by Tamsin Baker
“Wow.”
He watched until they became specks in the sky, heading where? He didn’t know.
Should he wait? Maybe... But he didn’t think he would be convincing her to have sex with him again today.
She wanted him, that was clear. Despite what they’d already shared, she needed more. Why she was fighting him, he didn’t know. But he would find out.
*****
“Please, Sire. I don’t think I’ve asked you for much before,” Tattiena said as she stood in front of her father, as he resided in his throne.
“That’s true, I don’t think you’ve ever asked for anything for yourself, Tattiena, only for the people of this city. Or Nargoya, of course.”
The king smiled indulgently at her and she took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She was shaking as though she had a fever, and yet the healer had said that she was in the best of health.
“So, you’ll ask him to leave?”
“Of course. Anything for you...” The daughter was left hanging in the air, as it always was.
They both knew who she was. But her father had never claimed her, publicly or privately. Tattiena still ached to hear it, just once. That he was proud of her, that he loved her. Anything.
Tattiena had been born from an affair between the king and her mother, who had been his mistress for years, but they’d always lived in the town. And if her mother was to be believed, the king and her had been in love. But Tattiena couldn’t speak to him about that. He wasn’t interested in talking to her about anything about her past and his. That’s what she told herself anyway.
His mouth was twisted to the side and she could tell he wanted to ask why she was doing this, but they had an unspoken respect for each other’s privacy that didn’t go astray.
“Thank you, my king.” She bowed and smiled at him, leaving as quickly as she’d come in. The prince would be gone and she could go back to her life. Protecting the people of Gregorick, training Nargoya, and being the best she could be.
****
The screams flowed through her throat, again and again, tearing their way through her vocal chords.
He was pounding into her. Unrelenting in his thrusts. Over and over. Again and again.
The marble was cold beneath her fingers. A stable anchor in her violent, erotic world. She pressed her hot, flaming face to the hard surface.
Her eyes slid shut as wave after wave of sensation flowed through her body. Her pussy was on fire… straining, squeezing, needing his cum.
“Please. Please. Please,” she chanted. She needed him. So much.
“Beg for it. You’re not getting it until you milk it right out of me.”
Leo’s voice.
She moaned and pushed back, fighting him now. She didn’t want him. Not again.
“No you don’t. My Dragon rider. Vixen woman.” He growled above her, his voice so sexy she shuddered, her clit exploding with sensation.
She cried out, the sweat dripping off her face. She pushed her hands into the table and pressed up hard, pressing her arse back into him, trying to buck him off.
He slammed his cock into her even harder, his hand coming down onto her back and holding her down, into the marble.
The orgasm gathered with each stroke, her belly clenching as she began to scream.
He called out from behind her, his cries joining hers as her pussy milked him and he gave her his seed, pulsing white streams flowing up into her.
Tattiena sat bolt upright in bed, her body covered in sweat, her belly still convulsing from the final tremors of her orgasm.
She let herself relax and slammed back into the pillows.
“Fuck me…”
Never before had the dreams been so personal. There were always men, so many men. Nameless, faceless, cocks with lots of cum.
She’d known that the dreams had been a way to force her into her heat, to make her so desperate with desire that she wouldn’t be able to resist.
But she had. For so long. No one in the castle had made her want them. Nobody.
What was so special about this prince that she’d been unable to control herself with him? And why had Nargoya condoned their sexual acrobatics?
Not only condoned, when Tattiena had asked her Dragon for help with the Prince, she’d pushed them together. Rather than burning him to a cinder like Tattiena had hoped would happen at the time.
She groaned and rolled out of bed, heading for yet another shower. This was getting ridiculous, these dreams.
She was determined not to let them rule her. She was the master of her own destiny. She was not going to be pushed into some ridiculous baby making scheme to get her locked up and away from the world.
No. Fucking. Way.
****
One of the male servants from the castle approached Leo where he trained outside. He’d learnt a lot from being here already. The skill set of their warriors was truly remarkable.
“The king would like to speak to you, Prince Leonide.”
He nodded, his breathing impacted by the exercise, and he struggled to get it under control. “Yeah. Alright. I’ll follow.”
He dropped the sword to the ground and took some deep breaths, walking after the small young man. He didn’t bother asking what it was about, but something in the air made a chill cross his neck. This wasn’t going to be a dinner invitation it seemed.
He stepped into the great hall and walked straight up to the king, who sat at the great table. “My apologies for my attire. I was training with your guards.” He bowed and the king waved at him, a grin on his face.
“Don’t be sorry, I am glad you are spending your time here well.”
“Thank you. I am enjoying myself.”
Taneel’s smile tightened and Leo knew that something had changed.
“Is there something wrong, King Taneel?”
He waved his hand. “Not exactly, Prince Leonide.”
“Leo,” he reminded the king.
“Yes, Leo. I would like you to go home sooner than we had agreed upon. I want you to take the agreement yourself to your father, then I will know it is in safe hands.”
On the surface that seemed like smart thinking, but something wasn’t right, and instinct told him that it had something to do with the king’s illegitimate daughter.
“But, King Taneel, our couriers left this morning, with your men.”
He inclined his head. “Yes, and if you leave now, and take your fine horse, I am sure you will catch up to them by night fall.” The king smiled as though that was the end of the conversation.
“Pardon me? Why would I need to leave with them?”
“I have told you. I would like you to go with them. That it’s the end of the discussion, Prince.”
Taneel’s voice had tightened, deepened, and not for the first time, Leo could see the strength in the man. Leo opened his mouth and the king hit a button. His dark, knifed warrior woman slid into the room out of nowhere.
“Yes, your highness?”
“Prince Leonide is leaving us. Now. Would you make sure he is on his horse and on his way within the hour?”
Leo narrowed his eyes at the king. This was coming out of nowhere. What had happened?
“Has Tattiena asked this of you?”
The man didn’t respond and yet the answer was there in his eyes, the sadness he saw behind them.
Anger flourished in him. Talk about being punched in the gut by a friend. “It was! Why would she do that?”
“Good bye, Leo. I hope we meet again soon.”
The king stood up, his richly purple robes glistening in the white light of the room, and he walked away.
Leo turned around to find the dark warrior woman, Saray waiting for him.
“All right. Let’s go.”
He had no choice. He was unarmed, and also unwanted. He could not stay.
Leo was packed within ten minutes, gathered the two men who had stayed behind with him, and together they rode out of the city.
He could
almost hear Tattiena’s sigh of relief…. Stupid woman. Why would she do this to him? They were good together. They could learn so much from each other. He didn’t understand why she would want him sent away like some errant child.
He didn’t get five minutes from the cities gates when he heard the thundering of hooves up ahead. Someone was headed their way, and fast.
“Arm yourselves,” he shouted as he drew his sword from its sheath and squared his shoulders, waiting for the attackers to come around the corner.
When he saw them, his stomach plummeted with dread. It was Pat and a few of the king’s men riding like the devil chased them.
Oh Goddess. What’s happened?
They slowed almost to a stop when they saw him, the horse’s neigh’s screeching into the sky. “It’s the barbarians, my lord. They attacked us on our way to Davuno. We need to ride back now.”
He heard it. Inhuman screeches following them like the wind.
He turned his horse around and dug his heels into his sides. His horse took off and they thundered down the narrow track that lead back to Gregorick.
This would mean war.
Hopefully Davuno is safe.
His kingdom was three day’s ride from Gregorick, and much further north. Hopefully, the barbarians had come here first, although their choice to attack a city with a known Dragon rider, was stupid.
The king’s men called out as they reached the gates of the city. “Let us in! Quickly! We were attacked!”
The large gates opened and they slipped inside. Leo’s heart pounded in his chest as he stared down the road at the men running toward them. They were blood-covered and wielding weapons of war.
“Close them! Now!” he yelled up at the guards on the wall.
Leo waited until the gates were fully closed and then grabbed for a double bolt on the gate. A huge bang resounded through the metal as the barbarians screamed in anger.
He turned around and checked with the guards to make sure the gates would hold, then he looked up into city with dread in his heart. He’d spent his life training for a day like today, and yet this would be his first true battle.
This city was in a lot of trouble. People were going to die if the barbarians scaled the walls.
“Let’s get up to the king. Now!” he instructed.
The roads in the town were too full of people so the men slid from their horses. They needed to protect everyone, but how?
“What happened, Pat? Tell me! Have you still got the peace treaty?”
Pat nodded, indicating to the tube hanging from his back. A loud raucous sounded from above as arrows arced through the air, aimed at the men guarding the towers Leo grabbed the reins on the other man’s horse and threw them aside.
“Leave the horses here! Go tell the guards to batten down all the gates. Don’t let anyone else in.”
The men ran off and Leo turned and began sprinting up the hill with Pat. They reached the castle’s gates and rushed inside to let the king know what happened. However, Leo was also very interested to hear the story of what had happened when they had been attacked.
Saray stepped up to greet them, saw the blood on Pat, and gestured to follow her. They burst into the hall with a large bang, still armed.
“What is this? Leo? What’s happened?” Taneel stood up from his place at the table and rushed over, worry etched on his lined face.
“We were attacked. Most of the men were killed,” Pat explained and Leo’s gaze was drawn to the blood splattering Pat’s armor.
Oh Goddess… Ari….
“The barbarians from the south. They knew we were there, I’m sure of it. It was a set up attack. And they’re coming for the city, my lord. They were hot on our heels.”
“Lock down the city.” The king’s booming voice echoed around the room and Saray disappeared to do her master’s bidding. A distant alarm began to sound and a shiver slid over Leo’s spine. War. “Did they get the peace treaty? Is that what they were after?”
Pat shook his head, taking out the solid scroll lock box, his hands shaking as he handed it over to the king.
“No. They didn’t. Do you think that was what they were after?”
“I don’t know. But it would prove an allegiance between our two cities. Perhaps that is what they wanted to prevent?”
Horror struck Leo squarely in the heart. “Davuno is defenseless. I must get back to my city.”
The king’s hand came out to land on his shoulder. “We need you here, Prince Leonide. Once we ascertain the danger, I will ask Tattiena to take the peace treaty to your father.”
“Couldn’t we have done that before?”
He shook his head. “No. I don’t like to put the Dragon, or her rider, in danger for such a small task. She is worth far too much to this city, to this planet, to be injured or killed.”
“That is where you are wrong, King Taneel.” Tattiena’s voice ricocheted through the room, cold and harsh. “We are here to serve, and that means fighting for the best outcome for our city. No matter the cost.” She stepped forward and the whole room held their breath, waiting for her to speak.
Leo met her steady gaze with his own and fire burned between them.
“What has happened, Prince?”
She wore a dress of white silks today, flowing around her strong form like a water fall. Her eyes were worried as they met his.
“I was leaving the city to meet up with my men. We only got a few hundred meters outside the castle gates when we were met by three of the party who rode out this morning. The only survivors from the thirty men in total.”
He swallowed hard, trying not to imagine the gruesome deaths those warriors had endured. “Pat here has just informed us that they were attacked by barbarians from the south. I believe the castle is now under attack.”
Tattiena’s eyes opened wide and she swiveled to look at the king.
“Nargoya can burn them as long as they are outside the walls of the castle, but if they enter the city, she won’t be able to help.”
The king frowned then finally nodded. “Yes. Do what you must, but be careful.”
****
Tattiena nodded to the man who’d changed her world, Prince Leo, a man she’d hoped never to see again. It seemed Fate had chosen to throw them together once more, and this time it would be in a battle for Gregorick.
“Tattiena.” Taneel reached out and grabbed her arm.
She froze at the firm contact, her senses already on high alert. Her father had never touched her, embraced her, nor shown any sign of affection towards her. Even as a child.
“Make sure you come back… I don’t want to lose you.”
She stiffened, feeling the eyes of the prince and his second on her once again. “I know King Taneel. I will keep Nargoya safe. I know how important having a Dragon rider is to you and the city.”
She went to pull away and the older man’s grip tightened.
“Prince Leo. Go now. I will meet you on the battle ground.”
The room cleared and Tattiena turned around. Her father’s eyes were so similar to her own, it hurt to look deeply into them.
“Tattiena…my daughter. I know we have never spoken of this, but it is not for your Dragon riding skills that I treasure you.”
She nodded as a lump lodged itself firmly in her throat. She couldn’t speak. This was the moment that she’d waited for, for so long. Why did it have to be now, like this?
He swallowed audibly. “I…have always treasured you, as the child of my beloved Saralle.”
The grip on her arm loosened, and Tattiena twisted to be free of him and began to back away. She didn’t want to listen to this now. They were about to fight a war, sentiment was best left out of it.
“Do not speak as though we will not see each other again, my king. I will see you after the battle is won.”
Her father nodded, straightening to his full height. “Yes, daughter. I will see you later in this day and we will toast our victory.”
At that moment,
her disgusting half-brother slid into the room.
“Why is the call to arms ringing all over the city? It woke me.” Nellid’s gaze slid to hers and as always, he took his time gazing at her breasts before finally looking her in the eye.
Part of her hoped she died in battle before this creature took the throne. She would not serve a king such as him. She didn’t answer the prince’s question, simply bowed to her King, and got out of the room as quickly as possible. Screams of alarm could be heard from outside the castle doors and she hoped the king’s guard was getting their people to safety.
She had to trust them to do their job. She had no choice now but to fulfil her own destiny. Her purpose was to use the power she had as the Dragon rider. Nargoya and her would do as they had been training to do.
Tattiena hit the button on the sliding door and set off at a run. She reached the barn’s doors and the stable master was there, sword in hand.
“I heard we are under attack. Is there anything I can do?”
She glanced past him to where Nargoya waited, already prepared for battle with her chest shield and saddle in place.
“You’ve done all you can. Thank you. Please be here in the event that I bring Nargoya back wounded.”
He nodded, a grim look on his face. She took the sword from him and ran forward, jumping up onto Nargoya’s wing and into the saddle as the roof on the barn opened up.
“Let’s go, girl. The city needs us.”
Tattiena slid her sword into its place alongside the saddle and braced herself for flight. Nargoya launched them up into the air, blowing a stream of fire out in front of them. Tattiena stroked her beloved friend’s neck in reassurance. Her Dragon was young and had never been in battle. It would be a testimony of her heart and training, how well they did today.
They turned towards their people and flew low over the city. A cheer went up from the people below.
Tattiena tried not to think of them. Of all the lives that were in danger of being lost today. She thought only of the men trying to hurt the city she loved, and how they must pay for such a thing.
She could see the barbarians scouring the walls of the city, and the guards on top of the walls shooting down at them with arrows.