Magical Lover

by Karilyn Bentley

  Closing his eyes, Thoren called his beast, which didn’t take long to appear since being around Keara made the dragon primed and ready to go. Turning struck him in a rush of scales and claws, bones elongating, growing bigger, flesh hardening.

  As usual, turning was painless, another mind boggler as he went from two legs and seventeen stone to four legs and over a hundred and forty.

  Thoren shook his head, rippling muscles and scales, his claws digging into the grass. He stood slightly taller than Fafnir and wasn’t that a good thing? Females liked bigger males.

  It seemed he lacked control over emotions in his dragon state. Tearing Fafnir apart for having Keara on his back sounded like a great idea. Was he actually snarling at the older dragon?

  Apparently, his higher reasoning had given way to hatchling-like behavior. This mating business was for other dragons. He could do without all the crazed must-kill-what-threatens-Keara thoughts banging around in his body. If all male Draconi felt like this once they bonded to their mate it was a wonder they didn’t all kill each other.

  He wanted Keara to ride on his back. To soar above the ground and through the clouds with him. To know that he held her, that he protected her. He needed to stop thinking like that. Ropes tied Keara to Lily, who sat in front, and Jamie brought up the rear, wrapping his arms around her waist. Talk about protective. The boy had a tight grip on Keara, ensuring she wouldn’t fall off Fafnir’s back.

  No, Keara would remain where she sat. Thoren knelt and Enar pitched their gear onto his back, wrapping a line of rope around the bags to hold them in place.

  “Quit fidgeting, dragon.”

  Quit moving the rope. Are you trying to give me burns?

  Enar snorted. “Uh-huh, right. Burn a dragon with a rope?”

  Just get on and hey, watch where you step. Scales don’t like to be bent backward. Thoren shook his leg, the flesh stinging from the bent scale.

  “Whiny boy aren’t we?”

  Thoren turned and gave Enar a glare.

  Enar straddled his back, shifting his weight from side to side, obviously trying to find a comfortable position. “I’m on, but you need to work on softening these scales. Do you have any idea how uncomfortable they are?”

  Now who’s the whiny boy?

  He didn’t have to have eyes in the back of his head to see the glare Enar gave him.

  Ready? Thoren asked Fafnir.

  I am.

  Thoren hopped, flapping his wings, pushing against the air, rising into the sky. Nothing like flying, an activity he should do more often. Water droplets in the clouds brushed against his wings, a steady breeze whipped against his face. The ground faded away, swept by the thrumming beat of their wings. The sun journeyed across the sky and still they flew, cloaked in an invisibility spell.

  Why did the Council insist on forbidding turning when on missions? Flying saved time and the view was spectacular. Rivers, forests, glades, all looked better from the air. The sharp breeze focused his thoughts, especially those regarding Keara.

  She had mentioned the rogue Draconi wanting to unlock her powers. If he had unlocked her powers when he first found her, then she could have escaped Simon and the Draconi. Too bad he hadn’t thought of unlocking them the night before, it might have prevented the troubles of the day.

  Maybe he should unlock her powers tonight.

  A tremor ran through his body at the thought. He could perform the ritual, unlock her powers and share a bedroll with Keara. Provided the drug wore off. He glanced at her, his eyes picking up movement as she flexed her arms.

  Praise the Goddess she was recovering.

  But he was still selfish to want to unlock her powers. Was it really for her or did he want to taste her first before he returned her to his people? Before he returned to his life of adventure? For once returning to the job didn’t bring the same pleasure as normal. Flying over the hills of Draconia with his mate on his back sounded much more appealing.

  He cursed. He was halfway to the kingdom of lovesick fools and falling fast.

  We need to land. It’s getting dark.

  Thoren turned his head to Fafnir and nodded. What about on the other side of that clump of trees? The ground looks level.

  Sounds good.

  A couple of thumps later and they were down. Dropping his invisibility spell, Thoren knelt, and Enar jumped to the ground.

  “We need to do that more often. I love flying,” Enar said as he pulled the gear from Thoren’s back.

  “I don’t. I thought I was going to throw up.” Lily leaned against Fafnir’s neck.

  “It was the best!” Jamie started untying Keara from Lily.

  “I’m feeling better and think I can move.” Keara pushed the rope over her head.

  Relief flooding Thoren’s senses, his knees going weak. Good thing he had four legs on the ground instead of two or he might have embarrassed himself by falling. Keara’s coloring had returned, her eyes twinkled, although she moved slower than she had this morning.

  “All off, dragon. You can turn back if you want.”

  He wanted. Definitely wanted. Wanted to touch Keara with his hands, wanted to ensure she was whole. Closing his eyes, he willed the beast into its cave, shrinking, pulling the scales inside, retracting the claws. The magic passed over his skin, rippling muscles, stretching skin over bones, until he stood naked before them.

  Keara’s eyes popped wide as she glanced down his body. Brainless today, Thoren? He forgot to dress. With a snap of his fingers, clothes covered his bare skin. Keara continued to stare, a blush on her cheeks.

  Good thing he now had on clothes or she’d have a clear view of what was going on behind his leathers. One glance from her and his body was ready to show off its abilities to please a female. He clasped his hands together, trying to hide the bulge in his leathers. Keara’s face turned the color of her hair and she twisted around, holding her arms up for Jamie.

  Enar slapped Thoren in the chest. “Hey, stop staring at her arse and get to work. We need to put up camp.”

  “I wasn’t staring.” With effort, he turned to Enar. “What needs done?”

  Several minutes later, they had a fire going, bedrolls slung around the heat. Night moved in with a chill on the autumn air, making the crackling flames a cheery welcome.

  Thoren watched Keara eat as she tore off tiny bites, popping dried meat into her mouth. The tip of her tongue passed over her lips and his shaft twitched. He shifted and looked at Fafnir chewing on a deer carcass, effectively taking care of the growing-bulge-behind-the-leathers problem. Fafnir’s teeth ripped through flesh, splattering blood on the ground. Nothing sexy about that.

  And yet he still wanted Keara, the desire deepening as the evening progressed.

  He needed to return her home and go back to her village to find the rogue Draconi. Maybe then, he’d be able to control these emotions threatening to overwhelm his senses.

  An ache appeared in his chest at the thought of being away from her.

  He cursed. And he thought unlocking her powers would make these feelings better?

  Maybe not, but it would assuage the ache taking up residence below his belt. Was there a spell to make his leathers larger?

  Keara smiled at him and he knew what would happen tonight. She was his.

  ****

  Wriggling her toes gave such relief. A normal movement Keara took for granted until the drug caused all voluntary movements to cease. Tighten and release, tighten and release. Nice to know the leg muscles worked too. She fidgeted throughout their meal, happy with muscle movements.

  Glancing up, she saw Thoren staring at her, lust in his gaze. Heat flooded her cheeks and she looked at her shoes, toes tapping inside.

  Apparently, she could stop worrying about how to get him to notice her. He noticed all right, judging by the lustful look he gave her. She remembered the way he looked when he turned into a man, the way scales flattened into skin, limbs changing shape, the way his maleness hung heavy against his thigh. Unable not t
o notice that part, she had stared, and judging from the way it expanded, it noticed her too.

  Still did. Thoren shifted and looked over to Fafnir. Keara pulled apart another bite of the chewy meat substance and popped it into her mouth. The leathery meat gave her jaw a workout and caused her cheek to throb. As she chewed, she watched the others, watched Thoren and Enar talk in soft tones about their escape and if anyone followed them. Fafnir ate in the shadows of the campsite, which pleased her just fine. Hearing flesh tear followed by chomping noises was bad enough, seeing them...yuck.

  “I think he likes you,” Lily whispered before tearing off a bite of meat with her teeth.

  “Mmmph.” Hard to talk when one’s jaws cramped. Chew, chew, chew, swallow. “How’s Enar?”

  Lily blushed, her jaw tensing, relaxing. “Mmmph.”

  “Keara,” Thoren’s voice broke through the flickering flames of the fires, all power and heat. “I need to speak to you. Would you follow me?” Standing he gestured toward the woods behind the campsite.

  “Definitely likes you,” Lily muttered around a mouthful of leather-meat.

  All right then. So much for planning a seduction.

  Keara stood and placed her hand in Thoren’s. Her husband. Would he claim his rights now? His hand tightened around hers. Good-bye innocence.

  Following him into the shadows seemed right, like her entire life was made solely for this moment. Being kidnapped, drugged, almost raped made the desire to reaffirm life, to connect with him in the basest sense, a driving force. Thoren was here, now, and she wanted him beyond reason.

  “Sit.” He gestured toward a log.

  Seemed an odd place to have sex, but she sat on the log anyway. He knelt before her, grasping her hands.

  “I should have asked this last night, but didn’t realize the need would arise. If I had done this last night, then when Simon and the Draconi captured you, you would have been able to escape. I don’t think they’ll come after us, but if they do, I don’t want you to be vulnerable again.”

  The air collapsed around her, tightening, squeezing. He didn’t want her.

  “I ask you to allow me to unlock your powers.” His eyes bored into hers, begging, pleading.

  “My powers?”

  “Remember last night and I explained to you about the unlocking ceremony?”

  Oh, that. So much had happened since then she barely recalled Thoren’s explanation. “A bit. Would you go over it again?”

  “All right. All female Draconi have limited powers until they hit puberty. After puberty, they undergo a ceremony to unlock their powers. Sometimes certain powers manifest themselves earlier. Like moving objects by thinking about them—”

  “What about healing abilities?” What about her secret?

  “Sometimes. If the female is gifted in healing, then it will be noticed before her powers are unlocked. Are you thinking of your herbalist abilities?”

  No. “Yes.”

  “If you have a gift for them, then it could very well be that you have healing powers. Not all Draconi have the same powers.”

  “So how do the powers get unlocked?”

  Thoren smiled, a purely predatory grin. “All rites of passage are done by ritual.”

  “What other rites of passage are there?”

  “Unlocking a female’s power, when a male Changes—that is when he comes into his full powers, mating—you’d call it marriage, and bonding. Some are carried out with the help of a priestess and others are more private. Unlocking a female’s powers can be either. Many females go to the Temple for their ritual, but not all. It’s just fancier at the Temple.”

  “Fancier?”

  “You know. Baths, perfumes, special robes, the whole bag of grain. But it doesn’t have to be like that.”

  Her gaze held his. With her hand in his, she could feel his emotions, like a slight breeze, a ruffling of leaves. Lust, denial, lust, nervousness, lust, flowed into her, a brushing of thoughts.

  So he did want her. But what did unlocking her powers have to do with his lust? Her eyes narrowed.

  “What exactly does this unlocking ritual involve?”

  Thoren cleared his throat. “For our people, rituals bring one closer to the Goddess and in order to reach that pinnacle, the orgasmic experience is used. Besides, the Goddess gave us sex as pleasure and passion, what higher way to serve Her than to use sex in our rituals?”

  Close your mouth, Keara. He doesn’t want to view the back of your throat. “Truthfully?” Talk about a complete head turn from her town’s beliefs.

  “Yes. In order for me to unlock your powers, I have to lie with you.”

  “Don’t sound so nervous. Despite what you say, you married me in that square. I’m your wife. You can do with me as you will.” Maybe he didn’t want her, but she’d still get to experience what the whole sex thing was like.

  “I disagree, but let’s not argue. Will you allow me to unlock your powers, to join my body with yours?”

  He sounded so formal, like the words were part of a ritual. To borrow a word from Jamie—duh. Of course the words were ritualistic, they were undertaking a ritual. An odd ritual, but it didn’t matter. She’d take him any way she could get him.

  “I do.”

  His eyes glowed as he ran his thumb across her mark. “I’m glad.” His breath whispered against her cheek, setting off a series of shivers across her skin.

  “How does this work?” She congratulated herself for managing a whisper.

  “I link my energy to yours. It’s hard to describe.” That breath-in-the-ear thing he did sent tingles rushing through her veins, warming her soul. Good thing her butt was on the log as her knees felt as if they’d collapse.

  His thumb continued to circle her mark as his other hand grasped her wrist, thumb tracing her pulse point. “Are you ready?” His fingers stilled their motion.

  Definitely. “Yes.”

  “This might feel a little odd. Just relax.”

  Keara took a deep breath. Things that started with ‘just relax’ had a tendency not to end well. But so far, this felt good.

  A pulsing started in her wrists, creeping slowly up her arm, little tingles like ants crawling over her skin. She shifted her arms, but the tingles only increased, spreading to her shoulders. Keara tried to pull her wrists from his grasp, but Thoren tightened his grip.

  “Shh. It’s supposed to feel like that.”

  “It’s a creepy feeling.”

  “It’s just my magic searching for yours. It will feel better in a minute.”

  It better. Her entire body felt like she’d been immersed in a tub of creepy-crawlies, small tingles pulsing up her arms, down her legs, centering in her torso.

  With an audible pop, the energy changed. Instead of tingles like ant legs, the feeling altered, intensifying, as if a thousand hands stroked her body. Her head fell back, a moan leaving her lips, her legs falling open. Thoren moved closer and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

  The invisible hands stroked, touching her nipples, flaming her core. Over and over, each touch sending her higher, soaring toward a peak of pleasure. And then the sensations transformed into tongues, licking, sucking, pulling at her nipples, her core. Faster and faster, the raspy strokes a whirlwind of desire until she shattered into pieces, fragmented into pleasure.

  Thoren’s lips pressed against hers, his tongue licking across the seam of her lips. Opening to him, she touched her tongue to his, stroking against the velvety softness.

  Her first kiss.

  And she wanted more.

  Running her hands across Thoren’s shoulders, she pulled him closer, pressing his chest to hers. His hair brushed against the back of her hands and she drew her fingers through it, feeling the silky strands that slipped out of the leather band tied at the nape of his neck.

  One hand slipped under her tunic, a light touch stroking against her skin. Up and down, each stroke bringing his fingers closer to her breast, her hip, releasing tremors where they touched.


  Wrapping one arm around her waist, the other supporting her spine, he rolled backward, pulling her on top of him, cushioning her fall. She felt the tickle of his chest hairs as they pressed against her bare skin.

  Bare skin? Where were her clothes?

  Breaking the kiss, she pushed up until she could look him in the face. “Where are—”

  “Your clothes?” Keara nodded. “They’re next to us. I didn’t mean to frighten you. It just seemed the quickest way.”

  As if she’d admit to being frightened. Or embarrassed.

  “I just didn’t expect it, that’s all. I was busy enjoying myself.”

  Thoren grinned, all male and knowing. “You were now, were you? Well, I bet I can make you enjoy it even more.”

  “I’d like that.”

  “Good.”

  With a little bit of pressure on her nape, he pulled her lips down to his warm firm ones, his kiss full of need. Her skin became his, sensations passing from him into her and back again. Magic pulsed between them, circling around, passing through, until she didn’t know where she stopped and he began.

  Arching his neck, he pulled a nipple into his mouth, sucking, his tongue circling the nub. Pleasure streaked through her veins, riding on the wave of magic. Her core heated, growing wet, her hips moving back and forth across the ridge of his arousal. The tip of him caught on the folds of her core, pulling as she ground herself against him.

  So good, but not enough.

  Hands at her waist stilled her frantic motions. “You have to take me inside. The female controls the ritual.”

  She sat up, embarrassment over him seeing her breasts a fleeting emotion. Lust flared in his eyes, one hand squeezing gently, his thumb flicking over her nipple. A woman could learn to like that look, that lust in her man’s eyes. She did that to him.

  And the knowledge of that small power made her smile.

  How else could she please him?

  She stroked her fingers down his chest, brushing her thumb over his nipple, watching his jaw stiffen as his eyes closed. “How do I do that?”

  His lids snapped open. “You’ve never done this?”