by Marie Harte
Sudden pain slammed through her temple before she was lifted in large claws like a rag doll.
“Hmm, what is this? A bluefire demon that smells like my brother?”
She blinked up at a large snout, blood-red eyes spotted with gold, and a green-scaled face. The great beast looked as if he were grinning, but she couldn’t be sure. Perhaps that expression was one he used before eating?
“I’m Eve, and I’ve come to return—”
“Eve? Why didn’t you say so?” She dropped twenty feet to the ground and screeched, not at all comforted that he held her now in human arms instead of the dragon’s claw from before. “I’m Teban, a friend of James’.”
“Great. Look, I’d love to stay and chat, but if I don’t get out of here soon, Ranton is going to be all over me.”
“All over and inside you, I’d say,” Teban said with a grin. “Such a tasty little morsel. No wonder James never introduced us.”
“Yeah. And speaking of James, I really have to get back. He and Duncan are probably worried about me.”
“That brings up a good point.”
She studied Teban as he spoke, noting the differences between him and Ranton. They looked very much alike in human form. Both dark haired and golden of body, Teban was taller yet leaner, his face almost wolfish with a mischievous glint sparking his eyes. He wore nothing but the human skin he was in and looked equally impressive as his cock rose in appreciation of her naked state.
“I’d take you in a heartbeat, but you’re already marked. More’s the pity.”
“Marked? Forget it. I really have to get back.”
“I’m afraid you can’t. Not yet. Ranton’s in a fury, and if he tracks you to the Ordinary, we’ll have a major problem.”
“You don’t seem to understand. Asael gave me a job to do, and if I don’t do it, his wrath will fall from me onto you. Now stall your brother, mislead him, whatever. But let me go before hell literally falls in on your head.”
“Ah, I see your point.” He paused, staring down at her and as he realized he held her in his arms, he quickly let her go and stepped away. “I have to say, Eve, you have the most luscious body.”
She flushed, not used to any but her sways and occasional lovers seeing her thus.
“Thanks, I think.”
“I’m going to take you back, but you have to promise not to tell anyone who helped you.”
“My lips are sealed.”
He swallowed visibly. “Let me get you some clothes.” He pulled her behind him through a part of the rock wall around her that was in fact a door. A large space lit by flame illuminated a comfortable room. Animal hides littered the floor, as did large, soft cushions in green and gold. Glittering necklaces, baubles and coins were scattered throughout the room, even on the posts of his large bed.
“What is it with you guys? Does every dragon down here have a mammoth bed?”
“Only those of us who prefer comfort and pleasure over crude rutting.”
“Ah.”
She threw on the oversized shirt he gave her that reached mid-thigh, and waited while he donned black slacks and shoes and a green silk polo. He pointed to a second door away from the one they’d entered.
“Shall we go?”
“Uh, yeah.” But before they left, she paused. “You didn’t ask any questions, Teban. Almost like you knew why I was down here.”
He chuckled. “Your brothers told me all about it. I let them take the egg, knowing James would watch it. And since they only did it to teach you a lesson…”
“What lesson?” She could feel her eyes heating.
“Oh ho, evil Evie, as James likes to say. You really have the most beautiful fire. So blue.”
“Teban,” she warned, needing to leave, but needing to hear evidence of her brothers’ perfidy more.
“It was just a joke, Eve. Except Ranton’s involved now, and in case you missed it, he doesn’t have the best sense of humor.” Another roar shook the walls. “See what I mean? Anyway, James and Duncan told me how you got yourself in trouble trying to save a run-down elementary school from destruction a few months ago. Threatening the new owner of the lot, in public no less, violated several demonic rules, no?”
She scowled. “No one would have paid any attention to it if the angels had kept their snotty noses out of the mess.”
“I, for one, liked the fact that you made that bruiser piss his pants. Hey, a little demon fire never hurt anybody, right? But you made all the major headlines. Rumor has it you earned some time in the pit for it, too.”
Eve shuddered. She didn’t want to relive the torture her father had put her through. Even for a demon, some things, like falling forever through the air covered in spiders and scorpions that liked to bite and sting, could be more scary than hell itself. And her father still had yet to forgive her for that, though she thought it more likely he’d been scared of the repercussions on her had the archangels taken notice. So he’d been extremely firm making a point…she liked to think.
She shook off the past. “So, you’re saying James and Duncan tricked me into trying to save a dragon’s egg that wasn’t in any danger at all?”
“That’s about it.” Teban beamed. “Ready to go?”
“But what about the egg, I mean, Jentaron? Is he really okay?”
Teban’s smile froze. “What did you say?”
“Jentaron. Will he be okay? He was out of his nest for some time.”
“But James had him.”
She snorted. “Not when he was in the bar making eyes at a stupid blonde. Make that blonds.” The minute she said it, she wanted to retract her statement. Teban suddenly looked more like Ranton than she liked. Flames danced in his eyes.
“James left the egg alone?”
“But nestled in our demon fire. Honestly, only he, Duncan or myself could have retrieved him.”
The flame in his eyes faded at that. “And you know his name, the name of our new king.”
“Uh, yeah.”
“How?”
“How what? I knew the egg was a he because he told me. But Ranton told me Jentaron’s name.”
Teban stared, and then he grinned, his mouth so wide he looked to split his face. “This is just priceless. Promise me to hold off your announcement until I’m there. I wouldn’t want to miss Carmaron’s face when you tell her.”
“Tell her my brother’s stole the egg?”
“No, definitely not. Never mention that again. And whatever you do, don’t tell Ranton about James or Duncan. Now let’s get out of here before my little brother finds us.”
Before she could ask Teban any more questions, he had her out the door and darting straight up into the air, at speeds that made Ranton’s descent into the lower realm look like slow motion.
Ranton had followed her scent until the trail suddenly ended. Odd as it seemed, his sassa had vanished. He roared in frustration, his wrath making the rock walls crumble, but he didn’t care. That little demon had bested him. Him, the ruler of the Legion. And to add insult to injury, she’d left him before he could finish their bond.
The pressing need to find her fueled his fury, and he stomped around the corridors breathing fire and threatening any and all he met for information. But no one had seen her.
He passed another mass of red and black dragons, ignoring their questions as to why he remained in human form. Then he stopped. Teban must have heard his cries, yet his brother had yet to show his face.
Retracing his steps, he found Teban’s room and barged in unannounced. The scent of Eve hit him, so strongly he wanted to kill his own brother. The only thing keeping him somewhat sane was the absence of Teban’s scent marker, and the clamoring roar of Carmaron.
Shit. She must have learned of Jentaron’s disappearance.
“Ranton, to me now.”
Eve drew further away, yet the queen called. Fuck. He was going to seriously paddle his demon’s ass, not to mention fuck her senseless, when he found her again. And he didn’t even want to think
about Teban, lest his rage fly out of hand. Teban had a lot to answer for, thanks to Jentaron’s helpful information. No wonder the thieves had been successful in stealing the egg. They’d had his brother’s help.
Ranton quickly shredded his human clothing as he transformed into his beast. Thick black scales covered his body, and he breathed fire, inhaling the comfortable aroma of methane and sulfur that lingered under the scent of Eve’s touch still clinging to his body.
He flew down several passages, knocking several of his brethren over in his haste to reach an angry-sounding queen.
Entering her chamber guarded by two of his legion, he nodded at them and entered.
“Where have you been?” Carmaron shrieked in greeting. “One of my eggs has been stolen, by an Ethereal, no less.”
Ranton did his best not to roll his eyes. For all that he outmuscled and outweighed his mother, she could be a ferocious beast when riled.
“I have Jentaron. He’s safely nesting in my chamber.”
The terror in her eyes softened and she sniffed, fat red tears streaking down her gold face. “Jentaron? Then he’s ready to hatch?”
Ranton allowed himself to smile, pleased beyond measure with his new brother. “Yes. He’s ready.” Just waiting for a witch of a demon to return so he can sit against her bare breasts, skin to skin, as he grows.
“Then he was never taken in the first place? You had him?” She looked suspicious, but nowhere near the raving dragon he’d heard screeching through the walls.
“Yes. And the rumor about angels or demons taking him was just that.” Oh, Eve, you owe me for this. And you are dearly going to pay.
“Why, then, are we at war?”
“Not at war. In training. The Legion grows stale battling with tired demons and the blood elves. And the havoc, those monstrous carnivores, are too unstable to engage. Hell, rumor has it they eat their own. We needed a bit of new blood, and the angels provided that relief.”
She snorted with amusement. “Good thinking. Uriel in particular can be extremely vexing. He had the nerve to try to sway one of my young a few centuries ago. Can you believe that?”
“No, Mother.”
She shuffled toward him on tired legs, and he noted not for the first time how much she’d aged. Though dragons lived a long time, Carmaron had outlived the oldest by a thousand years at least. Her once golden skin now flaked with white, and her scales’ luminescence had faded.
Though she’d birthed over ten thousand young, only Ferna, Lier, Teban and Ranton had she kept as her own. And with Ferna and Lier having died years before Teban had been born, she only had two sons now to call hers. When she passed, Jentaron would have to find a queen to carry on the dragon line. Yes, it was time for his brother, the king, to come into the world. If only the stubborn little egg would ignore his need for Eve.
For some odd reason, Jentaron had taken an instant liking to the demon, and didn’t want to come into the world without her by his side. Not that Ranton could blame him. But the egg seemed to want her for an altogether, less platonic reason.
Most dragons only had sex to ease the ache of rage. Those anointed breeders did so to procreate, and were only allowed copulation with the queen or one of her approved broodings. But a few, like Ranton, liked the sexual act. He’d tried it in the human form on a lark when he’d reached his teens, and had found, to his surprise, that he liked it. Hell, he more than liked it. With Eve, he craved it.
Departing from his mother with a revered bow, Ranton left with all intention to find Eve. In less time than it had taken to mark her as his, she’d crawled under his skin and refused to leave. He loved the smell of her. Thoughts of her luscious, creamy body made him instantly hard. And the thought of not having her at his side made him want to kill something to ease that unrelenting ache.
What worried him more than anything was the fact that his need for Eve went beyond the physical. How could a dragon ache for a demon? It made no sense. Yes, they both shared a love for things dark and hot. Their world in the lower realm was comprised of black earth, hot, humid recesses of underground lairs and open fields of scorched vegetation. Beautiful in a barren kind of way, yet filled with life. Eve could appreciate a dragon’s existence. Yet she had a calling to walk among the humans, a practice banned by Carmaron several centuries ago. Too many of their kind had been killed by the humans—by the very creatures the Ethereal catered to day in and day out.
For his part, Ranton had never much cared either way about the mortals above ground. Looked on as food by some of his kind, the humans had always instilled in him a curiosity. But he’d found a new respect for them when he’d discovered human sexuality.
He hardened and found it awkward to walk as his dick dragged along the ground. Irritated that he had little control over his body, he rose high and flew through the wide corridors toward the main entrance/exit to the catacombs when he heard Jentaron.
Need to break free. Time to rise.
“Damn.” Another distraction to keep him from Eve. Yet this one he would cherish, the birth of his brother into his keeping, into Guardian claws.
He turned around and flew back into his chamber, lighting every one of the torches in his room with dragon fire. Then he sat in wait, whiling the hours it took to finally watch his brother peck through the egg into a whole new life.
He could still remember his own birthing, entering to find Teban waiting on him, the large green dragon’s eyes full of love and welcome. A fitting contrast to Carmaron’s constant harping and incessant screeching. A wonderful queen and breeder, she was, however, a terrible mother. But for all her faults, Carmaron admitted her failings. And it was with no small gratitude that Ranton thanked her for allowing his brother to raise him.
Jentaron would be his to raise, his to protect. Carmaron had chosen Ranton for that duty, yes, but Jentaron, in the end, had made the final decision. A royal egg, the new king, Jentaron had abilities that would sustain the dragons through the next several millennia.
As the minutes ticked by, Ranton became more and more aware of Jentaron’s frantic need to be near Eve.
Eve. Want my demon.
Ranton frowned at that, still not sure how to face what was coming all too soon. Jentaron had called to Eve. The king had chosen Eve, a demon, to help introduce him to the world. At first Ranton had thought Eve’s mention of demons as the dragon’s forefathers as nonsense, but Jentaron had immediately agreed. The little egg had begun singing softly to Ranton, telling him in no uncertain terms that Eve belonged to Ranton, and more, to Jentaron. But Ranton had a feeling his definition of “belonging” and his baby brother’s were two different things.
Not sure what to make of Jentaron’s feelings, Ranton blew a comforting breath over his brother and focused instead on the changes coming his way. Once Jentaron was born, his duty as commander of the Legion would be split. He would still train the dragon army, but when the time for battle came, his duty would be first and foremost to protect the king. As Guardian, it fell to Ranton to defend his charge, with his life if need be.
He would miss the rush of leading his dragons to battle, but found great satisfaction that he would help mold the future of his kind. Planning took his mind off Eve for a while, and as the hours passed, he fell into an easy rhythm, nudging his brother every so often to stimulate his need to break free from his boundary.
Jentaron continued to cry about Eve, but Ranton tuned him out. Had he not, he might have done something extremely stupid…like taking his birthing brother with him to find the evil woman.
Ranton couldn’t help a small smile at how completely she’d manipulated him. Though still pissed she’d knocked him flat on his ass, he felt pride that she’d been able to fool him, the Legion’s own general. And what a way to go.
She’d said she had power, but he’d been able to control her fairly easily, at least physically. Now he understood her success rate with her sways. Frowning, he wasn’t sure how he felt about her having sex with humans. Clinically, it was her
job, to push the humans one way or the other into the Decision. But now that he’d claimed her, she belonged to him.
He glanced at Jentaron, who screeched and fluttered within his shell. Eve belonged to Ranton…and to Jentaron. How that would play out remained a mystery, and that worried him. Ranton had bonded so quickly to Eve, and so fully, he wasn’t sure he could share her with another, even with another dragon. The thought of Teban anywhere near Eve still made him see red.
Jentaron cried out and the egg popped, distracting him. He blew a soft breath of fire over the sudden cold penetrating the heat within the egg, and his brother settled a bit.
Eve. Want my sassa…
“She’s not here, now, brother. Come out and we’ll find her together.”
No, want sassa.
Ranton frowned. Sassa was a concept only an adult should understand. He’d told Eve it was a term of affection, and it was. But it was also more than that. Sassa—dragon with a demon’s temper, keeper of dark flame, conjurer of desire. Most often used in sexual terms, and Jentaron spoke of her as if Eve would belong to him in that way. Ranton’s blood boiled with jealousy.
He wouldn’t tolerate sharing.
My sassa.
“No,” Ranton growled. “She’s mine, you little hatchling. Now stop playing and come on out. And if you want to see her again, you’ll abide by my command.”
Jentaron sulked but entered the world with one more break of his shell. He glittered, still stained with dragon fire, but looked almost…blue. Ranton stared, incredulous, at the first blue dragon born in over fifteen thousand years. Blue, just like the color of Eve’s shining eyes. Ranton grimaced, sensing prophetic doom. But as he stared at his new king, he couldn’t help the joy building within his being.
Cradling the tiny dragon in his claws, Ranton puffed a burst of Guardian flame over the hatchling, marking him as under Ranton’s protection. Jentaron chirped and fluttered his paper-thin blue wings that began to shine with silvery veins. Then he belched, a small hiss of gas that sparked off the hatchling’s claw striking stone.
Jentaron nuzzled his snout along Ranton’s, then surprised Ranton by leaping out of his claws to the ground. He watched, bemused, as his brother matured incredibly fast. Almost like a…demon. He had to step back as Jentaron took up more and more space, until the hatchling suddenly grew to a few feet shy of Ranton.
