by Alix Nichols
“Assuming everything you just said is true, how do you plan to nab the dragon before Voqras does?”
“You know how I like to have eyes in various places, right?” Ultek smiled into his mustache. “The clever me happens to have a pair in the dragon’s family home.”
Lord Boggond jerked his head back. “You know who he is?”
“I do, Your Grace.”
“Who?”
“Haddu Gokk’s oldest, Geru Gokk.”
Lord Boggond stared Ultek in the eye. “Capture him.”
“I will.” Ultek dipped his head once, spun around and marched away.
4
Marye was staring out her room’s open window when her commlet beeped. It was Etana. Marye had messaged her earlier today.
“Still loving the space station life?” she asked Etana after they exchanged greetings.
“Oh, yes. LORSS is great.” Etana sounded happy. “Mind you, with Areg around, I think I’d enjoy myself anywhere. Maybe even in hell.”
“Be careful what you wish for!” Marye warned her with a laugh.
She was genuinely happy for Etana and Areg even if her joy wasn’t entirely selfless.
Until recently, Marye had considered Etana her rival.
Trapped in the friend zone, she’d had to endure Geru’s gushing about how special Etana was, and how much he admired her. He’d had no idea his effusions were hurting her.
Yes, she was a noble-born, and yes, she was his mother’s favorite young woman in Eia, the daughter of Dame Gokk’s childhood friend. She was miles above Etana socially, and a much more suitable bride for Geru. But it was the brave and slender Etana who’d earned his worship, while the buxom Marye… Marye was his confidante.
In that capacity, she’d had the honor of being the first to hear about his plan to propose to the object of his veneration. It was the worst moment of Marye’s life after Mother’s passing.
But then Etana surprised everyone by giving her heart to another man. A man on death row, as it happened. At the time, Marye couldn’t wrap her mind around Etana’s choice. Not so much because of the hopelessness of falling for a condemned man, but because… Because Geru, dammit. How could anyone not pick him when given the choice? How could anyone prefer another man—no matter how heroic or noble—to Geru “Frigging Glorious” Gokk?
“Is everything OK?” Etana asked, bringing Marye back to the present.
“Absolutely. Um, well, as much as it can be in Eia these days.”
There was a brief pause.
“I wanted to ask you a favor,” Marye said. “But only if you have time.”
“Tell me.”
“You have access to what’s its name archives, don’t you?”
“ERIGAT.” Etana giggled. “The Establishment for the Regulation and Inventory of Gifts and Traditions. I go there every day to search for information, a record, anything that could shed light on my elusive gift.”
Judging by the palpable frustration in Etana’s voice, she hadn’t had much luck yet.
“While you’re there, could you look for a reliable source on dragon shifters?” Marye asked in a small voice. “Not fairytales, but accounts.”
“Um… I thought dragons were a myth?”
“I thought so, too.” She hesitated. “I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you more at this point. It could be nothing.”
To be more exact, it could be the first case of insanity in the Atiz family.
“Not to worry,” Etana said. “You’ll tell me when you’re ready. Whatever ERIGAT has on dragons, I’ll dig it up and comb through it.”
“Are you certain it’s not too much trouble?”
“Quite the contrary. It’ll be a relief to research something so specific, as opposed to not really knowing what I’m looking for,” Etana said excitedly. “And, given how thorough Dann is—that’s the curator of this archive—I’m sure all the dragon-related records are nicely indexed and cataloged.”
“Thank you so much! I’m in your debt.”
They hung up, but not before Etana assured Marye once again that she was actually grateful for her request.
The odds that Etana would unearth something on dragon shifters were tiny. But Marye didn’t know what else to do, seeing how clueless Geru was. Besides, with dragons believed to be a fantasy, there was a chance that no one had gone through the ERIGAT records with an open mind. Hopefully, Etana would.
A rustle of leaves and branches outside drew Marye’s attention. The Atiz mansion sat on top of a hill with gardens around it and a big lawn in front. The lawn where a dragon was currently alighting.
As always, Marye’s breath caught at the sight of the beast. So big, so wholly unhuman—and yet so beautiful! His reddish-golden scales shimmered in the reflected light of the moons and garden lamps. His body was lean and lithe, complete with a long, powerful tail and a pair of amazing wings.
Given his size and brutal strength—the strength he’d unleashed on the summer house last night—the dragon was incredibly agile when he wanted to be. Like right now.
He landed quietly, his giant body as nimble as a cat’s.
But it was what came next that still left Marye openmouthed, no matter how many times she’d seen it.
The dragon began to change.
First, his wings and his long tail withered. Then his limbs and the bulk of his body shrank, while he squirmed in discomfort. Geru—not the old one, but this Ra-dragon one—had explained to her that changing from dragon to Ra-dragon was nothing compared to the reverse transformation. That one was truly rough. Which was why he always took care to find a secluded spot before shifting to dragon. He didn’t want people to hear him wail.
Right now, an improbable hybrid of man and beast crouched in the middle of the lawn under Marye’s window. His body was already humanoid, but his head was still a dragon’s. He craned his neck and growled low, the sound gradually becoming less animalistic, more like a groan. His throat morphed. In the next moment, he bared his fangs and grimaced as his elongated muzzle pulled back, becoming a face.
The Ra-dragon stood, stretched his long, well-muscled limbs, and pushed his broad chest out as he drew in a deep breath.
Sweet Aheya. If Ra-human Geru had been as hot as a furnace, then in his Ra-dragon form, he was a living god.
This had to be what the Original Ra looked like.
Not that she—or anyone, for that matter—had ever seen a real-life Ra. In people’s minds, the appearance of the original race of Xereill was based on illustrations in history books. Those illustrations, in turn, were inspired by the ancient rock art on the homeland planet, Ramoh, and by the Sovyda frescoes. She’d read about them. The most vivid and best preserved life-size representations of the Ra before the Human Infusion were supposed to be mind-blowing.
That was exactly what the naked man walking toward the house looked like. Mind-blowing.
Curiously, he had features no book ever mentioned. Retractable claws and fangs, for example. Or the unexpectedly embossed feel of his smooth reddish-golden skin. Not to mention his bright orange, glowing eyes with vertical slit-shaped pupils, which made Geru’s face—a face she’d known all her life—look both familiar and different.
When he reached the mansion, the Ra-dragon grabbed the railing and jumped onto the high porch, not bothering with the steps. Then he climbed the wall to Marye’s third-floor window with a graceful ease present in everything he did. Marye ogled him, mesmerized.
A brief moment later, he sat on the ledge of her window, grinning. “Greetings, my mate. I am happy to see you!”
His voice had a deeper timbre, but it was Geru’s. She’d bet on it.
“Hello, Geru.” Marye grinned back.
“Are you well? Are you in need of anything?”
Marye shook her head, forcing herself to look away from his massive, fully erect member. She knew exactly what he was in need of.
Tilting his head to the side, he plunged his golden gaze into hers. “Why do you always call me Geru?�
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“Because that’s your name.” Marye moved over so he could get down. “You just don’t remember it.”
“So you keep telling me, but you’re wrong. I don’t have a name.” He swung his legs down and stood in front of her.
She drew backward.
He stepped forward, his smoldering gaze traveling over her body, lingering on her breasts and hips, ravenous.
Marye’s heartbeat picked up and a happy thrill coursed through her veins. Oh, how she loved this part! The first embrace they shared after a separation always left her ecstatic, slightly dizzy, and all soft inside. Even if he’d been away for just a few nights, she relished the moment he would wrap his arms around her and nuzzle her face, murmuring hot words against her skin. That moment meant the world to her. Its tenderness helped her endure what came next—the unpleasant part, the part she’d gladly skip if she had the option.
Gripping her shoulders, he pulled her into him.
Ooh… The feel of his strong, big body surrounding hers, the warmth of him, the heady scent of his skin… Marye’s own skin prickled in response, and her eyelids drooped.
“I missed you, my mate,” he murmured, gripping the back of her head. “I missed you so much!”
“Can you call me Marye, please? Remember how I explained that it’s what everyone calls me? How people have names—one part handed down through families, and one part given during the Nine Blessings.”
His blank stare told her he didn’t remember.
Doubt swelled in Marye’s heart again. Despite his undeniable resemblance, how could this improbable creature be Geru? How could it be real?
She placed her hands on his chest and drew back a little. “Pinch me.”
“Why?”
“Just do it, will you?”
He pinched her upper arm lightly.
Nothing.
She did feel the pinch, but maybe it hadn’t been hard enough.
“Pinch me again,” she ordered. “Harder.”
He knit his brows, confused. “Why?”
“Because… The past two seasons… what’s happened to me, what’s been happening between us? It’s so unreal I’ve started thinking maybe it’s just very vivid dreams.”
“Do I appear strange to you?”
She nodded.
He took her hand in his. “Truth be told, I appear strange to myself.”
Marye’s chest squeezed with pity.
She could only imagine how hard and confusing it was for Geru to live like that, stripped of his past, of his identity. A slave to urges he had no control over. To have his body transform in such a fundamental way, and so often. To know so little about himself and next to nothing about the world around him.
She stroked his cheek. “I wish I could do something to help you. If I could find an explanation to this, then maybe I could—”
“I’m real, my mate.” Gripping her hand, he pressed her palm against his solar plexus. “You are real. Our bond is real.”
Ah, the bond.
“What does that mean, Geru?” She searched his face. “What does the bond mean to you? How do you know we’re bonded?”
“Because I always come to you, no matter what. Because I welcome the agony of the transformation, knowing it’ll bring me to you. Because I always find you. Because I’m dying to—”
He pressed his lips together as if unable to utter what he’d meant to say. Instead, his gaze zeroed in on her throat, his irises glowing brighter. Then his eyes shifted to hers, a fervent, desperate plea in them.
Was he dying to plunge his fangs into her throat and bite her? Was he aware it would hurt her, maybe even kill her? In the fog of his madness, did he know she wasn’t a Ra-dragon like him? Did he realize her skin was flimsy compared to his and her body so much more fragile?
Was he fighting his urge?
She had to help him. “Kiss me,” she said, cupping his cheek.
That uncomprehending look again.
No matter. She’d explain again. “Press your lips to mine.”
He did… for something like a second. Then he gave the seam a tentative lick and then another as if he wished to slip his tongue into her mouth.
Another outlandish Ra-dragon thing? She pursed her lips.
Grunting his disapproval, he set about licking her face instead. The feel of his velvety, extra-long and extra-strong tongue against her skin, combined with his hands gripping the back of her head, was not unpleasant. He drew her closer, stroking her hair, her back, her shoulders. He was still hard. She could feel his ridge prodding her tummy. In fact, he’d never stopped being hard.
And so Marye gave up. “Make love to me.”
She didn’t need to ask twice.
He grasped her waist and lifted her so her eyes were at the same level as his. Holding her like that, he strode to the bed.
The Ra-dragon had carried Marye many times, but never in the romantic manner of picture books. The way he did it was both keener and more pragmatic. That was how he’d treated her since their first time together as a Ra-dragon and his mate. It was how he’d taken her since their first night together as man and woman.
Come to think of it, the Ra-dragon never used the term “lovemaking,” even if he understood its meaning, having heard it from Marye so many times. Mostly, he referred to the act as “mating.” Sometimes as “breeding.” He didn’t know why he used those words, except that it was the way of “his kind.”
He lowered her onto the bed and flipped her around, so she was on her knees with her back to him. Familiar with the drill, Marye, grabbed the hem of her nightgown and pulled it over her head. The first few times, Geru had ripped it off her, ruining four or five beautifully embroidered numbers. Since then, she’d learned to act preemptively.
She heard him growl when she presented her bared back to him. A large, warm hand stroked her from the small of her back up to her neck, and then back down to the space between her shoulder blades, where it stayed for a brief moment. Then it bore down until her breasts and one cheek were flattened against the mattress.
Leaning in, he pressed his thickness against her backside.
Marye trembled with the habitual mixture of excitement and apprehension.
She was thrilled by the hungry, possessive way he claimed her body, murmuring how much she pleased him, how tight and delicious she was, how he’d do anything for her, how he’d die for her if she asked him to. Those were hot, ardent, passionate words, and she loved them. She loved the notion that she and Geru—the man she’d carried a torch for all her life—joined their bodies as lovers.
What she loved much less was the act itself.
Even though it never hurt as badly as the first time, the friction was still unwelcome, and his shaft still felt too large.
Sometimes she wondered if there was a way to make this easier and more pleasurable for her. Unfortunately, none of the books in the vast Atiz library contained the slightest clue on the subject. What with Mother being ill for so long and Marye refusing to leave the house for more than an hour at a time, she’d been homeschooled by governesses and missed the opportunity to glean wedding night tips from classmates who had older sisters.
The Ra-dragon wasn’t much help, either.
When he embraced her, and pressed his lips to hers, she’d begin to feel an achy heaviness in her lower abdomen. The sensation was strangely enjoyable. But then her face would become too wet from his licking, and she’d laugh and push him away and go to the bathroom to wash it. When she’d come back, he’d want to mount her immediately. Her body would go stiff, and the pleasantly achy pull in her groin would disappear.
Sometimes, Marye wondered if she should ask him to take her in some other way to see if she’d like it better.
But she doubted any other way was technically possible. Domesticated animals, wild animals, even insects—all living creatures did it the Ra-dragon way. One day she might muster the nerve and ask Nyssa or Etana if this was also the Ra-human way or the only Ra-human way. She
suspected the answer would be yes. Why would Ra-humans do it any differently?
And while Etana and Nyssa adored their men, it was possible they didn’t enjoy lovemaking any more than Marye did.
Enough self-pity!
If those few moments of discomfort were the price she had to pay to have Geru spend the night hugging her in her bed, she’d gladly pay it, over and over again.
He positioned himself against her entrance, gripped her hips, and thrust forward. She held her breath, feeling him penetrate her with first the bulbous head and then the rest of his member, inch by thick inch. The friction abraded her inner walls. Before she dared to inhale again, he pushed in hard, burying himself in her to the hilt.
She grimaced. Breathe. It’ll be over soon.
He began to thrust.
She braced herself and kept still, doing her best not make a sound.
A few minutes later, he groaned low, spilling his seed inside her, hot and abundant.
Thankfully, Marye didn’t need to worry about that.
Last time she talked to Nyssa, her friend told her how happy she was to finally have level-two contraceptives. The local alternative, blue cosh tea, had been making her much too sick. The following day, Marye purchased enough dried blue cosh to protect a small town. It didn’t make her sick. All was well.
When Geru pulled out, she dashed to the bathroom and then returned to the bed where he drew her into his strong arms. She smiled, settling into his embrace and breathing in his delicious musk. This was the best part. It redeemed everything else. It was what she lived for.
He hugged her, murmuring how lovely his mate was, how much she’d pleased him and how satisfied she’d made him.
She stroked his chest, tracing the striated pattern of his skin with her fingertips. “Will you be back tomorrow night?”
“I have to stay on Norbal for the rest of this week.”
“What was it again you did there?”
He frowned. “I cannot remember. All I know is that it’s a matter of survival for people I care about… and that it’ll come back to me once I’m there.”
“How will you go to Norbal?” she asked. “Have you found a cruiser or a private spaceship? Do you have a ticket?”
