Dragonlord: A Dark Shifter Romance

by Delta James

  He poured a bucket of water over his head to clear it. Shaking his wet hair, he stood and stretched. Most of his men had gone home to their wives, taunting him that they would have a more pleasurable night than he. His hadn’t been too bad as he felt secure in Bridget’s love and had consumed enough mead to ensure a good night’s rest. He had barely finished dressing when he felt his heart seize in his chest. The pain was excruciating.

  Turning toward the castle, he rushed inside, barely noticing the enticing aromas coming from the kitchens in preparation for their celebratory feast.

  “Bridget,” he roared as he flung open the door knowing what he would find... she was gone.

  * * *

  Bridget stood as she approached the shore and walked out of the water. Her plan, at least she’d thought that was her plan, was to test her wings last night and then remain in the cove until Gideon discovered her gone. She hadn’t really considered leaving him. The last thought had barely formed when a feeling of agony, both physical and emotional assailed her. Bridget dropped to her knees, trying to catch her breath. Gideon had warned her that the pain far exceeded anything wolves experienced when parted from their mates.

  One thing the flying had done was allow her to clear her head and consider her options. She wondered if the distance might ease the enormity of the loss she felt with time. She questioned though if that was what she really wanted. One thing she did know was that she did not want to return to Dundalk except to retrieve Ciara. The question she couldn’t answer was whether she wanted to return to Gideon and ask whether or not he could accept her child and under what circumstances or whether she felt her destiny lay with the lost village. Having found the shards of pottery on the beach, she was convinced that it had at one time existed and was close to where she found them.

  However, she thought, her more immediate concern was finding clothes. A naked female was vulnerable. Bridget laughed as she realized a naked human female was, yes; a naked wolf-shifter had the ability to call on her wolf for protection, which would level the playing field in most circumstances. But the ability to call on her inner dragon? That was a whole different kettle of fish. Thinking of that made her realize she was hungry. Food and clothes; those were her priorities.

  Bridget made her way to a small fishing community. The sun was quickly brightening the day, so she stayed hidden in the dunes. She tried calling forth her wolf and although she could feel her presence, it wasn’t strong enough to come forward. She moved up the cliffs onto the farmlands hoping to find something more isolated than the village where she could obtain clothing. Bridget moved with stealth and kept herself hidden until she found a small farmhouse. The inhabitants seemed to be involved either with caring for livestock or meal preparation. She was able to find a serviceable skirt and blouse with an under-bust corset. Not necessarily what she was used to, but it would have to suffice. Before leaving the farm, Bridget snagged a fresh loaf of bread that had been left to cool in the window. When she was able, she meant to repay the farmers for their unknown kindness.

  The ache in her chest had become dulled but persistent. She headed back down to the beach with the idea to stick close to the cliff until she could figure out what she wanted to do, or at least had regained enough strength to do something else. Bridget knew that she was safer on the move than just waiting around. She was quite certain that both Gideon and Ruari would now be searching for her. The idea of being found by Ruari’s people and returned to Dundalk had no appeal other than to retrieve her daughter. On the other hand, the idea of reuniting with Gideon filled her with longing and desire. She shook her head; she knew either was most likely to result in getting spanked. The difference was with those at Dundalk, it would just be painful. With Gideon, while still painful, there would also be a reignited fire for the dragonlord and his ability to assuage that need in the most delicious way. She had no doubt that his warning about being bred when one was still tender from a spanking was the truth, but she found her nipples stiffening and arousal racing through her system only added to her need to be with him.

  Well, she thought, that told her what she needed to know and to do. She needed to return to Gideon and tell him about Ciara. She wanted to bring her daughter home, and she now knew home was Tintagel. Her reverie was broken when a thundering screech ripped through the morning sky. She looked up to see Gideon headed directly toward her. Even if she hadn’t recognized his bronzed scales shining metallically in the sky, her heart would have known it was him. The pain of being parted from her true heart had faded to nothing.

  Gideon landed on the beach, back feet first, wrapping his body around hers as he came down on all fours. There was a hue and cry from the villagers at the sight of a beast they had long believed to be extinct. Clutching her in one of his front claws, Gideon roared again with enough force that the earth trembled. He beat his wings, creating a powerful updraft and lifting them off the ground, turning toward the ocean and getting them away. He flew along the coastline, using the cliffs for cover and skimming the waves. She knew it wasn’t because he feared confrontation with humans; Gideon was well aware of his power and strength. She took comfort in knowing that even though he knew he would prevail in a fight, he chose to preserve life if he could.

  Climbing up from the sea, he flew along the face of the cliff until he found a large opening in the rock. Gideon folded his wings and flew into the mouth of a large cave. He set her down before landing and morphing back to his human form. Before she could say a word, he dragged her into his arms and brought his mouth crashing down onto hers. The kiss was raw and demanding, primitive and dominating. Gideon was angry and was letting her know it in no uncertain terms. Instead of resisting as she had done in the past, Bridget allowed herself to open her heart, embrace his anger and melted into him, moaning with desire.

  Gideon ended the kiss and without a word, grasped her upper arm and dragged her to a natural bench of rock where he sat down, tossed her over his lap, and lifted her skirt to bare her backside. Before she could catch her breath or think of anything to say that might dissuade him, his hand descended in the first of what she feared would be many hard swats.

  Bridget had always hated being spanked. Even when her former mate had disciplined her, she had never become overly aroused by either the pain or the show of dominance. Physically she had responded to the point that she took pleasure in the sex that followed and having him restore peace between them. But never to the point where there wasn’t some small part of her that resented having to submit to him. With Gideon she was finding it was different. She still disliked being on the receiving end of a spanking, but part of the discomfort came from a growing need to have him mount her to reinforce the lesson that she would yield to his authority.

  Gideon’s hand came crashing down on her upturned bottom repeatedly. Each strike of his hand not only created heat spreading across her backside, but the fire that now raced through her veins increased in its intensity and caused the pool of desire between her legs to bubble and boil. The fact that she was becoming wildly aroused only increased the level of pain the spanking caused. He raised and lowered his hand in a rapid tempo that didn’t just reignite the pain from his previous spankings but ramped it, and her arousal, up to a dull agony.

  “No, Gideon, stop. Please!”

  “No. You deserved to be punished on a variety of levels. To begin with, you should never have taken your first flight without me by your side to ensure you were safe. And where the hell did you think you were going? Did you think, my mate, I would let you simply fly off into the wild beyond and not come after you? Did you not experience the anguish of our being parted?”

  Gideon punctuated each question with several harsh blows to her already aching backside. He said nothing more but continued to cover her behind with sharp, staccato swats, which caused her to squirm and kick her legs although neither was effective in getting him to stop. He moved his hand over her buttocks so that each slap was distinct and effective in expressing his displeasu
re with her behavior. He moved down to the lowest and most sensitive portion of her rump before continuing on down to her thighs. Bridget kicked and screamed to no avail.

  He seemed in no hurry to stop battering her ass. She could feel his erection underneath her, throbbing and poking into her belly. She vacillated between wanting to kill him and doing anything he wanted if he’d only fuck her. If he needed to spank her in order to express his displeasure with what she’d done, she needed for him to mount her and ride her hard to allow her to atone for that same behavior.

  Bridget capitulated to the spanking and quit fighting him, as both the pain and her need to feel his possession were becoming unbearable. She began to sob and plead with him. Finally, he stopped.

  “You are my one true heart. Do you deny it?” he asked, swatting her hard with each word.

  “No, I don’t. I’m your mate. I’m sorry I left and that I worried you. Please be done.”

  “I may be close to done with spanking your beautiful bottom with my hand, but you’ve earned yourself a good taste of leather.”

  Bridget began to struggle anew as she saw him reach for the thick two-inch piece of leather and double it in his hand. “No,” she wailed.

  “Yes,” he whispered as he raised it in his hand and brought it down hard across both of her butt cheeks, leaving a trail of misery in its wake.

  Bridget screamed but it did not stop the strap from striking a second time. She renewed her struggles and fought with every ounce of her strength, but she was no match for her mate. Her mate, for she knew that Gideon was her one true heart... the reason she had always been able to keep a part of herself separate from those at Dundalk. There would be no such hiding place with Gideon. He and Tintagel were her refuge... the place she had been seeking all her life. He welted her twice more as she screamed. Her pain was only exceeded by the need she had to feel the hard cock that was throbbing beneath her buried inside her up to its hilt.

  Gideon stopped and stripped her of her clothing. Lifting her in his strong arms, he stood and then positioned her over the rock bench. Without another word, he shoved two fingers up her soaked pussy and stroked her roughly, gathering some of her natural lubricant. She glanced over her shoulder to see him slathering it over his cock. His cock was even more impressive as he was preparing to use it on her. It was enormous with its bulging plates and the dragon’s tongue wrapped tightly around it.

  Bridget was quite certain she’d never seen a cock that hard, certainly she’d never seen one made that way. He smiled at her when he saw she was looking at him. Gideon grasped her cheeks and the head probed between her folds until at last he found the entrance to her core. With a mighty groan, he mounted her, sinking all the way to the end of her sheath. She screamed and climaxed from his dominant possession. As unrelentingly as he had spanked her, Gideon began to fuck her with the same zeal. He held her tight as he rammed his cock into her pussy, causing her to hover between pain and ecstasy.

  “Gideon,” she screamed as another intense orgasm seized her body and her sheath clamped down on the ramrod pistoning in and out of her.

  His cock stretched her cunt while the ridge scored her inner walls as over and over he thrust deep into her. His hips slamming into her red and welted bottom reminded her that this too was part of what he meant to inflict on her to ensure she knew how displeased he was at having to come after her. She knew he meant to prove his prowess and strength and settle in her mind that he was dominant, and she would be his compliant mate. Each time she came, her body produced more lubricant to ease his way. She knew, instinctively, that he intended to make her sore. She only hoped he wouldn’t choose to breed her here in this cavern.

  Gideon continued to batter her pussy with his powerful staff. He took harder and longer strokes so that she felt every inch of him as he drove into her and reached her cervix. Had he not been holding her in position, she would have crumpled beneath him. He said nothing but made noises that expressed the pleasure he was getting from her body and her response to him. Bridget had lost count of how many times he had driven her to the very peak of ecstasy and forced her to tumble into the abyss.

  She was exhausted physically and emotionally, as he began to plunge faster and more forcefully. She was just tipping over into another climax as his cock released a sea of his cum into her pussy. He grasped her more firmly to him and butted her derriere with his hips as he pumped his seed into her; its heat coated and soothed the ravaged walls of her cunt. When at last he had emptied his last drop into her, he uncoupled from her, giving her punished backside one last hard swat.

  “And when we get home, my one true heart, you will take your vows and I will put the first of our offspring in your belly.”

  He prowled around the cave; she stayed where he left her with the overflow of semen slowly leaking out of her pussy and down her legs.

  “Can I get up?” she asked quietly.

  “Suddenly you ask for permission to do something?”

  “Yes. I’d like to explain.”

  “If you think you can say anything that will make me regret punishing you, don’t waste your breath. And for future reference, you do not fly or leave Tintagel without express orders from me. Get up and ready yourself to shift. We will leave for home momentarily.”

  Realizing there was little she could do to soothe his ire, she stood facing him. Bridget could feel the shift in his demeanor as he reached over to take her breast in his hand, tracing the outer rim of her areola before circling it until her nipple was between his fingers. He rolled it between them, rumbling at her seductively. Even though he had ridden her hard and to numerous climaxes, and only just finished with her moments before, she could feel the familiar tingle between her legs. She knew that if he wanted to breed with her now in this cave, she would welcome it. She realized her life was no longer her own; it was joined with Gideon’s and the fate of the dragons... not just because she had become dragon, but because regardless she would choose this man to be her mate. She smiled quietly at the realization that although it was not the destiny she thought she would have chosen for herself, it was the one she truly wanted. She would bide her time a bit longer to tell him about Ciara.

  “I am ready, my lord,” she said as meekly as she could.

  Gideon grinned at her and tweaked her nipple.

  “Do not think to play me the fool, my one true heart. By this time tomorrow you will have sealed your fate with mine and life will have sparked in your womb.”

  Bridget laughed softly. “Then best you not make merry with your men this evening but attend to me instead.”

  She called forth her dragon as she turned to run from him and leaped out of the cave, unfurling her wings and allowing the warm sea breezes to catch and lift her into the air. She heard Gideon’s roar behind her. The sensual shudder that went through her body prompted her to fly faster. She soon found herself, however, racing and dancing with Gideon in the clear blue skies and clouds that reminded her of powdered snow.

  Once over their own territory, they dropped low and skimmed along the earth, hearing the cheers of their people. As they approached the expanse around the castle, Bridget realized its purpose, to allow for the easy takeoff and landing of dragons. She held back and watched him land, hoping she would not make too big a fool of herself. She touched down and allowed her dragon to recede. She might have lost her balance and fallen had Gideon’s strong arms not been there to catch her.

  “I have you, my love,” he purred at her.

  She threw her arms around his neck and pressed herself into him. “You do indeed, my lord. And I shall revel in your taking,” she said before kissing him passionately, which he returned with equal ardor to the salutations of those who were gathered at the castle.

  “And after our time in the cave, I’m sure my pussy is ripe for your seed to take root,” she whispered so only he could hear.

  Bridget laughed as she felt his cock become engorged at her teasing. She tried to pull away but he held her close.

>   “Cadan, could you bring us something to cover up with?” he called, not allowing her to move away from him.

  Bridget wasn’t sure if it was to hide her nakedness or the fact that his cock was poking at the juncture of her legs.

  “If you aren’t careful, my true heart, you will find yourself pregnant at our bonding feast,” he purred in her ear.

  She rubbed herself wantonly against him, again to the cheers of their people.

  “I think, my lord, that your lady is most desirous to be done with the taking of vows and feasting. It would seem that a strap applied to a drakaina’s behind has much the same effect as when it is applied to a human female,” called one of their men.

  Bridget had forgotten that her rump might still be showing the evidence of Gideon’s displeasure with her. She sought to pull away from him, but he held her close.

  “I thought I would have healed completely,” she hissed at him.

  “Any wound save that from dragon fire or from the chastisement of your mate.”

  Gideon kissed her again and ran his hand down over her flank to cup and caress her reddened and striped globes. Cadan arrived with a pair of breeches for Gideon and a beautiful, soft blanket for her.

  “My lady,” he said with reverence. “I take it you have rethought your decision to fly from your mate?”

  “I have, indeed. I fear your dragonlord has saddled himself with a red-haired, nasty-tempered she-wolf, daughter of an Irish fisherman.”