by Rachel Angel
Ally smiled. “You don’t smell so great yourself,” she said, tearing off his shirt, then helping him out of his pants.
“Hey,” he said. “I’m clean. You’re just using that as an excuse to get me naked. Besides, I’m the one who’s supposed to help you.” He pulled her pants off and dropped them on the pile of dirty clothes.
She turned around to plug the tub and started filling it with warm water.
Jasper playfully slapped her ass. “Man, I’ve missed seeing you like this. I mean I know we got together when I was bitten, but it wasn’t the same. I didn’t feel like myself for the most part, but now…”
As the water filled the tub, Ally turned and leaned into Jasper, eager to feel his warmth and the strength of his muscles. She kissed him, pulling him to her and holding him tight. Pressing her breasts against him, she groaned, so completely aroused.
“Let’s get you in that water,” Jasper said in a husky, deep voice that only added to her arousal.
Ally got in the tub and sat in the water while Jasper grabbed the bar of soap and a cloth. He dipped the cloth in the warm water and sprinkled the water over her shoulders and back then lathered up the soap and washed her.
“Oh,” Ally groaned as she leaned forward. “You know, with all the energy I’ve accumulated these past days, I thought I could go on forever. And with all the adrenaline that fighting brought about, out there, I never felt a moment of fatigue or weariness. But now…”
She leaned forward more as Jasper ran the cloth up and down her back, over her tight shoulders then down her soiled arms.
“This is heaven, Jasper,” she said. “Thank you for offering to wash me. It’s as if my entire body just let go.”
“That’s what you needed; to let go. Even us dragons need to rest every once in a while.” He rinsed off the cloth in the water, lathered up again.
“I didn’t realize that. I thought you guys could go on forever.”
“Lay on your back,” he said as he chuckled. He gently helped her and placed a rolled-up hand towel under her head, settling her down in the shallow water.
Looking up at him, she smiled. “I’m surprised you waited so long,” she said as she watched his gaze sweep over her breasts and trail down between her legs. “I was certain you would have washed my front before my back.”
“Believe me, it was my first intention.” Shaking his head, he looked at her with admiration. “Even as dirty and stinky as you are, you are exquisite.” He ran the sudsy cloth over her breasts and his tongue came out to greedily lick his lips.
Ally closed her eyes and let his touch relax her all while bringing her a heightened sense of excitement and arousal. The cloth that ran over her breast was soft, but Jasper’s hold of her breast became increasing hungry and urgent.
He washed her belly and moved on to her leg. He slipped his hand under her thigh and trailed down to her calf where he lifted her leg out of the water to better wash the length of it.
He took the same care to wash her foot before setting her leg back in the warm water and doing the same with her other leg.
“Could you do this to me every day?” Ally said with a smile. “I think I could really get used to this.”
“I couldn’t imagine anything better than to spend my days playing, running, hunting and just having fun with you and ultimately ending like this every evening; washing you every night… and wanting you, having you.”
He took a small bucket set under the sink, filled it with bath water, then sat Ally up and tilted her head back. “Close your eyes,” he said gently. He poured it over her head, wetting her long colorful hair.
With the same bar of soap, he lathered up her hair, gently massaging her scalp as he washed her hair.
She groaned with pleasure.
He then took the same small bucket to rinse the soap off. Without warning, he pulled the plug from the tub.
Disappointed, Ally looked up at him. “Are we finished already?” Did he not have the intention of making love to her? Would she have to take the reins and fuck him?
The dirty water gurgled as in went down the drain and once gone, Jasper put the plug back in and started up the warm clean water again.
“Isn’t that better?” He stepped into the tub to join her.
“But now you’re going to dirty my nice clean water.” His cock was erect and pointing at her as they settled into the water.
“Don’t worry. They hosed me down last night.”
“Good,” she said hungrily. She reached out to touch him, to gently stroke his erection. “I need you, Jasper.”
He smiled.
“I need your touch,” she went on. “And the tender way you love me.”
He licked his lips and his breathing was suddenly loud and labored.
Cramped in the small tub, Ally stood and sat on the edge of the tub, her knees spread apart.
He swallowed the ball of arousal that took control of him. “I’m not so sure I’ll be able to be tender with you this morning, Ally.”
“That’s fine with me,” she whispered as she ran her fingers along her inner thigh.
Jasper got on his knees and faced her, his cock nudging her thighs further apart.
“Fuck me anyway you like,” Ally said. “But fuck me, Jasper. I need you to fuck me.”
He didn’t hesitate or play around. With a forceful thrust, he rammed his cock deep inside her as she clung to him. Their orgasms came swiftly, but quietly in the small bathroom and for a long while they quietly clung to one another, reveling in the repeated waves of pleasure from their orgasms.
“I love you, Ally,” Jasper whispered in her ear. He held her tight, breathing her in and pressing his chest to hers. “I want to hold you forever.” Still holding her to him, he rose and stepped out of the tub to set her down on the tiled floor.
With a big, fluffy towel, he gently wiped off the clean water that ran down her body.
“This isn’t one of Kate’s towels,” Ally remarked.
“No. It isn’t. Supplies were running low during our endless battles. People in town were running out of everything. I’d heard Kate complain about the number of towels she’d ruined in the making of the potion. There was also a shortage of medical supplies, bandages and such. I sent word to Emerald and had them ship a variety of items to The Borders, including nice soft towels.”
“That was very thoughtful. I’m sure everyone appreciates it. Things have been so difficult lately. I think everyone underestimated how taxing this war would be.”
He continued to gently pat her dry. “I meant what I said earlier.”
“What’s that?” she said softly, still reeling from the effects of her quick but fierce orgasm.
“I want to spend the rest of my life with you. It’s so easy to envision doing this with you every day. Not just making love, but everything.”
She nodded.
“I want to share my kingdom with you, Ally. And I know that the citizens of Emerald already look forward to having you as their queen.”
Again, she nodded, a little surprised by his last declaration. Being the queen of Emerald. She’d never really considered that possibility and wasn’t sure it was what she wanted.
“When you wrap your arms around me, when you kiss me and we make love, I can’t help but think you want the same thing,” he went on. “That you feel the same way.”
She didn’t answer him. She couldn’t. Instead, she kissed him and swiped a stray strand of wet hair off his brow.
“Don’t you?” he persisted.
“Of course, I care about you, Jasper. You mean so much to me. But…”
He clasped her face in his big tender hands and kissed her. “I almost forgot. I have something for you.”
Rummaging through the pile of discarded clothing, he found his pants and dug into the pocket. He pulled out a small pouch from which he drew a delicate necklace adorned with dozens of small emeralds surrounding one larger emerald.
“Jasper!”
“It
belonged to my great-grandmother.”
“It’s beautiful; so delicate and elegant.”
He clasped it at her nape. “She was a fierce warrior, just like you are. She would be proud to see you wearing it.”
“And Queen Jade,” Ally said. “She’s okay with you giving me this?”
“She’s the one who suggested it.”
Ally cocked a brow, happy with the queen’s acceptance of her.
“Come on, now. You must be starving.”
She nodded and followed him back to the kitchen where tons of food covered the table.
“Wow, where did all this food come from?”
“We kind of noticed last night as we fixed dinner that there wasn’t much left,” Jasper said. “I had a new shipment of food brought to The Borders.”
“It all smells so wonderful,” Ally said as she sat before the feast.
“It’s probably these pastries that you smell,” Tar said. “I made them myself.” He broke one apart. “Nice and buttery.”
“I think it’s really these baked beans that you smell,” Flint said as he pulled the cover off the hot pot. “They’ve been simmering over the fire since sun-up.”
“Don’t listen to them,” William said. “I took our own eggs from our own chickens, mixed in a bit of our milk from our cows and made these perfect scrambled eggs.”
Kate smiled, while Bilbo seemed impressed by the whole competition.
“You guys are all wrong,” Razor said. “Look at these perfectly roasted potatoes topped with bits of bacon and caramelized sweet onions. There’s a dash of pepper and a pinch of salt.”
“Guys! Guys!” Ally protested. “Everything smells wonderful and I can’t wait to dig into it all.”
“Well then,” Jasper said as he brought a platter of sliced ham closer to her. “Start with just a bite of this perfectly cured ham.”
She speared two slices of the ham and let them fall on her plate, then spooned on a mound of potatoes, a ladle of beans and a scoop of the scrambled eggs. Over it all, she took two pastries then dug in.
“The eggs are great, aren’t they,” William said.
Ally could see his desire to better the princes. It was clear that he was jealous of them, but there wasn’t much she could do to ease that.
In her eyes, even if there was a degree of attraction between them, and he didn’t see her as his sister from the beginning, she still struggled with seeing him as a lover like she did the princes.
Chapter 14
“What’s our next step?” Tar said as they all filled up on the breakfast feast.
Kate stood and nudged Bilbo. “Let’s clear the table and clean up.” She started to pick up the empty plates. “You boys have done so much work. We’ll clear this out and let you guys figure out your next move.”
Ally smiled at her adoptive parents then turned her attention to Tar. “Have you heard from your brother? He and his army were supposed to bring us a live monster.”
He shrugged. “I haven’t heard anything. I assume they weren’t able to find a live one.”
“Maybe it’s just as well,” Razor said. “Who knows how it would have behaved. Would we be able to control it… even if we all got together?”
“You’re probably right,” Jasper said. “It would be great to find what makes them tick, but…”
“So, in the meantime,” Flint said, “maybe we could split up and guard the front. Those things might come back.”
“No,” Ally said softly.
They all looked at her.
“I think we need to spread the news about what happened here. I think we need to visit the kingdom.”
“All of them?”
“Probably. But my very top priority is Wisteria. I want to go to my home.”
William looked at her and tilted his head. They had never talked of Wisteria until the previous night when Bilbo and Kate mentioned Ally’s birthplace. “How do you know about Wisteria?”
Ally looked at him and frowned. “I don’t know really. But the name was in my head this morning when I woke up.”
“To tell you the truth,” Jasper said. “We talked a bit about you last night at dinner. Bilbo and Kate talked about Wisteria.”
“Really? And? What did they say?”
“They told us about your parents,” Razor added. “I’m sorry if you feel we pried into your life, but we thought it was important to know.”
Ally nodded. “No. I don’t mind. You know, I think I was just always too afraid to ask about my parents. I mean, I had an idea, a very vague idea of what had happened, but I didn’t want to know the details.” She looked at all of them. “I’m assuming they told you all the details.”
The princes nodded, as did William.
“I don’t know what they told you exactly,” Ally said, “but I had a horrible nightmare last night. It was such a realistic dream of the last time I saw my parents alive. I dreamed I was running away from something. I was in Bilbo’s arms, and then William was running under a full moon. But the most disturbing thing about my nightmare were the screams, not only my own as I called out to my father and mother, but the screams that came from a burning castle. The screams of my mother as she died.” Tears filled her eyes and blurred her vision as she once again heard her mother’s cry.
“I’m so sorry all of this came up,” William said. He shot an angry glare at the princes.
“No,” she said. “It’s about time I knew the truth. I’m older now, and I might be in a bit of shock at learning the whole truth, but I’ll get past it. The important thing now is that we go to Wisteria. I’m not sure what I want to accomplish, but I need to go.”
They finished with their hearty breakfast and as they prepared to leave, Drago returned.
“No luck,” he said, confirming Tar’s assumption. “They’re all dead. We could barely find any that weren’t burnt beyond recognition.”
“That’s what we figured,” Razor said. “We’re heading out to Wisteria. Are you joining us?”
“Where the hell is that?”
“We’ll figure that out on the way. Come on.”
They got their respective horses and headed to the farthest tip of The Borders then crossed over in the kingdom of Wisteria.
It was a beautifully wooded area with rolling hills covered with tall pines and dotted with small lakes. Occasionally, the pines gave way to meadows of tall grasses and colorful wildflowers.
A swarm of bright yellow birds swooped past them and disappeared into the tall grass, chirping away as they fed on the insects.
In the distance a small herd of delicate pronghorns grazed alongside a few bison.
As they rode on, they were suddenly surrounded by dozens of colorful hummingbirds that sought the sweet nectar of the wildflowers around them.
“Seems your kingdom is just as colorful as you are,” Tar said. “I can’t remember when I’ve ever seen so many brightly colored birds.”
Just as he finished his sentence, a small group of bluebirds flew by, and Ally laughed, already falling in love with her childhood home.
In the distance, the turrets of the castle came into view and Ally felt her heart flutter. A part of her needed to go back, needed to see for herself the home she’d shared with her parents. A part of her wanted to relive the few years she’d spent there. She wanted to breathe in the air of her childhood. To soak up the essence of her parents.
But another part of her was suddenly uncertain about the effect it would have on her. Maybe going back to her childhood wasn’t a good idea. She remembered her nightmare, and the sensations she’d awakened with.
They approached the gate to the castle, heavily guarded by two men at the center of the gate, two more on either side of the gate, and several more up on the stone wall.
“Good afternoon,” Ally said, trying to sound chipper and light.
The two guards at the center of the gate looked at the men and back to Ally. “Who are you and what do you want at Wisteria Castle?”
; “We are the princes of the surrounding kingdoms,” Jasper said.
“And I am King Drago of the Dark Forests.”
William said nothing, and for a moment Ally didn’t know what to say. Instead, she simply pulled her cap off, releasing her rainbow-colored hair.
The guards gasped, looked at one another, then smiled.
“All our apologies.” They quickly opened the heavy wrought iron gates and let everyone in, guiding them to the main door of the castle.
The guys and Ally left their horses to the care of the stable boys while one of the guards headed inside to alert the butler. The second guard stayed with them, his eyes constantly on Ally, wide with disbelief, as if seeing a ghost.
The first guard opened the door and invited them all in.
A stiff looking butler dismissed the guards and turned to Ally. “You and your party may wait here,” he said, guiding them to a small inner chamber.
They waited only a few moments before a tall grey-haired man with a neatly trimmed beard walked in. He wore a lavish fur collar over his deep blue doublet. His white hose were adorned with golden ribbons and his black shoes shined almost as much as the almond-sized diamond on his finger.
While regal, there was something too ostentatious about him.
He looked at Ally, surprised, if not horrified. But he quickly wiped the look of surprise off his face and smiled.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I must seem entirely unhappy to see you, but… Well, nothing could be further from the truth. My, but the resemblance is startling.”
Ally looked at him as he took a step closer, his gaze scrutinizing every inch of her.
“You are the spitting image of Rosalie.”
“And you are…?” Ally prompted.
“My apologies,” he said with a deep bow. “I am the Grand Duke of Wisteria.” He rose to face her.
“I am Ally. The Duke’s daughter.”
“Oh, no need to tell me. I knew right away. There’s no denying you’re Rosalie’s daughter. You have the same fascinating hair.”
“How did you come to…” She trailed off, not knowing how to put into words all her questions. Who was he? What was he doing here? What did he know about her parents?”
