Finding Bliss: Fantasy MMMM Gay Romance (Trial of Submission Book 3)

by Natalie Wish

  Saainren’s lips quirked in amusement. Did he think those pretty eyelashes he was batting at him would end his punishment a second earlier than he planned?

  “Let’s stay then. How about I attend to some business while you three rest?”

  “Business?” Rogan asked.

  “I quite like the idea of taking over that big stage here. We will discuss details before I agree to anything, but I wanted to start the conversation with the manager of this establishment.”

  “Oooh,” Mexi made a sound of understanding. “Do you need one of us with you?”

  “I think I can manage alone.” He shot Mexi a smile and seeing that nobody protested him going away stood up, saying: “I’m leaving you with a mission. Relax and don’t do anything strenuous.”

  “And will you be checking if we are relaxed enough when you come back?” Xanran asked cheekily.

  “Yes,” he leaned over the other man and whispered menacingly, letting his finger brush over the straining length. “This boy better be down when I come back.”

  He left the room grinning to himself, wondering if the dragon will be able to manage such a feat with two beautiful naked bodies in bed with him.

  “Hello. Could you point me in the direction of the owner, or the manager of this place?” he politely asked the familiar hulking figure

  A worried expression appeared on the guard’s face.

  “Is anything amiss, sir? If so, I can help. There’s no need to bother the Uppers.”

  Saainren huffed a laugh.

  “No, no, don’t worry, there’s no trouble. But there’s an opportunity,” he stressed the last word lifting his eyebrows and sharing a look with the man.

  “Oooh. I see.” The guard bounced back fast, and the smile returned to his face. “Then please follow me, I will take you to Lady Letha.”

  Lady Letha was less impressed with her Trial Marked guest, than the guard and his colleague at the door were, but the cunning elf could see an opportunity when it sought her out. When Saainren offered a performance on the Great Stage by not one, but potentially four people with the legendary marks her eyes lit up, as if she could already see the gold she could earn from this. She was even willing to share the profits with him. But Saainren didn’t want to be paid for doing this. Instead, he graciously took the offer of a room being at their disposal free of charge when they visited. He had some money left from their adventuring, but the prolonged stay with Xanran’s new Clan and then their quest to help Vitorous, cut them off from their standard means of acquiring new funds.

  He discussed several possibilities with Lady Letha and agreed to have a longer talk the next day. A foot in the door was all he needed for today.

  He returned to their temporary quarters in a good mood. His smile broadened even further when he saw his subs curled together in the bed, piled atop one another like puppies. He almost didn’t want to disturb their nap.

  He didn’t have to make that decision as Xanran blinked his eyes and looked blearily at him. Saainren sauntered over and rolled the dragon onto his back. The man welcomed it with a pleased sound and arched his back as Saainren ran his hand from his neck down to his groin. Only when his fingers closed around the not-soft-at-all erection did the druid remember himself.

  “I was asleep!” the dragon protested.

  “Mmm. You are such a filthy creature, staying hard even when you are sleeping. What did you dream about? Getting this off?” He ran a finger over the cockring, tied tightly at the base where a dragon knot wanted to appear. “Finally getting to come?” He let his breath caress the reddening ear. “Then I have only one thing to tell you: dream on. I won’t accept self-measures. And since you can’t go soft... I guess it means you have to stay hard, hmm?” The hand on the dragon’s cock moved fast, pumping up and down, bringing him to complete hardness with cruel efficiency.

  The dragon whined and trashed under him, tormented by his touch. He looked so good he could eat him.

  He eyed that tasty cock, but no, that would be too cruel even for him. He let go and Xanran fell onto the bed panting.

  Their tussle woke the others up.

  “You are back,” Mexi stated sleepily rubbing his eyes. “How did it go?”

  “We are the new stars, duh!” Xanran grinned.

  “It’s not a circus.” Rogan glared at the dragon. “Though I can see how you would fit in one.”

  “Why, thank you! Circus folk are admirable professionals. Know this one guy, you wouldn’t believe how he could bend and-”

  Saainren cleared his throat, cutting down the squabble.

  “We will discuss the ideas, and see what’s available here, tomorrow. Lady Letha is happy to work out a proper arrangement with us.”

  “That’s right, we don’t even know everything that’s here. We always get sidetracked before we finish the tour,” Rogan grumbled.

  “What, do you need even more ideas? I have plenty and can share,” Xanran whispered conspiratorially, as if he was a peddler of forbidden goods.

  “About that!” Mexi perked up. “I heard there’s a spell here that you can activate from the hotel rooms. This room is considered a private room... but there are also rooms where the guests agreed to be watched.” He stood up and went to a table where a scroll with instructions waited. He mumbled something under his breath and several magical apparitions popped up. It was like looking through a window… if the window frame was made with glowing magic. And on the magical screens...

  “Stars above, how can you even do that!” Rogan exclaimed with horrified admiration watching a dragonling and a dwarf go at it in an almost reality-defying pose.

  “Well, we are not copying THAT idea,” Saainren commented dryly.

  But there were many windows and many weird, hot and intriguing things happening on the magical screens.

  They got some new ideas after all.

  Chapter Ten

  ∞∞∞

  This whole ‘destroy a powerful magical building’ business was a lot of mental work.

  Well, maybe not for Xanran, who was supposed to perform a more physical role in the whole scheme, but Saainren was once again spending time with Vitorous and the architect, Lorena, creating new plans and adjusting the old ones. There was a lot of talk that flew over his head. He had a basic education that was provided to everyone in the Ink Clan, but he couldn’t compare to the depth of knowledge of a hundreds of years old mage, an erudite prince, and a genius professional. And if you put them all together? Honestly, when they got into a proper scholarly argument they were a bit terrifying, like they had all the knowledge of the world - and if they hadn’t, they knew where to get it.

  Xanran walked into the room when the three-way conversation shifted to... constellations? Conjunctions? Phases of the moon? He had no idea what it could have to do with getting rid of the Dungeon and severing Vitorous’ connection to it. Fortunately, the only input that was needed from him was the plate of snacks he set down on a table. He hovered there, after they thanked him and continued their conversation between the bites of cookies, furtively looking at the prince. He was so busy the last two days... they even had to go to the club without him! And the chances of him being free soon looked slim.

  “Can I stay here?” he blurted out and Saainren stopped in the middle of a word to look at him. “I won’t bother you! I will be silent as a mouse! I promise!” he added hastily when he saw the skeptical look on the prince’s tired face.

  “Touch starved even with the amount of sex you are having?” Vitorous, the bastard, griped.

  “At least, I’m not emotionally starved like Weix,” he shot back, then winced. He shouldn’t let himself be provoked like that and mix his clan brother in his petty fights.

  Even if the comment was true. Vitorous really wasn’t treating the dragon right.

  “Hmmm. How about we put that Sigil there?” Saainren asked
innocently and pointed to a map sprawled over the desk.

  “That would create a backlash and probably kill Vitorous.” Lorena voiced her opinion.

  “What a shame,” Saainren deadpanned, looking straight at the other mage.

  Xanran’s heart fluttered to see the prince be so savage on his behalf.

  “Alright, alright, noted.” Vitorous lifted his hands in a gesture of surrender. “He can stay if he really will be silent. We have too much work to do to be distracted.”

  “Don’t worry, he will be good. Xanran, darling, come here.” Saainren beckoned and he found himself on his knees next to the prince’s chair, his head pillowed on the mage’s thighs. A hand stroked through his loose blond hair and the braids and he let himself drift, relaxing into the caress, while the academic discussion continued.

  It was an hour later, maybe two when he was roused from his meditative state.

  “Sweetheart, let’s get you to bed,” Saainren prompted gently.

  “What about you?” he answered, his voice a bit slurred from sleep.

  “I still have more work to do, but we are taking a quick break, so let me tuck you in, hmm?”

  Xanran moved a little and winced, his muscles strained from a prolonged not-so-comfortable position. Maybe going to bed was a good idea.

  He let himself be guided to their room, disrobed, and put into bed next to an already sleeping Mexi and Rogan. The prince covered him with the comforter, making sure he was warm and snug. He even got a kiss!

  Only the next day he realized his other gift.

  The magical cockring was gone.

  He was forgiven.

  ∞∞∞

  Weix was a wizard. Well, no, he was a cleric, but the point was the dude was magic.

  What else could Xanran call it when Weix not only found a space outside the sprawling city where Xanran could fly, not only got proper permission from the Imperials so he wouldn’t be shot on sight when they spotted his true form, but also commissioned a saddle for him.

  A fricking saddle!!! He could take someone on a flight with him now!

  He was so excited, dancing around the gift, touching every inch of it, that he rudely ignored Rodner, when the elf joined them.

  “I can see you are his favorite now,” the man commented drily to Weix.

  “It’s only proper to have a mode of transport when travelling in a group,” Weix demurred. “When I heard they were contemplating escaping from a dangerous situation using Xanran’s dragon form while not having a saddle, I have to admit my heart was in my throat for a second.”

  “Hmm, a poetically stupid way to die, falling to your death from a flying dragon. It’s a good thing they have you to save them from themselves.”

  Xanran caught Weix flushing adorably at the compliment. Huh, was there something going on there? They were pretty buddy-buddy with each other.

  “I would have to answer to Granny, if anything happened to any of them,” Weix deflected. “They have a lot of extended family that want to see their merry band again.”

  And that? That blew Xanran’s mind. He knew the Crystals weren’t like Inks and treated everybody in their Clan as close as blood family, but to think he could address Granny by her chosen title and really mean it as ‘grandma’... And to think they wanted not only to see him, but Saainren, Rogan and Mexi as well...

  “Ohmygosh, are we going to fly!?”

  Mexi’s excited voice stopped Xanran from getting lost in the unfamiliar fuzzy feeling. He waved at the trio who joined them on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Bernstein Sea and grinned:

  “I’m going to take you high, baby!”

  Weix coughed from the side.

  “First, you will try it on and see if it fits. IF it does, you will take a test flight - alone. Maybe then I will let you take someone on a flight.”

  Xanran was the only one who was used to Weix’s in no-nonsense mode and he burst out laughing when the rest of their group did a double take at the firm tone.

  “That is... b-be careful...” Weix spluttered, frustrated at the crowd’s reaction.

  “Will you be changing into your dragon form as well?” Rodner asked the cleric.

  “Hey! I am the star here!” Xanran pouted.

  “A diva, for sure,” Rogan snickered.

  “Are you worried that you are not as pretty as Weix?” Rodner teased.

  Xanran was about to defend his honor, because hello, he was a golden dragon. A hoard of molten gold in motion, it was hard to compete with such beauty, but... he threw another calculating gaze at how close Rodner was standing to Weix. If there was some chemistry there... he would prefer his clan brother to be with someone who appreciated him and not Vitorous.

  “Well, he is beautiful,” he sighed, changing tactics. “Cobalt blue mixed with azure, like sapphires shining in the sun. Like the sky captured in the embrace of the sea. His scales like petals of a hyacinth, stitched by the gods themselves into a flower of unparalleled beauty. Like...”

  “I’m sure your lovers are keen to write such poems about your own beauty, so why don’t you change?” Rodner prompted him.

  Xanran huffed and then grinned as he showed his back to the group. Weix was visibly embarrassed at the litany of poetic compliments and Rodner did something about it. That was a good sign.

  Happy with planting the seed of imagination in Rodner’s head he changed into his dragon form.

  He wondered how he could find it hard to shift once upon a time. It was just extending himself, like becoming full and letting the draconic magic spill forth. It took under a minute to fully transform and he turned back to his spectators, revealing in their gazes.

  He was confident in his golden looks and the appreciative stares only stoked his vanity.

  “Alright, let’s strap you in,” Weix said, faint traces of red still on his cheeks, and Xanran dutifully trotted to the saddle letting himself be ordered this and that way, so that it could be put on.

  Finally, it was firmly set on his back, a good fit thanks to Weix’s competent eye, and he took a test flight, returning as quickly as he could. He was eager to share the joy of flying with one of his friends.

  “Who’s going first?” Saainren asked, when they got Weix’s approval to proceed, but it was only a formality. Mexi was jumping in place, nearly vibrating with excitement. Before Xanran could lower himself to allow him easy access to his back Mexi parkoured his way on top of him.

  Soon they were flying, darting through the clouds and Mexi’s carefree laughter was the best gift he could ever receive.

  Chapter Eleven

  ∞∞∞

  The atmosphere was charged when they walked onto the Grand Stage, the biggest of the stages in Wicked Delights. The room was full of excitedly whispering people, some going as far as rudely pointing at Saainren or one of his lovers. Lady Letha didn’t spare any expense in getting the buzz started and the information about their performance spread like a fire. From what he heard there wasn’t enough space for the interest it generated and not everybody who was eager to watch was allowed in.

  The Grand Stage was placed in the middle of a big circular room and around it rows upon rows of seats could be seen spanning the floor. Above them, all over the walls, were private booths, where influential and rich patrons could watch in anonymity, a spell preventing everyone from looking inside, while the patrons could observe the events in peace.

  Saainren could bet there was another reason the lodges were hidden. Soon the spectators would be given a reason to use the space properly... and to feed Vitorous’ magical device with their energy.

  He wondered what Weix and Rodner, secluded in one of the booths, would be doing.

  He smirked and started the show.

  Or rather; put Xanran in motion. He was a much better choice to speak to crowds of people on such a matter. If he had a sub with
a foul mouth, he was going to use him.

  “Hi, everyone!” Xanran beamed at the crowd, his voice carrying with the amplification spell placed on the stage. “Lady Letha already introduced us, but to recap: the shameless one - that’s me! - is Xanran. The shy but eager one-” He patted the elf’s red hair. “-is Mexi.” Next was their fighter. “The completely embarrassed one is Rogan. Don’t worry, darling, I will give you something to blush about later.” He winked at Rogan, who turned even more scarlet at being called out like that. “And the last one is Saainren, our leader, our Dom, our prince, our heart, our strength, the one who gets us out of trouble, the one who-”

  “Xanran!” Saainren called out, exasperated by his spiel.

  The dragon grinned cheekily.

  “The one who has to keep me in line. What a hard job, eh? But you will see how he wrangles me a bit later. For now let’s start with the one who can’t wait to get started.” He motioned to Mexi, who stepped a bit forward. “He is pretty, but I think he can be made ever beautiful, hmm? Who has an idea how to do that?”

  The crowd exploded with suggestions and Xanran cupped his ear, as if he was listening intently to the often ludicrous propositions.

  No, they weren’t going to give Mexi breasts.

  “All of that sounds fun!” Xanran responded. “But there’s two things that I liked the most... First: get naked, sweetheart. And second...” He paused, as Mexi started taking off his clothes, drumming the tension up, until everybody was hanging on his words. When the elf was only clad in his beautiful long red hair, he finally continued. “And second, I think red is his color, hmm? So, let’s put some more of it on his sweet body.”

  Saainren demonstrated the meaning by caressing the red ropes he picked up from the table where their props had been laid out, waiting to be taken for a spin.

  It was his turn to play.

  “Hands behind you, Mexi,” he commanded, and the little elf shivered, fulfilling his order with just a slight hesitation, that had to be bought on by the hundreds of people hungrily staring at him like a pack of ravenous wolves.