by ERIN BEDFORD
Sinking to my knees, I couldn’t help the giddy feeling that swept through me. I was really going to do this.
Eyes locked with Firestar’s, I worked on his pants, the wetness from my lunch hijinks making it harder to undo them. When he was free, his length sprung out already hard and ready for me. Wrapping my hand around it, my hand was just big enough to touch fingertips. At least he wasn’t as big as Jack. My jaw had ached for hours after that.
“What are you thinking about?” Firestar asked, knocking me out of my thoughts.
“Nothing,” I muttered, my face heating. Now was not the time to compare my lovers’ parts.
Tightening my grip on Firestar, I tested an upward stroke of my hand along his length. When Firestar groaned in response, I repeated it. I found a good rhythm that had Firestar gripping the shelf behind me, but just as I started to quicken my pace, Firestar stopped me.
“No, use your mouth.” His hand curled into my hair and guided me toward his length. I opened my mouth and readily took him inside, sliding my tongue up and down him. Firestar’s groans turned to gasps as I worked his length.
I swallowed as I came down on him, making the hand in my hair tighten almost painfully. Moving back until I almost released him, I sucked hard on the tip. Firestar growled, his hand fisting my hair, urging me to keep moving. Not to disappoint, I continued my trek down until my lips bumped against his pubic bone. Slowly, I made my way back up him which Firestar didn’t agree with.
The hand on my head started to direct me at a faster pace, his hips thrusting up into my mouth. Placing my hands on his legs, I let him direct me to his pleasure. I had to breathe quickly through my nose lest I pass out from lack of oxygen as the tip of Firestar hit the back of my throat.
The sounds he made caused a liquid heat to flow through my veins. There wasn’t a sound in the world better than knowing you are causing your lover pleasure. Okay, so maybe the sound of bacon frying comes close, but it’s still second. However, you measured it, those sounds were enough to make my heat slicken with need.
“Ah, Maya,” Firestar groaned, “I can smell you.”
To a human, that might sound a bit on the perverted side, but it only ramped up my need even more. I moved my mouth along him faster than before until I felt him tense above me. Relaxing my throat, I swallowed as much of him as I could until there wasn’t anymore left.
Releasing him, I leaned back on my calves, admiring my work. Firestar stood breathlessly above me, a half-drunk expression on his face. Shifting out from beneath him, I headed for the door.
Firestar caught my hand before I could leave. “Wait. What about you?”
Smirking, I glanced down at his softening length. “I think you’ll have to give me a rain check. Besides, I have others who can pick up your slack.”
Laughing at Firestar’s shocked expression, I darted out of the linen closet before he could retaliate. His roar filled the hallway as I made my way back to the dining room.
By the time I got back to my lunch, everyone else had already cleared the room, clearing my plate in the process. Frowning at the empty table, I almost sighed in relief when Carl showed up with my plate, still laden with food, in hand.
“I could just kiss you right now,” I exclaimed as I grabbed the plate from his hands. Sitting down at the table, I devoured my meal like it was my last.
“Please don’t.” Carl held his hands up as if I might actually do it. “I like my head where it is, and your mates are quite territorial.”
I snorted in agreement. “Don’t I know it. Don’t worry, I won’t let them hurt you,” I gave him a sly look “as long as you have some of those tarts available.”
Carl laughed. “Of course, I do. But you better take them to go unless you want to miss the final fights.”
My eyes widened as I realized he was right. For once, food could wait. I had to see who would win with my own eyes.
While the cook wrapped up a few tarts to take with me, I shoved one in my mouth. When the others safely in my hand, I raced out of the king’s house. By the time I got there, the crowds had already gathered around the ring. From their jeers, it was apparent that either Raiden or Firestar was fighting.
I pushed my way through the crowd until I stood beside a pissed off Firestar and a worried Jack. “What’d I miss?”
They looked down at me with matching grimaces on their faces. Firestar growled in anger before gesturing at Jack. “I was late to the match, so Jack won by default.”
“You did?” I asked, glancing at Jack.
“Yes, but that’s not the problem.” He pointed to the ring. “That’s the problem.”
My eyes went from Jack to the ring where Raiden was fighting the largest man I’d ever seen. With a completely bald head, his menacing eyes just screamed death and destruction.
“They call him the Beast,” Jack informed me with a frown. “He’s from the farthest north village and new to the games.”
“You’ve never seen him before?” I asked, still in awe at the massive man before us.
“No.”
Jack’s snippy answer didn’t make me feel any better. I turned to Firestar and gestured toward his face. “What do you think of him?”
“He’s definitely a tough opponent,” Firestar grumbled. “The guy might be huge, but he’s fast.”
Not liking his answer, I became even more worried for Raiden who was barely standing at this point. His lip was busted open, and he was wavering on his feet. I didn’t see him lasting much longer.
The crowd seemed to like it though. They cheered as the Beast put Raiden into a headlock, his ice powers covering his arms and shielding them from Raiden’s lightning. Those massive arms squeezed, cutting off the oxygen to Raiden’s brain.
As Raiden’s face started to turn purple, I cried out, “He’s going to kill him!”
Jack held me back from jumping into the ring. “No, he won’t. It’s an automatic forfeit if he kills his opponent.”
I watched Raiden slowly lose consciousness, my heart pounding in my chest. But true to Jack’s word, the moment Raiden went limp, the Beast released him, and the lightning dragon collapsed to the ground.
The crowd went wild as Lord Fafnir announced the Beast as the winner. A couple of medics grabbed Raiden and lifted him out of the ring. I rushed to his side, having to check for myself that he was still breathing.
I almost cried when I felt his chest rise and fall. A medic wiped his face clean before waving a piece of cloth in front of his nose that had a sharp medicinal smell to it. Raiden jerked awake, his arms flailing, and Jack pulled me back before I got hit accidentally. I didn’t even realize he had followed me there.
“Where is he? I’ll kill him.” Raiden’s eyes moved wildly in his head searching for an unseen opponent. When he realized he wasn’t in the ring, he sank back on the ground with a groan. “Fuck. I’ve never lost so bad before.”
“At least you got the chance to fight.” Firestar smacked him on the leg.
“Pfft.” Raiden rolled his eyes. “That only makes me feel worse.”
13
Jack didn’t look as happy as Firestar and Raiden were for him to fight the Beast. If anything, he looked worried.
For good reason.
The Beast had taken out Raiden easily enough, and I could tell Firestar wanted to see the ice dragon take a beating for winning by forfeit.
I, on the other hand, was worried for Jack. What could he possibly do to take out this massive mountain of a man? I just didn’t see how he could win this one. If it had been me, I would have forfeited right when I saw the guy, but maybe I had less pride than they did.
Holding my breath as Lord Fafnir announced the final round which pitted Jack against the Beast, I waited with the rest of the crowd for what was probably going to be a quick fight.
My heart beat rapidly as the fight started. Palms sweating, I wiped them on my pants as I tried to keep my nerves under control. A hand took mine and squeezed. I glanced down at the hand and t
hen up to Raiden’s face. He gave me an encouraging grin before turning back to the fight.
Jack wasn’t fairing very well already. The Beast was indeed as fast as they said. He dodged everything Jack tried to hit him with. While Jack was quick in his own right, he wasn’t quick enough to get out of the way of the Beast’s football-sized fists. One of them clipped Jack on the side of the face hard enough to knock Jack back a couple steps.
“Ooh,” the crowd and I both winced at the sound of the impact. That would definitely leave a bruise.
The beats lunged forward, obviously intending to end the fight. As he raised his hands high overhead to club Jack, the ice dragon flung out his hand. A wave of blue energy slammed into the beast, sheathing him in frost that seemed like it was nothing more than bits of cobweb.
Even still, the move slowed him enough for Jack to dodge, and as he gathered himself across the ring, the Beast smacked his fists together and growled.
His eyes glowed with sapphire light as his dragon came forth, and his wings sprouting on his back.
Massive and scary as hell were the only thoughts that came to my mind when I saw the Beast’s wings. I’d never seen such large wings except on someone in actual full dragon form. Though, for his size, I’d imagine the Beast would need large wings to hold his weight.
Jack stood in awe for a moment at the sight of those wings. That ended up being just enough time for the Beast to grab him. Thick arms wrapped around Jack’s middle, squeezing him tight. Jack pushed and twisted in place, trying to get loose of the Beast’s immense, crushing strength.
I swore I heard something crack which was followed by a pained wince on Jack’s face. I took a step forward without knowing it, but Firestar’s hand fell on my shoulder to stop me. I wasn’t going to go in there, and while I knew he wouldn’t kill him, it still upset me to see Jack in so much pain.
No longer fighting the grip, Jack slacked in the Beast’s arms, making the massive dragon think he’d won.
The Beast’s eyes stopped glowing as his wings retracted. The crowd began to boo as he made to fling Jack across the ring. Only as the Beast shifted his grip, Jack’s fist shot out, striking the Beast right in the throat.
The Beast dropped Jack, his meaty hands clutching at his neck as he tried to learn how to breathe again. Jack scrambled to his feet, one hand gripping his side, proof something was broken, but that wasn’t going to stop him. Darting around the Beast, Jack jumped onto his adversary’s back and wrapped his arms around the Beast’s thick, bull-like neck.
The Beast tried to get Jack off his back, but his frame was so massive that he couldn’t get his arms behind him with enough leverage to pry Jack loose. His eyes bulged in his head as Jack tightened his arms around his neck. In one last attempt to free himself, the Beast grabbed Jack’s arms, trying to pry them free with sheer brute strength, but he held on tight. Soon, the Beast fell to one knee and then the other. His eyes fluttered a few times before he fell forward with a loud boom.
As soon as he was sure the Beast was out, Jack released his hold on him, staggering to his feet. Lord Fafnir jumped into the ring faster than I had seen the old man move during the entire time we had been here.
He grabbed Jack’s hand and lifted it, and the movement made Jack cry out. Lowering Jack’s arm with an apologetic frown, Lord Fafnir shouted, “We have our champion!”
The crowd went wild. Everyone must have expected the Beast to be crowned the champion. To be honest, if I had bet on this game, I would have lost big time. No way would anyone have guessed Jack would win. The fact that he did was a miracle, though I was sure he didn’t feel that way now.
A medic helped Jack make his way over to where I stood. There was a pained grimace on his face that didn’t bode well. The moment he was within touching distance, I clambered over to him. I searched him over, looking for more damage, but Jack waved me off.
“I’m fine, Maya.” He groaned as the medic accidentally touched a tender spot. “I just need to get to Trina, that’s all.”
“Then I’ll come with you.” I took Jack’s arm around and put it over my shoulder, the medic doing the same on the other side.
“You don’t have to do that.” Jack shook his head, trying to remove his arm from me. “You should stay and watch the race. Raiden and Firestar need someone to cheer for them.”
My lips twisted in displeasure. “I’m sure they will manage without me this one time.”
I hated to miss the next event. I’d have loved to see Firestar and Raiden race. Flying had always fascinated me, and now that I could fly myself, it intrigued me even more.
To see a whole group of dragons of all kinds race against the clock would be a magnificent sight to see. With how competitive Raiden and Firestar were with each other, I’d imagined it would be an even more entertaining sight.
I was sad to miss it, but Jack’s injury couldn’t wait. He might have won the event, but he had taken quite a beating to gain the title of champion.
“Yeah, Jack,” Raiden added with a smirk. “You took enough of a beating for all three of us. You deserve our lovely Maya’s full attention. I’m sure she can find some way to make you feel better.” He waggled his eyebrows at us.
I rolled my eyes at him. Leave it to Raiden to be perverted at a time like this.
“Fine,” Jack huffed, finally agreeing. I think it was more from the fact that he was in pain than actually wanting me to come. If I was hurting like he was, I didn’t think I’d care who was at my side as long as they helped make the pain stop.
I tried my best not to jostle Jack as we made our way back to the house. Jack, the trooper that he was, barely made a sound the entire way. But one look at his sweat-covered face, and I knew he was in a lot of pain.
The medic pushed open the infirmary door and called for Trina. She came rushing toward us, took one look at Jack’s face, and said, “On the table.”
We brought Jack back to the main examination area. After helping him get up on the table, I didn’t move from his side until Trina asked me to give her some space.
“I thought you won this thing all the time? Was this guy so different because of how massive he was?” I asked as Trina worked on him.
Thankfully, most of the blood didn’t seem to be his own, but he still had a nasty gash on his forehead and from the way he winced under Trina’s expert touches, probably a broken rib or two.
“I’m out of practice.” Jack winced as Trina cleaned his wounds. “I usually spend months training before the games, but this time–”
“You were with me.” I sighed. It seemed my endless amount of bad luck was contagious. “You probably should have sat this one out then, don’t you think?”
Jack gave me an incredulous look. “Why would I do that? Just because I’m out of practice doesn’t mean I couldn’t win. I did, didn’t I?”
“Yes, but it was stupid,” Trina answered for me. She and I exchanged an understanding smile. I knew there was a reason I liked this woman.
“What she said.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “You guys keep harping on me about being safe. That should go for you as well. Who’s going to protect me if you guys get killed?”
Jack’s brow furrowed at my assessment, for once not arguing with me. If they thought me getting hurt would be bad, losing one of them would be the end of me.
“Maya,” Jack said my name with a soft tone. I glanced up to meet his eyes, and the knowing look there made me look away. “You aren’t going to lose me. Not today, not ever.”
My face flushed, and I grumbled, “What? Are you a mind reader?”
“No.” Jack chuckled before using his uninjured arm to tip my chin up. “I just know you.”
“Then you should know what I’m thinking right now,” I countered, remembering how much of a pretentious dick he could be.
Jack’s eyes narrowed, and he leaned toward me, completely ignoring the fact that Trina was there. “You better watch your mouth, or I’ll give it something better to do.”
“And that would be my cue to leave,” Trina announced, quickly getting to her feet. A faint blush covered her cheeks as she darted away, back to the games no doubt.
When she was gone, I moved closer to Jack, close enough that my nose brushed his. “In your shape, I don’t think you are in the position to make me do anything, Jack.” I punctuated his name with an over-exaggerated click of my tongue.
A deep, gurgling growl was my only warning before I found myself thrown over the side of the examination table. Jack’s hard front ground into my backside making me groan. I tried to turn my head to glare back at him for his rough handling, but Jack’s hand grabbed hold of my braid, keeping me still.
“You need to learn some manners, my love.” Jack pressed into me with each word, causing me to squirm beneath him. I wanted nothing more than to have him take me right now, but the part of me that still stung from his earlier betrayal convinced me not to make it easy for him.
“I think you have that the wrong way,” I snapped back, rubbing myself against him in circular movements. “I’m not the one who doesn’t know when he is beat.”
“From the position, I’m in,” Jack said, his hand dragging up the bottom of my dress until the air hit my bare skin, “I’m not the one who is in denial.”
The hand on my hair released me only to cup my breast instead. My skin sang at the contact even through the dress, my nipple pebbling instantly. Distracted by his hand, I didn’t realize he had undone his pants until I felt the press of his head against my soaked folds. I rocked my hips backward, urging him to take me, but Jack refused. With one hand on my hip, he rubbed himself on my sensitive skin, coating himself with my wetness.
With my skirt above my waist, my front rubbed against the table, sending shocks of pleasure through my body. That pleasure only intensified as Jack maneuvered my legs further apart. I knew I was supposed to be making it hard for him, but the need inside of me said he had suffered enough. I had suffered enough. I should just let him put us both out of our misery.