by Imogen Sera
She shifted on his back, trying to get comfortable. He was far too big for her to sit astride him like a horse; his back was more like a platform for her to sit however she pleased. She drew her heavy cloak closer around herself. The night wind was freezing but he was quite warm, and the contrast was almost pleasant.
He turned his enormous head to glance at her so she grinned at him, as wide as she could bear. She could enjoy this, she thought to herself, once she became used to the idea. The cold air on her face made her alert. The occasional flapping of his wings was a titillating reminder of her mate’s power. The open air in front of her made her feel free. Dragongrove came to her mind suddenly, as it had constantly over the last few weeks, and for the first time sorrow over the loss didn’t threaten to overwhelm her. She had loved her home, she mourned for her home, but now she could go anywhere she pleased.
As numbness threatened her freezing nose she leaned forward and touched her face to Helias’s warm back. She moved her legs behind her, and then she was lying face down on him, surprisingly comfortably. She could sleep here. She smiled at the thought.
Helias circled over the water several times before turning back toward the distant lights of the cottage. She felt a renewed confidence; she could travel this way. He landed on the shore, not far from the garden, and Ingrid gracelessly slid and tumbled down his wing that he’d extended to the ground. She laughed at herself and a moment later he was laughing at her too, embracing her tightly, warmth and bare flesh pressed snugly against her.
He found his clothing and pulled on his pants as Ingrid leaned into his warm naked chest. She shivered violently and he tightened his grip around her, guiding her back inside.
“I’m sorry, love, I didn’t think about the cold,” he said as they made their way back inside.
She answered with a grin. “I didn’t either,” she said, still shivering despite herself.
He stared down at her for a moment, and she realized that she was completely clinging to him, touching him everywhere possible for warmth. “Bath?” he questioned, and she nodded eagerly.
The huge tub connected to their bedroom was large enough that they could both fit comfortably, even with her mate’s big size. He drew her a hot bath as she pulled of her gown, and as she looked at the steaming water she thought that nothing had ever seemed so pleasant. She couldn’t contain a small moan of pleasure as she sank into the water, and when she beckoned Helias over he gladly stripped and climbed into the water next to her. He looked so pleased and she couldn’t stop grinning.
“How was it?” he asked after they’d both made themselves comfortable. He was leaning back against the side of the tub with Ingrid on his lap, her head on his chest, relaxing into the warmth.
She looked up at him. “Wonderful,” she smiled. “It was wonderful.” He squeezed her a little more tightly and she pressed a kiss against his chest. “I think I need a warmer cloak, though,” she added.
He nodded. “We’ll find one tomorrow.” He sounded hesitant, and Ingrid shot him a questioning look. He sighed. “Ing, I want to leave for Arnes after that. I know you’re finally feeling at home here, and I don’t want to take that from you again, but we haven’t heard anything and Laurent is safely gone and I think it’s time.”
Ingrid grinned at him. “This cottage is lovely, but I’ve been so eager to move on,” she said, and he looked surprised. “I want to get to our actual home,” she elaborated.
He held her close and exhaled into her hair. “I love you,” he murmured, and she closed her eyes and relaxed against his broad chest. The warmth from her mate, the steamy water, the exhilaration from the ride were all too much, and the next thing she knew she was being wrapped in a towel, lifted carefully, and tucked into bed. Helias held her to him, warm and hard and steady, and she knew no more. She was safe. She was free.
CHAPTER THREE
Snow was softly falling as Ingrid carefully checked her satchel. Helias watched her across the yard and smiled at the sight, knowing that she’d already checked it three times, but he expected nothing less. She looked particularly enchanting with the hood of her fur lined cloak pulled tight around her face; all he could see was her pink lips and big bright eyes.
They had made the short walk into town the day before for warmer clothing. Aside from the freezing wind, Arnes was to the north and would only be colder. She’d selected lined pants and thick gloves along with the cloak, and Helias thought she looked like some kind of winter goddess. They’d enjoyed spending their last day in town together, wandering through shops hand in hand, pretending they weren’t possibly flying to their doom the following day. Ingrid had surprised him when she’d confidently strode into the proprietor’s office and purchased the cottage they were renting.
She’d smiled at his shocked face. “We need somewhere to keep our things,” she’d shrugged. “And I love it.”
She crossed the grounds to him now, and he couldn’t help but take her pink cheeks between his hands and kiss her hard. She grinned up at him.
“All ready, I think,” she said, and wrapped her arms around his midsection. “We’ll be safe, right?”
He kissed the top of her head and pressed her against his chest. “I hope so,” he murmured.
Caelian approached holding a book out to Ingrid, she smiled brightly at him and added it to her bag. Anything the brothers wished to carry while shape shifted needed to be carried in their claws, and Helias had insisted that they be empty to be ready for anything unexpected. Combat was the word he’d carefully avoided, not wishing to cause Ingrid to worry. After she had fallen asleep the night before he’d met with his brothers. If they were met with force they would attempt to evade it, if evasion was impossible then Caelian and Tarquin would stay to fight while Helias got Ingrid to safety. If Helias was injured then Caelian would take Ingrid to safety while Tarquin stayed behind.
He felt guilty about making back up plans in secret without sharing them with Ingrid, but he knew she would be embarrassed and insulted by plans just to keep her safe. She didn’t understand, though. A small breath of dragonfire could incinerate a human easily, whereas he and his brothers would require a lot more than that to injure them.
He pulled her back against his chest and enjoyed the feeling of her leaning into him. It felt very wrong to be taking her into what could be a trap, but he’d promised not to leave her and he’d meant it. Ingrid chatted with Caelian while Helias held her, and when Tarquin strode out of the house and nodded at him he knew it was time. Ingrid pulled away from him but clasped his hand, then raised it to her face and kissed his palm softly.
Helias stripped quickly and Ingrid folded his clothes carefully before putting them in her bag. He walked a few feet away and shifted. Ingrid approached him and tried to climb onto his back, but failed repeatedly as she was unable to gain a foothold anywhere. She laughed as she fell for the third time, then Caelian hoisted her around the waist and lifted her. She thanked him, still grinning, and Helias couldn’t help irrational flare of jealousy. He pushed it aside. Ingrid was his, and besides, Caelian had found his mate.
He wondered again what had happened. Caelian’s mate Margaret had been a plague victim who was saved when Ingrid’s house had burned, and although when she recovered she wished to return home, Caelian had been confident that she would want to become his. He’d walked her home himself, a journey that had taken three days, and he’d been excited at the prospect of getting to know her finally. When he returned a week later he was despondent, refusing to give any details. He’d been writing nightly, and Helias suspected they were letters to Margaret, but he didn’t want to ask after Caelian had made it clear he wasn’t willing to discuss it.
Helias turned his head around to look over Ingrid, and she smiled widely. His brothers had shifted nearby, and he nodded once at her before taking flight.
.....
It was a funny thing to feel bored on the back of a dragon, soaring hundreds of feet above the ground, wind whipping across her face, but
there Ingrid was. Her ass was sore and her face was cold and the thrill of it had worn off hours earlier. Her mind wandered, speculating endlessly about what they would find in Arnes. Helias had described what he knew; the warded borders keeping uninvited mortals out, the glittering palace, the vast open lands. He’d warned her about oversaturation, a side effect which affected mortals who were newly exposed to enchanted things, and about his uncertainty of how she would be treated as a human queen.
“They’ll answer to me,” he had sworn, but warned her regardless. She’d been warmed by the protective glint in his eyes and smiled as she promised to not be scared off.
She wasn’t afraid of being respected or not. She was afraid that they would cross the border and she’d be burned to ashes. She was afraid of Helias or his brothers being injured. She was afraid that they would successfully reclaim control and that Helias would be king and look down at her, one day, and wonder why the fates had matched him with someone so unremarkable.
She sighed at herself. She was nervous about the future and her old fears were coming back. She knew they were ridiculous; her big mate adored her. She shifted from her seated position and moved so that she was lying face down on his back, her cold cheek pressed to his warm skin.
“I love you,” she murmured, wondering if he could hear her. He’d told her how enhance his senses were when shifted, but with the air whipping past them and the deafening flapping of his wings she doubted he could hear her quiet words.
She shut her eyes and wondered about the state of Arnes. Augustus had described what he’d been told, but he hadn’t actually seen anything before his imprisonment. War, he had described. Rebelling nobles. Ingrid shuddered. How deadly was the war? How angry were the nobles? Helias’s father had by all accounts lost his mind before the end of his life, but surely the citizens of Arnes knew that he was nothing like the father she’d heard so much about.
As the sun lowered in the sky and the cold air became unbearably frigid they began their descent. They had planned on two days for the journey and Ingrid desperately hoped that they had made good progress. She looked forward to stopping for the night; a hot dinner and a warm bed sounded like the most enticing things in the world right then. The lights of a town glittered far below them, but they stayed high, circling until the sky was fully dark.
They landed in an open field not far from town. Helias extended his wing to the grass and Ingrid embarrassed herself again, stumbling and sliding to the ground. Tarquin was still in the air and Caelian had already shifted so Ingrid tossed her satchel at him so he could dress. Helias shifted and as he enveloped Ingrid in his arms she gave a little sigh of pleasure.
“I love you, too,” he said and smiled slyly at her.
A few minutes later all of the brothers were dressed and heading toward town. The three talked animatedly but Ingrid remained quiet, enjoying the conversation after a day of silence with only her own thoughts for company. Helias’s arm was slung over her shoulder in a way that warmed her from the inside. They all seemed to be in high spirits, Ingrid mused, even Tarquin. Maybe spending time in dragon form was good for them.
It was easy to find the inn in the center of town, thanks to the multiple already-drunk men hanging around outside. Helias flashed a concerned look at her as they stepped around one of them, seemingly asleep, and she answered with a grin. She’d seen very little of the world outside of Dragongrove and she was quite enjoying the experience.
Rooms were secured and as the group sat around a table in the tavern, the innkeeper struck up conversation.
“Good thing you got here when you did,” he said in a thick accent. “Dragons have been sighted today. You’ll be safe indoors.”
Ingrid smiled to herself, but Tarquin spoke. “Yes, this wooden structure will keep us perfectly safe,” he said dryly.
Helias shot him a look but Ingrid laughed out loud before she could stop herself.
Dinner was too salty and the meat was of a mysterious origin, but it was hot and filling and that was all that mattered to her. Ingrid was surprised by how much a day of riding had taken out of her. She looked up from her empty bowl, feeling gluttonous, then saw how much everyone else was eating. She rested her chin on her hand in a very unladylike way and glanced around the table, delighting in the company. The conversation was lively, the air was warm, the room was full of interesting people to watch. She felt immensely satisfied.
She felt even more satisfied, later, after Helias had pulled her into their room and kissed her passionately, stripped her slowly, and devoured her all over. He paused between her legs, licking long and slow, fucking her with his tongue. She was a quivering mess before long, and ignoring his own lust her held her against him, still shaking, until she slept.
.....
Helias woke early with Ingrid pressed tightly against him. He smiled at the sight of her messy dark hair, curling slightly at the ends and her cherry red nose from the journey the day before. His thoughts turned to the day ahead and unease flooded him. He didn’t know in what state they would find Arnes, but he knew he would do everything possible to keep Ingrid safe. They’d discussed the plans many times back in the rental cottage, and she was determined to come along. He’d offered to set her up somewhere and fetch her as soon as it was safe, or to send her with Augustus and Annie, or to find Lily for her to travel with, but she’d refused every offer.
“What kind of queen would I be,” she’d asked, “if I ran away until everything was taken care of?”
He warmed at the memory and pulled her tighter against him. She moaned quietly in her sleep and he became very aware of her soft, full breasts pressed against his bare chest. With a gentle touch he ran his hand down her side slowly, curving in at the waist and out again at her hip, and then let his hand drift down to her ass. He squeezed it softly, enjoying how well it fit in his hand, and then moved his fingers around to her front. She was wet already, hot and slick, and he enjoyed the little noises she made, eyes still closed, as he ran a finger through her folds and around her clit. His cock was stiff against her leg and as she writhed unconsciously, looking for more friction, she rubbed against it. He wanted to fuck her, badly, especially after ignoring himself the night before, but he was enjoying her quiet responses too much to rush it.
He slowly inserted a finger into her, and her sharp intake of breath made him doubt that she was still asleep. Her eyes remained closed though, and as he began to move his finger her hips moved, searching. He added a second finger and moved down the bed to put his mouth between her thighs. His fingers pumped in and out while he licked her, tongue swirling and fingers curling, and when she started to tremble he took her clit in his mouth and sucked on it. She came hard, panting, clenched hard around his fingers, quivering all over with her thighs locking his head in place. He looked up at her and saw that her eyes were open now, so he grinned at her. She stared back, looking dazed.
He moved back up to kiss her and she attacked him, lips and teeth and tongue. Her small hand circled around his cock, stroking him quickly, and the motion had him jerking his hips. She kept her grip on him and pulled him on top of her, guiding him to her entrance.
“Please fuck me,” she begged in her sweet little voice, and a tight heat enveloped him as he pushed into her. She wrapped her legs around him, drawing him in further, and he savored the look on her pretty face as he began thrusting. She held onto him and before long she came again, and her at her throbbing and clenching he came undone.
He tried to roll off of her but she kept him in place with her leg, smiling at him. He was suddenly overcome with emotion for the small woman under him, and she must have noticed the change in his face.
“Worried about today?” she asked, regarding him seriously.
He nodded, not taking his gaze from her eyes.
“Me too,” she said. “Don’t worry, I won’t let anyone hurt you,” she added impishly.
He grinned at her and kissed her hard.
He couldn’t lose her.
&
nbsp; CHAPTER FOUR
The journey to the border only took two hours. Ingrid’s wishes for faster travel the previous day seemed to have been granted; the morning positively flew by. Caelian had explained the appearance of the border to her at breakfast, and she could see it in the distance. It was unnatural. The grass beyond was a more vibrant green, the sky a more inviting blue; it almost hurt her to look. Caelian had explained that also, it was part of the warding and enchantment that kept mortals away. As they drew closer she noticed an odd shimmering quality to the air around her, accompanied by a heavy sense of dread. It was a familiar feeling. The feeling increased and her chest felt heavy so she closed her eyes and held her breath. A long moment later she exhaled and opened her eyes. The dread was gone, she could breathe comfortably, and they were in Arnes.
It looked just like where they had come from, flat rolling plains in all directions. Ingrid noticed Helias turn his head to watch her, so she smiled shakily and nodded. He turned his attention back ahead and she breathed out heavily. She scanned the skies nervously, aware that the dragons’ vision and hearing were significantly better than hers, but she felt relief when she saw only clear blue. She relaxed a bit, turning her face to the sun, and wondered how far it was from the border to the palace. There was nothing beyond great swathes of green beneath her, no buildings or homes or signs of life. She settled back, assuming they would be traveling for a while longer.