by D
Garron was silent then as Caise and Kai’el watched him curiously. The dragon’s expression was curiously morose, his liquid black eyes somber.
“In that we agree my Queen,” he finally said with a ponderous sigh. “Their Sire was amazingly reckless. Now we must find a way to be certain our tempestuous Marina does not meet the same end as he.”
The Queen sniffed in distain before her gaze sliced to Caise.
“I will accept a request for Joining, if you so desire to put one forth.” She lifted her head imperiously. “We can have her out of Covenani before the end of the new moon. And safe.”
Caise glance at his brother, seeing in his eyes the same answer he felt brewing in his soul. As much as they wanted Marina, and they wanted her with a desperation that went beyond lust, they knew they could not have her in such a way.
Independence and determination were as much a part of her as the lovely green eyes and long dark hair.
Caise sighed wearily at that though. Aye, they wanted her until their cocks ached with flaming hunger, but this was not the way.
“We will not force the Joining my Queen,” he finally said softly. “We will request the Joining from our Consort and receive agreement from her lips only.”
Queen Amoria’s eyes widened a second before they flashed with defeat. Her fists clenched in the folds of her skirt as her breasts heaved beneath the soft fabric that covered them.
A second later she crossed her arms, hands rubbing at chilled flesh as she turned from them and paced to the wall of windows on the other side of the room. She was a beautiful woman for her age, slender and graceful, with a regal bearing that couldn’t be taught. It was a part of her, just as it was a part of Marina.
“I lost her father to the Secular’s,” she finally spoke, her voice echoing with sadness. “He knew the whispers of uprising were merely a warning of what was to come. I did not believe such danger could confront us, that those without magick could endanger us. I thought Covenani would always be safe.” She turned back to them, her shoulders straightening in determination. “If you do not with the Joining with my daughter, then I will find another means. But I will not lose her as well.”
“Your Highness, if I may.” Kai’el stepped forward, one hand gripping the hilt of his sword as he faced the determined Queen. “Perhaps there is another answer.”
Her brow lifted curiously. “And that would be?”
Kai’el glanced at Caise. They had discussed their plans extensively with Garron and several of the Sentinel Guards that flew with them. It could work, but only with the Queens permission.
“We cannot force Marina into a Joining, she would deny it with all she is, effectively blocking the release of the magick that will ease her into that first coming together. Without the sharing of magick, our Consort will know naught but pain from the Joining.”
“Yes, I know all this.” She waved a hand commandingly for them to proceed.
“Perhaps by allowing Marina her freedom, we can convince her that we are the Consorts she would have chosen herself,” he suggested then, ignoring the incredulity that began to fill her gaze. “We can give her a choice my Queen. She can work with us, or she can accept confinement. We must gain her trust, or we will never gain her love.”
“Impossible,” she snapped. “It is too dangerous.”
“Dangerous, yes.” Kai’el nodded. “But what choice do we have My Queen? Our fathers clearly remember the Wizard you Joined with. He was a powerful man, even without his twin. A determined man. I see in Marina the same qualities our fathers saw in your consort.”
Queen Amoria sighed deeply. “He was impossibly stubborn,” she growled. “And Marina is much like him.”
“She is.” Kai’el nodded. “And she believes in the fight she has accepted. I would not wish a Consort that does not hold to her ideals and her beliefs. Caise and I would have a Consort willing to fight for what she wants, willing to be a woman rather than a child to be led. She will not rest if she cannot make the decision herself, to leave this battle to Wizards and the Sentinel Guards. It must be her choice.”
“Or her death,” she whispered.
“We will be with her always,” Kai’el swore. “Marina is not completely reckless, she will see the value of our strength, and we will make certain she is watched at all times. The risk is always there, but how much greater is the risk if she feels cornered and seeks to escape and fight on her own?”
The Queen then turned her gaze to the silent dragon who watched the proceedings thoughtfully.
“I agree with their plans, Amoria,” he said then. “None could worry over Marina’s decisions more than I, but I also see that she is driven in this. We can work with her, or we can alienate her and lose her forever.”
Her eyes narrowed on the dragon once again.
“As I said before,” she enunciated with throttled anger. “I blame you for this recklessness of hers. And should my daughter suffer the fate of my Consort, dragon, then I will know whose heart to cut out. Dragon or no, I will cut yours from that scaly chest and have feed it to the wraiths of the forests. Is that understood?”
He inclined his head slowly. “I will sharpen the knives for you myself, should such occur, my Queen,” he promised without his customary sarcasm. “What use is life, if such a failure lays upon your shoulders. I will lend my power as well in guarding her. I promise you this.”
She sighed deeply then. “I have lost my consort, and nearly lost Brianna to this evil, Garron. Now, my baby would fight them and risk her life in this dark war. How I wish our people had struck as first suggested all those centuries ago, when the Secular’s first raised their viperous heads against the magick of our world.”
“As do I, my Queen,” Garron shrugged his huge shoulders uncomfortably, turning from her as he made his way lumberously to the wide doors they had entered. “As do I.”
Chapter
Marina moved locked her bedroom door cautiously, her ear against the panel, eyes closed as she used the small amount of power an un-joined sorceress possessed to detect where the guards stood and what assurance she had of privacy.
She had ordered them to the other side of the hallway. It seemed they had obeyed her command, which would give her what she needed to complete her own plans. Plans she had no intentions of allowing anyone to overhear.
Opening her eyes, she turned back and faced the two sorceresses who awaited her.
“Are the dungeons prepared?” She wiped her hands down the sides of her leather clad hips nervously as she moistened her dry lips.
Jasmine Xanella and Tay’Anya Lander were two of her most experienced fighters. Their brother’s were Covenani warriors and had taught them since their childhood, how to fight and track and the use their small bodies to the best advantage.
“The dungeons are ready Princess…” Jasmine glanced at Tay’Anya, her brown eyes filled with concern as she flipped the thick length of her golden brown braid over her shoulder before she turned back to Marina. “They are Wizard Twins, Princess, are you certain this will work?”
She inhaled deeply, gathering her courage around her as she faced the two women she had fought with for a year now.
“The iron in the cells and manacles were created when Covenani and Cauldaran first separated,” she said, careful to keep her voice low. “The Cauldaran Wizards were furious at the separation, as many Consorts had escaped to this land at that time. To detract them from their arrogant assumptions that they could just fly away with their consorts, those who were caught, the iron was mixed with the small amounts of Tigarian Ore they were able to find.” She smiled tightly. “Tigarian Ore reverses magick. It leaves them no stronger than a Covenani male. This is why the Secular’s were given the lands on the other side of the Wicked Mountains. Magick cannot exist there because of the amount of Tigarian elements in the land. Not true ore. Nor capable of binding together, but enough elements to make magick unworkable.”
Tay’Anya shifted nervously. “Can the Secular’s
use the Tigarian against us?” She asked worriedly.
Marina smiled in particular glee. “It doesn’t work against the Covenani. Female magick seems to be exempt from its properties.”
Both women smiled slowly. Tay’Anya’s gray eyes gleamed in amusement as she fluffed the long, riotous black curls that feel down her back and cocked a hip smartly.
“Well, now this changes things just a bit,” she drawled, her eyes glittering suggestively. “Perhaps you can tame your Wizards after all, Marina. It gives the rest of us hope.”
Marina chuckled at that, though the nervous anticipation building in her stomach threatened her composure.
“Minera and Cristalie are waiting in the kitchens,” Jasmine said then. “We’ll meet with them and get started. With any luck, we can draw them to the dungeons as planned.”
Marina lifted the letter she had written just for the occasion and handed it to Jasmine.
“This will draw them to the dungeons,” she assured them, stilling the nervous tremor in her fingers as Jasmine accepted the letter.
As the other woman accepted the paper, a sharp, hard knock sounded at the door. Marina’s eyes widened as she felt the energy reaching into the room.
Go! She ordered them telepathically, waving to the opened panel in the all as they rushed for the hidden corridor.
Damned Wizard Twins, she thought furiously as she slid the panel soundlessly closed. Another knock, more insistent and louder now sounded again.
“Go away, Wizard!” She snapped as she tugged at the leather vest she wore and checked the lacings that held it closed between her breasts.
The knock sounded again. She could feel the determination of the Wizard from beyond the entrance. One Wizard. She closed her eyes and breathed out roughly as she strode quickly to the door and jerked it open.
Sweet Matriarch, she was in trouble now.
She backed away, retreated essentially, but else was she to do as the Wizard Twin advanced on her slowly. Her eyes widened, as his pale blue eyes seemed to glow within his dark, sun-bronzed face. Patterns of energy began to swirl around him, the palest blue, a whisper of color that steamed with sensuality and power.
“You were not invited into this room,” she snapped as he advanced on her slowly, his eyes heavy lidded, the dark blond lashes shielding the color but not the intent she could read in his expression.
The door slammed shut, then locked with an audible click. All on its own. He was using his power and doing so quite effectively. She had noticed from the moment of their arrival weeks before that the Sashtain twins rarely so blatantly used their powers.
“Should I wait for an invitation, then I would still yet be standing in the hall. Would I not Princess?” He continued to advanced on her, and she of course, continued to retreat. She could see the heavy sexual intent in his expression, barely covering the anger that simmered just beneath the surface.
“Such a naughty little Sorceress,” he spoke then, his voice a dark rumble as it left his lips, sending vibrations of sensation pulsing through her womb.
Marina continued to retreat until her back met the wall, her breathing becoming more labored as he came closer, closer, until his chest was a mere breath from the hard points of her nipples.
“You should not be here,” she stated harshly, though too breathlessly for the words to hold any weight. “It is not in your place to chastise me.”
“Chastise you?” He lifted a dark gold brow curiously. “Princess, I have not come to chastise you. I am here to honor you.”
She blinked back at him in surprise. “You do not appear to be honoring me Wizard,” she gasped as she stared up at him, feeling the heat of the power swirling around her.
“Such a brave, courageous Sorceress is surely a woman well met for my passions,” he murmured then. “If you can face the evil of the Secular’s, then a Wizards lusty hunger should not shock you in the least.”
It shouldn’t? Then why couldn’t she breath?
Her hands flattened against the wall behind her, her nails digging into the stone as she fought to keep from touching him. It was touching that had led her to such an excess with Caise, and a night of miserable arousal that still had not yet left her body.
“You and Caise are playing a cruel game with me,” she accused him fiercely as his head lowered, his lips feathering over her vulnerable neck as his hands moved to smooth back the long fall of black hair that had fallen over her shoulder.
“Caise is rather involved this moment with keeping your delectable little ass out of the Joining Ceremony, Marina,” he whispered then at her ear. “I decided it was my turn to experience the pleasure of your sweet little body. Deny your need for my touch. I dare you Princess.”
“He’s doing what? Kai’el, wait…” His lips moved to her collar bone, then slid to the soft flesh of her breast that rose above the leather vest she wore.
“I cannot wait to taste you,” he whispered. “I know the heat of your mouth surrounding my cock, the feel of your tongue tempting my control. Did you know I would feel each caress to Caise’s body as you made it, Marina? Did you know this is experienced only with a natural Consort, the woman the Sentinel’s and Matriarch’s have chosen for us?”
“No.” She shook her head, trying to fight the curling pleasure that radiated from her womb, stroked over her nerve endings and sent her senses spinning.
“We know the pleasure to be found in fucking your mouth, I would now know the pleasure to be found in tasting every secret you hide beneath those manly clothes.”
The laces that held the vest began to loosen.
“You cannot do this,” she gasped. “Caise is not here.”
“Caise needs not be here for you to find your pleasure, little one,” he warned her softly. “I can bring you to the most explosive release and he would know only the pleasure I feel in doing so. It is only during the Joining of Power, that first penetration of your virgin pussy and the tight, hot depths of your ass that we must not be apart. When that power releases, both Wizards must be a part of their Consort. And we will know when the time for that can wait no longer.”
The lacings that held the vest fell to the floor as the leather began to part as though guided by unseen hands. Marina could only stare up Kai’el, shocked, uncertain as excitement and arousal began to strike like bolts of sensual lightening into her womb.
“So that means what?” She gasped as his hands smoothed up her bare midriff before cupping her breasts with the heat of his broad, calloused palms.
“This means we can play a bit,” he whispered. “We can get to know each other better. I can show you how a Wizard Twin punishes a naughty little Sorceress.”
His hands tightened on her breasts, his thumbs and forefingers gripping the hard peaks of her nipples and tweaking them with an erotic heat that had her losing her breath. Sweet merciful Matriarch, such pleasure could surely not be possible? But it was. The proof was in the heat whipping through her body and the sudden awareness of the juices leaking from her pussy to dampen the leather of her snug breeches.
“This is insanity.” She choked out the intended rejection of his touch, but her moan a second later as his head descended and his tongue lashed at one stiff tip, denied the objection.
He was playing with her. She knew he was. But she couldn’t halt his touch, couldn’t bring herself to make him relinquish her.
“I have dreamed of tasting these pretty breasts,” he whispered, glancing up at her from beneath thick lashes. “Sucking them into my mouth, my tongue playing with the stiff little peaks, my teeth nipping at them.” He followed his words with actions.
Marina couldn’t stop her hands from moving then, gripping his arms, then his head, her hands sliding into the cool silk of his hair as his mouth consumed her, devoured her. The pleasure was lava hot, blistering as his teeth rasped her sensitive nipple, his tongue laved it, then he sucked it deep into his mouth to torture it with a combination of intense caresses.
She couldn’t bear it. She
could feel the tension building in her belly again, like a knot of white-hot heat threatening to explode out of control. She prayed for mercy, though there was none to be found in the lash of exquisite sensation whipping through her. There was only mindless, incredible pleasure.
The damp heat of his mouth, the feel of his tongue curling around her nipple just after the hard rasp of his teeth was too much. Control was but a prayer, and one she feared would never be answered.
“So soft and sweet.” He lifted his head as one hand moved from a breast and smoothed back down her midriff, over her leather covered abdomen, until his palm, shockingly, incredibly tucked tight between her thighs.
Marina couldn’t halt the sharp cry that escaped her lips as the heat of his palm seared her pussy. Her clit, already swollen and aching, flared in bright, brilliant need. She moved against his palm helplessly, rubbing the tormented little peak against the heat pressing firmly into it.
“Ah yes little love,” he whispered, smiling down at her wickedly, his pale eyes gleaming heatedly. “You’re hot, Marina. So hot you’re near scalding my hand.” He pressed more firmly into the sensitive pad as she writhed against it, fighting to breathe, to keep her senses intact.
“You are diabolical,” she whimpered as she felt the laces at the side of her breeches loosening.
Anticipation began singing through her veins but with it was a determination that he would not control her so easily with his touch. His hand was moving into the parted seam of her pants, but hers was moving as well. As his fingers slid through slick heat hers moved as well, cupping the hard, thick erection beneath the pants he wore.
He groaned as she cried out.
She felt it then. The pleasure was moving through it, growing tighter in her womb, building in strength as his thumb caressed the ultra sensitive flesh at the side of her clit, rotating, sending sparks of brilliant heat rushing through her system.
“Sentinel’s preserve us,” he growled her fingers tightened on the hard bulge of his cock. “You will burn us alive.”
Before she could fight, before she could protest, his hand had pulled back from her and he lifting her, moving her to the curtained bed before she could completely grasp the reality of what he was doing.