And then he stole what breath I had left when his lips crashed down on mine. We’d been living together awhile now. I kept thinking we would settle into that comfortable rhythm couples seemed to find. And in a way we had. But mostly he thrilled me just as much as the first time.
I moaned loud and long and opened for him. His tongue slid into my mouth like it belonged there. I gripped his shoulders, heaving myself up so my legs wrapped around his hips. His hands came down to cup my ass and support my weight.
Spinning us so my back pressed against the wall, he broke our kiss.
“Hellafuck, Quinn, what you do to me.” His cheek rubbed against mine, transferring his scent. His lips then traveled down my chin, onto my neck, where he latched on and sucked up a mark. I groaned. I loved when he marked me. Almost as much as I enjoyed marking him.
His dragon nature meant he reeked of possessiveness. Since we hadn’t sealed the mate-bond, Twig’s dragon side felt an even greater need to let everyone know we were mates. In this regard we were well matched. He always drew all eyes in any room we entered, and I didn’t want anyone to think him available either.
I clawed at his shoulders and back, grappling with the fine silk of his tunic and doing my best to remove it. A laugh rumbled from his chest as he tried to help, without taking his hands off me.
What a fiasco. We both cursed as we attempted to undress each other with little success.
“Dust and ashes, dragon, get naked!” I managed to tangle his shirt over his head and didn’t fare much better.
Twig chuckled and set me down. We broke apart to pull off our own outfits. I heard his tunic tear and flinched. We went through a lot of clothes. Refocusing on my own garments, I got naked in two shakes of a lamia’s tail.
We crashed together, swayed, and then I found myself thrown over Twig’s shoulder like a sack of treasure. I grunted as he once again knocked the breath from my body. Twig strode back toward the sitting room. I might not be able to do much, but my hands found their way down his back and fastened on his perfect ass. Muscle rippled as I sank my fingers in. His backside was a work of art. So firm, you could bounce a dypari off it.
Twig grabbed the divan one-handed and flipped it back over, all with me on his shoulder. I was definitely developing a strength kink and my mate knew it.
Tossing me on divan, he followed me down until we were pressed from top-to-toe. I sighed in relief. Something about the contact always made my senses sing. And it proved to be more than just the physical. His touch provided a balm in ways I had yet to understand. It made little sense, since humans didn’t have fated mates. Not the way dragons did. Maybe it had something to do with our wizard-familiar bond. More and more our emotions resonated with each other.
At any rate, my body tingled with more than sexual excitement. Twig’s arousal and love surrounded me until I couldn’t see beyond him. Our mouths found each other, groaning at the urge to be closer. I wrapped myself around him like a kraken around a pirate ship.
We rutted against each other, our cocks slotting together perfectly, the pressure and tension exquisite. I could come simply from this.
“Wait,” Twig said, breaking our kiss. “I want to suck you. I need to taste you.”
Well, who could resist such a sweet offer? It took a moment to unloosen my arms and legs so he could maneuver down my body.
“Damn, wizard, you’re so hard for me.” No foreplay. He just sank down my length until his nose touched my pelvis.
“Oh, blood and tears, that feels so good.” I whimpered shamelessly as he tightened his lips and sucked. My hand gripped his hair and I held him against me for a moment before easing my grip so he could take in much-needed air.
I liked it loud and dirty, so he didn’t hold back his noises, his movements forceful, his mouth wet and hot. I was so, so close. One more second and I’d—
“We should have predicted they’d be fornicating,” a certain red fury said. “Look away, Pie.”
We both shouted, Twig’s teeth grazing me in a way that was not pleasurable. Next thing I knew we were on the floor, Twig squashing me under his weight, his elbow in my groin. I groaned, trying to push him off and curl into a protective ball.
Death would be welcome about now. Bill’s preferably, though I’d take mine as well.
“What in hellafuck, Bill! I’ve told you to stop doing that,” Twig all but roared, rolling off me.
Bill remained the only creature I knew capable of popping places—including realms—without making any sound. Even the great Auric Starfig hadn’t mastered that little trick. Annoying, to say the least. And painful.
Very painful.
I gripped myself and, wheezing, sat up. “Storm and thunder, Bill, you shouldn’t be here. You’ll bring the whole citadel down on our heads.”
Bill sniffed, turned his nose up. “Not my fault you forgot Pie. Someone needed to make sure he arrived.”
Pie fluttered down onto the divan back, keeping his one good eye averted, an eyepatch covering the other. “We be mighty sorry, Mister Quinn. It be me own fault to have missed ye leaving. Ye be right to be angry.”
“Fancy place, Boss.” Bill’s gaze surveyed our suite. “They’ve certainly rolled out the red carpet. Must be lovely.”
“Bill—” I began, before a loud boom against our front door caused us all to startle. The door shattered and smoke filled the entryway.
“Get out of here, demon,” Twig growled.
Bill’s eyes went huge behind his thick-framed glasses. He disappeared just as the smoke cleared and a posse of heavily artifacted witches stormed through the doorway.
Upon seeing us, they all skidded to a halt, banging into each other.
“W-Where’s the demon?” one witch stammered out. “It tripped our wards.”
They zeroed in on Pie.
“Is that the foul creature?” Several witches raised their hands, each clutching an amulet, clearly intending to blast Pie into another realm.
“Hold up, hotshots,” Twig called, pulling a cushion off the divan and covering me as best he could. He didn’t bother with himself. “Unless your demon expulsion magic works on ghosts, you’re wasting your efforts. And if it does, I don’t think he’d enjoy chilling in Notocrypta. Would you, Pie?”
“Can’t says I would, Mister Twig. What would an old bird like me do there?”
The witches goggled. They stared at Pie, then at us, then back to Pie. No one said a word.
A commotion in the hallway had the women parting like a sword through flesh. High Rei Hallewell swept into the room, followed by Le Torneau and a contingent of armor-clad women.
Sure, the more the merrier.
“High Rei, fancy meeting you here.” I did my best to sound haughty, but hadn’t quite mastered it, since I still hadn’t donned a stitch of clothing.
“I demand to know what’s going on here.” Rei Le Torneau pointed a thin finger in our direction.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you pointing’s rude,” I said.
“T-There was a demon,” another witch said in a tiny voice.
Twig made sounds of disbelief, then stood to his full height, naked as the day he was born. More than one witch’s gaze trailed over his body appreciatively. I narrowed my eyes.
“I’ve been called many things, though a demon in the sack is a new one.” He rubbed his stubbled chin like he considered this. “I like it.”
“Now see here—” Le Torneau began.
“No, you see here,” I snapped. “You burst in, interrupting us, and accusing us of hiding a demon in our rooms. As you can see, it’s only the three of us. Pie is . . . my pet.”
I ignored Pie’s indignant squawk.
“And as such, I suggest you apologize for the disturbance, and take your leave.”
“Fornicating with an animal is illegal—”
“Eliphas, apologize now!” High Rei Hallewell’s voice cracked sharper than any whip, and even Le Torneau flinched. “The rest of you, out!”
The witch
stampede back into the hallway proved epic, like a hellhound nipped at their heels. That impressed me more than anything I’d seen so far.
“But the furniture! T-The room looks as if a fight took place. There must be a demon, Helena,” Le Torneau tried.
My cheeks heated hot enough to burn a vampire to ash. Twig, however, threw back his head and laughed. Damn dragon preened, pleased with himself.
When he calmed down, he purred, “We play rough.”
I didn’t need to see his face to know he smirked. If it was a little larger, I would have buried my face in the pillow, but as it was, I couldn’t move unless I wanted to give Hallewell and Le Torneau even more of a show.
They blanched. Not sure if it was because they’d interrupted us or whether a wizard sleeping with his familiar sickened them. Either way, they needed to leave. Like yesterday.
“We’re waiting for that apology.” Twig sing-songed as he sauntered toward them until they backed through the entryway. I heard a muttered, “I apologize.”
Didn’t sound genuine.
Twig leaned his hip against the doorframe, calling after them, “Send someone to fix the door, would you? We’re not into giving free shows.”
His nakedness might have undermined that statement a bit.
After they’d disappeared, he turned around grinning like a, well, a dragon. “This is gonna be fun.”
7
The next morning, we dressed in more of our finery before a knock at our newly installed door alerted us to the hour.
Opening the door, I found Cora standing there with two steaming mugs of lava java in hand.
“May the Goddesses bless you and grant you looong life.” I reached for the mugs with greedy fingers and passed one off to Twig. I blew on mine to cool it. Twig took a big swig, making sex noises as he slurped it down. Must be nice to be heat impervious. I wiggled my fingers and sent cooling air swirling into my mug, then took a cautious sip. Perfect.
“I hear you two had an eventful night.” Cora’s lips turned up in the hint of a smile.
“If you mean that half the Council guards now know what my familiar’s goods looks like, then yeah, eventful.” I continued to sip my lava java.
“What is that?” Cora peered past me, and I glanced where she indicated. Pie perched on Twig’s shoulder looking a little worse for wear this morning. His head rested against Twig’s cheek and his good eye blinked blearily. He didn’t do mornings.
“You mean who. Pie’s a ghost pira . . . I mean, a ghost parrot.” No reason to court trouble. I did introductions and explained that ghostly forms could be slightly more solid than previously believed, while still being able to become transparent at will.
Cora greeted Pie kindly, though I could tell she was a little taken aback by a talking ghost parrot.
“I-Is he allowed?” Cora’s brow furrowed. “I don’t want to get in any more trouble.”
“He’s part of my contingent. He’ll keep quiet. Won’t you, Pie?”
“Ye won’t even know I be there, Mister Quinn. If it be easier on ye, I can make meself scarce. I be most interested in how the docks be changed since me last time in port.”
I considered his proposal. Pie wouldn’t care for the politics of this realm and authority made him nervous. Pirates and the Council of Divine Magic were tried-and-true enemies. On the other hand, if things went south and we needed to leave, I didn’t want to have to track down our wayward parrot before we made our hasty exit.
“Tell you what. Stick with us for now, and then if there’s time we’ll see about taking a trip to town. You can explore once we get a better sense of why we’ve been . . . requested.” Summoned was more like it.
“As ye wish, Mister Quinn.” Pie’s feathers drooped. He, at one time, had been the companion to the legendary pirate Captain Blackstone Yardley, rumored to have been devoured by a kraken several centuries ago, along with the Dishonorable Princess’s crew. Only we’d discovered Pie and the ghost ship sailing the Expanse, the Elder’s largest desert. Over time, all the other ghosts had passed to wherever ghosts go when laid to rest.
All but Pie. I’d tried for months to find a spell to send him to join his captain. So far no luck. Another research project I planned for the archives.
When I’d finished my cup, Cora led us through a maze of gedodrite hallways until we reached an opaque white crystal door with elaborate etchings. Cora looked around conspiratorially. “You know how we always found the secret passages at Befsarry?” She kept her voice low.
My eyes widened. “You found one here?” Not sure why this surprised me. Cora had a knack for it, and it made sense there’d be some secret passages in the citadel. Reminded me to check over our room once we returned.
“Shh.” She placed a finger to her lips and pointed to the opposite wall, between two portraits of past high reis. “I haven’t followed it very far, but it’s part of the original foundation. Maybe we can explore it while you’re here. There’s also one off the kitchens, but that one only goes to a side garden.”
“Sounds fun.” We exchanged identical grins. Twig shrugged. Spoil sport.
Turning back to the door, I stepped close to examine the etchings. Most of them were high power wards. While I had never seen the like, my bracer vibrated against my wrist and sent Scrodbun’s magic rippling along my skin, raising the hair on my arms.
Interesting.
I opened Twig’s and my mental link. Do you sense that?
Sense what? he thought back.
The wards. They’re strange. Not of this time period.
I’ll take your word for it. Do you want to beg off and see if we can meet elsewhere?
Cora held open the door, unaware of our conversation, and seemingly oblivious to the wards. “We’re meeting in the High Rei’s solarium,” Cora explained. “Rei Le Torneau isn’t present.”
“Good.” No use dealing with that harpy. Especially first thing in the morning. “What’s this magic? I’ve never felt anything like it.”
Cora gaped. “You can feel that?”
“Can’t you?”
“No, but I know it’s powerful. I only know about it because the High Rei warned me not to enter unless expected.”
“Good thing we’re expected then,” Twig said.
Cora stepped through the doorway first, with me on her heels. As I passed through, I wrinkled my nose at the sudden acrid scent in the air. A pulse of intense heat shot through my limbs and left almost as quickly. For a moment my bracer tightened painfully on my arm. I gasped, and Twig stepped close.
“What is it, Quinn?”
Didn’t you feel that? I thought. Not wanting to alarm Cora, I smiled when she turned to see what happened and waved her forward.
Feel what? I don’t like this, wizard. Twig scanned our surroundings, his posture suddenly aggressive.
It’s nothing. Just a momentary flash of heat. It didn’t do anything. I reached back and squeezed his hand.
Even more reason not to like it. These witches are up to something.
We already know that. So, let’s go find out what. I stiffened my spine. I could do this. A couple hours with the Council of Divine Magic and then we’d have met their request for an audience.
Cora led us across triangular stepping-stones and through a veritable jungle of plants. Reds, golds, metallic blues. Their scents mingled pungent, spicy, and floral. So many varieties from my childhood but also some unfamiliar blooms and one or two I recognized from the Elder. Many of them possessed wicked thorns or, in some cases, teeth. The plants leaned away as we passed. A small wooden bridge crossed over a fast-moving trickle of water. We continued on until the foliage cleared and a dining room materialized out of their midst.
High Rei Hallewell sat on a heavy crystal chair, petting a sleeping silver-furred rabbit in her lap, while nodding at something another witch said. Only four witches, not including the ever-present guards. These must be Hallewell’s personal guards as they wore royal purple and were all women. The serving staff wo
re lavender tunics with a shadowed image of the Citadel on the front. I had a feeling we would be sick of purple by the time we left the Hominus.
Rei Vosen smiled at us, giving an extra bright smile to Cora, then an eager wave, jostling the long-haired cat draped across her shoulders. The cat gave a grumpy growl though didn’t deign to move.
“Ah, Mister Broomsparkle, CCM Starfig, welcome. I hope this morning finds you well rested.” To give her credit, Hallewell’s eyelid didn’t even twitch when she glossed over last night’s little adventure.
“Very well, thank you. The bed proved extremely comfortable.” Twig grinned and I subtly elbowed him. He just couldn’t help himself.
I cleared my throat. “This is a lovely space, High Rei.”
She inclined her head. “Please, gentlemen, call me Helena. And I see you’ve brought your charming . . . pet . . . with you. And dressed in a cute costume. How . . . sweet.”
Our ghost pirate parrot was anything but sweet. Pie slumped on Twig’s shoulder, looking for all the world like he’d gone on a bender the night before. His one good eye glared as he clacked his beak irritably, though he refrained from telling her what he thought of being referred to as a pet or having his eye patch and skull bandana labeled a costume. Should I cringe or laugh?
Twig’s hand came up to soothe his feathers and Pie settled back against Twig’s cheek. My mate always claimed I supplied the soothing influence on our rag-tag clan, yet he underrated his own ability to provide a sea of calm when we needed it most.
The High Rei swept her arm around the table, introducing the other reis. What warranted their sitting in on this meeting? Witnesses? Her closest Council allies? Or something more worrisome?
Sharing my thoughts with Twig so he would be prepared for anything, we made brief eye contact. I itched to activate my cuff to see what Scrodbun’s war hammer would have to say about their weaknesses. That would also be a big clue about what strengths they possessed. However, the war hammer lacked subtlety.
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