by Riley Storm
“More,” she said, realizing he was no longer teasing her, but making sure she was ready to take him in. “I can take it.”
Galen didn’t need further urging. She hissed, digging her fingernails deep into his back as he pushed all the way inside her in one slow, smooth motion. It hurt ever so slightly as she stretched to accommodate him, but the pain was far outweighed by the pleasure, and her eyes rolled back into her head as she relished that first moment of entry.
He slipped both hands under her back and pulled her up off the bed, leaning back on his knees. Clinging to his neck, she thrust her hips back and forth against him, riding him even as he held her aloft. The sheer strength he was demonstrating by holding her so easily inched her arousal higher.
But it wasn’t until his hand dipped between them, one finger finding her clit, that she truly lost control. Her own wetness was flowing out of her as she rode him harder and harder, head back, his mouth clamped down on her neck. Her moans became cries as she tightened, her entire body going stiff as he made her come.
“Oh fuck.” She felt Galen’s arms grow tighter and he growled distractedly.
Despite the waves of pleasure flowing out through her body amid the continuing thrust of her hips, capturing and releasing his cock, Kyla somehow managed to realize that he was on the edge himself, trying hard not to lose control.
The knowledge that her orgasm had almost made him explode was a real confidence booster. Then he lay her back on the bed, leaning over her, unmoving while he breathed hard in her ear.
“Holy shit, that was hot,” Galen growled. “You’re hot.”
She just pulled him in tight and kissed him, her brain not quite up to words yet, still basking in the afterglow of her climax. Her lips parted for his tongue and she clung tightly to his neck, feeling him shudder and then relax.
As soon as he did that, he started to thrust again, still thoroughly kissing her. She was all but moaning into his mouth, finding it hard to double-task both kissing him and getting fucked.
All at once, Galen pulled out of her. His hands casually gripped her waist and flipped her over, a manhandling that had Kyla biting her lips. She loved feeling so small to him, the way he just moved her body, doing to her as he pleased.
She started to get on all fours, to stick her ass up for him, but Galen growled a wordless negative at her, pushing her down flat onto the bed, legs closed. Then he mounted her and easily slid back inside, filling her once more.
“Oh, my God,” she gasped as he started to move in and out from behind her, his body lying on top of hers, allowing her to feel his weight without squishing her.
His cock was also hitting her just right from this angle. Her breaths came shorter and shorter, and she could hear him begin to groan in her ear, a surefire sign that he was getting close.
“Don’t stop,” she ordered. “No matter what. Don’t stop.”
“What if I—”
“Keep fucking me,” she moaned, not caring. There wasn’t going to be a tomorrow, who cared. “I’m going to fucking come, Galen, oh my God.”
He growled deeply, and she could feel his chest vibrate against her back. A second later he swelled inside of her and she couldn’t take it. Her walls clamped down around him and she thrashed against the bed, her cries bouncing off the walls.
Galen groaned loudly and she could feel him emptying himself inside her, warmth filling her as he shot stream after stream, his body jerking and writhing on top of her, which only enhanced her own climax, making it twice as hot.
They collapsed into the bed, Galen still on top of her, a heavy, comforting presence as they both gasped for air, the frenzied, intense lovemaking having sapped them of energy.
He kissed her behind her ear at one point, and she shivered, biting her lip involuntarily at the attention. It was the little things, like that, like the way he’d touched her and even now clung close to her, that showed Kyla the things Galen was having trouble putting into words.
Namely that he needed her, wanted her, and most of all, he cared for her. It was obvious in the way he touched her, the way he desired to please her, even if he couldn’t yet feel comfortable saying it.
It was all she needed. Well, that and his body, she was quite content with needing that too, she thought to herself as he stirred a minute later, his cock already hardening inside her once more.
“Again?” she moaned, feeling tired, yet also feeling her body respond to him as he moved back and forth.
“Are you really complaining?” he teased, gently biting her ear.
“I guess not,” she admitted in a throaty voice. “But turn me over, I want to be able to look into your eyes this time.”
Galen did as he was told, and she shivered at the intensity of his stare. She’d never seen him look at her like that. Not with such open emotion at least. It was a look she’d desired to see, but hadn’t expected, not yet at least.
But now Galen stared at her, unabashed. Like she was his.
And Kyla loved it.
33
Galen shot upright, startling her.
“What?” she asked, immediately on edge.
“It’s time,” he said quietly, looking over at her with a gravity to his face she’d never seen before.
In the distance, she heard a distant rumble of thunder, followed by another, deeper rumble. She knew what that meant, could feel the magic stirring to life.
The final assault on Drakon Keep had begun.
Kyla sat up and let Galen embrace her. They kissed furiously, knowing it may very well be the last time.
Then they split apart, pulling on clothes and preparing for the fight to come. She slipped on her robe and thrust her hand out. Her staff flew across the room from where it had rested against the wall, ruins bursting into light as she grasped it firmly.
Galen had donned a sweatshirt and sweatpants. Not the most intimidating of battle uniforms, but she knew that it was what lay underneath that would be his most formidable weapon, and that no body armor or attire could hold back his dragon.
“Let’s go,” he said, and she stepped into his arms.
The window flung open and Galen carried them out into the night sky in a swirl of air.
To the west, near the main gates, a bright golden light spread across the horizon. The wards of Drakon Keep, and they were under attack. Even as she watched, the glow spread wider as shadow reared up and struck from more and more points.
The pair of them landed on the front lawn. Not long after, they were joined by the other shifters.
“Is everyone safe?” Galen asked, his voice carrying over the sound of the storm and the assault on the wards.
“Yes,” Jax said. “They’re in the tunnels, on their way to the eastern wall.” He knelt to the ground, placing one palm on it, his eyes half closed. “They’re going to be okay.”
“Good. Then we must prepare to make our stand,” he said.
The dragons spread apart, leaving room for Kyla to stand next to Galen.
On the far left, Aaric began to glow as he lit with a fire from within. His clothing turned to ash, incinerated by the heat as he began to char the ground around him, his very skin turned to flame. Even from this distance she could feel the waves of heat washing over her.
Kyla was next in line, and she too began her preparations. Like she had in her battle with the Archmage, she opened herself up to the magic, letting it pour into her. Power raced through her veins, spreading through her body as she channeled it, preparing for battle. Her vision lightened as the night grew brighter, and she was sure by now her eyes were glowing a bright silver, like the moon hidden above.
With a shriek of defiance at the powers arrayed against them she slammed her staff into the ground. A beam of pure silver light shot upward and into the ward above them, racing outward to reinforce the section under attack, adding her strength to the already tremendous power of the wards.
Galen, she could see, was eyeing her, even as he too threw his head back, calling
upon the winds of his powers. The air howled like a banshee as it responded to his command. The storm above swirled darkly as he reached out and harnessed its strength, lightning flashing with increasing frequency.
Beyond Galen stood Valla, the youngest. He roared his anger, even as his skin turned a brilliant arctic white. Twin horns of ice curled up from his head and ice descended around his face as he adopted a gruesome helmeted visage. Dual blades of blueish-white formed in his hands, and the very air itself seemed to freeze solid as he swung them around.
Victor too was ready. The skies around him were full of water, frozen in time and space, hanging still, unmoving. The ground around the water dragon rippled and flowed, and she saw splashes as something lurked in the depths around the powerful dragon, ready to reach up and pull its enemies down into the depths below.
Anchoring the right, Jax had disappeared completely. Rising from the earth in his place was a monstrous figure. Standing easily twenty feet tall, the earth elemental was terrifying. Sharp angles and spikes adorned its upper body, while a huge club hung from its right hand, vicious-looking points jutting from every angle, made of a material darker than the blackest night. The ground shuddered as it spread its feet wide and the air trembled when it bellowed a challenge.
The dragons were ready. Kyla was ready.
“Let them come,” she snarled as another tremendous blow struck the wards.
They were ready.
A darkness she could feel in her soul rose up beyond the shield, visible even at this distance, a tidal wave of epic proportions as it raced toward the golden barrier.
Kyla steeled herself. The collision between the two forces was unbelievable. She expected an explosion, but the darkness was too absolute. It swallowed up the golden light even as the shield shattered, robbing everything of light.
The ward was down, and the vampires were coming.
The first wave came out of the trees shortly after, charging across the ground. Kyla gaped at the numbers. There had to be thousands of them. She knew they weren’t all from the nearby human town of Plymouth Falls. People would have noticed that many missing. These had to be from all over the world, numbers that the vampires had created over the past few years.
As the first line came on, she saw others emerging from the treeline, moving slower. There were fewer of those, but they still numbered several hundred, and around each one of them the shadows swirled.
Even in her wildest dreams she’d never known how strong the vampires were. There was no coming out of this, no surviving this fight. She swept her despair aside and ignored it. She might die, but she was going to make her death hurt. The vampires would know they had tangled with one of the Council, and she was going to strike fear into them from it.
Galen was the first to strike. He let loose with a mighty bellow and the very winds of the storm responded. Lightning slashed down from the sky into the oncoming ranks of the vampires as Galen controlled the charge of the air itself. Dirt and bodies flew everywhere as strike after strike hammered home.
But still the vampires came on.
Jax’s earth elemental form lifted a foot, and as it came down, the earth itself split asunder, a crack racing out from his impact, spreading wide like it was being ripped apart. It hit the vampire lines and dozens more disappeared.
Aaric cursed his enemies and fire erupted from the holes in the earth as he called upon fire in one of its most primal forms. Lava splashed across the charging vampires, eating through them, incinerating limbs and torsos, melting skin and decimating their ranks further as the ground became a volcano spewing forth its lifeblood to help defend the keep.
The first row of vampires to leap over the barrier found themselves sinking into ground that was more water than earth. Tentacles of water lashed up and sucked them under, while blades of ice skimmed low over the watery surface, separating the visible halves of the vampires from those buried underneath.
Then it was Kyla’s turn.
She leveled her staff as they came in range, and a green-gold lightning bolt shot forward. It hit the first target and the vampire literally exploded. But her spell wasn’t done there. It split in half, and hit two vampires, sucking their life from them and using that energy to split into four and find new targets. Her spell went on and on.
Hundreds fell from the combined might of the dragons and the mage. It was a mighty attack.
But still the vampires came on in their thousands.
They weren’t going to hold. Not here. But Drakon Keep had another trick to play just yet. One last defense that even Kyla hadn’t known about.
As the vampires reached the perimeter of the dragons, they slammed into another barrier. An inner ward field that held them at bay.
“Where did this come from?” she asked, not having sensed its presence.
“The wards on the cavern below,” came Galen’s reply. “I redirected their magic, as it was designed to be, centuries ago during first construction. To block any access to the cavern, and its precious gift.”
Kyla frowned as Galen’s head cocked to the side, looking like he’d been struck by something.
“My brothers!” he shouted abruptly. “Hold the line. I will return, I promise.”
“What?” she yelped, as the others simply acknowledged his order. “Where are you going?”
Galen grinned at her. “Not me. We. Come. I have an idea.”
He grabbed her hand before she could respond, hauling her back toward the Keep.
Away from the battle.
34
“Galen! Where are you taking me?” she yelped, pulled along in the dragon’s wake, unable to resist the air currents swirling around both of them.
Struggling hard, she twisted to face behind them, focusing her magic to lash out at a clump of vampires on the other side of the wards. Designed to keep things out, not in, the red energy spat from her hand, exploding in the middle of the attackers, killing several and scattering the rest.
“Inside,” Galen said excitedly. “We need to move, fast, there’s no time to waste!”
“You want to run away from the fight?” she cried, magic striking again. “What is going on with you all of a sudden?”
“Not running away,” he said. “Trying to win it.”
“Now you’ve completely lost me,” she said as they disappeared into the Keep itself, the carpet of air carrying them down the main hallway at breakneck speed. “How are we going to win the battle from in here?”
“We aren’t,” he said. “But the others might.”
Kyla twisted back around and rapped her knuckles against the back of his skull. “The others are outside, Galen. Where the fighting is? We can’t just leave them there. It won’t take the vampires long to break through the second wards. Not once the elder vampire shows himself.”
“Which is why we must move quickly. There can’t be any delay, not if we want a chance at this working.”
They slowed to a halt in a hallway that looked oddly familiar. Kyla looked around, recognizing a certain recessed alcove that was actually a hallway.
“Galen,” she moaned in sudden understanding. “We’ve been there, we’ve tried that. It’s not going to work.”
“It will this time,” he said confidently, tugging her along with him, his hand gripping hers tightly.
“How can you know that? Nothing has changed, nothing is different.”
Galen pulled her in close and stepped off the edge of the spiral staircase. Despite knowing it was coming, Kyla cried out in surprise as they plummeted down, the wind only swirling tight as they neared the bottom, slowing their descent until they touched down lightly.
“I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to that,” she muttered, looking back up, trying to figure out just how far they’d fallen and how fast.
Galen returned a moment later, a matte black box in his hands. She could sense the artifact’s magic, but still didn’t think anything would be different.
“Here, give me that,” she said tiredl
y. “Let’s get this over with so we can get back out there. Without us, your brothers don’t stand a chance. We must stand united as one against the vampires. All of us.”
But Galen didn’t give her the artifact. Instead, he once again took her hand, pulling her out into the very center of the chamber, until they were standing right in the middle of all the stone statues.
“Do you remember what you did last time?” Galen asked, the earth rumbling above them, bits of rock and dirt shivering free of the ceiling as something struck a tremendous blow above.
“Yes, I remember. I’ll try it again, but I’m telling you Galen, it’s just going to have the same effect. Nothing!”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Galen hesitated. “I hope.”
“Why?”
“Because, Kyla, something has changed since the last time,” he said, facing her straight on, looking her in the eye.
“What?”
“Me.”
She frowned. “But I’m the one who cast the spell on it, Galen. You didn’t do anything.”
“Which is precisely why it didn’t work. Don’t you see?” Galen said excitedly, holding out the box in front of him. “Last time, you tried to activate it on your own. But this time, this time we’re going to activate it. You with your magic, and me.”
“What are you telling me, Galen?” she asked quietly, starting to catch on, but not entirely sure she believed what she was hearing from the wind dragon.
“I’m telling you that I’m done holding back. That I’m done trying to deny what I so obviously know to be true. I will never be able to forget my past, but no longer will I let that forbid me from having a future. Katherine would want that for me. She always wanted what was best for me, and right now, that’s you.”
Kyla shivered. “Galen…”
“I’m not done,” he said, cutting her off. “You have opened my eyes to so many things, and taught me that I need to let go of past hurt, but also past hate. Holding onto them is no way to live in the present.” He took a deep breath. “And in the present, the only way I want to live, is with you at my side. I choose to forgive the mages for what happened to my mate, and I no longer can hold that against them, because they have given me something in return.”