by Ophelia Bell
He blanched at the truth of her words, even though she still had no idea the extent of the actual sacrifice he had made. They’d hidden to protect their children. Not only were the dragons in danger of overbreeding to the point of a population explosion that would rival humanity’s, they were becoming far too plentiful and easy to capture by their enemy, giving the Ultiori increasing advantages over the higher races.
Their population needed to be controlled, but the bigger sacrifice was the one he and his brothers had made to restore their sister to life. Without Belah, they weren’t whole. Love of family had guided their decision to trade their blood for hers. Nyx didn’t know that part of the story, and he would never tell her, but she was right when it came to the sacrifices he had made—and love had never crossed his mind then, because he’d never had a love worth making a sacrifice for until now.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, willing himself to calm and stick to his plan.
“You are right, and I will do everything in my power to make sure Nereus’s love for his home is not wasted. Seven days seems too soon, if we’re going to do this right. Have these nymphs proven their fertility? Will they conceive easily?”
“They are Thiasoi maidens. Virgins make for far more powerful soldiers because their primal nature has never been sated. They’re hungry enough for a conquest that they make dangerous opponents. But you’re right, their wombs are untried. Do you doubt your own virility so much?”
Gavra laughed. “Not one bit. I’ve sired hundreds of dragons, unlike my siblings. Still, it’s been ages, and I want every advantage we can get now. We should wait at least until the equinox.”
Nyx tilted her head and frowned. “The equinox? That’s more than a month away. I don’t know …”
“Are you so worried about defending this place that you can’t wait a few more weeks when you’re already stuck waiting years for these children to come of age? My kind is awake now and ready to be on the offensive, where the Ultiori are concerned. My siblings and I have helped the ursa fortify their barrier so that nothing unwanted can pass through—trust me, I’ve tested it. The turul are still your allies, and if need be, can be called on to defend the Haven in the interim too. We can wait, especially if it means ensuring my seed takes and all eleven of these maidens are given the gift of motherhood. Or should I say you are given the gift eleven times? They will be the children of your spirit, after all … Of our spirits.”
He lowered his voice and held her gaze, hoping to impart some sense of longing—to remind her of the desire he’d once possessed for her all those eons ago and imply that he might still want her. She may still pine for her lost mate, but it never hurt to remind a woman how desirable she was.
Nyx’s eyelids fluttered and she swiftly glanced away. Lifting a hand to her throat, she swallowed several times, then wiped at her eyes.
“Nereus used to talk like that. So intense. We were inseparable when I first discovered his desire for me, but it was on the Spring Equinox when he made his first promise to be mine forever and asked that I share the most sacred melding with him. He said he longed for our union to bear fruit and wanted there to be no question as to the depths of his feelings for me and our unborn children. When we melded, I knew. We were one mind, one body, one soul, and I knew. And when we made love, I could feel his seed moving through me, and my womb opened like a flower and took him in.”
“You conceived the first time?”
“Oh, not the first by any means, but the first time we blood melded. Gaia’s light shone on us that night. I don’t know if it was the timing or our melding, but that was when Calder was conceived. I … I think you’re right. I want my Thiasoi to have every advantage. We will slow down the process. This will give their minds more time to acclimate to my spirit, too. Thank you for your patience, Gavra. You are a good friend.”
“Will you allow them a break for the evening? I’d love to have you to myself. I missed this place—it used to be my favorite destination when I wished to avoid the responsibilities of my rank.”
“If I recall, you had a habit of wearing out your human pets and had to visit the Haven to burn off your excess energy. Your stamina rivaled the most virile satyrs in the Haven.”
“I had a running bet with most of them to see who could last the longest. They rarely won.”
“That was always a sight to behold. Your orgies were spectacular events.”
He gave her a sly grin. “I knew you were watching. I’m disappointed you never participated.”
“I didn’t want to steal your thunder. Here, come with me.” She reached a hand out again and he took it, bracing himself for another drift.
When he caught his balance again, he found himself at the edge of a familiar pool surrounded by moss-covered rocks that looked like luxuriously carpeted cushions. Bodies covered his old favorite spot now. About a dozen ursa males tangled with twice as many nymphs. The nymphs all looked very well-attended, and the sounds they made attested to the males’ skills.
He remembered being that free and full of energy, happily fucking female after female, urging each one to her peak and relishing the flood of her energy before hungrily moving on to the next. He’d enjoyed males on occasion too, but had never craved them so much until he’d set eyes on Silas. The strong, woody scent of these males reached his nose and made him hard with the memory of how Silas had felt beneath him. But he loved nothing more than the combined aroma of both his mates—their mingled scents and flavors were ambrosia to his senses.
“Have any of the nymphs conceived yet?” he asked, hoping to distract himself from the ache to return to Assana’s quarter and spend the next day in bed with his own nymph and ursa mates.
“A few have. They went into this exchange with open minds, deciding that they would meld as many males as they could to ensure more chances of conception. So the ones you see here are likely all fully melded, but they will pair off when one conceives. She’ll know the father by the energy of the embryo. Have you ever made love to a pregnant nymph?” She hurriedly waved a hand. “You wouldn’t have, of course. They only crave the touch of their baby’s father during the pregnancy. But the closer the bond the parents share, the stronger the babe will be when it’s born, and the more rewarding the experience whenever they make love. Nereus and I have two exceptionally strong children.”
“I am aware,” Gavra said, giving her a sidelong look. “Dragons are like you in that way. This means you will need me to stay until the children are born, of course.”
Nyx stiffened beside him, the first sign that she was anything but eager to proceed with the ritual she had planned. She turned and walked away without a word. Gavra followed her down a pebbled path through the misty forest. Her aura was a mess, flickering with uncertainty and desire that seemed contrary to her decisiveness earlier.
Eventually she climbed a steeper path, and they came out onto a clifftop that overlooked the cove, the entrance of which was almost completely hidden by fog. He could hear the crash of waves on the beach below, but couldn’t see the water at this time of day. It was as though they stood on a remote little island of stone in the center of nothingness—alone and isolated from the universe.
Nyx turned to look at him, a deep worry etched on her face.
“I need these children to exist for the sake of the Haven. I can feel the shape of power in the world changing—shifting away from our kind to something darker. We immortals are the ones who will keep the power whole, but there aren’t enough of us. I feel it slipping away each day … the River’s flow recedes like there’s a drought somewhere, sucking the life right out of the world.”
“Then we need to gather the others. My siblings and I already knew we had to act. Finding mates was our goal when we left the Glade. The other immortals must feel the urgency as well. There are more than a dozen of us. We can double our numbers within a year, if we’re all working toward that goal.
Find yourself a new mate, Nyx. Love will only strengthen the power of the children you conceive. You and I aren’t in love. I will help you with this, but let me go on record now and tell you I don’t believe this is the solution. Our spirits aren’t fated to bond within a child. We need to find the mates Fate intends for us. If Nereus truly is still out there, let him return to you and give you another child. Or find someone new to love.”
She gave him a sad smile and lifted a hand to his cheek. “You have changed so much. I never knew you to be so sentimental. But it’s not so easy, once you’ve lost your only love. Believing in love again seems impossible. This isn’t easy for me … I don’t love you, and the idea of melding with you even through one of my nymphs feels like I’m betraying my love for Nereus, but my love for the Haven must take precedence. It must be protected, at all costs.”
She stared so intently into his eyes he almost felt hypnotized by her whirlpool gaze. Her eyes narrowed, and for a second he started to worry that she was seeing too much of what he held closely guarded inside. He let out his breath when she finally gave him a small smile.
“What are you smiling about?” he asked.
“Perhaps if all goes well and I can be sure the Haven is secure and well-guarded … after that, I may revisit your suggestion. And perhaps you will still hold some fondness for me then. Do you think a deeper love is possible between two old friends who probably know each other far too well?”
Gavra chuckled. “Stranger things have happened.”
But as they gazed out over the blankets of mist that protected the Haven, he knew the likelihood of her considering him a friend at the end of this was slim.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Assana
The heavy chains of sheer exhaustion weighed Assana down for much of the day. She and Silas slept, tangled together like a pair of saplings who’d taken root too close and grew with their branches entwined. Every few hours, they’d rouse halfway to consciousness, only aware of a fresh hunger that needed sating, and they’d give in to pure instinct to fulfill that need. Most of the time it involved the press of bodies against each other, the slide of lips across skin, tongues in the hollows of the landscape of flesh that shared the bed. She wasn’t quite aware of whose body moved above or beneath whose, only that she loved the feel of him against her, inside her, around her.
When his mouth brushed down her belly, trailing a hot line from her breasts, he paused over her mound, teasing the shining mark until it brightened and pulsed with the rhythm of her need. Even in that intimate moment, Gavra was there with them, his pervasive power a constant presence inside their minds—aware, if not actively engaged.
Gavra’s desire for them seemed to flood through their minds at every turn, as though he needed a place to divert it so he could focus on whatever task he sought to accomplish away from them. And they greedily accepted it, like a blanket of love granted to bodies chilled from loneliness. While the pair of them had no problems finding new reasons to make love, Gavra was the fire that drove them to push their limits.
Eventually, true hunger took precedence and they stole a few moments to recharge with the food Assana’s maids left. Then they would bathe and fall back into bed and resume the decadent routine of sleeping and making love.
It was full dark when the naked body beside Assana roused, its warmth gravitating toward her and his solid, hard length pressing to her back. She sighed and pressed her backside into him. With one hand, Silas cupped her naked breast, thumbing her nipple and sending a warm shiver down her belly to pool between her thighs. The heat burned even hotter when a different hand cupped her cheek from the front and Gavra’s lips found hers as he slid close and nudged a knee between her legs.
She sighed into Gavra’s kiss, simultaneously sinking back into Silas’s attentive arms while pulling her beloved dragon close. They spoke no words as they caressed each other, hands roaming across bodies and sensation crossing all the barriers of their minds.
She opened for them both, her body aching to be filled yet again, and they answered her silent plea, merging together and sliding deep into the ocean of desire between her thighs. Together they plunged down, down, down into that secret, sacred place they shared in their melded minds where their bodies were simultaneously the entire universe and only a single pearl.
When they were one like this, nothing was too daunting to overcome. Everything was possible. Assana’s entire world existed only in this bed with the men she loved.
* * *
The magical, silvery pre-dawn light filtered in through the windows surrounding Assana’s quarters when she woke to an empty bed. Silas’s and Gavra’s scents still surrounded her as evident as the soft depressions they’d left in the bed on either side of her, and the warmth from their bodies still pervaded the mattress and the pillows. The sound of a rough moan reached her from across the room, and a shiver of sensation rushed through her that was both familiar and alien. It was not her own body that experienced the pleasure, but Silas’s, and she sat up and peered through the wide archway into her bath where her two lovers were half-immersed and making love.
She climbed off the bed and padded silently to them, mesmerized by the synchronicity of their movements. Silas was bent over the edge of the bathing pool, his hips and ass just above the water, while Gavra speared him from behind, his torso bent over and pressed to Silas’s back.
Their massive bodies flexed and gave, pushing into each other in fluid, hypnotic rhythm that didn’t cease when she drew near. If anything, their tempo increased with her proximity until Silas clawed at the stone floor, his body shaking with pleasure and his impending climax. Gavra clutched at his hip with one hand and threaded the fingers of his other into the hair at the back of Silas’s head. He leaned back and yanked at the root, pulling Silas onto his slick shaft over and over, forcing him to arch his back into a bow.
Assana watched in wonder, kneeling down beside them and reaching out to slide a hand down Silas’s curved spine. He let out a low groan and his entire body quivered under her touch. His dark beauty had her enthralled, and she threaded her fingers through the wet, ebony tangles of his hair and pulled gently. Silas turned his head, giving her a sidelong look and a wicked laugh. Assana took advantage of his immobilized state and leaned down, taking his mouth and plunging her tongue in deep.
Silas lifted a hand and grasped the back of her head, holding her and hungrily returning her kiss until he pulled away with a sharp exhalation incited by Gavra’s swift, urgent thrusts. She let her hand trail down over the curve of his throat, fingernails grazing the rough stubble that had grown in over the last few days since they’d met, wondering at how swiftly she’d come to adore this beautiful, strong, yet gentle ursa.
She let her hands roam farther, one sliding over his chest, the other his back, enjoying the way his huge dragon mark shimmered under her touch. He was trapped within their dragon’s spell, pleasured to within an inch of his life by Gavra’s steady fucking, and she indulged herself with the feel of his hot skin beneath her palms, moving both hands lower until she let the fingertips of one rest atop Gavra’s shaft where it disappeared into Silas over and over. Her own tight backside clenched and released in sympathy, half the pleasure Silas felt echoed in her own body through their melding. She explored beneath his hips with her other hand, sought out and found his glorious, steel-hard shaft, and gripped it in her fist.
“Oh, Gaia, yes!” Silas said, half groaning, half yelling the words. As she stroked him, Gavra’s thrusts crescendoed to a punishing pace, his hips smacking harder and harder against Silas’s ass. He released Silas’s hair and reached for Assana, pulled her roughly to him, and found her mouth just as their shared climax hit.
She drank in the rough cry Gavra exhaled into her mouth, aware of the gust of powerful breath that accompanied it. Breathing him in, she sank against his side, one hand still tightly gripping Silas’s pulsing cock, sliding her semen-cover
ed fingers up and down his shaft while his orgasm continued to erupt.
The two men slowly relaxed and Gavra slid his mouth off hers, but still held her tightly. His mouth rested at her ear, his breathing heavy. After a second, he took a deep breath and slowly eased out of Silas, collapsing back into the bath.
Silas sank down into the water too, disappeared beneath the surface for a second, then rose again and looked at her.
“Sorry we didn’t wake you,” he said. “You seemed like you needed the rest.”
She had been exhausted, but now her body felt alive with want. The mark on her pelvis tingled, only heightening her awareness of the swollen need between her thighs.
“I’m awake now,” she said.
“That you are.” Silas prowled toward her and settled on his knees in the water between her legs. He pushed her thighs apart and pulled her closer until her backside was just at the lip of the tub.
She let out a soft gasp when his fingertips brushed over the hypersensitive flesh of her mound, right over her mark.
“It’s sensitive, isn’t it?” he asked, looking up at her as he drew a delicate line around the pattern. “Does yours hurt?”
“No … it feels good,” she said.
“Mine, too, at least when either of you touch it.”
Behind him, Gavra moved closer. He had one hand between his thighs with a cloth, cleaning his shaft with almost idle movements. He reached out his other hand and gently placed it at the center of Silas’s back, then drew a wide circle around the circumference of the mark with several fingertips.
Silas’s eyes fluttered closed and he moaned. “Yeah, like that. I’m already hard again.”