by Lisa Daniels
Bree was gently placed on the ground and a moment later Calixto stood beside her. His face wasn’t as cold as it usually was, but there was no trace of superiority or an oncoming lecture. The man’s eyes blinked a few times as he watched Bree.
Shaking her head, the young woman threw her arms around his neck. “And I thought you were attractive in your human form. Ye Gods, how many people know there are dragon shifters out there? It can’t be very many.”
Calixto looked down at her with a half grin, “A few more people know about the existence of dragon shifters than the continued existence of a sorceress.”
Bree’s lips formed an oh before she chuckled, “It certainly explains how you understand power. I can’t even imagine what that kind of power feels like.” Her hand ran along his chest.
Placing his hand on hers, “And I cannot imagine what it is like to have so much power in such a small frame.” He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it.
Stepping forward, Bree pushed her body against his, and she was pleased to hear the sound of his laugh.
He pushed her away from him, “Now is not the time for that.”
“There is never a better time for love making than after a near death experience.”
He looked down at her, “Is that so?”
“Here let me show you.” She took his hand and pulled him away from the erupting volcano. It was all but forgotten. There was very little life around it, and they were too far away from it for it to be more than a pretty sight to watch.
The pair reached a large cabin. Bree turned the handle and entered it, pulling Calixto behind her. He pulled his hand out of hers, causing her to turn around. “We cannot be here.”
Bree looked at him confused, “Is this place dangerous for you?”
He frowned at her, “It isn’t our place. We can’t go making use of a human’s domicile at our leisure.”
Bree smiled at him and reached into her storage dimension, “Here, this should make you feel better.”
He read over a short missive. “You just happen to know the owner of this place?”
Bree nodded, “I have this kind of agreement in pretty much every province, state, city, country, prefecture, and domain in Letera. A lot of people owe me.” She wrapped his arms around her and pulled him toward one of the rooms. “Now let me show you the proper way to celebrate a near death experience.”
Calixto did not need any coaxing. He pulled her to him and swept her feet off of the ground. She laughed as he began kissing her neck, a laugh that soon turned into a moan. He slipped her dress off of her body before they had even reached the bed. Bree was tugging at his shirt as he tossed her onto the bed. She laughed as she flew through the air. Almost as soon as she hit the bed, Calixto was on top of her, one hand cupping her breast and the other pulling her leg around his hip. Shocked at how aggressive he was being, Bree murmured in his ear, “I don’t remember you being this eager before.”
Pulling back and looking down on her, the man replied, “Perhaps it was the lack of a near death experience.” He began kissing her as she laughed.
His hands were fast and efficient as they explored her body. Calixto had brought her to peaking less than a minute after getting her onto the bed. Bree was panting as she flipped over on top of him and worked his pants off with her hands and feet. Before she could do anything else, Calixto’s husky voice broke her concentration, “I don’t think so.”
The world spun and Bree found herself once again under him, “I am no one’s pet.”
Bree laughed as he kissed her forehead and down her face, “It had to sound believable,” she panted into his hair. “If they knew you were anything else, they would have killed you.”
Calixto stopped and looked at her, “With what? Magma?”
“Of course, they were-Oh,” she looked into his eyes as he smiled at her. She gave his arm a slap, “I didn’t know you were a dragon.”
The bed vibrated as he laughed and spread her legs apart with his hand. The laughter stopped as soon as he began to move into her. Bree wrapper her legs around his hips and arched into him. For the first time in a long time, she allowed someone else complete control over her body.
Several hours passed before either of them was ready to stop. Bree ran her hand through Calixto’s hair as she rested against his chest when a noise caught their attention. Both sets of eyes turned to looked at several wisps hovering over the ground a few feet from the bed.
“We are sorry to interrupt your procreation, but we have business with the witch.”
Bree sat up and stretched her hand out to her dress. A small, shiny object levitated over it. “It’s quite alright. I didn’t expect you so soon, but it would be best that you get this back into a secure location before something happens to it.”
The creatures moved in a way that suggested they agreed. “We thank you for your assistance. It was much quicker and far less risky than the other option.”
Bree nodded, “I know. I was glad to be of service.”
“Have you decided on your payment?”
Bree was aware of Calixto watching her as she shrugged, “I still haven’t thought of anything for myself. However, I hear that there is an expedition taking off from Berenice in about a month. I don’t really care one way or the other about the main objective, but there is a young researcher on board. She is quite intelligent and rather witty, so I would like to see just what she is capable of. If you would guide the course of her ship to a location that is suitable for her purposes, I would say that is payment enough.”
The wisps moved around as if in thought, “Directing the path of ships hardly seems like adequate payment.”
Bree smiled, “It may not be quite as simple as you may think. The Aeoleans are planning to destroy the ships before they reach their destination.”
“Ah,” there was a little sound of excitement in the response, “That sounds more like a game than a payment. And what path would be most beneficial for this researcher?”
Bree shrugged, “I have no idea.”
“You need us to figure that out?”
“And that is why it is adequate payment.”
The wisps moved in a way that was hypnotic and sounded like a breeze travelling around the room. “We look forward to repaying our debt to you. And we wish you health in your future dealings.”
Bree bowed her head. The wisps and the item disappeared.
Calixto moved too fast for Bree to resist. His hands pinned her wrists to the bed and his body lay on top of her. He looked down at her, “You said that you were bored, but based on what you said to the magma demons, you weren’t just working because of boredom. It sounded like they were trying to start something more serious.”
Bree shrugged, “Yes, and I interfered because I was bored. I’m sure that things would have worked out alright because the Sentii are incredibly intelligent, just a little too trusting. All I did was help avert open conflict.”
Calixto blinked at her, “And roughly how many lives do you think that you saved?”
She gave him a half grin, “It’s impossible to see the future, even more impossible to see all possible scenarios. Perhaps I save thousands, or perhaps I didn’t save anyone.”
“You received no payment for your work.” His voice was low and his eyes kept shifting to her breasts. She watched as he forced his lovely red eyes to look at her face.
“She really is a bright girl, and seeing her potential come to fruition is the best payment I can imagine.”
Calixto release her hands and looked away, “I am sincerely humbled by what you have done, and I apologize for the things I said to you. You are not selfish and foolish. The world has no idea how lucky it is to have you in it.” His eyes darted back to her, “Well, you are foolish, but not out of selfishness.”
Bree smiled up at him, “And you are almost the perfect man. The only thing wrong with you is that on the very rare occasion, you are wrong.” Her hand traced an elegant red dragon covering his shoulder.
“So, you all literally wear your shape on your body.” Smiling up at him, Bree realized that she never wanted the touch of another man. Calixto complimented her in a way that no one else could. “Gods, I actually found a virtually perfect man. Unbelievable.”
Calixto smiled down on her, “Your words hurt.”
Bree sighed, “Next you will tell me that my smile is painful too.”
Slowly Calixto lowered his head and began to kiss her neck. Bree let him move her thighs apart and stroke them with his hand. “No,” he murmured, “your smile is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.” His movements were slow and deliberate as he gently pressed into her. Bree let out a satisfied groan as his mouth sought hers. His tongue parted her lips as he worked deeper into her.
The End
Kerensa’s Dragon
By: Lisa Daniels
Chapter 1
Not All Fools
Kerensa fought the urge to put her hand up on her hat as the breeze whipped around her. That was something only a woman would do, and the last thing she wanted was for anyone to suspect that was what she was. The young woman had taken a lot of care to make sure that she appeared as manly as she could. With her 21st birthday just past, the young woman’s figure was already a bit strange for a man’s, but she was lucky enough that women in her family relied heavily on their clothing to enhance the feminine aspects they usually lacked. Anyone who just glanced at her would believe that she was a young man in his late teens who took exercise seriously. The problem was if anyone decided to look a little closer. Her hips may not have been much further out than her waist, but it was just enough that a keen pair of eyes would notice the dip. From there it would not take much to realize that the muscular looking chest was not actually muscular.
After everything she had been through that was the last thing Kerensa wanted.
For nearly the first 16 years of her life, Kerensa had spent much of her time in books and learning because her mother had almost completely forgotten about her youngest child. With two older brothers and three older sisters, Kerensa had been nearly invisible. It had made the first 15 and a half years completely open for her to choose her own path.
Then her mother had succeeded in finding a wife for her second youngest child. With all of her other children married to suitable partners, the mother had finally realized that Kerensa existed. Within a week of the marriage, Lady Gwavas had nothing else to do and a younger daughter who, by all outward appearances, was reaching an age where marriage should be the priority.
It had come as a shock to her youngest child, and not a pleasant one. Suddenly the young woman went from spending her days in the library and talking with her father’s friends to being the object of inspection and criticism. Lady Gwavas’s initially positive appraisal of her daughter had quickly soured after two hours together. Nothing that a young woman should know or be concerned with learning appeared to have crossed her youngest daughter’s mind. When Kerensa had attempted to explain what she had been doing, her mother had not understood anything. It was like the woman and her offspring spoke two completely different languages. There was no surprise that the end result did not please either of the two women. Lady Gwavas muttered about not having enough time to get her daughter prepared for the party that was required to present her as an eligible partner. For her part, Kerensa could not understand why she was being subjected to something that she had never been prepared for up to that point. She had assumed that her own life would be run differently, in part because of her close relationship with her father.
Compared to his socially conscious wife, Sir Gwavas was level-headed and intelligent. He had never been satisfied in his marriage, but that had never been too much of a problem as it was entirely easy to distract and ignore his wife. She had her own ideas of what her role was, and was never concerned by his expectations. As this seldom interfered with his interests, Sir Gwavas had largely let his wife manage things that interested her. Several of his children showed promise in their abilities, but his wife always whisked them away too quickly for her husband to have much of an effect on their lives. With no real interest in children, this had not bothered the man. Not until Kerensa.
As a young child, Kerensa was thought to be mute and intellectually inferior to the other Gwavas children. When she was four years old, Sir Gwavas had wandered into her room looking for something one of his servants had told him was in the child’s room. He had questioned why that was the case, but none had been able to provide an adequate response as no one knew how the tool had made its way there. Kerensa was quietly playing. Her soft green eyes turned toward him, but he did not see what his wife, children, and servants saw as the child looked at him. The look in her eye was one of curiosity and observation, almost like she was studying him. She watched him for a moment, as if she expected him to do something. When he simply stood there and looked at her, the young child had returned to her play. Instead of looking for the tool that he had come to get, Sir Gwavas had moved to the side and observed her. After a few minutes, he realized there was a pattern and method to her play – Kerensa was building things with toys, despite not having the necessary education or equipment to construct anything. What had initially looked like a messy pile of dolls was clearly a replication of the cathedral they had been to a few days before.
Sir Gwavas moved over and sat beside his daughter. He knew that she had never spoken a word, but he was curious if she could hear him or understand if she was spoken to directly.
“Hello Kerensa. It looks like you have made the dolls into the St. Bernard Cathedral.”
Her little face shifted back to him, her blond curls bouncing beside her adorable face. She simply blinked at him.
Thinking that the child could not comprehend, he decided to speak of the place’s relation to their family as he looked over the strange replication of such a famous structure. “You know there is actually a tunnel here,” he pointed at a back area where there was a gap in the dolls, “it goes down several miles and it was used to help hide our family during the civil war four hundred years ago. That is how we came into power, by sticking to the side of the queen, even after she was removed from the throne. It is strange to think how different things would have been if they had not been able to hide there. How different would the family line have been without that help at a critical time.”
“We wouldn’t be.”
The voice was small, but very serious. Sir Gwavas looked around the room to find the source. Kerensa’s instructor was nowhere to be found. Frowning, he realized that his youngest daughter had no supervision. “Where is your nanny? Your mother should have someone here watching you.”
The voice spoke up again from beside him, “In there with him.”
Sir Gwavas looked around again, but a movement from beside him caught his attention. Looking at his daughter, the man saw that she was pointing to a closet.
“Kerensa…did you speak?”
She looked at her father and blinked, her little arm still extended toward the closet.
The man stood up and strode over to the closet, a look of concern on his face. He pulled the door open and found a young woman and one of his servants mostly in a state of undress. The look of horror on their faces would have been humorous if not for the fact that his daughter had witnessed something that was very inappropriate. Without a word, Sir Gwavas closed the door. He walked over to his daughter and held out his hand. A gentle smile played on his lips, “It looks like their business is going to take a little longer. I think you should come with me dear.”
Kerensa’s face did not change, nor did she say a word as she stood up. Placing her little hand in his, she let her father lead her out of the room.
The next morning, the young girl woke to see her father standing at the window looking out. “Father?” Her voice was firmer than the day before.
The man turned with a smile, “I thought that you could join me every morning.” She simply blinked at him. “Would that be alright with you?�
� he asked realizing that a young girl may not be too keen on spending her days with a bunch of men and their books. A smile slowly crept across the girl’s face and she nodded.
Perhaps that was why her mother had entirely forgotten about the youngest daughter, because for over a decade she had been in the care of her father. If Kerensa’s mother had thought about her at all, then Lady Gwavas would likely have assumed that her husband would raise the girls with the same understanding and values shared by the other women of their social standing. So, it was that an early misunderstanding of the young girl’s silence and intellect ended up freeing her from her mother’s attention and giving her a world that was better suited to her interests.
When that life was interrupted a few weeks before her 16th birthday, Kerensa had not taken it well. She had maintained rational arguments with her mother, sisters, and sisters-in-law, but to no avail. The woman could not understand how a young girl could possibly be interested in anything other than socializing and marriage. Kerensa could not understand what they could not understand about how unsatisfying she felt their lives were. Finally, everything came to a head over three years later at a family gathering. Two of Kerensa’s siblings and their spouses were in attendance for the falling out of her mother’s efforts.
Lady Gwavas was still hoping to make her youngest daughter into a desirable partner, or to at least to teach the young woman the error of her ways. Knowing that the daughter and Sir Gwavas had a tight bond, the woman thought it best to address him with the problem at hand. “Darling, did you know that Kerensa didn’t feel that marriage was good enough for her. She told me this just the other day at the Jostine’s Ball. Apparently, she incorrectly believed that it is unsuitable for the life she thinks she wants. It took a good bit of persuading, but Jeannie and I finally made her understand the truth.” Her husband simply looked at her, so the woman turned to her daughter and daughter-in-law, “Is that not the silliest thing you have ever heard?”