by H. C. Brown
Lumos examined the gold goblet in his fingertips. He considered Pyro’s words. Thalia had perfected spells with ease and incapacitated the Lutwych Hag without breaking a sweat. “To overcome such evil would take an Elf’s life force, but why would Thalia’s mother sacrifice her life then leave the child to perish before a wolf’s lair?” He rubbed his chin. “Thalia has told me the tale of the king finding her. If she had been found beside a dead woman, surely she would have been informed.”
“Perhaps not, but remember—Magi are male and they take female slaves as breeders in their culture. For example, a female child born into a line as powerful as the Magus of Fullmount would not be allowed to live unless they planned to trade her to another clan for breeding.” Pyro gestured with his hand. “If a slave had no chance of escaping with a female child to safety, would not an Elf mother give her life to protect her child, knowing the father would leave the babe for the wolves? The Magi leave the female babes to the wolves as a blood sacrifice to Lucifer. That is the usual practice, is it not?” He met Lumos’s gaze. “If the mother did indeed give her life to protect Thalia, Cymbeline would offer her protection to the child and it would make good sense to make provisions to ensure the girl’s magyck joined with the Dragonfae.” Pyro placed his chalice on the table. “And who better for a mate than the next king of Drakka?”
“This may well be true, but, because of my foolishness, I arrived too late to help her.” With a long growl, Lumos slammed his fist into the armrest. “My sweet mate has suffered greatly and I have no way of erasing the pain from her soul.” He groaned. “In truth, she may never be mine. I hate to say this but she does not trust me or any male and her doubt in me is breaking my heart.”
“Do not confuse uncertainty with mistrust. She has, after all, been brought up as a Nomag.” Pyro chuckled. “Look at the pair of us, we are intimidating in size alone to a mortal, let alone with the fact we are both Fae and dragon. Gods, Lumos, you frighten me. The Nightdragon is a most formidable beast.”
“Then your advice, ancient one…” Lumos smiled. “How shall I woo my butterfly?”
“With truth, gentleness, and a thick skin, my friend.” Pyro refilled his goblet. “During Thalia’s transformation, she will be uncertain of her feelings. The raging desire they suffer can often make females extremely aggressive. As her intended mate, you must be available to her needs. For example, allowing her to drink your seed is one way to comfort her and I might add, is most enjoyable.” He studied Lumos. “Or, of course, they enjoy anal stimulation. I assume, as Thalia is early into her transformation, you are trying to prevent her moonfire until after the battle at Drakka?”
“Yes, I will need my full attention on the battle.” Lumos put down his glass. “If Thalia were ready, I would complete the mating here, but she has shown no sign of developing her wings yet even at the accelerated rate of her transformation to date, I believe the final stage may take another week or so.” He got to his feet and smiled. “Thank you for your advice. I will go to her now and try to settle her for our journey.”
“May the gods grant you the stamina of a bull.” Pyro raised his glass.
Lumos turned and grinned. “Ah, my friend, the gods have already granted me the stamina of a dragon.” He gave Pyro a salute and strode from the room.
* * * *
Lumos stood in the bedchamber and smiled down at Thalia. The witch lay across the bed, her flame hair spilling over the pillow like gold thread. Brew had curled up in a black ball behind the witch’s knees.
“Brew, it is time for you to catch a juicy rat.” Lumos lifted the cat and put him gently on the floor.
With a grin at the cat’s haughty expression and flick of a tail, he lifted the blue velvet spread and slipped between the sheets. Gathering her against him, Lumos lapped at the bite marks on her throat each side of the throbbing vein. Gods, I hope this is not too soon for you, little one.
Desire for Thalia curled in his groin. His cock filled. He ached to have her, to sink his aching shaft deep inside her hot little hole. His mouth filled with the sweet taste of his saliva. His dragon roared. Stay calm, dragon, she has accepted your ugliness. Now let me take command until the moonfire.
“She likes me, admired my beauty. The goddess has rewarded us with a very special female, and she is a good choice for our mate.” The Nightdragon yawned contentedly. “I told you, she is the one, Lumos, but beware, I hear her thoughts. She is fragile … more fragile than you imagine.”
Lumos nuzzled her neck. “Thalia, wake up, my little butterfly.” He curled around her, his erection resting between her soft, rounded buttocks. “Do you want me, little one?”
“Lumos.” Thalia stretched. “You smell wonderful.”
“Are you mine, Thalia?”
“Aye … I am yours.” She stroked his thigh. “I want you so much.”
Using his lips, he nibbled Thalia’s ear then down to her shoulder. He cupped her full breast and tormented the hard nipple. His beautiful witch moaned and wiggled her plump bottom against his aching shaft. Gods, he could smell her feminine arousal mixed with the sweetness of honeysuckle. He trailed his fingers down her body and watched her flesh rise in goose bumps under his touch. As he circled her navel, her soft belly quivered against his palm. He growled and lowered his head to graze his fangs over her shoulder.
“I want your ass, little one. Please tell me you want me, too.”
“Will you hurt me? My body craves you, yet my mind is confused.” Thalia pushed his hand down to her pussy “I need you. Here.”
With slow deliberation, he circled her clit. He would bring her close to climax and let her hover there in thrall then take her with gentle care. He inhaled, drawing in her special feminine allure.
“I only wish to please you and will try not to hurt you. A little of my glamour will take away the pain. Drop your barrier and let me inside your head, little one.”
Hunger throbbed through him in a rush of desire. Shuddering and forcing down his raging hunger, he fought the overpowering urge to part her soft buttocks, drive inside her sweet tight hole, and feel her opening for him. Gods, the craving would drive him insane. Slow… Take it slow. He rolled her onto her back and gazed into her pools of lust, half-hidden by long tawny lashes. With infinite care, he cupped her mound and caressed her swollen folds, then bent his head to suck the prominent bite marks on her skin. He pushed his fingers inside her. Thalia’s channel rippled against his touch, and coated his hand with cream.
“You are so wet. Your sex hugs my fingers… Gods, I cannot wait to have my cock deep inside you.” He trailed kisses down her neck, circled her breast, and captured a taut nipple between his teeth, flicking the ridged nub with the tip of his tongue. She tasted like honey—sweet and delicious.
“Lumos… Ah, please, hurry! I am burning for you.” Thalia pushed her mound against his touch “I need you … now! Lumos, I beg you, please.”
“So hungry, hmm, then turn over for me.” Lumos pulled Thalia onto her knees. “Open your legs and relax.” He gazed at her, open, and trembling for his touch. His body ached with longing for his mate. “Gods, Thalia, you are so beautiful.” He reached for the oil.
Unable to concentrate, Thalia pushed back at the warm probing of her hole. Goddess, the heat of his fingers, stretching, and caressing made her wild. She ground her teeth and growled, wanting so much more. Fire shimmered up her spine, fueling the forbidden desire ripping through her belly and centering on her throbbing clit. Lumos covered her with his hot body then slid his oily palm over her aching breasts and tormented her tingling nipples. She groaned and pressed her bottom against him.
“Please, gods, Lumos, I am on fire.”
“Relax, my love. Give yourself to me.” Lumos gripped her hips in his hot hands and purred in her ear. “I will push into you slowly, inch by inch.”
Pressure built against her passage—the size of Lumos’s cockhead so much bigger than his finger. She tensed then a wave of incredible calm wafting over her and she rested
her forehead on the sheet and sighed with contentment. This calmness, like the delirious second before falling to sleep, had to be Lumos’s glamour. She rolled in the sensation, like a cat in catmint. Aware of the hardness pressing against her but no longer afraid, she relaxed. Immediately, with a feral growl, Lumos rocked forward. He grasped her hips tightly with his warm hands, holding her in place. Heat shimmied through her. Gods, he is so big—too big.
His thick rod speared deep, separating and scraping against virgin nerve endings. Inch by throbbing inch, he filled her with scorching bliss. She panted, stretched to the limit. Sweat ran into her eyes and tickled in streams down her thighs. Incredible waves of heat flooded her folds and her ass sizzled with delight. “You are so big … ahh … too big. I cannot take all of you, Lumos. I cannot breathe.”
“Yes, you can. Relax, sweet thing.” Lumos stroked her hips in wide circular movements. “Just a little more, my love, I am almost there. Gods, you are so tight and spread so wide around me… You look so beautiful.” He pushed deeper inside. “My cock is in heaven. Gods, you fit me like a glove.”
The heat from his groin burned against her sensitive flesh. She cried out when he caressed her throbbing clit then rocked his strong hips in slow deliberation.
“There, sweetness, you have all of me. Let us fly.”
The sensation of his heat buried so forbiddingly inside her, sent flames down her thighs, her nipples burned. The hot slide of his shaft stretched her, spearing deeper with each scintillating thrust. His slick fingers circled her clit and she hung dangling on a precipice of delight, so close, so close. Goddess, does sex get any better than this?
His long hair tingled across her skin, crackling in blue sparks with each deep plunge inside her. She bit back a scream, so intense. The pleasure built so fast she fought to breathe. The bite on her neck throbbed and she mewed, passion twisting her body uncontrollably. Lumos’s scent flowed over her, heightening her senses. Goddess, she could taste him.
His pace increased and the room echoed with the slap of flesh on flesh. Shivery currents of erotic bliss surged through her, winding around her clit in tongues of flaming delight. Her sobs of delight sounded as if they were far away. She gripped the sheets in an effort to prolong the wonderful ripples of ecstasy for just one second more before her climax smashed over her like wild surf pounding the beach in a raging storm. Oh gods, Lumos!”
Behind her, Lumos roared, his burning hot seed filled her. Gods, she rode the wave of ecstasy with him as if their minds had joined to share the intimacy. Brutally aroused, she experienced the full magnificence of his savage release.
Chapter Four
Thalia stretched and blinked at the shaft of sunlight spearing through the bedchamber window. Under her cheek, Lumos’s heart pounded in a slow, steady rhythm. His unique, tantalizing scent filled her nostrils. She moved with caution. Dear goddess, her thighs ached from a night of incredible passion. Her face grew hot—oh my, she had been naughty, Lumos had taken her ass three times and she had demanded more of him, in fact, she had begged for more. A tingle of awareness curled in her belly. In truth, she could never have enough of him. She sighed. They would leave this place in a few hours and, with Pyro close by, she would have no time alone with Lumos. I will go mad.
“Your sigh is of contentment … I hope.” Lumos stroked her hair then frowned. “I wish we could stay here but alas we must prepare to leave.”
Lifting her head to gaze into her lover’s eyes, she moistened her lips. “It will be difficult to be together with Pyro watching our every move.”
“He has endured the path to moonfire and I am sure he understands our need to be alone when necessary.” He smiled and brushed a kiss over her forehead. “Ah, little one, you burn for me again so soon. This is delightful, but do not worry, I have many ways to satisfy you.” He slid from the bed. “Come … take my hand. We must bathe before we leave.”
Reluctantly, she followed him into the bathroom. “Where are we going today, into a magyck or Nomag realm?” She stepped into the bubbling tub and sank into the hot water.
“A magyck realm by the name of Tusuns, named because of its twin suns. The Gate is some distance away and we will have to travel down the side of the mountain range.” Lumos soaped her back and her nipples hardened at his touch. “The realm is rocky and many unusual species live there. It will be a dangerous journey and if we could avoid traveling there, we would, but Pyro believes we have a better chance of evading the Shadow Walkers in Tusuns.”
She gazed at him over one shoulder. “Why is Tusuns different to any other realm?”
“The Shadow Walkers are aptly named because they blend into the gloom and use this to their advantage. Even with dragonsight they are hard to detect and they always use the cover of darkness to attack. Tusuns is in perpetual daylight and will offer us respite from them at least, but you must be on your guard because the Magus of Fullmount will find other ways to delay us.” Lumos washed the soap from her back. “We must move through Tusuns swiftly and enter the Nomag realm of Twin Falls in the hope we will avoid detection.” He got to his feet. “You must eat before we leave.” He gave her a slow smile and offered his hand. “The going will be difficult and you will need your strength.”
After breakfast, they waved goodbye to the Fae and took the treacherous winding path leading down to the bottom of Crystal Mountain. She absorbed the beauty spreading out in all directions and pure white magyck sizzled through her. Ahead, the pathways glittered with pink quartz and large boulders of amethyst rose up from lush green fields. Ancient Fae magyck hummed around them with each step, resonating from the Crystal Mountain and the Dragonfae males opened their wings to replenish their power.
To her delight, the men sang songs of dragons, love, and battles. The sound of Lumos’s deep voice poured over her like warm honey, another delicious part of him she had grown to love. She ran a hand over his thigh and the thin leather covering his taut muscle slid against her palm warm as if alive. She marveled at Lumos’s unique clothing. In the sunlight, both men’s attire displayed a shimmering aura to match the magnificent skin of their dragons. Dismayed at the thought a dragon may have perished to make Lumos’s attire, she removed her hand. “Are your clothes made from dragon skin?”
“Aye, they are.” Lumos smiled. “You are swift to notice things, butterfly.”
She swallowed hard and the thought of Lumos wearing a dead dragon’s skin pitched bile up the back of her throat. “I thought as much. After meeting the Nightdragon, I must admit I find that practice a little ghoulish.”
“I would too, if the skin to make my clothes were not my own.” Lumos chuckled. “Gods, Thalia, do you really think us barbaric enough to wear another’s skin?” Lumos laughed heartily. “Our dragons shed their skins every two years and when they are growing, they shed every month. I believe the goddess made it so to give the Dragonfae suitable clothes. Normal materials such as cotton or silk mayhap would not morph with us and we would return to this form naked, which during a battle is not the best circumstance.” He grimaced. “A dragon’s skin offers the finest protection for all Dragonfae. It breathes, keeps us the same temperature and dries instantly. We keep our dragon’s shed skin to make clothes for our mates too. There is more than we need for clothing so many use the excess for furniture, shoes, and the like. I have supplied Nox with dragon skin on occasion.” He waved a hand toward Pyro. “That is why Pyro’s clothes are red for they are the same color as his dragon. My brother, the Stardragon wears white because males are proud to wear their dragon’s color but if our mates grow tired of wearing the same color, we have magyck to change it to any hue they desire.” He pressed a kiss on Thalia’s cheek. “Would you wear my skin?”
Relieved, she smiled. “If no harm comes to the Nightdragon, then I would love to be wrapped in such beautiful fabric.”
“No harm comes to our dragons, this I promise, well apart from the itching.” Pyro rode up beside them on Albert. “When we shed the old skin drives us mad a fe
w days before it peels off and our dragons want to be free to rub against mountains and such. The noise disturbs the young so many of us fly somewhere isolated to have a good scratch.” He grinned and ran his nails over his arm. “It makes me itchy thinking about it.”
“And then the skin comes off in long strips, but not all at once.” Lumos chuckled. “So we are covered in stripes or trailing great ribbons for weeks.”
“Are the female dragons the same size as you?”
“Females? In truth, I have only seen one female wild dragon and she was much smaller than either of us.” Pyro scratched his cheek. “Have you seen any, Lumos?”
“Aye, one or two.” Lumos shuddered. “Vicious beasts, I hear.”
Thalia turned around in the saddle and met Lumos’s gaze. “Wild dragons?”
“It is only the male Dragonfae that morph into dragons. As we mate in our Fae form, we are unable to mate with wild dragons. If by some strange accident this occurred, we would lose control of our Fae side and be trapped inside forever.” Lumos shrugged. “The Fae host always has control, unless we are in great danger.”
“Or unless, like my situation, an unfortunate incident or spell traps the Fae inside. In that case, as soon as the spell is broken we are released.” Pyro stared into the distance. “Oh yes… I am afraid our dragons are quite capable of having sex. Nehebkau required satisfying numerous times a day.” He pulled a face. “At least my child-seed was under my control.”
“I cannot imagine how you satisfied her.” Lumos cleared his throat. “Knowing your mate was alive, gods, it must have been hell.”