by Eva Brandt
“It is, isn’t it?” Cassia whispered quietly. Snowflakes started to dance around us, and a pattern of ice formed beneath our bodies, like a blooming flower. When she pulled away again, her eyes were dry and filled with determination.”Well, then, my dear males... Will you help me again? Help me help my people?”
We all smiled at her. “Of course, treasure. Always.”
* * *
Cheimon
It took quite some time to stabilize the mountain once again and provide assistance for the citizens who had been injured in February’s attack on Tou Cheimóna. We had been fortunate in that the more distant settlements had only suffered minor damage, with the small town of Glacia and the area around The Bridge of Melting Snowflakes taking the worst of it. In The Frozen Peaks, the situation was far more serious, and it was there that we found the most injured and, unfortunately, the dead.
It did not help that my other two lieutenants were out of commission as well. December had apparently never made it out of The Frozen Peaks. I had been so distracted by the attack on Karasu and the amarok pack that it had not occurred to me to check his whereabouts until after I’d learned the truth about February’s betrayal. If I had thought to look, I’d have found him bleeding out in one of the underground caverns of the mountain. January wasn’t much better off, as February had attacked him shortly before he had started casting his spell. I’d managed to find my wounded lieutenants with ease after my confrontation with their treacherous friend, and I counted myself lucky that they were not dead.
My dragons and their families were able to compensate for the absence of my lieutenants. They turned out to be very useful at moving the fallen rocks and ice and evacuating the people who had been trapped in inaccessible places. I wouldn’t have been able to do nearly as much damage control without their aid.
We worked all day, side by side with the still unharmed inhabitants of The Frozen Peaks. Pandora and Eranthe showed up that evening, bringing along a very concerned Jack and a host of reinforcements and healers. My sisters took one look at my pale face and ushered me off. “Go get some sleep, Cassia,” Pandora told me. “You look like you’re about to fall over.”
I might have protested and insisted on staying to continue helping my people, but the words mimicked Emmerich’s warning from the amarok caverns, as well as the silent concern my dragons had continued to display all throughout the day. The pleading glances they shot my way sealed the deal. Besides, it wasn’t like they were wrong. I’d had some healers look me over as well, and I knew that for the most part, I was uninjured, but the whole episode had still taken a toll on me. I didn’t remember feeling so exhausted since the day my parents had transferred Snegurka’s powers into my body.
“All right,” I told my sisters. “But if anything happens, anything at all, come and get me.”
“Of course, Cassia,” Eranthe replied with a soft smile. “Be at ease. We have everything well in hand.”
I believed them because it was not the first time they had helped me and it would probably not be the last. That was why they had all insisted on becoming the avatars of the other seasons, so that I would have people to support me with my new duties.
When had I forgotten that? When had I forgotten that I was not alone?
I could not go back to my quarters to rest since they were still a ruin, so instead, we made our way to the very same chamber I had once assigned to my dragons.
Despite the fact that the cave-like room was located deep within the recesses of the mountain, it had not suffered much damage. I wasn’t sure if it was just happenstance or a consequence of the magic left behind from the night my dragons had spent here, but regardless, I was grateful for it. We could’ve gone elsewhere, but I didn’t have the energy to come up with an alternative.
The furnishings in the chamber remained sparse, but my nisse had brought three beds in before it had become obvious that they wouldn’t be necessary. We picked one at random—Kerryn’s, judging by the small smile that popped up on his face—and collapsed onto the mattress. I was too tired to move a muscle, but I didn’t protest when my dragons freed me from my clothes. Honestly, I needed a bath too, but the likelihood of me having the energy to drag myself into one anytime soon seemed slim at best.
It did not matter, because being with my dragons like this was comforting and cleansing in itself. As they slid into bed next to me, just as nude as I was, I unashamedly curled against Raijin’s chest. “You know, I should be mad at you for conspiring with my sisters,” I mumbled. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”
“We are, treasure,” Kerryn replied in Raijin’s stead. “As evidenced by our current presence in the bed you occupy.”
I laughed lightly and relaxed in my dragons’ warm embrace. Despite our nakedness, it wasn’t really sexual, but it didn’t have to be. For the moment, the simple proximity between our bodies was more than enough, and I allowed myself to drift into slumber.
When I opened my eyes once again, I was near the riverbank of the Amethyst, on the hill where my sisters and I used to play as children. A small, brown-haired girl sat in the grass in front of me, curiously poking a flower and making the bloom open and close with her magic.
I knelt next to her, watching her work in silence. She looked up at me, her bright green gaze reminding me of everything I had lost. “Snegurka isn’t gone,” my other self said. “She’ll come back to finish what she started.”
“I know, but my dragons are right. I can’t lose hope and forget the gift I was granted. I believe in the bond I share with them.”
“I can’t argue with that,” she said with a brief quirk of her lips. “We’re pretty lucky, aren’t we? To have found something so special with them.”
She uprooted the flower and for the first time, I noticed its petals were now lined with frost. Crimson liquid started to drip down the stem as if the bloom was crying blood. “But you also need to remember the consequences of your mistakes.”
All of a sudden, the beautiful, cloudless sky above us started to grow darker. My ten-year-old self turned paler, silver trickling into her hair and blue consuming the green of her irises. She shot me one last, sad smile, reached forward and pushed.
The next thing I knew, I was jerking awake in my bed, or rather the bed which I had temporarily appropriated and had been sharing with my dragons. As always, my soulmates were by my side and instantly noticed something was amiss.
“Treasure?” Emmerich asked, tentatively brushing his palm over my bare shoulder. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes,” I answered, rubbing my eyes to chase away the vestiges of the dream. “I just had a nightmare.”
Raijin took my hand and gently kissed my knuckles. His soft, gentle magic trickled into my body, bathing me in waves of soothing affection. “Is there anything we can do?” he asked.
They were already doing plenty, simply by being there. It was unreasonable to ask for more. Even so, I couldn’t help myself.
“Kiss me. I want to be with you.”
It was selfish and a little foolish, but hadn’t I admitted with my own mouth to Snegurka that I was a foolish, selfish person? In a little while, I’d have to focus on helping my people once again, into finding a solution for everything that had gone wrong and making a decision regarding the fates of the people who had betrayed me. But for now, would it be so bad if I allowed myself to steal a moment of pleasure and togetherness with my soulmates?
My dragons didn’t seem to think so. Kerryn moved first, pulling me into his lap and gently brushing his mouth against my own. There was something sweet, almost reverential about his touch, about his tender, strong embrace. His hold was solid enough to anchor me while still granting me complete freedom of motion, and in that perfect balance, I saw my entire relationship with my dragons and everything they wanted to give me.
Raijin and Emmerich soon joined in, their hands traveling over the naked expanse of my back, through my hair and over my shoulders. I shivered and let out a small gasp,
all the while pressing my naked breasts against Kerryn’s chest. He took advantage of the opportunity I had granted him to thrust his tongue into my mouth. As I surrendered to the passion he and my other two soulmates offered, I well and truly knew that I would never be alone again, nor would I forget it.
Eleven
Togetherness
Kerryn
Kissing Cassia felt like flying, like taking a breath of fresh, sweet air after having been suffocated by the fumes of a demonic enchantment. It felt heavenly, and I basked in the rightness of having her in my arms and feeling her familiar warmth and magic against my naked skin. I craved her as a dragon and as a man, with more greedy lust than I could have ever displayed for any amount of precious stones and jewelry, or for all the females in Terra Dracones put together.
I knew my fellow dragons felt the same, and I didn’t begrudge them for it. When Cassia broke the kiss between us and turned to press her lips to Emmerich’s, it felt natural, right, just like we had told her. The four of us had been meant to be together, and while I would always be possessive of my female and want to keep her from other males, Emmerich and Raijin would be the exception.
It certainly helped that as Emmerich buried his hand in Cassia’s hair and dove in for a deeper kiss, she started to grind against my already erect cock. The scent of her arousal permeated the air, as addicting and alluring as Cassia herself. My dragon roared at the back of my consciousness, urging me to bury myself inside her and take what was mine, but I leashed my immediate, visceral need for her into something more sedate. I’d feared that my time with my soulmate had run out, and the fact that I’d been wrong about that didn’t change my need to make the most of every second we spent together.
We didn’t speak. At this point, everything that needed to be said was out in the open, and we’d always been much better at communicating with our bodies anyway. As my fellow dragons shared kisses with our soulmate, I nibbled on the white column of her throat and reached down between our bodies, sliding my fingers over the bare lips of her pussy.
The moment I rubbed my thumb over her swollen clit, she let out an inarticulate cry of pleasure and her magic seemed to swell, wordlessly beckoning us closer. The ethereal caress of her icy, yet comforting touch swept over our bodies, reaching out to our core natures, a siren’s call we couldn’t hope to resist.
Following an instinct I could no longer control, I tumbled my soulmate back onto the bed. In the process, I lost my access to her most intimate region, but I promptly fixed that problem a few seconds later, when I spread her legs and buried my face between them.
As I delved in deep for the most intimate kiss that could possibly exist between a male and his female, the delicious flavor of her cream exploded on my tongue, the most potent aphrodisiac in existence. I didn’t think I’d ever get enough of tasting her like this, of indulging in the sweet nectar of her pleasure, of making love to her with my mouth. Groaning, I suckled gently on her clit and was rewarded by the sound of an almost distressed cry of pleasure. It might have alarmed me had I not understood the true meaning of the inarticulate noise. Cassia had not uttered a single word, but every fiber of her being screamed for more, and that desire echoed into the breathless, sharp whimpers she did manage to release.
Obeying my soulmate’s plea, I slid my fingers into her tight, slick channel. She was so hot inside that a part of me had trouble reconciling the ice magic still dancing through the air with the pulsing, vivid warmth of her pussy. In a way, it was suitable, as Cassia was like that even the rest of the time, both the perfect, beautiful ice queen and the passionate nymph who had opened her heart and her lair to us. I had no idea how I’d gotten so lucky and what kind of deity had chosen me as one of her fated males, but I would forever be grateful for it.
My fellow dragons must’ve felt the same, and they decided to show their appreciation for Cassia’s charms in methods similar to my own. Raijin leaned over to steal a kiss from Cassia’s plump, pink lips, whereas Emmerich lowered his mouth over her full breasts.
I didn’t have the right angle to see much of what they were doing, but I didn’t necessarily need it. I felt it in the sharp spike of Cassia’s pleasure, in the mild tremors now coursing through her shapely form, in the way her legs shook in my hold. I smelled in the scent of her sweat and the light traces of her almost indiscernible, uniquely floral perfume. And because of that, when Emmerich’s fire magic physically reached me, engulfing my body in a cocoon of blazing heat, I embraced it just like I had my connection with my soulmate. Time seemed to grind to a halt as the puzzle pieces of our souls slid into place.
For as long as I could remember, whenever Emmerich’s magic had come into contact with mine, the results had always been explosive. The extent of the damage had varied, depending on the intensity with which we’d attacked one another, but it had always been unavoidably painful and violent. The natural poison I emitted through my breath had clashed with his fire blasts as badly as our tempers and personalities had.
I was of course perfectly capable of breathing without poison being an issue—as evidenced by my current position—but even so, one would’ve thought that I should have experienced at least some mild discomfort upon feeling Emmerich’s elemental abilities sweep over my skin. I didn’t. Instead, my magic seemed to naturally accept his, as if the two forces had come to an agreement. Under normal circumstances, I might have questioned this a little more, but I was too busy taking in Cassia’s reaction to these developments to care about the reasons. Ice spread over the sheets beneath us, smooth and transparent, like crystal-clear glass. I felt it crawl underneath my knees, singing with Cassia’s magic like it had a life of its own. It should have melted in the heat of Emmerich’s fire, but oddly, it did not.
I was not surprised when the distinctive feel of Raijin’s mystical energies joined our own. His abilities had always been different from mine and Emmerich’s, which was why he’d been more popular with females. I’d resented him for so long because of that, but now, everything had changed. Through her beauty, strength, and kindness, Cassia had brought us all together.
Allowing the rightness of the moment to fully engulf me, I focused on pleasuring her, on showing her everything we had told her during our unfortunate, but necessary argument. I thrust my fingers deeper into her clenching heat, making full use of the magic coursing through me to reach into her core. The mellow languor that had settled over me refused to release me from its hold, but I did not attempt to escape, not when Cassia herself had surrendered to it. She did not even try to impale herself on my fingers, although I sensed the need for it vibrating in her body. She simply embraced the sensation we were giving her, as beautiful in her surrender as she was when she defiantly fought for her nation. I spread her legs further, licking over her slick pussy lips, stopping to press butterfly-light kisses on her inner thighs, then going back to what I’d been doing before. I wanted to taste every inch of her like this, from top to bottom, to spend hours on end lavishing her body with my tongue, until the flavor of her became imprinted in my senses so deeply that it would never fade from my memory.
Maybe in that sense, Cassia wasn’t very different from us, because she finally found her voice and spoke the words that had been echoing in my head since I’d first brushed my lips against hers. “Claim me. I need you inside me.”
Her voice was like a palpable caress, our entwined magic responding to the desperate plea she could no longer suppress. I couldn’t have denied her to save my life. When I pulled away and withdrew my fingers from her body, Cassia whimpered in protest, but I made sure she didn’t experience the loss for too long. I gripped her hips, positioning my cock at her entrance. In one single smooth thrust, I slid home.
There really was no other word I could have used to describe the feeling I got when I was inside Cassia. We could all talk about lairs, palaces, caves, rooms a million different times, but at the end of the day, she was the one who was my home. I wanted to bury my dick into her body so deeply that we’d
never be separated, to stake my claim on her over and over again, for hours on end.
I didn’t get the chance to go through with any of it, because seconds after I thrust inside her, her silken walls tightened around me and she came, squeezing my cock in a vise-like grip. A new wave of wild magic exploded over me, and the sudden onslaught of sensation caused by her outburst took me completely by surprise. In hindsight, it made sense, since I had been pleasuring her with my mouth for quite some time, but the buildup of desire that had been swirling around us had held something hypnotizing that had simply not allowed me to contemplate what came after.
That strange sensation might have been part of the reason why I didn’t follow her over the edge. I wanted to give her more, to make her climb higher on the peaks of pleasure, to feed her need and her lust with my own. And so, I held back and even as she convulsed through the waves of her orgasm, I gently started to rock in and out of her.
Emmerich and Raijin had the same idea. They bent over her breasts and lowered their mouths over her nipples. Raijin’s hand slowly traveled down Cassia’s body, over her abdomen, toying with her bellybutton. Meanwhile, Emmerich’s fire magic licked over Cassia’s skin, the tongues of flame mimicking my own earlier thoughts and exploring every part of Cassia I could not reach.
We moved just as gently as before, mindful of the fact that she could get overwhelmed if we pushed too hard, too quickly. She might have been a nymph, a creature born to experience pleasure, but that didn’t mean we didn’t have to be careful. I kept my thrusts slow, almost imperceptible, and my fellow dragons lavished her beautiful body with attention while still attempting to give her a moment to catch her breath.
I didn’t know how successful we were in that field, because Cassia didn’t seem very interested in catching her breath or not getting overwhelmed. All of a sudden, something shifted between us, the air thickening with an icy fog so cold my breath became visible. The sudden temperature drop should’ve hurt me more than Emmerich’s fire ever could, but instead, it sent spikes of sharp pleasure through my nerve endings. Emmerich and Raijin must have experienced the same thing because Emmerich tore his mouth away from Cassia’s breast and growled. “Treasure...”