The Dragon's Mate (Ancient Dragons Book 1)

by Serena Simpson

  Yeah, he was in it up to his throat. Anytime she wanted he’d drown in it. He walked over and dropped beside her lying on his back to watch the darkening sky.

  “I owe you an apology, but that’s just a start.”

  She grunted, and he took that for ‘beg for your queen’s forgiveness.’

  “I’m sorry. I have acted like a pompous jackass. Do you think you can find a way to forgive me?”

  “Why should I? It’s not like I care what you do.” Her fingers strummed the grass under her hand.

  “I deserve that. Remember when I told you I loved you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I meant it. I should have told you some other things at the same time. I’ve been raised a prince who would one day become a king. I learned to keep my own council even with my counselors. Never let anyone know everything you are thinking. They aren’t servants but they do not rival your standing that must always be clear. I slipped back into the role so easily that it’s embarrassing.”

  “My role was always to be invisible unless I was needed. That’s why I am here. Don’t get me wrong, I fought to get that authorization to come here. But I knew there had to be a catch. After all these years they were giving in. They know something is different. Maybe Magnus tripped their sensors or Amya or someone we haven’t seen yet, but they know.”

  “You’re right. Someone out there has their eyes on us. What we do next will be important as important as you finding patient zero. I was wrong earlier.”

  “I know, but maybe you weren’t the only one wrong. We came together fast, maybe too fast.”

  “Maybe, but I don’t believe that.”

  “You don’t?”

  “No, I don’t.” He gathered her into his arms allowing her scent to calm him down. “I love you Kisame. There are going to be times when life gets hard and I become a jackass. Stay with me, I’ll be back.”

  “There may be times when I’m mad or unreasonable. Stay with me I’ll be back,” she whispered in his ear as she got comfortable in his arms.

  He leaned over and kissed her shoulder. The smile he couldn’t hide stretched wide. Before Kisame came along he kept to himself. Too many females wanted to be queen. His little fluffy queen only wanted a sweet life. She was so different from what he thought he would have picked. Thank whoever watched over him that they gave him a helping hand. He couldn’t imagine life without her.

  “About this reluctant dragon—.” He kissed her stopping her words.

  “I was thinking we could go upstairs and talk tomorrow.”

  “Oh,” she laughed, “what if I want to stay out here?”

  “Your wish.” He nibbled on her throat. “My command.”

  He laughed at her squeak. One minute she was lying on the ground now there was a soft pad underneath her.

  “I’m beginning to understand the benefits of being mated to a dragon.”

  “Just reminding you why you need to keep me close.” He rolled her onto her back before allowing his weight to settle on her.

  “Rilan,” she moaned his name trying to wiggle underneath him.

  “Am I too heavy?”

  “No, I love the way you feel when you lie on me. The heat of your body and how you press me down. You’re so strong and real. When you're on top of me I know that nothing can get through you to hurt me. You make me feel safe.” She reached up to kiss him.

  Her taste drove him crazy, it always did. She reminded him of a lethal combination of his favorite liquor paired with a sweet fruit. She tasted so innocent but the results of kissing her were deadly.

  “I swear you make me drunk with pleasure every time I touch you.”

  “Good, the last thing I want you to do is to think when we’re together.”

  He went back to her throat nipping at the mark that he left there. It was evident that she was his queen but the real evidence was the way she got pissed at him but never tried to leave him. This was real, he never thought he would have anything like this to hold on to.

  With one caress Kisame had offered him everything. His kingdom and throne, a queen and a family. How could he offer any less?

  “Less thinking more treating your queen like a wanton sex goddess.”

  He bit her lip and dissolved his sex goddesses’ clothes

  “That’s what I’m talking about.”

  She arched up when he took her nipple in his mouth. He let out a moan around it. She tasted like sun and rain, a combination of goodness that exploded in his mouth. He needed more of her. He sucked harder on her nipple while she made noises that should be illegal, they sounded so good.

  He switched nipples as her hands went to his body. He loved the way she stroked him as if she couldn’t get enough and was having a hard time believing that he was hers.

  Her nails moved over his skin with just enough force to leave him tingling in their wake. He bit that plump berry in his mouth and was rewarded when her head fell back and her body gave a delicious shiver. He worked his way down ignoring the thickness of his dick. He wanted to lay her out, spread her wide and disappear into her depths. Any other day he’d give in to the impulse.

  Today, now, he needed something different. He kissed down her body enjoying the swells as well as the dips he found. The fullness of her stomach enticed him. He stopped to lay his hands on her thinking of when the fighting was over and she would be round with his child, their child. Would it be human or dragon? The wonder of the moment was the realization that he didn’t care as long as the child was theirs and healthy.

  “Amazing,” he breathed out as he attacked her belly button pulling it into his mouth. “So different from me.” He dipped his tongue in making her squeal. It was funny how her noises turned him on. It did something to his body that he wasn’t used to. At times, it felt like she was made for him.

  He dipped down until the scent of her pussy rose to meet him. His tongue licked his lips of his own accord. “I need to taste.”

  He licked the wetness seeping from between her lips. She was so ready for him. It took everything he had not to hump her leg. Her sweet clit was thick and waiting for him to suck. He pulled it into his mouth as she let out a scream of pleasure. The sound spurred him on.

  If his old friends told him that bringing his queen to completion would give him so much pleasure that he would ignore his dick, he would have laughed. He watched her eyes as he stuck the first finger inside her followed by the second. They were blown as her legs fell open even further. He worked her until he knew she was going to come apart. When she did, he ate her needing to taste the pleasure coming from her.

  He took her higher with his mouth until she was screaming a high pitched note. When her body stopped trying to toss itself off the pad they were lying on, he finally came up for air.

  “But you…”

  He gave her a smile. He had everything he needed. Later she could become reacquainted with him, for now, the look of dazed pleasure on her face made him feel like the dragon he always wanted to be.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Kisame didn’t know if she loved the palace or hated it. They were back and her time was down to a handful of days. She was standing in the room where she first met Rilan. Magnus was with them as they looked at the tapestry that she now knew were dragons asleep.

  It still didn’t make much sense to her. How could they be wound tight like that and be flat? Now that she was looking, the different color scales were intense. All she kept thinking was someone’s life was being put on hold.

  “Any thoughts on how to wake them up?” Rilan was watching Kisame out the corner of his eyes.

  “Don’t look at me. As far as I’m concerned it was a fluke, I woke you up.”

  “We can always find their mates,” Magnus suggested.

  She glared at him. “You know what let’s do it. You’ll have to fill out profiles for them. That shouldn’t be a problem. Don’t forget you’ll need a picture. I suggest you say something like I like long walks on the beach and quiet flights o
n dark nights. Looking for a woman unafraid to get her kink on with a dragon. I mean what do you think those long flights on dark nights are for? Anyone interested in the mile-high club?”

  Rilan and Magnus stared at her like she lost her mind.

  “What? Too much?”

  “Point made,” Magnus said as he ran his hand over his head. “Maybe we should move them to the lab.”

  “No, don’t move them.” She shrugged, “I don’t know why. Just don’t do it.”

  “We won’t move them. It’s not like I need this room anyway.” Rilan came close taking her into his arms.

  “I’ll go to the lab see what I can find.” Magnus left them alone.

  “We really need them, don’t we?” she watched as the sun hit the different scale colors making them light up. “I would have never imagined dragons came in so many different colors.”

  “Diversity. I think it’s something we have always valued.”

  “How can we be so different from our ancestors?”

  “I don’t think you are. The behavior you show is learned. Anyone can learn and everything we learn isn’t always right or healthy.” Rilan led her out the room to the lift.

  “Why is the palace so big?”

  “When times were good, we would have several generations of the royal family living here. As well as servants and the council. We open the palace if there is a disaster and our people need a place to stay. Now there are the three of us.”

  “And Amya. For the record, she’s not my favorite person, but I think you should get in touch with her. She may know a way to wake the dragons.”

  They got off the lift with Rilan leading them into a wide-open space. “This is our space. The whole floor and the one above it belong to us. We will raise our family here.”

  “Do you want a family?” She walked around the room. There was floor to ceiling windows that opened. There was a spot for him to land as well as takeoff. She noticed he had a balcony and what used to be great furniture on it.

  “Yes, I want a family.”

  “Just making sure.” She threw him a smile as she made plans to get their place cleaned up.

  “I agree with you about contacting Amya. I’ll see if I can reach her tonight.”

  Kisame leaned against the railing of the balcony looking over it. She wasn’t able to see the street from here but the view of the sky was enough to take her breath away.

  “Are we going to talk about it?”

  She turned to look at him. He was leaning against the railing his legs were crossed at his ankles. He looked relaxed, but she knew better. There was tension in every line of his body.

  “I need to leave in a day or two. You can’t stop me Rilan I need to go back.”

  “I know.”

  “You do?” They had been avoiding this conversation ever since she gave him the journal and they made love outside. She avoided the conversation because every time she thought of leaving her heart bled. It would be a week at most, still, she didn’t like it.

  “I know you have to go but I don’t like it. I do need to ask you to bring back some water with you.”

  “Water?”

  “I’ve been reading Dr. Jemma Shal’s journal. She has a theory that makes sense. Her son was able to do what she couldn’t.”

  “Which was?”

  “She thought the source of what was happening could be in the water. She backed it up by correlating the spread of the mutation. She traced her water supply and who drank from it and went from there. Then her son hiked into the royal forest. At the time it was protected wildland. We kept all dragons away from there. Since he couldn’t fly, they approved his request. We didn’t know much about our human forms in those days. No one was expecting him to make that climb.

  “He came back with the water his mother requested as well as other plants. That’s the research that was destroyed. She took everything she remembered and wrote it in this journal. Did you bring water with you?”

  “I did.”

  “All government issued?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can we get a sample?”

  “Yes, and I’ll bring water from a common source that I know everyone is drinking from. You agree with me going back?”

  “No. I don’t want you to put yourself in danger any more than you want me in danger. We don’t have a choice.”

  She nodded, there wasn’t a choice. She was more convinced that if she didn’t go back the anger would come that much faster.

  “What happens when you come back to me?”

  “I haven’t thought that far.”

  “I have. Your father and whoever else you work for will know that you found something or met someone here.”

  “You can’t keep me quiet like I’m your dirty secret.”

  “You’re right, and you’re not my dirty anything. Well…” The grin on his face meant he was remembering last night too.

  “What are we going to do?”

  “You’re going to collect data and come back to me. I’m going to try and wake the dragons. Together we are going to make our way in this new world.”

  She wasn’t sure about that. They toured his residence, but the feeling in her stomach didn’t go away.

  Her hand went to her stomach when they finally left their floor wandering around the palace.

  “You know when you get that feeling in your abdomen that says shits about to hit the fan? That’s how I feel.”

  “You don’t have to go back Kisame.”

  “I do.” She stepped closer to him taking his head between her hands. “I have to go back or I’ll never know if what we’re about to face could have been stopped by me speaking the truth. Maybe I can reach him. We owe ourselves the opportunity to find out.”

  He pulled her into his arms swaying to a beat only he could hear. “You’re right. You’ll keep me informed right?” He tapped her forehead.

  “I’ll tell you everything.”

  “Come let me show you the city.”

  *~*~*~*

  “When’s Amya coming?” Kisame fiddle with the breakfast in front of her not sure she wanted to eat.

  “She’s coming around lunchtime,” Rilan told her. He wasn’t eating either. “I’ll ride with you to the edge of Terra.”

  Terra, it wasn’t The Interior anymore, now that she knew the name. It wasn’t home either but it was beginning to feel that way. Rilan was home, and she was going to leave him without a guarantee that she would be coming back. How was she supposed to do this?

  He opened his mouth and closed it.

  “Walk me out to the vehicle?” He pulled her chair out for her. She walked around and hugged Magnus. “I’ll miss you while I’m gone.”

  “Come back soon,” he told her in a gruff voice.

  “You hug like a father should.” She turned around and walked out knowing Rilan would catch up with her.

  She was sitting on the steps to the palace when he caught up to her.

  “I believe I saw a tear in Magnus' eyes.” He leaned over and bumped her shoulder.

  “I’ve been the one who insisted I have to leave. News flash, I don’t want to go.”

  “I know. I want to keep you here, make sure you’re safe.”

  “But I still have to go.” She knew she did. It became apparent to her the moment he realized that they didn’t have a choice.

  “I could go with you. No one has to know you met me here.”

  “You know that won’t work.”

  He nodded even as he formed his counter-argument.

  “Can you stop, being you? There is no one in my society as confident as you are. The dragon may not come out but his attitude is apparent. Will you be able to stay away from me? More importantly, if you are not here how will you get the others awake?”

  “I’m sure I could counter every argument except the one where you don’t want me in danger.”

  “Back-up plan love. If I go down, I need you to still be here to go on.”

  “Kisame—.�
�

  She shook her head and placed her hand over his mouth. “Let’s be honest in our final minutes together. There’s a possibility I won’t come back. You have to live; my people need a choice in who they are and want to be. Parents have to stop being torn away from their kids as they watch them die. I don’t know how life changes, but if we can make it for the good then one life—my life—is worth it.”

  “Not to me. I’d rather watch the world burn than lose you.”

  “But you won’t. Promise me.”

  “I make no such promises. We will take each day one at a time.” He stood and reached for her hand pulling her up. “I don’t want you out here alone when it gets dark.”

  They walked to her vehicle. It was parked in the same spot as when she last saw it several weeks ago.

  “I plan to be back in two weeks,” she reminded him as they got into the vehicle. “If I don’t make it.”

  “You will. I might have even found a way to get some cleaning bots online so Terra looks like a shining city, not an empty one.”

  “I’m holding you to that. I can’t wait to see the city in its glory.”

  “Turn right.”

  “We’re getting off course.”

  “No, we are taking the shortcut.” He got her close to her relay station in a few hours.

  “I should have asked for directions before I came.” Her laugh was easy but her eyes were wet.

  “I’ll wait forever for you, love,” he whispered in her ear.

  “It won’t take that long I promise.”

  They got out and leaned against the vehicle as they watched the sun in the sky. She finally pulled away and took the equipment out that wasn’t destroyed when they crashed.

  “This is,” she wanted to say goodbye but couldn’t. “See you soon.”

  “If you need me, I’ll be there.”

  He walked her into the relay station. She gave him a course on how the mechanism worked. With one last lingering kiss, she walked into the tube-like relay and disappeared.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  She should have reported to her father when she got back. Instead, she was standing on the balcony of the apartment she called her home. It was night, but it wasn’t dark. The difference between being in Terra and being in Penna was like night and day. It was never dark enough here. Even at night, she could see everything around her, but she couldn’t see the glow of her eyes. Her dragon eyes?