by Ophelia Bell
A barely perceptible current pushed at his vaporous body and he knew he’d found what he sought. In an instant he drifted beyond the door, reassuming his human shape on the other side. He found himself in a dimly lit stairwell with recessed glowing lights placed at wide intervals all the way up a narrow spiral.
He climbed for several minutes, until he came out in the back of a dark room in a hidden alcove behind a shining, jade bed covered in luxurious bedding spun from dragon magic.
Aodh had hidden his cave well. Either he intended to never be awakened, or he had counted on Neph eventually finding him and being able to drift directly to him.
As Neph moved through the rooms, however, something struck him about this place. It was clearly a dragon temple, yet it showed no signs of ever having been used. Over the past centuries, he’d taken time to conjure visions of the dragons, curious if he would catch a glimpse of Aodh. He’d held out hope that the dragon would find a true mate out in the world and would eventually forget about him, but the utter absence of the big white dragon in any of his visions left him more and more dispirited and filled with regret.
But in the process, he had seen this place filled with young dragons, both frightened and apprehensive, yet excited about the new world that would await them on the other side of a five-hundred-year hibernation.
This was the first temple.
All he’d known about where to find Aodh was the time and geographic locale. This temple was a surprise, but now it made perfect sense. It also made the next step of their journey a hell of a lot easier.
They were already exactly where they needed to be. All he needed to do was leap forward in time about three thousand years and hope that the drift itself didn’t devour too many of the precious days they had left.
He found another stairwell at the far end of the throne room and climbed, his skin tingling with the fresh tropical air that blew in periodically. He knew this island well, had very likely used the portals here while Aodh was in residence—in captivity.
If he had only known.
When he reached the huge cupola covering the entrance to the temple, he inhaled deeply, savoring the sweetness of the air. The world back then had been so pristine, the elements uncorrupted. They could stay and pretend the future hadn’t occurred, simply hide away and come out only when they needed food.
The thought was tempting, but he knew better. The shimmering barrier that surrounded the entire island was evidence enough of what he needed to get back to. His sister’s sanity was at stake. His home’s safety. And the integrity of his own soul and his love for the two people who awaited him down below.
When it was done and Meri was destroyed once and for all, they could revisit the idea of hiding away together, but that wasn’t to be. They were leaders of their respective races—Vrishti would be the next ursa Queen once the seasons in the Sanctuary shifted. She needed to be there when that happened.
Aodh had never had a significant role leading the dragons, but the Council’s status had changed drastically over the last few months. They needed each other more than ever to weather all the changes.
And his role … yet another vision that eluded him, but his sister would need him if they were unable to rescue Nereus, and if they succeeded, he would want to be there to reunite with his best friend.
Nothing good ever came easy, but he’d always known that. Confident in his chosen trajectory for their next trip, he descended again, taking his time and exploring the temple as he went. When he made it back to Aodh’s cavern, they needed to be ready to go.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Aodh
Stone ground against stone, the sound echoing through the cavern above. Aodh didn’t dare move from where he lay flat on the cool ground beside the bath, the sleeping Vrishti using his big body for a bed. They’d made love, both faithfully refraining from opening too much of their minds to each other. It had been close to how Aodh had always imagined his first time with her might feel. Better for the fact that he had none of the expected worry for her physical comfort. She took her pleasure from him eagerly and openly, the way he’d hoped she would once fully attuned to her power as an ursa princess—the future vessel of Summer.
She was clearly exhausted now, her breathing slow and even as he continued to softly caress her bare back. He hazarded a slight turn of his head to see Neph slip through the big stone door and close it tightly behind him. The big satyr looked at ease. He’d always been the most self-possessed man Aodh had ever known, but he looked more relaxed, less burdened than he’d ever seen him.
“What did you find?” Aodh asked silently, focusing his mental power on Neph and avoiding opening a door to Vrishti’s mind so she wouldn’t be disturbed.
Neph gave Vrishti a warm glance, his love for her evident in the way his gaze lingered on Aodh’s hand and the satisfaction that flooded their mental link. He came around the pool and sat at Aodh’s head, then cupped the dragon’s skull and shifted beneath so that Aodh was cushioned against the satyr’s thigh.
Without speaking, Neph began gently petting Aodh’s head, combing his fingers through the damp hair. The touch was hypnotic, comforting, and filled with a love that made Aodh’s eyes burn with tears at how much he had missed this man’s touch.
“Nikhil is commanding the army from this very temple in the present. It will be an easy trip once she wakes up.”
“Does he know where Meri is?”
Neph didn’t answer for a moment, and Aodh sensed him carefully considering his reply.
“I admit I’m not as up to date as I should be. The last contact I made was the day before Vrishti arrived. Calder had succeeded in letting the enemy capture him again and was being transported north from Madagascar. They were waiting to find out if she took him to her base. When Vrishti showed up, my priorities changed …” He reached a hand out and brushed a light touch over the sleeping ursa’s smooth forehead.
Vrishti let out a soft sigh, her hips twitching slightly against Aodh’s belly.
“She’s close again,” Aodh said. “Her aura fills with energy at a rate I’ve never seen for someone sound asleep. She’s right not to mate us yet, but the idea of putting a baby in her is so tough to resist.”
“We won’t waste time when we get you out of here. If we’re blood-melded with her, we can take her straight home as soon as the Equinox begins. She needs to be there, not off chasing after our old mistakes.”
“I won’t leave everyone else to fix it for us,” Aodh said.
“Everyone’s been wronged by the Ultiori in some way. It isn’t as though we have to talk anyone into going after Meri. Least of all Nikhil. She destroyed his life. You and I could have managed.”
“That may be true, but you and I both know how unpredictable she is. They will need us. Blood-melded, with Vrishti safe in the Sanctuary. This isn’t her fight.”
“She’d feel differently if you asked her, you know.”
“I don’t care. We protect her at all costs. You of all people should know why.”
Neph nodded, his gaze darkening as he looked at Vrishti again. “She is a direct link to the Source. I’ve seen it inside her. Felt it. She has enough power to get us all back into the Haven now, if we can get to a functioning portal.”
“Our mission is to keep Meri out, though. Nyx seemed to think Meri would be drawn by my old link to her. She inhabited my body long enough to leave a mark, even without a full blood exchange—if I can draw her out and distract her, perhaps the others can neutralize her base. Rescue whatever captives she still has …”
“Nereus and the other Thiasoi are the priority. Their power will be key to defending the Haven.”
“If we destroy her, that won’t be necessary.” Frustration rose in Aodh’s chest. Getting to the bitch and making her pay for what she’d done to him would solve all their problems.
“We can’t take any chances.
The Haven is vulnerable as long as Nyx is out of commission and I’m not there to protect it.”
Aodh took a deep breath, the rise of his chest causing Vrishti’s head to brush against his lips. He pressed them to her crown and inhaled deeply, finding strength in their contact. The Haven was the core of half their world’s power and survival. It even supplied some power to the Dragon Glade and Aodh had no idea of the consequences were Meri allowed to breach the Haven and reach the Source. At the very least, she could abuse control of it the way Nyx had in order to leverage his capture. And Meri had a far bigger vendetta against them all, he was sure she wouldn’t simply use the Source as leverage.
With a deep sigh, he nodded and spoke aloud in a low whisper. “You’re right. Once Vrishti’s safe, we focus on defending the Haven first. Then we go after her. I want her dead.”
Atop him, Vrishti emitted a low moan, her aura brightening perceptibly around her. The energy of it crackled against his skin like static. He brushed his hand down her back, resting it at her hips. A warm pulse throbbed inside her beneath his palm, growing stronger with each second until her entire body twitched with each surge.
“Aodh,” she whimpered, clutching at his shoulders. She buried her face against his neck and cried out when another spasm hit.
Neph rested a hand on her shoulder from above.
“It’s time, kitten. We’ve got you.”
“Need you … please …” she murmured, curling into herself on Aodh’s chest. He wrapped his arms around her and rose, cradling her against him as he slipped back into the warm water, hoping the heat would at least ease her discomfort until they could take care of her.
She clung to his neck, her thighs flexing and rubbing together against the forearm that cradled them.
The water surged behind him with Neph’s entry, sending big swells across to the other side. When Neph came around him, he was already fully shifted, his massive primal shape a head taller than Aodh. He lifted an eyebrow at the other man.
“I have to be in this form to access my power. You should stay in your human shape—it’ll be easier for me to drift the three of us if you’re both smaller than me.”
Aodh nodded and followed Neph to the center of the pool, hyperaware of the pulsing energy of Vrishti’s aura surrounding him and the growing potency of the fertile fluid flooding from between her thighs, easily scented despite her lower half now being submerged in the water. His cock ached, but it was Neph who needed contact with her magic to transport them where they needed to go. He would bide his time until they arrived.
When he met Neph in the center of the pool, the satyr hooked one arm beneath Vrishti’s back alongside Aodh’s, the pair of them supporting her.
“Are you ready for us, kitten? We’re going to make you feel better now.” Neph spread his fingers and drifted them down her chest, easily spanning the width of her torso with one hand. He paused at her breasts, teasing both nipples into hard peaks. Vrishti arched into his touch and moaned, her feverish gaze on Aodh’s face.
“Kiss me,” she said
Aodh bent his head, eagerly capturing her lips and savoring the potency of her need in that kiss. She moaned into his mouth, her hips bucking up. He opened his eyes and released her, glancing down to see Neph’s hand between her thighs, several fingers buried deep inside her and his thumb rubbing at her clit. Her head fell back, her dark hair trailing in the water. Unable to resist the warm, brown column of her throat, Aodh bent his head and pressed his lips to the base of it, drawing his forked tongue up along the length as she spasmed in the first of several orgasms that would ease the latest surge of her estrous.
Her energy flooded him, leaving his vision hazy with bright green power and his cock aching painfully with the need to be inside her.
“Fuck, we need to do this,” he said. “I need to be inside her.”
“We’ll both be inside her for this, lover,” Neph said. “She’s ready for you after the way we worked her ass over earlier with our mouths and fingers. Aren’t you, kitten?”
Her eyes flashed with pure desire. “Ohh, yes. I want that. I want you both.”
Aodh looked down at her, nostrils flaring. “It’s been a little while. Forgive me if I want to make extra sure.”
She swallowed and nodded, then glanced up at Neph. “Shouldn’t we be … you know … lying down?”
He chuckled. “We’re in water. Nothing’s going to break, and if we fall over, we’ll just float. Come here … I’ll hold you for him.”
Aodh relinquished Vrishti into the satyr’s arms. She went, wrapping her arms around Neph’s big neck. Neph hooked his arms beneath her knees helping her wrap her legs around him. He glided his hands to her ass, where he cupped her cheeks and spread her open, venturing one finger along the seam of her pussy as though he were incapable of not touching her.
She glanced over her shoulder at Aodh, then lifted herself a little higher, resting her elbows on Neph’s huge shoulders.
“Is that good?” she asked, a little breathless. Her lips remained parted and she licked her lips as she stared back at him.
Aodh’s desire nearly overwhelmed him at the sight. In Neph’s big arms, her ass hovered above the surface of the water, and she was fully on display for him, her glistening folds wet and swollen like ripe fruit, her little puckered anus beckoning for him to keep his promise to make sure she was ready.
“Dragon tongue?” she asked expectantly.
Sweet Mother, yes. He concentrated his power into his natural shape, sending water sloshing over the sides of the pool as he grew in size. There was barely enough room for him at full length, but all he needed was to reach her ass with his full-sized dragon tongue.
“Don’t let her come,” Neph warned. “We need all that power.”
Aodh made an incoherent sound of acknowledgment as he dipped his big head and slipped his tongue out to tease between her thighs. Her wetness hit his taste buds in an explosion of fertile flavor, and she let out a gasp. He toyed with her juicy core for a moment, sliding his forked tips back and forth between her folds and then pushing deep into her slick channel to immerse his entire tongue in her.
She clenched around him, the sensation causing his cock to protest at being denied the pleasure, but he would be buried in her soon enough. He slipped out of her, moving back and gliding his tongue higher until he sensed the puckered texture of the place he would own in moments.
“Oh, yes!” she cried, followed by a shaky moan when he pushed his tongue beyond her tight barrier. She trembled in Neph’s arms, her tight opening clenching, then relaxing as he pushed deeper, flaring his big tongue to stretch her. He twisted and swirled, encouraged by the ease with which she took him, but his tongue’s flexible flesh was a far cry from the rigid thickness of his cock. He needed to be sure she was ready.
“Enough,” Neph said. “If she isn’t ready after that, she’ll never be. Go slow.”
Aodh grunted in assent, nearly incoherent with the buzzing need to feel that tight haven wrapped around his cock and taking him fully. He swiftly shifted back to his human shape and stepped in close again, gripping her hip with one hand while he held his cock in the other.
Vrishti pressed her face into Neph’s neck while the satyr lowered her and Aodh pressed his tip at her tight rear opening.
His flared cockhead breached her barrier with only a slight push, and he paused, partly to clear his head so he could focus and partly to allow her to acclimate to the hard thickness of him.
“More,” she gasped. “Don’t stop.”
He tucked himself tight against her back and wrapped his arms around her torso beneath her breasts, burying his face in her hair. She released Neph and hooked both arms behind Aodh’s neck, leaning back against him while Neph supported her lower half, holding her steady while Aodh slowly eased his full length into her.
She spasmed once and let out a little cry of pa
in, but relaxed again when Neph slid his fingers between her thighs and began to rub her clit in slow circles.
“Sweet Mother, you are perfect,” Aodh rumbled against her ear.
“S-so are you,” she panted, and let out a low moan, her aura brightening with a red glow around the green now that he was inside her, starting to thrust as slowly as he could and still maintain his sanity.
Neph closed in. He held her thighs with both big hands and widened his stance to lower his hips to their height, aiming the tip of his huge cock at her spread folds. Aodh and Vrishti both watched, feverish with need as the satyr teased his tip in circles around and around until Vrishti’s aura flared bright enough to blind him.
“Fuck her already,” Aodh growled.
When Neph pushed into her, the increased tightness traveling up the length of Aodh’s cock sent a swift surge of pleasure all the way through his body. He grunted and clung tighter to her, sinking his teeth into the flesh of her shoulder in an effort to hold back his orgasm.
“Please,” Vrishti begged. “Don’t make me hold it in. Need to let go.”
“Just a little longer, kitten,” Neph said, his voice strained. He hauled her legs around his waist and pressed into her, sinking to the hilt in a long stroke that made Aodh’s eyes go hazy. The satyr rested one hand at Aodh’s hip, fingertips digging in hard. He slid the other to the back of Vrishti’s neck and leaned down to kiss her while picking up the tempo of his thrusts.
Aodh closed his eyes and opened his mind, gratified to find the satyr awaiting him alongside Vrishti in the most beautiful flower-filled garden beside a shining pool. In their minds they joined again, the ecstasy doubling for all three. As they moved inside her, the waters of the pool began to ripple toward the shore, like some unseen force had triggered a tidal surge. The waves lapped at the banks, growing higher with each deep, delicious thrust of their cocks into her tight, hot depths.