“I am telling you, there is no need for that. I am not concerned with…” Nadja felt like kicking herself. The words sounded weak and trembling. Normally she could speak with soft confidence, always reasonable and logical and well-phrased. Her voice came out in hot, breathless pants. What was he doing to her? Her body felt like it was on fire, like she needed to take off her clothes and jump into a snow drift. She started to sweat. Absently, she fanned her face, trying to concentrate. Forgetting where she had left off, she repeated, “I am not concerned with your prowess—ah!”
Olek boldly whipped his loincloth from his hips and dropped it to the fur-lined floor. His feet parted. His arms fell to the side as he held still. He stood naked and proud before her, inviting her to look her fill of him.
Nadja inhaled deeply, unable to speak. Her eyes rounded into large spheres. She couldn’t look away. The size of his mild erection was very much in proportion to the rest of his oversized anatomy. She stretched her fingers, eager to touch his cock, to have it touch her. The center of all her aching began to pulse with desire, becoming scorchingly hot at the idea. She’d dreamed of such things, on those lonely nights far away from any spaceport. Fear kept her from acting. But now? Now there was no medical reporting system to stop her from doing what she wanted.
To her mortification, an extremely playful grin spread over his mouth when she didn’t turn away. His naked body flexed as he took a single step forward, the movement powerful and predatory. The muscles of his stomach led to rock hard thighs and hips. Nestled beneath a narrow treasure trail of hair, which climbed down from his flat navel, his blatant arousal grew in size and strength. His hands lifted to his naked hips, the fingers tapping lightly against his flesh as if to point at his rising cock. She thought he might touch himself.
Nadja gasped and tried to look away but couldn’t. She waited to see what he would do next. She’d read once that men could harden themselves at will. It never happened on the operating table.
She felt like her body rocked on undulating waves and she night have to catch herself to keep from falling. Olek looked nothing like the men on her father’s operating table. They had been floppy. He was solid, massive…oh.
His hand slowly slid forward. Nadja was disappointed when he merely scratched his stomach and brought his fingers back to his hip. He didn’t move, letting her eyes look their fill. And she was looking. In fact, she could do nothing else.
* * *
Olek watched his lovely bride carefully, enjoying the way her lips sucked between her teeth, as she tried to utter whatever it was she was trying to say. She fluttered around nervously, which only made the dragon instincts inside him want play. Round blue eyes stared at him as if he were a serpent waiting to strike. Since her gaze had kept dipping to his fur loincloth, Olek took it as an invitation he wouldn’t dare to refuse and pulled the clothing off. The results were slightly comical, but mostly endearing.
She looked away several times only to have her eyes dart back and her lips move, though nothing audible came out. If he wasn’t careful, this flushing innocent in front of him would faint dead away. Already he could see she had stopped breathing altogether. Yet, despite her intense interest in his cock, her fingers fisted in front of her, as if ready to strike him if he were to pounce. Olek gave a very arrogant chuckle, unable to help himself. What man wouldn’t feel a little overconfident when a beautiful woman was rendered speechless by the look of his naked body?
“Are you pleased?” Olek asked, trying to keep a deep growl of passion from his voice. The words held much more meaning than before. They were a testament to his mounting desire. If she kept looking at him so eagerly, sucking at her bottom lip with such concentration, he would defy all the gods and take her right there and now.
The woman snapped her mouth shut and spun away. She flung her hand frantically behind her and weakly commanded, “Get dressed. I told you I don’t have any interest in…that…thing.”
“You are not pleased?”
She wouldn’t be able to see his spreading grin and possibly didn’t know that he was teasing her. A sound of distress left her and she hugged her arms around her body.
“Do I not please you?” he insisted when she didn’t answer.
“No, you’re built fine…ah, finely built, Olek, really you are. It’s just I don’t put much stock in these things. I think we have more important—oh!”
Olek couldn’t stop himself, determined to prove her shy words wrong. The little ornery dragon inside him made him do it. When she fluttered so nervously, he couldn’t resist teasing her. With her body so close, he couldn’t stop from touching her. Many grand and wicked ideas filled his head. He moved to nuzzle her delectably slender throat with his parted lips, lightly poking his tongue against sensitive flesh. She trembled at the contact.
Olek grinned alongside her neck, whispering “I do please you.”
Olek was toying with her, just a little. He couldn’t help it. This delicate creature fluttered so nervously, that he imagined she might try to take flight like a tiny bird and dart away from him.
His bride belatedly jumped away, rubbing where he’d kissed her as if to remove the feel of his moist touch. He could tell it didn’t work. He knew it. She would try to deny it.
“Stop that, you one-track barbarian,” she demanded heatedly.
That stopped him short. He studied her, wondering if her harsh words masked her anxiety. Or was she really annoyed with him?
She glanced back at him, taking another quick peek. Her words stunted, she ordered, “Get dressed.”
“Choose,” Olek said instead. The one word harder than he’d intended.
“I-I can’t choose, Olek,” she answered. “Not yet.”
His bride backed further away from him. Olek stepped with her, not bothering to cover himself from view. What did she mean by “not yet”?
She came to the side of the tent and was forced to stop. She couldn’t escape. There was no where she could run that he couldn’t find her. Already her scent was in his head. Every sense he had, focused on her. His eyes narrowed, shifting slightly so that he could focus on her neck. Her pulse beat wildly beneath her skin. His ears picked up the frantic rhythm. Olek was careful not to let her see his dragon-shifting abilities. Too many brides had been frightened by the beast in the past. Besides, his people didn’t want word of their special talents spread over the universe, so he couldn’t show her until after they were married.
He lifted his hand to gently stroke the backs of his fingers over her cheek and neck. His touch paused below her ear, near her racing pulse. Continuing to caress her, he tenderly insisted, “Your name.”
His bride blinked, as if under a spell. Maybe she was. The light glow of the crystal caressed her face, pulsing with the power of what was between them. But Olek didn’t need an amulet to tell him how he felt. He knew the first moment he saw her. This woman was meant to be his.
She gasped for breath and looked momentarily confused.
“Your name,” he repeated, making sure he used the Old Star language. He was usually pretty good about that, but this woman had him completely enthralled. It was possible he would accidently slip into the Qurilixian tongue of his people.
Leaning over, he kissed the corner of her lips. His bride stiffened, not returning the caress. Her widened eyes stared out at him. Olek closed his eyes and smoothly brushed his dry lips over the length of her mouth, hoping she would part her lips. The pulse quickened beneath his gauging fingers. Olek detected the stirring of her desires in the intoxicating perfume of her sex. His cock tightened, begging its owner to answer the call of her pussy.
The shape of her breasts beckoned his hand. How could he deny himself the pleasure of the soft mounds? The backs of his fingers trailed over her collarbone, dancing along her quivering flesh. She slowly lowered her gaze, as if her lids had suddenly become too hard to hold up. Olek drew his fingers over her porcelain flesh, dipping over the top curve of one breast, deep into the valley, and then over
the second. He didn’t grab or caress like he desperately wanted to, instead letting her get used to his closeness. She shivered anew, goose bumps rising along her chest.
He slid his fingers over her skin another time, passing over one sweet mound and then the other. When her breathing deepened and he could hear the heart hammering in her chest as if it was his own, he grew bolder. His finger slipped between her flesh and the silk of her gown. Starting at the side, he drew along the bodice, plunging deeper with each passing second. As he reached the center, her nipple was already half erect, awaiting him.
Olek took a deep, agonizing breath as he curled his finger around the bud and pulled it up to rest on the top edge of the gown. Then, continuing on, he did the same with the other side.
His bride’s eyes flitted up to him as his finger continued to curl in an aimless pattern, not touching the liberated centers again. When he had her gaze steadily caught in his, he deliberately looked down, letting her see that he watched her body’s reaction to him. His mouth parted, blowing hot breath onto her skin. Her nipples budded to hard erection.
Gasping, she pulled her head back from him to break the torturous contact, and closed her eyes. The tent’s wall blocked her escape.
“Choose,” he urged her.
Olek nearly groaned in disappointment, when she pulled up the bodice with a fidgety jerk to hide the round gems of her nipples from view.
She placed a hand firmly on his chest, He had kept distance between their bodies when he touched her, but if she asked him to he would have gladly closed the space to give her what every screaming nerve in his body begged him to. It was as if his body recognized her completely and wanted her to fulfill every need.
“Put your clothes on first,” she whispered, her throat working in nervousness. “Please.”
Olek smiled softly at her, seeing the seriousness to her eyes. He slowly nodded.
* * *
Nadja knew Olek would expect her to be a wife in all ways—especially in these ways—but she wasn’t ready to accept a marriage. She needed some questions answered first. Logic would not let her choose blindly, not when the outcome involved the rest of her life.
All too aware that he was still completely naked, she tried not to look. Tried, but failed.
Nadja stayed next to the tent wall. Olek turned to get his clothing. She allowed herself one peek of his naked backside as he bent over, and then another longer one, before forcing her gaze away. Her whole body shook from his fiery touch, heated to a level she had never thought possible. She held herself rigid, trying to focus on anything but him.
Unfortunately for her attempts at self-control, her gaze found the third corner. Nadja nervously closed her eyes. It was a low chair, much like an examination table, with stirrups for the feet and straps to hold them into place. A pillow sat on the floor, as if for kneeling. An open trunk of feathers and oils was behind it. She couldn’t see much else within the trunk but those two items were enough.
Looking at Olek, she found him watching her. He was again dressed as she had asked. He tilted his head to the chair in offering. She forcefully shook her head with a vehement, “No!”
“Your name,” he said.
Nadja took a deep breath. This was more like it. Now that he was more fully clothed they could have a civilized conversation. That is, if her head quit spinning, and her breasts ceased aching, and her eyes stopped trying to undress him from his loincloth. Nadja had met many princes, and his body wasn’t that of a pampered prince or nobleman. For this she was glad.
Wishing her words held more force, she said, “My name is Nadja Aleksander. I am pleased to meet you, Olek.”
Chapter 4
Nadja.
The name rolled pleasantly in Olek’s brain. It was a good name, a pretty name, a respectable name, and it suited the dignified beauty before him exceedingly well. As she gained control over herself, he was pleased to find her naturally soft spoken. Her unpretentious voice was low and sensual and coiled around him. It was a fine contrast to the harsher voices of his fellow Draig. It was a voice he would gladly spend his days and nights listening to. It was a voice he would love hearing moan out his name in passion. He found he wanted to ask her questions just to hear her answer them in her sultry tone.
He didn’t have to ask. Her lips parted and she spoke to him freely with a question of her own.
“Are you a farmer, or perhaps a miner?” Nadja asked, looking over his physique.
Olek was confused by the relevance of her question. He shook his head.
“Then, what do you do for a living?”
Olek smiled as he understood the reason for her question, but stayed quiet. He thought it was a sensible query, and admired it while still wishing her thinking wasn’t so logical. Closing his eyes, he imagined his tongue bathing in wine as he drank from her flushed skin. He almost groaned with the idea of it.
“Oh, sorry, I forgot you can’t converse yet,” Nadja said with a frustrated sigh. “That makes this rather difficult, doesn’t it?”
Olek merely continued to smile at her. Marriage wasn’t supposed to be a light decision and he was glad she didn’t take it as such. Hm, maybe she would drink from his flesh. He wondered how those lips would feel wrapping around his arousal, sucking liquor from him with her wet mouth.
Nadja sighed louder, clearly unaware of his erotic thoughts. Biting her lips, she said, “All right, let’s try this another way. Are you a working man?”
Seeing her attention on his mouth, Olek let his tongue slide over the edge. Oh, but the distance between their flesh was driving him mad. His hips tensed. Maybe after she drank from him, he could get her to ride him hard like she was breaking in a wild ceffyl. He’d even let her tie him up if she wanted, completing the fantasy. He’d bet his crown those long legs of hers could restrain him.
“I’ll tell you right now, I want a working man. Are you one?” she insisted.
Olek stepped forward glancing over the subtle curves of her body. If his mind didn’t stop creating fantasies of her, he’d most likely attack. Her eyes narrowed in warning, holding him back with their blue force. She wasn’t finished.
“I won’t lie to you or try to trick you. I’ll work hard—by your side if I have to. I don’t have girlish notions of what this marriage should be about. I don’t expect us to be in love and I don’t expect you to tell me you love me. In fact, I would prefer it if you respected me enough not to try and placate me with such sentiments.”
Olek watched her quietly, not showing any emotion as he took in every word. Of course he would love her. Did she not see the evidence of their match glowing on his chest?
“I do expect loyalty and honesty,” Nadja continued, as if heartened by his patient listening. “And I’ll give you the same courtesy in return. I believe this could be a great partnership if we are both willing to do the work.”
When she paused, Olek nodded once, silently urging her to finish.
“I suppose you’ll want children?”
Olek didn’t like the practical, uniform way she said the words. He nodded in answer anyway. His eyes dipped to her slender hips and to the unfairly seductive pose they were in. Her legs were spread just enough that he could run his finger between her thighs to test the soft, wet cavern of her pussy. He tried not to groan.
“Fine,” Nadja agreed, appearing unnerved.
He realized he was eyeing her like he wanted to try procreating at that very moment—which was actually pretty accurate.
“I shouldn’t mind children…in time. But, not right away.”
Again, Olek nodded. What did he care? He wasn’t thinking of children, just practicing the making of them. He knew nothing could come of his desire tonight. Because of Draig tradition, climax couldn’t be reached on the wedding night. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t play. Besides, he was a glutton for punishment and he would gladly spend the night torturing them both.
“As to,” Nadja paused unable to hide her blush, as she motioned to the bed.
“As to us being together, I think we should wait until we are better acquainted.”
Olek frowned, his jaw lifting in surprise. His cock tightened in instant protest at the idea of denial. Subtly sniffing the air, he smelled the lingering hints of her desire for him. If he was forced to smell that every day, there was no way he was going to wait to claim her. He would go mad. He might be a man of refinement and infinite patience, but even a saint would crumble under such torture.
“I’m not saying I won’t marry you. I just don’t want to, ah, to, um, to copulate just yet,” Nadja explained. “Besides, if we are to have children later, then there is no need to do it now.”
Olek’s frown deepened. His arms crossed over his chest. He really hoped she was finished talking. He couldn’t take much more of her nervous logic. Already, he could tell she was inexperienced in the ways of men and assumed that is why her words were so frustratingly clinical.
“So, those are my terms. If you agree to them, step forward and I’ll remove the mask. If not, stay there and I’ll be happy to leave,” Nadja finished.
Olek didn’t need time to decide. He’d known his answer since she stepped off the ship. He took a confident step forward and then another. His arms stayed crossed, but his eyes eagerly devoured her reaction.
He didn’t like her last stipulation. But, as he saw the glaring loophole in her demands, he decided to accept it. He would just have to torture her until she begged him for his…copulation.
“Oh,” Nadja whispered breathlessly when he stopped before her. He stood proud and unmoving. “All right, you’ve decided already.”
“Choose,” he commanded.
* * *
Dragon Lords Books 1 - 4 Box Set: Anniversary Edition Page 31