She breathed his name, eyes wide, her hand tightening on his bottom, pulling him close, urging him deeper.
He liked being on his side like this. He could tangle his hand in her hair as he thrust into her, lean forwards just a little and kiss her parted lips, or just lie and look at her. Jayrian made sure he had the full experience of each of these options as he slid in and out.
Fire began to build up in him, melting through his veins like lava from a volcano. His lips drank from hers, his tongue thrusting between her lips in time with his hips thrusting against her.
Suddenly, the side by side position was too awkward. There was nothing to brace himself against, and he couldn’t get deep enough. He raised himself onto his elbow, breaking contact with her lips long enough to roll over on top of her, still inside her.
Gretchen gasped, but quickly took advantage of this new position, her other hand reaching up to grasp the other side of his bottom.
Jayrian thrust more deeply into her, enjoying the look on her face, her hair sprawled on the pillow.
Her eyes widened, her mouth pursing into an ‘O’ shape, and her hands urged him to thrust harder, faster.
He could feel her body convulsing around him as she orgasmed, and the feeling sent his body into its own spasms. He slid into her, as deeply as he could, gasping at the flames of pleasure flickering through his body.
Careful not to separate his body from hers, he lowered himself on top of her, his sweaty skin sticking to hers.
She shifted under him, and he suddenly realised she was more delicate than his dragon brethren. “Are you okay?” he asked. “I’m not too heavy?”
“Not at all,” Gretchen breathed. “You can stay there for as long as you like.”
Having had the thought though, he couldn’t quite feel comfortable, and after a few moments, he pulled out and slipped down next to her, wrapping his arms around her.
Gretchen was quiet for a long time, snuggled up against him, her head fitting into the space between his shoulder and his chin perfectly. He almost thought she might have fallen asleep, and was contemplating doing the same himself, when she asked, “Do you think this will work?”
“What? Us?” Jayrian almost didn’t want to contemplate the issues a relationship between a human and a dragon would cause.
Gretchen pulled back to stare at him, her eyes wide. “No, I… Do you think it will?”
Could the dragons ever accept his relationship, the real, permanent one Jayrian wanted, with a human? Jayrian sighed. “It’s complicated.”
He winced as soon as the words were out of his mouth, but Gretchen didn’t seem insulted by them.
“I guess we need to just see how it goes,” she said. “Starting with your family tomorrow. That’s what I mean when I asked if you think it will work. Do you think they’ll listen to what we have to say?”
There were so many questions. Would they listen to a human at all? Would they be convinced that she could be trusted? Would they agree to his plan, or would they have a better one?
He sighed. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “But even if they don’t, I don’t regret one bit of it.”
A smile lit up Gretchen’s face. “Me neither,” she agreed.
Jayrian pulled her close, never wanting to let her go. He almost wished they could stay right here and not have to face his family tomorrow.
TEN
“Go left here.”
Gretchen looked where Jayrian pointed, but there was no road, not even a dirt track. There was nothing to mark the side of the road as anything different to the plains they had passed. “Are you sure?”
Jayrian smiled. “What, did you think it was going to look like the driveway to your house?”
Of course not. She hadn’t actually stopped to think what it would look like though.
Gretchen pulled off the dirt road they had been following, and her car bumped across the plains. Butterflies assailed her stomach, alighting on every single cell. If it wasn’t for the fact that she had to concentrate hard to avoid hitting a rock or a tuft of hard, brown grass, she might have been tempted to think up an excuse to turn around and go home.
But something else kept her going forwards. She and Jayrian had had an amazing night last night. She felt her face heat and her body react at just the memory. The most amazing she’d ever had. And if she gave up on convincing his family, then she might just have to give up on him. And she most definitely didn’t want to do that.
Jayrian might be focused on convincing his clan to accept a human waking their prince, but she was more concerned with convincing them to accept her.
Because she wasn’t ready to just walk away from Jayrian. And it wasn’t just because he was a dragon, and far more exciting than any man she’d ever met.
Even discounting the fact that he was a dragon, he was just the sort of man she’d always dreamed of being with. Sensitive, caring, and yet willing to face up to… well, a dragon, for her.
Not to mention the sex. He’d been so amazing last night. She’d never felt anything like it.
She certainly didn’t want to give that up either.
Was there any chance she could convince his family to accept her? She had no idea. But she had to try.
After a few minutes of driving across the open plains, the trees that had been on the horizon could be seen more clearly. They were pretty sad excuses for trees, their short trunks twisted and scarred by the wind that whistled across the open plains. Their leaves were dry and prickly, mostly small.
Not that they were that different to the other trees that grew in this area. Aside from those carefully cultivated by human care, the few trees that grew here at all had to be tough.
At first, Gretchen couldn’t see a clear path through them. And they were a bit big for her to just run over.
“There,” Jayrian indicated.
Sure enough, there was a path. A narrow one, easy to miss, but it was there. Gretchen turned towards it.
With every metre closer they came, her nerves increased. As they crossed the line into the trees, fear suddenly assaulted her. She was driving into a dragon lair. Full of dragons. Dragons who most certainly didn’t like humans.
They weren’t going to care that she’d come bearing food and gifts. They believed humans were out to kill them.
What were they likely to do to someone they perceived as a threat?
A hot flush washed through her body, leaving her hands sweaty on the wheel. Was she insane?
An image of a dragon’s claws thumping her bonnet almost made her jump, and she had to look twice to assure herself it wasn’t real.
Something moved in the shadow of the trees ahead of her, and she slammed on the brakes. She stared into the brush, trying to make it out. Was it a dragon? Was it behind them?
“What’s wrong?” Jayrian asked.
“Did you see that?” Gretchen demanded. Surely he hadn’t missed it? She swivelled her head around in every direction, trying to find it. Something had been there, hadn’t it?
“See what?” Jayrian’s forehead wrinkled.
He really hadn’t seen anything. Gretchen stared again, but there was no sign of anything moving in the trees. She shook her head. She must have imagined it.
But somehow, she couldn’t make herself go on. Her heart thumped, blood rushed in her ears, and her arms felt weak and trembling. “I can’t…”
Jayrian stared at her, bewildered, then his eyes widened. “Of course, the shadows.”
“That wasn’t just a shadow.” Even as she said the words, Gretchen doubted them. But why wasn’t the fear fading?
“No, it’s not a real shadow,” Jayrian explained. “It’s an illusion. A magical spell designed to keep humans away from our lair. I’d forgotten about it. It doesn’t affect me, so I didn’t even think of it.”
Gretchen stared at him. An illusion? Well, at least she wasn’t seeing things.
She gave herself a shake. She wasn’t going to be stopped by any simple illusions. Staring o
ut the window, she glimpsed the shadows flitting through the trees again. Despite Jayrian’s assurance that they weren’t real, adrenalin still flooded her body, and her hands clutched at the steering wheel, her knuckles turning white. She couldn’t make herself drive forwards again.
“Why is it still freaking me out then?” she said through gritted teeth.
“It shouldn’t do that. It can’t affect anything other than your vision. Or at least, that’s what I was told.” Jayrian frowned. “That said though, it’s not like anyone has tested it. It was set by our last remaining life dragon, before she died about fifty years ago. Long before I was born. Maybe she included something else in the spell as well?”
“But it can’t hurt me, right?”
Jayrian hesitated, then shook his head. “It shouldn’t be able to, no. It was designed as a deterrent, not a weapon.”
Gretchen stared at the path ahead. The surging adrenalin and the effect it had on her heart and breathing made her dizzy. She wasn’t sure how long she could take this.
“I’ll understand if you want to turn around,” Jayrian said quietly. “This isn’t your fight, and I don’t expect you to take the risk.”
The hopeful look in his eyes belied his words. He wanted and needed her help. He didn’t have to say that, she already knew. His prince would die without her help.
Jayrian obviously didn’t fully understand the magic that protected the dragon’s lair. It had already done something he was unaware of, it was possible it had other effects he didn’t know about.
Could she just back out now? Turn around and drive home?
Her hands itched to turn the steering wheel. The impulse was as strong as if there was a real threat right in front of her.
The manipulation of her feelings made her angry. The dragons might think they were protecting themselves, but in reality, they were just hiding away from the real world. She had never threatened them. In fact, she wanted to help them. What right did they have to attempt to scare her like this?
“No, I’m going to go on,” she insisted. And before Jayrian could reply, she forced her foot down onto the accelerator, ignoring the fear that screamed at her to stop and turn around.
The car inched forward a few metres, then a few more. She turned a bend in the path, and the fear receded a little. She increased her speed and it eased off even more.
By the time she’d driven far enough that she could no longer see the plains, the fear had dwindled to its pre-magical spell levels. It was still there—because driving into a dragon’s lair was enough to make any sane person a little afraid—but it was manageable now.
“Are you sure?” Jayrian’s voice was strained, and his eyes worried.
Gretchen smiled. “Yes, I’m sure. The feeling is easing now.”
Jayrian searched her face, and she gave him what she hoped was a confident smile. He smiled back, reaching out to put a hand over hers on the steering wheel. “You’re so brave.”
Brave? Her?
Well, maybe she was. Right now, she actually felt pretty good. She’d made it past the mysterious dragon magic without harm. Surely that meant she could face up to anything, even a lair full of dragons?
The path through the trees twisted and turned for several hundred meters before opening out again into a clearing. In the middle of the flat area, a mound of dirt, reddish brown like the dirt surrounding it, stood out. Several round openings hinted at something inside.
Around the closest opening stood half a dozen people, most wearing very few clothes. They had been doing normal tasks, like watching small children playing and sitting on rocks talking, but when Gretchen’s car appeared, they all stood frozen to the spot. Well, it must look pretty strange, with the Christmas tree tied to the top.
Then she realised the Christmas tree was probably the least surprising thing about the image. Most of them had probably never seen a car before.
She pulled to a stop near the edge of the trees, not wanting to go further and startle them any more than she already had. “What do we do now?” she whispered.
Jayrian reached for the door handle and opened it. Before he stepped out, he threw her a nervous smile. “Now, we celebrate.”
If only it were that simple. The human form dragons stared at Jayrian when he stepped out, but when she followed suit, their eyes widened, and they exchanged glances. A mother rounded up her wide eyed children and rushed them inside the mound. Three men stood up, squaring their shoulders and took a step towards them, the threat in their pose obvious.
“What’s she doing here?” one of them demanded roughly.
“You shouldn’t have brought her, Jayrian, this can only end badly.”
Gretchen felt the colour drain from her face at their open threats.
Well, what had she expected? That they would be all smiles and open arms for a species they hated? This was always going to be tough, but she could do it.
“I’ve come to offer friendship,” she said loudly, hoping even the mother who had disappeared inside could hear her. “I mean none of you any harm. I’ve brought food and gifts. I hoped we could celebrate Christmas together.”
“Christmas,” a tall man growled. “A stupid human celebration that we don’t want anything to do with.”
“Just hear us out,” Jayrian began.
But he didn’t have a chance to finish.
“Just what do you think you are doing, Jayrian?” A voice boomed.
The three men stepped aside to let a man with gun metal grey hair through. The old man walked with a cane, but Gretchen wasn’t fooled into thinking it meant he was weak. His hand was sure and strong, and his back unbent.
He walked right up to them. “How dare you bring a human into our lair? You have put us all in danger.”
“Do you find food and presents dangerous?” Gretchen demanded. “Because that’s the only reason I’m here.”
“Yes,” the man said flatly. “Because your human customs and objects will entice our young ones to want what the humans have. And they will want to spend time with humans, and that means our secret will come out and none of us will be safe again.”
“So you’re refusing to celebrate Christmas with me because you’re afraid?” Gretchen demanded. Her knees trembled, but she couldn’t back down. If they didn’t agree to this, she was sure they would never let Jayrian visit her again. And that was far scarier than this man, even if he was a dragon.
“We are not afraid.”
“It sounds to me like you are,” Gretchen retorted. “Imagine, a big powerful dragon, afraid of a little human woman. How will you ever live it down?”
“Do you try to bait me, human?” he growled.
He took a step forwards, and Gretchen realised she just might have made the worst mistake of her life.
“Stop!” An old woman, her hair a mix of grey and black, pushed past the steel grey man to stop just in front of Gretchen. She stared at her long and hard before saying, “Of course we’re afraid. You humans’ may have weak bodies and skin, but your ability to create tools and weapons is unparalleled. Do you have any idea how many of our kind you killed during the Middle Ages?”
Gretchen stared at her. “I didn’t kill any.”
“Semantics,” the steel grey man said flatly. “Your people did. And they still would if given the chance.”
Could she really argue with that? Could she speak for every human alive? Some would try to kill dragons, just as they killed lions or rhinos, to prove they were stronger than they were. And with guns and explosives, it wouldn’t be hard. But those were the exception to the rule, weren’t they?
“We’re not all like that,” she insisted. “I have no wish to hurt your kind, in fact, I want to help you.”
“Help us how?” the grey haired man sneered. “What do you have to offer us that we can’t acquire for ourselves?”
“Food for starters,” Jayrian said. “A whole car load of it.”
The grey haired man scowled, and was about to say something, but
the woman jabbed her elbow in his ribs. When he expelled all his air in surprise, she said, “What sort of food?”
“A whole pig,” Gretchen started. Might as well start with the best. “And fruit and vegetables. Enough for everyone.”
“Do you have any idea how many of us there are?” The old woman’s eyes were sharp.
“I do,” said Jayrian. “There is plenty for all. No one will go hungry today.”
“What is your name?” the old woman asked.
“You’re not seriously going to let her walk into our lair and sit down to eat with us just because she brings food?” the man demanded.
Jayrian sighed in exasperation. “She’s already here. She already knows about us. No harm can be done by eating her food.”
“What if it’s poisoned?” the man demanded.
“It’s not,” Jayrian said hotly. “Do you think I’d bring her here if I thought she would do that?”
The old woman held up her hand. “No one is accusing you of anything, Jay. But you are young, and impulsive. You may have missed something. Kyrian has a valid point. How do we know the food is not poisoned?”
“Because it was the food she was about to serve up to her family,” Jayrian said, exasperation colouring his voice. “And she wasn’t going to poison them! I am certain it’s not poisoned.” He stepped back to the car and pulled out a slice of watermelon, then took a big bite in front of all the other dragons.
He held out the food to them, juice dripping down his chin. “See?”
The old woman’s eyes were on the watermelon. A child peered out of one of the entrances, their eyes wide. They stared at the food too.
The old woman turned back to Gretchen and repeated her question. “What is your name?”
She swallowed. “Gretchen.”
The woman bowed her head. “I am Mesrian. Welcome to Rian clan, Gretchen. Let us share a meal.”
Gretchen felt a small thrill of victory even though the grey haired man still scowled at her. “Thank you, Mesrian. I will gladly share a meal with you.”
It was a start.
ELEVEN
Jayrian helped carry the food inside, ignoring Kyrian’s glare. The old man was not happy Mesrian had overruled him. Jayrian hoped he would come around given time. Because while one elder might be able to swing allowing human food into the lair, there was no way he could convince them to let Gretchen wake Prince Taurian without full agreement of all five.
Sugar, Spice, and Shifters: A Touch of Holiday Magic Page 48