by Bianca D’Arc
Seth moaned as she took him deep into her mouth. His hand sank into her hair, guiding her movements, but she wanted to be in charge tonight. This night was for her to show them how much she…loved them. Though she found it hard to speak the words aloud, she felt the truth of them in her heart.
“Ease off, sweet,” Seth grit out through clenched teeth as she sucked him down. “If you don’t, I won’t last.”
She decided she wasn’t done playing with him just yet, so she moved back, directing him toward the bed with a little shove and a nod. Seth didn’t argue.
Turning her attention to Gowan, she licked him from bottom to top, laving her tongue around his tip until she felt a little tremor run through his body. Good. She was more than ready to get down to business.
Livia rose to her feet and took Gowan with her as she moved the few paces to the bed where Seth sat, watching them. Livia climbed onto the bed, claiming the middle spot, then patted the empty side as she looked at Gowan.
He joined her on the high, thick mattress, allowing her to push him down so that he lay on his back. Climbing over him, she kissed him deeply, taking his lips with the hunger that had risen within her just thinking about this moment. She had missed him so much while he’d been away. She had missed this…the three of them, together.
She couldn’t wait, and from the feel of him against her thigh, he was more than ready. Sliding into position, she moved downward onto him, taking his hardness fully inside her body in one long slick slide. Hard and soft met and became one. Yearning spiked, and she began to move, even though there was still an element missing.
She couldn’t seem to make herself stop kissing Gowan, but she needed to tell Seth…
And then, she realized, she could. She didn’t often use the silent communication Hrardorr had taught her with the men, except during the times of crisis they’d shared, but it was there. Waiting. Available. And useful in the extreme.
“Seth, I need you too. I need to feel you both,” she sent to him, knowing her tone was almost pleading.
A moment later, without words, Seth began to caress his way down her spine, touching, soothing, exciting. That was just about all it took before she shattered into a million pieces, taking Gowan with her. He groaned, stiffening beneath her as he came, and she cried out, loving the way Seth squeezed her ass with his calloused hand.
She rolled off of Gowan and found herself being taken into Seth’s arms. They were both on their sides, facing each other, limbs tangled when he raised her top leg to drape over his hips, finding her slippery core and sliding home within her. Her breath caught at the feel of him inside her, and she found her passion rising again as Gowan trailed little biting kisses on her shoulder, while his hands caressed her spine and lower.
She gasped when he reached between her and Seth to run his finger over her clit. Seth stilled, too, for just a moment, then redoubled his efforts as Gowan’s dominance reasserted itself, just a little.
It wasn’t long before she came apart in Seth’s arms, crying out as she climaxed again. Four strong arms held her while her body shook with exquisite pleasure. And two warm bodies bracketed her as she slipped into a deep and satisfied sleep.
CHAPTER TWENTY
A flight of gryphons left at dawn the next morning, leaping from the ramparts of the keep and into the air. They’d received last-minute scrolls and instructions from Gryffid before departure, which was why they left from the keep rather than the cliffs where they nested.
Livia, standing at the window of her bedroom in the faint light before full dawn, saw them leave. She knew they were heading for the Southern Lair, and for a moment, she longed for home. Then, Seth walked up behind her and spooned her, looking out at the small specks that were the gryphons fading into the distance.
“Come back to bed,” Seth whispered in her ear, nibbling on her earlobe.
“In a minute. I just want to see the dawn,” she whispered back, and he settled down, holding her as they faced the window.
“Is everything all right?” he asked quietly.
She’d woken from a bad dream and hadn’t been able to go back to sleep. That happened to her sometimes, and at such times, when she was home, she usually got up and went down to the waterfront, where the fishing fleet was already hard at work at this hour. She would talk to her friends there and sometimes even take out her own little boat, sailing out of the cove with the others as the first rays of the sun hit the water.
Being out on the water calmed her restless soul. She finally made the connection that it must do the same for her father. Perhaps they had more in common than she’d thought.
But this morning, Seth’s arms were having the desired effect. His caring embrace calmed her restless thoughts and allowed her to relax. It also made her brave enough to tell him the truth about her occasional restless sleep.
“I…had a bad dream. I have them a lot, sometimes,” she told him. “And sometimes…the events I see actually do come to pass, though not always in the way I interpreted them from the dreams.”
Seth turned her in his arms, looking deep into her eyes. “Do you have the gift?” he asked, serious suddenly. Thank the stars he wasn’t laughing at her.
She began to shake her head, but then thought about everything she’d heard about her mother…and her mother’s family. “I don’t know. It’s said…my great-great-granny did, though of course, I never knew her. I’m not even sure that it’s not just a tall tale. But I get these dreams…” She shook her head in full this time. “They’ve been getting worse as I get older.”
“What did you see this morning?” Seth asked in a concerned tone, his hands on her shoulders, rubbing light circles, trying to comfort her.
She scrunched her eyes shut, seeing the bizarre images that had disturbed her sleep so greatly.
“Feathers and fire,” she whispered. “Fire and feathers. Not a good combination.”
“Would it ease your mind to talk with the wizard about this?” Seth asked.
“He’s so busy with everything that’s happened. I hate to bother him with something this silly.” She really didn’t want to bother Gryffid with something that could just be her imagination run amok.
“It’s precisely because of everything that’s been going on that we should ask him about this,” Seth said reasonably. “He’s up. I have no doubt he was talking with the gryphons until the moment they set flight. Maybe we could catch him at breakfast and just ask a leisurely question. Perhaps it will put your mind at ease.”
She couldn’t argue with that. But… “What about Gowan?” She looked over to the bed where Gowan still slept peacefully.
“Let him rest. He traveled more in one day, yesterday, than most dragon knights cover in a week. He deserves to sleep in.”
Seth had a point. “All right.” Livia stepped away from Seth and quickly got ready. There was a bathing chamber in the suite of rooms she’d been given, and she took her clothing in there, so as not to wake Gowan.
A few minutes later and they were on their way down to the great hall. Sure enough, Gryffid was sitting with Gerrow and some of his other trusted advisors, breaking his fast. When the wizard saw them, he waved them over, indicating Livia should sit next to him, in the spot just cleared by a departing warrior who had finished eating and was off to fulfill some task Gryffid or Gerrow had given him.
Seth sat across from her, where she could see him, and she was glad for the unspoken support. She felt foolish, intending to bring up such a personal, and probably foolish, subject with the last of the great wizards.
“You want to ask me something,” Gryffid said after wishing her a good morning. His ancient eyes twinkled, and she could almost swear he knew what she was thinking.
She hesitated, knowing the entire table full of fey folk were listening, though they were polite about it. But Gryffid’s gaze was encouraging.
“I’ve been having dreams…” she began, not really knowing how to go on.
“For how long?” Rather than laughing at her, Gryff
id’s eyes were now serious, his tone intrigued.
“All my life, that I can remember,” she admitted. “But they’re getting stronger the older I get. And this morning was the strongest yet.”
“What did you see?”
She had tried to come up with a better description since Seth had asked her the very same question, but was unable to articulate it better. “Feathers and fire.”
“Gryphons and dragons?” one of the fey put in, seeming so sincere in his suggestion that Livia couldn’t take offense.
“Possibly, but this had a desperate feeling to it, and it was set in Dragonscove. I fear the pirates—or some other evil—is not done with the town yet. Your gryphons need to know they are possibly flying into danger. There could be more violence.”
“The gryphons who flew to the mainland are all warriors. We will be certain to send only those who are prepared to face battle,” Gryffid said quietly, putting her mind a little more at ease. But his gaze bored into hers, as if seeking something. “Your family has history of the sight, does it not?”
“My great-great-gran, or so I’ve been told. I didn’t really believe it until recently,” she admitted.
“This could explain a great deal,” Gryffid said, surprising her as he sat back in his chair as if contemplating the solution to a great puzzle. “Why, for instance, you could see through the spells of deception layered over Meg. That is not something everyone would have noticed. I know you had just seen Lilith in another part of the keep, but the kind of spells that afflicted Meg would have compensated. It would have shown her as someone else to you. Such considerations are made in spells of that complexity. Yet, you saw Lilith. A clear dissonance that bothered you enough to investigate. If your line was even slightly Goddess touched, that would explain why.”
“Goddess touched?” Livia repeated, unfamiliar with the term.
“There is an innate goodness about you, Livia. All my people have remarked upon it—fey and gryphon alike. Young Flurrthith is one of your biggest admirers and would have been at your side like a hound if his mother had not kept him busy and under her wing. Sending him off like that at such a tender age distressed her greatly.”
Livia nodded. She understood and was glad the young gryphon had such a loving family. She’d missed him too, though. She’d come to enjoy traveling with the youngster.
“Gryphons know instinctively when they meet good people. They have a built-in deception detector, I always thought, which is why the imposter stayed far away from any gryphon who might’ve crossed her path while she was doing her foul deeds under the evil compulsion.” Gryffid’s expression grew hard. “Furthermore, you can bespeak dragons and people. That is not a skill afforded to many females of your species. Some bespeak dragons, but will never be able to hear the thoughts of their husbands or gifted children. Yet you are not even mated to a knight pair and you can speak with either dragon or knight. I suspect you have the same reach as many knights and will be able to speak silently with any resident of the Lair, in time.”
He was speaking as if it was inevitable that she was going to become a Lair wife, mated to two knights, but that seemed so impossible right now. So many obstacles had to be overcome for that to happen, but she wasn’t about to argue with the wizard. This table full of fair folk didn’t need to know every facet of her existence.
She merely shook her head, unable to hide her disbelief. “If you say so, milord.”
Gryffid laughed outright at her response, but it wasn’t unkind. “Mark my words for now, young Livia. In time, you’ll see I was right. In the meantime, you must pay attention to these dreams of yours. They come for a reason. Portents of things to be—and you can help steer events in the right direction. Such is the gift the Mother of All bestowed on certain special women in your land. I believe you are descended from such a woman, though we would have to do some investigating to know for certain. Still, all the signs are there.” He shrugged. “Speak your dreams to your friends, Seth and Gowan especially. Let them help you decipher the meanings and spread any warnings that need to be known. It is a gift of your line and should not be squandered in self-doubt.”
Livia wasn’t sure what to make of the wizard’s advice, but she nodded, thanking him, and letting the matter rest. She’d talk it over with Seth later.
“Don’t be troubled, Livia,” came Hrardorr’s unexpected comment in her mind. She thought he’d still been asleep next to Genlitha, behind them by the fireplace, but apparently, he was awake and had heard the whole exchange. “It does make a logical sort of sense. You are so easy with us—with dragons, in general. I can assure you, such is not the case with most humans. Yet you befriended me as if it was the most normal thing in the world. You are comfortable with magic in ways the other residents of Dragonscove are not. It is something I’ve noticed from the beginning, and it marked you as exceptional. If you ever have need to discuss images you see in your dreams, please know that I am always here for you. I will help you decipher them, if you need help.”
“Hrardorr, I…” She was touched so deeply by his words and the solemn tone in which they were delivered, she had to express it. “Can I hug you?” she asked, surprising herself with the request. She hadn’t touched the dragon often. It was presumptuous at the best of times, but with Hrardorr being blind, he could not see her coming and might move unexpectedly. Getting too close to him could be dangerous at times, so she had always kept a distance unless specifically invited.
“Come here, Livia. You know I would come to you, if I could.” Hrardorr’s words and the emotion behind them found an answering note inside her troubled soul. The dream that morning had shaken her badly. It had been so vivid.
Livia stood from the table and went over to Hrardorr. She knew the others were surprised by her movement. Even Seth seemed a little taken aback as he watched her walk right up to Hrardorr and throw her arms around his neck, but he smiled. Livia caught his eye as she hugged her best friend in all the world, glad of the dragon’s support.
The folk in the great hall were staring, but she didn’t care. She needed Hrardorr’s warmth and support right now. Her world had been turned upside down, and there was no end in sight to the upheaval, merely moments of respite like this one. She would take what she could get.
Hrardorr needed to know how much he meant to her. She needed to tell him so much about how profoundly he’d affected her life, but she could only think of one way to express the complicated thoughts filling her mind, distilled down to a simple emotion.
“I love you, Hrardorr.”
“I…love you too, Livia. You’re the sister I never had.”
“It is good to see such a deep bond between humans and dragons,” Gryffid said quietly to those remaining at the table, but looking straight at Seth.
“Hrardorr is a special dragon, but I have seen the same between my fathers and their dragon partners,” Seth told the wizard and his folk around the emotion clogging his throat. “And between my mother and my dragon sibs. It is a beautiful way to grow up, surrounded by all that strength and love.” Seth knew he’d thrown away his chance at that kind of family for himself when he’d chosen to forego knight training, but he still counted himself blessed to have grown up in that environment.
“The bond is still as strong as Draneth always hoped. It has not faded over the years,” Gryffid pronounced, his gaze on Livia and Hrardorr, still locked in an emotional embrace that spoke of deep trust and love.
It hit Seth then that Gryffid had actually known Draneth the Wise, the ancient wizard who had created the first dragons. Seth realized that was why the dragons had all been so keen to meet Gryffid. He was a link to their Maker, just as Gryffid himself, was the Maker of the gryphons.
“I know it has been that way for centuries in your land, but I believe the concept of Lair marriage is about to be shaken up on a grand scale,” Gryffid announced, seeming almost gleeful.
Seth didn’t pretend not to know what the wizard was driving at. “You mean Leo and Lady L
izbet? And Xanderanth and Lady Shara?” Seth frowned. “Are you sure that can actually work? I’d hate to lose Leo to madness if it doesn’t. He’s a good lad.”
“I would not countenance it if I feared for any of them. I believe you have to trust more in the Mother of All, my young friend. “Gryffid’s eyes twinkled as he smiled. “Besides, I have given my blessing. Lizbet and Leo came to me to ask my advice, and I gave them permission to marry. We are to have a celebration,” Gryffid announced, seeming to take the fey at the table by surprise as well. “Spread the word to those who want to witness the first union between fey and dragon knight, as well as the first mating between a land dragon and a sea dragon in centuries. There’s going to be a double wedding on the beach where the sea dragons gather this very evening.”
The fair folk at the table recovered quickly, asking a few questions in concern for Lizbet—particularly the problem of age. Fey were long-lived by human standards, but Gryffid assured his fey friends that knights bonded to dragons took on several lifetimes worth of magic from their partners. He turned to Seth to add further reassurance to his words.
“I’m the youngest in my family,” Seth told the gathered folk. “My mother is over three hundred years old. My brother Gerry is a knight in the Northern Lair, partnered with my younger dragon sib, Mowbry. He’s mated and has children of his own now, some of whom are older than me. My brother Pat has been a knight for more than a century now, though unmated as yet. And my other dragon sib, Llallor, is partnered with a knight named Karlac and is stationed at the Border Lair. When a dragon chooses to join his or her life to yours, they give you some of their magic, which extends to the whole family—especially the knights’ spouse. I suppose that I will have the shortest life of my family unit because I am not a knight. I will age as a regular person, but they will go on, and I hope my dragon parents are blessed with another egg at some point. They are just the best.”
“So you see, it’s possible that young Leo will outlive Lizbet, all things considered,” Gryffid told them. “But with the way things are now, and the dangerous times ahead, I cannot abide keeping young people in love apart. Having talked to them at length and observed them together, I believe this is no rash decision on their parts. I believe the hand of the divine had something to do with this arrangement. I mean, it’s too perfect. We meet the first dragon in centuries who can both flame and swim beneath the waves, and now, we have a new pairing between a land and sea dragon that might produce another magnificent dragon such as Hrardorr? I can’t believe the Mother of All didn’t have something to do with that.”