by A. K. Koonce
John’s gait is slower now as he comes back to my side.
“He said…” John pauses as if it pains him to say what he’s about to say. “He said he’d like you and your beast to come inside.”
I tilt my head.
“Did you tell him my pet has grown a little since he saw him last?”
John nods apologetically. The men slowly lower their swords, but they keep a close eye on us as I hesitantly walk toward the front doors. It’s a wide entrance. Two doors are opened at the center for us by two pretty women who watch Rime with wide and fearful gazes.
“Be-have,” I say to the dragon through clenched teeth.
I pretend not to worry if my sweet little pet will take out the front door with his long white horns. Or if he’ll open his wings at just the right moment and wipe out the castle walls entirely. I act like he is the perfectly tamed beast that I say he is.
An open room with only a table at the center is before us. The glossy white tiles lead to a curving staircase on the left that disappears into the second floor. It’s all very shining, beautiful and, of course, expensive. The gleaming chandelier at the center of the large room is like money itself hanging from the ceiling. It’s all gold detail and too many parchels wasted just to demand attention from its viewers.
The doors close with a loud thump, and only when we’re secluded and alone do I turn to him. I double-check the massive wooden doors, my gaze flickering over every brick to make sure all is as it should be.
The dragon’s wings are tucked in tightly and he waits with stiff posture, his gaze peering down at me momentarily.
Hmm, he’s being oddly obedient.
Maybe I have tamed him well after all.
From behind me, footsteps sound high above on the stairs, somewhere on the second floor it sounds like.
Rime’s either trying to get back on my good side or—
Right before my eyes the large dragon begins to swirl in a cloud of pale smoke. My lips part with terror.
Please no.
I check over my shoulder. No one’s here.
But those footsteps are growing closer by the second.
When I turn back around, there before me, in all his fucking beautiful nakedness, is Rime. A cruel smile pulls at his full lips as he tilts his head at me to glare down on me from beneath his thick lashes.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“Change back.” I point aimlessly at the ground, my foot stomping against the smooth white tile.
“No.” His arms fold across his chiseled chest. “I think I look better like this, don’t you agree?” He lifts his arms as if to show me the full package.
As if I haven’t seen his full fucking package a dozen times now.
“You’re going to get us killed. Change back.”
“You’re not a very nice person, Arlow. Neither am I.” His speech spikes fear into me with every second that passes. “Do you think your perfect Prince would be angry to find you with a naked man instead of the fierce dragon you promised him?”
The footsteps become louder and, when I realize the asshole isn’t going to be the good fucking pet that I pretend he is, I grip his arm. In a rush, I shove him into the closest closet.
I could use my magic to lock him in there. I could silence him with a wave of my hand. And explain this all to Linden with the most logical of excuses.
Until Rime grips my wrist and pulls me into the closet with him.
I peer out at the Prince’s shining shoes that I can barely see coming down the curving staircase. With my heart pounding, I do the only thing I can think of: I close the door.
Darkness secludes us, but it doesn’t seem to change the fact that I know he’s smirking. My arms fold across my chest as I listen intently.
“We should probably be quiet,” he stage whispers just as the steps outside come to a halt.
“Please do not say a word,” I say under my breath.
A dominant step brings his body flush against mine. His chest presses against my breasts, and I tip my head up at him to see the shadows of his sharp features.
“I won’t say a word.”
The warmth of his body seeps into mine, attempting to distract me with his nearness.
His head tilts and I tense in confusion as his lips brush the side of my neck. A shaking breath claims my lungs. I snap my mouth closed as his tongue sears over my throat before he presses another slow kiss to my collarbone. I feel that kiss in a much deeper place but the confusing way my body reacts to his annoys me as well as intrigues me.
I know this is a testing and tormenting game he’s playing. But all I can think about is how good his hands feel locked around my hips even as the Prince’s voice cuts through the darkness.
Rime’s distracting; too distracting, and too good with his mouth. I think he’s right; we’re both terrible people who keep throwing each other into terrible situations. His nipping teeth against my neck feels like a test to see if I’ll out myself rather than allowing him to do it. I’m not going to. I still have a chance at the money that will build my future. And I refuse to let Rime ruin that for me because his tongue is more talented than I ever realized.
“Where is she?” the Prince asks.
Big palms push against my breasts from over my shirt, his thumbs rubbing slow circles over my nipples.
“Don’t make a sound, My Tamer. Wouldn’t want your Prince to catch you being mauled by a dragon.” Warm hands push down the collar of my shirt until his rough palm brushes against my breast.
Mauled by a Dragon. I nearly roll my eyes but, instead, my eyes roll back in my head as his mouth covers my nipple entirely. A hushed gasp parts my lips as my head tips back against the wall.
He thinks he’s so fucking smart.
This was a set up all along. He had no intention of going with the Prince.
My fingers push against his hair, holding his head in place as he sucks hard before rolling his tongue against my sensitive skin.
A shaking moan hums through me, and it’s then that I make a choice.
Like I said, I only use my magic in life or death situations. This feels like one of those times, I think.
With a wave of my hand, dark smoke eases from my palms. It’s unseen among the shadows, but I feel it as it veils us.
Rime doesn’t seem to see it. And I’m not going to make him aware of it.
I’m not going to distract him. Who am I to interrupt him when he’s showing his talents?
“You taste so fucking good.” The rasping sincerity in his voice hums along my skin, making me shift against him.
My skirt brushes against my thighs as he lowers himself. His soft lips press to my abdomen. His teeth rake sharply against my lower stomach as he pushes my thin skirt and underwear down. When the skirt pools at the floor, he takes my thigh and pushes it up until my foot is propped against his smooth shoulder.
The pounding of my heart is all I hear until the Prince’s voice distracts me for only a moment.
“Just go look for her. I’ll wait here.”
“Fuck,” I whisper.
A humming laugh shakes through Rime
I almost say the angry thoughts that are flooding my mind. Until a cold breath fans against my inner thigh. Tingles rush all through me. Rough palms grip my hips as his lips skim ever so lightly against my skin just above where I want him most. Another cool breath sends a shiver across my flesh before a heated and searing breath consumes my sex. He’s toying with me, and it’s making me crazy.
I’m nearly shaking and he hasn’t even touched me yet.
His mouth presses against my sex, and he licks me hard, spreading me with his tongue, swirling against my clit until I cry out just like he wants.
My magic holds on to every sound I make, holding it close for only us to hear. It intensifies every shaking breath I take, and the sounds of my pleasure only seem to fuel him on.
He groans against me, and the feel of it shakes into me, making my legs weak. Palms push against my ass, and he hold
s me to his mouth as he devours me so deeply I can’t seem to catch my breath. His mouth fucks me in a carnally rough way. His tongue rolls against my folds before he sucks hard, his teeth scraping just enough to make my sex clench forcefully with the intensity of my orgasm. The moment I come, the moment my sex starts to clench around nothing, he sucks harder. His tongue seems to move quicker now, tasting every part of my orgasm until I can’t even think straight.
His name is like a curse on my lips as I rock my hips against his mouth once more before relaxing into the feel of the release.
“So fucking good.” One more chaste kiss slides against my sex and I can’t decide if it feels romantic or animalistic.
He finally lowers his hands from my body, and I feel the space between us like it’s more distance than I’ve ever seen.
My breath comes in heaps as I wait for my heartbeat to settle within my chest. That sparking energy is alive between us, making me feel more connected to him than I am with even myself.
I suppose I was wrong about Rime knowing a little too much about what a fake orgasm sounds like …
The sound of my heavy breaths is all there is until the Prince speaks once more.
“You’re sure it was her?”
“Is there another woman walking around the Kingdom with an forty-foot dragon, my lord?”
Ouch. John needs to watch his tone.
Seconds tick by before logic seems to settle in.
“He … didn’t hear you?” Rime’s voice is nothing short of amazed.
“Well, it wasn’t that good, to be honest.” The lie is spoken casually even when my weak knees nearly give out as I bend to pull up my skirt.
His breath is against my cheek when I stand, his body heat washing into me.
“Yeah, I know you’re ridiculously hard to please, but your pussy isn’t. I know what it feels like, sounds like, and tastes like when a woman comes on my mouth.”
My breath catches, unable to even think after the words he just spoke. Before my poor little mind has a chance to even think of a reply, the door swings open and Rime stalks out, his firm ass basking in the sunlight as he strides right up to the Prince.
The arrogant dragon dick is in for a rude awakening.
The Prince’s gaze turns toward the open closet, looking right at me but not seeing me from beneath my magic. Quietly, I sneak out. Rime is still staring eye to eye with the Prince.
I bet the beautiful dragon has never felt overlooked in his entire gorgeous life.
He’s about to find out what that feels like.
John is just walking through the open door as I wander outside.
Rime turns his head one way and then the other as the Prince stares through him. I have no more hiding left. He’ll realize it soon enough.
This is my goodbye.
This is how my story ends with these dragons. And what a sendoff he gave me. Well done. He is my favorite after all.
A scowl tilts his lips, and it’s like I can literally see everything in his little, slow-turning mind.
The way his jaw tics holds my attention for a moment before I finally meet his eyes. I stand in the warm sunlight just outside the castle doors. He stands in the center of the room, sending glaring hate toward me from several yards away.
“You’re the fucking mage?”
A gnawing sort of guilt sinks through my stomach even as I push a smile in place against my lips. I force the magic within me, demanding that it surface. I need it now more than ever. I hold my middle finger up, and my lips press together as I blow him a mocking kiss.
Just before inky smoke wafts around me, pulling me away from the mess I’ve made in an instant.
Chapter Sixteen
The Mage
When I land in my shack, I start dumping money into my satchel. The thing looks empty and small, but the inside of it expands with magic with every fistful of money that I toss into it. I sit on my knees attempting to put every parchel I have inside. Money slips from my fingers and I scramble after it. My knee slices against a rusting nail as I trail after the mess of money.
Kain and Chaos stand around me passing each other confused glares as I race through the house like a madwoman.
His roar is heard before he’s seen. The sound of it chills the air. My heart sinks as I realize how many thousands of parchels I’ll have to leave behind.
His bare feet are storming across the room, and I have to physically race away from him to try to get to my bag. It topples over before I can reach it, spilling out crisp money against the wooden floor.
“Rime, what are you doing?” Kain takes a single step between me and the deadly man ahead of me.
Rime looks from me to the bag I keep staring at.
“This is what you want, right? Money is the whole fucking thing that probably got you into this mess. You’re so fucking pretty but your selfishness is ugly, Arlow.” Rage stings his every word, and when he grips the bag and holds it high and taunting above me, I lunge at him, pushing past Kain to try to reach the only thing that’s keeping me here.
He has no idea how deep my selfishness really is. I’ll choose myself again and again and again if it means we’ll live through this all. Because I’ve already lost one person I cared about. I can’t let anyone else near enough to allow that to happen again. Selfishness is the only thing I have to keep the people around me safe.
Selfishness is so similar to loneliness sometimes.
“She’s the fucking mage.” Rime’s eyes are frost-kissed and filled with hostility.
The moment his words settle, everyone’s attention is on me.
Kain’s big hand grips ahold of my wrist in an almost painful way.
My jaw clenches. Slowly my gaze meets Chaos’ pretty eyes. Confusion and hurt shine there and it’s hard for me to admit that I hurt him.
I hate that I hurt him above all else.
He’s too sweet to hurt even if that wasn’t my intention. I never meant to hurt them, I just meant … to survive long enough to find the future I want so badly.
I swallow hard and with more force than I knew I was capable of, my magic rips through me and is fuming around them, pinning them in their place. My lips purse together as I pull my arm away from Kain. His eyes shift even as I hold his big body in the hands of my powerful magic. It’s exhausting. The power within me is crying for rest, but I have to keep pushing.
My heartbeat is drilling through my chest, my eyes held wide on the man before me.
“I’m sorry I lied.” Fuck, I’m sorry. “But I’m not some manipulating sorceress.” My tone dips and still I hold his gaze. “I’m just a woman who was stupid enough to fall in love.” The words fall out of my mouth, and I can’t seem to stop them. “I don’t owe Kreedence money.” My voice quiets with rampant emotion. “I promised him my heart. I was too naive to realize he wanted my soul.”
Just as my eyes close, my chest shaking for a breath, the walls around me burst.
It takes only a moment for me to realize I’d released my hold on them. Three massive and roaring dragons take form before me. Their wings spread wide until they break through the thin walls of the place I’ve called home for over a year. My attention flickers to the helpless fish near my bed and he watches the scene before him with big, pressured eyes. But he’s safe. For now.
With a fiery breath, Kain torches the bag on the floor. Money bursts out from the magically enclosed satchel. Parchels waft through the air, singed and burning, causing ash to drift about.
“Stop. Stop!” It burns my palms, but the paper is nothing more than crisps of ash when they hit my skin. I sink to my knees staring around at the destruction of my home.
All my hard work lies in ashes, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
All of this was for nothing.
A growling bark is so loud it drowns out their roars, and Grim is by my side in an instant. His soft fur is hot against my skin as his hulking frame shields me from the reckless dragons.
In a way, I know I did this to
myself. I was so set on starting a new life I couldn’t see what I was doing to myself.
I put myself in danger.
Again.
My palm pushes aimlessly through Grim’s thick hair, and he settles against my touch. I pull him hard against me and bury my face into his soft fur.
Moments pass, and the steady sound of their footsteps is the only sign that I’m no longer surrounded by the creatures but the men.
I don’t know if there’s much of a difference anymore.
Both are just as deadly.
“How do I know you’re not lying?” Kain’s voice is commanding, but I don’t have the energy to look at him. Or even answer him.
Fuck him. If he doesn’t believe me, then fuck him.
“Kreedence isn’t exactly too trusting. He’s a demon,” Chaos says.
“And she’s a lying mage. She led us around here by our dicks. Helping us look for the mage when she was the damn mage the entire time.” Kain isn’t forgiving, and I don’t ask him to be. I have nothing to apologize for.
“She was afraid. She never said she wasn’t the mage.”
I can almost feel the glare Kain is giving Chaos right now. I embarrassed them. I put them in danger.
A beat passes while they seem to consider me.
All I wanted was a life. A real life. Not a life of hiding; terrified that the man I promised my heart to would come to reap my soul.
He seemed so genuine. I actually thought he loved me.
I’ll never be stupid enough to make that mistake again.
And I guess I might not even get the chance to.
“I think she’s telling the truth.” Rime’s statement makes me tense with uncertainty.
I lift my head from Grim to stare up at his frost colored eyes. Anger seems to be tightly coiled up within him. He’s a man of too much pent-up aggression and it shows. But there’s a softness in his glittering eyes.
Just like when I was honest with him in the woods, he believes me. My quiet honesty seems to sink right into him and tears away at the walls he holds so close around his emotions.
Maybe he doesn’t hate me after all.
