Dragon Guardian

by Ophelia Bell

  They were all loyal pups, and their behavior toward her showed it. She was nothing if not a conscientious owner. Her dogs were given plenty of treats and suitably disciplined when they acted out. As a result, they performed happily with tails wagging.

  She combed her fingers through the man’s thick, pale blond hair. “I’ll be back tomorrow, and I will have your favorite treat if you’ve behaved. Here’s a little taste to tide you over.”

  She turned her barbed ring and nicked her wrist, then pressed it to his mouth, offering him a sample of her power-infused blood that had become a drug to her followers. It also gave her an unbroken connection to the network of their minds, allowing her access whenever she needed to check in on them, or to control them.

  The technician’s eyelids fluttered shut as he sucked at her wrist. A slow bulge swelled in his lap by the time he pulled back. “Thank you,” he murmured.

  “Good boy,” she said, patting him on the head and giving the inside of his mind a similar stroke of appreciation while ensuring his complete submission to her will.

  As she passed by her lab on the way out, she glanced in the direction of the hidden door, suppressing the urge to enter so she could look at the small, perfect treasure she kept secured inside that room. The satyrs’ blood was doing its job, but just barely. Now that she had both Calder and Nereus, she hoped to find a way to get a message to Nyx. All she needed was enough power to send her ransom demands into the Haven. If the Dionarch were desperate enough, she’d open a portal for Meri, and when she did, Meri would have her army ready to strike.

  The hunters were already mobilizing and making their way to Egypt. There was a certain pleasing symmetry to sending her message back in through the very Nile River portal where she’d first been expelled from the Haven. The Nile had been one of her favorite playgrounds as a young nymph, and ultimately where she’d begun her plan to take revenge on the Haven.

  Except revenge seemed so petty now. She’d had a taste of true immortality once. If her plan worked, she would have it again, and an entire immortal army at her disposal. She just needed to get the baby to the Source and encourage it to grow. If Nyx wanted her mate and her son returned to her, she wouldn’t say no.

  If only there were a suitable womb with the power to keep the baby alive. During all her many experiments, the embryos were almost never viable. She’d finally discovered that human-based offspring were the most mutable, and could be compelled to drift from the womb where they were conceived if she gave them the right lure.

  Her own womb was not an option—something she’d discovered early on. Her human vessels didn’t possess enough innate power, and neither did most of the pure-blooded higher races she captured. Some worked better than others, but some crucial ingredient was always missing.

  The baby needed far too much magic to sustain it. Finally she’d tried a test with an embryo conceived from two altered humans, rather than the pure-blooded specimens she captured from the higher races. Bless the dragons for their need to put their marks all over humankind. The female Elite had been blessed by Belah herself and had endured all the years of experimental transfusions, each one mutating her a little more. Add to her eggs the seed of none other than Nikhil himself, and Meri had the perfect offspring, or so she had hoped. She’d put all her dreams on that union, taking the embryo at the crucial moment and introducing it into the nymphaea blood-infused tank.

  The baby had thrived in that environment, but at only a few scant months past conception, it was still far too small to be viable outside the tank. Immortality apparently wasn’t yet part of its makeup, but it had the blood of immortals in its DNA: infusions from every last drop of the dragon brothers’ blood that she no longer needed to power her Elites, blood from the ursa queen she’d captured who had escaped ages ago, blood from the turul princess she’d held captive for five decades, and now the freshest blood she could get, from the son of a Dionarch.

  She only needed enough power for the immortal essences that flowed in the baby’s blood to be triggered. That much power could only be found in one place—inside the Haven, at the Source.

  The plan had to be perfect. By the time she got all the pieces in place, hopefully she would find a way to take the baby to the Source.

  If only she could have kept that infuriating ursa queen.

  None of the captives she’d managed to hold onto were powerful enough for the job. The turul princess might well have been if she hadn’t escaped, though Meri would have probably murdered the bitch if she’d had the chance, after being forced out of her favorite puppet’s head by the turul’s infernal song.

  She punched the button in the lift to take her to the chamber near the surface where she would depart from. The powerful dragon wards that filled the great pyramid above her sapped too much of her power when she attempted to drift through them, but they’d cloaked her base for ages. She had effectively hidden in plain sight, but had adapted by building a secret chamber far enough outside the zone of dragon magic that she could easily drift to the surface from there.

  At least she finally had leverage against Nyx. That was one weight off her mind. If she could simply solve that one final problem, she would be ready to take over the Haven once and for all. The Source would be hers.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Vrishti

  Lantern light played over Neph’s face in warm, dancing flickers, setting fire to the intense, swirling depths of his eyes. Vrishti got lost in his gaze, her pulse racing in anticipation of the next step of their journey.

  She couldn’t quite believe she had only just set eyes on this man a few days ago. It seemed like a lifetime since they’d met and she’d promptly gotten sick from simply looking into these eyes. Seasick, she realized, smiling softly at the recognition that she no longer felt the same nausea gripping her belly. The vertigo this time was a very welcome sense of everything falling into place.

  With a satisfied sigh, she lifted her palm to his cheek and stroked her fingertips over his stubble, noting the flecks of silver that appeared here and there illuminated by the lamplight.

  “You’re melded with me now,” Neph rumbled, making idle caresses up and down her body. “That’s why you can look into my eyes without getting dizzy.”

  She raised an eyebrow and involuntarily turned into his touch. “And you can read my mind, apparently.”

  His lips twisted in a sly smile. “I can. You are also wondering why I haven’t started making love to you again so we can finally go to Aodh. You can look inside my mind for the answer, but I think you know it already.”

  She searched his eyes, considering the invitation, but he was right. “We have to wait for a surge in my power first. Which should occur before too long … unless I’m pregnant, in which case it’s over. You don’t think …”

  “You aren’t pregnant yet. We’ve melded once. You haven’t even marked me. That has to happen at a bare minimum for my seed to take.”

  The brief surge of tension in her chest eased. “Good, because I don’t want to get pregnant until I know the two of you have reconciled. Not to force an ultimatum on you. I want you both, but I want to know you’ve forgiven each other before we take that step. I would kind of like to wait and make it all official after I get back to the Sanctuary. Is it crazy that I want my mother to be there when I mark you? Maybe not in the room, but I want it to be a big deal. Like …”

  She paused, her cheeks warming at the confession she was about to make.

  “Like a wedding,” he said softly, saving her the trouble.

  “Yeah, like that. Assuming he’s still interested.”

  “Kitten, he may still have issues with me, but you’ve done nothing wrong. He’s always been able to see to the heart of things. To understand the underlying truth. That’s why I’m hoping he’ll forgive me.”

  “I hope so too,” she said, sighing and arching up into his exploring palm as it
passed over the tip of her breast for the third time in his slow, constant caresses. After enduring two days of the same kind of sensuous torture, she knew his goal was more than simple pleasure. The slow, deliberate teasing was meant to push her desire to the edge, to urge her body into that almost painful state where she needed him so much it physically hurt.

  She wasn’t sure how long it had been since the first surge of power overtook her body like a wildfire, but she was due if the tiny, almost imperceptible ache inside her womb was any indication. She tilted her face up to his and he dipped his head, capturing her lips in an eager kiss while he slid his hand between her thighs and cupped her slick pussy in his palm.

  The stroke of a single fingertip against her clit was enough to stoke that fire to another level, the ache growing to an ember. She let out a soft moan, tilting her hips up into his touch and spreading her thighs wider.

  Neph shifted on his side, bending his head to take the tip of her breast in his mouth. She swept her fingers through his hair, reveling in the sensuous abandon he incited in her. Every touch he gave her sent her to a new height of pleasure, but the feel of his hard body, his soft skin, his silken hair under her own touch had the same effect.

  The simple fact of his rigid shaft, its hot and silken hardness brushing against her hip, made her even hotter.

  The thought of that thick length caused a sudden painful spasm in her core that made her gasp. Neph leaned back, his sharp gaze fixed on her face.

  “That’s right, kitten. Let it build until your body aches to be fucked.”

  “I want to see your other shape,” she said, barely able to suppress another moan when he slipped two fingers into her tender depths.

  “You need to be ready to get fucked when I change,” he said. “That much primal power makes it tough to restrain myself.”

  “Please. I’ll be ready when you do.”

  He licked his lips, leaving them glistening with saliva as he swept his gaze down her body to her hips where they twisted and pushed against his gently fucking fingers.

  A smile spread across his face. “Just one more thing, then you can have what you want.”

  He shifted around and placed one big palm on her thigh, pulling her leg against his chest before dipping his head between her thighs. Her abdomen tightened as his lips covered her wet folds and he swept his tongue deep, teasing it up the very center until he sucked her clit into his mouth. The pleasure of that contact sent a burst of acute desire through her and she cried out, tilting her hips against his expert licks. He took her almost to the edge, stopping abruptly as though he knew the exact point at which she would snap.

  Then he slid off the bed and stood up, the full length of him visible in the amber light. His body was smooth and lean, muscles taut with pent-up need, the lantern light casting shadows that accentuated every hard plane of muscle down to the cords that arched over his hips leading to his glorious cock.

  The sight of him like this made her sit up and slide to the edge of the bed, ready to reach for him again, but holding out for the answer to her request. She hadn’t gotten to see him when he’d shifted, just before driving that massive satyr cock into her when her estrous had begun. Ever since that first night, she hadn’t been able to banish that image from her mind of the huge, horned man with his fleece-covered legs and hoofed feet. And the spectacular erection he’d brandished like a weapon more than ready to conquer her body.

  She pressed her thighs together in anticipation, digging her fists into the blankets at the edge of the bed. He stepped closer to her, his cock within reach of her mouth if she only leaned forward. He raised his hand to her head, cupping the back of her neck and tangling his fingers in her hair. He tugged until she had to arch her neck to look up at him.

  “Would you take a full-sized satyr cock in that pretty mouth of yours, or would that be too much to ask? Because if you aren’t ready for me, you might need to offer an alternative to your hot little snatch, kitten.”

  “I’ll do whatever you need,” she said. “I just want to see you for a minute before … before it starts.” Despite the hold he had on her hair, her gaze slid down to his crotch again, lingering on the glistening pink tip of his cock where it peeked out from the foreskin. The tip was always visible like this when he was aroused, a feature that fascinated her.

  “Is this what you want to see most?” he asked, gripping his cock in his free hand and stroking it lightly, the motion pulling on his foreskin so his pink tip was fully visible.

  “I want to see all of you,” she said, licking her lips and unable to tear her gaze away from him.

  “Then all of me is what you’ll get. Every last inch.”

  As he spoke his voice roughened, grew deeper, and seemed to vibrate straight to her core. His cock swelled perceptibly as did the hand that held it, growing proportionally second by second. At the base of his cock, his dark curls thickened and turned into luxuriant black fleece that only served to accent how much bigger his cock had become.

  Vrishti swallowed, finding it difficult to keep up with the flood of saliva that inundated her mouth as much as the arousal now coated her thighs.

  “Look at me, baby,” he said, and the voice seemed to come from farther away, but was no less present and strong, its deep vibrations reaching her soul. He slid his hand under her chin, tipping her face up.

  She blinked in wide-eyed wonder at the immense creature who now stood before her. The horns she remembered arched magnificently from his temples, nearly brushing the cabin’s ceiling almost eight feet above. Those hypnotic sea-blue eyes still sent sparks of awe through her. His face was the same, only larger and somehow wilder, nostrils flaring and lips curled as though he were on the verge of a snarl. Everything about him was bigger, harder, and more real than he’d been before, filling up the cabin and all her senses as though there were nothing else in her world but him and her aching need to follow through on her quest to find the man they both loved.

  “That’s right, kitten. I want you to think of him when I take your mouth. Open up wide.”

  Vrishti parted her lips, her entire body alive with her need to taste him again. She lifted her hands and placed them on his hips, sinking her fingers into the soft, thick fur that covered him there. She stroked inward as she leaned closer, finally wrapping both hands around the base of his cock when her lips met his thick, shining tip.

  He removed his hand from his shaft, resting it on her shoulder. Vrishti slipped one hand down beneath the base of his cock, found his heavy sack as silken smooth as the length she held in her other hand. He let out a low rumble of approval when she ran her palm around the heavy orbs.

  Opening her mouth, she darted her tongue out and swept it in a smooth circle around his tip, her taste buds coming alive at the almost spicy flavor of him. Neph trailed his fingers up the back of her head and grasped her hair, on the verge of pulling but not quite. She sensed the barely restrained tension in him and lifted her gaze while she opened her mouth wider to take him in.

  She teased the tip of her tongue tight against the underside of his cock, watching his face as he stared raptly down at her. When she had his tip fully in her mouth as far as she could take him, she gave him a slight suck. Neph let out a low growl, his lips curling back again and his eyes flashing with need.

  Caressing his balls with one hand, she stroked the other up his shaft, barely able to grasp his girth in her hand. She dragged her thumb up the underside while stroking her fingers along the top as she slipped her lips off his tip, then sucked him in again as deep as she could manage. He was so thick all over she could only manage a few inches before her jaw ached, but the rising ache in her core soon overtook that incidental discomfort. The awareness of his intense arousal seemed to infect her more by the second, the taste of his essence leaking onto her tongue driving her need ever higher.

  She let out a soft whimper when the first spasm hit, but didn’t r
elease him, still determined to prove she could please him this way while he was in his wild, primal shape. But the ache didn’t subside. It grew to an agony that gripped her womb and the muscles of her pussy until she was forced to pull back and let out a pained cry.

  “Now. I need you now,” she begged, but was unable to get any more words out or even move as she doubled over.

  Abruptly, he swept a big arm around her back and another beneath one thigh, easily hoisting her up into his arms. She gasped at the sudden shift in perspective, reflexively wrapping her arms around his neck when he held her against him.

  “Put your legs around me, kitten. Hold on tight, because we’re going for a ride.”

  She did as he asked, hooking her ankles around his waist. He held her easily with one arm, slipping his other hand beneath her ass, his fingers probing her for readiness. When he thrust one finger easily into her slick heat, she moaned, tightening her hold on him.

  Neph’s eyes narrowed and his chest vibrated with a low rumble. A second later, she felt him shift his cock, angling that thick head right at her ready opening.

  She relaxed her hold on him slightly as he moved both hands to hold tight to her hips. With slow sureness, he pushed her down onto his massive girth, and she threw her head back in a cry of pure gratitude and ecstasy as the stretching fullness of him gradually eased that painful need to be fucked.

  “Gaia’s tears, you are Heaven,” Neph murmured against her neck. He tightened his grip around her hips as he lifted her again, then lowered her, and she relented to his deliberate control over their fucking.

  “Don’t stop, please,” she said, clinging to his shoulders.

  “It’s your turn, kitten.” He turned and lowered them both to the bed, shifting backward until he was leaning against the wall at the head of the bed. “Think of him.”

  The shift in position granted her more control over the movements, and she braced her knees on either side of his hips, holding onto his shoulders while she fucked him. The rhythm became a compulsion, each stroke easing that unbearable need to be penetrated hard and have every muscle stretched to its limit.