"I was not planning on murdering the beast," he gritted out through his tightly clenched teeth. "I was planning on taking him home."
"You were?" A joyous expression lit up Brieana's face, drawing the attention of all to her exotic beauty. "You are not going to turn him into winter leggings?"
The cold water not only soaked Brieana, it caused the nipples of her breasts, those breasts that Kerian could not stop thinking about, to harden into little peaks that pushed against the wet leather of her tunic. In her excitement, she gave a little jump, causing her full breasts to sway against the material.
"No," he replied, his anger tapering off as his blood rushed to his nether region.
His response to her did not go unnoticed by Shala, who filed that information away for future use. It seemed that her walking corpse of a stepson was enamored of the little witch. This might prove interesting, very interesting indeed.
Abruptly he turned, his boots making a squishing sound as he left the dais.
"Will one of you please order the cleaning of my hall? And get that drack out of my sight!" he nearly roared in anger, mixed with a healthy dose of frustration.
Brieana watched his exit with fascinated eyes. How…strong he looked. How masterful. Her insides started to tingle, like they did when Merlin kissed her, but all the pleasant feelings vaporized as a quivering voice intruded into her private thoughts.
Releasing me to go home, he is, to my coven? Zorn asked, peeking out at the destruction that he wrought from behind the tapestry. Then his whole countenance changed. Brieana swore that he was smiling.
"I do not know, Zorn. Not after the chaos you caused," Brieana pointed out as she again looked over the room that now resembled the aftermath of a battlefield. Even Shala did not escape. While the woman was directing two servants in the clean-up effort, her once perfect green gown was wet and stained.
What matter a few accidents, my Lady! Home, I am going! The Warlord's word, everyone knows, is his bond! With that, he happily trounced out of the room, nimbly avoiding those casualties of the war zone that he created.
"His word is his bond?" she mused out loud.
"Excuse me, my child?" Shala asked coming once again to loom over Brieana and making her back up a few steps. If Shala noticed her aversion to her company, she never said a thing about it.
"Nothing, My Lady." She quickly spoke as servants bustled around them, cleaning off the high table and mopping the water from the floor.
"Then it is time that we go and change. I would not have you catch your death, my dear. That would not do at all."
Silently, she followed the woman from the hall to her chamber, but all the while Zorn's words echoed in her head. His word was his bond.
* * * * *
"Stupid insufferable creature!" Shala growled as she closed the door to her inner chamber.
"I am beginning to suspect that you do not care for me, my love."
In the heat of her anger, Shala failed to notice that all of her previously lit candles were now extinguished. She shivered as she felt the cold presence in her room.
"What do you want, Dagon. I am not in the mood for games."
"Only to tell you that my plan has now been set into motion. Your stepson will disappear during his trek to the Dark Mountains."
"How do you know that he was traveling there? I only just found out myself." Shivering in her wet dress, Shala made no effort to cross the room to her armoire. She did not want to get too close to the dark creature that stood in her path and she wanted to know how he obtained his information. If he had a spy planted within her household, she wanted to know about it. Because if he did, his power was even greater than she feared, and that would make his eventual elimination more of a problem.
"I have my ways, beautiful Shala," he murmured as he made himself more comfortable in the chair that he had claimed as his own.
"Are you spying on me, Dagon? Do you not trust in my loyalty?" She cautiously crossed the room to the covered window he used to easily enter and exit.
Dagon muttered something low underneath his breath and a flame appeared in the air in front of him, illuminating his face.
Shala sucked in a breath and turned her face away in disgust as the features of his face were clearly exposed.
Dagon was a painfully beautiful man. If not for his high forehead and strong determined jaw, his delicate features would appear feminine. His large almond-shaped red eyes glowed softly in the light of the mystic fire he conjured. His nose was a straight sharp blade that perfectly matched his perfect cupids-bow upper lip and the sensuously full bottom one. His smile exposed perfect white teeth and drew attention to the double set of fangs that dropped slightly lower than the rest of his teeth. His smile was telling.
"Do you not like the look of me, my beautiful Shala?" He laughed as she turned her face further away.
With a wave of his taloned hand, he caused the flame to extinguish, returning the room to its previously dim state.
"I make it a habit to keep tabs on you, my dear. I want to know everything about you. Like, for instance, your stepson will take your little witch to the mountains with him."
Shala sucked in a shocked breath. Take that little girl to the mountains with him? She would lose her opportunity to get the necklace from off of her dead body without Kerian or that cursed drack being aware of her death.
"He wants her, you know," Dagon added. "He wants the little witch to warm his bed, my beauty. Maybe even to love."
"Shut up!" she growled at him, causing him to break down into laughter once again.
"Jealous, my sweet? Have no fears, my dear, dear, Shala. I will kill them both on the trail and you never need worry about the Woman of Legend bothering you again."
"Woman of Legend?" That snapped her out of her angered stupor. If Brieana was the Woman of Legend, that means that she could control the…
"A myth from our past, Shala, a children's tale told to give the peasants hope," he sneered.
He did not know the importance of the Woman of Legend, what power she could possess? Brieana was this woman?
In the ancient book of spells that Dagon gifted her after the consummation of their arrangement, there were old stories involving a woman from the past who would make her way to the future, bringing incredibly powerful amulets with her. Was that why the strange necklace rejected her touch? Because of Dagon's dark magic?
"Do not kill her, Dagon, not yet anyway."
"Why not, my love, do you not want the little bitch dead?" he asked, clearly playing with her.
I will wipe that smile off your lips, Dagon, she silently vowed.
"I want to observe this Woman of Legend. I want to learn her secrets. And for that, I will need more power."
"But you find me repulsive, my beauty. Your disgust touched me even at a distance from you. Why would you wish more of my power within you?" He relaxed deeper into his chair, smirking at her with his softly glowing eyes.
"You are the only one who has what I need, Dagon. I will do anything to get what I want."
"Well, since you asked me so sweetly, I'll give you what you want, beautiful Shala. But in the end, it will cost you."
In another one of his swift moves, Dagon was across the room and had Shala in his arms in the space of an eye blink. Her dress quickly hit the floor as he bore her to the bed.
"Remember, my fine Lady, you asked for this," he growled as he took possession of her lips.
His hands stroked an unholy fire within her body, her lust and her eagerness for his tribute rising with sudden force. Her arms gripped his cold hard shoulders and he buried his face in her neck. Her whimpers of pleasure increased as his soft baby fine hair trailed over her breasts. His cold tongue contrasted with the heat of her skin.
"You taste alive, my love." He groaned as he dropped his face to her breasts to tease and torment her nipples with his tongue.
Shala whimpered at the sensation of cold against hot and grasped his hair to push his head lower.
Shala's whole body arched off of the bed as the power of his touch filled her very being. Her head whipped back and forth on her coverlet as the pleasure-pain filled her. Instinctively, her hands left his hair to pull at his back. That's when the shock of his cold leathery wings penetrated her lust-hazed mind. For a moment, she had forgotten who he was. That was a dangerous thing to do.
Noticing her cooling ardor, Dagon chuckled. "Remember, you asked for this, my love." Pulling his head away from her heat, he rose proudly above her, fully extending his wings and blocking out what dim light the few candles provided. "And now, you get what you asked for."
A strangled shriek exploded from her body as Dagon filled her with his immense length. Pleasure and pain vied for dominance of her body, with pleasure winning out. Her legs wrapped around his waist to bring him closer to her as her arms wrapped around his neck. Again he chuckled as he began his slow hard movements.
"You will do anything to get what you want?" he questioned, his passion rising with every thrust.
"Dagon!" she cried, raking her nails down his shoulders to grip at his thick wrists positioned above her head holding his body above her.
"Yes, I hear you, my beauty. You will get what you asked for."
His words breathed in her ear, caused her to clench around him, urging him to move faster.
He ran one taloned finger down the center of her body, lightly scraping her soft skin, before retracting it to stroke the very seat of her desire.
Uttering a scream, she rose against him, her inner muscles fluttering around him.
Laughing, he threw back his head; he spread his wings to the fullest above their gyrating bodies as he felt his release building up in him.
"Shala!" he cried out as her movements tipped him over the edge and his dark magic fought to explode from his body.
Muttering under his breath, he cast the spell as he felt his control slipping.
"Together!" he cried and groaned as her inner muscles began milking him, attempting to steal from him his breath, his essence, and a small portion of his great power.
"Dagon!" she cried as her release rocketed her among the stars, moaning as she felt him explode within her, drenching her in his power.
Dagon moaned and gently dropped his sweating body to cover her, letting his leathery wings relax and drape both of them. He felt worn out, as if a piece of his soul had been ripped out, unlike Shala, whose body had begun to hum at his release.
Shala floated, drifted on a plane that she had only felt once before, when she first consummated her union with Dagon all those many years ago. She relaxed beneath him, mentally calculating the changes in her body.
She could feel his magic coursing through her, his heightened sense of smell letting her know the candles were just about burned out. She could hear a servant passing by the door to her outer chamber and could feel the blood flowing through Dagon's veins.
Now, while he was so replete with ecstasy, it would be so easy to reach under her pillow and grab the dagger that she kept there. So easy to plunge it into his black heart and end his threat for once and for all.
"Do not even consider it, my beautiful Shala." His whispered words wafted across her skin.
"I…I was not—"
He cut her off as he tightly curled in his wings and lifted himself off her body. "You think like me, my precious one. And in your position, and given the circumstances, I would gladly plunge a knife into the sweet skin of your back. Besides, the feeling that you have will not last much longer."
"What do you mean, Dagon? The last infusion of magic that you gave me is still felt to this day! Why will this feeling not last?"
"Because I have decided that you need to be controlled a bit more, my spiteful beauty."
With a wave of his hand and few muttered words, a mystic fire exploded into being above the bed illuminating both of their naked bodies.
Shala again grimaced at the sight of his body. Although his face and form were human, Dagon's body was a patchwork of ugly raised scars and wounds. His retractable wings, leathery and large, were coiled behind him. His hands, with talons retracted, traced over his body, materializing a tunic and short pants that his kind preferred.
"What do you mean, Dagon?" Again she asked as she reached to the floor to pull what remained of her gown around her body. As she moved, she noticed a sudden lethargy in her limbs and she felt the need for sleep.
"Only this, my beauty. I have decided to curtail your movements, just a bit. I have made you quite pregnant, my dear."
He stopped to laugh at her shocked expression.
"I cannot be pregnant! I have cast the spells…"
"I keep telling you, my flower, that your little spells may mean something to these pitiful humans that occupy Mirage, but to me they are meaningless and easily brushed aside."
Shala stared at him in shocked anger.
"And please do not think of doing away with the seed, my dear. It is my heir that you carry and I will be most unhappy with you and this land if anything were to happen to it. Thus, I have curtailed your plotting, but just a bit, and I have guaranteed my, shall we say, participation in the glorious future of the Light Isles!" His laughter boomed around the room.
"I shall leave you now, my dear, to recover from the process. I have given you a bit more of my magic powers, but not enough to do what you would so dearly love to do. Sleep well and remember."
In a lightning fast move, his hands were at her throat, talons extended to test their sharpness against the tender flesh of her throat.
"I will be watching you, my love, watching you very closely."
In another flash of movement, he was gone.
As sleep overtook her, Shala muttered, "You just made a big mistake, you winged fool. Now I have more reason to get rid of Kerian, the Woman of Legend, and of you, Dagon. My child will inherit this land and will rule in my passing as I see fit!"
Then she passed out, the strain of carrying Dagon's seed too much for her body. But she was unconscious with a smile on her face.
Chapter Six
"I want to go with you!"
"No!"
"I want to go with you!"
"No!"
Brieana was losing patience with her warrior. She didn't know when she started thinking of Kerian as hers, but she suspected it had begun when he promised Zorn could go home. Maybe he was her true mate after all! She had begun to have doubts, but his treatment of the drack after the "accident" had been more than equitable. He hadn't killed the silly lizard, and that made him rise a bit more in her esteem. But now he was just being plain unreasonable.
"You have to let me go! I want to take Zorn home. He is my friend, Kerian, and where I come from, you do not abandon friends."
"No!" he all but shouted.
Brieana had cornered Kerian at his practice field a few scant minutes before a mock battle was to take place. He had no time for the woman's foolishness. He would not be responsible for her on the long trek into the mountains. Kerian had visions of her petite body shivering with the fever that came with over-exposure and even worse, dashed to the rocks below like someone whom he had once loved. She was too small and delicate for such a journey!
"It is out of the question! You are not built for the rigors of life on the trail, Brieana. I do not want to see you hurt!"
The concern underlying his words went completely unnoticed by Brieana. All that she heard was that another man did not think that she was capable of handling herself.
"Not built for rigors of trail life?" she questioned with narrowed green eyes and a sneer on her lips.
Any of yon soldiers, best you can Lady! Zorn urged from behind. During their conversation, the young drack had walked up and claimed his favorite place, at Brieana's side, well behind her but still near her side.
"Stay out of this, youthling!" Kerian ordered as he watched the fury build in his be
autiful castle guest. For some strange reason, Zorn wanted Brieana along on this journey. He had to pause and wonder why. Before he made any headway into the matter, Brieana rallied herself for attack.
"He does not have to stay out of it, Kerian. He, unlike another stubborn male of my acquaintance, listens to my stories of my true home. I was a warrior there, battle tested and dangerous. Pick any of your fighters, Kerian, and let us duel."
"Why would I do that?" he asked, platinum eyebrow arched over one amber eye.
"Because if I am bested, I will stay here without any complaint. But if I win, you have to take me with you."
Kerian took a step back and eyed the small spitfire before him. She barely reached his shoulder, yet she was offering him a challenge. He noted how her flash of anger brought a little color to her cheeks and made her eyes sparkle. She was enjoying this battle of wills. Moreover he was confounded to understand why her enjoyment had become paramount to him.
"All right, Brieana. You have your challenge, but let me warn you, my word is my bond and I expect you to honor your word as well."
"Agreed!" she instantly, cried. This was going to be fun. Eager to get the battle started, she gleefully ran her hands down her leather-covered thighs. She was again wearing an oversized tunic and tight leggings, provided no doubt by Shala. She looked beautiful and kissable, not like the fierce warrior that she claimed to be.
"Best Sato," he demanded, his face as usual devoid of any expression. "I want this done quickly so that you will not get hurt."
"A mere trifle!" Brieana bragged as she walked past him to select her weapon from the sword cart. "Just ready extra rations for our journey, Kerian. I work up a powerful hunger after being on the battle field."
Love her confidence, do you not? Zorn asked as he watched Brieana make a careful selection. What matter a few extra rations, when she is made happy, warrior?
Kerian looked suspiciously at the drack. After learning that he would not be made into a winter wardrobe, Zorn had gotten uncharacteristically brave.
Merlin's Kiss Page 5