The Dragon King

by Candace Blevins

  Abbott leaned back, stretched his legs out in front of him, and crossed them at the ankles. “You’re telling me Titania is your Faerie Godmother?”

  I nodded. “But only during her reign. I’m on my own the rest of the year.”

  He shook his head. “No, you aren’t. Mabel is obligated to see to your needs during her reign. She wouldn’t technically be your Faerie Godmother, but this is why she provided clothing.” He tilted his head as he considered me a few seconds, and finally said, “She isn’t obligated to crown you Swan Queen if Aaron takes on a swan form, though. That’s either an offer from her heart, or one that makes political sense.”

  “Do you think Titania is working in the background?”

  He shook his head. “Unlikely. It’s possible Queen Mab would just rather deal with you than your father, thinking you’ll be easier to manipulate. Or, it could be she likes you. Knowing Mab’s history, though, I’d go with the former.”

  When Aaron returned Abbott looked to him and said, “You didn’t tell me Titania is her Faerie Godmother.”

  Aaron looked to me, his eyebrows lifted. “You told me she would be on your side, you didn’t say why.”

  “Sorry. It didn’t seem important at the time, since she isn’t reigning right now. Abbott set me straight on that, though.”

  Abbott and Aaron talked about some people I didn’t know, and I tried to keep up with strategy but I was so tired, it was all I could do to keep my eyelids open.

  When I awaked in a strange bed with Aaron by my side, I immediately felt like a child who’d fallen asleep while the grown-ups had talked.

  Aaron was asleep beside me, though, which made me feel a little better as it showed we were both tired. A light was on in an adjoining room, with the door opened a little so it filtered in. The bed was massive, and we were obviously in a man’s bedroom. Old World furniture fit for a king surrounded us, with lots of deep fabrics, possibly velvet, hanging from the walls, though I didn’t see any windows.

  Right. A vampire’s bedroom.

  I headed towards the light, hoping it was an en-suite bathroom and was pleased to discover I’d guessed correctly.

  I also noted I was wearing an oversized cotton t-shirt instead of the guard’s tunic. It came to nearly my knees but I still had no panties.

  Aaron was sitting on the side of the bed in boxer briefs when I returned, and he stood and reached for me as I neared the bed. “You feeling okay?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, the food helped, but sleep helped even more. How long did the two of you talk before you brought me to bed? And how long did I sleep?”

  “I’ve been asleep five hours, and you slept about an hour longer than me. Abbot sent me in with doughnuts, they’re on the table by the door.”

  “Do I want to know where the shirt came from?”

  “I sent someone next door to get one of mine, and I changed you.”

  I pulled from his arms and used willpower to walk to the door instead of running, as I was ravenous once again. “Why am I so hungry?” I asked, ignoring for the moment he’d dressed me in his clothes.

  “Changing forms always takes a lot of energy, but you’ve had a lot more to deal with besides just changing forms.” He sighed and said, “I really wish you’d told me Titania was your Faerie Godmother when we talked about possible allies.”

  I took a bite of a Krispy Kreme doughnut and suppressed a moan as it melted in my mouth. “It isn’t summer. I’ve never seen her when she isn’t Queen so it wasn’t relevant.”

  “She doesn’t cease to exist the other half of the year, Soph. She’s still alive, still around, she just isn’t the reigning Queen.”

  He sounded perplexed, which made me consider his words a little more in depth before I responded. “That may be, but I never see either Queen when they aren’t, well, Queen. Is that not normal?”

  He shook his head. “No, it isn’t. In the spirit of full disclosure you should know Mabel and I had a, well, kind of a thing for a few decades. I was officially her consort. It’s been over for six hundred years, though, and we parted amicably.”

  I could tell by the look on his face I’d like what he was about to say even less.

  “Titania and I also had a thing, and it’s only been…” He sighed. “I went to Faerie during the Civil War. I asked her for a long-term pass so I could live there for possibly as long as two decades, and was honest about my reasoning. I’d been through enough of mankind’s wars and I just couldn’t bear to be part of yet another one. I could’ve gone back to Europe, but needed a break from the human realm and Titania approved my request.”

  I looked at my hand, and then stared at the floor as I slid the last of the doughnut into my mouth. I took my time chewing and swallowing before asking, “And how long were you with her?”

  “I lived in the castle with her from eighteen sixty until eighteen ninety-two, when I moved back to this world. She frequently visited me when she wasn’t the ruling Queen for,” he hesitated and finally said, “a few decades, at least. We’ve never officially ended things, though we aren’t an item anymore and we both see other people. When we’re serious with someone else we keep our hands off each other.”

  “When’s the last time you had sex with my Faerie Godmother?” I kept my eyes on the floor, unable to look up and meet his gaze.

  “The summer solstice is basically a big orgy in Faerie, and the Queen starts the festivities with her favorite partner.” He considered his words and said, “Actually, the day after her reign ended in the fall, she came to this world and visited me a few days. So, then, I guess.”

  “When did you last have sex with Mabel?”

  “At least five hundred years ago, Soph. I was in an experimental phase, and Mabel is… cruel, in bed.”

  “Is Titania going to be pissed that I’ve taken you off the market?” He opened his mouth to speak, but another thought occurred to me and I finally looked at him as I rushed to ask, “Have I taken you off the market?”

  “I’m yours, Sophia. Totally off the market, but how Titania will feel about us isn’t the pertinent question.”

  I held his gaze, waiting for him to enlighten me, and he said, “I’ve been close to both your father and Titania your whole life, and neither told me what Titania was to you. This can only mean they were deliberately keeping it from me. Any idea why?”

  I shook my head. “I wouldn’t know where to even begin guessing. You?”

  “Abbott feels as I do, that it’s something I need to get to the bottom of. Meanwhile, there are a few things you and I need to discuss so you won’t be blindsided if we both manage a swan form.”

  “I’m on my fourth doughnut,” I told him. “If you want some, it’s everyone for themselves right now.”

  He chuckled. “I ate nine barbeque sandwiches, you only ate two.” Nevertheless, he walked to me and picked one up in each hand before returning to the edge of the bed to sit.

  “The Fae crowning ceremony for Swans involves the audience watching royalty turn into Swans. Traditionally, the couple must have public sex in the large arena as humans, and then change so they can fly to the pond where they’re crowned as swans. They then turn back to human, and the magical crowns transform, becoming larger so they still fit. The Queen and king will then take their thrones. Naked.”

  I stopped chewing, realized I needed to get rid of the food in my mouth before I talked, and took a drink of water to swallow the bite whole. “I can’t do that.”

  “You’ll have to do it eventually, if you want to be crowned Queen. Holding the title in Faerie doesn’t guarantee it out here, but you can’t hold it out here without claiming it in The Summerlands.”

  I ruffled and then smoothed my eyebrows with the fingers of my left hand, a nervous habit I’d been chastised for plenty, so I caught myself doing it and put my hands flat on my thighs. “And if I’ll need to do it eventually, I may as well do it now?”

  “No, Sophia. Not necessarily. If we’re to try to turn to swans today then your v
irgin experience will likely be cut short, as I’ll need to orgasm on your first climax so we can change together. To have your second experience be in front of people would be too much.” He shook his head and said, “There’s more.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, of course there is. Just tell me the whole thing and don’t try to soften it, okay?”

  He nodded. “As Queen to my king, our sex will need to reflect your power over me. I’ll be bound in something like stocks, flat on my back with my legs together, arms out to the side, and even something over my neck to keep my head down. The restraints are designed so I’ll slide out of them as I change into a swan, and if I take on a full sized swan form they’re supposed to disintegrate.”

  “Then how do we…” I stared at him, incredulous he’d allow himself to be tied down.

  “You ride me, Sophia. You do the work. I’m at your mercy.”

  My face was as hot as it’d ever been, but he wasn’t finished.

  “Because Mabel is cruel, she’ll likely stuff something in my mouth and up my ass, possibly also bind my balls in some way to make it harder for me to orgasm.”

  “How do you turn into a dragon?” I asked. I’d seen him do it and there wasn’t a ritual involved, he just seemed to morph from one form to another.

  “I just change,” he said, but I could see him thinking it through. “Don’t do it here because there isn’t room, but you just think of the form you want, imagine yourself in that form, and reality follows your intention.”

  “My father turned me from dragon to swan,” I reminded him. “I felt what he did and I think I can do it, too.” I took a breath and added, “I don’t want us to go to Faerie yet, if you have a swan form, because we need to play around with moving between forms. We need to know our capabilities before we appear in public again.”

  “If I have a swan form then the sooner we’re crowned, the better.” He nodded towards the wall behind the bed and said, “There’s a large panel that’ll fall away and lead into a cave. From the cave there’s a way to get out of the side of the mountain, if one has the ability to fly. It isn’t big enough for a dragon, but I’ve jumped out as a man and turned to dragon mid-flight a few times.”

  I shook my head. “Yeah, I’m not ready for that, yet.”

  “I know, but the point is, we can fly out as swans and then I can lead you to somewhere else so we can experiment with turning from swan to dragon.”

  “Is it big enough to fly out of as a human-sized swan?”

  “Our wings will have to be folded in, but yes, it’s big enough.”

  I nodded and he said, “Okay, if we pull it off then we’ll fly out the hole and go up, turn around, fly over the mountain and then into the valley on the other side.”

  I ate the last doughnut, grabbed a bottled water, downed the whole thing at once, and was suddenly sleepy again. Six hours hadn’t been enough, apparently.

  He smiled and said, “Yeah, I’m still tired, too. Let’s see if we can get some more sleep.”

  * * * *

  The next time I woke, I snuggled backwards into Aaron, feeling warm and protected. The mattress in the safe house had been okay, but this one was heavenly. The soft cloud under me, the down comforter over us, Aaron at my back — I luxuriated in the snug cocoon.

  The weight of his arm was around me, his hand on my stomach, and I put my fingers over his. I didn’t intend to wake him, I just wanted to touch him. I froze when he stirred, hoping he’d go back to sleep because I knew we both needed our rest, but his lips touched behind my ear in a soft caress.

  “Good morning, Soph.” He bent his legs so my hips moved farther backwards into his, and suddenly I was very awake.

  “Mmmmm,” he half-growled. “Love your smell when you’re horny, my Sassy girl.”

  Teeth nipped my ear now as his hand moved from my stomach to my hips, over the outside of the shirt. When it reached the skin of my thighs he slid his hand back up, scooting the shirt so he could touch me skin-to-skin all the way up the front of my legs until his hand returned to my stomach. I moaned in protest and pushed my hips backwards again, and he pushed the shirt even higher and said, “Hands over your head, Sassy.”

  I did as instructed, and two seconds later the shirt was on the floor, I was on my back, and his mouth was taking mine — not wild and rough, but soft and sweet. My hands roamed his back, his arms, and I kissed him back. I was nervous, but I trusted Aaron and wanted him to finally be inside me, wanted him to take me, own me, and make me a woman in every way possible. I’d memorized every one of his sleek, hard muscles over the past weeks, so the route my fingers and hands took now was familiar, and yet different because I knew today was different. We wouldn’t have to stop, wouldn’t have to hold onto our control and restraint.

  Today there would be no need to stop.

  His hands explored my body as well, his touch light and warm, and my insides heated to boiling in no time. I bent my legs, opened for him, and pushed up, but he said, “Not so fast, Soph. Let me make it good for you.”

  His hand went to my breast and I gasped as his thumb brushed over my nipple, and then moaned in expectation as his hand went south. He didn’t disappoint, and moved his entire body down the bed as his mouth went to my clit, and then lower, and his magnificent tongue went to work. He worked me close to an orgasm and then backed off, and I pushed my hips up, silently begging for more. However, he kept me on edge, played with me until I thought I’d go crazy, and when he finally held his body over me and positioned himself at my entrance, I wasn’t afraid anymore. I wanted him inside me, needed him in me — opening and spreading and taking me. Owning me.

  His eyes met mine in the dim light and he asked, “You trust me?”

  “Yes, Aaron. God, please!”

  “I’ll go slow, Soph. If you need me to stop, just say the word.”

  I shook my head. “No stopping, Aaron. I know you’ll make it good, and I know there’ll be some pain. Just do it. Please? Take it. Take me.”

  He nodded and pressed in, and I gasped as the tip came in, but he kept coming, watching my face as he pushed.

  It was tight, and I could tell he was having to push hard to get in. I wanted him to enjoy it more, though I appreciated his care and concern for me. I held his gaze and said, “Take it, Aaron. It’s yours. I’m yours. Make it happen. I won’t break.”

  He nodded, pushed hard, and I gasped as the discomfort turned to a sharp pain, but I didn’t care. It hurt and felt good and I concentrated on the good so he wouldn’t smell the pain. I pushed up with my hips, showing him I wanted more, and he pushed again, this time going at least an inch deeper, and I moaned in bliss this time as liquid fire coursed through my veins. He was stretching me open, forcing his way in, and I loved him with all my heart.

  “Please!” I begged, and he finally gave me what I wanted and pressed harder, sliding all the way in until his torso touched mine. I was so full, so filled. All I could do was look at him, my mouth in a silent O as I forgot to breathe.

  He pulled out an inch, pushed back in, and I nodded my head, hoping he’d understand.

  His hand went to my clit, all heat and pressure, and now my moans were all pleasure and bliss, and I pushed my hips up again, begging him to move.

  He leaned forward, his lips met mine, his tongue slid into my mouth, and as it came out so did his cock.

  When he pushed back in, forcing my body to accept him again, his tongue moved, pressed, and danced in my mouth as he took me in both places, and my entire body trembled and shook as my nerves went from on-fire to molten lava. I kissed him back, my tongue as frantic as my need, and my hand went up his back until my fingers could caress their way through his hair.

  He finally started moving his hips like I wanted, and I met him thrust for thrust, only paying attention to my bliss and ignoring the pain. Eventually, I stopped ignoring it and reveled in it. Aaron Drake had finally taken me, made me his, and though I knew there was much to be faced in the coming days, right now my world was com
plete.

  Aaron shifted sideways a little, his mouth leaving mine as his weight rested on his forearm so he could better pay attention to my clit. His eyes were ultra-focused on mine once again and he said, “So tight, so hot, Soph. You’re perfect. Beautiful.”

  My breath went staccato as my legs wrapped around his waist and everything moved. The new position let him in easier, and my hands went to his bottom as he picked up the pace, moving faster, driving into me harder.

  “Tell me how you’re doing, Soph.” His voice was strained and I realized he was holding back, being easy and gentle still, and I immediately knew how hard it was for him to restrain himself.

  “I’m okay, Aaron. Take what you need from me, please?”

  He shook his head and rested his forehead on the bed by my head. “No, Soph. The goal is your orgasm. I can work myself up as you get close, but I need to know what to do to make it work for you, sweetheart.”

  “The spot you hit with your fingers, sometimes?” My body was on fire, but it was so much, too much, and I needed the familiar. I knew it would add even more to what I was feeling, but I also knew it would push me over the edge into wild ecstasy.

  His hand left my clit, his weight came off his forearms, and he hooked my legs with his arms and pressed my feet towards the bed, near my head.

  He hit the spot I’d been talking about, and my eyes rolled back in my head.

  “Advanced position on your first time, Sassy,” he said with a grin. “Always a fast learner.”

  I gasped, “More, and shut up,” and he shut up and gave me what I wanted.

  Not more than a minute later he said, “I know you’re close, take it when it comes.” He gasped air in and kept going, his voice ragged. “I’ll go when you do, Soph. Give it to me. You’re mine, it’s mine, don’t hold it back.”

  I heard him but couldn’t respond, couldn’t breathe. His upper body lowered to mine and his mouth took me again as he thrust harder and harder, deeper and deeper — scraping exquisitely against that special spot inside me every time he pushed in, every time he dragged himself back out.