Naga's Concubine [Chronicles of the Shifter Directive 4] (Siren Publishing Epic Romance, ManLove)

by Scarlet Hyacinth

  Sage caught him just in time, wrapping his arm around Camden’s waist and holding him up. He removed his tongue from Camden’s ass and lifted his head. He didn’t seem surprised or disappointed that Camden had been unable to keep his hold onto the railing. If anything, his tight hold on Camden’s body and the nearly awed desire Camden could feel pulsing through their connection told Camden that his true prize hadn’t come just yet.

  He heard the lowering of a zipper, the thump of footwear being discarded, and the rustle of material being pulled off. Finally, Sage was taking his clothes off. Camden wished he could see it, but he didn’t get the chance to protest, because his lover was very quick in disrobing. Seconds later, Sage’s cock nudged at Camden’s opening. Slowly, ever so slowly, he slid inside.

  This time, no latex separated their bodies. Camden felt every inch of Sage as the draechen’s dick penetrated him. The invasion burned a little, but that ache made it all feel better, truer. Sage completely impaled him and stilled, allowing Camden to get used to the invasion.

  Sage needn’t have worried, because Camden’s body accepted it all eagerly. In fact, Camden pushed back against Sage, demanding more, needing Sage to show him that this was true, not some sort of deception conjured by… by who again? Varuna, Camden couldn’t remember.

  His mate chose this exact moment to pull out of him and thrust back inside again. In the process, he struck Camden’s prostate, causing shocks of pleasure to explode over Camden’s body. Camden buried his fingers in the sheets, clawing at the material, needing an anchor, but unable to get a grip.

  Sage set a nearly punishing page, every motion propelling Camden higher on the peaks of pleasure. He was everywhere, in Camden’s mind, in his body and his soul. Camden could smell him, taste him, breathe him, and feel him, through a million different sources. Their bond glowed stronger than ever before, so much so that it might have blinded Camden had he seen it with his physical eyes.

  Time seemed to stop, and Camden lost himself in Sage, in the new openness they had found through their reunion. They moved together in perfect synch, with Sage guiding Camden every step of the way. Every atom inside Camden turned into a little world of ecstasy. He became a conduit of pure rapture, of the bliss he and Sage were creating together.

  And then, Sage released another of his growls. Camden tilted his head, offering himself for Sage’s full domination. When Sage struck, Camden simply exploded. Several things happened at the same time. His cock jerked, spurting streams of hot cum all over the place, and his ass muscles tightened around Sage. But Sage was already coming, the taste of Camden’s blood and his pleasure enough to send him over the edge. Pushed into the most mind-melting climax as his life, Camden lost his very sense of identity, and gladly so. They were no longer Camden and Sage, as separate individuals, but a unified entity, a whole that could never be separated. His memories stopped being his, and became theirs. The almost ruthless intensity of Sage’s love chased away every doubt, until only the certainty of their union remained. That was the most important thing that stayed with Camden throughout it all, the love, materialized in the carnal pleasure but transcending the limits of the flesh, surpassing every possible boundaries anyone—including Camden—could ever try to put in its path.

  He honestly didn’t know how long it lasted, but it was so powerful that, when Camden began to recover from his climax, he had tears in his eyes. Sage slipped out of him and turned him in his embrace. As they cuddled together, the draechen reached out to him through their bond.

  “It wasn’t your fault,” Sage whispered, brushing his tears away. “You didn’t betray me.”

  Earlier, Camden might have doubted that, but now, he felt cleansed and purified by Sage’s strength and his passion. It was too easy to remember how he’d felt in those moments when he’d felt Sage shot, when he’d lost contact with his mate. All of their dancing around each other, playing by the rules, had been pointless. Camden had realized it so many times, and yet, he’d still ended up in a situation that had eventually forced them apart. But now, they were together again, and even if they remained in the enemy’s clutches, Camden found himself more optimistic than he’d been in quite a while. He felt closer to Sage than ever.

  There were so many things he could have said, so many arguments to make regarding his guilt, and how he should have stood up for Sage earlier. But as he met Sage’s gaze, Camden couldn’t hold onto that self-flagellation, because he had promised. Besides, he’d done his best with the circumstances that had been thrust upon him. He might have made the wrong choice, but in his heart, he’d hoped that his parents would eventually see the truth.

  To a certain extent, they had, and in the end, it hadn’t been them who’d caused this imprisonment. They couldn’t have known what would happen. That didn’t excuse their treatment of Sage, but it did provide Camden with a lesson. From now on, his mate would be the most important one. He’d never allow anyone to hurt Sage, ever again. He’d done the right thing in coming here, even if in the process he’d given his blood to the vampires. The one person he’d ever fully surrender to, in body and soul, was Sage, and that was what mattered.

  “No, it wasn’t,” he told his mate. “I love you, Sage.”

  Sage just smiled at him, and his eyes glittered with a dark promise. In that moment Camden truly knew that Sage would somehow come up with a way to get them out of here. And then, they’d build a new life together, like they should have from the moment they’d met. He was sure of it.

  * * * *

  Fallon Hanover breathed a sigh of relief when the noises inside his prisoners’ quarters stopped. It was far easier to use people as blood sources when he didn’t see them as real persons who could love and be loved. The clear bond between Camden Isaiat and Sagenamadeen Zager made him uncomfortable. He would never admit it to his underlings, and he didn’t even want to admit it to himself, but he was sort of pleased that he hadn’t been forced to kill them.

  But he had other more important things to worry about than the lives of the lovebirds. Taking a deep breath, Fallon retrieved his cell phone and pressed a button, speed-dialing the one man who knew the exact stakes of this situation.

  There were no greetings between them, but then, there never had been. “What did the draechen say?” the voice on the other side of the receiver asked without preamble.

  “They agreed to our terms, with the condition that Lieutenant Zager should report to them from time to time.”

  “I don’t like it,” the other vampire replied. “Zager is going to try to use that to escape.”

  Fallon knew that, but he didn’t have any choice but to agree. He hadn’t meant to draw the draechen in when he’d begun this campaign. By the time they’d realized the tight connection between Camden Isaiat and the draechen lieutenant, it had been too late to do anything about it. For a while, it had seemed like things were going to be all right and the draechen would solve Fallon’s problem for him by accusing the naga of something they hadn’t done, thereby separating the couple. However, Sagenamadeen had gotten in his way. Even when Fallon had snuck into Draechenburg and tried to stir up the erratic emotions, his powers hadn’t been able to surpass the already-established bond.

  But it was too late to stop this, far too late. They had no choice but to go through with their plan now, even if it meant involving the far too powerful draechen. Even if they were taking a huge chance in drawing Ornoz’s attention onto them, they knew now that the blood of the naga royal line was the key for the survival of the entire vampire race. “I’ll keep an eye on them,” he said. “I won’t let them ruin our plans.”

  “You do that, Fallon. We’ve lost many covens to the draechen already. We can’t let that be for nothing. We need that blood. If not…”

  The older vampire trailed off, but he didn’t have to finish the phrase. Fallon knew all too well what he was referring to. “I know, Father,” he replied glumly. “I know. But the vampires have survived a culling before. We won’t be wiped out, not this time.
Not by him, or by anyone.”

  His sire’s words were so soft Fallon could barely hear them. “I wish I could believe that. Keep me posted, Fallon. I’ll do what I can on my side.”

  Fallon swallowed around the knot in his throat. “Yes, Father. Good luck. I…”

  The dial tone sounded in his ear before he could finish the phrase. Better that way. Fallon didn’t know what he’d have said anyway. At this point, words were useless, and both of them knew it.

  Because the draechen might not know it, but right now, vampire king Stanton Hanover, Fallon’s sire, was the only thing standing between all of them and absolute destruction.

  * * * *

  “I’ve just received word from Sari. The draechen have stopped their attacks on the vampires.”

  Eanera opened her eyes as her king’s words penetrated her trance. “I know,” she replied calmly. “Karein is back in Draechenburg to stay. Sari tries not to show it, but he’s very relieved.”

  Selbrian sat next to her on the couch, pulling her feet in his lap. Eanera knew she probably shouldn’t be allowing it, but she did nonetheless. “Their friends are still missing,” he said. “I don’t suppose you have any idea where they are.”

  “I don’t know where they are right now, but I know where they’ll be.” She gave him a serious look. “We must speak to Sari, though. Something is coming, something I can’t see at all. I have a feeling that this is far more worrisome than the vampire threat.”

  Selbrian grimaced, obviously not liking the sound of that. Eanera didn’t blame him. Her premonition hadn’t been very clear, but she was more than certain of what she’d said to Selbrian.

  “I suppose that’s my cue to go prepare for the unavoidable fallout.”

  Eanera nodded. “I’ll contact Eternelle. I have a feeling Princes Talrasar and Kaelezrin will want to know about this.”

  She was honestly loathe to bother them during their well-earned holiday, but this new threat would affect all of them. Some sort of hidden knowledge told Eanera that they had a direct connection to this as well. Either way, they need the power of the ancient heroes by their side. In fact, Eanera suspected they’d need all the help they could get.

  “Prepare your forces, King Selbrian,” she added. “We have to get Sage and Camden out of there as soon as possible, because if we don’t… I don’t even want to think about what will happen.”

  Selbrian got up and kissed her cheek. He turned on his heel and left Eanera’s quarters. Eanera watched him go, wishing she could ease the burden upon his shoulders instead of adding to it. Unfortunately, there were some things not even she could change, such as Selbrian’s still-existing problems with his family, and now this.

  For no reason in particular, Eanera shivered. She suddenly knew that, by the time this was truly over, their lives would never be the same again.

  Chapter Twelve

  A few weeks later

  Sage watched the needle sinking into Camden’s flesh and clenched his hands into fists. No matter how many times he watched this process, he could never get used to it. The tiny pinprick couldn’t even be considered a real injury, but nevertheless, Sage took it hard every time. He tried to control his anger, knowing it wasn’t exactly easy on his mate either. Camden no longer struggled with the useless guilt of supposedly having caused their far too extended stay with the vampires, Sage’s love relieving him of that burden.

  But that didn’t mean that seeing Camden bled for the vampires’ pleasure didn’t make Sage’s dragon want to turn this entire place into Antarctica. He abstained with great difficulty, mostly because he knew that every second of the day, Fallon was watching them for any false movement.

  The vampire had been far more diligent about it than Sage had expected. In fact, in spite of Sage’s attempts to convey any sort of message to his home, Fallon had kept such a close eye on them that it had been impossible. They never stayed in one place for more than two days, and usually they left a lair after Sage sent messages to Draechenburg, therefore cancelling the relevance of any sort of clue he might have provided. Half the time, he didn’t know where he even was, which bothered him more than he wanted to show.

  Fortunately, he had Camden, and they anchored each other in a way only true mates could. So Sage was biding his time and waiting for the right chance to show up. It would happen eventually. Fallon was just one man, and his guards weren’t as careful as him. Sage had pretty much detected a couple of weak links in the vampires’ ranks, and he hoped that he’d be able to use that knowledge soon.

  As if guessing his thoughts, Fallon nudged his shoulder with the gun. “Careful now, Lieutenant Zager. We wouldn’t want our cooperation to end on an unfortunate note.”

  Sage shot him a disgruntled look, trying to figure out if he’d given himself away. It was likely that Fallon suspected Sage and Camden were planning to escape. After all, how could he not? But it didn’t seem like he knew anything certain. His sudden gesture of aggression was due to the fact that the couch Sage was sitting on had gradually been engulfed in ice.

  “And I wouldn’t be doing this if your cronies hadn’t decided to take a thousand vials of blood from Camden today.”

  “It’s okay, Sage,” Camden said from the medical bed. “I’m perfectly all right. We’ll get this over with soon, and then we can go back to our room.”

  He was smiling, but it didn’t really reach his eyes. He looked tired, which was unsurprising given the amount of blood the vampires were taking. The doctor didn’t confirm Camden’s assessment in any way, which irritated Sage beyond measure.

  “It could have been much worse,” Camden reminded him through their bond. “They could have insisted on biting me.”

  Camden was right, but Sage had to draw a line somewhere. “All right. That’s enough,” he said, getting up. “I’m not just going to sit here and watch you drain him dry.”

  The doctor shot Fallon a look, and the head vampire glowered at Sage. “I feel I must remind you that I can easily imprison you again,” he said. “We’ll do what we have to, and you’ll shut up about it.”

  “You can continue this another time,” Sage shot back between gritted teeth. “In fact, you will do it. That gun of yours won’t hold me back forever.”

  The threat didn’t seem to impress Fallon, but he did look Camden’s way. “Fine,” he said at last. “We’ve drawn enough blood for now. You can take him.”

  Following Fallon’s command, the doctor packed up the blood samples and sanitized Camden’s wound, wrapping a small bandage around it. Since Camden was a shifter, that shouldn’t have been necessary, but the entire process presented a huge strain on Camden’s body. While the vampires provided them with adequate meals in between “bleeding” sessions, Camden was still quite weak. Sage suspected Fallon might be doing it on purpose, knowing that Sage wouldn’t risk an escape with his mate in this condition.

  “I’m stronger than I look,” Camden said in Sage’s mind. “We can go as soon as we find an opening.”

  Sage knew that and he trusted Camden’s abilities, but it still drove him out of his mind to not be able to stop this. Perhaps the vampires realized that he was on the edge, because otherwise, they’d never have allowed Sage to be with Camden throughout this process in the first place.

  Sometimes, Sage wondered what exactly was at the bottom of this entire ploy. It seemed like the vampires were seeking something in particular in Camden’s blood. They weren’t using it to feed, but rather, they seemed to be shipping it for tests, although the destination was unknown to Sage.

  Either way, they’d managed to get this over with for the day. Sage walked to his mate’s side and took him in his arms. Bypassing Fallon, he headed toward the door and exited the room. Predictably, the vampire followed them like some malevolent shadow.

  “Don’t you have anything better to do than to haunt us, Count Dracula?” Sage asked.

  “No,” Fallon replied laconically. After a few moments, he elaborated. “You should be honored. You have m
y full attention.”

  “Great,” Sage replied. “I’m so very flattered.”

  After that, neither of them said anything, since Sage chose to focus on his mate. Camden had placed his head on Sage’s shoulder and seemed to be dozing off. In reality, he was very much awake, albeit still quite weak, but it was worth it to try to exacerbate the exact extent of the toll the bleedings took on Camden.

  Naturally, Fallon wasn’t the only one in the building following Sage around. In fact, there had to be over a hundred vampires here, all dedicated to the purpose of keeping Sage and Camden prisoner. But Sage had gotten pretty good at ignoring their stares. He got to Camden’s so-called quarters with no incident and slipped inside, closing the door in Fallon’s face. He was fairly certain there were cameras inside the room, so he and Camden never had any real privacy, but the illusion helped.

  Sage placed Camden on the bed and covered him with the quilt. He slid under the blanket as well, pulling his mate close. They just lay there for a while, reveling in each other’s proximity. Sage had to admit that he could only halfway enjoy it, because his dragon couldn’t just forget what had happened earlier. He was increasingly desperate to get Camden out of here, and only the knowledge that losing his calm would just make things worse had kept him from doing something he would regret.