by Jory Strong
Her breath caught on a shiver of ecstasy at the press of his bare chest to her back.
“If you know of the kitsune, do you know what I am? What Nisien is?”
“Yes.”
He stroked the sides of her breasts. Let the flogger fall away so he could capture her nipples and send streaks of fire downward with his tugs and twists and squeezes.
“You please me, more so than I once imagined it possible for a mate to do. I came here for you, so impatient to claim what was mine that I couldn’t wait for the introduction your sister promised me.”
“Lyra knows?”
His rumbled laugh rippled through her. “By now she’s already been made a dragon’s mate, as you would have been had I intercepted you earlier.”
The words chased some of the warmth from her. “I need—”
“To trust your master to take care of your needs, and your mate to do what is right.”
He reinforced it with a painful nip that had her channel spasming, then nuzzled her neck as his hand left a breast to stroke downward to her mound.
“Our mating will be a private affair,” he said, pressing the balls of her jewelry against her engorged clit, making her buck before thrusting two fingers into her slit.
She clamped on him, her need for his cock only heightened by the substitute he offered, her hips jerking spasmodically in an effort to drive them deeper.
“Mine,” he said before taking away his heat and touch.
He removed the blindfold and freed her from the restraints. Turned her to face him, using a hand tangled in her hair to force her gaze to his.
“Go dress, beloved. And do not ease yourself by touching what belongs to me or we will be delayed by further discipline when we are finally alone. Your release is mine to grant or withhold.”
He fished the locker key from his pocket and handed it to her. “Wait for me in the dressing room. My cousin and I will attend to this matter. We will secure the kitsune’s hoshi no tama.”
A protest blossomed in her chest but withered with the narrowing of his eyes and tightening of lips.
“Yes, Master,” she said, though obeying him was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do. If she was wrong to trust him…
I’m not.
Though it didn’t slow the rush of her heart.
Jubal spared only a glance to find and signal Nisien to him before his attention snapped back to Summer. Possessiveness deepened with each step she took, every instinct arguing against allowing her out of his sight.
As she neared the doorway, he wasn’t convinced he could tolerate it, even for the few minutes it would take to secure the hoshi no tama. A mate was the greatest of treasures and he had no intention of losing his even before he’d thoroughly claimed her.
He’d moved as she had, keeping the distance constant and unaware of it until Nisien reached him, stopped him by saying, “We’re leaving?”
His jaws locked to contain the gout of flame that welled up and would otherwise have spilled out as Summer disappeared through the doorway. Trust your master to take care of your needs, and your mate to do what is right.
He wrenched his gaze away from her exit point and directed it at Nisien. “We leave after we retrieve the hoshi no tama belonging to the friend of my mate.”
Nisien’s eyes widened in surprise. “You are fortunate indeed, Cousin.”
“Not just me. All of our kind.”
Nisien’s sharp nod indicated he understood the danger. His grim expression said no price was too high to pay when it came to eliminating the threat created by the kitsune’s loss, though in truth, the task would be easily accomplished on this particular night. Against dragon pheromones, Nisien’s in particular given the human’s leanings, the blond didn’t stand a chance.
They cornered him along with the submissive he’d been playing with, both now in street clothes.
“You have something that doesn’t belong you,” Jubal growled, fighting the urge to incinerate the human, not because of what he suspected the theft meant, but because this male had claimed Summer’s attention. “You will surrender it now.”
“Cousin, have you never heard of the gentle art of persuasion?” Nisien asked, a hand cupping the back of Miles’ neck, drawing him forward for a kiss as his other hand tangled in the submissive’s long brown hair, forcing him to his knees.
Heat radiated off Nisien, and Jubal was not unaffected though his interest was elsewhere. His cock strained, protesting its confinement with savage spikes of need and the shattering of magic.
Praise the Great Shared Ancestor his mate already knew he was dragon. There would be no shrinking his cock or hiding the twin rings that circled beneath its head. Just as there would be no sheathing his mating spurs now that they’d descended. It would require all of his control not to pierce her skin with them at first contact.
The submissive nuzzled the front of Nisien’s trousers and Jubal’s buttock’s clenched as he imagined his own mate on her knees before him, naked and doing the same each time he arrived home.
Get it done! he silently shouted at his cousin, understanding this was a better course of action than simply beating the human to a pulp, even if it wasn’t nearly as satisfying.
Nisien deepened the kiss, hand wandering downward, seeking, finding the treasure he sought and deftly removing it. Passing the hoshi no tama to Jubal before finally pulling back, leaving the blond swaying on his feet, dazed and lost, his hand on his cock, stroking it through the material of his pants.
“What do you know of the orb?” Nisien asked.
“It’s worth a small fortune.”
“Who told you that?”
“I did.” It was the submissive nuzzling the front of Nisien’s trousers who answered.
“Where did the information come from?”
“Jaron Tamarack.”
Fury scorched through Jubal. Fey pawn. Only Queen Otthilde’s protection of the human antiquities dealer had kept him safe all these years.
“He told you to steal it?” Nisien asked the submissive.
“He told me he had a client who sought it and would offer a fortune should the item become available. It was easy enough to meet Master Miles and he was willing to help acquire it for a share of what Jaron offered.”
Jubal seethed at imagining his mate feeling pain on behalf of her friend. A tendril of smoke escaped between clenched teeth as he fought to remain silent rather than undo the sexual lassitude Nisien had managed to create.
“Where are you supposed to meet him?” Nisien asked, tugging at the sub’s hair and making him moan.
“Here. But he’s a no show.”
Because there were dragons present.
Because a dragon’s mate had led them to Chains.
Jubal’s anger gave way to satisfaction. The Fates were finally smiling on his race.
“Let’s go,” he said, not bothering to suggest Nisien might wish to remain and play with these two. His cousin would never lower his standards to such an extreme.
“I will join you momentarily at the car.”
Jubal nodded, anxious to get to his mate.
She knelt when he entered the sitting room, reviving his fantasies in a rush that sent his hand to the front of his pants to take possession of his cock before it plunged through the zipper. Her palms settled on his thighs rather than behind her back, and the face she lifted to him was full of hope and trust.
Joy slammed into him. Intense. Fierce. A powerful blast of emotion that nearly took him to his knees.
He tangled his hand in her hair, moaned when she immediately leaned forward to nuzzle his cock, to tend to his needs rather than asking the question he knew burned inside her. “Beloved, we’ll never get home and mated if you continue to tempt me so.”
A tug brought his mate to her feet and with it the scent of another man on her clothing. Even suspecting the kimono belonged to the kitsune didn’t diminish his urge to rip if from her body, or better yet, eradicate it with a stream of dragon fire.
He covered her mouth with his, gave her that same fire in a series of scorching kisses until both of them burned with the need to feel naked skin against naked skin.
“Enough,” he said, somehow managing to find the strength to pull away from her, to retrieve the hoshi no tama from his pocket and place it in her hand.
The expression on her face swelled his chest to near bursting. He might spend a lifetime showering her with gifts but none of them would mean as much to her as this one.
She opened the locket and placed the orb in it. All traces of magic disappeared when she closed it and the last of his aggravation fell away with understanding. She would soon be rid of the necklace that looked far too much like a collar, and in its place she’d wear the symbol of his ownership.
“We leave now, beloved.”
He brushed his lips across hers, growling a soft warning when her sly tongue darted out to coax him into deeper contact. He didn’t dare, not with mating very much on his mind and yet still an inevitable delay before it could be accomplished.
Nisien had managed to rid himself of the humans and get to the car first, rightly assuming he would once again serve as driver.
Jubal opened the door for Summer though he pulled her onto his lap as soon as he joined her on the backseat. In the close confines of the car, the kitsune’s scent on her had dragon instinct screaming for him to stake his claim so every male in the vicinity knew of it. He parted the material, tugging her panties downward and exposing her smooth, bare cunt.
Desire roared through him as he cupped her, rubbed his palm against the clit jewelry, stimulating her so her hips lifted in jerking motions and her breath came fast and shallow.
“Master, let me come. I beg you.”
And because she pleased him so much, he centered his attention on her clit, stroking the underside and rubbing his fingers over the tiny exposed head as his mouth claimed hers, only lifting to say, “Now,” as he thrust into her channel to feel the violent clamp of her sheath and the wash of arousal that came with orgasm.
She clung to him afterward, as if he was the only solid thing in her existence, and he purred with satisfaction at the rightness of it. Nuzzled her cheek and said, “I believe my cousin needs a destination.”
“The Treasure Chest. It’s—”
“I know where it is,” Nisien said.
Jubal smiled. “Excellent.”
“Thank you, Master,” his beloved said.
Their eyes met and held, both of them powerless to break the contact.
“Until I tell you otherwise, you may address me by name.”
“Jubal,” she said on a whisper, and he might as well have been the one wearing a collar.
He touched his lips to hers in a kiss that merged one into another, only ending when Nisien parked the car.
* * * * *
Excited happiness pulsed through Summer as she led Jubal and Nisien to the back stairs, taking a key from an inside pocket of the kimono when they reached the top.
“Kei,” she called as she stepped into the apartment. Repeating it several times with no result until finally entering the bedroom and saying, “Kei, I know they’re dragons, but they’re safe. They helped me get your star ball back.”
She strained to hear movement at the bed, caught what sounded like the scrape of claws to material, as though Kei had taken refuge in the box springs.
The noise grew louder, ceasing an instant before a pointed nose pushed out from beneath the fall of sheets. Twitched, drawing in scent.
She knelt, removing the locket and opening it, placing it on the floor. The rest of Kei emerged, a beautiful red fox with luxurious tail.
He crept forward rather than rush, as though burdened by animal instinct despite the desperate need to get the star ball back. When he reached her, he took the glowing orb in his mouth but didn’t change form.
Jubal crouched behind her, thighs open and arms enfolding her, offering no threat and making their relationship clear, though she imagined Kei’s nose had already defined it for him.
“You’ll need a dragon guard from now on,” Jubal said, directing the comment at Kei. “It is fortunate for you that your hoshi no tama didn’t fall into the hands of the fey. They are the ones who set its theft in motion.”
Summer turned her head, brushing her lips against Jubal’s cheek. “Why?”
“To extract a promise from him in exchange for the return of the orb, a promise that assuredly would have led to his death as well as the death of his kin. Dragon fertility is tied by a sorcerer’s curse to a chalice. For centuries, the cup was in the possession of the fey, who used it as a flagon of orgy. They lost it in the mortal realm and it has only recently resurfaced. It’s in dragon possession now and I am not the only male desirous of a mate. Has your friend told you what the kitsune are capable of?”
“Illusion.”
“Yes. That is one aspect of their nature. They can take the form of a beautiful woman and their magic is such that they are not easily identifiable as anything other than human. Imagine such a woman tempting a dragon male to take her to Drake’s Lair and offer her the cup, then creating the illusion the chalice had been returned to its pedestal before escaping with it, or perhaps disappearing altogether. Some of the kitsune are said to be able to bend time and space as well as reality. Imagine the retribution that would follow should a kitsune steal the promise of offspring and the hopes of a race.”
Summer shivered, fear and relief swamping her for a moment. If she’d failed… If she hadn’t trusted Jubal…
His arms tightened on her. His lips found her neck to brush against the mark in an offer of comfort and praise.
Kei shifted form, changing from fox to beautifully naked man with a glorious tail. “I am indebted to you,” he said, the three of them standing. A delicate blush rose to Kei’s cheeks as his cock reacted to Nisien’s appreciative perusal and his tail canted sideways.
Nisien reached out, grasping the luxurious appendage. “Careful, I might think this is an invitation.”
Behind her, Jubal laughed, his hands moving from Summer’s waist to her breasts in a possessive claiming. “I believe we can leave now. You’ll stay as guard, Nisien?”
“I’ll stay, and contact Malik so he can send others.”
“Perfect.”
* * * * *
Summer didn’t care about either the size of Jubal’s estate or the luxury of it as he hurried her to his bedroom. Anticipation was a fire in her bloodstream and a hot pool in her nipples and cunt.
The door closed and the lock engaged with a click that reverberated loudly.
“There’s no escape for you now, beloved,” Jubal said, hands making quick work of opening the kimono and tossing it onto a chair.
She moaned as liquid flame struck, caressing her skin as it burned away panties and bra, baring her completely.
“I don’t want to escape,” she said, breathless at having proof he was what she’d known he had to be, a dragon. Need quivered through her belly at the prospect of finally having her master, her lover, her mate inside her.
She sighed with pleasure as he turned her so her back touched his chest, adding to the eroticism, the message of dominance that came at feeling his clothed body against her naked one.
“Agree to wear my collar, Summer.”
Fingers captured and tightened on her nipples so her back arched, baring more of her throat in a show of submission and surrender though she couldn’t give either of them to him completely without asking, “My job?”
A soft growl met her question. “I am not a harsh or unfair master, nor am I an unreasonable one. If working is important to you, then you will do so, but not without guards. I won’t risk losing you. Wear my collar, Summer.”
“Yes.”
He used the nipple rings, applied just enough pain to have her channel spasming.
“Yes, Master.”
He stroked a hand over her abdomen and cupped her mound, tormented with the rub of his palm over her clit and t
he tease of his fingers in her slit.
“I won’t be able to prevent myself from piercing you with my mating spurs when I finally couple with you,” he said, mouth capturing an earlobe, sucking as his fingers fucked her in time to the pull of his lips.
“I’m yours to do with as you please,” she whispered, hips thrusting as she dared to reach behind her and capture Jubal’s hair in her hands.
He tightened his grip on her as if he could eradicate all distance between them, merging their hearts and bodies and souls into one being. “I never thought to find such a perfect female. You will be rendered unconscious at the climax of our mating and when you wake again, you’ll be in the lair I claim in the dragon realm. When we return to this world, we will drink from the cup. I do not fear its disappearance, nor am I in any rush to share you with offspring.”
Her heart sped up, but not with fear. She flashed back to those erotic drawings she’d seen at the fantasy convention, and her earlier imaginings because of them.
“Will you mount me in your other form?” she asked, channel clamping on his fingers as she imagined him taking her that way.
The hard shudder that went through him was answer enough.
“Repeatedly,” he said, turning her to face him and pulling a thin jewelry case from his pocket.
He opened it, revealing a breathtaking sapphire necklace.
“My apologies, beloved,” he said, removing the necklace and tossing the case aside before leaning in to touch his forehead to hers. “I won’t have you hurt by learning that I foolishly offered this collar to your sister as a bribe so I might be allowed the chance to know her better. She turned me down, gently, and said I would come to regret giving it to her. I knew seconds later, at seeing your picture, that she spoke the absolute truth. If you prefer it, I will have a different collar fashioned for you.”
Her heart swelled at his demonstration of caring. Another woman might refuse, labeling both the collar and the man as her sister’s discards, but she viewed them both as a sister’s gift. She knew Lyra would have seen it only as a necklace, and not what it would symbolize between the two of them.
“Just tell me it has never been worn by another of your lovers.”