Dragon Lord's Hope

by Leslie Chase

  For a moment, they were still, holding each other, almost unwilling to breathe in case it broke the beautiful moment. Then, with slow and deliberate care, Zardan pulled back. Gillian whimpered at the empty sensation inside her as he withdrew. His alien cock nearly left her before he looked her in the eyes and thrust again.

  The desk groaned under them as his thrust drove home, and Gillian cried out again. Each time he drew back, he thrust harder, and the desk creaked in the rhythm of their lovemaking as the rocked together.

  Gillian's body tensed as he pushed her closer and closer to the edge, her fingers digging into the soft skin beside Zardan's wings. She could feel him swell inside her, growing even bigger as he fucked her faster, his control slipping away as they moved. It was as though Gillian could feel the fire in his heart rekindle, their bodies merging, pleasure filling both of them at once.

  Feeling the waves of pleasure intensify, Gillian clutched at him. Her whole body tensed, and she squeezed tight around him as she came with a panting, wordless cry of joy. For a moment her whole world was on fire with an inferno of ecstasy, and there was no division between the two of them.

  Her body tightening around him pulled Zardan with her into the throes of passion, and he cried out as he let go of the last vestiges of control. Pounding with a furious passion, he held her tight against him and Gillian felt another orgasm build almost at once. Her body shook and she wasn't sure that she could survive another burst of pleasure like that.

  But if I can't, what a way to go!

  Zardan's final thrust was too much for the desk, and with a final tortured creak it gave way beneath Gillian. The two of them tumbled to the floor, lost in the pleasure of the moment as Zardan came, pushing Gillian over the edge once more. For a long, endless moment, the pair clung to each other, and Gillian could barely think. All her senses were full of Zardan, his scent and the feel of his skin and the sound of his breath.

  Eventually, they stirred. Zardan lifted himself off her with a happy groan, and Gillian managed to open her eyes. His face looked relaxed for the first time she'd seen him, and the sadness in his eyes had retreated. They almost sparkled as he smiled down at her.

  Taking a deep breath, she managed a shaky smile in return, sitting up carefully. Her body ached all over and she was sure that the experience had left her with bruises she'd feel soon enough. But it was a pleasant ache. One that she wouldn't mind feeling again. Often.

  Just the thought made her blush, and Zardan chuckled as though he was reading her mind. Maybe he is, Gillian thought whimsically. Certainly they'd seemed to be close to telepathy a few minutes earlier.

  "That was incredible," she whispered, reaching up to stroke his cheek. He took her hand and kissed the palm, nodding in agreement.

  "You are incredible," he said. "I knew that we'd be amazing together, but I had no idea..."

  He trailed off and sat back against the wall, pulling Gillian to him. She snuggled into him, holding tight as they lay amongst the wreckage their lovemaking had left. His deep chuckle vibrated through her and Gillian looked up, wondering what he found so funny.

  "That desk was over a thousand years old," Zardan explained, laughing. After a moment Gillian joined in, holding him tightly.

  16

  Zardan

  The feeling of Gillian giggling in his lap was a revelation to Zardan. He'd never expected to feel so simply happy again. In fact, he wasn't sure that he'd ever felt this way before. But now, with his wonderful, beautiful mate cradled against him, he felt none of the pain that he'd been carrying since he woke from the Great Sleep.

  Maybe she's right, and this is fate, he thought. I was meant for her, that much I know. If I'd died along with Charida and the rest, I'd never have known her.

  Thinking of his family, though, drew the darkness back in around him. He tried to hold on to the moment of quiet peace for as long as he could, but it slipped away nonetheless.

  With a sigh, he lifted Gillian's face for a kiss and then stood. She squirmed against him, a delightfully distracting sensation when they were both naked. For a moment he considered forgetting their commitments in the outside world.

  But some things wouldn't wait.

  Putting her down gently, he stepped away. The little disappointed noise Gillian made got another smile from him, but he could see in her eyes that she understood.

  "What now?" she asked, her fingers twitching as though she were fighting the urge to touch him. "We know what the bank is after, I guess, but what do we do about it?"

  "I'm not sure," Zardan admitted, frowning and picking up his pants. "But whatever we do, it starts by getting back to the farm. The airmakers are working here, but I don't think anything else is and we're going to need something to eat."

  Gillian nodded quickly at that — obviously she'd worked up as much of an appetite as he had. But as she started to pull on her clothes, she didn't look any happier than he was to leave their little sanctuary from the realities that threatened them.

  Shadows flickered across her eyes as she stepped into her undersuit and zipped it up. Zardan frowned at that, wishing he could keep all sadness from touching her life. But that wasn't possible, at least not now, not yet. He could stand between her and harm, but he couldn't guarantee that none would reach her. Perhaps once they'd dealt with the immediate crisis that would change.

  Heh. It seems I'm thinking about the future. That was a little unexpected, but then, he hadn't really had anything to look forward to. Now he had something to hope for and that changed everything.

  "You're smiling," Gillian said, her voice almost accusatory. He realized that she hadn't had much of a chance to see that.

  "With luck you'll get used to it," Zardan said as he picked up the rest of his clothes and got ready for the journey back.

  "I think I might, at that." Gillian's answering smile lit up her face, and Zardan's heart swelled with happiness at the sight. It almost made him forget the danger they were both in. Almost.

  The journey back was strange, and a little awkward. Once they left the shelter of the crashed ship, communication was difficult and touch impossible. Gillian's fragile human skin had to be protected by the thick layers of her suit, and the icy chill bit deep into Zardan as he led the way back out of the fissure towards the farm.

  But there was still something different about this walk. Something comforting and comfortable about walking by Gillian's side. When he stole a look at Gillian, Zardan could see a smile on her face, half-hidden by the visor of her helmet, and knew that she felt it too. The connection between them, so long kept at bay, was finally out in the open.

  Now all we have to do is live long enough to enjoy it, he thought. That chilled his good mood a little. He could make it sound easy, but they were outnumbered and far from any help. And he had to remember that he was still injured from his first fight with Karaos and his shifters.

  The closer they got to the farm, the gloomier Zardan felt. It wasn't that he minded an uneven fight, but with his mate's life on the line it was a lot harder to embrace the glory of the odds.

  Things were a lot easier when I didn't care if I lived or died, he admitted to himself. Having something to live for complicated the issue.

  Once they were at the farm they cycled quickly through the airlock and the warm embrace of the hab dome's air took some of the chill out of his bones. It didn't measure up to the warmth of the Grace of Herendar, but it was a start. Back in her home environment, Gillian's face showed a curious mix of emotions. There was a relief at being safely home, but she didn't look entirely happy and the worried glances Zardan caught her shooting him made him wince. What had seemed so simple back on the Grace of Herendar looked a good deal more complex out in the world. Hoping to reassure his mate, Zardan pulled her into a firm embrace, but he could feel her tense up in his arms.

  "Finally!" Harry bounced into the room before Zardan could speak. The young human skidded to a stop, looking at the two of them and then grinning. "What kept you so long?"
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br />   There was a twinkle in his eye that made Zardan certain the boy had some idea, and Gillian pulled back from his embrace, her face heating. The glare she shot her brother was something to see, but Harry shrugged it off without worry.

  "We were investigating," Zardan told him in a low growl. In his experience, most humans would back down from that sound. Harry wasn't most humans, though, and he grinned up at Zardan.

  "Sure you were," Harry said. "While the two of you were gone, I tried to see if there was any word from Dad."

  "And?" Gillian's voice was caught between hope and fear.

  "I can't get into the comms network," Harry said, humor draining from his voice. "I mean, the radio's working, but all I get are error messages. No answer from Olympus Colony at all."

  "What?" Gillian frowned, her embarrassment disappearing now that she had a problem to focus on. "That doesn't make any sense. Let me see."

  Harry passed her the tablet he carried, and Zardan looked over her shoulder at the unfamiliar interface. Most of it didn't mean anything to him, but the angry red box that flashed up was clear.

  NO CONNECTION FOUND

  PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SERVICE PROVIDER

  "How?" Gillian said, dismissing the notification with a frustrated noise. "How are we meant to contact our provider if there's no connection?"

  "Maybe the weather knocked out a relay?" Harry asked, scratching his head.

  "Dad wasn't stupid when he set this up," Gillian responded. "We're out in the middle of nowhere here, he made sure that we connect to three separate relays. If one of them went down we'd get a warning, and there's no way all three could fail at once."

  Zardan felt his jaw tighten and resisted the urge to grab the tablet from her hands. That would be pointless, he'd only have to ask her how to use it — he had no practice with human technology.

  "Can you look up where the connection fails?" he asked, turning to look out of the window. He almost expected to see dragons flying over the horizon, and it wouldn't be impossible. Stopping them from calling for help would make sense as the first phase of an attack.

  "What difference does that make?" Harry said, joining him. Zardan started to answer, and then realized what he was doing. No need to frighten the pup, he told himself. Harry might be ferocious for a human child, but telling him about an incoming attack he could do nothing about would only frighten him.

  A glance back over his shoulder told him that Gillian had worked out what was going on: she had the closed, calm expression of someone trying not to show their fear. Working quickly, she tapped away at the tablet.

  "I think we're getting through as far as Fuller," she said eventually. "There's still no answer, though. Just the error message."

  Fuller Station. Where he'd first seen the other dragons, and the only other human settlement near enough to reach. That made some sense. And, thinking back to the skyships stopping off there, had he seen Danforth's Trevoir among them? Maybe. He cursed himself for not paying more attention, but he hadn't expected to care what humans were nearby.

  "They're jamming us, then," he said. "I suppose that makes sense, if they're worried that we're going to figure out what they're looking for out here. If I got word to Emperor Verikan and claimed this land, and the Grace of Herendar, as mine — that would make things harder for them, at the very least."

  "But it's not your land," Gillian said, firmly. "It's ours. I'm not letting you claim my family's livelihood out from under us any more than I'd let Danforth snatch it."

  They looked at each other and Zardan realized that there was still a lot to be settled between them. For now, though, it didn't matter. The danger they were facing was far more urgent.

  That didn't stop the cold angry look Gillian gave him from hurting, but he did his best not to show it. His job was to keep her safe, and if he made her mad at him while he did that, well, he would simply have to deal with that. Any situation where she was alive to be angry was better than if she wasn't.

  Harry looked from one to the other of them again and made an exasperated noise. "Oh for God's sake, you two, stop glaring at each other and tell me what's happening."

  Zardan managed to laugh at that. "We don't know, exactly," he said. "But someone's blocking your communications, and that is never a good sign. I think that it might mean that our enemies control Fuller Station."

  Harry frowned. "They couldn't, could they?"

  "It's small, the bank is rich, and the dragons are dangerous," Zardan said, shrugging. "If the humans pay off those they can, and the dragons frighten the rest, it's possible. They could. That doesn't mean that they have, but it's possible."

  Gillian tried something else with the tablet and then threw it down onto a table with a disgusted look. "I can make a connection to the network happen, but I keep getting that error message. The only other trick I've got is to broadcast an emergency signal, but then we'd just be hoping that someone hears us."

  "I think someone would," Zardan said thoughtfully. "They weren't trying to kill you with that bomb, after all. They were trying to make the farm uninhabitable by blowing up your air recycler. Their ship would have been right there to offer assistance. Presumably they wanted salvage rights or something?"

  He didn't know the details of the humans' legal system, but something like that had to exist. Gillian nodded thoughtfully.

  "Killing us doesn't work for them," she said slowly. "At least, it's not neat. If we die then the court would have to track down who owned the land now, and we've got family back on Earth who'd inherit. I don't know if the bank could claim it in the meantime, though. Maybe not. Especially if they're then going to find something valuable, something it would be worth Uncle Mike suing over. He's the kind of man who's proud of suing for every nickel he can claim, too."

  The tone she spoke in made it clear that she didn't much like this 'Uncle Mike' but Zardan supposed that it didn't make any difference if he was a good person or not. As long as his existence kept the enemy from simply killing Gillian and her brother, he was an ally of sorts.

  Harry took a deep breath and let it out again. "Sis, each of us owns a share in the farm, right?"

  "Yes," Gillian answered, sounding puzzled at the obvious question.

  "So... does that mean that the bank needs two of us to sign, if they want to take the farm from us?"

  Zardan frowned, glancing back from the window. He didn't know where Harry was going with this, but the young human didn't sound happy. But Gillian shook her head.

  "It's complicated," she said slowly. "The loan's for the whole farm. If we don't pay up on time, then the bank repossesses it all. But yeah, if they want to buy it, two of us need to be okay with that."

  She paled, and Zardan realized she'd worked out what Harry was hinting at. But Zardan still didn't follow. "What does that mean?"

  "Our father is missing, he vanished sometime after he arrived in Fuller Station," she said. "I told you that. He's got the money from our summer ice haul, which was meant to pay off the loan. The bank wouldn't be set to take the land if he'd not vanished."

  "We assumed he was off somewhere getting drunk," Harry said. At Gillian's glare, he shrugged. "What? It's true! He's done that before, just not for so long."

  Zardan growled again. "But if that were the case, the bank wouldn't know that you'd be vulnerable. They wouldn't know to come here with an offer and get your signatures for the farm. Danforth seemed awfully sure that your father wasn't going to show up with the money, didn't he?"

  Gillian nodded. "So... what if they did something to him, instead? What if Danforth killed him?"

  She was shaking, and Zardan swept her into a powerful hug. It wouldn't, couldn't, be enough — he knew more than anyone how bad a missing parent could hurt.

  "He's not dead," he told her firmly, putting as much conviction as he could into his words and hoping that he was right. "They wouldn't have killed him, not until all the paperwork's signed and ready to go. It would just complicate things for them, make it a question of
inheritance. Danforth offered to buy you out, and that means he believes you're in a position to sell."

  Gillian sniffed back tears, clearly unconvinced, and Zardan could feel his rage building at the pain she was suffering. It had been bad enough when she'd simply been worried about her father. Now she had real reason to think something might have happened to him.

  I will kill someone for this, he promised himself silently, holding her tight to his chest. She shuddered against him, tense and frightened, and he had to make an effort to keep himself from tensing up as well. The anger he felt was almost a physical thing.

  "He's right, sis," Harry said, sounding hopeful more than convinced. "If Dad's dead, the lawyers get involved, right? And maybe the insurance people, too? If they want to grab the land before anyone knows about the ship, then that's the last thing they want."

  Gillian drew a deep breath, and Zardan felt her nod against his chest. "Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. But why can't we find him?"

  "Because they've got him," Zardan said. "It's the only explanation. If he pays the loan like he was supposed to, then they lose their chance to claim the land out from under you. So they must have snatched him to hold until the loan defaulted."

  "Then why try to buy the farm from us?" Harry asked. Zardan sighed, shaking his head.

  "That is my fault," he said, guilt squeezing his heart. "When I claimed the land too, they saw their chance slipping away. They need to get their claim settled and the whole matter dealt with, before I can change everything.”

  "If you two had sold the farm then they'd have the land without having to wait for a court to decide the case, and without the risk of the Empire getting involved."

  "So what do we do?" Gillian threw up her hands and sat down hard at the table. Zardan joined her, while Harry paced behind them.

  "As I see it, there are two options," Zardan said. "If we give in to them and you two sell the farm, they might let your father go too. And they'd probably pay well, if they knew you were going along with their plan."