The Queen's Mystery

by Jamie K. Schmidt

  “Why don’t you tell me why you’re really here?” He pressed a burning kiss to the juncture of her neck and shoulder, even as his hand crept up to cup her breast.

  Bianca froze, her eyes half closing in the sensual attack. She should step on his foot and slap his face. She ground her hips back into his hardness instead. His breath quickened and his hand slid up her dress. Leaning back into his embrace, Bianca sighed. She whimpered when he ripped the thin thong off her. He tongued circles over her neck and nipped her earlobe.

  “Well?” he breathed.

  She didn’t want to talk. The madness of being this close to him in the dark was making her forget her true purpose. She needed the book. She needed to know what Niall had only hinted at. What if she wasn't just a freak groupie? What if she was Mary Shelley, author and dragon Queen reincarnated? The idea was so ridiculous that she laughed, cut off as his fingers dipped inside her.

  “The scroll,” she gasped out, trying to clamp down on her hormones instead of riding his fingers.

  “Is bullshit." He tickled her pleasure slicked bud.

  "Byron," she called out, hearing his name echo.

  He removed his fingers, brought them to his mouth to taste.

  "So is Niall’s story about needing the Dragon Slayer book.” He turned her around so she was in his arms, facing him.

  “I need that book.” She unbuttoned his vest, grabbed his shirt and ripped it open. Buttons flew everywhere and tinked down the stairs and off into the immeasurable darkness below. “But I need you too.”

  “Tell me what your angle is? I’m not the type of dragon the groupies go after.”

  Bianca gave a ragged laugh. The dragons Niall had her experiment with told her she wasn’t the type of woman dragons allowed in their beds. Not beautiful enough. Not skilled enough. And not biddable enough.

  “It’s a condition. I don’t understand it. Usually it's the studs coming on to me. Niall sent me to you.” Words were hard to get out. She concentrated on undoing his belt and whipping it off his waist with a flair that had him cupping her chin to look at him.

  “How old are you?”

  “Old enough,” Bianca said.

  “You’re not a Queen.”

  Bianca stopped, shocked and looked up at him. “How do you know?”

  “You’re too old,” he said.

  Well, that was a dash of cold water. Suddenly, she felt silly standing there holding herself up by the remains of his shirt and the scraps of her dignity. She jerked her chin out of his hand and tried to breathe in air that wasn’t clogged with dragon musk.

  “Then why do I have her memories?”

  “Who?” he asked, refusing to let her pull away.

  “I think Mary Shelley."

  “Niall sent you to me, knowing this?” The incredulous cry echoed in the darkness.

  “He didn't know."

  "The hell he didn't," Byron said. "You smell like her. I thought I was going insane."

  "I never had visions before. Niall sent me here because dragon studs are attracted to me."

  "Did you fuck them?" Byron gripped her hair tightly, forcing her to look up at him.

  "It never got this far,” she indicated their position with a thump on his shoulder.

  “The younger studs couldn't control themselves around me. Niall assured me you were too old to be affected."

  Bryon gave a husky laugh. "That old busy body. Did he send you here to seduce me?”

  “No, I don't know what's going on. I've never felt this way before.” Bianca rested her head on his chest.

  "I bet you say that to all the boys." His hand clenched the back of her dress, as if he would rip it off her.

  "I think I'm going insane," she pleaded. "I need that book."

  “Then what?”

  “I'm going to run like hell.”

  “You would steal from me?” His grip tightened and she was lifted up to her tip toes.

  “No. I figured you trade it for the Princess and the Goblin book I gave you.”

  Byron shook his head. “Niall knew I would not let any book out of my horde. Not to a human. Not for a dragon. He had alternative motives, damn him.”

  "What motives?"

  "You smell like my Queen." Bryon buried his nose in her hair. "It's been centuries since I breathed in her essence."

  "Mary?" Bianca breathed.

  "But you are human, not dragon. I see it in your aura," he said. "So must have Niall."

  "There might be a cure for me in the Order's book," Bianca said.

  "There is a cure, but you won't like it."

  "You can stop the dragon studs from bothering me?"

  "Yes." He looked down at her with hooded eyes.

  "I'll do anything," she sighed, and meant it. Hoped for it, actually.

  "You become my mate,” he snarled and kissed her with a ferocity that blotted out reason.

  Chapter Two: I had a dream, which was not all a dream

  Byron delighted in having the eager woman press against him. Most dragon-struck women preferred the showier dragons with their riches on display or the politicians or rock stars. The dragon studs lived on adoration. Well most of them did. Byron lived for his books and a good cup of Bergamot tea. He deepened the kiss and felt her respond as if she needed his mouth more than she needed air. Perhaps she did. What a puzzle she was.

  He had to find out the perfume she wore. He would buy the alchemist a factory and keep him in scents for the rest of his life. They'd bottle it and call it "Queen's Ransom" and sell it for a fortune. He chuckled against her neck. It had been a few decades since he had a woman in his arms and he found he wanted to experience the earthly pleasures again.

  Bianca’s curves pleased him as he smoothed his hands down the sweet line of her back. Breathing in deeply, Byron stifled a growl of possession. Niall must have known her scent would drive him to distraction. Why else would he send her to him? The book had to be a ruse to get him to settle down with a woman. His father kept going on about it wasn’t good for a dragon to isolate himself from the humans.

  “Please,” she moaned, as he lifted his mouth to let her breathe.

  She was luscious, Byron thought, holding her eager, squirming body hard against him. She could easily persuade him to take her on the stairs. Take her as his human mate. It had merit. They were obviously well suited physically. And her lifespan was short enough that if they weren’t compatible intellectually, he could send her away with enough money to keep her comfortable. No other stud would dare debase himself stealing a human mate.

  “Byron, I need this.” She had his shirt off and was running her hands over the planed muscles of his arms and shoulders before he came back to his senses.

  “I know, my sweet. But you need to make the choice when you aren’t in the throes of lust.” The pheromones they shared were blinding her to reality and he was in danger of losing his head as well.

  “When will that be?”

  “I can quell them for awhile,” he assured her.

  “I don’t understand."

  She sounded lost and it curbed his lust. It wasn't as if she was a real Queen. She was a very special human and he would treat her as such. “Come with me.”

  “I want to,” she said.

  He gave a soft laugh and held her hand while they caught up with the light ball.

  “What do you mean become your mate? Dragons can’t mate with humans.” Her voice was breathy and she hurried to keep up with him. But she trusted him to lead her down the dark stairs, into the unknown. That was brave.

  Byron couldn’t shake the longing inside him for a Queen. Accepting a human mate seemed like giving up on his dreams for a family. But he had been waitlisted for hundreds of years now, not having the flash or the charisma to charm one of the bitch queens. At least Bianca smelled like a Queen. He was fortunate she smelled like his Queen. Bianca was too old to shift into a dragon and it was undeniable, she was pure human. He could feel how fragile she was as she clasped his hand like a lif
eline. How easy it would be to crush her bones into dust. It was hard to keep that in mind when his senses screamed Queen.

  “Not biologically, of course. But you would no longer desire any other stud by me and I would no longer desire any human but you.”

  “But what about the other studs?”

  “Being claimed by me would quell their ardor.” Or I will kill them, he amended silently.

  “You’ve done this a lot?”

  “Never,” Byron said.

  His father was a tricky wyrm. It was obvious, he wanted him to take the human as his mate. But Niall had a better chance of protecting her, if not with his reputation than with the sheer power of being a golden Celtic dragon. Byron resembled his mother, a purple Cuélebre. He had wings, but no claws. His weapons were his teeth and tail. He was a healer, rather than a fighter. The saliva in his glands could be used to cure any ailments.

  But that hadn’t helped his Queen.

  Mary.

  He couldn't bring the dead to life. His all-powerful saliva couldn't breathe for her or knit her throat back together. It couldn't refill her body with the blood she lost.

  Byron relived the moment his beautiful white dragon Queen shuddered her last breath. He stopped on the stairs as agony hit him as if it was five minutes ago instead of one hundred and ninety-two years ago. 1824. She died and he left humanity as well. He had spent a century after her death in his dragon form in the mountains of Switzerland. It was only recently that he crossed over to America where no one knew him, and left him to his books.

  “I’m not going to be able to stop myself from throwing myself at you if you don’t hurry,” Bianca said, and brought his fingers up to her mouth to suck and bite on.

  The pain in his gut swelled, even as his cock perked up at her words. This human was not Mary reincarnated. She had pheromones that won her the jackpot in the genetic lottery. But she was also a little damaged, if she thought she was his Queen based on a few visions. If he was smart, he should give her the book and send her back to his father. Maybe there was something in there that would save her sanity and while it was a shame to lose her intoxicating scent, it would save him from having to bury another mate.

  "Let's get this out of our system and then we can find that book," she said.

  Nidhogg, she even sounded like Mary. Although, Mary would have just ordered him to pleasure her.

  Bianca was tempting him and he tried to find the noble part of him, but it was fading away as fast as her inhibitions. They reached the basement apartments. The light globe rose to the ceiling and gave off enough light to put everything in soft shadows.

  “So many books,” she breathed.

  “This will do in a pinch,” Byron said and led her to the closest Corinthian column.

  He pressed her back against it.

  “Yes,” Bianca said. “Right here. Right now.”

  He kissed her again, because she was sweet and willing and he wanted to. Her tongue was delightful and he was enjoying the feel of her writhing against him. Her hand pushed into his pants and gripped him.

  "Want you," she moaned.

  "Not like this," he said, kissing the corner of her mouth and gently removing her hand from his hard member. “Stay,” he ordered and forced himself to walk away. He went to a shelving unit and dug around until he came up with a pair of handcuffs.

  “You don’t need to restrain me,” she said in a quivering voice. “I’m not going anywhere.” But she had followed him, away from the column.

  “Don’t be frightened.” He guided her back, pulled her arms around the column, and handcuffed her to it.

  Byron circled around to her front again. Underneath the wildness in her eyes, he saw Bianca trapped behind the veil of desire. She wasn't completely herself, being driven by the dragon pheromones between them. He called up on his magic and drew a circle of power in the air around the column. Then he stepped out of the circle.

  "Show me what is real," he said.

  Time compressed. The basement shimmered and a mirror into a time long past opened up. He thought he was prepared to see her face again, his Queen, his darling Mary. He sank to his knees. Bianca was transfixed at the image.

  He compared the two women. There were no similarities. Bianca was Hispanic, with curly black hair and a generous figure. Mary's human form was a pale English rose, with hair spun of honey and eyes the lightest brown. Her mouth was a dark blackberry that Byron would taste for hours on end.

  "This is Queen Mary," he said to Bianca.

  In the mirror, his younger self walked alongside her brilliance. They were in Switzerland, enjoying the bright summer day. Her consort, Percy, was probably writing blasphemous poems in the tavern.

  "Would you fly up and grab me that apple?" she said, pointing to the tallest branch and the reddest fruit in the tree.

  Byron had manifested just his wings and hooking an arm around her waist flew them up and plucked it from the branch. He spiraled them lazily back to the ground, pleased he had made her blush and giggle.

  "Is there anything else I can do for you, my Queen?" He slid her down his body, before setting her feet on the ground, so she would have no doubt what he was offering.

  "You can read me a poem," she said, biting into her apple.

  And he had. When Alexander Pope's Eloisa to Abelard's final lines faded and the Queen slid out of her gown, Byron had eagerly joined her under the apple tree.

  "Show me Bianca's truth," Byron said, his voice hoarse.

  A white dragon stared at him from the mirror.

  "Mary," he cried, his heart breaking.

  The dragon was chained in fire and thorns. It closed its eyes and slept. Bianca appeared. He saw her go to classes, saw the dragon studs heads raise up to watch her. He watched her being stalked.

  Then the mirror cracked and the spell shut down.

  Bianca sank to her knees as the crushing lust was removed from her. Closing her eyes, she let her breathing regulate and when she got up enough nerve she looked up at Byron.

  “What was that?” she said, as tears threatened.

  Bryon was breathing hard through his nose. “I don't know.”

  Why am I chained?” Testing the handcuffs, Bianca winced as they tightened around her wrists.

  “Some humans are resistant to dragon magic. If this hadn’t worked, we would have done it the old fashion way.”

  “Done it?”

  “Not exactly.” He smirked and then dragged over another Queen Anne’s chair. “Let me tell you something you didn’t learn about dragons in Yale.”

  “Can you uncuff me? It’s a little weird to be chained up in front of you.”

  “If I cross the circle again, the spell will break and your visions will return and you will throw yourself at me.”

  “Why did you tie me up to begin with? I wasn’t going to run away.” Bianca had been content to keep kissing him and feeling the lust burn through her. It wasn’t as bad as she remembered. She was almost disappointed they stopped.

  “Do you have a mate?” What was the human term? “Or a boyfriend?”

  “No.” Bianca had been too weirded out by the dragon connection to date again after her last boyfriend left her for her cousin.

  “So you are an innocent.” Bryon tapped his lips. It pleased him he wouldn’t have to kill anyone to claim her.

  “I’m not a virgin.” She felt herself blushing, but they might as well get that out of the way now. She hadn’t slept with a stud, the few boys she had allowed in her life were more duds than studs. But she didn’t feel the need to tell him that. That’s all he needed to know was that he was the only one to light her fire, lately.

  “That’s not what I meant,” he said.

  “I haven’t had sex with a dragon.” Maybe she’d have been mated by now. Mated to a stranger. It didn’t sit right with her.

  “Good.”

  “Why is that good?” Because she hadn’t, she was sitting here feeling a little frustrated, a little horny and more than a l
ittle irritable. And, she gave a yank on her hands again there wasn’t anything she could do about it.

  “Because I’ll be the first and the last.”

  “I’m confused. You could have had me a few minutes ago.”

  “I could have had your body. I want you.”

  “Why me?” This was a weird conversation to be having with a dragon. The other studs had reacted with mild disgust, amusement and in some cases happy resignation. Byron had been the only one that seemed eager to go through with the act.

  “Well, the old fashioned reason is my father gave you to me.”

  “He did not. Who’s your father?” She thought about it. “Niall? Niall set me up?”

  “Don’t try to second guess the All Knowing,” Byron said. “I could also say it was because you brought me back my favorite book as a child.”

  “You did those drawings?”

  Byron nodded.

  She thought that was really sweet. “They were very good.

  He shrugged, “It was a child’s distraction. But it started my love of books.” He gestured around him. “It could be because now that you are in my lair among my possessions, I find I do not want to let you go. Is this the type of dragon lair you studied in Yale?

  “I saw The Vault."

  “In person?”

  “No, just pictures.”

  Byron nodded. “I didn’t think Fontaine still allowed visitors to his gold horde. Not since the Fort Knox incident.” He stared at her like a man stared at a woman he wanted.

  Bianca liked being at the end of that look.

  “The reality is you smell like a Queen and I will never get one. You are the closest thing to a Queen I will ever have.”

  “That’s it. That’s your seduction speech?” She could almost hear the air being let out of her pride balloon, making a raspberry sound at her.

  “I’m not trying to seduce you. If I were, I would tell you that I want to taste your caramel skin to see if you are as sweet as candy. I would like to spend hours in between your thighs making you scream my name. I would like to see you bounce on top of me with your glorious hair flying back and those ample breasts in my hands.”