I sucked my lower lip between my teeth as I gathered my courage. “Would you stay with me?”
A radiant smile lit his face. “If that’s what you wanted.”
All the air in my lungs seemed to evaporate and make it impossible to breathe. “Oh, Donovan, I’m sorry. I spent my day yesterday sleeping and sulking, and you were out here plowing me a field with your bare claws. I was awful to you. I’m the one who’s always told my coven that we should try harder to make peace with the dragons, and the minute I set foot on Zodiac Mountain with that very mission I turn into a terrible person who says horrible things.” I bowed my head.
“Little witch, look at me.” Donovan took my chin between his fingers and gently forced my head up. “I said horrible things, too.”
“We did steal your magic,” I whispered. “Who else buries treasure in the ground but dragons? If only it hadn’t been a plant, Donovan. Tauria witches can’t resist things that grow. We’re grounded in earth magic. All our power comes from dirt and plants, sunshine, and water.
“Dragons flew patrols above our fields every day back then. Eleanora should have asked one of the dragons if they recognized what was in that box. Instead, she cultivated the tuber. A witch who brings a new plant into our repertoire is accorded the highest of accolades.”
I blew out my breath. “Eleanora lives for praise and glory. Her pride is legendary. If I’d found that box, I would have asked first before trying to grow it, no matter how drawn to the tuber I might have been.”
“As you’ve pointed out, you were two when that box was discovered.” Donovan’s voice, gentle and soft, sent shivers down my spine. “You had no part in what was decided. Who could blame you for following your coven’s rituals when you were old enough to eat the tubers? Certainly your own husband should support you.
“Seeing you here communing with the earth like this, for the first time I begin to receive a glimmer of understanding for why your coven did what they did. That tuber must have been like a lure is to a fish: irresistible. And once you’d tasted of the magic, how could you give it up? Even for dragons. Our egos are so immense we cannot fathom why mere mortals like witches won’t indulge us.”
Donovan smiled at me. “You say your aunt’s pride is infamous, well, that I can understand since dragons have colossal pride as well. I think that’s the biggest obstacle. Overcoming our pride.” He grinned and ducked his head. “And sharing. Dragons do not share well.”
“That’s not true,” I said. “You’ve shared everything you have with me, and you barely know me.”
He laughed under his breath. “Not quite everything, little witch. Besides, you’re my wife. What’s mine is supposed to be yours. Everything I have is yours, too, except for my greatest treasures that I keep locked away in my treasure room. Just like this field is yours alone, my locked-up treasure is supposed to be mine.”
“Everyone needs things of their own,” I told him.
“You don’t care that I lock a door in our home against you?” He let his hand drop from my chin, and the loss of his touch affected me so much I nearly lost the sense of his words.
Trying to be nonchalant, I scooted forward an inch. Anything to get closer to him.
“Don’t all dragon spouses have locked doors against each other?” I asked when he frowned at me, obviously waiting for an answer.
“Some,” he agreed. “But not all. Dragons can love with a fierce abandon. When we do, nothing is locked away.”
For a moment I couldn’t breathe. What must it be like to be loved by a dragon? I cleared my throat. “Do—I’m going to have to use names, but please don’t fuss at me—do Val and Rabb love each other like that?”
Donovan gave a great shout of laughter. “Those two? I don’t think she’s capable of loving anyone more than herself, or even half as much. You’ve seen how she treats her daughter. Even motherly love is stinted with that woman. They’re in lust for each other. Always have been since their hormones kicked in. But true love?” He shook his head. “No.”
“The dragon who lost his witch wife?” I asked.
Donovan nodded, his eyes solemn. “That’s a much better example. Yes. Their love is still talked about today. Muttered about mostly, since she was a witch and dragons don’t like witches anymore. Once, we did. Married them every chance we got, which wasn’t often since witches don’t believe in marriage, nor any lasting emotional union with men.” His tone turned wistful, but he smiled.
I shrugged. “Sometimes I think it was my grandmother who convinced my mother to break sexual ties with my father. She had two children by him, which is virtually unheard of. We’re expected to move on once we’re pregnant. We’re told it’s only fair to the men who might form awkward attachments to us, preventing them from being happy and marrying their own kind.
“Mother cried a lot when she was pregnant with Renata. I remember that even though I was little. Perhaps it was because her heart was breaking over my father.”
I thought of my short-lived relationship with Clive, the young villager who’d married someone else. If I were honest with myself, I’d admit that I cried myself to sleep the night of his wedding. I’d told myself I’d only been looking for someone to make a baby with, but maybe a part of me had started to really care about him as a person—not merely a means to an end. Except I wasn’t supposed to do things like that. Love a man that way. Family was what I should focus on. My sister witches, my father and his village family, people like that.
“Seems like beneath your witch’s practicality beats the heart of a romantic.” Donovan ran the back of his hand along the curve of my cheek, sparking an instant flame of desire inside me.
I leaned into his touch, and he sucked in a short breath before cradling my face between his palms and kissing me.
I dug my fingers into his soft hair and opened my mouth to him. We were lost, then, in each other.
“Marley.” He moaned my name as our kiss deepened. Somehow he ended up on his back with me straddling him. “My little witch. You like it in the dirt, don’t you?”
“I like it anywhere with you,” I confessed as I hastily undid the buttons on his shirt so I could kiss my way down his chest and belly.
His breath caught as I unbuckled his belt and pants. His cock sprang free, erect and hard, and I fisted it, moving my hand up and down his shaft while he strained beneath me, his face contorting with lust.
I took the tip of his cock in my mouth, licking and sucking, rousing him to a near-frenzy of desire.
“Marley!” He spoke my name with an urgency I couldn’t ignore. Lifting my skirts, I positioned myself above him, on fire to feel him inside me.
I sank down upon him, his cock sliding into my wet warmth. We both groaned, and I braced my hands above his shoulders, my fingers digging into the soft earth.
I’d never made love in a field before, but this felt supremely right. Magic bubbled inside of me, struggling to burst free.
Rituals existed to sink magic into a field; perhaps I’d inadvertently stumbled upon a lesser-used one. Sex magic.
“I bless this field,” I whispered against Donovan’s hot mouth. “Make it as fertile as the passion that possesses me at this moment. The earth shall prove fruitful and full of magic as long as I plant here.”
Magic gushed from my every pore and infused the field. I clenched my muscles around Donovan’s cock.
He cried out in shock, his eyes wide. Did he feel my magic swirling around him?
“It’s okay,” I told him as we moved together. “It’s my magic fertilizing the field.”
“Are you using me to do it?” His eyes shone a peculiar shade of green as he broke our kiss and held my face still between his palms. Deep inside me, his cock felt hard as the stones that made up Zodiac Mountain.
“Not using you. Harnessing our passion.” I tried to kiss him, but he turned his head, evading me.
“Without my permission? Do you think that’s a fair exchange? What do I get out of this?” He shoved m
e off of him and rolled away, fumbling with his clothing.
I hunched into a ball, wrapping my arms around my legs and burying my face in my knees. All the magic inside me fizzled out, leaving me empty and aching.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. He snorted, sounding distant as if he couldn’t put enough space between us.
“Never do that again!” he shouted. “Never use magic against me!”
I lifted my head, the world blurred by my tears. “I’ve never used magic against anyone in my life!”
“Haven’t you? What did you think you were doing when you put all those protection spells on your fields? Wasn’t that magic against dragons?”
“Only if you wanted to harm those fields!” I gained my feet in a wrathful instant. “You shouldn’t talk about magic since you obviously don’t understand it! Do you know how insulting it is to be accused of using magic against you?”
“It was against my will. I didn’t say you could use me to cast some sort of damn spell on this field,” Donovan snarled. “Maybe if you’d asked first, I would have gladly cooperated.”
“I didn’t know I could do it until it started happening!” I shouted, nearly dancing with rage. Why must he always misinterpret everything I said and did? “It seemed like the perfect way to bless the field since you gave it to me in the first place! All my magic bubbled up inside me, and it had nowhere to go. Powerful magic. Not to use it would have been a huge waste. I’ve rarely felt it so strong inside me. Except for the most basic of spells, I always need my coven to help raise my magic.
“Blessing a field is something the whole coven does together. I’ve never heard of any witch doing it by herself.”
“You weren’t by yourself, that’s the issue,” Donovan said, but at least he wasn’t shouting anymore. He looked conflicted and unsure beneath the anger still seething in his green eyes. “I was there with you. I’m not magic like you, so I can only be used as a conduit. I can’t contribute. And conduits should be asked for their help properly, not dragged into a ritual against their will simply because it’s suddenly happening.”
Shame burned through me. “It won’t happen again.”
“It better not,” Donovan said through gritted teeth.
“You’re jealous, aren’t you?” The words left my mouth before I could stop them. “Jealous because the only magic you have is eternal youth and a life that spans a millennium. And you only have that because of something you eat, not because it’s already inside you like my magic is.
“Instead of being happy to share this with me, you’ve turned this whole ritual into something shameful and wrong. I did you no dishonor. And the truth is, I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Me, or any man you wanted to fuck in the dirt.” Donovan spat at his feet, his jaw jutted.
I shook my head. “You see? That’s where you’re wrong. I couldn’t have done this with any man. Just you. You make my magic sing inside me. No man’s ever done that before. And, trust me, I won’t let you do it again.
“I don’t need your help for anything, dragon. I’ll build my own cottage here. I’ll have my father help me. I don’t need you.”
I glared at him. “Unless you plan on taking this field away from me, that is.”
White lipped, he glared back. “Dragons never take back their gifts. This field is yours. Forever.”
At that moment, I hated the field and everything around it. Including Donovan and myself. My heart hurt in a way I never suspected it could.
Damn this dragon. It wasn’t possible to fall in love in two days, was it? But the swirling, hot emotion cascading over me felt like love. Twisted and unrequited, but definitely love.
This realization rushed through me, weakening my unstable muscles. Sheer will kept me from collapsing to the ground and weeping and screaming until my throat burst. I would not let him see me like that.
Donovan heaved a loud sigh and gazed upward.
“It’s time we got back. Dragons have rituals, too. Maybe not magical ones like witches conduct, but they’re important to us. We have one tonight, and you’re required to attend.”
“Against my will? Without asking my permission?” I sneered.
“Don’t push me, witch,” Donovan said past clenched teeth.
“I see,” I said.
“I sincerely doubt it,” he muttered.
Enraged, I swept on. “You have to be the benevolent one. You have to be the one giving, and I have to be the grateful little witch who is overcome with gratitude at your generosity. You won’t take anything from me, like my magic, will you? You won’t let it move through you or affect you in any way that isn’t your idea first.”
I yanked my skirts straight. “You won’t participate in my rituals unless you’re begged properly first, but I’m expected to attend yours because you demand it? As long as I’ve got things clear, that’s fine. I won’t try to do anything for you or give you anything unless you ask for it first. Things will run more smoothly that way, although I’m sure you don’t care at all how small and insignificant that makes me feel. My feelings don’t matter a bit to you. I’m glad we’ve got that straight.”
Donovan glowered at me. “Things are not straight between us, and I don’t have the time right now or the inclination to fix it. Sulk all you like. Feel as sorry for yourself as you can be. But you will show up to the ritual tonight, and you won’t make fools of the both of us like you did at our wedding. Have we got that straight?”
Cold as ice inside, I nodded my head. He waited a beat, as if expecting me to argue, then shook his head.
A ring of fire sprang up around him and he was a dragon again.
This time he didn’t talk me through securing the chair mount, and I was damned if I’d ask for help. After I’d climbed aboard and strapped myself in, I had to hope he would’ve told me I’d done it wrong so I wouldn’t fall to my death during our flight back to the Zodiac Mountain.
Heart pounding, I waited for the chair to slip and me to tumble out when he sprang into the air, but everything stayed fixed in place.
I couldn’t even enjoy the sweeping vista of forest and river beneath his wings as we made our way. Sick rage and humiliation churned within me until I wanted to vomit. Instead, I sat stiff as mountain stone until we landed in the common area.
I didn’t wait for Donovan to get dressed after shifting back to human. I refused to carry the chair mount either. Clutching my skirts, I climbed the second staircase and stomped back to our quarters.
If anyone jeered at me from doorways, I didn’t hear it past the blood roaring in my ears.
Chapter 8
Donovan was sitting in front of the fireplace, nursing a glass of mead, when I entered the room. The skirts of my best dress swished against the rock floor as I moved. Renata had always helped me put up my hair, but I’d done my best alone. I could only hope it wouldn’t cascade down my back in the middle of this important dragon ritual, but I had my suspicions. Trying to work without being able to see the back of my head had been daunting.
Before he knew I was there, Donovan had stared into the fire, his shoulders slumped. When he heard my footsteps, he straightened and turned to regard me.
For a moment his eyes seemed to soften, but perhaps it was merely a trick of the firelight. He had dressed in his finest as well. His linen shirt rivaled the green of his eyes.
I wore the emerald he’d given me on a shorter chain, which placed the jewel in the hollow of my throat. Donovan looked almost surprised to see me wearing it. I wondered what he’d done with the dragon charm I’d given him. Thrown it in the fire most likely.
“Would you like a glass of mead? There’s time if you’re quick,” he said.
“No, thank you,” I replied. “I’d rather spend that time discussing what I’m supposed to do in this ritual.”
“Nothing to discuss. You don’t have a speaking part. You’re a participant, the same as I am. You’ll figure it out.” He rose to his feet, setting his glass aside. I wanted
to pick it up and dash the contents in his face. Did he think to unnerve me by not telling me what the ritual entailed? I was a witch. I’d proved to him I could do impromptu magic. I wouldn’t be fazed by any dragon, non-magical ceremony.
He headed for the door, but hesitated before turning the knob. “Nice touch wearing the emerald. Anyone would think you prized it.”
I bit back a hot retort because rituals required calm and focus, and neither would be possible if I allowed Donovan to ignite my temper.
Chuckling sarcastically, he passed through the doorway. I followed, determined to keep up with his long strides despite my hampering skirts.
Dragon folk proceeded ahead of us in the corridor. No one spared us a look until Val, Rabb, and Emily fell in behind us.
“Are you really bringing that witch to our sacred rite, Donovan? Are you trying to rub our faces in her treachery? Her very presence will pervert everything we stand for,” Val hissed in a furious whisper.
Donovan stiffened, but kept walking.
“Pathetic witch. You’d better keep your mouth shut tonight. Nobody wants to hear anything you might have to say. Keep your head down, and don’t make eye contact with any dragon. You don’t deserve to be acknowledged.” Rabb kept his voice low, but his words still struck me, full of venom.
I didn’t expect Donovan to leap to my defense, not after what had transpired between us in the field, but his continued silence hurt.
“Not so mouthy tonight, are you?” Val asked, satisfaction oozing from her voice. “Hiding behind your husband? Yet, he’s remarkably silent.”
Stone-faced, I continued to follow Donovan. Inside, rage and humiliation churned in my gut, but I strove desperately for the cool serenity needed for rituals. It didn’t matter what they said to me. They didn’t exist to me. Not tonight and not at this moment.
We swept into a vast chamber where a long stone table set for dinner dominated the furnishings. Would everyone in the clan sit at this table? It certainly appeared big enough, yet I couldn’t imagine I would be allowed to break bread with people like Balthasar and the dragon council.
ZS- The Dragon, The Witch, and The Wedding - Taurus Page 9