by Aidy Award
“Holy ravioli. I think that’s what they call mind-blowing sex.” Kady breathed hard and dropped to the floor with him.
She kissed his face, his cheeks, his lips. He wanted to kiss her back, but he wasn’t sure he could even move yet. Had she endured that level of pleasure and pain each time she sent her power on the attack?
“Are you okay, Neo?” She nuzzled into him. “I don’t know whether to say wow, thanks, or sorry. Next time we do that, you’re getting off too. No more of this making it all about my orgasms.”
Finally, he found the small bit of his brain that was still intact. “I’m fine. Are you in pain? I didn’t know it hurt like that to use your power against the shadows.”
“It didn’t hurt this time as much as before. More like that tingle you get when your hands or feet have fallen asleep. The orgasm more than made up for it.” She giggled.
There was always a cost to magic, usually just energy, but knowing it didn’t hurt her relieved him. “That was way beyond an orgasm, my love. I don’t know what that was, but don’t for a second think that I didn’t get off on it.”
She laughed and stroked her hand up and down his chest. “I’ve never made a guy come in his pants before.”
At least he wasn't the only one who didn't have experience with this soul-deep sex magic. “In my pants doesn’t quite cover it. I think I came all over the whole damn highway.”
The walls shimmered around them, slowly coming back into sight. Kady wiggled her nose, but nothing happened. “Damn. I thought I could hold onto the magic longer than that.”
“Don’t worry, my dirty curvy witch. As soon as I can once again distinguish my head from my ass, I plan to make love to you for at least nine of the next ten hours and I expect no less than two or three orgasms each hour. This was only round one in your training.”
“You’ve got a thing for number of orgasms. There is no way I’m coming eighteen to twenty-seven times tonight. It’s not physically possible. I’ll die.”
“By the time we get to New York, you’ll be very well practiced at using your magic.” And they would both be exhausted and well beyond satisfied.
Kady tapped him on the chin. “Are you sure you were a virgin yesterday? You're way too good at this for me to believe that.”
“I swear to you, my love, that I have never been with, nor will I ever be with, any other woman but you.” Dragon Warriors were a damn horny lot and some of his brethren had gone out and gotten laid the second they could shift into human form and grab their own cocks. Neo had been too busy fulfilling his duties as Second Wyvern of the Black Dragons, fighting the demon wyrm and their plague and saving the world, to worry about getting his dick wet.
He was glad now that he had waited because he never wanted to be with anyone but his Kady. “I did, however, make sure I acquired the knowledge I would need to pleasure my mate when I found her.”
She pressed her lips together looking like she was trying not to laugh. “How exactly did you do that? Porn?”
He would later investigate this thing called porn. “The library. One of the wolves’ mates introduced me to a very special collection they have with all the sex advice I could handle.”
“Like, uh... the human sexuality shelf? Documentaries? Did she have you read Dr. Ruth?”
He wondered why more humans hadn't discovered the delights of these particular novels. “No. It is very aptly called the Romance section.”
Kady laughed and snorted at the same time, then covered her mouth until she had herself under control. “You learned how to make me come so hard I literally saw stars by reading romance novels?”
“Yes.” He nodded gravely. This was a very important subject to him. Keeping his mate happy and satisfied were very high on his priority list. “I will make sure the rest of my brethren take advantage of this resource as well, if you think their future mates would appreciate it.”
“Uh...yes.” Kady kissed him on the tip of the nose, which he had never read about anyone doing. “Yes, their future mates will be very excited indeed to find out their hot sexy dragons have been reading up on all the ways to woo their mates. I think I'd like to meet this librarian.”
Neo only hoped that Galyna was still the librarian when they got back to Rogue, and not a soulless shell.
Over the next few hours, Kady did indeed get a better handle on her magic. After about four or five more orgasms they found that she needed only to touch Neo to be able both to bring up her shield and to blow away any sneaking shadow warriors.
That knowledge gave him the perfect excuse to ensure he was always at her side during the battle he knew was upcoming.
Because while she had learned to use her powers, they still had their limits. Each time she shattered a shadow it reformed and eventually returned. She could impair them, but not kill them.
Only Neo understood how to destroy them forever, as he had done back in the gnomes’ garden.
He hoped against hope that together with the Black Dragon Brotherhood, the Dragon Warriors, the wolves, and all their mates, they would be able to find another solution.
The sun rose over the flat stretch of the land marked only by fields and fields of grain. Neo hadn't really realized how fucking big this country was when he'd been flying over it at ten times the speed they could drive. Neo had felt at home in the mountainous wooded area where Kady lived. This landscape, while beautiful, felt barren to him. Or maybe it was the dread of the battle to come.
The gnomes drove straight through, never seeming to tire. They never even stopped for food or fuel and Neo suspected they used some magic to get three days’ worth of travel into thirty hours. Much sooner than he'd thought they would, they pulled into a deserted Rogue, New York.
Where the fuck was everyone?
A hard weight settled in Neo's chest. Had the shadow warriors and their human minions gotten here and destroyed everything he lived and fought for before he could get here to defend it alongside his brethren?
The big rig continued onto the unpaved road that led to the Reserve, a large, forested park in the center of town where the wolves could run free when they shifted. A few minutes later he spotted a group of people gathered, including the alpha of alphas, Match Cervony, his mate the Red Witch Fallyn, the Wolf Tzar Niko Troika, the Tsarina Zara, and the rest of his Black Dragon Brotherhood team.
Relief that some of the most powerful supernaturals were here waiting allowed Neo to release the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. “Kady, do you think you could clothe us before we meet with my team and the others?”
“If I have to.” She wriggled her nose and Neo found himself covered.
He wore a cream-colored shirt, a black vest, blue pants with a red stripe down the side, tall black leather boots, and some sort of weapons belt. Too bad there was no weapon.
“How’s that?” She waggled her eyebrows at him in a way he enjoyed very much. “It’s what one of my favorite spaceship captains wears.”
“I will wear it every day if you look at me like that. Thank you.”
She gave herself similar pants in light blue and boots, with a button-down tan shirt and vest. She too had a weapons belt.
He tugged her to him by her belt and ran his hands along her hips, wanting to be near her for a moment longer, knowing the hardships that lie ahead of them. “What are the belts for? We do not have weapons, except for your magic.”
“Oh, I don’t know, that’s just what they wore in the movie.”
He didn’t have time to romance her any longer because they pulled up and she dropped the shield. Right before the walls reappeared, he saw the astonishment on the faces of many people in the group.
The two of them climbed out of the container and were met by Match and one of the Brotherhood who was referred to only as Ace. Both were halfway through the shifts into their dragons. Neo held his hands up, but before they could exchange a greeting someone called out to Kady.
“Kaden Ejderhanınkizi. I wondered when you’d fina
lly show up.” A slightly older woman, with a donut on her shirt, a sword on her back, and a sparkle in her eye came right up to Kady and hugged her like they were old friends.
Kaden? Ejderhanınkizi?
That was interesting. A ripple of fire surged through Neo from the base of his spine and swirled around his heart. There was power in her name that he didn't quite understand but felt deep inside when the woman said it out loud.
Kady’s eyebrows went up, but she returned the greeting. Neo was sure Kady had never seen the sword-bedecked woman before in her life.
“How do you know my name?” Kady asked.
The woman patted Kady on the cheek. “Well, what else would you be called?”
The gnomes climbed down out of their vehicle and were greeted by the woman too, but this time, she bowed before Inanna. “My lady. I didn't expect to see you here.”
“Ah, Ninsy. I am glad to see you. The dragon and his witch needed some help. It was quite fun to see this next generation and what Ere—” The gnome and the sword-bedecked woman turned toward the big rig and continued their conversation in private.
Thank the First Dragon they'd run into those gnomes when they had. They'd not only given him and Kady a safe place to hide out, they'd allowed them the time to get to know each other better. Strange that Neo had fallen so far in love with his mate and hadn’t even known her full given name.
He stilled for a moment. Love?
Yes, love.
The urge to claim his mate and bond the two of them together had been overwhelming from the beginning, but, until this very moment, he hadn’t realized the depth of his feelings past the mating.
He loved this woman so far beyond what the books described. Claiming, mating, sex, as explosive as it was, none of them matched the flame burning in his soul for his beautiful, sexy, smart, sensual, curvy woman.
He wanted to shout it out for everyone to know. He wanted to whisper it in her ear for only her to hear.
Kur patted Niko on the back. “Good to see you, Niko. You healed up good.”
Niko eyed the gnome’s prosthetic arm and then examined his face longer than anyone was comfortable with. Zara smacked him and made a face that clearly meant something along the lines of mind your manners. After greetings were exchanged between the group and the gnomes, the other mates approached Kady. “Hi, I’m Zara, and this is Fallyn. We've been looking forward to meeting you. Welcome to Rogue.”
Kady glanced at Neo, and he shrugged, not knowing what the Tsarina meant either. He didn't really care. His mind was focused on the struggle to hold his feelings in check. Now was neither the time nor the place to declare his love. But soon, and for their rest of their lives, Kady would know that he loved her with everything in his being. He could hardly wait to tell her, to show her. But only once he knew she was safe.
“Thanks? Did you know I was coming?”
Zara nodded and tapped her temple. “I've got some psychic abilities.”
The older woman returned without Inanna. Kur seemed to have disappeared back into the rig as well. She looked over at Kady and smiled in a way that made Neo feel like this strange lady wanted nothing more than to protect his mate. “We’ve been waiting for you for a while, child. I knew you’d eventually find your way to Rogue.”
Huh. She must be psychic too. But Neo didn't remember seeing her around Rogue and didn't think she was mated to one of the wolves. A lot of their mates developed special abilities. Somehow she was still only at the edge of his consciousness.
“Sorry, but who are you? Have we met before?” Neo had the distinct feeling they had, but he really had no idea who she was.
“I'm not here for you this time, lad.” She smiled at Kady. “Took you long enough to find your soul mate. I was getting antsy. We've got a lot of work to do.”
How were they supposed to find each other before this? She'd been halfway across the country. Regardless, they were together now, and he was never letting her go.
Kady didn’t look convinced, but Neo was glad there were other witches here to help her with understanding more about her magic and powers than he could.
Ace came over to introduce himself and extended his hand to Kady. “Sorry you had to get stuck with this cranky-ass dragon, Miss.”
Neo would take offense at one of his brethren slagging him that way, but instead he felt the tiniest stab of jealousy when Ace winked at Kady. His dragon didn’t like the teasing flirtation much either and he couldn’t help the low growl that rumbled up.
Both Ace and Match stared at Neo, and both were completely humored by his reaction. Match even laughed and shook his head. Ace raised his hand, never actually touching Kady. Good.
The Wolf Tzar approached next. “I will refrain from shaking your hand, pretty lady, but will introduce myself. I am Niko, and Zara and I belong to each other as you belong to the dragon.”
Neo liked that it was so obvious to everyone there that he and Kady were mates. They would all be invited to their mating ceremony once this new scourge from Hell died at his hands. The sooner he could make that happen the better. “Okay, we've got good news and bad news. Which do you want first? And where's Jett? I'd like him to hear this.”
Match crossed his arms and nodded gravely. “I'm glad you have good news, because we have none. Rogue was attacked and Yvaine and a few others were...taken. The loss of their mates has affected the dragons so profoundly that they can no longer function as warriors. They cannot shift nor fight. That includes Jett.”
Damn. That was everything Neo feared. “I worried about that. I saw Yvaine, or the part of her soul they have stolen. Kady's magic made that possible.”
Kady reached for his hand and held it tight in hers. The fire between them was banked, but still warm with their love for each other.
“Then we have hope. That will be important in the days to come. You're going to need a whole lot of it and more besides because you're about to get a promotion, Second Wyvern of the Black Dragons.”
Oh shit. Dread wormed its way down Neo's throat and pooled in his chest. “Jett's dead?”
Match shook his head. “No, but he no longer can serve as Wyvern. You must assume his place as is your duty.”
Ace tapped on a tablet and handed it over to Neo. “I hate to break up your slumber party, ladies, but we’ve got incoming.”
Soul Magic
Chp 14 - Kady
Crapballs. They’d only arrived and Kady had dampened her magic as much as she could to be able to give Neo time to fill in his team on what they’d learned about the shadow warriors. She’d been looking forward to asking the other witches about a million questions about magic, including if they had to get down and dirty to access their powers too.
They'd barely gotten in hellos and introductions. Neo hadn't even gotten to check in on his friend Jett or that Yvaine woman before the this entirely too good-looking and slightly grumpy guy called Match made Neo something important sounding called a Why Vern. Seemed like a funny name for a dragon king or president or whatever. Who was Vern? And why was he so important?
“Trip and Apollo report that a whole mess of shadow warriors with – what the fuck – human troops attached to them are headed inbound from the beach to the Reserve. ETA less than an hour.” Ace, who was far too flirty for her tastes, tapped on a tablet of his own, already treating Neo like a leader, looking to him for guidance. “You’d better fill us in on what you know, boss, and fast.”
“Yeah, like what’s a shadow warrior?” Zara they psychic lady said. “Because I've seen several versions of this battle play out in my mind and I don't like any of them.”
Neo nodded and became the soldier Kady had seen before on the battlefield, calculating and ready for a fight. “What we're calling shadow warriors are the souls stolen from both humans and supernaturals by the element of shadow, or someone using the shadow. They're being used as a weapon from Hell.”
Even the cool as a cucumber Niko's eyes went wide at that description. They didn't know the half of
it.
Neo continued, his voice getting darker with each word that passed through his lips. “They hide in the parts of the elemental darkness that most beings can’t see, not without power over shadow, or a darkness in their soul from being tainted by Hell. I suspect some of the Red Dragon Wyr will be able to detect them and those Golds who were enslaved in Hell. Apollo can.”
“Stealing souls? I don't like the sound of that.” Ninsy shook her head.
Fallyn joined the conversation. “If that's what happened to Yvaine, it is worse than death. It's like only the shell of her is left, still alive, but unable to communicate or function beyond basic routines, and even then, only if she's monitored and told or shown what to do. Basically, she’s undead. Jett isn't much better off. He won't leave her side and we have to force him to eat and drink.”
Neo blanched, expressing with his face how horrified they all were. Kady knew he wanted to go and see his Yvaine. She was also self-aware enough to know that it was pure jealousy of whatever kind of relationship he had with her that kept her from suggesting they do that.
“What’s your plan to defend ourselves if we can’t see them coming?” Niko asked.
Neo glanced at Kady and nodded. “I think Kady can help with that. There is something about her powers that make the shadow visible to anyone.”
Kady swallowed. Neo hadn't mentioned the important part and she had a feeling he was allowing her to reveal that bit. “But it also attracts them. I'm like shadow crack.”
Neither Niko nor Match looked impressed by that bit of news.
Niko squeezed her hand and told the group, “The gnomes have a ward spell that can create a temporary wall, but it can be shattered under a concentrated attack.”
Ace threw his hands up in the air. “Why the fuck didn’t we know about garden gnomes before now? They've got about a million of them at Target.”
