by Crystal Dawn
Knossos thought about it and that was true. Political scheming never ended. In this case, it was important for all of their kinds. He was just glad it wasn’t his job, or at least only a small part of his job. As his people woke or were found, he would have to present to them the choice, help or don’t help.
Dragons were free individuals who made their own choices. As king, he was the most powerful and could force them to come to him, but once they had the information, the decision was in their hands. At least the responsibility for any injuries would not be on his head alone.
“Here they are.” Royal declared as Maybelle, Annie, and his Sophie appeared.
Knossos opened his arms and Sophie rushed into them. “Ah, to be young and in love.” Maybelle whispered.
“Knossos is probably older than you, my love.” Royal pointed out.
“Perhaps, but I bet right now he feels like a youngster.” Maybelle said with a giggle.
The others left them be as they went to meet guests and make sure supper was prepared. It wasn’t long before everyone was called in to eat. Knossos and Sophie sat near Royal. Maybelle was across from them with Sophie’s parents next to her. Royal tapped on his champagne glass with his spoon. It got everyone’s attention.
“I would like to propose a toast to Knossos and Sophie, they are getting married.” Everyone began to clap and yell. “Their engagement ball with be one month from today. Everyone here will receive engraved invitations.”
Knossos felt dread in his stomach. Few dragons were the social kind and he was less so than most. His mother sat next to Sophie having quit her job and admitting to being his mother. She hated these events too and would also be forced to attend. That saying misery likes company applied here. He felt better that she would also be present.
The wedding would be two months after the engagement ball. The timing was to give important people time to change their schedules accordingly. This event would be high on the list of important future events for this year. The political and economic positioning and schmoozing going on would make it well worth anyone’s time to attend. Missing it would be a disaster.
The food was now being served and he was hungry. There were large chunks of meat drowning in gravy with mashed potatoes. Everyone had a side salad and hot buttered corn. There was a table in the corner covered with desserts of all kinds. Most people were enjoying the champagne, but water, tea, and juice was also available. Shifters in particular didn’t care for soda. The bubbles disturbed them so it wasn’t generally served at parties shifters attended.
Royal seemed to be recovering well and was back to rubbing elbows with the important people. The only change was Maybelle was taking part of the load off by assisting him. According to Annie her father had never encouraged his mate to assist him in this before. Now they looked like a power couple. Maybe allowing her to help with take some of the pressure off him.
Now the planning would begin, but that didn’t worry him. He knew the females would handle that. It would be Maybelle, his mother might have some say, and Sophie’s mother might be involved as well. Sophie would get pushed out of the planning, he was sure of it. As the meal continued, conversations buzzed in the background. His attention was divided between his food and his mate.
By the time the meal and the after supper socializing were done, Knossos was more than ready for it to be over. Even Sophie and Annie who were raised to handle these types of events looked bored to tears and ready to run. Unfortunately with the event being in their honor they had to say good night to most of the guests before they could leave Knossos was thrilled when they were finally given the word to go home.
The dread of those kinds of social situations stuck with him probably always would. Dragons had no such types of affairs. They had feasts with drinking often, but any excuse was a good enough one for a feast. It was an opportunity to eat to excess, drink as much as they could hold, and the singles among them found some willing person to bed. Nothing wrong with that when you were single.
Now what sounded good to him had changed immensely. The next day, he was talking to Ram. “What do you want to do tonight?” Ram asked. “This is your bachelor’s party while the females are entertaining your mate.”
“What is usually done for this?” Knossos questioned.
“Humans usually go out and party sometimes even fucking other women. They also hire strippers. Those are not things I care to do nor do I believe you do. My suggestion is to get a group of males together and either play games like cards or watch movies.”
“Either of those are acceptable.” Knossos offered.
“We’ll watch movies, but have some games available in case some of the guys want to play them.” Ram said.
“Sounds like a good plan, but I know few guys so who will we invite?”
“We’ll invite Cam and Dae.”
“Only two?”
“I’ve not been here long either. I’d rather invite two guys I like than a bunch I’m not sure of.”
“You have a point. Call them.” Knossos got on his laptop and got busy making plans.
In the morning he and Sophie would go to see the first house. He wasn’t sure why they had to spend tonight away from each other, but he didn’t understand these human or other paranormal kinds customs. Hopefully, the females had things planned better and would actually have some fun.
Cam arrived minutes later since he lived on site too. Dae came an hour later just after the snacks were deliver and Ram and had the first movie set up to play. “So another one bites the dust, huh?” Cam asked.
Knossos looked confused. “He’s referring to your mating.” Dae explained.
“Yes, I am very pleased Sophie accepted.”
“Cam’s trying to say mating is like a punishment.” Ram explained with a laugh.
“Why? Doesn’t every male want to find his fated mate?” Knossos asked.
“Apparently, not every male.” Ram said as he shot Cam an odd look.
Knossos let it go. He didn’t understand the relationships some of these people had or what they felt about mating. Ram was obviously happy he’d found Annie. Maybe Cam would change his mind when his mate appeared. Other kinds were too complicated for him to understand. Right now, he just missed his mate and wished she was with him.
“I’ve got a selection of action movies and you guys can fix yourselves a plate and a drink. We’ve got lots of good stuff.” Ram explained.
Maybe the food and drink would be good because the company so far was nothing to brag about. Ram as alright, but Cam was weird and Dae was quiet. They settled in once they had their snack plates fixed and watched a war movie. It wasn’t bad, but it was bloody. The next movie was about aliens and it was gory. Didn’t Ram like any movies that weren’t full of gore?
“I’ve got to go now. Big day at work tomorrow.” Dae admitted. “Have fun the rest of your evening.” They all waved at him as he left. And then there were three.
No one said anything for a while. “I’m going to go too. I also have work in the morning.” Cam said then he left hurriedly as if they would ask him to stay.
“I’m sorry. This whole thing was a bust.” Ram said.
“You tried and that’s what matters. We shouldn’t really follow human customs. They do some strange things.” Knossos said.
“I suppose you’re right. The girls just thought we’d feel left out while they had their party.” Ram explained.
“Maybe the problem is that I don’t like the things human males do anymore. Dragons are wild partiers in their youth, but the fun dims as we get older. Once we find the right female, we lose interest in those kinds of things.” Knossos admitted.
“My kind is the same way, but some of us delay our matings even after we know who the right one is.” Ram observed.
“Cam?” Knossos guessed.
“I think he’s in denial.”
“He’ll regret all that lost time.”
“If he ever admits it at all.”
“I’m r
eady to call it a night.” Knossos admitted.
“Me too. See you at breakfast.”
Knossos hurried to bed and was asleep in no time. It couldn’t have been long when he felt the bed dip. A warm, sweet smelling body lay up against him. “Did you have a fun evening?” Sophie asked.
“It was alright, but I missed you.” He lay there naked waiting, hoping his mate would want to enjoy his body.
Sophie rolled over on him climbing up where he still lay on the bed until she straddled him. “I missed you, too.” she whispered throatily.
Oh yeah! This was always the best way to end the day. Because he always slept naked and she wore nothing right now, everything was accessible with nothing between them. She grabbed his cock, which was hard as stone and throbbing. She raised up sliding it in place as lowered herself on him. She rocked against him hard setting a fast pace. Sophie sped up as her body started to go crazy with desire and heat rushed over her.
So close, so good, so ready. It hit her, so unexpectedly and she squeezed his cock. She screamed his name as her body thrashed in a frenzy, half fearful that she might pull his cock off his body in her strong orgasmic jerks. He didn’t mind as he worked toward his release too. As the aftershocks of her release started to ease, he arched and roared his bliss. He bucked like a prize bronc and set off another wave of pleasure rolling over her. Sleep took them both and they weren’t aware of a thing until morning.
He woke feeling good with his mate snuggled up against him. This morning after breakfast, they were looking at the first house on the list. “Wake up, Sweetheart.”
Sophie made a noise and rolled over. It was funny how their roles were reversed this morning because he usually wasn’t a morning person. Sophie was. He grabbed her shoulder shaking lightly. She made grouchy noises. Finally she peeked out at him before she tried to roll away.
“No you don’t. We have a house to look at.” Knossos informed. Sophie sat straight up looking at him.
“Why didn’t you say so?”
“You already knew.”
Sophie launched out of bed running to the shower. She had to come out to dress which Knossos enjoyed watching. Females were hard to understand. When she was dressed, they headed downstairs to the breakfast buffet set up in the dining room. It was set up for employees of Ram’s company, but others ate there too.
Knossos was excited to get out the door so they could see the first house in person. This was where they would be raising their children. They might live a hundred years or more in this house. Sophie seemed just as excited.
The house was nearly an hour from Ram’s place. He’d thought it was closer and he was sure they would spend a lot of time with Ram and Annie. It still within a reasonable distance so they looked at it anyway. The house was huge just like Royal’s place. This one was an old style brick giving the impression the house was a hundred years old. It was set up like many homes paranormals had with suites for family members.
A kitchen that could have been commercial was next to a dining room set up for fifteen people. There was both a living room that was formal and a family room that was casual. There was an attic apartment as well as a separate office perfect for a dragon like his mom if she lived with them.
The third floor had four suites, one with two bedrooms possibly for a small child or even an infant. The second floor was set up more like humans with bedrooms and baths with a couple rooms that could be offices or recreational spaces.
The first floor was set up with mostly the rooms everyone would use and a lavish master suite. It also had two offices that were interconnecting. The basement had a set of rooms that were only accessible from the outside. Possibly for employees? The laundry was also down there and again, only accessible from the outside. There was also a large playroom with games and some were even built in.
Sophie loved the guest house that was on the other side of the huge pool. The pool had a waterfall, slides, and other extras. The hot tub was hidden behind the water fall. His mate was stunned by the sheer luxury of the place.
“Are you sure you can afford this?” Sophie asked.
“My accountant assures me I can.” Knossos replied.
“It’s amazing, but it’s the kind of house for someone who entertains a lot. Will your businesses require that?”
“I’m really not sure if I’ll take a leading role or let those running the company continue as they have been. I don’t always like people.”
Sophie giggled. “I would have never guessed.”
“On the other hand,” Knossos ignored her comment, “you have a large family and we seem to be involved in something big right now. My family is large also and will be coming around whenever they wake up.”
“Those are good points.” Sophie admitted.
“Also when you lay our first large clutch of eggs, we may have several dozen young hatch at once.” Knossos apprised.
Sophie paled and sat down abruptly. “Eggs?” She croaked.
“I was just teasing you sweetheart. Natural dragons lay eggs, shifters have babies in human form.” Knossos assured.
“I will get even.” She threatened, but relief was obvious in her voice.
He would be more careful next time he teased her. It had made him feel awful that she’d almost passed out. That had taken all the fun out of pulling the joke on her. “So what did you think about the house?”
“Who wouldn’t love it, but it is more formal than I expected.”
“I’ll admit it is formal. The owner did use it for company getaways and other things like that. Tomorrow we’ll try the next one.”
“Why wait?” Sophie asked.
“You already look tired. You’ll not be able to fairly evaluate such a large house if you’re worn out before you see it.”
“I’ll admit to being ready for a nap.”
“We’ll do that after we’ve had lunch in the nearby town.”
They headed a couple miles down a small dirt road until it opened out into a hidden community. “I never knew this was here.” Sophie admitted.
“The owner of the house we just looked at established this community for the people that worked for him. Originally, it was only those that worked at the home, but because of the huge lake it sits near, the community thrived and became a tourist magnet. That drew in more residents. You can see its population is a bit more than a community and more like a small town. It has all the basics, restaurants, hotel, laundry mat, gas stations and many of those small stores you find so fascinating.”
“You brought me here to convince me?”
“No sweetheart, I brought you here so you would have all the facts. It’s listed on the ad as a selling point even though there are some people it might turn off. You, are not one of those.”
“Are you?”
“No, I don’t care either way.” Knossos admitted. “The only appeal to me is if you enjoy it.”
“You say the sweetest things.”
They stopped at a café that looked like it could have been around in Colonial days. The look continued on the inside, but she was sure the kitchen would be modern. Wait staff were dressed appropriately and all the dishes seemed authentic looking. The menu was also correct, but a second menu was offered that was modern. They muddled through and ordered from the first menu because Sophie was enjoying the experience.
When the food came, it was wonderful and they ate their fill. The bill was what he would have expected to pay and he did so gladly. It was time to go, but he hesitated until he remembered his day was full.
“We’d best get back before Ram comes looking for us.” Knossos suggested. A raid was planned for the afternoon which it now was. If they didn’t turn up, Ram might have to cancel it.
“Let’s go. Thank you for this lovely experience.” Sophie said as she leaned over to kiss him sweetly.
They left walking to his SUV and leaving in a cloud of dust. The trip back was faster since they knew where they were headed. The team was assembled once they arrived, but ha
d not begun the meeting yet. Whether they were on time, or Ram had held off until they arrived, he didn’t know nor did he ask.
“This seems to be a small operation. It’s a pawn shop selling goods stolen from locals. Several of the locals have already filed reports that Dae was able to side track so we could handle this. The number of employees on site changes throughout the day. We suspect it’s a meeting place for Hubolla’s followers. Proceed with care, anyone and anything could await us here. It’s about fifteen minutes away so prepare your outlook now. You’ll have little time to prepare on the way.” Ram concluded.
Knossos cast a glance at his mate. There she was talking to Annie. Sophie would be going with them and it always made him nervous. She was learning, but she still didn’t have the level of magic or the experience Annie did. Few witches in their generation did, but that would change now, or at least he hoped it would. In light of the looming threat, how could the witches fail to teach their younger witches?
“There’s not much we can do to prepare so since we all know the location and the risks, let hit it.” Dae said. It was what passed for a pep talk from him.
They drove the fifteen minutes Ram guessed it would take before pulling over near an area with many store fronts. The group headed out dividing into three SUVs. One was his and Sophie was with him. Ram and Dae drive the other two. There would be others meeting them at the location, or near it. The stores lined both sides of the street with parking in front of most. It was a common set up for tourist areas and these were the kinds of stores his Sophie loved to explore.
There would be no exploring of that kind here. The store in question had large signs advertising treasures of all kinds at vastly reduced prices. A line of customers formed moving into the store slowly. People came out, most with purchases of various kinds. This place was making Hubolla’s followers a small fortune. It was obvious why Dae slated it for a raids.
Everyone was out of their vehicles and moving towards the store. He assumed others were coming in the back or at the least making sure no one fled. Dae didn’t wait patiently in line. He pushed in front of some outraged would be customers and flashed his badge.