With those three simple words, the twins looked up at him in unison. Claudium looked upon him and nodded in approval. Allantra couldn’t help but think about all the history being made on this day. She didn’t think she’d see the day when shifters and vampires looked out for one another.
Dharean went to the dragon and covered his fingertips in its blood. Then he went to each twin and drew a symbol onto their chests as she’d seen him do to her mother. “I need everyone to stay very still. Once the power leaves the dragon it will take a moment to find its new hosts. Don’t confuse it; we need to do this as quickly as possible, as dragon power is very unstable when set free.” After looking about the room and seeming satisfied with things, Dharean began the process.
* * * *
“What now?” Allantra asked, stroking her mother’s hair as they all sat around a fire. Claudium and Minn sat close to one another. The pups lay near Armin; the small group was lightly snoring. Khaelen and Dharean sat side by side, watching Allantra from across the fire. Her mother still appeared to be sleeping. Allantra couldn’t help but wonder how the power would affect her mother. She knew now that power itself was not evil; it depended on the user. She wondered how her mother would react when she learned where her newfound abilities originated.
As her thoughts shifted to newfound abilities, her gaze strayed over to the Blood Twins. Their eyes were now slivers of red; dragon eyes looked straight at her. It was as if they could see through to her soul.
Just as Khaelen opened his mouth to answer her, the campfire began to sizzle and sparks of color began to spray outward. Everyone stood in alarm. Immediately, Dharean and Khaelen were by her side.
“Settle down,” came the familiar voice, followed by a cackle. Seconds later the image of Za’rae hovered over the flames. “It’s just me. Thought I’d show up with a little style this time.” She laughed again.
The woman was definitely getting to Allantra, who found she was actually happy to see the Ancient. “Za’rae, it’s nice to see you.” Allantra smiled at the image.
Za’rae turned her black gaze to Allantra. “Ah, you actually mean that, shifter. Good to see you lived up to your potential. You had me worried there a bit.” She barely smiled in that eerie way of hers. “Ah yes, I see the changes agree with these two.” She nodded her head in the direction of the Blood Twins. “You two have quite a journey ahead of you. And here’s a word of warning: kill the redhead.”
The Blood Twins looked at Za’rae with a confused scowl. “Ah”—she waved her hand in the air in annoyance—“just trust me on this. You’ll know when the time comes. Now for you two.” She turned her attention to Claudium and Minn. “Well, all I have to say is good luck. You’re going to need it with all those pups.”
“What pups?” Minn squinted at Za’rae. “What are you talking about?”
Za’rae laughed loudly as she stared at the new couple. “I’m sure you can figure it out, Minn.” She sobered as she regarded the shifter. “I will miss you, Minn. You were like a daughter to me. A fussy and annoying one, but a daughter all the same.” Za’rae’s voice took on a sad note as she held Minn’s gaze. “I will miss you dearly.”
“Za’rae, you’re not making sense.” Minn swallowed hard as she looked at the almost transparent figure. “I will see you when I return.” She turned to Dharean. “Dharean, what is she not telling me?”
“I’m sorry, Minn.” Dharean looked into Minn’s eyes, his gaze never wavering. “Za’rae has already joined our ancestors.”
Minn let out a strangled cry as she stepped closer to Za’rae’s apparition. “She’s just projecting.” But even as she said the words, Allantra could hear that doubt laced them. “How? When?” She reached out her fingers, trailed through Za’rae’s mist.
“I finally answered the call after you all left. There was nothing left for me. The wheels had been set in motion. My people no longer needed me. You have a strong leader, and his new queen has proven herself more than worthy. Change is coming to this world and I am old. My time here has passed.”
“But we’ve only just started the fight,” Allantra protested.
“True. But there is nothing more I can do here. It is up to all of you. This old woman must rest now.” She smiled at the sleeping woman. “The lost princess is the link between the past and the present. She will need your love and support when she awakens. Her road back to sanity will be a hard one to tread.”
“We will all help her.” Khaelen wrapped an arm around Allantra’s waist.
“I will help guide her in the use of her new abilities,” Dharean added.
“It was you, wasn’t it?” Allantra directed the question to Za’rae.
“What are you talking about, flammulae?” Dharean frowned.
“All along. She was the one who bound my powers. Think about it. You said only someone wise enough could do it.”
“Za’rae?” Dharean had a warning in his voice.
“Pshaw! Yes, I knew. I was the one who bound her powers. Her mother came to me when she was a child. I had to protect her until she was ready. Now you know all of my secrets; well, at least the ones that count. Everything has worked out. No sense in trying to lecture me now.” Za’rae looked at them all. “Finish what you’ve started. The past no longer matters, only the future. You all have work to do. Now, can we move on?” Dharean and Allantra nodded.
“Good. As for you three.” She took a deep breath and sighed loudly. “Even I can’t tell you how to work this out. The only advice I can give is this. Persephone.”
“What?” Allantra wrinkled her brow. But Za’rae continued.
“I must go now.” She raised her thin arm and crooked a finger at Dharean. “Come.” Dharean stepped forward; the flames parted as he reached Za’rae. He went to his knees and bowed his head low. Za’rae smiled at him. It was the first real smile Allantra had ever seen on her unusual face. “I could not have asked for a better son, protégé, or legacy.” At those words, Dharean’s head snapped up in surprise.
“That’s right; they are your people to lead. You must usher them into this new age. You’ve had a rough life, wizard, but it was to prepare you for what was to come. From here on out with your new alliances, you will find happiness and peace. I give you this gift.” She reached out a finger to Dharean’s forehead and seemed to touch him. A thin spark of light passed between them. It was so quick and blinding that Allantra had to shut her eyes. When she opened them again, Za’rae was gone.
“No!” Minn cried out as she stared into the flames.
Dharean rose, leaving the fire as it had once been. “She is gone,” Dharean said quietly. “Do not mourn her for she is somewhere where she has found her peace.”
Minn shook from the force of her sobs. Claudium went to her, wrapped her in his arms. “He will take good care of her as Za’rae has stated,” Dharean observed in a low tone as he turned to the others. “As for Allantra’s question. We go back to the Civil Lands. War has already erupted and we must bring peace to this place.” He looked to Khaelen.
“It is my home.” Khaelen looked around him. “I have to end the bloodshed there. A new government must be established. I made a promise and I will keep it.”
“You should know, Khaelen,” Claudium began as he held Minn, “I have no intention of returning to the Council.” Allantra was just as shocked as Khaelen seemed to be. “I, like that old woman, have had my time. It is time for new blood in government. I will help you restore order but my life now has a stronger purpose. A deeper meaning.” He looked at Minn and smiled.
“Fair enough.” Khaelen nodded.
“My brother and I—” one twin began.
“—will aid you as well,” the other finished.
“Then we have a plan.” Khaelen pulled Allantra close to him. “Your presence on the Council will be much needed.
“I’m afraid she is needed by my side as my queen.” Dharean walked over to snake his arm around Allantra’s waist as well, and pulled her to him.
&nb
sp; “She is needed in the Civil Lands. Allantra’s presence as a shifter on the Council will help heal the rifts between the species. She played an integral role. The people will respond to her.” Khaelen’s voice took on a hard note.
“She was the harbinger for my people. They know she also played a vital role in their freedom as well. She is my queen, after all. Queens rule by the sides of kings, do they not?” A slight sneer laced Dharean’s words.
“Uhm, Claudium.” Minn’s husky voice cut in. “Can you get us out of here?”
Claudium smiled, giving Minn a kiss on the head. He nodded toward the Blood Twins, who each scooped up one of Minn’s boys. One twin laid a hand on Armin and the other twin touched Taraema, then the six of them blinked out. Allantra took little notice of the departure. She knew they were close by. Her anger had quickly risen and boiled over.
“Aren’t you two forgetting something?” She stepped between the two of them. They each regarded her with confused blank expressions. “I’m not a piece of meat,” she blurted when it was clear that neither of the males would get a clue. Still they looked at her as if waiting for her point. “You two are forgetting; both of you belong to me. I decide where I go and with whom.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest, basking in her victory as both men had the nerve to look indignant.
“Then choose,” Dharean demanded.
“Which of us will you accompany?” Khaelen raised an eyebrow at her.
“Well.” Allantra tapped a finger against her cheek. “A girl has to have an incentive.” She pretended to really think about it. Allantra snapped her fingers as if an idea suddenly came to her. “Whichever one of you pleases me the most will—”
Before she could finish speaking, Allantra found herself encased between two hard bodies.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Everything was a blur. One moment she was between her men and the next she was standing near the river. It was not far from where Dharean’s people lived. Momentarily confused, she looked to the two men and noticed each of them wore a small smirk. Damn teleportation was something she would have to get used to.
There was no way Khaelen could have teleported them all here since he’d never been here before. The men were communicating on their own path. A thrill went through Allantra as she realized that they were getting along, becoming friends. They were finally coming to the terms that they had to equally share her.
“I wouldn’t go that far, flammulae,” Dharean drawled, listening in on her thoughts as he slid Khaelen a look.
“He takes a lot of getting used to. However, I find when we work together, we work together well,” Khaelen finished. “Like this.” He smiled, making her clothes disappear, only to have them reappear in a neat pile mere feet from them.
“Or this.” Dharean’s beautiful dark gaze zeroed in on her and she felt herself being lifted in the air and set gently in the water. The men, now also sans clothing, strode into the water after her.
Her eyes greedily drank in her men. Her men. Dharean, with his intricate tattoos on one arm, strode powerfully toward her. She licked her lips as his thick, muscular thighs made little work of the resistance of the water. His gaze only left her face to scorch her body. Next to him strode Khaelen.
His body, slightly more streamlined but still well muscled, showed pale and beautiful in the dark water. His hazel eyes were trained on her just as intently as Dharean’s. He bore no scars, no marks, his lineage not allowing him to scar. He was so beautiful. At the same time the men released their bound hair and the only other thing that was the same about them was the way their thick, erect cocks seemed to point directly as her.
When they reached her she found it hard to breathe. Dharean was at her back, Khaelen to her front. Both men dipped their hands into the warm water and let the water cascade sensually down her body. She closed her eyes and sighed. For the first time in her life, everything was right. Dominica was defeated, her mother would be fine, and the war back in—
We won’t have any of that, Khaelen chastised.
We would prefer if you concentrated only on us, Dharean stated.
Perhaps we are boring her. Khaelen’s eyebrow arced up.
I think we can bring her attention back around to us. Allantra could feel Dharean’s amusement.
Khaelen’s large hands dipped into the water then began to sensually knead her breasts. His fingers played with her nipples, causing them to harden, then pucker. Khaelen’s hot mouth caught one of the nipples and he sucked hard on it.
Dharean’s wet hands began to caress her bottom. He urged her legs apart and began to manipulate the puckered entrance that Allantra was beginning to yearn to have filled. One hand reached around front to manipulate her clit.
As soon as he got a rhythm going between her legs, she could feel Khaelen trail kisses up to her neck. His teeth sank slowly into her flesh, almost causing her legs to buckle at the sensation. His mouth worked at her neck, suckling, licking; she felt as if her skin had bursts of electricity zipping through it.
Her thoughts scattered as the men took all of her senses and turned them into heightened mush. She could feel hard arousals to the front and back of her. Moisture collected at the juncture of her thighs, and she could tell it wasn’t just from the water. Her breath came in gasps. She wanted them both so badly. She wanted to feel them both stroking in and out of her. She wanted them to make her scream.
“Ask for it,” Dharean rumbled behind her. “Tell us in graphic detail what you want us to do to you.”
“I-I—” Allantra began, but faltered as Khaelen returned his mouth to her other nipple and sucked on it. His other hand joined Dharean’s and she found it hard to produce a single coherent sentence.
“You have to do better than that, little one.” Khaelen teased her, releasing her breast only long enough to switch to the other one. “Let me help you out. Do you want us to fuck you?”
Allantra’s words stayed glued in her throat. Dharean pushed himself closer to her so his cock rubbed up the seam of her ass. His hot breath was at her nape and she leaned her head back to rest on his chest. But he was having none of that as his hand left the burning ache between her legs to encircle her throat. His strong hand held it firm but not hard enough to hurt her. “Tell us.” His throaty demand coupled with the erotic sensation of him dominating her made her even wetter.
“I want both of your cocks inside of me. I want you both to fuck me hard.” Allantra finally gushed the words out. She couldn’t take it anymore. She needed them both so badly. She watched in fascination as Khaelen took his arousal in his hand and lifted one of her thighs. He didn’t warn her; he just slid almost brutally into her.
Allantra cried out at the pleasure of it. Immediately he stroked in and out of her hard, definitive, and possessive. His hand held her hip firmly in place keeping her balanced, while her other leg dangled helplessly over his arm.
Her mind filled with nothing but the pleasure of his cock. Where is my other cock? She sent the thought to Dharean. Here, love. Here it is, Dharean answered as he put the mushroom head of his member at her ass and gently worked it in, using Khaelen’s strokes to help push her farther and farther onto his cock.
She could feel Dharean’s hand tighten around her throat, sending her excitement up another notch. Khaelen claimed her mouth hard. His tongue swept into her mouth, his sweet, spicy taste familiar and welcome. He broke off the kiss abruptly as his desire rose and he began to fuck her harder.
Dharean loosened his hold around her throat and instead urged her head back at an angle, then he too kissed her deeply. His taste was wholly masculine, unique. Allantra pushed her hips back and forth, encouraging each of her mates’ cocks deep into her. The water sloshed around them as the three of them kept a frantic pace.
“Talk to us, flammulae—”
“Tell us what you want,” Khaelen finished.
Were they kidding? They wanted her to form words? Somehow string them together when all she wanted to do was scream in ecstasy. H
er passion rose high and she was so close to the precipice. “Give it to me,” she cried, trying so hard to make them understand her.
“But we are.” Khaelen laughed as he drove in deeper and harder, making her small breasts bounce uncontrollably.
“I need—” Allantra was desperate trying to find her release, but knew her mates wouldn’t give it to her unless she begged for it. The tension was coiled in her body. She needed so much. “I need for the both of you”—Allantra swallowed, amazed that she could even string together those few words—“to come.”
Dharean growled in her ear, wolflike. His breath came in short bursts of warm air at her nape as his hands took the same positions as Khaelen, allowing him to penetrate her deeper. She was lost and then both her men lost their control.
Khaelen growled as well, steady and low. They both somehow pressed closer to her until it seemed the strokes became shorter, more intense. The hardness of the two bodies thrilled her as she reached forward with one hand, backward with the other, her nails digging into the male flesh she found.
Then it happened. The energy swirled inside of her and began to build as she came nearer to her peak. She closed her eyes to avoid the blinding light of her power. Her body grew almost intolerably hot to the touch. The men moaned louder and she knew they felt the extra heat in her most sensitive of places.
She knew the energy reached out to them, its tendrils pulling them somehow closer to her, heating them as well. She felt nothing but two steel-hot cocks pummeling inside of her, bringing her to the brink of total unequivocal pleasure.
Her mind was open and free and she could feel theirs were as well. The energy sucked them in so that they now entered each other’s minds so freely. She could feel the pleasure she gave them, felt what it was like to be inside of her, and she knew they could feel what she felt.
The sensations were overwhelming and Allantra felt the first violent shudders of her orgasm as Dharean and Khaelen began to spill their hot seed inside of her. Her body sucked and squeezed their cocks of their liquid as she came. Words, thoughts, abandoned to nothing but the thrill of the pleasure. The men shouted as they came inside of her, then still pounded inside her, her walls slick from Khaelen’s orgasm, her tight entrance from behind slippery from Dharean’s release.
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