Summer of Frost

by L. P. Dover

  I was the one starved and hungry as I savagely descended upon his lips, tasting and biting. While rubbing my sensitive breasts along his chest, I moved my core over his straining cock, teasing him.

  Drake gripped my hips and growled, “I want to be inside you, now.” His tone implied he was about to lose control, and as much as I wanted to torment him I couldn’t. I needed him too much.

  I lifted my hips slowly, only letting the tip of his erection graze my opening, before I gently lowered myself onto his pulsating cock. “Is that better?” I whispered hoarsely.

  He held my hips, rocking me gently back and forth, going slowly until my body accommodated to his size. He filled me completely, stretching me, but I needed more. Digging my nails into his shoulders, I slammed down on him as hard as I could. Drake bucked underneath me and took in a sharp breath. “I’m not going to last long with you doing that.”

  “You said it yourself earlier. Your need is too great to go slow … well, so is mine.”

  To stop him from speaking, I captured his lips and imprisoned his tongue with my own. My body rocked hard against him, and I could feel his cock straining with the first taste of orgasm. I rode him until the tingling in my core exploded all around me, clenching tight around his shaft until he couldn’t hold out any longer. He gripped my hips harder and bit into my shoulder as he came. The pain from his bite was arousing and made the aftermath of my orgasm that much sweeter as tiny tremors racked my body. Slowly, I stopped my hips from moving and collapsed on top of him, satiated and breathing hard.

  The mist of water from the wall around us sprinkled us with cold dew. It sizzled across my heated skin, which was now the color and warmth of Drake’s, not the pale and cold skin of the Winter Fae. When I focused on the swirling mist, I realized it wasn’t water sprinkling us, but magic, the magic of our land. Still connected, I sat up slowly and watched the blue swirling magic of my court flow through the room.

  Each court was different with its changes. Calista and Ryder got their crowns, Meliantha and Kalen got their glittery skin and tattoos, but I wondered was going to happen to me and Drake. Drake was already a Summer Fae, so I knew whatever was going to happen was going to happen to me. My body looked normal, except for my golden skin that used to be pale. Although, when I glanced down at Drake, I knew it wasn’t so.

  Drake grabbed my face with both hands and pulled me down to him, searching frantically over my face. He was amazed, shocked, and utterly surprised. “What is it, Drake? What do you see?” He opened his mouth and closed it, and then did it again. “What is it?” I asked again.

  “It’s amazing,” he breathed, staring at me in awe.

  I searched around the room for a mirror, and of course there wasn’t one. I had to know what would cause him to look at me like that. Only when I saw my reflection in the wall of water did I understand. Sitting up slowly, I slid off of Drake’s body and walked toward the girl staring back at me in the water. What I saw in the reflection was nothing like I expected. My mouth was wide open in shock, but my eyes … my eyes were no longer the same. As crazy as it sounded, I touched my face to make sure it was real, and blinked to see if my eyes would change back. They didn’t.

  “What does this mean?” I asked quietly, talking to myself.

  Drake came up behind me and kissed my cheek. “It means, my Queen, that I’m no longer alone or one of a kind in our land. With this change you’ll be as fierce as me and definitely one to be feared. Your cunning mind along with this gift will make you a scary thing to behold.” He smiled at me in the reflection. “The Summer Court has just gained another queen, and another … dragon.”

  My breath hitched at hearing him say it out loud. In that moment, Drake’s eyes mirrored mine. His gray eyes with the slit-like pupils stared back at me just like my green ones stared back at him in the reflection. My eyes were brighter, more dangerous, hiding the massive beast that lurked beneath.

  “I wonder what I’m going to look like, if I’ll be the same color as you or a different type of dragon altogether. How do I go through the change?”

  “I’ll show you how to do everything, don’t worry, and I’m sure you’re going to be a beautiful dragon. I never imagined I’d have another dragon to fly with after being alone for so long.” He padded over to the bed and took a seat, watching me in wonder.

  “How do you get your eyes to change back?” I asked curiously.

  Drake shrugged and smiled mischievously at me. “When your emotions are heightened it brings the dragon closer to the front. In this case, we were both sexually aroused and it looks like you still are. That might be why they haven’t changed.”

  I smirked, and raked my gaze over his still hard body. “I could say the same for you, you know.”

  “You’re right.” He nodded, beckoning me toward the bed with a crook of his finger. “It’s my time to make love to you.”

  The blue mist swirled around the room, bringing a whole new surge of energy, fueling me with desire. I glided back to the bed, ready to be devoured by my king, lover, and husband. Once I got into reaching distance, Drake grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the bed. Lowering me onto my back, he settled himself beside me.

  Whispering softly, he asked, “You’re not upset, are you? About the change I mean. It’s definitely something to get used to.”

  “I’m happy about the change,” I assured him. “It brings me a lot closer to you because now I’ll understand and be able to share this part of your life with you.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. Now let’s see if we can get those dragon eyes to disappear for a while.” He winked at me and climbed over my body, separating my legs with his knee. “I love you,” he whispered as he lowered his lips to mine, kissing me softly.

  His hard cock pressed against my opening, ready to take me with one hard thrust. Slowly, I wrapped my legs around his waist and whispered back, “I love you, too.”

  Drake kept his eyes on me the whole time he entered me, inch by inch, deeper and deeper until he was fully inside. His eyes flickered from dragon to normal with each thrust and I knew mine were doing the same. He pleasured me and teased me for the rest of the evening, until we were both exhausted from the stressful events of the past two days plus the many hours of our love making. Running my fingers through his hair, I watched him as he fell asleep. He looked so peaceful, and I knew he’d be waiting for me in the dream realm, ready for more.

  Once my eyes closed, I immediately entered into the dream realm.

  “Good evening, Princess,” the evil voice crooned lazily.

  “What the …” I was expecting to see Drake, and was shocked to see Alasdair standing right behind me. Narrowing my eyes, I scowled at him in disgust. “If you must know, I’m a Summer queen now. Surely, one of your spies has told you by now.”

  “Yes, I found out. Congratulations, by the way. I knew your idiot of an old lover wouldn’t be able to hold onto you for long.”

  With my arms across my chest, I glowered at him with all the hate in my body I could muster. “Why are you here in my dreams? I’m sure you can find other people to mess with that actually give a damn.”

  He smiled. “Oh, this is only going to be a one-time thing, although, I do find your witty banter humorous. I thought I would gloat a bit and tell you what I’m up to.”

  Impatient, I threw my hands up in the air. “I don’t care what you’re up to. You’re the one who must have something to prove since you want to throw it in my face. Are you trying to compensate for something lacking, sorcerer? Frankly, it’s pretty pathetic.”

  His smile instantly left and was replaced with rage. The next second he had my throat in his crushing grip, and pulled me to him. “My, my … you sure do have a sharp tongue for one who’s about to lose everything once I win this battle. See, this is the reason why I didn’t want another Winter bitch to fuck around with. You talk too fucking much.”

  “Thank the heavens for that,” I rasped.

  He snarled at me and let go. “I’
m done wasting my time with you. Now that I have the scroll, only I know where it’s located. So this time you won’t have a pathetic weakling who can tell you where it’s at.”

  “We’ll figure out something,” I said, determined.

  He bellowed, shaking his head. “Keep dreaming, Your Highness. While you all scramble around like idiots, I’m building a nice mortal army to destroy you. Just imagine what it would be like to have all those iron weapons here wreaking havoc on your weak faerie blood.”

  Gritting my teeth, I kept my mouth shut for fear of giving something away. I had a secret of my own, but there was no way I was going to gloat about it.

  “What, no comeback?” he teased. “I must’ve hit a weak spot for the mighty Sorcha not to have a retort. Very well then. On this note, I will leave you to your pathetic existence. Sweet dreams.”

  He disappeared quickly, leaving his evil stench behind as I stood alone in the vacant expanse of my dream. For now, I would let him think he had the upper hand, but really he was the one who was going to be made a fool of.

  The sound of Drake’s voice called me out of the dream world. “We have a busy day, beautiful. It’s time to wake up.” Groaning, I placed my hands over my eyes and rolled over. “Rough night?” he asked sarcastically.

  “Wonderful night … terrible dream.”

  Drake got off the bed and snatched his pants off the floor. “Yeah, it was terrible because I wasn’t in it. I thought you would come to me last night.” His gaze was playful, but I could sense he was curious as to why I didn’t show up in his dream.

  I sighed. “Trust me, I had no choice in my dream.” Slowly, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and took a deep breath. Drake wasn’t going to be happy when I told him the reason I didn’t visit him was because of the dark sorcerer. He was still putting on his clothes when I peered over my shoulder. “The dark sorcerer came to me last night, Drake.”

  Drake froze and narrowed his eyes, all playfulness set aside. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

  I nodded. “Yes, and I know it was a real dream and not something I imagined. Now that he has my power, I guess he can dream walk, too. Although, he did say it was only going to be a one-time thing. I guess I can’t really complain about that.”

  Frustrated, Drake ran his hands through his mussed up hair and came to kneel in front of me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and settled between my thighs. “He didn’t hurt you, did he? What did he say?”

  I kissed him on the lips. “Oh, just the usual. I have your power, I’m going to take over the world, and you’re all going to suffer … et cetera. Just the same old stuff he says every time he threatens one of us. He really wanted to gloat about the scroll, and how he’s hidden it again where no one other than him knows where it’s at. What really has me nervous is the fact he has mortals lined up to fight for him.”

  Drake’s eyes grew wide and furious. “What the fuck? We have to stop him before that happens.”

  “I agree. We need to tell everyone, but to be on the safe side we need it to be only our families, no one else. We don’t know who’s with us and who isn’t.”

  Drake nodded and rose to his feet. “Once you’re dressed we’ll go to shore and head to the palace. We’ll figure out what to do and go from there once we talk to everyone. Then, I want to come back here and start our life together.

  I grinned. “Me too.”

  Once I was dressed, the water began to open the path for us like it did when we came in. Drake took my hand, and we started up the sandy walkway. When it fully opened up to shore, we saw that we had some visitors waiting for us. Calista and Ryder were both grinning from ear to ear at our approach. My brother looked dashing in his all black attire being the smoldering bad boy of my family. Calista, on the other hand, looked ethereal with her wavy, blonde hair and emerald green riding dress that matched both mine and her eyes.

  “Sorcha, you look amazing!” Calista exclaimed when I got closer.

  Once Drake and I were on shore, she rushed over and hugged me and then moved to her brother. Ryder kissed me on the cheek—taking hold of my hands—and pulled them out from my sides. “Well, I guess it all makes sense now why you tried going to the tanning bed a few years ago. You must’ve always been meant to be a Summer Fae.”

  I chuckled. “I believe you’re right, dear brother. Except now no tanning beds are necessary.”

  Drake pulled me into his side and placed his arm around my shoulder. He looked at Calista and Ryder, and asked, “What are you two doing here? We were actually getting ready to head back to the Summer Palace.”

  “No need for that,” Calista explained. “Everyone is coming here. When Oren showed up and explained what happened, Father had us all summoned. Once I felt the land shift, I knew things had changed here. I couldn’t wait any longer to see it for myself.” She paused and glanced around in awe at what was now a tropical paradise. Exotic trees lined the white sandy shoreline, and the water … it was bluer than any body of water I’d ever seen. “I never thought in my life that this would happen. We have two Summer Courts now, or at least an extension of it. Your land is absolutely breathtaking.”

  “Thank you,” Drake and I said simultaneously, smiling.

  “How is Brayden?” I asked Ryder. “I knew he was injured in the battle and taken back to the Spring Court. I never had the chance to see if he was okay.” Ryder shrugged and glanced over at Calista with a strange look on his face.

  Calista snorted and burst out laughing. “Your brother is doing perfectly fine. I think he got a little more than he bargained for, though. Except, I don’t think he’s handling it as well as all of us had.”

  Confused, I eyed them both and asked, “What do you mean by that?”

  Ryder sighed. “It appears our brother just had his vision with the lovely Ariella.”

  “What?” I shouted, excited. “This is definitely a momentous occasion. How did it happen?”

  Calista grinned and answered, “It happened when she and Brayden were saying good-bye at the Spring Court. They made contact and had their vision right there in front of everyone. I heard Brayden turned all shades of red after that, and quickly walked away. I’d say this turn of events is very interesting.”

  Drake bellowed. “Oh, I can imagine. Ariella is a handful. I hope Brayden knows what he’s getting into. Although, I’m pretty sure she was pissed if he just walked away from her.”

  Calista grabbed my hand and led me over to the water’s edge. “I’m sure they’ll do just fine with each other. Brayden wouldn’t be her match if they couldn’t.” She paused and furrowed her brows, raking her gaze back and forth, clearly concentrating on something. “Okay, enough about visions. I think it’s time we built up your palace. After all, everyone’s coming to see you. With my magic and your brains we could come up with something spectacular. What do you say?”

  Calista’s grip on my hand was tight and reassuring, and her magic was so strong I could feel it pulsing throughout my body. She glanced at our clasped hands. “It’s crazy, isn’t it? When our powers combine like this it’s the most amazing feeling I’ve ever felt. Just think of what I, you, Mel, and Ariella could do if we all combined our power.”

  “We would be invincible,” I breathed.

  Drake took that time to grab my other hand while Ryder took Calista’s other. “Are we ready?” Calista asked, raising her eyebrows at me and Drake. “All you have to do is concentrate on what you want, and it’ll happen.”

  I smiled at them all before closing my eyes. “Let’s do this!”

  Drake and Ryder welcomed our families while Calista helped me change clothes and get ready. “I’m sorry that Alston betrayed you. I know it had to be hard with losing your memories and all,” Calista murmured gently while buttoning up my dress. The one shoulder masterpiece was sea blue … Drake’s favorite color on me.

  “It was really hard. I hate to think about what would’ve happened if I didn’t get my memories back.”

  “Thankfully,
you don’t have to worry about that.” When she finished buttoning my dress, she turned me around to face her. “You know, when Ryder and I had our vision Drake swore that he’d never be in a situation like that. He thought our love was ridiculous and sappy. I probably need to give him hell like he did me and Meliantha, don’t I?”

  “Definitely!” I agreed.

  We both began laughing. Suddenly, I felt the connection in my mind open up, signaling that I wasn’t alone. “Everyone’s waiting, ai dulin,” Oren called out silently.

  “Calista and I are almost done here. We just need a couple more minutes. How are my parents?”

  Calista watched me with a sad, knowing smile lingering on her face. She turned her head away and walked over to the window, keeping her back to me.

  “They’re anxious to see you, but so is everyone else. Drake just told everyone about you being a dragon now.”

  In my head, I laughed. “I knew he couldn’t wait to tell everyone about that.”

  “I guess it’ll be you protecting me from now on. My, my, how the tables have turned. I don’t think I’ve ever had to protect you.”

  “That’s not true,” I argued. “You’ve always been there for me, and anyway, what’s wrong with protecting each other? I can’t help that you’ve been sworn to protect a girl who has the brains to get her out of sticky situations on her own. You don’t always have to be the protector, you know.”

  “Yes I do, ai dulin,” he insisted. “Now get yourself down here before your mother comes looking for you.”

  “Will do.” When I knew he was done talking, I focused my attention back on Calista. Her back was still to me, but her shoulders were hunched over and quaking.

  “I envy you, and Meliantha,” she cried, her voice quivering when she spoke.

  I sauntered up beside her and watched the tears flow down her cheeks. I’d never really spent much time with her before, but being so close to her made it feel as if she was truly my sister. It was a feeling I’d never had before growing up with only brothers. Calista was always so strong, but anyone could see that she still held the pain in her heart of her lost guardian.