by Bianca D’Arc
“You are a good man, Seth,” Hrardorr said finally. “Never let anyone make you believe otherwise.” Hrardorr stepped away, and Seth lowered his arms, the moment over. “I’ll see you when I return.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Hrardorr lowered himself into the water without a sound, slipping away beneath the waves as if he had never been there. Livia watched him go, standing beside Seth at the water’s edge.
It was only a moment before Seth’s arm snuck around her waist, drawing her near. He seemed tentative, as if he’d let her go at the slightest hint that she didn’t want him, but she snuggled into his side. Being near Seth was exactly what she wanted at the moment.
She’d missed him in the time since her father had come home and put her under virtual house arrest. She’d missed Gowan too. And Genlitha. But that couldn’t be remedied right now. At least she had Seth with her…for the rest of the night, if she played her cards right.
She turned in his arms to face him, placing her palms flat against his chest as she looked up into his eyes. It was darker inside the boathouse without Hrardorr’s scales and the light he somehow brought with him, but she could still see Seth in the vague reflections off the water.
“Do you think he was being circumspect, knowing we’d probably enjoy a little time alone?” she asked, smiling up one of the only two men on earth, it seemed, who made her feel truly alive.
Seth frowned just slightly. “You think so? The idea hadn’t really occurred to me until you just mentioned it, but Hrardorr can be a very sensitive soul, though he doesn’t like anyone to know it.”
She walked her hands up to his shoulders, dragging him down for a kiss. It was a kiss of reunion. A leisurely exploration now that they knew they had a little bit of time they could spend together, with the dragon’s blessing, it seemed. When they broke apart, Livia was warm, even though Hrardorr had taken his innate heat with him into the water.
Livia had a feeling that, with Seth around, she wouldn’t feel the cold night air, at all. Seth had a way of making her blood boil with passion, and as long as they kept things a little quiet, they wouldn’t be disturbed in the locked boat shed. Even her father didn’t have a key. Livia had been sure to relieve the captain of his copy almost as soon as he’d come home. She was pretty sure he hadn’t figured it out yet. He was more interested in the big ships than her little sailboat, and the boathouse that had been built specifically for it.
Livia wanted Seth. It had been far too long since she’d been with him. Far too long since that memorable night in her room, before her father had unexpectedly come home. That night spent with Seth…and Gowan.
Since being with them—separately and together—it was as if she couldn’t breathe without them. She’d been pining for their touch, yearning for the fulfillment only they could give her. She didn’t want to wait any longer to feel Seth’s possession…his hard body against and inside of hers.
Livia backed him toward the wall of the shed, taking the lead in a way that almost shocked her. She had never been so forward with the few lovers she’d had before Seth and Gowan. And only with them had she ever even considered having more than one man at a time. But somehow…with them…it all seemed right. Felt right.
Only…her father’s arrival had put the kibosh on it all. He’d grounded her, and the men had been busy with Lair affairs—each in different ways. If this unexpected interlude was all she could have, she was going to take advantage of it to the fullest.
His back made a soft thud against the side of the shed, and she gasped, stilling.
“You think anybody heard that?” she whispered.
“Too soon for your father’s patrol to have come back around this way, but let’s move away from the wall, just to be safe.” Seth took her hand and led her through the darkness toward the spot farthest from the locked door, near a stack of sailcloth.
He let go of her hand only to unfold some of the thick cloth and lay it on the deck as a cushion against the cold. It wasn’t ideal, but it would work. Livia definitely approved and moved to help him set up their temporary love nest.
When it was ready, she tackled him, taking him to the ground on top of the soft canvas. She pushed at his cloak, hoping he’d get the message that she wanted his clothing gone. There was too much fabric between them. She wanted skin on skin, and she wanted it now.
Luckily, Seth understood. Even as she joined her lips to his and kissed him with all the pent-up passion so many days spent alone had only increased, he removed his cloak and did the same for her. Little by little, his talented hands took away the impediments, removing one article of clothing at a time, until they were both bare and ready for anything.
Livia let him up for air occasionally, only to stroke her fingers over his hard-muscled body. Seth had always been built big, like his warrior sire, but he’d apparently been practicing his sword work a bit more since the last time they’d been together. His muscles were even harder than she remembered, larger and definitely even more of a turn on than before.
She’d probably grown a little softer in the intervening days while she’d been cloistered and not allowed to do much more than walk from home to work and back again. She wondered if Seth noticed. And then, she wondered if he liked it or not.
But then, he growled low in his throat as he turned the tables on her, flipping her over like she weighed nothing at all so that he was on top. Oh. She liked it when he got all manly on her.
“Tell me you’re ready for this,” Seth whispered, nipping her ear gently.
“I’ve been ready for days.” She panted her words in between nibbling kisses all over his face and neck.
But he didn’t just take her word for it. Seth reached between her legs, touching gently, probing to test her readiness and then increase her desperation as he slid his fingers inside. Stroking in and out, he added a finger, stretching her and bringing forth more of the wetness he’d apparently been seeking. A moment later, he replaced his fingers with his hard cock.
In a way, she felt a little cheated that she hadn’t been able to get her hands on his dick, but in another, she was perfectly fine with the results. He began a quick pace that made her breathless in minutes and completely needy only moments later. It had been too long. She’d only been with him a handful of times, but he had already made her an addict.
She came once, and then once again while Seth held her tight, never letting her move beyond the small nest of canvas he’d made for them.
When it was over, he started again, slower this time, rocking her gently while he took his time with her pleasure. He brought her to climax over and over again before finally joining her once more in orgasm. It was a gentle loving, a less frantic joining than the first, and the pleasure went on and on.
They dozed for a bit, and at some point in the night, Hrardorr returned. Seth must have guided the blind dragon into position above water on the wooden deck of the boathouse, but she wasn’t aware of the dragon’s presence until she woke to find the small building warm with the dragon’s breath.
Having Hrardorr nearby made her feel complete somehow. She didn’t fully understand it, but she felt deep in her soul that Seth and the curmudgeonly dragon belonged together. The only piece missing now was Gowan and Genlitha, she thought sadly.
In her fantasies, they could all be together as one big family—if Hrardorr chose Seth as his knight and Genlitha as his mate. So much depended on Hrardorr coming around and seeing what could be…if only.
Livia knew it wasn’t really fair of her to put it all on Hrardorr’s shoulders. Certainly, his disability—and his insistence on retreating from life because of it—was a major problem, but there were other things in their way as well. Her father, for one.
And she had no real idea what Gowan thought of all this. He was still very new to being a knight. He probably would have to make some major adjustments to his thinking to accept the idea of sharing his wife. Trios weren’t the norm anywhere in Draconia, except the Lairs. Seth had grown up with
it, and so had Livia, to a certain extent. Gowan had not, and she didn’t know exactly where he stood on the matter.
Many knights never married. Either they didn’t find a woman to complete their circle or their dragons had not found mates of their own yet. So many things had to align for a family to succeed in the Lair. It was said the Mother of All guided the knights and dragons to the proper mates when the time was right, but still, many remained single.
After all, a dragon could have many knights during his lifetime. While partnering with a dragon allowed a knight to live hundreds of years longer than he would have normally, the dragon would still outlive the knight by many centuries. Unless they fell in battle. Unfortunately, that was starting to happen all too often now that open war had happened on at least two different fronts.
Livia put the troubling thoughts from her mind and snuggled into Seth’s side. She had to leave before dawn, but she still had a little time to enjoy being with him…and the dragon who had changed her life.
Hrardorr wasn’t surprised in the least when he returned from his late night swim to find Livia and Seth together. He couldn’t see them, of course, but he could hear their gentle whispers and the brush of skin on skin as he settled down to sleep.
Though Hrardorr had never taken a mate himself, he thought he understood how hard it must be for the young lovers to have been together, only to be kept apart by the unexpected arrival of Livia’s father. Hrardorr hadn’t met the man yet, but he’d heard plenty. The captain had a larger-than-life reputation that was the topic of gossip even up at the Lair.
Hrardorr heard a lot of gossip. He didn’t seek it out, but somehow, a lot of the beings in the Lair didn’t always consider that he could hear as well, if not better, than he always had. It was only his vision that had been affected by his run-in with skith venom.
He tried not to spend a great deal of his time at the Lair, but he could only go fishing and swimming for so long. And his suite was fine, but lonely. He needed to be around others, even if he didn’t really want to talk much. As a result, he spent a lot of time sitting curled up in front of the fire in the great hall, pretending to be dozing.
The great hall in the Lair was frequented by pretty much everyone who lived there at some point during the day. Communal meals were served there, and snacks could always be had at almost any time of the day or night. Those going on duty or those coming off would usually stop there before going wherever they were heading. And when they paused to eat, they talked. And Hrardorr often heard more than he’d bargained for.
He knew more about the inner workings of the Lair, and the town, than most. Nobody realized how much he’d learned through his silent observation, and he’d formed very definite opinions about most of the residents of the Lair—human and dragon alike. He wasn’t too impressed with the leadership of the Lair, especially after the last battle.
Hrardorr had really thought his fighting days were over, but that last battle had proven he still had some fight left in him. Certainly, the opportunity to fight from the water wouldn’t come along often, if at all, in the future, but he’d felt good to have been able to contribute again.
Livia had helped him recover, at least partially, from the deep depression he’d been in over losing not only his vision, but his last knight. Most dragons went into the mountains, to do their mourning in private, but even that had been denied Hrardorr with his injury. Livia had helped him realize that, while he may not be able to see like he used to, he was not as useless as he’d thought.
He felt bad for her now that her absentee father had decided to return. It was to the captain’s credit that he’d come racing home the moment he’d heard about the threat to Dragonscove, but as far as Hrardorr was concerned, the captain’s actions since had been too little, too late. He was trying to run his daughter’s life as if she was still a child, or some kind of youngster on one of his ships.
She didn’t need that. She wasn’t doing anything wrong, from what Hrardorr could see. Sharing pleasure was a natural thing for humans. He’d seen it often enough in his centuries. Even if he hadn’t been able to share pleasure with a dragoness yet—that was reserved for when he found his true mate and all the pieces fell into place—he thought he understood the human need.
Humans, after all, weren’t as strong as dragons. A fighting dragon agreed at the outset that they would not mate unless and until their knight had found a mate. Technically, Hrardorr could seek pleasure with a female now that he was no longer bonded to a knight, but there were no unpartnered female dragons at the Lair who were old enough for him.
Not that he wanted to engage with just any female. No, Hrardorr was selective. If he ever got involved with a female, it would have to be a special one…like Genlitha.
But it was impossible. He was blind, and she had a knight now. He refused to take another knight. Not now. He wouldn’t subject a fighting man to his sour humor and grief. It was too soon, and besides, he was blind. What warrior would want to swear his life to fight alongside a blind dragon?
Though if he was going to choose anyone, he probably would have picked Seth. The lad was noble and had proved himself an able leader of men in the last battle. He’d also proven that he was as courageous and fearless as his fathers, who were both exceptional knights. But Hrardorr wouldn’t do that to Seth.
For one thing, Seth was already his caretaker. He wouldn’t partner with him just to secure a nursemaid for the rest of his life. That would be unkind as well as unfair. For another, Seth had publicly chosen the healer’s path long ago. Although he could fight, he wasn’t really counted among the young warriors of the Lair.
“Thanks for giving me and Livia some time alone.” Seth’s voice came to Hrardorr as he began to doze off. “I’m sorry if we invaded your privacy by coming here.”
“Nonsense,” Hrardorr scoffed with good humor. “The poor girl hasn’t had a moment free since her father came home. I’m more than happy to have her company. And yours too, Seth. You both deserve a little happiness.”
“Thank you for understanding, my friend.”
They slept through the night together, each watching over the other. And when dawn approached, Livia took her leave with obvious regret. Seth went with her to make sure she made it back into her room without incident. He returned a little while later, his mood contemplative and a little melancholy.
“You miss her already, don’t you?” Hrardorr asked.
“Is it that obvious?” Seth asked, folding the sailcloth they’d slept on while Hrardorr stretched one wing at a time.
“Only to me, my friend,” Hrardorr assured him.
“It’s all quite impossible. She’s destined for a knight pair, and I’ll probably be condemned to watch it all unfold.”
Hrardorr could hear Seth moving, sitting down to one side of the boathouse. The wooden walls held in the sound of his movements, allowing Hrardorr to know with much greater accuracy than usual where the human was and what he was doing.
“The future isn’t written yet,” Hrardorr reminded Seth, looking for something positive to say, though he didn’t really think it was going to end well for the young lovers.
CHAPTER FIVE
Gowan wasn’t completely surprised when Genlitha insisted on taking the small gryphon under her wing. She made sure Flurrthith was made welcome in the Lair and then insisted the youngster be made comfortable in their suite of rooms. In fact, she’d made Gowan find materials to make a nest of sorts for the young gryphon, where she could see him.
So, the spare room in their suite was now filled with blankets and pillows that had been scrounged from every corner of the Lair and formed into a circular nest for the gryphon. When Flurrthith slept, Genlitha’s long neck was stretched over the side of her sand wallow so that her head could rest in the wide archway of the room where Flurrthith lay. Genlitha breathed over the child, gently stirring his feathers with a caress of warm air.
“He looks comfortable, doesn’t he?” Genlitha asked Gowan, almost clucking
like a worried hen as they both looked at the young gryphon.
Gowan stood beside Genlitha’s head, leaning one shoulder against the stone arch that led into the guest room. Genlitha’s head rested on the floor, her neck stretched to its full extent. All the rooms in the place had been built around the wallow, which was sized for a single dragon.
There were much larger suites in the Lair, reserved for dragon couples and those with children. The size of the suite depended on the dragon’s circumstances, and the knight was accommodated in the circle of rooms around the central cavern. Everything was carved out of the stone of the mountain, which meant arched doorways and rounded ceilings in most places. Air shafts were everywhere, allowing dragon smoke out and fresh air, and light, in. All had been created with the aid of magic, Gowan had been told, in the distant past.
“He’s exhausted,” Gowan commented silently, not wanting to wake the sleeping gryphlet.
“He needs friends,” Genlitha surprised him by saying.
“There are few dragonets in this Lair, and they’re all younger than Flurrthith,” Gowan reminded her.
“I’m going to ask Hrardor if he’ll take the child down to the town. I think Livia would be able to find some human youngsters closer in temperament to the child. Flurthith told me he was raised much as a dragonet, with two-footed brothers and sisters. They are likely fair folk, of course, but the fey are not so different from humans.”
“Except for being the next best thing to immortal,” Gowan observed wryly. “Still, I think it’s a good idea, but somebody will need to figure a way around Livia’s father. The captain is formidable, and I’m afraid I can’t help you. I’m probably the last person he’d listen to or help, even for the gryphlet’s sake.”
“I know,” Genlitha admitted, her mental tone mildly annoyed. “The captain needs a good, stern talking to, in my opinion, but we’re in enough trouble with the leadership of this Lair already. Still, I believe Seth could help us.”
