She looked up when the door opened and nodded.
“There you are, girl. Your lady needs a hot bath, fresh clothes, and pampering. See to it girl, now.”
“Yes, Mistress Magda, straight away.”
The door shut again, and Rhonda wrenched her hands out of Magda’s.
“I’m not in love with him, and how on earth is he supposed to heal me when—”
Magda put one gnarled finger over her mouth, effectively stopping her denial.
“The way all dragon mates heal each other, through sex, of course.” Magda smiled at Rhonda’s sharp intake of breath. “I would have to have been blind to miss that fire display on the cliffs. I might be old, but I recognize a mating fire when I see it.”
Magda’s grin deepened when Rhonda’s mouth fell open in surprise.
“A what? But it can’t be. He would have said, surely. He just made it sound as though he lost control, and…” She jumped when Magda tapped her injured and stinging palms.
“Ow, what did you do that for?” she asked, and Magda nodded.
“Exactly. They hurt, and the blast you got from little Geva was nothing in comparison to the inferno you two created on that cliff. Yet I can’t see it having left a mark on you. By rights, that ought to have killed you. Only a true dragon’s mate can survive such a fire mating, and it’s virtually unheard of in a human/dragon coupling.” She paused seemingly to let those words sink in, and Rhonda gasped as the implications dawned on her. “As you’re very much alive, and you broke the spell, keeping him out of the stone, and by implication all of us out of a twenty-five year long sleep, that’s the only explanation.”
Again she paused and squeezed Rhonda’s shoulder in silent comfort.
“I know it’s a lot to take in, and maybe I should have warned you, but that boy deserves some happiness after all those years of purgatory.”
Rhonda couldn’t quite keep a straight face at hearing Drorgan referred to as a boy.
As though she had read her mind, and who knew maybe she could—there was nothing sane and rational about any of this, after all—Magda chuckled.
“I’ve known him since the cradle. I was the one who helped his dear mama birth him, after all, so he’s very much a boy to me, and in all that time I’ve known him, he has never once lost control.” She put her hands on her hips and nodded at the stream of servants appearing with steaming buckets of water, as the doors opened.
Silence fell between them while her bath was being filled, and when the last servant had piled out, leaving just Rhonda, Magda, and Miriam in the room, she pulled Rhonda to her feet.
“You have a lot to think about. I’ll leave you in Miriam’s care.” She pulled out a vial of paste out of one of the pockets of her ever present apron, and handed it to the young girl. “Make sure you put this on her hands, once she’s had her bath. It’ll help soothe them until Lord Drorgan can see to them.”
Miriam’s eyes grew wide, as she, too, seemed to grasp the implications of that concept, and Rhonda gave up trying to think this all over. Instead she simply allowed herself to be pampered.
By the time she had been bathed, moisturized all over, had her hands seen to, and her long hair brushed dry in the front of the roaring fire, she was exhausted. Wrapping another shawl around her night rail, she dismissed a hovering Miriam with a small smile.
“Go on, it’s late. Thank you for your help, but I can manage from here. Get some rest.”
Miriam curtsied.
“If yer sure, m’lady. Just ring the bell if you do need anything else. I’ve gone an’ put a brick in the bed for you, so it’s nice and toasty.”
Rhonda gave her a tired smile and waved her away. Bed was the last thing on her mind. Her brain hurt with all the information overload she had been subjected to, and the very real physical need to seek out Drorgan and reassure himself that all was well. However, Magda had been most specific in her instructions to leave father and daughter alone. Geva needed to heal, and Drorgan was the only one who could do that. Apparently that took time.
Despite the odds, Rhonda must have fallen asleep, because she woke up with a start, not sure what had awoken her. The candles had burnt down, pitching the chamber into semi darkness, and her heart beat faster when Drorgan’s unmistakable spicy, masculine scent invaded her nostrils, seconds before his large frame appeared in front of the fire. He stoked the glowing embers to new life, and the resulting flames illuminated his harsh features. Rhonda’s heart clenched seeing the deep grooves around his eye and mouth. Her very own dragon looked tired and battle weary. There really was no other word for it, and without thinking she reached out to him. The contact stung, and Drorgan swung round to take her hands in his.
Fire flared in his gaze when he saw the state of her palms, and his dragon’s low growl filled the space between them.
“She hurt you.”
Rhonda tried to tug her hands away, but she should have known that was useless. Drorgan had a gentle, yet firm hold on her wrists, and she was going nowhere unless he let her.
“It’s okay. She didn’t mean to.”
Drorgan’s head snapped up, and the wealth of emotion in his intense gaze held her spellbound.
“It is not okay. This is my fault. All of this fucking mess is my fault.” This time when she pulled her hands out of his grasp, he let her with a resigned sigh, and slumped on the floor in front of the fire.
Rhonda, too, slid to the floor and taking his head in her sore hands dropped a kiss on his furrowed brow.
“I’ve told you already, you can’t change the past, so stop that now.” A shudder went through her brave dragon at her words, and before she could blink he had her on his lap. A gasp escaped her as he immediately hardened under her ass cheeks. Drorgan nuzzled into her neck, and she could feel his lips curve up into a reluctant smile at her reaction.
“Ignore that. It seems to have a mind of its own around you. The last thing you need right now is sex.”
His hold on her tightened when she wriggled her hips, and she loved his sharp intake of breath.
“I don’t know. I think I could be persuaded.”
Drorgan shook his head and laughed.
“What am I going to do with you?”
Rhonda’s heart clenched painfully at that loaded question, not least because she realized with startling clarity that she had indeed fallen head over heels in love with her dragon. It was also painfully obvious that Drorgan wasn’t feeling the same way about her. If he had, surely, he would have explained that whole dragon mating thing to her, not put it down to simple lack of control on his part. To stop herself from going down that path to madness she changed the subject.
“How’s Geva?” she asked.
A deep, heartfelt sigh was her only answer, and she held her breath when he took her hands in his again and studied her injuries.
“This is okay, really. I know she didn’t mean to hurt me, not really, and besides, Magda said you…” His head snapped up so abruptly that the words stuck in her throat. For the first time ever in his presence a tingle of apprehension, almost fear snaked up her spine at his reaction. He looked ready to tear someone or something apart.
“Magda said what?” His voice, though barely above a whisper held the deep, furious growl of his dragon, and his hold on her hands grew painful when she didn’t answer straightaway.
“What did she say?”
“Nothing.” He didn’t believe her far too breathy denial, she could tell, because his eyes narrowed and his breath held the heat of his dragon.
“Do you want me to put you over my knee? What did she say?”
One hand on her chin, he tipped her face up so that she had no choice but to look at him, and she swallowed nervously when his gaze intensified. His power reached out to her, snaring her under his will with an ease and dark, underlying menace that was utterly terrifying.
“Please, don’t.” Rhonda managed to whisper the words out of lips that didn’t seem to belong to her right now. Drorgan pulled
back as though she had slapped him, and the suffocating hold on her psyche lifted, enabling her to breathe easier.
“Forgive me. I don’t know why … fuck.”
Jaws clenched, Drorgan looked even more furious than he had moments before, not at her or even Magda this time, but as though he was disgusted with himself and his next words confirmed that.
“Don’t believe a word she says to you. Magda talks too much and—”
“So, we’re not mated then?”
Drorgan’s eyes widened and the color drained from his face, making Rhonda feel all sorts of wretched inside, yet she pressed on, needing to hear the truth from him.
“Because she said we were. That only a true dragon mate could survive the mating fire, and that you could heal me.” She lifted her hands up, and Drorgan’s tense stature relaxed slightly. “Which would be very handy, because my hands do hurt, so in that respect at least, I hope she is telling the truth.”
Another blast of fire singed air hit her in the face, and in the next instant, Drorgan’s mouth was on hers, devouring her with a need that stoked her own desperate desire. Hands buried in her hair he kissed her with a passion that left Rhonda breathless and clinging to him for support. When he at last broke the kiss, and ordered her to shut her eyes, she didn’t even think to question him.
Fire burned bright from behind her closed eyelids, and she cried out at the intense pain in her hands, before it went away.
“There you are, my brave little dragon. Open your eyes.”
Smooth unblemished skin met her gaze when she opened her eyes, and looked down at her hands.
“How did you?” Drorgan tensed again at her awestruck whisper, and he wouldn’t meet her gaze when she sought it with hers. “So, does that mean we are mated then, and what does that really mean? You have to explain—”
“It means nothing.”
Rhonda snatched her hands out of his loose grasp at hearing those words, and Drorgan sighed.
“That didn’t come out right. What I mean is, it doesn’t mean you’re beholden to me or anything, or … fuck, I’m too tired to discuss this now. Let’s go to bed and we’ll talk about this in the morning.”
Rhonda was all set to press him for answers now, but looking at him closely, she could see he spoke the truth. Whatever he had to do to heal her hands seemed to have taken the last of his strength, and he looked ten years older.
“Promise?” she asked, and Drorgan smiled. Before she could blink, he’d struggled to his feet in jerky moves, which told their own story, and in a few long legged strides she was on the bed and under the covers. Drorgan pulled his clothes off, joined her on the bed and having spooned his body around her, fell asleep almost immediately.
With his soft exhales ghosting across her skin, and the warmth of his big body surrounding her, it didn’t take long before Rhonda, too, fell into exhausted slumber.
Chapter Ten
Drorgan woke from the most restful sleep he’d had ever since his little dragon had taken up residence in his castle, and smiled as her scent hit his nostrils. Stretching his mind he reached out to Geva, only to find her still asleep. It worried him a little, this stillness he felt in her mind, and he sent out a question to Magda.
I’m sitting with her, don’t you worry over her. Your daughter will be just fine. She is sleeping and healing. Worry over your mate. You need to make things right with her for all our sakes. Why on earth didn’t you—
Drorgan grimaced and cut Magda off mid thought. He didn’t need his old nursemaid lecturing him on mating etiquette. With his eyes still closed he reached across the bed, only to find it empty. A soft curse and the clang of the fire poker told him what he needed to know, and he grinned at the extremely colorful language his little dragon employed, as she tried her best to get the glowing embers to light again.
He ought to go and help her, really, but Drorgan was enjoying the enticing view she presented far too much. With her long chestnut and delightfully messy hair obscuring her face, he couldn’t see her expression, but he could imagine it. He’d kept watch over her so intently over the last few weeks, that he’d become an expert at reading her body language.
She’d have that cute crease between her brows, screw up her nose and stick her tongue out as she concentrated on her task. Thoughts of her tongue sweeping across her lips, and her teeth no doubt sinking into the soft flesh, made his morning wood turn to stone. Without even thinking about his actions he took his rock hard dick in hand and stroked lazily up and down the shaft, while his hungry gaze roamed over the curve of her ass. The fire flared to life, rendering her shift transparent, and he fisted his erection faster, seeing the darkened cleft of her ass cheeks.
His dragon roared to life with the need to claim his woman, and Rhonda gasped and whipped around to face him. While the action hid her far too enticing ass from his view, it exposed her heavy breasts. The nipples hardened under his intense stare, and he could clearly make out the darker color of the surrounding areola through the fabric covering. It made his mouth water with the need to taste, as did the restless way his girl shifted from foot to foot. The increasing wetness he sensed between her legs wrenched a growl from him, and the most delightful blush spread over Rhonda’s pale skin.
Her breathing sped up and her pupils dilated, and she’d taken several involuntary steps toward him before she realized what she was doing. Shaking her head she frowned as though surprised at her actions, and Drorgan grinned. The fact that she responded like that to him without any coercion on his part spoke volumes of their connection.
Magda’s instructions rang in his ears, and despite his misgivings he couldn’t have put a stop to what was happening between them, if his life depended on it. It might be utterly selfish of him, but he was tired of fighting what he felt for the woman in front of him. He was so damn tired of being alone, and Rhonda was a grown woman, not a child. She’d had countless opportunities to flee, to reject him, and not once had she done so, so maybe he just needed to accept this … whatever this would turn out to be and go with it.
The future was his for the taking again, and God help him, he wanted Rhonda in that future, as his mate, his wife, and God willing one day the mother of his children.
“You’re awake.”
Her whispered words shook him out his self-examining thoughts, and kicking the rest of the sheets off, he let go of his dick, and put his hands behind his head in a silent invitation.
“Very awake in more ways than one, my little dragon, and in need of your attention.”
He smirked when she gasped and let her gaze roam all over his naked body. The way she was eating him alive with her eyes, the way her breathing grew laborious, and her heart rate kicked into overdrive … it made his cock jerk. Her gaze snared on that body part, and she licked her lips. Right now in this moment it was the most erotic sight ever, and Drorgan wished with all his might that those lips were wrapped around his shaft.
“Don’t let me stop you. Keep on walking over here, little dragon, and take what you so clearly want.”
He held out his hand to her, and Rhonda gave one of those cock hardening little mewls, that told him how turned on she was.
“I thought we were going to talk about…” His dragon snarled his impatience, and she blanched, even as her sweet musk intensified. She sank her teeth into her bottom lip, wrapped her arms around herself, and her toes curled under as her thighs flexed.
“We can talk if you want to, or I can take care of that ache in your cunt, while I fuck your mouth with my cock.” A strangled sound escaped his girl, and sitting up, Drorgan swung his legs off the side of the bed. He took a firm grasp of his cock and started to fist himself. Drops of his pre-cum appeared on the hugely swollen head of his dick, and he hissed his pleasure through his teeth as he swiped his thumb through the sticky evidence of his arousal and used the natural lubrication to slap his hand up and down his cock.
Pleasure built instantly from the base of his spine, and he grunted his approval when Rho
nda’s hand strayed to her cunt.
“Yes, fuck yourself on your fingers for me. Take that blasted shift off, and let me see how wet you are. How much your cunt is aching for my cock, and if you’re a very good girl you might even get to taste it soon.”
“God, yes.” Her strangled whisper reached his hearing over the roaring of his own blood, and he increased the motion of his hand on his cock, as she fumbled with the ribbon holding her shift together.
“So fucking beautiful.” He grunted the words, as her shift fell to the floor, and leaned forward better to see the flushed skin on display for him. “Fondle your breasts and spread your legs, so that I can see my cunt. That’s my girl.”
Flames licked across his skin as his dragon went wild, seeing Rhonda comply with his wishes so beautifully. Breaths seesawing out of her lungs she tugged on the tips of her pink nipples, until they elongated and hardened further. Her pussy lips opened as she spread her legs, revealing the darker tissues contained within. Drenched in her juices, her inner lips quivered and her little hole clenched, pushing more of her arousal down the inside of her thighs.
“You’re so fucking wet for me, girl. Tell me, do you still want to talk, or shall I show you what it means to be my mate?”
An all over body shiver shook Rhonda, and before she could fall, he leaped across the distance separating them, and yanking her up to his frame, kissed her.
Rhonda whimpered into the kiss, opening to the urgent strokes of his tongue, and Drorgan threw all caution to the wind as her addictive taste, made ten times more potent by her desire for him, exploded on his taste buds. He let his dragon take over, devouring his mate, secure in the knowledge that this woman was his. She might be human and thus fragile, but this was his little dragon, the one person meant for him and him alone, and she would be able to take whatever his dragon threw at her.
As if to prove his point, Rhonda moaned and fought him for dominance in the kiss. Hands buried in his hair, she jumped at him, while bringing her legs around his waist. They both groaned as the action meant his cock slid through her cunt lips. Grasping her ass cheeks with his hands, and not once breaking the kiss, he lifted her up higher, so that he could tease her clit with the tip of his penis. Rhonda jerked and mewled into his mouth, and grinning, Drorgan did it again. Her pussy quivered around him, and the little minx tried to rub herself closer.
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