by Kell Amber
Cebrus’s sincerity must’ve cut through Silvan’s indecision because he nodded and his eyes held more understanding than Cebrus had expected to ever get. “Let’s go.”
He grabbed Cebrus’s arm and tugged him back to the dragon. Oddly enough, the more confident Silvan’s steps became, the more Cebrus dragged his feet.
A few paces from the beast in human form, Silvan turned back to look at Cebrus. “What’s wrong?”
“Will it hurt?” Cebrus bit his lower lip. He hated to admit it after all his talk, but he didn’t handle pain well.
“The kiss? Why would a kiss hurt?” Silvan asked.
“Because I’m a creature of fire, idiot,” the dragon said. “Your mate is obviously the brains out of the pair of you.”
Silvan scowled as if contemplating making a new pair of dragon skin boots. “Will it hurt him? I won’t allow you to scorch Cebrus inside out.”
Cebrus couldn’t hold back the smile over the little thrill Silvan’s possessive attitude gave him. Not his usual style, Cebrus didn’t tend to like manly types who beat their chest when confronting an enemy. Somehow, Silvan made the entire encounter sexy.
“Why would I hurt the pretty man? It’s so rare that someone actually seeks me out. It might be a little uncomfortable, but I assure you I won’t do him any intentional harm.”
Cebrus didn’t like the dragon’s wording. He had a feeling the sly beast would say anything to get his way, but he didn’t dislike it enough to call everything off.
“Are you sure about this?” Silvan asked.
“Yes.” Cebrus took a deep breath and stepped closer to the dragon.
“Such a brave little human,” the dragon praised.
Inwardly, Cebrus quaked in his boots, but he’d learned to fake confidence over his years of travel. He could do this. He could do anything if it would get him his heart’s content.
“Now or never, love,” Silvan said. He placed his hands on Cebrus’s arms, making sure he had skin touching skin to ground him.
“Ready?” The dragon’s smile had too many teeth to be reassuring.
Silvan wrapped his hands around Cebrus’s wrist to let him know he was there. Cebrus pushed back a bit for touch. Silvan must’ve gotten the idea because he slid his thumb across Cebrus’s skin. They walked up to the dragon and Cebrus froze. His path had taken him down roads he hadn’t expected. At one time, he’d thought he’d never met anyone who had already finished his life quest, and there before him was the end in sight.
What would he do for the rest of his life?
“You’ll figure something out,” the dragon said cryptically.
Cebrus nodded. He stopped within arm’s reach of the human dragon. How would this work? Nerves jittered around inside him like a weird jumping bug. Cebrus opened his mouth to ask a question, but before he could speak, the dragon kissed him.
Silvan’s kisses melted Cebrus with their sweetness and passion. The dragon’s touch heated Cebrus's insides, creating a core of fire in his stomach. It should’ve hurt; instead it was as if he were accepting the dragon’s essence. Magic flashed through him. His right hand tingled where he’d automatically placed his right hand on the dragon’s neck for balance.
Gradually, the dragon’s kiss became slower, less fevered, then he stepped back. Cebrus began to move forward to encourage the contact only to have Silvan hold him tight.
Cebrus leaned back against Silvan, reluctant to release the bewitching creature, but even less willing to hurt his mate.
The dragon’s eyes were wide as if he feared Cebrus. That couldn’t be the case. Cebrus was probably the least scary person ever.
“Are you all right?” Cebrus asked the dragon. It was hard to focus with magic zinging through his body. From his toes to his ears, he could feel energy floating through him, but the dragon’s expression dampened down his excitement.
“You aren’t just a wandmaker,” the dragon said. “You are the one we’ve been waiting to lead us.”
Chapter Six
Silvan slowly moved them back a few steps from the dragon. “What are you talking about? Lead you where?”
The dragon tilted his head as he examined them. His eyes glowed in a brief flash. “I should’ve said unite instead of lead. Do you know how many wandmakers have wandered onto my island over the five thousand years I’ve lived here?”
“No,” Cebrus replied.
“Less than a hundred. Do you know how many allowed me to kiss them?”
Cebrus shook his head.
“None. Not one had the fortitude to approach me. They tried to sneak past me or have their magician friends charm me. But they never once approached me face to face. You are a rare man, Cebrus. It is said by my people that the man who can kiss a dragon, can rule them all. Would you like to be the next dragon king, my sweet wandmaker?”
Silvan wrapped a hand across Cebrus’s mouth before he could comment. “What does that mean exactly? How can he be a dragon king if he’s not a dragon.”
The dragon smiled, exposing rows of sharp, pointy teeth. “I see you will make an excellent consort. Always the levelheaded one, aren’t you?”
“I try,” Silvan replied. “You didn’t answer the question.”
Cebrus wanted to know what the dragon meant about consort. He was Silvan’s consort, not the other way around.
Silvan took his hand away from Cebrus’s mouth. “Don’t agree to anything foolish, my love.”
“But is he truly your love?” the dragon asked. “Or is he merely a mate of convenience?”
Silvan tightened his hold on Cebrus. “He’s mine.”
Warmth from Silvan’s word and his hard body against Cebrus’s back infused him with a cozy heat in the pit of his stomach. Cebrus wiped his forehead. Had the sun grown hotter?
The dragon tilted his head as he examined them. “The truth has been lost over the years, but wandmakers are the descendants of dragons. The reason you couldn’t do magic before is because you are magic. Your dragon essence oppressed your magic until I awakened it with my kiss.”
“So it has nothing to do with the trees here?” Cebrus asked.
“No. I planted that story centuries ago to lure wandmakers here to test and see if their dragons could be awakened. You are the only one who has passed the test. You are special, my dear Cebrus,” the dragon purred. “Not only have I awakened your magic, but I’ve roused your sleeping dragon.”
“What?” Silvan asked.
As the words sank in, Cebrus fell against the prince. Silvan grabbed him and lowered him gently to the ground as Cebrus began to convulse.
“What did you do?” he shouted at the beast.
The dragon smiled. “Helped him achieve his destiny.”
Cebrus couldn’t breath. His lungs seized as they tried to gather oxygen, and fire licked up his back. Not true flames because he couldn’t smell smoke or hear the crackle of a fire, but his back burned as if his skin was trying to sear off his bones.
Gasping for air, Cebrus grabbed at the first thing he could reach.
Silvan!
His lover watched him with a frightened expression as if he were the one experiencing the bone-melting agony.
“Wh-what’s happening to me?” Cebrus whispered. The world sparkled along the edges as pain seared through his body in a series of bursts. Spreading from his back to his arms to his fingers, then back to his toes, Cebrus’s entire body burned. When he thought he couldn’t take another second of burning, a tingling sensation took over.
Tiny pins jabbed at his skin, leaving a numbing wave to sweep across him, taking away the fire and leaving nothing in its wake.
“Transformation,” the dragon said, satisfaction dripping from his tone. If Cebrus could remember how to stand, he’d punch the smug beast.
“What is he changing into?” Silvan asked the question preying on Cebrus’s mind.
Fear beat back the numbness like a wild creature in Cebrus’s chest.
The dragon grabbed Silvan and pulled him back. �
��You don’t want to be too close for this.”
For what?
The question barely filled his mind before Cebrus screamed. The sound ripped from him as his body tore apart and reformed. Cebrus rolled to his stomach as wings sprouted from his back, his fingernails lengthened and turned to talons. His body grew, pushing the ground farther and farther away. Gold scales poured across his skin like a liquid stream gleaming in the sunlight.
Cebrus tossed back his head and roared. The sound reverberated off the stone.
“Magnificent,” the dragon-man declared.
“What do you mean magnificent!” Silvan shouted. “My lover just turned into a dragon!”
Cebrus lowered his body until his belly rested on the dirt and his chin met the earth. He turned pleading eyes toward his mate. Surely Silvan could help him change back.
He tried to whimper, but a snort of smoke puffed out of his nose. Jerking back in surprise, he shook his head, trying to get it to stop.
Smoke! Smoke!
His nose was on fire. He tried batting at it with his paw, but he caught a claw on his nostril.
Ow.
“Easy, Cebrus,” the dragon-man said.
Silvan petted Cebrus's scales, but stayed where Cebrus could see him.
The dragon-man walked over to stand in front of Cebrus’s head. “Think of your human form. Imagine feet. Imagine hands. Imagine you want to kiss your man.”
Cebrus struggled to remember how feet looked. Were they bumpy? Was his second toe longer than his first? His mind spun as he tried to recall. Then he caught sight of Silvan and the last part of the dragon-man’s statement jolted through him.
He did want to kiss Silvan. A sharp line of pain rippled up his spine, and everything became bigger as he shrank. After an eternity, in his mind, but probably only a few minutes in reality, he lay facedown on the earth at his lover’s feet.
“There you are,” Silvan said.
Cebrus sighed at the sensation of Silvan sliding a hand down his naked back. His clothes lay on tatters on the ground, but he couldn’t make himself care. A rolling purr poured out of him at his mate’s touch.
Mate.
The word reverberated through his mind and dance across his tongue. “My mate.”
“I’m right here, love,” Silvan replied. His fingers continued to skate across Cebrus’s skin in slow liquid motions. It didn’t take long for his body to respond to the attention against his naked skin.
A noise came out of him, part man, part beast. Another purr. Weird.
“You might want some privacy,” the dragon-man said. Amusement threaded through his voice. “Sometimes the shift has an amorous affect on dragonkin.”
“So I noticed.” Silvan didn’t sound upset.
Cebrus continued to melt beneath his lover’s attention.
“There’s a bed in my cave if you’d like to use it,” the dragon-man offered.
Before he could comment one way or another, Silvan flipped him over and Cebrus’s hard cock rose to greet Silvan’s hand.
“Right, privacy.” Silvan lifted Cebrus off the ground and carried him over to the cave indicated. Cebrus noticed with interest that without knowing the location of the dragon’s home, he never would’ve found it.
Cebrus enjoyed the feel of his mate carrying him. He nuzzled in closer, inhaling Silvan’s enticing scent. Mine.
“You realize in dragon form, you’re on your own. There’s no way I’m carrying your enormous scaly ass.”
Cebrus sniffed. “I’m sure I’m a very fine dragon.”
Silvan smiled. “You’re beautiful no matter what your shape, but it still scared the god and goddess out of me when you shifted. Do you think you can do it again?”
“I hope not,” Cebrus said. The lack of control in his dragon form had scared him.
“You’ll get used to it. If you are going to lead the dragons, you’ll need to be able to communicate with them in your dragon shape.”
“Lead them? Who said I was going to lead them?” Cebrus asked, appalled.
“Hmm. You must’ve missed that part of our conversation.”
Cebrus would’ve asked more questions, but they entered the cave and the dragon’s enormous bed took all thoughts out of his head except climbing onto the soft surface and enjoying his mate.
* * * *
Silvan stroked Cebrus’s skin to calm him. Cebrus trembled from the stress of his muscles changing shape twice in a row. It didn’t take much to persuade Cebrus to lie down beside him.
To Silvan’s surprise, the dragon didn’t try to join them. He wouldn’t put it past the sly shifter to try to insinuate himself into their bed. The dragon shifter’s gaze had stripped Cebrus while they’d talked.
“I don’t want to lead anyone,” Cebrus said in quiet, hushed tones. “I just want to go home with you.”
Silvan bit back the words aching to get out. He wanted to growl that they should’ve stayed home and never left on this foolish quest, but beneath Cebrus’s sad gaze, he couldn’t form the words.
“We’ll figure something out, love.”
“What?” Cebrus shouted. “What are we going to do? I turn into a damn dragon now. This isn’t what I wanted!”
Silvan grabbed Cebrus's arms. “What did you expect to happen?”
Cebrus’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. He shook his head. “I-I guess I never thought of the next step. I didn’t think I’d make it this far.”
“You didn’t think I’d get you here?” Silvan didn’t know how to take that his mate had so little belief in him.
“No, I meant I didn’t think I’d find what I was looking for. I definitely didn’t think I’d turn into a dragon!” Cebrus ran a hand through his hair.
Silvan took pity on his mate and wrapped his arms around Cebrus. “Shh, I don’t care if you turn scaly. As long as you stay mine.”
Cebrus laughed. “But I don’t want to be scaly.”
“You wanted your magic,” Silvan pointed out. Things weren’t turning out how he’d expected, but he’d do anything to keep Cebrus in his life and allow his wandmaker to fulfill his destiny.
“I know.” Cebrus sighed. “ But I didn’t think the price would be my humanity.”
“Hey.” Silvan tilted Cebrus’s chin up, forcing the smaller man to meet his eyes. “No matter what you turn into, you will always be mine.”
Relief crossed Cebrus’s face. “Promise?”
“I vow as a prince of the kingdom, you’ll always belong to me scales or not.” Silvan slid his hands through Cebrus's hair, holding his lover still with his hands. “Kiss me.”
Cebrus glanced up at him through his lashes.
Although he’d demanded the kiss, his lips were soft as they brushed across Cebrus’s mouth. Cebrus had a hard enough time with his sudden change of status from wandmaker to dragon leader.
Their embrace deepened as Cebrus opened up to allow Silvan to slide his tongue inside. Cebrus tasted like smoke, heat, and rich desire. Moans echoed in the cave, and Silvan broke away to get a gasp of air. Scraping his teeth along Cebrus’s neck, Silvan growled as little shivers caused bumps across Cebrus’s skin.
“Whatever you become, whether dragon or man or some other beast. In every shape or size, you will always be mine,” Silvan vowed. Grabbing Cebrus’s ass, he yanked Cebrus close until he could feel every line of his lover’s body.
“I will always be yours,” Cebrus agreed. “You belong to me, too.”
Silvan nipped Cebrus lower lip. “I do.”
Their lips and tongues tangled and clashed. Breathing hard, they broke away.
“I don’t know what to do,” Cebrus said. “I think the dragon wants more from me than I expected. I used to be a simple wandmaker. Now I’m supposed to lead dragons?”
“We’ll figure this out together,” Silvan said. “I need to return to my kingdom and abdicate the crown to my cousin. I’m hoping my father understands.”
If his father didn’t, he’d come back and persuade the dragon to gi
ve them a spot on the island. Cebrus would be able to persuade him if nothing else. Nothing would make him give up Cebrus.
“I’ll go with you,” Cebrus said. “We can talk to the king together.”
“No. You need to stay here and practice your shifting. I will come back after I talk to father. Wait for me here,” Silvan demanded. If his father decided to get rid of Cebrus, Silvan wanted him safe. His father might be a compassionate king, but he hated it when things didn’t go his way, and Cebrus turning into a dragon was unexpected.
“Give me a reason to wait,” Cebrus ordered. “I’ve gone from a man who made wands to a shapeshifting dragon who is somehow supposed to lead other dragons. I can barely lead myself. I need you.”
Silvan kissed Cebrus, devoured him. Cebrus relaxed beneath Silvan’s touch. He slid his hands across Cebrus’s bare ass, trying to convey his love through touch. No one had ever affected Silvan like Cebrus.
“I’ve never needed someone so much before,” Silvan confessed. He released Cebrus enough to strip off his clothes. A quick glance around didn’t show any sign of oil. Apparently a lone dragon didn’t use oil, or if he did, he hid the bottle well. “We don’t have anything to ease the way, so we’re going to keep this simple.”
Cebrus scooted closer until their erections touched. “I want you.”
Silvan didn’t need any more encouragement. He licked his hand and wrapped it around both of their erections. Gripping them in a firm clasp, he slid his fist up and down their cocks together, using their precum as lubricant.
“I want you inside me,” Cebrus said. A moan rolled out of him.
Silvan grinned. His mate wasn’t going to last.
“Next time, we are going to have a bottle of oil and all the time in the world,” Silvan countered.
“I hope so.” Uncertainty shadowed Cebrus’s eyes.
“I know so.” Silvan made sure confidence echoed in his voice no matter how many doubts filled him.