Dragon Prince

by Charlene Hartnady

  “Exactly right. I don’t like him.”

  “Who cares.” George put his mug down and turned to face her. “You don’t need to like him to have a good time. You haven’t said anything about that night but I’m going to assume that if you want a repeat he had to be good.”

  Meghan pulled a face. “Yes, dammit. He was incredible.”

  “I knew it!” George shouted.

  "Quiet. These guys have excellent hearing." She turned up the volume of the music they were listening to. Some or other pop song about never getting back together, which was rather appropriate. Not that she and Tide had ever been together in the first place. Why was she even thinking about Tide when it came to the stupid love song in the first place?

  “Tide’s not out there is he?” George asked.

  “No,” she shook her head, “Bay’s on duty, but still, I don’t want this getting back to Tide. He’s so big-headed as it is.”

  “Are you talking about his head or his head?” George cackled wickedly.

  “You know I didn’t mean it like that but he does have a big … head. And I’m not talking about the one on his shoulders.”

  George lifted his eyes and did this side to side motion with his head while making obscene noises. “His cock is exquisite. Everything about that man is hot.”

  “Unfortunately, I have to agree with you and just for the record, I don’t want a repeat.”

  George looked at her like she’d just grown horns or turned purple or something. “You so do.”

  "It doesn't matter because I'm not allowed to have sex with anyone while here."

  “Why not? We didn’t end up signing that particular policy.”

  “Something about all the guys catching wind that I’m available based on my scent and going mad and fighting each other to the death for me.”

  George stared at her with big eyes for a moment.

  “They would be able to smell the sex on me. It would make them crazy or something. They’d lose their minds. Have you ever heard anything so stupid?”

  George’s mouth hung open. “That sounds amazing, I want in.”

  Meghan burst out laughing. “You can’t be serious.”

  “Of course I’m serious. I want all of these seriously hot men fighting to have me. It’s a pity most of them are straight.”

  She shook her head. “Most of them, huh?” Meghan took a sip of her own hot chocolate. “What about Ice? You guys seem awfully cozy.”

  “He’s straight as an arrow. Really nice guy though. We get along like a house on fire. Thank god he’s straight or I’d be tempted to settle down. He’s that gorgeous and that sweet.” George sighed.

  “So, there’s no romance brewing or anything?” She looked at him over her mug.

  “Nah! I’ve seen one or two guys giving me the eye, going to bide my time till I meet one of them. In the meanwhile, there’s plenty of eye candy, I’m enjoying chatting with Ice and I have my hand.” He held it up, waggling his fingers. “Not a long-term plan but for now,” he shrugged, “it’ll do the job.” He narrowed his eyes on her. “What about you? It sounds like you’re headed back to nunhood even though you have to see Mister Sexy-ass every day. You might just self-combust.”

  “I packed my dildo.”

  George burst out laughing, even covered his mouth with his hand. “Oh my word, it must be bad. You finally took that thing out of the packaging. Does it even work after all these years?”

  She felt her cheeks heat. Meghan had bought the dildo on a whim, years ago. One of their mutual friends had gotten married and there had been a lady selling sex toys and clothing at the Hen Party. Needless to say, it had stayed in it’s wrapping all of this time. Well, until now. She looked away, her face on fire.

  “Oh my god!” George slapped his thigh. “You’ve used it. I can’t believe it. You actually used that purple monstrosity.”

  “So what if I have?” She grit her teeth, trying to sit tall. “I’ll have you know that it did a fantastic job.”

  “It’s not as good as the real thing.” George made a face. “I refuse to believe that.”

  “It has three settings, the rubber is real feel.”

  George rolled his eyes. “Real feel my ass.” Then he realized what he’d said and covered his mouth while choking out a laugh.

  Meghan smiled. “It has a double action stimulator.”

  “A what?”

  “Double action stimulator …” She widened her eyes. “You know, double action, and it does the job, so I’m happy.”

  “Yeah right! A real man would be a ton better.” Then he looked at her all weird. “I take that back, a shifter would be so much better.”

  “Well it’s not going to happen, so I’ll just be content with my big, purple dildo thank you very much.”

  “Whatever blows your hair back.”

  “Exactly. I’m perfectly fine. Definitely not some sex-starved person.”

  “If you say so.” George looked at her like he didn’t believe her.

  “I’m not!” She said it like she meant it because she did mean it, dammit!

  Fucking hell!

  Fuck!

  Tide bit down on his lower lip so hard he almost broke the damn skin. She was bending over again. For the sixth time that morning. Six times in only three hours. Her ass was per-fucking-fection. Full and round and pear-like and so damned squeezable, bounce-able, bite-able. Not to mention fuckable.

  He’d never wanted a female’s ass before. He might make an exception for Meghan … Doctor Roberts. Would she make him call her that while he was balls deep inside her? He longed to find out.

  Ice chuckled next to him. So softly he barely made a sound. The male gave the air a sniff and glanced down. Tide clasped his hands across the front of him, trying to hide a monster erection.

  Tide shrugged. “Human female,” he mouthed, knowing that Ice would hear what he had said.

  The male nodded once. “Understandable,” he mouthed back.

  She sat back down at her desk, and put her pen in her mouth, sucking on the tip. Tide swore that he could feel the pull on his tip … all the way to his groin, which pulled tight.

  “You have it bad.” Ice chuckled again. His shoulders shook but he didn’t make a sound.

  “I’m horny.” Tide shrugged. Was that all it was? Or was it her. Yeah right … no! Even if it was her ‒ and it wasn’t ‒ it was her body and then only because they had been so compatible. Maybe he should speak with Torrent about getting himself replaced.

  Fuck that!

  He was the best choice for this assignment. He trusted Bay implicitly. Otherwise, there was no one else. He couldn’t risk it. Wouldn’t! That’s why he even checked in on her during Bay’s shifts. At odd times, he’d just swing by and make sure everything was kosher and so far it had been.

  No, he was here to stay. It was less than three and a half months until his next stag run. He could do this. He could. He had to. Then again, he probably couldn’t go on that either. A deal was a deal. Fuck! His hand would have to be enough. There was just no other way.

  Chapter 16

  Nine days later …

  They entered his brother’s office.

  Torrent smiled. Tide noticed the worry lines on his forehead. His eyes looked bloodshot. “Come in. Welcome.”

  “Thanks for agreeing to see me,” Meghan said.

  “Of course. I’ve been waiting in anticipation for the results of the tests.”

  “I thought we could go over the findings first before setting up a meeting with all of the royals.”

  “Yes, I’m glad you did that. You said that your findings were out of the ordinary.”

  “They were … not what I expected, no.” Meghan frowned.

  Torrent gestured to a chair. “Take a seat, please.” Then he glanced over at him. “Tide, I’d like you to join in on this meeting as well. You can be both my second-in-command as well as Doctor Robert’s guard.”

  Tide nodded. “Sure.” He took a seat next to Meg
han. He noticed how she moved over as far as she could to get away from him without making it obvious, of course.

  “Can we get you anything to drink?” Torrent looked up at Creek. “My PA can get you anything you want.” His brother smiled at Meghan.

  Creek stepped forward, a huge smile on his face. Too fucking big, in Tide’s opinion. “Juice, water, soda? Maybe a hot beverage?”

  “A tea would be great.”

  “No problem.”

  Creek was on his way to the door when Tide cleared his throat. “I would love a double espresso with a shot of hazelnut syrup and just a pinch of cinnamon.”

  Creek’s back stiffened. “My apologies, my lord, right away.” He quickly scuttled from the room.

  “Since when do you take a pinch of cinnamon in your espresso?” Torrent went on before Tide could answer, his brother grinned. “And a shot of hazelnut syrup. Do we even have such a thing?”

  Tide shrugged. “It will teach him to forget his place.”

  Meghan shook her head. “What, are you ten?”

  “I’m a prince. A male must know his place, even when there is a pretty human in the room. I’m surprised you didn’t give him a kick up the ass for not taking your order.”

  “He has my order,” Torrent said. “Took it before you arrived.”

  “Insolent, little prick,” Tide bristled. “I hope it keeps him busy for the rest of the morning.”

  Meghan cleared her throat and opened the file on her lap. “Good thing I didn’t really feel like that tea.”

  “Good thing,” Tide said. The meeting would be over by the time Creek found the hazelnut syrup, if he ever found it.

  “Okay, let’s get on with it, I’m keen to hear what you have to say,” Torrent urged, leaning forward.

  Meghan nodded. “Okay, well, I have to say I was shocked at the findings.”

  This was interesting, Tide also leaned forward in his chair.

  “I’m going to use layman’s terms here.”

  “Please do, spell it out if you have to. All of those medical terms end up getting lost on us,” Torrent said.

  Tide nodded.

  “The reason it’s taken so long is because I ran all of the tests twice, just to be sure that I wasn’t missing anything or misinterpreting my findings.”

  “Oh, were they really that different to what you expected?” Torrent asked.

  “Completely.” She swallowed. “Deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA is a molecule that carries the genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning and reproduction of all known living organisms. You find duplicate DNA strands inside the cell nucleus.” Meghan must have seen their blank looks because she cleared her throat. “The exact make-up or strand sequencing differs from species to species and is ultimately unique from one to another. We can, of course, break it down even further and say that it’s unique from one individual to another, but I didn’t need to take sequencing analysis that far … thankfully.” She giggled, sounding nervous. She must have realized that neither he nor Torrent got her joke because she pursed her lips together, smoothing her skirt before continuing.

  Meghan turned a couple of pages, finding the one she was looking for. “I used whole genome sequencing to determine the complete DNA sequence of each dragon species. As expected there were minor differences from one dragon species to another.”

  Torrent nodded.

  "Each of you has different unique abilities, so it stands to reason that sequencing is slightly different as well. The results of your offspring, however, were baffling. I'm specifically referring to the children that resulted from a dragon shifter and human pairing."

  “Interesting. Go on.” Torrent sat back in his chair.

  “Well,” she puffed out a lungful of air, “it’s as if all of the offspring are a species of their own.”

  “I don’t understand.” Torrent shook his head, he leaned forward once more, clasping his hands over his thighs.

  Tide felt his forehead knit together. Felt his whole body tighten.

  “Regardless of the dragon species, all children born of dragon shifter, human pairings have the same DNA sequence.”

  “English, doctor,” Torrent said.

  “It’s as if they are a species of their own, a new species, similar to their parents and yet not. You have Earth dragons, Air dragons, Fire dragons and Water dragons. Well, now you have a fifth type.”

  “I don’t understand.” Torrent had a bewildered look.

  “The fifth type have the same DNA. It is ever so slightly different from the other four, yet it has characteristics of each of the four, an amalgamation if you will.”

  “A fifth type of dragon? What does that mean exactly?” Tide asked, shocked to his core.

  “Yes, a fifth type. I’m afraid I’m not sure what it means. It’s highly complex and—”

  “Will all of these, new species of dragons be able to breathe fire then?” Torrent asked.

  “As it stands, there is no way of knowing. It’s possible and yet it may not be the case. One would need to dig even deeper. I would need to isolate that specific gene … in order to find out if it was autosomal dominant or recessive. I’d need to ascertain the mitochondrial inheritance pattern and, like I said, it would be complicated,” she spoke quickly.

  “A new species,” Torrent sounded bewildered.

  “An amalgamation.” Tide looked just as shocked.

  “Yes, essentially.”

  “A new breed of dragons.” Torrent stood up; he was smiling. “Finally, equal footing … something that binds us as one. Our children.”

  Meghan nodded. “Yes.”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here,” Tide cautioned.

  “This is cause for celebration. Even Blaze would need to see the merit in a new species. We will finally have something in common.” Torrent smiled broadly.

  “The general population are not aware that the babies do not have royal markings. They may still be shunned as royals. This might not be a good thing,” Tide said, shaking his head. “Our offspring might be outcasts in the end.” He hated being the bearer of bad news but it was true.

  “I refuse to believe that,” Torrent growled.

  “Why haven’t the royals presented their heirs? Why does no one know of their chest markings or lack thereof?” Tide asked. “Because you’re afraid of the uproar. You’re afraid of the fallout.”

  “This is a new species though, a stronger species.” Torrent’s fists were clenched.

  “I’m sorry, brother, but you might be wrong. They might not be stronger and even if they are, they might be viewed as being weaker. No markings and human blood.” Tide shook his head.

  “You have some serious work to do, Doctor Roberts.” His brother looked Meghan head on. “You need to cure their affliction. Make our young immune to silver. It might be their only salvation.”

  Looking resolute, Meghan nodded, closing the file on her lap. “I will do my level best. Of that you have my word.”

  “Good! Let’s call a meeting with Blaze and the rest of the kings, otherwise, this needs to stay quiet.”

  “Agreed,” Tide said.

  “No problem,” Meghan replied.

  Chapter 17

  It was too much. Far too much. Seeing him every day. Being so close to him. Knowing the pleasure he could give her and not being able to do anything about it. Well, there was one thing she could do. Only one.

  It was late, she’d eaten supper and watched a mindless program on TV. She’d tried hard not to think of him but had failed. Especially when she’d showered, the droplets running down her skin. The hot burst of water on her nipples. The soft scrape of the towel between her legs when she’d dried herself off.

  She looked through her closet and pulled that particular shirt on. The shirt. The one she’d worn every night for the last week. She turned up the volume on the stereo so that no one would hear her. Then she went and lay down on her bed, on top of the covers and reached into her drawer, pulling out the
purple warrior. Meghan wasn’t even sure why she’d brought the thing with her on this trip. It was all Tide’s fault. She’d lived quite happily without sex for a whole year. She’d barely even touched herself during that time. Even before that, it wasn’t that she didn’t like sex, she just didn’t particularly need it either. It was like, if she was seeing someone and having sex, then great, and if not, well, that was fine too. Only, since spending the night with him, things had changed. They’d changed for the worse. It was like her libido had been reawakened and with a vengeance. All she could think about was sex lately. Not just that, all she could think about was sex with Tide.

  She could still remember the noises he had made. Little grunts and pants. Moans and growls. Just thinking about it was making her feel achy with need. Then she remembered his eyes. How blue they had been, how intense, how focused on her. Of course that led to thoughts of how he had touched her, with his hands, his mouth, his …

  She moaned, opening her thighs as wide as they would go. Oh well, a girl had to do what a girl had to do. Feeling this way was perfectly normal. She was a healthy woman, at the peak of her fertility, with hormones running rampant. Sex was completely normal and in times of drought, masturbation was normal too.

  She’d start on the first setting. Meghan flicked the switch and her purple warrior began vibrating in her hand. She positioned the device so that the smaller head was directed at her clit.

  Double stimulation. Was there any other way? The sex toy slid in easily, she was that wet, that ready. A moan escaped as it breached her … there. The word ‘pussy’ echoed around her mind. Only, it was Tide saying it in his deep, rough rasp.

  She didn't allow the smaller head to touch her clit just yet, didn't want this over too soon. Even that was different. Before, any form of masturbation would result in racing for release as quickly as possible. Not anymore. Meghan enjoyed drawing out her pleasure, just as Tide had done.

  In, out, in, out. Buzzzzz … The vibrations moved through her, making her moan. Slow and easy. She pictured Tide covering her body, his weight pressing against her, his mouth on her neck, sucking, licking and nipping. Kissing her, his beautiful blue eyes open and on her. A hunger reflected in their depths.