by Selena Scott
Zara bit her bottom lip and reached out to fiddle with a piece of her hair. "You- you wanted to mate with me?"
"Woman," he said. "I wanted to destroy you."
Her mouth dropped open again. "I never knew."
"I know. I worked my ass off to keep it from you. I didn't want you or anyone to know."
She turned to him. Feelings warmed her eyes and she reached out to stroke a hand down his chin. "You suffered." It wasn't a question. She was telling him what she saw in his eyes.
He shrugged. "People suffer all the time. It's life. I handled it. I thought I could handle it."
"So why did you come to me?" She was asking because she was curious, he knew. But he could also tell that confusion was there. She needed reassurance. She was scrambling to understand what had just happened.
But in order to explain that he had to know what just happened.
"It's hard to explain, Z. It happened so fast. I was out by the river and I caught your fertility scent on the wind. And it was like," he flopped back onto the bed, searching for the words. She propped herself up to see his face. "Every feeling I'd ever suppressed for you. Every frustration. Every missed moment. It all came roaring back at once. And there was no stopping it. Everything else stopped existing. All there was, in my whole world, was you."
He watched her face as the sincerity of his words broke over her. There was confusion, joy, fear, surprise. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth and he found himself getting hard again. Even after she’d just completely dismantled him.
“And now?” she asked and he instantly narrowed his eyes in confusion.
“What are you asking me, woman?” He ran his hand down her side and observed her. Even in the harsh afternoon light, she was painfully beautiful. Her large gray eyes filling her face. Her small features looking so delicate. But he knew better. He knew she had a fierceness within her. He had bite marks all over his body to prove it.
“You- you called me your mate. Did you mean it?” Zara asked. She was looking him right in the eye and it gave him the same thrill it had given him before. After four years of her dropping her gaze from his, looking her right in the eye felt so intensely intimate.
Her words made him go still, though. She’d been so clear that she never wanted a mate. That she wanted to be alone. Peaceful. Independent. He’d completely understood her reasoning when she’d explained it to him. After all those years tethered to Dalyer, he supposed nobody would want to be linked to another again. But it had deeply thrilled him when she’d said it moments ago. Called him her mate. And more than thrilling, it had just felt right. It had felt like the truth.
“I meant it.” He ran a finger over her collarbone. Her skin was like flower petals laid over glass. She was a work of art. “But that doesn’t mean anything unless you meant it.”
A color worked its way over her skin. She was blushing. He assumed because she was remembering the things she’d just done and said while she was fucking his brains out.
She turned and faced him. He felt like his world tipped with whatever she said next. “I never felt like I’d ever want that. A mate.” She drew her hands through her hair and let out a frustrated breath. She stared at the ceiling like she could find the answers there. “But. I guess I don’t know. It all felt clearer a moment ago.”
He tipped up on an elbow and studied her face. “You mean that it was clearer when I was inside you.”
She blushed further, flushing up to the roots of her hair. She bit her lip and nodded.
“Then I guess I’m gonna have to try and clear some things up for you.” Solar scooped her up and laid her across his stomach. His cock was sandwiched between them as he smoothed a hand over her ass. Finding her wet core from the back, Solar teased her with his fingers.
Zara gasped and stiffened, smashing her breasts into his chest as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. Her hips made tiny fucking motions and he grinned into the sweltering air of the hut. She was a goner. He circled her clit with his middle finger, teasing her into pleasure, while two other fingers plunged into her and circled her channel.
Fuck, she was tight. He deserved a medal for lasting as long as he had before. He could feel her tightening and rising and when she tensed and broke, screaming into his skin, he felt her release almost like it was his own. But he wasn’t done with her. He rolled her off of him so that she lay on her belly on the cot.
Laying over top of her, Solar nudged her legs apart. He let a lot of his weight rest on her. Something in all of his fantasies he’d never really imagined doing. But she was so much stronger than he’d ever known. Her slim body was vibrating with tensile strength. Her coloring, her soft hair, her delicate build, all of it gave the illusion of fragility. But touching her, finally touching her, showed him exactly how much she could handle.
Solar grabbed her hands and pinned her to the mattress as she pushed back at him with her ass. He groaned into her hair and reared back, pressing himself into her.
Zara’s body went tight like a flash of lightning at his intrusion and her hands gripped his. He held still, letting her get used to the new position. But then she was rearing up, pushing against him and coming to her knees under him. Solar ground himself into her as he reared up behind her, his hands on her hips.
“Is it clear again, Zara?” he ground out. “Am I your mate?”
“Yes,” she groaned into the mattress, her words muffled against it as he pushed and pushed and pushed into her.
“That’s right,” he said through clenched teeth. “You’re my mate. And I’m yours. You’re mine.”
He planted a hand on her back and really started to ride her. The sound of skin on skin echoed through the hut. Solar reached down to the place they were joined and used his hand to work her clit. And suddenly Zara was tightening underneath him, her pussy clenching around his cock like a vise.
He wasn’t going to be able to last much longer. “You’re mine,” he said again as he pumped into her. Zara looked over her shoulder, panting and staring him right in the eye.
“You’re mine too, Solar,” she said. And he came. Looking into her eyes and thrusting into her so deep he was losing himself. And losing himself in their pledge to one another. They were mated.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“But they’re all gonna know!” Zara insisted, tugging at Solar’s hand and digging her feet into the soft jungle floor.
“Gonna know what?” Solar stopped and turned to face her. His eyes sliced into hers, the way they always did. But she refused to look away.
Zara felt her cheeks heat. She wasn’t ashamed, but she was a little embarrassed. “They’re gonna know what we did together.”
Solar grinned at her. “Oh. You mean they’re gonna know that I had my tongue in your pussy this side of twenty minutes ago?”
“Solar!” she hissed and looked around through the trees like there might be someone spying on them.
“Or do you mean that they might know that you fucked me until my eyes crossed last night?” He ran his hands over her cheeks as she blushed furiously. “Or that I came inside you? Or that you liked it? Wanted it? Begged for it?”
Zara swatted his hands away. “Well, I don’t assume they’ll know all the specifics. But they’ll know generally what we did.”
He brushed her hair back and pulled her in for a sweet kiss. One that warmed her all the way through. She got that bamboozling safe/cliff diving feeling again. “Yes, you shy little woman. They will know what we did. Generally speaking. But that’s what mates do with each other.”
“All mates?” she asked, cocking her head to one side. Something flashed in his eyes at her question. She knew she often accidentally showed him how sheltered she had been, growing up in the king’s court. But he never made her feel stupid. No matter how naïve her questions were.
“Well, I don’t think all mates are quite as creative. Or quite as passionate for one another. I did spend years waiting for you, after all.”
Zara tuck
ed herself into his side. Smelled his grassy, windy, manly smell. She took a deep breath. “Okay. You’re right. They’ll know. So what.”
“So what,” he repeated, steering her through the trees toward the campfire.
But even his strong arm around her shoulders didn’t keep her heart from flopping in her chest as they stepped into the clearing where they held their nightly campfires. The chatter and card games immediately came to a grinding halt as the new couple appeared.
Zara watched the firelight dance across the faces of all these people she knew so well. Her family, really. In all the ways that mattered.
“Emerged from the love nest for some food?” the Oracle asked as he strolled up to Solar and Zara. “I assume you two are hungry after all the canoodling. Oooh! That just made me hungry for noodles. God, I miss noodles.”
Zara couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows and laugh at O. He certainly had a gift for cutting the tension. “Whatever everyone else is having for dinner will do just fine,” Zara said. Because they were awfully hungry, and it had been one of the reasons they’d chosen to emerge.
“Come give me a hand with it, sweetie!” Keiko called across the campfire from the kitchen hut. She was obviously in the middle of finishing up dinner for the camp. Zara automatically moved toward her friend to help, but she found herself gently yanked backward.
Solar’s arms came around her and held her firmly to him. Zara was acutely aware of their audience, but the second his lips touched hers, she was lost to him. Completely. His flavor. His tongue. His arms so strong and sure around her back. He pulled away, gently, and reality descended back over her like a warm blanket.
Keiko cleared her throat loudly and Zara jumped a little, flashed Solar a little grin, and hurried around the fire to help Keiko in the hut.
Zara stepped aside at the hut entrance for the three other Surgeres that Keiko shooed away. “Where are they going?” Zara asked.
“I don’t care,” said Keiko. “Anywhere but here. You. Details. Now.” Keiko shoved a ladle in Zara’s hand and pushed her toward the fish stew that needed serving.
Zara felt herself blush down to the back of her neck, but she knew that Keiko wasn’t going to leave her alone until she spilled her guts. So, taking a deep breath, she did.
CHAPTER TWELVE
God. She was so damn beautiful. Solar felt the breath dam up in his chest as he watched Zara move efficiently in and out of the kitchen hut. She set up utensils and bread and pitchers of water on the serving table. Her long hair swung behind her back and her skin glowed in the firelight.
“Solar,” Rafael said as he nervously stood at Solar’s side. Honestly, Solar hadn’t even noticed he was there until he spoke.
“Yes?” Solar said, keeping his face even and level as he spoke to the young pledge. He wanted to give nothing away. If the boy had a problem, Solar couldn’t afford to show weakness in front of the group. In the corner of his eye, he saw Zara pause, a pitcher in her hand as she watched the two men speak.
Rafael cleared his throat. “I just wanted to apologize to you.”
Solar’s face remained impassive and the boy shifted from one foot to the other. He cleared his throat and continued. “I didn’t know that Zara was… yours. And if I’d known, I never would have gone there yesterday. And I certainly never would have tried to fight. Not that it was much of a fight on my end.”
Solar finally cracked a small smile. “You did fine. You were just up against someone who was completely unwilling to lose.”
Rafael looked immensely relieved. “So am I forgiven?”
“There’s nothing for me to forgive,” Solar said, then, thought twice. Because now he was thinking for two. “Maybe you should apologize to Zara, though. I think the whole thing was pretty overwhelming for her.”
“Of course,” Rafael immediately nodded and turned on his heel to go find her.
Solar had to admit that the boy had a good head on his shoulders. He liked Rafael. He always had, despite the fact that he’d tried to make a move on his woman yesterday.
The next few days passed happily, almost lazily, while everyone in the Surgere camp got used to seeing Solar and Zara as a couple. That went for Solar and Zara as well. It was new. And took a lot of getting used to.
Solar didn’t expect everyone to throw confetti everywhere they went, but of all the reactions he received, Javi’s surprised him the most. His second-in-command had barely been happy for him and Zara. Actually, the moment that they finally got to talk about it, at a meeting in the war hut, he told Solar exactly how he felt about it.
“Look, Solar. I’m happy for you that you’ve found your mate. I really am. That’s a blessing that not everyone receives in this life and I hope you cherish it.” His salt and pepper hair was tied in a knot on top of his head, his dark brow drawn.
Javi had lost his mate a few years ago in a skirmish with King Dalyer’s soldiers. Solar would never forget that. And the enormity of that sacrifice and grief was only beginning to become clear to him, now that he’d started a relationship with Zara.
“Thank you, brother,” Solar said, laying a hand on Javi’s shoulder.
Javi nodded his head. “But I have to say, now that your attention is understandably being tugged in another direction by your new mate, it only accents the way the revolution has stalled. We’ve made virtually no progress in at least 3 years. The king is dormant but active. Unfindable and wildly dangerous.” Javi got up and paced around the small room. “I’m losing my mind hiding out in this godforsaken jungle.”
Solar ran his hand through his hair. Anything that seemed like an insult or threat to Zara instantly got his back up. Another new side effect of having a mate. He had to remind himself that Javi wasn’t being critical of Zara. Solar took a deep breath. “I don’t think you’re necessarily wrong, Javi, but we have to look at this from a longer term perspective. What might feel like a long time to wait right now, is actually a very reasonable stretch of time if you think of the revolution spanning a few decades.”
“But Solar, we don’t want the revolution to span a few decades.”
“But it might,” Solar replied. His voice was firm and clear. His temper wasn’t rising. He and Javi often discussed their viewpoints this way and they were never disrespectful to one another. “Look, Jav, we’ve virtually destroyed Dalyer’s opportunity to create viable offspring. And we drove him away from the castle, the only known portal to the human realm, so he can’t have access to human women he might be able to mate with. And we deprived him of his precious Oracle.” Solar waved a distracted hand at O, who was sitting in the corner, carefully braiding colored string together. “At this point, it’s only a matter of time before the dynasty falls. There will be no one for Dalyer to pass the throne to. His family’s rein will end. Which is the point of the revolution in the first place.”
“I thought the point of the revolution was to stop the enslavement and slaughter of our people by Dalyer.” Javi’s voice was cold, calm. It was an old argument. One they’d been having for years.
“You take the local perspective. I take the global perspective.” Solar stood and paced. His only concession to the tension. “If we fly out, go looking for a battle and get blindsided, our revolution could be snuffed out in the blink of an eye. We’re the only thing keeping Dalyer in hiding at this point. If we are eliminated, he’ll have free reign again. He’ll go to the human realm. He’ll find a viable mate. He’ll reproduce. His line could enslave generations of dragon shifters. It’s too risky.”
Javi, frustrated, crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the ceiling. “I know you’re right, Sol, I do. But this sitting and waiting is excruciating. People are dying. People are living miserable lives and then dying. Under a cruel, tyrant king. And we scare him. We’re the ones who scare him. And yet, we’re still impotent against him.”
“You’re right about that as well, brother. Everything you say is right.” Solar flopped down in the seat next to Javi and the two men sat sho
ulder to shoulder, lost in serious thought.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you guys,” the Oracle said, his tongue sticking out as he dexterously tied the last knot on the colorful strings. “I have a plan.”
Javi and Solar turned to look at one another. Twin looks of frustration, rage, and amusement crossed their faces. Javi turned away and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Oh? Do tell, wise Oracle.”
“I didn’t tell you guys before because Solar’s not gonna like it, so I didn’t want to spoil the last few days with Zara. And then I forgot, but I remembered now. And that’s what counts.” The Oracle stood and crossed the room. He first grabbed Solar’s wrist and then Javi’s, tying matching embroidery floss bracelets onto the two stupefied men.
“What the fuck is this?” Solar asked, holding his wrist up for inspection.
“It’s a friendship bracelet,” said O. “See, all three of us have them now.” He held up his own wrist in proof. “So, do you want to hear the plan or not?”
This time Solar joined Javi and both men pinched the bridges of their noses. “Yes, O. We want to hear the answer to our problems, please.”
“Okay,” O said. “But you’re not gonna like it. Remember that I already know that when you’re tempted to yell at me, okay? And I’m merely a receptacle for an idea that was floating through the cosmos. Don’t blame the messenger.”
“For the love of god, O!”
“Tell us the fucking plan!” Javi and Solar yelled at the same time.
The Oracle raised his hands in surrender and flopped down on the chair he’d been sitting in. “Jeez Louise. Fine. God. Everybody hates a disclaimer, huh?”
“I’m leaving,” Solar said, rising from his chair and stalking to the door. “I’ve got a new mate waiting for me and I’m sick of this shit. Javi, you can tell me what the plan is when he finally gets around to telling you.” Solar stalked toward the door of the hut.
“We use Zara.”
The Oracle’s words froze Solar in his tracks. “What did you say?”
