by Tamsin Baker
Mia took the sensors off Tattiena’s hands and heart and placed them back on their pads. Tattiena wiped at the spots, the sensation hypersensitive in those areas. Mia then went over to her computer and started tapping on it.
When the healer didn’t say anything, Tattiena’s belly tightened further with nerves. “Well, what is it?”
Mia turned, and smiled. “Nothing. You are perfectly healthy.”
“Then what is this?” Tattiena asked, grabbing hold of her stomach, where that uncomfortable tightening could still be felt.
Mia made a gesture with her hands. “Explain it to me.”
She closed her eyes for a moment, then sighed. It was probably time to explain it to someone and she needed to be honest. With herself and with her healer. Hoping it was something else was not getting anyone anywhere.
“It’s my heat, or something like it. I’m sure.”
“How do you know?” Mia asked, her eyebrows climbing her forehead.
“I have these really intense, erotic dreams, and yesterday I well… I jumped a man. From nowhere. I mean, I didn’t even speak to him first. Mia, it’s all consuming. The fire, the need, the everything… It’s crazy!”
Mia stood up and moved closer, her eyes mirrors of concern. “You mean you had sex with someone for the first time? Who?”
“It doesn’t matter…” She looked away from Mia’s gaze. The woman was like a mother to her. She didn’t want to discuss such things, and the shame of such an act was still biting her like a dog that wouldn’t let go.
“It will if you conceive.”
Tattiena groaned and threw her hands up. “Hopefully I didn’t. I mean…what’s the likelihood?”
Mia chewed on her lip. “In a normal person, depending on the time of the month, only five to twenty per cent. However, if you are in heat, which it looks like you may be, then that is considerably increased.”
Tattiena nodded, her plan solidifying in her mind. “Then I need to make him leave. I can’t have that happen again.”
Mia reached over and lay a wrinkled hand on her own, the touch a soothing warmth, and something she missed. “Why Tattiena? This is normal, and one of the many functions of the Dragon rider. To mate, to produce children that may go on to be the next Dragon riders. You know if you get pregnant, your Dragon will seek out a mate also. It is part of the cycle.”
Tattiena shook her head and jumped off the table, straightening her clothes and pulling off the final sensor. That was all logical, and crazy. Why did she not have a say in any of this?
“I know that’s what I’m meant to do, supposedly. But I don’t want that life. Pregnancy will ruin my instincts, change everything about me. I’m not ready to give up my role in this castle and in this city for a baby. No. They still need me. The kingdom needs us.”
Mia went back to her computer and sat down, a resigned smile on her face. “I know they do; we all do. But nature will take its course, Tattiena. Your mother didn’t have much of a choice once her heat hit her, and I don’t think either will you.”
Tattiena clenched her teeth and snorted. “And look where that landed her!”
Mia flinched and Tattiena sighed. That was probably going too far. Mia had known her mother, cared for her. It wasn’t Mia’s fault that her mother couldn’t fight off her own attackers.
“Mia, I appreciate your help, I really do. But I have worked too long and hard to let my stupid sexuality beat me now. The barbarians from the south have been attacking smaller villages, and you know I can’t ride Nargoya if I’m pregnant. Where will that leave the town? Me?”
Mia frowned. “Are you sure that’s how it is… I know your mother never rode, but that was because you were too precious to her. Not because she couldn’t.”
Tattiena straightened her shoulders and tried to focus on happy thoughts. Speaking to Mia today had only made her more frustrated and angry. “My mother told me herself that she could not ride once she had me. I only know what she told me. And if she is right, I can’t let Leo near me again. I will not sacrifice the kingdom’s safety, and everything I am, for this sick twist of fate.”
“But Tattiena…you are more than just the Dragon rider. You are a princess.”
She looked away, unable to deal with someone who saw so clearly into her soul. She was afraid of what she would be without her mantle of protector of the kingdom. Her father only loved her for what she could do. Without that, what, and who, was she?
“No. I won’t take that risk. I will ask the king to make him leave.”
Mia’s face stilled and her eyes went wide. “Do you mean… you mated with the prince?”
Tattiena didn’t answer, she couldn’t. The less people knew the better. She would not be like her mother. Falling for a handsome prince who would break her heart and run off with a real princess. She may be the daughter of a king, but Mia was wrong. She wasn’t a princess. She was a Dragon rider. And a bastard.
“Can you give me something to make this settle down, Mia? The urges are almost uncontrollable again.”
Mia’s lips twisted with distaste. “No, I can’t. Or, I could, but it would mean a hormone supplement of a kind and it will interfere with your sleep, your judgement. I wouldn’t recommend it.”
Tattiena nodded, considering her healer’s advice carefully. “I’ll see how I go. It may settle down naturally.” Not likely, but there was always hope. “I’ll come back and see you if I change my mind. Thank you, Mia.”
The older woman grabbed her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek in an unusually personal move for the healer. “I’m always here if you need me.”
She gave the older woman a smile, the care she saw, as genuine as anyone else’s in the castle. “Thanks.”
Tattiena pressed the button for the door and it slid open. Her body still fluttered with anxious energy. She could do with a good work out, and that meant speaking to the captain of the guard.
She turned and wove through the castle, taking a secret door outside, and stepped straight out into the training yard. She skidded to a halt, her pussy throbbing with need as she stared at the scene before her.
There he is, a voice seemed to whisper inside her mind.
Her breath caught as she watched the prince sparring with Kalvis, the captain that she also worked out with. He was the best of the army, by far. A huge and fit man. Incredibly fast and dexterous too.
Leo was a sight to behold. He grunted and parried a sword thrust, sliding back and around with the fluidity of a dancer.
Beautiful…
The metal blades clanged together, a grunt and another twist and the prince had his sword to the captain’s throat.
Woah. That’s amazing. I’ve never seen Kalvis bested.
Leo issued a smile that made Tattiena’s knees wobble, sheathed his sword, and bowed to his opponent. The men around them clapped and the prince turned towards her, staring straight into her eyes. His face didn’t change, he just looked at her as though he’d expected her to be there.
Her belly tightened and she grew hot all over.
No. This is not happening again!
She tossed her head and strode forward, nodding once at him before addressing Kalvis. “Captain. Can you spare a man or two for a work out?”
Tattiena could see the prince’s mouth fall open and she suppressed the need to roll her eyes.
“Of course, Dragon Master.”
Kalvis walked away to speak to his men and she turned towards Leo.
“It’s not like that, Prince.” Although with the amount of heat pouring through her core, she was pretty sure she could take half the regiment and still have energy left over.
“It’s Leo,” he corrected her.
She liked the sound of that. “All right. Leo.”
He stepped closer. “You work out... with two men?”
She grinned at him, a strange devil inside of her raising one mocking eyebrow at him.
“The men are ready, Tattiena. Do you need to get changed?”
; She looked down. Her body remained clad in her day to day wear—a wrap dress that covered her arms and legs down to her ankles. She had training clothes also, but they weren’t always practical.
“No point. If I need to protect myself, they won’t wait until I change into leggings.”
Kalvis inclined his head and she left the prince—Leo—and walked over to one of the fighting rings.
She stalked forward and rolled her shoulders, grateful that her heat melted away as she settled into fight mode. Her mind cleared, erasing everything except what she was focused on. The sounds the men’s shoes made on the gravel and dirt. Estimating their size, their weight, as they circled her. She’d need a lot of power with the bigger one, he was at least twice her weight.
She shifted her eyes to the side to wink at Kalvis in thanks and he grinned at her. He knew how much she liked a challenge.
What in fucking hell are they doing?
That captain of the guard, the numbskull, had put Tattiena inside a fighting circle with two men twice her size.
Well, to be fair, one of them was closer to her height, but he was twice as wide.
Leo’s heart began to pound with sickening accuracy against his chest. He hated seeing women get hurt, any woman. But this one…well, she was special. And seeing her in danger like this was making his palms itch to jump in and save her.
He wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was just the incredible sex they’d had yesterday clouding his reasoning, but there had been something else too.
Something he hadn’t felt before.
A connection. A need. A fire. She had called it her heat. Well, Leo could not agree more.
One of the men lunged at her and Leo called out, rushing forward to help her.
The man was on the ground, flat on his back before Leo could get to the ropes.
One of the other guards put his arm out to stop him from moving forward, but he didn’t need the reminder, he’d stopped.
He watched in awe as Tattiena moved around the circle. Light as a feather, she bounced. The man lunged and Leo’s heart jumped into his throat. Quick as a lightning bolt, she evaded his lunge and punched the man in the gut.
She groaned in frustration suddenly, then ripped her dress down one side, exposing her leg. So, she could move better, or that’s why he assumed she did it.
Lust coiled inside him like a snake, waiting for the right moment to strike. Leo glanced around the circle to see if he had any competition for her affections, but he saw nothing on the men’s faces anywhere near need or lust. Awe, respect, and focus as they watched her kick the men’s arses.
The big guy slammed his fist into the dirt with frustration and called for a sword.
When someone threw him one, Leo’s muscles in his arms began to constrict. Oh no. He couldn’t allow that.
A hand on his shoulder made him turn and it was the captain again, Kalvis.
“I can see you worrying about her. Don’t. Just watch.”
His gaze flew back to Tattiena and he managed to catch the look of glee as she twirled for her own sword, her red dress flying around her like a ribbon dancer. The dresses split exposed her shapely thigh and he swallowed a groan that rose as his cock thickened in his tight paints.
What on Limea was this?
Why was his body still so hungry for the woman?
Usually, when he’d had a woman once, it took him weeks to request her again. He liked to keep them rotating through to keep his body enthusiastic for sex. Yet, he hadn’t even looked at another woman since he arrived here.
The clang of metal brought his attention back and he stood and stared, just like every other man in the place as she battled the two men. And they weren’t holding back either. The men’s shoulders strained, their muscles bulging as they swung at her with sweat now dripping off their faces.
She nipped back and forth, moving faster and with more grace than Leo had ever seen anyone do.
His balls throbbed watching her fight. He had to move away.
Being turned on by battle… Now that’s a first.
“I’m going for a walk,” he told the captain, and moved away, confident that she wouldn’t be hurt no matter what they threw at her.
He’d been right in offering the king more money to link to the powerful kingdom. What sort of city had a warrior such as she?
She was the hottest woman on the planet and he’d been the one to enjoy her body yesterday.
4
Leo went back to his suite, washed the sweat and grime from his body, and changed into some of the kingdom’s comfortable, royal clothes. Then, he went in search of her, and his instincts wove him through the maze of corridors until he was watching Tattiena’s gorgeous firm arms moving beneath her dress.
It didn’t look like she’d had time to wash from her training session yet. The scent of strength was intoxicating.
He pulled up alongside her.
“Tattiena. Come dine with me.”
“No.” She kept walking, moving through the door that led to the outside and headed for the stables where her Dragon was.
“Why not? Hey…” He reached out for her and she hissed at him like a snake.
He recoiled quickly, remembering the thumping punch she’d landed on him after their mating in the stables yesterday. He still had a purple bruise from it. He began to panic, having stupidly not worked out his speech to her yet. Would she rather seduction, or logic? Surely a woman like her would respond to both.
“Listen. There’s no reason why we can’t enjoy each other while I’m here.”
“Go now. I don’t want you here.”
He rolled his eyes and followed her into the stable. The beautiful, iridescently scaled Dragon was stretching on the hay on her back. Now, in full morning light, he could see the tips of her wings, the bright purple so incredible he stopped and stared.
“You need to stop pursuing me. I don’t want you.”
He pulled his gaze to the woman before him. Her lips were red and swollen, from her biting them or from her need, he didn’t know.
“You do.”
He grabbed for her and she twisted and pulled, trying to get him off balance. A chuckle rolled in his throat. She wanted a fight, did she? He countered her move and swiped his leg out, knocking her to the ground.
She rolled and jumped up to stand in front of her Dragon. “Nargoya. Fire.”
The Dragon rolled over and got up onto her four legs and stood directly behind Tattiena.
Leo froze, a lump rising in his throat as the Dragon took a breath and blew.
I’m dead.
A shiver coursed down his spine as his eyes slid shut, accepting his fate. But his heart continued to beat as the flames threaded around him, heat swirling around him in a storm. His eyes popped open to see Tattiena falling forward as the Dragon’s breath wove behind her like an orange and red curtain.
“Nargoya. You traitor,” Tattiena practically screamed at the Dragon and flames rose higher, above their head, wiping out any way of seeing what was going on around them.
“Wow. That’s incredible.” He stared as the flames burned. A bright yellow, burnt orange. The heat on their faces making droplets of sweat roll down his face.
“She. I…” Tattiena began to tremble and she turned to him.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Leo asked.
Tattiena sobbed, grabbing at her belly, her nipples hard and straining against the red material of her dress.
He paused, enjoying the feel of anticipation as he waited for her to tell him that she wanted him to fuck her. But she didn’t. She just groaned and looked at him with hungry, lust-filled eyes.
He grabbed her by the arms and dragged her closer. She obviously needed him and she had no idea how to ask. Instead of fighting him, as he had half expected her to do, she tilted her face up and for the first time, he lowered his head to capture her lips in a kiss.
He pressed his lips harder against hers, their breaths mingling and their tastes sliding together. It we
nt on and on, neither of them moving as the heat around them rose.
She lifted her hands up, slowly, until she was holding his head to hers. He groaned, low in his throat and speared her lips with his tongue, tasting heaven.
A sensation that he’d never experienced before flooded him, causing a tightening of his body as it readied itself to take her.
No. I’m not doing this again. Not like this.
He pulled back and the flames died, the Dragon walking away to the green grass outside.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, her chest rising and falling with her quickened breath.
“I want a bed. I want to do this right.”
She pulled away, her eyes haunted. “No, please just go.”
Disappointment slammed into him with the efficiency of a sword blade. “No. I want to do this. But do it right.”
“No. I won’t. I can’t.” She grabbed her belly and bent over as though she was in pain.
“What’s wrong with you? Why can’t we have sex in the comfort of a bed?”
“Nothing’s wrong with it. I changed my mind. You need to go!”
She turned and grabbed the saddle laying across a wooden stand, then ran outside like a drunkard. There she touched her Dragon’s head and Nargoya spread her wings. Tattiena swung the small brown saddle up onto her dragon’s back, dipped under her to fasten it, then moved back around.
Was she seriously running away from him over this?
His unspoken question was answered when Tattiena stepped up onto her dragon’s wing, slipped into her place on the saddle and grabbed a hold of the reins.
“Where are you going?”
Was she going where he couldn’t follow her?
Nargoya bent her knees, launching into the air like a bird. Leo ran outside after them, craning his neck to watch as they took off to the sky.
“Wow.”
He watched until they became specks in the sky, heading where? He didn’t know.
Should he wait? Maybe... But he didn’t think he would be convincing her to have sex with him again today.
She wanted him, that was clear. Despite what they’d already shared, she needed more. Why she was fighting him, he didn’t know. But he would find out.