by Delta James
“Then he is lucky indeed,” called Demelza as the women all agreed.
Holding the blanket closed with one hand, Bridget linked her arm with Demelza’s, saying, “Come and help me get dressed. I understand that in order to get his lordship there to breed me, I have to take vows.”
Gideon growled as their people cheered and made catcalls as she strolled away, exaggerating the natural sway of her hips. She looked back over her shoulder to see that the effect was not lost on him. Bridget was happy to see Demelza quickly losing her reserve with her. She wanted to foster among the women of their lands the same strong bond that the men shared with their liege lord.
“I can tell you he was none too happy when he discovered you’d flown the coop... literally.”
Bridget laughed. “Do me a favor and spread the word that it wasn’t because I didn’t want to be here with all of you or that I don’t feel called to Gideon.”
“Oh, no, Milady. None of us women thought that. He should have shown more care for your feelings before bringing you home as his mate... without even asking you. There’s more than one of us who wouldn’t have liked to have done the same with our men. They can get a bit high-handed when their blood is running hot.”
“Yes, they can. Demelza, is there anyone here who does not wish to be with the man who has claimed her? I will tell you plain, I won’t have it. I helped more than one she-wolf avoid that fate... much to my previous mate’s displeasure. But he was called to me and convinced my father that having the pack’s alpha mated to your daughter was far more preferable than one of your deckhands.”
“I can’t imagine what that must have been like for you...”
“Don’t get me wrong. He was good to me and I loved him. But I never wanted to be mistress to the pack. And now here I am, mated again to a powerful lord.”
“But this time of your own choosing... after the fact?”
Bridget laid her arm on Demelza’s. “Yes, I would choose Gideon. He’s not the only one whose blood is running hot thinking of tonight.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, what happened to the young fisherman?”
“I heard he left the village and the pack and took off on his own. I suppose I should have felt sorry for him, but he never even voiced an objection that another had claimed me.”
“But surely it would have done no good as it was the alpha of your pack.”
“Would it have stopped Cadan? Would he have allowed anyone to keep you from him?”
Demelza thought for a moment and then smiled. “When you put it that way...”
“Demelza, do me a favor and spread the word that if any woman—human, wolf, shifter, mutant, whatever—finds herself being forced into a pairing not of her liking, that I will put a stop to it one way or another. And let them know that for all his high-handedness, I would choose Gideon to be my mate.”
“Aye, Milady, I will. And if you’ll allow me, I would choose to serve you in any way possible.”
“I would rather we be friends and choose to make trouble together.”
“I would like that even more.” Impulsively, Demelza hugged her. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“As am I. Now let’s get me dressed so I can get this vow-taking thing out of the way and entice Gideon to get me naked and have his way with me.”
Giggling, Demelza had her dressed in record time.
Chapter Eleven
Bridget took a deep breath. She thought of her daughter and wished she could have been here to celebrate with them. She knew she had to tell Gideon and make the case that her daughter should be raised here at Tintagel. Her mind settled that she would tell him in the next few days, she descended the stairs to find Gideon waiting for her. Taking her hand in his, he nuzzled her neck and led her to a large bridal bower flanked by two bonfires.
“My people,” said Gideon in a loud voice than rang through the air. “Only a short while ago I woke to find myself alone in the northernmost portion of Britannia. My brothers still slept, and I knew I had been awakened for a reason. My first imperative was to return to my homeland and to the descendants who had once followed me so faithfully. Cadan’s ancestor, who was my last second in command, swore that all his descendants and those who shared their lives would keep the faith and hold this place in my name.”
A cheer went up from the assembled crowd.
Gideon let the noise quiet before continuing, “I am humbled that despite the passing of millennia, I returned to find that oath had been kept. I vow that I will never leave you again. Tonight marks the dawn of a new age. Not only have I returned to be with you, but have been called to my one true heart, my mate. I swear that we, and all of our kind who follow us, will never willingly leave you again.”
This time the cries of fealty and friendship rose to drown out the crackling of the bonfires.
Gideon smiled down at her. “So tonight I ask Bridget, my one true heart, the song of my heart and of my people to come and sing with me and soar among the clouds.”
An expectant hush fell over the crowd.
In a clear voice that could be heard by all, Bridget replied, “I will, Gideon, Lord of the Earth, and gladly. I entrust my heart and soul into your safekeeping.”
This time, she could not even hear herself think over the din from the crowd’s roar. Although the full moon’s luminosity cast a powerful light that encompassed the castle and the surrounding land, Bridget would always swear that it was the radiance from Gideon’s eyes that all but blinded her. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her with the fervor of a man who had been waiting a very long time for this. His lips were demanding, yet gentle. He claimed her mouth with the same level of intensity that his cock had reclaimed her pussy earlier in the day.
They were torn apart by their people who wanted to feast and dance the night away. Bridget and Gideon enjoyed the wonderful company, food, and spirits of those who shared their homeland and had come to help them celebrate. Finally, Gideon was able to sneak her away from them and up into their bridal chamber. Bridget wasn’t sure how she had done it but was quite certain that Demelza had prepared it for them. The bed had been freshly made with petals from broom, furze, rhododendron, and Cornish heath.
“I take it those flowers represent fertility here in Cornwall?” Bridget said with a laugh.
“Dragons have no need of flowers...”
“Perhaps, but it is a symbol of their good wishes for our endeavors.”
“Our?” Gideon asked. “Then can I assume, Bridget, Song of My Heart, that you consent to give up your immortality to create a new life with me?”
Oddly touched that he was asking, she responded, “Aye, my lord. Come and get me naked and make a baby with me.”
Gideon’s growl was low, dark, and seductive and made her shiver and growl in response. Bridget wrapped her arms around Gideon and rubbed her body all along his. She was intent on taking on the more aggressive role in their mating. She pulled his shirt free from his breeches before unfastening them and sliding the breeches down past his strong, muscular haunches.
When she knelt down to help him step free, she was eye to eye with the hard evidence of his need for her. Confronted with his engorged cock, which seemed to be twitching with its own need, she flicked her tongue over the head and heard him groan in response. She looked up into his face and saw him smiling as his hand gently grasped her head and directed her to do what he wanted.
Bridget licked down the top of the column of his staff and then back along the sensitive underside, paying special attention to the raised ridge wrapped around his cock. She found her mouth filled with the enormity of his member. Slowly, Gideon began to fuck her mouth. This was the first time she had serviced him orally. He groaned in pure male pleasure, as she used her mouth and tongue to pleasure him. Bridget was still awed that Gideon seemed to know her so intimately and how to coax her body to respond to his, even when all he was doing was stroking her hair.
Before she could bring him to any kind of release, he f
isted her hair and brought her up from her knees. Gideon pulled the combs from her hair to let it fall loose. He moved his hands down her back and untied her corset, removing it and the gown from her body. As her breasts were revealed, Gideon sighed contentedly and reached up with one hand to grasp a nipple as his mouth captured the other. Bridget swayed against him; his way of fondling her made her go weak at the knees and they threatened to buckle. She could barely hear his muffled amusement as his mouth, full of her areola and nipple, was busy suckling. Stripping her naked, he gently pushed her onto the bed.
Gideon smiled as he caught scent of her increased arousal and slid down her body, paying attention to her swollen labia and her engorged clit. As he had with her nipple, Gideon latched on to her distended nub and suckled, causing her to throw her head back and writhe under his assault.
“Gideon,” she growled softly as she came.
He continued to lick her from clit to slit, darting his tongue into her wet heat to encourage her body to quickly recover from one climax so he could coax another from her. He kissed his way from her mound to her belly and up once again to engage her nipples. He had no more than taken one in his mouth than he plunged two of his fingers into her heated channel, making her arch up into his hand and come a second time.
“Gideon, please,” she cried.
He slid his body up from between her legs, taking her buttocks in his hands and lifting her so that she was at the perfect height for him to surge forward, ramming his cock deep within her and making her climax yet again. Bridget writhed in his embrace. Gideon strengthened his hold so that she couldn’t move and began to thrust with a hard, rhythmic stroke. He seemed to revel in her coming apart in his hands. He held her in such a way that she could do nothing but act as a willing vessel for his lust. He continued to ram his cock into her over and over. Her orgasmic spasms only inflamed his need.
Bridget could feel the hard ridge twisted around his cock scoring her sheath as he plunged into her repeatedly. The combination of his thrusting with the way he held her in place increased her shameless need for him. He rode her through a series of climaxes; each time she could feel her inner walls being etched in a way she knew would allow his seed to take root. As she called his name, clinging to him, he withdrew just enough that the ridge could detach from behind the crown of his cock before he drove his shaft back into her forcefully.
The dragon’s tongue snaked its way to her dark rosebud before entering and extending up into her, expanding to fill her before it too stroked her in a most delicious way. One climax followed another, imitating the waves lapping upon the shore, one barely retreating before the next surged forward. She reached up and covered his hands with hers, trying to grasp his powerful forearms to entreat him to seek his own release. Bridget embraced him as she raked his back with her nails, leaving deep scratch marks as evidence of the wildfire that raced through her system. She felt the ridge latch onto the delicate tissue of her dark passage, limiting her ability to move. Gideon rutted with her for more than an hour with her impaled by both his cock and the ridge that was unique to dragons. She wailed her need; he did nothing but stroke her further into ecstasy. Bridget clung to him as exhaustion overtook her and he plunged to her depths, filling her with his cum.
Gideon withdrew both his cock and the dragon’s tongue, growling in her ear as he rolled her on her belly and took hold of her hips, pulling her to her knees. She felt the hard-pointed ridge, which had lost little of its girth, thrust deep into her pussy as she felt Gideon’s cock push past the tight ring of muscle that guarded her back entrance and begin to stroke her. When it had been the dragon’s tongue that entered her there, it had been small enough to be given easy access before it would swell and fill her to a comfortable level. But Gideon’s engorged staff was another thing altogether and he was beyond his abilities to take her bottom hole gently. Instead when the head of his cock encountered resistance, he surged forward forcefully, breaching her to claim her completely. As he thrust his staff in her dark passage, the dragon’s tongue suddenly anchored, like a grappling hook, in her vaginal walls, making her scream. Just as the pain began to retreat, the ridge let go; before she could catch her breath and begin to breathe easier, the ridge dug its barb into her again.
Bridget wanted to fight to be free of him, but the rutting and almost continual climaxes had exhausted her and sapped her of her strength. He continued to take her ass almost roughly as the devil’s tongue repeatedly stabbed her, leaving his seed in the furrows it had prepared while still twisted around his cock. She struggled and thrashed, clawing at the bedsheets to try to get away.
Gideon refused to release her, grasping her hips more firmly, saying, “I told you dragon breeding was not gentle, nor is it for the faint of heart.”
He continued to stroke her bottom hole as she shook and quivered and tried to wrap her head around the intense pleasure, intermingled with pain, being forced on her. Bridget’s breath sped up, and the noises she was making quieted to little whimpers as her orgasms approached faster and more powerfully than she could comprehend. Her body stiffened in anticipation as she felt his stroking take on a new level of intensity. Once more she fell over the edge into the abyss of ecstasy a final time; Gideon gave a last ferocious thrust deep inside her, filling her bottom hole with cum as the dragon’s tongue deposited the last of his seed.
Gideon pulled her over onto her side, remaining lodged within both of her sheaths. He stroked her body as he rumbled to her seductively and lovingly. She tried to wriggle away from him; his hand reached down to cup her mons and lock her against him.
“Nay, beloved, I will remain locked to you as the dragon’s tongue finishes its work.”
“Let go of me, Gideon. That thing hurts,” she said as the ridge continued to stab within her.
“I know, but it will get easier and then you can rest.”
“At least being knotted and tied only hurts for a moment.”
He nuzzled her and she felt her body begin to yield to his loving touch as he purred and growled at her and she relaxed against him as she felt him uncouple from her.
“My brave drakania. My beautiful mate,” he soothed.
He stroked her body lovingly and softly hummed to her until she felt her eyes closing. Her sleep was deep and filled with images and dreams of things that had happened long before her lifetime. But in each episode of her dreaming, there was one constant... Gideon. Somehow, she knew he had always been her mate. He soothed her as in her mind’s eye Bridget saw the destruction of the eggs, felt as the last female dragon’s heart was ripped from her chest and crushed, almost killing her mate in the same instant. Bridget watched as the body was laid to rest with the shattered remains of their future and the entrance to the Cave of Tears was sealed.
Bridget felt Gideon nuzzle her gently as he coaxed her onto her back. She smiled as he parted her legs, settled himself there, steadied her and mounted her with a tenderness and reverence that called forth an intense climax as she called his name and clung to him. Gideon’s hands reached under her to cup her buttocks as he held her close and began to slowly thrust within her as he kissed her face and captured her mouth in a soul-stealing kiss that left her breathless. She bowed her back to take him deeper and climaxed again as he held himself aloft on his strong muscular arms.
Bridget wrapped her legs around his hard thighs as he stroked her, drawing back so that just the head of his cock remained inside her before sinking back to the very depths of her sheath. She grasped his forearms as he began to pick up the rhythm and pace. He drove his cock in and out of her faster as her body became flushed and her breathing erratic.
“Gideon,” she cried as another fierce climax caused her body to shudder in response as he surged forward a last time, the ridge scoring her pussy as he found his own release.
“Song of my heart,” he said as the last of his seed spilled within her. He gazed into her eyes as he smoothed the hair back from her face. “Will you not share with me the shadow that is on yo
ur heart? At least let me help you shoulder the burden of whatever it is.”
Bridget took a deep breath, shook her head, and tried to uncouple and roll away from him.
“It’s nothing.”
“Drakanias who lie to their lord and master are punished,” he said evenly.
When she said nothing, he released her but said, “Very well. You can get up, but you will kneel before me.”
Bridget did as he commanded and sank gracefully to her knees, keeping her eyes downcast. She didn’t move until he lifted her chin in his hand and searched her face.
“You carry the future of our species within your womb, can you not trust me with your secrets? Do you not yet understand that my heart beats for you and I will do anything to ensure you and our children will want for nothing?”
“There is a child...”
He smiled. “I am well aware; I put it there.”
“No, you don’t understand, there is another...”
“Child? You were with child and those egotistical wolves let you go off on some kind of quest to find and rebuild a lost city? The pack at Dundalk does not deserve you,” he snarled, helping her to stand. “You should have said something. Your transition would have harmed the baby. If it still lived, I fear the new life that beats within you will have dislodged it and caused it to die. Your dragon should never have come forward. Why did you not tell me?”
Bridget placed her fingers over his lips to silence him.
“I was not with child when we met and the only baby in my womb for many years is the one you gave to me last night, but I have a daughter. She was born from my pairing with the alpha of Dundalk. I worried that you would want me parted from her and if not you, I doubt her uncle would agree to let her go...”
Gideon kissed her fingers. “How could you think me so cruel as to separate you from your daughter? What Ruari of Dundalk agrees or doesn’t agree to as far as our wolf-child is concerned is of little consequence. I will ensure all is ready for you here and that you are safe before I go after her. What is her name? Tell me about her.”