by Ophelia Bell
Cade relished the sensation of the warm hand gently hefting his testicles. His cock pulsed in response, but he wasn’t confident in his ability to hang onto that power for long.
“You said yourself, I’m no Miteradoro. Gaia didn’t choose me.”
“The sky chooses you, Cade. Just … humor me.”
Zeph pressed a kiss to Cade’s shoulder and gave his balls a gentle squeeze, then released him. “On your hands and knees,” he said, pressing down lightly on his shoulders.
Cade lowered himself to the warm stone and glanced over his shoulder to see the other man follow. “Just getting right down to business, are we?”
Zeph chuckled, his blue eyes flashing with mirth. “You are a magnificent creature, I hope you realize. You honor me by allowing this. Just remember, when I release my magic, you hold onto it. Don’t let Gaia have a fucking drop.”
“And I take it you’re planning to release said magic in my ass?”
Zeph’s gaze darkened and he gave Cade’s ass a playful squeeze. “My spend is only part of it. You know this. The power will flow through your veins and will want to flow into the earth, but you won’t let it. You’ll hold it here.”
Again, he cupped Cade’s balls, but this time he stroked gently, brushing his knuckles along the underside of Cade’s cock, then sliding his fingertips back down his length, past his sack, and farther along the root to his perineum.
Cade’s body heated with each successive touch, his cock growing harder until he worried he didn’t have the staying power he once had in his youth. Hold on, you can do this.
Turning back to face the horizon as instructed, he listened to the wind whispering an incoherent rhythm into his ears. Somehow it helped him focus, kept him centered while Zephyrus continued to erotically torture him from behind.
The other man had a thumb pressed to Cade’s ass and was rubbing in tight circles. Cade instinctively relaxed—he was no stranger to the pleasure of being well-fucked by another man; it’d just been a really long time. Then the warmth of a breath gusted over that spot and a hot tongue tickled around his opening. He groaned and dug his nails into the stone.
“You don’t need to be gentle,” he said. “I can take you.”
“I wasn’t …” Zephyrus paused and laughed. “I have no doubt you can take me. I was just enjoying myself, but you’re right, we shouldn’t waste time. Hold on.”
Zephyrus gripped both of Cade’s ass cheeks, spreading him apart. When the hot tip of his cock brushed Cade’s opening, Cade took a deep breath and let himself relax, his body and mind both giving in to the surrender required to make the experience as good as he knew it could be.
Zephyrus pushed into him so slowly Cade thought he’d go crazy with the need for more.
“Fuck, you might have to coach me on how to take a cock so easily,” Zeph said. “I intend to repay the favor when this is done, but you make it look effortless.”
Cade shot an irritated glance over his shoulder. “Just fuck me, will you?”
“Your wish is my command.” Zephyrus plunged in hard enough that they both uttered curses from the pleasure. Then he began thrusting in a relentless, even rhythm, each stroke sending pleasure coursing through Cade’s entire body, to the top of his head, the tips of his toes, and the throbbing, swollen head of his cock.
Cade’s body thrummed with his quickly rising need. He lowered his head and pushed back into Zephyrus’s hips, aching to be filled deep every time the other man slid out. The pleasure became almost too great to contain and he grunted, worried he would lose it.
“Eyes open, hear the wind,” Zephyrus said, pressing a cool hand at the base of Cade’s spine.
The trees rustled around them, and Cade forced himself to focus on the sounds and the sight of these mountains he loved until the pleasure became part of the background. His ecstasy merged with the scenery, and his growing affection for his new partner became part of his love for his home. Gaia, but he wanted to come, and knew that if he did it would be the most mind-blowing orgasm he’d had in ages. But that wasn’t what this was about, so he held onto the feeling the way he held onto his memories of spring and cold winter nights and reached between his thighs, past his own aching cock, and cupped Zephyrus’s balls in his big hand, cradling them while the other man rammed his cock into him.
Within a few moments, Zephyrus began to grunt louder, his thrusts growing harder and more violent, his hips smacking against Cade’s ass with each plunge into him. Cade reveled in the sensations he had missed for so long—the fingers digging into his hips and the feeling of his lover’s orgasm building by increments.
Then Zephyrus rocked into him hard one last time and held him tight, letting out a melodious cry to the heavens as his cock pulsed and hot semen shot into Cade’s ass.
This was it. Cade bowed his head and braced himself for the magic that tore through him like a hurricane so hard he nearly came himself. The power raced through his veins just as Zeph had said, reaching for his extremities and seeking a way out and into the earth beneath him. Cade tensed, using all his focus to redirect that power. It was an offense to Gaia to deprive her of it, but under the circumstances, he thought it only fair.
The energy burned inside him at his palms at the soles of his feet, but soon it changed direction and followed his whims. When Zephyrus pulled out of him, he was left empty in one sense, but so much fuller in another. His balls felt like hot lead weights between his thighs, and he sat back on his haunches and looked down.
“You did well,” Zephyrus said, moving to kneel in front of Cade. “How do you feel?”
He reached down and gently held his tender sack. They felt no bigger, despite the sensation of being filled to bursting.
“Like I’m about to explode.”
“But you kept hold of the power. It gets easier each time. Let’s ease some of that pressure and then try again. Next time, I’ll give you more.”
Cade’s eyes widened. “You’ve got more to give? How?”
“Believe it or not, I held back. That was only about half what I’m capable of. Numa is going to have far more, if we do this right. I want us to be able to take as much as she can give us without spending our own. The fact that you didn’t come is good.”
“Yeah, well, I can manage that for only so long. It’s been a while for me, so this ain’t exactly easy.”
“It’ll be easy by the time we’re in her chamber. Now lie back and let me take care of you, then we’ll go again.”
Cade let out a sigh as he reclined against the smooth, warm rock. He kept his gaze fixed into the cloudless blue sky, but when Zeph wrapped his warm mouth around his cock, he let himself get lost in the pleasure.
Chapter Eleven
Cade had no idea how much time had passed while he was lost in that floating dream-state with Zephyrus. When he opened his eyes in the Rainsong garden again, the light hadn’t changed, but both his cock and ass felt well-used. If nothing else, he’d been given the endurance to last the full six hours with Numa, even if they failed to impress her with their gift of power at the end.
Just as he was about to swim back to the shore and go asking for the time, Dionysus slipped into the garden, looking broody and preoccupied. Cade treaded water, warily eyeing the other man.
“That bad, eh?” he asked.
Dionysus shook his head. “The torture isn’t to the body with her. She’ll leave you satisfied eventually, but hating yourself for wanting to draw it out. To give her pleasure until she begs you to stop. To be with her forever.” He crossed the bridge to the center island and flopped down onto the cushiony moss with a defeated sigh.
Cade frowned as the big, horned god stretched out and clenched his eyes shut like he was trying to banish some memory. He appeared otherwise intact and still radiated the same overtly sexual power he’d possessed when he’d arrived. Then he noticed that Dionysus was no longer clad in
his sandals and cock rings.
Choosing to take this as a sign that the god hadn’t performed as well as he’d hoped, he said, “Cheer up, man. If it isn’t meant to be, no doubt you’ve got the skills to capture the heart of any number of other lovely dragons.”
Dionysus rolled over and propped himself on his elbow. He regarded Cade thoughtfully. “Ouranos’ little demigod’s inside you, isn’t he? Hello, nephew. How does it feel to be the reason for your race’s curse?”
“Ignore him,” Zephyrus said.
“To hell I will. What’s he mean about a curse?”
“He’s just bitter she rejected him, obviously.”
“He’s denying it, isn’t he?” Dionysus said. “Not that it’s his fault directly. But his father’s desire to have the upper hand on Fate when he and his brothers were conceived is why the turul are cursed to have no free will where love is concerned. Zephyrus and his brothers were only given the freedom to choose their lovers because they couldn’t very well sow their wild oats without it. Their only curse was having to beg for physical bodies to do the sowing in.”
Cade’s passenger was conspicuously silent, which made his gears turn. Zephyrus hadn’t called Dionysus a liar. Their choice as falcons as their hosts made more sense now.
Zephyrus eventually spoke, reminding Cade that no errant pondering was beyond his new partner’s hearing. “It’s true, falcons were the most willing hosts, their natures pliable enough to let us transform into men when we found our chosen lovers, and then back again to escape into the night. Though my brothers sometimes chose other birds as well, the falcons were always our favorite. It’s an inconvenient curse, especially when we lack a body to properly mate another immortal with. A human or a falcon body wouldn’t be strong enough to mate an immortal.”
Cade shot a quick mental nod to Zephyrus, then said out loud half to himself, half to the reclining god, “That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t change the fact that Mr. I’m-Too-Sexy is deflecting. Did she send you packing for not bringing the power to the party, Dion?”
Dionysus sighed and flopped back down onto the mossy bank, scrubbing a hand over his face. Every movement made his glistening, golden body flex, displaying muscles Cade didn’t think normal men possessed. Cade’s cock stiffened at the errant thought of having a body that fine beneath his own.
“Am I to be pushed aside so easily, then?” Zephyrus asked at that glimmer of arousal.
“You owe me after today, breezy boy, but I’m only fantasizing about taking the payment out of his ass, don’t worry. Besides, he just called you nephew, so I’d just as soon not force you into screwing your own uncle.”
Zephyrus made a sound that was half-laugh, half-choking cough inside Cade’s head. “It’s a figure of speech. He fucked an aspect of Fate to spawn the Dionarchs and father the nymphaea. My father, Ouranos, also fucked an aspect of Fate and spawned me and my brothers, who fathered the turul. Haven’t you studied ursa history? You should know the rest. It’s… complicated, but not precisely incestuous… really. Don’t overthink it.”
“So where does this curse come in?”
“Fate may or may not have been exactly willing when Ouranos got to her.”
“He raped her?” Cade blurted in alarm before he could censor himself.
Dionysus turned a startled gaze his way and Cade cursed under his breath.
The god’s lips twisted into a smirk. Then his mouth opened, and a full-blown laugh erupted from his chest and reverberated around the garden. “If you could call it that. Fate never does something she doesn’t wish to do. No, Ouranos pissed Fate off by giving her what she wanted before she could bully him into it.
“Let it be a lesson to you, ursa: Never presume to take the upper hand away from Fate. She’ll punish you for it, likely the way she punished Ouranos. She didn’t just curse the sons she bore him and their entire lineage; she came back later in her male aspect and took it out of Ouranos’ ass much the way you were just contemplating having a piece of mine. But if it would make you feel better …” He stood up and wiggled his golden backside at Cade, then smacked himself hard on one round cheek before diving into the deeper water with a grace that barely disturbed the surface.
Cade shook his head and turned to wade out of the pool. “I always suspected that the gods were a bunch of sex-crazed lunatics, what with the way they created us. I shouldn’t be surprised, especially seeing how Gaia left you in a lurch without a body of your own.”
Zephyrus let out a slow mental sigh. “Gaia’s just as eager to win a round against Fate as Dion is, but the only way to breed a dragon is with a cock, else she’d have come herself. I count myself lucky that she didn’t agree to grant me flesh. Had I known about this contest from the start, I’d have avoided petitioning her at all. I’d rather not owe her any favors. You, on the other hand, are in my debt, friend.”
“Just ‘friend’? After all I’ve done for you?” Cade said with a sly smirk as he wandered naked toward the entrance to the lodge.
Comfortable heat filled his chest, and a warm breeze gusted around his body even after the door closed behind him. The wind trailed like a silken touch, drying the droplets of water from his skin and brushing lightly across his lips and cheeks like a caress.
“You are more than a friend, but how much more we will have to wait to learn. Whether we win or lose Numa, I hold out hope that we have won each other. With luck, Gaia will be willing to grant me flesh after the contest is done and we will be free to explore further.”
“I do love to explore,” Cade said, giving Zephyrus a detailed mental image of exactly the extent of exploration he hoped to embark upon when they got a chance.
* * *
Despite the afternoon spent testing both the mental and physical limits of his libido, Cade found he was already half-hard by the time he made it to Numa’s door at the designated hour. He stopped in the hallway outside her room and brushed his hands down the loose silk tunic and drawstring pants he’d been loaned from the closet of communal garments kept in every lodge in the Sanctuary. Ursa often arrived at the lodge in bear from and required clothing before seeking an audience with any of the shamans.
He felt oddly anxious, which was unlike him, but his spirit passenger had a history with the dragon that he’d only begun to understand. Under his breath, he murmured, “She’s really got you flustered, huh?”
“I’ve wanted her for ages, but she’s been out of my reach. I never believed I’d have this chance.”
Cade chuckled. “Settle down, man, I’ve got this. But my body’s yours, if you want to take the wheel once you get comfortable.”
“Thank you,” Zephyrus said with a clear note of relief.
He held up his fist and was just about to knock when the door swung open and he was yanked inside with a force strong enough to give him whiplash. The door slammed shut and he found himself pushed hard against it. A pair of hands gripped him by the shoulders as a mouth crashed against his.
He registered her scent first, the familiar fresh pine underscored by a more earthy, fertile aroma. So the test was to begin right away. He could handle that. Fuck, with the way her curves felt pressed against him, he would happily handle just about anything, particularly if she made sounds like those needy moans when he slid his big hands down her back to cup her round, utterly squeezable ass through the thin fabric of whatever she was wearing.
He pulled her tight against his hips and she let out a little gasp into his mouth in response, then moaned and ground her pelvis against the achingly hard length of his cock. Her fingers hooked into the split collar of his tunic and ripped, tearing the silk easily from neck to navel.
“I need you naked,” she growled, fumbling at the ties to his pants. She was a wild thing, her thick brown waves cascading around her shoulders in disarray and a green silk robe hanging halfway off one shoulder. Her green eyes flashed with hunger.
Cade leaned back against the door and looked down at her with a wry smile. “You can have whatever you like, sweet pea. Just say the word.”
She cursed when the drawstring managed to get tangled into a knot and a razor sharp talon shot from her fingertip. Cade jerked his hips back as she aimed the deadly claw at his groin and grabbed her wrist before she could do damage.
“Whoa, there. Just chill for a sec, baby. You don’t need to rush this.”
“There’s no time. Don’t you see?” she said, giving him a desperate, almost anguished look. “I need either you or Theron and Bekim to prove you can outlast Dionysus. Which means we need to start now.”
She dropped her free hand to the waistband of his pants and tugged hard, the ties straining and cutting into his skin.
“We’ve each got the same amount of time, right? We’ll play by the rules, and trust me, with that greeting, I’m already worked up pretty damn good.”
Abandoning the tie, she slid her hand down the outside of the silk, tracing the outline of his shaft. Her gaze grew feverish and her lips parted as she explored his length. Cade’s skin broke out into a sheen of sweat just from the heat she exuded as her arousal increased. He was used to cold, reveled in it, so being this close to a creature so hot was a little outside his level of tolerance. That and she made his fucking blood turn to lava with the way she stroked him. It was as though she’d never seen a cock before.
“Help me get these off you,” she said, tugging once again.
Cade grabbed the front of his waistband in both hands and wrenched the ties apart. The offending length of cord snapped, the fabric ripping easily once the barrier was broken. His cock emerged as his pants fell to the floor, and immediately, she clasped his length in both hands, shuddering as though simply holding him gave her pleasure.
“Sweet Mother, you are bigger than him.” She gazed in overt amazement down at his cock as she ran her hands up and down his length.