by Lucy Lyons
He sucked a nipple sharply into his mouth and her breathing sped as her heart did a dance in her chest. Tem nipped the nub with his teeth and Astrid gasped. With a swirl of his tongue he laved away the pain and a wave of shivers rolled through her body.
“Please,” she pleaded.
Astrid swore she heard an approving rumble from Tem’s chest. He walked forward, pushing her back, one step, then another, and a third and fourth. Something hard hit her back; a wall or one of columns of the big room.
Tem fingered Astrid’s prison guard uniform.
“Time we get rid of this,” he said and, reaching behind her, grasped the dress on either side and ripped it in half along the back seam as if it were tissue paper. The remnants fell at her feet and revealing that Astrid wore only a black lace garter and her black stockings.
His eyes raked her body and fell to her nearly naked hips. Tem fingered one of the straps that ran down her waist to her upper thigh.
“Astrid, you are full of surprises. I haven’t seen one these in a long, long time.”
She shrugged. “You were in prison for twenty-four years.”
“Before that,” he said huskily. “Where are the panties?”
“Laundry.”
“Lucky laundry,” he said. “Fortunate me.”
Astrid was totally exposed and vulnerable to the sexy dragon and as he raked her with an intense gaze filled with lust, she quivered. How did just a look wash her with pleasure? It was if she was an instrument and all he had to do was pluck any part of her to draw out her pleasure.
Tem brushed his fingers against her mound crowned with reddish hair and she whimpered.
“You like that?” he said.
“Yes,” she breathed.
“This is so glorious. A true redhead.” His fingers explored the cleft of her mound inciting her desire to a level she had never experienced.
“Spread your legs.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Spread your legs,” he said in a seductively low voice and she could not refuse. He dropped between her legs and kissed her mound.
Your perfume is so sweet.
Astrid gasped as he buried his tongue in her cleft. He lashed her sensitive flesh with long, questing strokes, seeking pleasure spot. And when he did, the fire that ran up her spine nearly overloaded her brain.
“Oh!” she whimpered as he continued his sweet assault. Without thinking she grabbed his dark hair and pulled him closer.
You want more?
Yes. Oh, yes.
Tem’s fingers quested the tender petals of her entrance, seeking the way in.
You are so wet. You’re killing me, Astrid.
His fingers found the entrance and he slid the tip of his finger inside and Astrid squirmed at the delightful sensation. It was so terribly intimate. And new.
Tem drew back suddenly as if catching her thoughts.
“Wait?” he said. “You’ve never done this?”
She bit her lip as she met his gaze.
“I’ve never done anything, Tem. At least nothing serious, with anyone.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Tem
A virgin. She had to be a virgin. Tem groaned, both elated and concerned at the same time. Dragon stories were filled with stories of virgins left as sacrifices. But unlike the stories, they weren’t there to be eaten, at least not as food. No, virgins were as close to the divine as a man could get. Now Tem understood a part of his attraction to Astrid. It wasn’t just a physical drive; it was a spiritual one.
Pure.
A piece of the divine stood before him and there was only one thought that pounded along with his heart.
Mine.
“Oh, Astrid,” he groaned again, in awe of the gift of this beautiful creature.
“Tem,” she said trembling. Her need called to the core where his dragon lived.
He laid his hands on her hips and buried his face between her legs. She was wet and hot and her feminine scent had him shaking. His cock strained from his balls to the tip and pulsed with the need to be buried inside her. But she was untried and unprepared. He had to make sure she was ready.
Astrid arched her back pushing herself into his invading tongue and writhed and moaned as his lips and tongue lashed her sensitive flesh. The sounds she uttered prodded him to intensify his efforts. He found her entrance and drove his tongue inside her. Her cream cascaded into his mouth and on his lips and she bucked against his face. Astrid tasted exquisite, finer that the most expensive wine and was more satisfying than any earthly pleasure.
Her legs trembled beneath his hands and he slid his thumb to find her that pink nub of flesh that would drive her insane. He stroked its outer flesh and she groaned aloud.
Her breathing sped up and his dragon hearing picked up the runaway thudding of her heart. Her muscles clenched as she crushed herself against his face, moaning loudly. Astrid fisted her hands in his hair and Tem lifted one on her legs, then the other over his shoulders and dove as deep into her with his tongue as he could.
Her hands clutched his hair and she cried out in pleasure. Her tight walls clenched around his tongue as more of her juices released onto his tongue. Tem held onto her tight as she rode his face thrashing with each contraction of her body.
Astrid slumped against the wall.
“Oh, my God,” she breathed.
Tem lifted her and her legs slipped off his shoulders. With a wolfish grin, he crushed his lips to hers and claimed her mouth again.
What are you doing to me?
Worshipping your delicious body. I can’t get enough of you.
Astrid broke the kiss and leaned her head against his shoulder.
“God help me,” she whispered. “I can’t get enough of you either.”
Tem kissed the top of her head and then lifted her into his arms. In a few short steps, he was at the bed and he pulled her down with him as they fell into it. She laughed, but when he turned her on her back, her eyes opened wide.
His heart was racing as she lay under him and he saw her swallow hard.
“I want you badly,” he said. “But I will take my time.”
“I don’t know if I want you to.”
“Trust me, you want me to go slowly. You are too precious to hurt in any way.”
“I know you won’t hurt me,” she said her eyelids fluttering.
Tem was heartened by her trust in him and it made him all the more determined to make her first time something she’d enjoy.
“I want to see you,” Astrid said.
Tem got his knees and pulled down his sweats. She rose on one elbow and stroked his half hard shaft. Tem shuddered and put his hand on hers.
“I want you too much.”
Astrid took away her hand and lowered her head as if he scolded her. Tem raised her chin with his fingers.
“That’s a compliment,” he said.
“I don’t know what to do,” she said her lips trembling.
“You know more than you think,” he said gently.
“I want to please you. I’m afraid I won’t.”
“Oh, sweetheart, there is no way you can’t. You can see how much I want you.”
Astrid looked between his legs where his sweatpants tented with his hard-on.
“Hey, where’s that woman that was so eager to go down on me?”
“It’s one thing to do that, and another to—”
Her consternation melted him.
Tem drew her to him. “We won’t do anything you don’t want to,” he said gently. He kissed her again, this time gently and slowly and he felt her relax against him. Tem stroked her body in long lazy strokes, her breast, her stomach and she made little whimpers as he did. His dragon was impatient and shook within from frustration, but there was no way Tem was going to force this on Astrid. This moment was too important.
He brought his fingers to her mound and reveled in the softness of her skin. Tem’s breathing hitched as he flashed on pushing his tongue inside her.
“Sweet, sweet, Astrid,” he said. “You taste delicious and I want taste you. But I’m also going to make you ready for me. Do you want that?”
“Yes,” she said almost as a moan. “When you touch me the only thing I want is you.” She gave him a smoldering look from under half-lidded eyes and Tem almost lost his resolve to go slow.
He leaned over and kissed her coppery bush and then took long licks along her inner thighs on each side. She hissed when he pulled away between her legs and then sighed when he slid his index finger inside her. She was so soft and hot that he nearly lost it there as he imagined sinking himself deep within her.
She writhed under the attention of his finger and he sunk in another, curling them to stroke her g-spot.
“Oh,” she said.
“You’re so tight, baby,” he whispered.
“I need you, Tem,” she gasped. “Please.”
He couldn’t take it. Tem pulled off his sweats and kicked them away. He knelt between her legs and stroked his cock staring at the petals of her flesh glistening from her wetness. He guided the tip of his shaft there and pushed against the tight hole.
“Oh,” she whimpered.
“You okay?”
“You feel so big,” she said. “But good, so good.”
Tem rumbled his approval. “Baby,” he said and he pushed forward a little, filling her entrance with his cock. Sweat beaded on his brow from the effort of holding back. He rocked back and forth teasing both of them with that motion. He was barely inside her and needed more.
“Tem,” she pleaded.
He lifted her legs and urged her to wrap them around his waist. He grabbed her hips with both hands, trembling with sweat dripping from his brow and inched forward inside her. She was so tight he gritted his teeth. He didn’t know if the resistance he felt was because how tightly her walls gripped him or if he had encountered her cherry.
“Hold on,” he gritted and inched forward. She shook underneath him.
“Are you okay?”
“Tem, you are driving me crazy. Come on, baby. I need you. All of you.”
“Oh hell,” he said and pushed forward as heat and wet engulfed him and became the center of his world. He could not hold back any more and sunk as deep as he could go. There was no holding back now and he was lost in the rapture of taking her, in that place of no thought that was all sensation and no words. As his rhythm built she bucked her hips with his so that they crashed together and came apart, again and again. She screamed his name and clenched around him in waves.
So tight. So tight. His passion climbed higher demanding release and he shook from the force of his desire. He bent to her neck intending to kiss her. Instead he found her flesh so tender he sucked in to his mouth and then sank his teeth in her skin. At that very second, he understood that this woman was more precious to him than any piece of gold in his personal hoard. She was his entire world and would be until the day he died.
The need to possess her utterly swept through him like liquid fire and he exploded, shaking. As his cum jetted in powerful spurts and he pressed against her furthest inner walls, he howled her name so loudly it filled the room.
They held each other tightly as they came down from the heights their lovemaking took them. Their breathing calmed and Tem licked where he had bit her.
“Why did you do that?” she said.
Tem didn’t know what to say. Yes, instinct had taken over, just like it always did when Tem was with Astrid. But this was something more. He had suspected this would happen and he did try to warn her.
“It’s an ancient thing, so old we’ve nearly forgotten it. It isn’t done now, at least I haven’t heard of any mate bondings like this. I’ve claimed you, Astrid, or rather the dragon part of me did. You are mine now and will be forever.”
“Claimed? Like in marriage?”
“Oh, no. It’s much more serious than marriage. It’s the mate bond.” He picked up her hand and held it to his heart. “Feel my heart. It beats in time with yours and will until my dying breath. I am yours as much as you are mine.”
“Mate bond,” she said. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“That is because,” boomed another voice, “it’s not allowed.”
Tem stiffened and pulled away from Astrid. In Astrid’s doorway stood the Queen of dragons, her eyes glittering with a fierceness that spoke of deadly retribution.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Astrid
At Rhea’s entrance, Tem stood. Astrid hurried to cover herself with the top sheet of the bed while her cheeks burned as Rhea gazed at her scornfully. As embarrassed as she was, Astrid was mortified that Tem was standing there naked, but his eyes contained restrained anger. He stared at the dragon Queen in defiance and Rhea glared back with her hands fisted at her side.
Astrid’s heart beat faster in fear. She knew little about Rhea but she had seen Tem’s destructive abilities in action. As a student, Astrid had suspected that there as a stricter hierarchy in dragon society than was generally known. Having met Rhea was instructive, but Astrid had little to go on to parse the politics of dragons.
Tem held out his hand to her.
She will not hurt us.
How can you be sure?
She stood next to him and Tem put a protective arm around Astrid’s shoulder.
“So, Templeton Rawlins, you defy me yet again,” said the Queen.
“Rhea,” said Tem coldly.
“At least you know my name,” she said sarcastically. “Do you recognize me as your Queen?”
“We’ve always had a difference of opinion.”
“Is that what you call your insubordination?”
“Trust me, Rhea. I’ve never been subordinate to anyone.”
“That much is obvious. But this, you and her, I cannot allow. This union is a threat to all dragon kind.”
“A threat? It doesn’t matter. It is done.”
“And I can undo it.”
“Really, Rhea?”
“As your Queen, yes. It is under my authority and within my powers. I haven’t had to in thousands of years, but I will if the need arises. Mate bonds, especially with humans, are dangerous to dragons and you know why.”
Astrid was lost. Pieces of important dragon knowledge were painfully missing from the human database. Why would mating with humans be harmful to dragons?
“Dangerous? Who is the threat, Rhea? You’ve been many things over the years, but the one thing I did not expect you to be was a liar.”
“Liar!” Rhea stormed.
“It seems you have revised our history.”
“Have I?”
“I have heard a story from Astrid. So tell me, Rhea, why have we not heard about these seneschals?”
“There wasn’t just one dragon that fell to the charms of, of this subspecies.” She spat out that last word as if it were a poison. “They were polluting our gene pool.”
“The only polluting element here is your racism. And you put us in peril because of it.”
“Me? I was trying—I did— save dragon kind!”
“What happened to the seneschals, Rhea?” said Tem coldly.
Rhea studied her nails casually. “What needed to be done…”
“What happened to the seneschals, Rhea?!” Tem shouted.
“We killed them,” said a deeper voice. Tem and Astrid turned their heads to see Calvin standing in the doorway of Astrid’s room.
“Believe me, had I realized that you were coming here, I would have stopped you if I could.”
“What are you doing, Captain?” said Rhea in a warning voice.
“Telling the story we should have told the younger ones all along. Rhea is right. The seneschals and the dragon Lords grew too close. That was our fault.”
“Captain!”
“No, Rhea. You see what happens when you hide things. The ability to become a seneschal is too deeply buried in their DNA for us to have killed off all of it.”
“You, Calvin?” said Tem. “You
participated in the slaughter?”
“I did what my Queen commanded me to do. But Tem is right, Rhea. We became murderers of humans and we lost our conduits to the human world. We did do more harm than good.”
“I knew you were cold-blooded Rhea,” spat Tem, “but murdering innocent humans?”
“They were not innocent!” Rhea raged. “They broke our laws and consorted with their dragons.”
“Not all of them,” said Calvin gently.
“Enough of them! Enough to pollute our gene pool! How long will dragons continue to be dragons id we mate freely with that?”
Rhea pointed to Astrid, who drew closer to Tem. Astrid grew afraid despite Tem’s closeness because she did not know what the dragon Queen would do.
“Be careful,” growled Tem. “You know nothing about Astrid.”
“She’s human! That’s all I need to know! Guards!” she screamed, “arrest him.”
Tem pushed Astrid to the bed. “Stay down!” he hissed as a stream of dragons rushed in and surrounded Tem. Astrid looked around for a weapon to use, but there was nothing. It hit Astrid that Rhea had given her a room so bare that it contained nothing, not a lamp, or statue, or even a bowl of fruit, which could be used as a weapon. She might be able to use the bed sheet, but she was using that to cover her body. But it looked like things were happening quickly and she needed to be prepared. She fumbled for her dress, which had fallen under the bed, and dressed quickly while she watched the tight tableau unfolding before her.
The guards stood before Tem as if they didn’t know what to do despite their Queen’s demands. Astrid gathered that they had a healthy respect for Tem’s battle abilities.
“Arrest him,” demanded Rhea. Her face was tight with anger and she was visibly shaken.
“Come on, men. Arrest your general,” taunted Tem.
General? Astrid sucked in a deep breath. Tem was the dragon’s military leader? What else did Astrid not know about Tem?
“Tem!” protested Calvin. “You can’t expect them to choose between you and their Queen.”
“Why not? Do we not expect our leader to act in the best interests of us all? She failed that.”
“Tem,” warned Calvin. “Even I can’t make that choice.”