Dragon Equinox

by Ophelia Bell

  He was not used to such abundant joy, but it was still tempered by worry. The things Meri had said of his and Neela’s daughter troubled him. Despite all Meri’s lies, he believed those words to be true—that the child would be cursed due to her origins. Her lack of a soul would be a burden no child should have to bear.

  He was consoled by Belah’s eagerness to be a mother again. Deva would not want for loving parents—not with seven fathers who would claim her as their daughter, and three mothers eager to nurture her. He almost felt sorry for the girl and worried for her independence with such a doting family and collection of overprotective males prepared to watch over her. But the one parent she would not lack for was thankfully gone and would never return.

  “What of the other … pregnancy?” he said, hesitating to call the last creature Meri had attempted to create a child.

  Belah’s expression darkened with pain. “Nyx couldn’t counteract the curse Meri put on it, and she refused to let it grow inside her. She destroyed it.”

  Nikhil’s throat constricted. “That means she can’t…”

  Belah responded with a grim look and a brief shake of her head. “She says she is happy enough to have Nereus back. Assana and Calder are well and happy too. Nyx is more than happy to be a grandmother and leave the honor of having babies to the younger generations.”

  But he didn’t miss the sheen in her eyes when she pressed her hands over her own pregnant belly.

  “She’s right, I think,” Nikhil said. “The one thing I wanted most was to have a child with you. I know this baby you carry is not my blood, but Iszak and Lukas deserve the chance to know that love as well. I have Asha, who is more than I could have hoped for in a daughter. If we could never have another, I would not regret it.”

  “You have Deva too. She’ll come back to us as soon as Dion’s able to retrieve her.”

  There was more to be done, but the rest could wait. As he gazed down into Belah’s eyes, that empty ache left behind by the absence of his quest for vengeance slowly eased and filled with his love for her. With it, his old desire surged again and his body heated, his skin tingling beneath the lazy scrape of her nails along the base of his skull.

  Her lips spread into a smile and he knew she’d seen inside his mind, felt the need return strong enough to obliterate all his other worries. As though responding to her unspoken desire, Lukas and Iszak appeared, crossing the sand with easy, yet purposeful strides.

  The two Princes of the North Wind glanced between Nikhil and Belah. Lukas smirked, and Iszak’s eyes sparked with desire, but they both sobered by the time they reached the couple.

  “I wish like hell I could tell you two we have time to ourselves for once, but that is sadly not the case,” Iszak said. “Dion is awake. We need you to come back to the palace.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Numa woke to the warm brush of lips across her own and the familiar scent of ambrosia filling the air. Her eyes flew open with a surge of adrenaline, and she stared up at the god she loved.

  “Dion, you’re awake!”

  “Yes, little one,” he said, then frowned. “I imagine I can’t call you that anymore, can I?” He gripped her hand in his and twined their fingers, lifting them before his eyes. Holding them up, he spread his fingers again so their hands were pressed flat, fingers tip-to-tip. His hand was still larger than hers, but not by as much as it had once been.

  Around her, the other four men roused, Cade and Zephyrus slipping up behind her while Bekim and Theron took up their spots on Dion’s side of the bed.

  “How do you feel?” Zephyrus asked.

  “Alive,” Dion said, pushing up to a seated position and pulling Numa back in for a kiss. His lips lingered on hers, savoring and teasing until she was breathless. He pulled back with a soft hum and a lazy smile. “Definitely still alive,” he added, tilting his hips up until the sheet slid off his erection.

  “I see some parts of you maintained their godly stature,” Cade commented. “But do you have the stamina to take on a dragon?”

  “I am willing to try,” he said, fixing his gaze on Numa and slipping a hand into the bodice of her dress. His palm grazed over her nipple as cupped her breast, heating her core, but she grabbed his wrist and forced him to still. Reluctantly, she tugged the covers back up over his arousal despite her urge to straddle him and ride him to completion.

  “Not yet,” she said. “I need to make sure you’re all right first. This change you’ve gone through is not insignificant. Will you regain your powers? Your … horns?”

  He frowned and raked his fingers through his hair, then grimaced as he discovered what was lacking. “Ah, that’s not good. The odd thing is that I still feel power, but it’s coming from another source. If it isn’t a divine link …” He closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate. After a moment, he shook his head and let out a soft chuckle. “This will be interesting.”

  “What is it?” Numa asked.

  “It seems I’m still linked to Meri’s bloodline. Which is no longer hers, of course. Not since I took over. But there are several million humans who were linked to her, and it now appears they are linked to me, the poor fools.”

  “That’s a bad thing?” Bekim asked. “Seems like having a divine link would be a blessing.”

  “At the moment, the link means nothing to them. I can take advantage of the power of the bloodline if I wish, but have no real need to use it as long as I’m satisfied living the life of a mortal. I will eventually regain my divine power—that will happen whether I like it or not.”

  Numa relaxed and rested her cheek against his chest. “That’s a relief.”

  Dion toyed with her hair and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Aye, but I’m in no hurry to reclaim that burden, as much fun as it was to see the five of you drunk on my seed. As the power returns to me, it’ll infect those bound by blood to me as well. And while those poor humans might have gone unnoticed by Fate before, with a divine link, that is no longer going to be the case.”

  Numa bristled at the mention of her father. Though she knew Fate had many aspects that affected the world in different ways, she still viewed the whole eternal entity with little love.

  “Why in the world would Fate care about a bunch of humans?”

  Dionysus snorted ruefully. “Because they are linked to me now. And because we defied the bastard by sharing you instead of making you choose between us.”

  Numa pushed up off his chest and glared at him. “You would not dare make me choose…”

  Dion shook his head and smiled, holding up his hands. “Trust me, this is by far a more ideal arrangement than I could have hoped for.” His gaze swept lazily around at Numa’s other mates. “And I admit it satisfies me to have defied Fate so well. But there is always a price. It means Fate will have the power to manipulate the lives of those humans that might have otherwise remained at peace. Not to mention the humans themselves won’t have a clue what hit them. They will be affected in ways we can’t predict, not the least of which will be an ability to recognize others with divine power in their blood.”

  Numa’s skin chilled. “How many humans are affected by your blood?”

  Dion shook his head. “Millions. Enough that it will be impossible for the higher races to hide from.” He let out a sigh and shrugged. “But perhaps the bigger blessing is that it will distract Fate from meddling in the lives of the higher races for a while.”

  “Small blessings,” Numa agreed. “But this is not good. We’ll need to do damage control if we intend to remain integrated with humanity, especially if a large part of the population will recognize what we are. These humans aren’t in danger, are they?”

  “Only of being the pawns in Fate’s little games. Depending on Fate’s mood, that usually just means meddling in their love lives. But until I have regained my power there is nothing to worry about. We have plenty of time to enjoy ea
ch other, and I get to play the weakling for a bit longer and let the rest of you cater to my needs. But I might need you to go easy on me…”

  She gave him a slow smile and pushed the sleeves of her gown up. “Perhaps these will help you last while I make love to you?” She bared her forearms and the pair of matching golden rings that adorned them. Slipping them off, she tugged the covers off his cock again and slipped the rings down his now-flaccid length. By the time she had both rings secured around him, he was fully hard again.

  He reached for her, hauling her onto his lap while he pushed her gown off her shoulders, baring her breasts to his hungry gaze. Numa surrendered, arching into his mouth as he descended, capturing one nipple between his lips. She shuddered in pleasure when Bekim’s lips found her other nipple and sucked, and then Zephyrus hooked his hand at the back of her head, urging her mouth to his. Theron and Cade slipped in behind her, their hands roaming her bare skin, ridding her of the rest of her clothes and helping Dion’s cock gain access to her already soaked channel.

  She sank down his thick shaft with a sigh, awash in their desire, the steadily growing power of their auras merging around her like a protective bubble. And even though no crisis depended on the full build of energy and its eventual release, they worked her up to the very limits of her endurance.

  “Beg,” Dion said, slowing his relentless pace as he fucked her.

  “Beg,” Cade said, grazing his mouth along her neck and across her ear as she arched back, supported from behind by the big man whose sole purpose seemed to be to drive her mad with the need to come.

  “Beg,” the West Wind whispered with every light caress of a breeze across her skin and around her nipples.

  “Beg,” Bekim and Theron rumbled in tandem as their fingers spread her wider, teased her clit, and invaded her slick and tender backside.

  “Please!” Numa yelled, finally relenting to her own well of power that had filled with enough energy to create ten portals.

  They answered her plea, pushing her to the edge and beyond, and this time all the power and all the love she had to give flooded from her in a joyful cry.

  Another portal opened in that moment, but this one was in her heart, a doorway big enough for five men to slip inside and give her all they had in return.

  Immortal Dragons Epilogue

  DRAGON AVENGED

  COMING AUGUST 2018

  Revisit the entire family of dragons and see how they’re doing in the aftermath of the war.

  Then stay tuned for...

  FATE’S FOOLS

  (A Reverse Harem Romance)

  The next series in Ophelia Bell’s “Sleeping Dragons” universe, which follows Deva Rainsong in her search for a soul.

  COMING AUTUMN 2018

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  Books by Ophelia Bell

  Sleeping Dragons Series

  Animus

  Tabula Rasa

  Gemini

  Shadows

  Nexus

  Ascend

  Rising Dragons Series

  Night Fire

  Breath of Destiny

  Breath of Memory

  Breath of Innocence

  Breath of Desire

  Breath of Love

  Breath of Flame and Shadow

  Breath of Fate

  Sisters of Flame

  Immortal Dragons Series

  Dragon Betrayed

  Dragon Blues

  Dragon Void

  Dragon Splendor

  Dragon Rebel

  Dragon Guardian

  Dragon Blessed

  Black Mountain Bears

  Clawed

  Bitten

  Nailed

  Standalone Erotic Tales

  After You

  Out of the Cold

  About Ophelia Bell

  Ophelia Bell loves a good bad-boy and especially strong women in her stories. Women who aren’t apologetic about enjoying sex and bad boys who don’t mind being with a woman who’s in charge, at least on the surface, because pretty much anything goes in the bedroom.

  Ophelia grew up on a rural farm in North Carolina and now lives in Los Angeles with her own tattooed bad-boy husband and six attention-whoring cats.

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  Dragon Equinox

  Copyright © 2018 Ophelia Bell

  Cover Art Designed by Ophelia Bell

  Photograph Copyright © DepositPhotos.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events and persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used.

  Published by Animus Press

  UNITED STATES