this really would be his last chance to ever show her his heart.

  Lizbeth throbbed and clenched around his cock as he pounded mercilessly into her pussy. She gloried in his possession, breathing in his essence of pure barbarian and lustful sensuality. Shocks of pleasure shot through her. They radiated from her eyebrows all the way to the tips of her toes. She tingled and quivered as sweat wet her skin and glistened off Adan’s shoulders and chest. It eased the friction and added to the mutual slide of the grinding of their bodies.

  Suddenly, he slowed his thrusts to a steady rhythm, and Lizbeth matched him stroke for stroke. She closed her eyes and laid wide open her heart. Trying to convey with her body the words her husband, her lover, her prince, her life had refused to believe, that she loved him.

  The walls of her pussy contracted around him, seeking to keep his cock buried deep, never to allow it to escape. Her heart pounded wildly, desperately needing Adan to speed his stroke to match its cadence, yet at the same time, her mind and body gloried in the wondrous torture his slow steady thrusts delivered.

  Excitement skittered along every nerve ending as pressure built in her core. She opened her eyes and locked gazes with Adan. She wanted him to watch when she found release. She wanted him to know he’d pleasured her beyond any doubts, and she wanted him to know he had complete possession of her heart. Tomorrow would bring what tomorrow would bring, but for this night, Adan would not doubt her love.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  Adan’s nostrils flared.

  “I love you, husband.” Tears threatened.

  Adan stared at her.

  “I love you, you blockheaded barbarian,” she cried.

  The look on his face never changed, but a new determination burned in his eyes. He thrust into her wildly, stroke after stroke taking her breath away. Pleasure centered deep within her core and shot up and outward. She shattered into a million tiny fragments with Adan being the only solid thing holding her together.

  A heartbeat later, Adan found his release as he plunged deep within Lizbeth one last time. “I love you too, wife. God Draka help us both. I love you with all that I am.”

  ****

  “I don’t need to make talismans for myself or the other women. Our everyday personal protection spell should suffice since we’ll be staying well out of harm’s way unless we’re needed.”

  Lizbeth stood before her mortar and pestle with her arms folded, tapping her foot.

  Adan looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “You bet you’ll be well out of harm’s way. You aren’t leaving this castle.”

  Lizbeth laughed. “Of course, I am, silly. You didn’t think I came all this way to be left behind now, did you?”

  Adan frowned. “There are dragons out there, Lizard. Lots and lots of dragons. I thought you were afraid of them almost as much as you are of the nogard?”

  Lizbeth shrugged. “Childish fears, nothing more. I’ll be fine come morning.”

  “I’m not going to argue this point with you, Lizbeth. You aren’t going, and that’s that. I’ll get the piece of leather from Uthiel, Sarco, Leeky, and Ray, so you can make their talismans, but that’s it.”

  Quickly, he turned, but Lizbeth’s next words stopped him momentarily in his tracks. “I’m going and you can’t stop me.”

  He turned around and faced her once more, flashing a grin. “Want to bet?”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Adan smacked his hands together in glee. “That was an awe-inspiring performance, my friend. The poem was perfection, and you were brilliant in your storytelling. I can’t convey to you how much I appreciate what you’ve done. Making Lizbeth think it was her idea to stay behind was genius.”

  Sarco grinned. “You think that was something? I’m an amateur compared to our two friends here. After we kill this beast and get back to the castle, I’d almost pay to watch Uthiel try and convince Briar he didn’t actually drug her yet again to keep her from tagging along. She’s going to be so mad I’d be surprised if the castle is still standing when thi
s day is said and done.”

  Uthiel shook his head. “The castle will still be there…I hope. I’d rather see it in rubble again, though, and suffer Briar’s wrath any day than allow her to put herself in danger.”

  Adan nodded, then another thought struck him and he laughed out loud. “Oh, and what Leeky did with Laycee. That was pure talent. How long do you think it’ll take Lark and Lizbeth to locate her?”

  “What the stiff ironed creases in the puce pant legs of a dwarf dandy dancing a jig on a pickle barrel are ya talking about, lad? Locate her? Why, I hid Laycee so good, I’d be surprised if even I can find her when we get back.”

  Ray cleared his throat. “If I had a wife, she’d obey my every word without question. You three are pathetic, having to resort to trickery to control your women. I’m much too refined for this task. You should be concentrating on how you plan to capture the nogard. Not on your silly women issues. I can’t wait until I get back to The Academy and give my Mistress, the Council, and the Queen my report. Tsk, tsk, I’ve never seen such incompetence.”

  Uthiel glanced at Adan. “I liked the other Ray much better.”

  Adan laughed. “Trust me, my friend, we all did.”

  Ray snorted. “Other Ray? What other Ray?”

  Leeky cackled. “What Ray do ya think they’re talking about, lad? The one who loves cock, of course.”

  Ray sputtered. “Why, I’d never! This harassment is going into my report.”

  Adan, Sarco, Uthiel, and Leeky simply smiled at each other and kicked their horses into a gallop. Ray followed.

  ****

  Standing in the middle of Castle Kuropkat’s courtyard and staring into the gray, cloudy sky while fat flakes of snow fluttered all about wasn’t where Lizbeth had planned on being this morning.

  She sighed in frustration.

  She should be on the hunt for the nogard with Adan. After all, it had been she who had breathed life into the creature and brought it into being. And it was she whose responsibility it now was to see to its demise.

  Lizbeth shuddered.

  How could she have been so cowardly? Had she really come all this way to be left standing in the cold all alone? With child or not, she should have known better than to allow her silly childhood fear of dragons to sway her common sense. Even Ray wasn’t as much of a coward as she was.

  How could she have been so easily convinced to stay behind? To sit and wait for someone else to bring her news? To hide where it was safe? And worst of all, to lose the bet?

  She knew exactly how it had happened. She simply didn’t like the fact she’d let it happen today of all days. Why had she allowed long-ago memories of her brother’s sick versions of bedtime stories, mixed with that stupid poem Master Seiger used to frighten her with, get the best of her?

  But then, why had she wasted time breaking her fast this morning at all? She should have been busy packing the items she’d deemed necessary to confront the nogard. But, no, that’s not what she’d done. Hunger had outweighed common sense, and Lizbeth had found herself sitting at the same table with not only her handsome barbarian of a husband, but his sister and brother-in-law. She’d eaten her fill while listening avidly to Sarco Sunwalker tell dragon tales.

  Sarco! Even if he was her wizard instructor, Lark’s husband, and one of Adan’s best friends, what she wouldn’t give to have his throat between her two hands this very moment. She’d squeeze it until he was no longer capable of speech, let alone scaring the wits out of people.

  Lizbeth seethed. If truth be told, Adan himself had probably been the one to put Sarco up to declaring it was only those of human heritage who were in any way safe amongst dragons. And she had no doubt it had been her barbarian prince who had convinced Sarco to recite the very same dreadful poem Master Seiger had taunted her with as a child.

  Not that Sarco had precisely recited it. He’d sung it really, over and over and over, undoubtedly in the hope she and Lark would be frightened and stay behind.

  “Watch when ye wander, little children, and where.

  Be careful, don’t disturb a dragon in its lair.

  Be it high on a mountain or deep in a wood,

  Walk softly, tread lightly, and always be good.

  For dragons read hearts be they obedient or not.

  In the darkest of night, the bad will be sought.

  For though dragons by morning can be quite gay,

  And afternoon dragons may be found in play,

  When the sun doth set and dusk draws near,

  If ye’ve misbehaved, ye have reason to fear.

  For by darkness of night, wings take flight

  And seek out the naughty to devour by next light.”

  Men!

  It had worked, too. Well, at least it had worked with Lizbeth. Lark had only agreed to stay behind because she hadn’t wanted to go without the other women, especially Laycee.

  And what of Laycee? She certainly hadn’t been around when needed.

  Lizbeth’s thoughts centered on the female gnome. Where exactly was Laycee? The morning was half gone, and there hadn’t been even a glimpse of her as of yet.

  Lizbeth sighed, Laycee was probably sleeping in, the poor dear, and who could blame her. The far north, high mountain air certainly had the same effect on her. If this weren’t such a dire situation, she’d love to take a nap herself right about now. But it was dire, so who in their right mind would be able to sleep through it?

  That thought brought Briar to mind. She was another story all together. No one could ever accuse Briarlarn Dragonheart of being the least bit afraid of dragons. But then why should she be? Not only was she a very powerful healer and half human, but she had a one hundred percent human husband in Uthiel Dragonheart, who was not only a well-known paladin in his own right, but also the sworn protector of all dragons. Not to mention Briar had a personal pet dragon, Obsidian, whom she’d helped rescue a couple of years back.

  Oh, no, Briar hadn’t stayed behind out of fear. She had simply fallen fast asleep right in the middle of breaking her fast and didn’t awaken even when the men left. It had been the strangest thing.

  Lizbeth shivered, and though common sense told her dragons were good and nogards bad, try as she might, she couldn’t shake the stupid poem Sarco had rattled off so gleefully earlier. Again, the song invaded her mind.

  She gathered her shawl tightly about her and groped for something, anything else to focus on. When she did finally find something to take her mind off of dragons, she almost wished she hadn’t.

  The spell, oh God Draka, would the talismans still be successful in this weather? She’d worked so hard on them. Had all her effort been in vain? Would the small, magical leather pouches still protect the five men they were meant for if the sun was obscured? The last line of the chant played once more in her mind, and she spoke it to the gray clouds overhead. “From first morning light ’til the sun’s rays have faded.”

  The same thought that had plagued her from the moment she watched Adan, Uthiel, Sarco, Leeky, and Ray ride through the gates of Castle Kuropkat and disappear from sight, consumed her now. What would happen if there were no rays of sun to shine down upon them?

  Lizbeth once more raised her face toward the heavens, but this time in prayer. “Watch over them for me, Lord Draka, at least until I get there and can kill them myself.”

  She turned and hurried inside.

  ****

  The skies had grown so dark it was difficult to see for more than a few feet in any direction, and the blizzard-like snowfall wasn’t helping visibility either. To make matters worse, the incline had become so steep that forward progression was painfully slow. But forward they trudged.

  The path began to narrow the higher up the mountain they rode, and the horses were in constant danger of bumping each other off the side. Even riding single file became treacherous.

  Uthiel raised a hand. “I know this path well, and we must tether our mounts here. We have no choice but to walk the rest of the way to the dragon cave
s. Carnelian awaits us there, along with the other mature dragons and my very best paladins. That’s where we must make our stand.”

  Adan looped his horse’s bridle to a nearby tree and bent to examine the snow-covered ground at his feet. The distinct indentations going in every direction had him breaking out in a sweat. “Tracks, cloven hoof tracks.”

  Somewhere from behind, Leeky cackled with glee. “Has ta be the nogard for sure then, lads. We must be getting close.”

  Sarco wasn’t paying attention. Turning to his right, he gazed out into the woods, squinting at something. Slowly, he pointed. “I think I saw movement over there.” Suddenly, something big and running upright streaked between nearby trees.

  “There, did you see it that time?”

  Ray screamed. “Nogard! Nogard! Nogard!”

  Chills scurried down Adan’s back. The creature stopped, turned, and stared right at them. It was even bigger than Adan remembered. Huge horns curled up and out from the top of its head, ending in needle-sharp tips. The thing’s humanoid face grimaced at them, and its blood-red eyes glared with their bulging orbs. Its flat nostrils flared as if it had been running fast and hard for a long time, and a low-pitched growl rumbled through its bared, fang-like teeth.

  Adan quickly unsheathed the Ginsu Blade and began advancing upon the beast. The closer he got, the bigger it looked. Its shoulders were broad and its arms muscular. Both its hands boasted sharp, talon-like claws, and its long legs ended in the same cloven hooves as the tracks he had just seen. Suddenly, it lifted its face toward the heavens, flicked out its tongue, and sniffed the air.

  Looking directly at Adan, it almost appeared to smile as it flipped its whip-like tail toward him, making a whooshing sound. Then, in the blink of an eye, the beast unfurled its scale-covered wings and took flight. Back in the direction of the village and castle it flew.

  “It knows, oh, my God Draka, it knows.” Uthiel yelled.

  “It knows what?” Adan demanded. The fear in Uthiel’s eyes told the whole story, but he still needed to ask, to hear it for himself. “Tell me quickly. What does it know?”