by KC Kingmaker
I knew he truly believed that, yet it still pained me to see him reliving these past memories. Perhaps I shouldn’t have brought it up.
“My sister, Ashlyn, has been lost to me since the War, because she appallingly joined Empress Orphea’s side. That has caused a rift in the Summer House, who would all otherwise be aligned with me.
“And Dyna Colburn, to bring the story full circle, is Empress Orphea’s daughter.”
I sucked in a sharp breath, my whole body going taut.
He continued, twirling his hands in the air as he talked, as if trying to convince himself of something.
“You see, I cannot publicly oppose Empress Orphea, or it would destroy our rebellion. We’re not strong enough yet. Orphea arranged the marriage between me and Dyna with the hopes of uniting all the Summer House in her favor. But I won’t do it.”
“How can you not?” I blurted out, my voice lilting more than I would have liked.
“Before,” he said, “it was because of the people believing in me—the Summer House dragons who know my father was unjustly killed. They would see it as a betrayal. The entire Resistance would.”
He faced me, stopping between a couple trees. A smile crossed his lips as he watched me getting panicky. But it was a sad smile, pain tugging the corners of his amber eyes.
“And now, it’s because I’ve found someone radiant.”
His fingers brushed against my arm. I nearly came apart from the way he gazed at me and touched my skin.
The emotion cut to my core, seeing Coalt so conflicted over his duty and his desire.
“I hardly know Dyna Colburn,” he said. “And I don’t want to know her. I won’t appease Empress Orphea by marrying her, even if it means my death. It might cause more upheaval, fear, and even war. But that’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
I blinked, teary-eyed. I was at a loss for words.
Seeing I was close to tears, Coalt swiped hair away from my forehead. “You are my silver vision, Leviathan. I’ve known it since first laying eyes on you, and I won’t be separated from your side again . . .”
When he trailed off, hesitance flashing on his face, I furrowed my brow. I leaned toward him, craning my neck, my breath hitching in my throat.
“If you’ll have me, of course,” he added in a low rumble.
My resolve shattered. I couldn’t contain my passion any longer.
I lifted onto my tiptoes, wrapped my arms around his neck, and pulled his beautiful face down to meet mine.
His lips slanted over mine and then I was crashing through a wave of bliss and pleasure, meeting his amber gaze before closing my eyes.
I clutched at his tunic and moaned in his mouth. He stole my breath and I grinded against him, feeling his arousal against my belly.
Our tongues sparred. They twisted and fought, neither of us willing to let the other get the high ground. It was a sublime battle that I would wage at any time, on any day.
Coalt Firesworn finally saw me as an equal—not some savage Unscaled—and it showed in the way he passionately pulled my body flush against his and claimed my mouth. The way he claimed my heart.
He was bigger, stronger, and eventually I relented to let him peruse every inch of my mouth with his tongue, his lips laving over me.
I pushed hard against him and he backpedaled until he thudded up against a tree trunk with a satisfying grunt.
“Yes,” I said breathlessly as I pulled away and studied his features—the severe line of his jaw, the crook of his smile, the powerful ridge above his brilliant eyes. “I’ll have you, Coalt. I’ll have every inch of you.”
We collided again in a passionate embrace. Any hint of softness was thrown aside as I gave him my blessing and he took control.
My shirt came over my head. My pants were tugged off my hips and in a swirl of limbs I did the same to Coalt, undressing him eagerly before I undressed his naked body with my eyes.
I reached down and gripped his thick, velvety shaft. He palmed my pussy and thumbed my clit, and we both groaned with primal desire.
Hot playfulness shone in his eyes. It didn’t take long before his large fingers were pressing between my slick folds and plunging inside me.
That first entry made my eyes roll to the back of my head, the immediate feeling of pleasure almost too much to take. My lips parted and a ragged wail escaped me.
Coalt took the opportunity to dart his tongue in my mouth as he played with my pussy and used the pad of his palm to circle my clit.
My nectar spilled over his hand and it only turned him on even more, his cock throbbing in my grip. I stroked him until it was ready to burst against my forearm, but he was far from done.
Coalt twirled me around, lifting me and spinning me effortlessly like I was nothing more than a pillow. I let out a helpless yelp and then laughed as the cold tree trunk met with the curve of my spine.
He wasn’t forceful, but he was assertive. This was a fire dragon, fueled by intense passion, and once he got going there was clearly no turning it off.
“Please,” I breathed in his ear as my knees grew weak and wobbly. I pushed against his scorching body. “Take me, Coalt. I need to feel you inside me. Now.”
He growled like a beast, taking the lobe of my ear in his mouth. His hands curved over the swell of my ass, then clutched the soft flesh of my thighs, hard enough that it would leave marks.
With a grunt he lifted me. The weightless feeling of my feet leaving the ground was everything I wanted. His powerful biceps flexed and I caressed the planes of his muscles.
The dripping head of his huge cock pressed against my pussy and I almost exploded all over it. Our fluids mingled, and then his cock was stretching my lips and penetrating me.
I let out a wordless cry in his ear. He trailed kisses down my neck, feeding on me like I gave him life, his wet tongue licking my nape.
His cock filled me to the brim with absolute bliss. Unlike our first time, which had been a desperate means to “clear my head,” this was something else entirely.
The first time had felt like lust.
This felt like love.
He thrust up into me, pushing me harder against the tree. I whimpered and folded my arms over his bulging shoulders. My legs wrapped over his hips so they bounced off his pert ass while he fucked me.
I pulled his head down so he could tongue my hard nipples. He took my tight nubs in his mouth and sent waves of pure ecstasy swarming through my belly, out into my extremities, lighting my entire body on fire.
“Oh fuck, Coalt, it’s too much!” I wailed, my hands grasping fistfuls of auburn hair.
He grunted and growled, pushing himself deep into me, plumbing my depths until I couldn’t stand it any longer.
I tried to ride over the cresting wave but ended up plummeting into the fiery ocean, my orgasm racking my body with twitches while our sweaty bodies glided.
I raked my nails down his back and pulled him into a tight hug. His palms flattened against my ass and spread me wider as he held me aloft, so he could spear into me even deeper with his hot length.
A few moments after my first climax, I came again. This time, he joined me, unable to take the rush of fluids coating his cock in warmth.
His entire magnificent body went rigid as he thrust into me a final time, sheathing as much of himself as I could take before his hot release surged to my core.
When he withdrew, I leaked all over him and chuckled. My thighs quivered as he gently set me down, but my boneless legs wouldn’t hold my weight—
I collapsed into his arms and he held me, nestling my face against his broad shoulder, petting my hair softly.
I closed my eyes and we gently went to the ground. My head still spinning, I wrapped my limbs around his, not wanting to let go.
With our bodies entangled, we stayed silent for a long while. The soft hooting of an owl somewhere nearby soothed my soul of its final, wanton gasps.
I drew in a deep breath, trailing my finger over the little scar jutting f
rom the base of his chin to the side of his face.
I kissed the spot and smiled at him. “Well,” I said in a raspy voice, “that’s one way to forget about the damn bugs.”
24
Coalt
Since we didn’t really have a destination, Leviathan and I stayed huddled in each other’s arms for a long while, naked and sweaty. Her face nestled against my chest as if listening to my heartbeat.
I felt amazing—languid and content, my wounds healing nicely—like I’d finally found the one. I’d always been a hasty person, never giving much importance to patience and “waiting to see how things go.”
I was a fire dragon, dammit, not an earth dragon. They could be stoic and calm and passionless if they wanted, but my people were temperamental, hotheaded, and confident.
And I was confident I had found my mate. At last. I had only been on this plane for little over twenty-three summers, but dragon shifters—especially princes—were expected to find their mates young. So, for me, this was a long time coming.
The problem was no one would agree with my sentiment. I already knew my people wouldn’t treat Leviathan as one of us because she wasn’t one of us. She was an Unscaled. The Resistance would see little use for her. She didn’t offer any tangible alliances, and the union I wanted with Levia didn’t strengthen our position or rebellion.
I had to hope my people would come around, as I had in such a short period of time. Levia was incredibly persuasive, so I had no doubt she could turn them to her side. For both of us, I had to pray that was true.
I was convinced there was a soul-bond between us, even if it was supposedly impossible to share a soul-bond with a non-shifter. After the experience we’d just shared, though, I didn’t see how I could be wrong. In my heart, I knew Leviathan was my mate.
“Blythe will never believe what’s happened between us,” Levia said out of nowhere, her lips spreading into a smile that tickled my body.
I ran my fingers through her silver hair. “Why is that?”
“Because she knows how I am. When I left Belfue, I was hoping to stay as far away from you as possible.”
I rested my chin on her head. “Until you saw how impossible that was to do. Like I did.”
“Yeah, what’s up with that?” she asked, lifting her head. “I thought I was the only one who felt this weird pull toward you.”
“No, definitely not. I’ve felt it the entire time.”
She hummed to herself and returned her head to my chest.
I opened my mouth to speak, but hesitated. After a moment, I said, “Leviathan, when you say Blythe ‘knows how I am,’ what does that mean?”
“Just that she understands my disposition toward men. The reason we started the refuge for women and all.”
I took a deep breath. I didn’t want to be pushy, but the question of Levia’s past had been nagging at the back of my mind since the beginning.
“I felt that, Coalt. My head’s right here, you know.” She patted my chest.
“What do you mean?” I asked, playing dumb.
“You want to ask me something. And I think I know what.”
Yes, she was a quick one.
She sat up and the loss of her warmth made my heart stutter. She slid across from me, putting her back against the tree. I couldn’t help but admire her beautiful body and all its curves and wonder.
She worried her bottom lip with her teeth, looking apprehensive and eyeing the grass near me.
I crossed my legs to make myself look patient, even though it was contrary to my personality. “If you don’t want to say, Leviathan, I won’t mind. We all have our secrets.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to have secrets with you. That’s no way to start a relationship.”
My eyebrows rose. Thank Fernus—she sees us the same way I do! I cleared my throat to hide my shock.
“And besides,” she added, “you’ve told me plenty about your past. I suppose it’s my turn . . .”
She still looked unnerved when her words faded. I reached out and clasped her knee, then rubbed her thigh. She let out a low purr and closed her eyes. Her body released some tension, which was exactly what I’d hoped for.
She opened her brilliant eyes, radiant willpower emanating from her even in this stuffy, dark forest.
“They were my first memories as a child,” she began.
I leaned forward to listen, placing my elbows on my knees and my chin in my palms.
“It was my father.” She spat out the last word. “He was a drunk of the worst kind. I guess it runs in the family, because I’m not much better.”
I wanted to interrupt already, to tell her not to do this to herself—not to self-immolate her spirit. But I stayed quiet because this was her story to tell, how she wanted. She deserved that respect.
“At first, it was just a belt,” she said, a severe frown arching across her beautiful face as she looked away. “The first time I heard the belt and my mother’s scream, I thought he’d killed her. I was so frightened.
“After some time, it became a regular occurrence—not just an isolated incident. I was too young to know what made my father so angry. Couldn’t understand why he hated Mother so much.”
She let out a ragged sigh and shook her head. “She always assured me nothing was wrong, even with the bruises and cuts on her face and body. But, I mean, I was young, not stupid.”
I flared my nostrils, part of me wanting to share in her grief so I could console her. Another part of me knew she wasn’t nearly done—the worst had yet to come.
“She tried to assure me nothing was wrong,” she repeated, “even when I would accidentally walk in on him raping her.”
My teeth clamped down. Pain seared through me, hot and burning, my muscles clenching as I wanted to do something to help my poor mate.
“The belt became the hand, and the hand became the fist.” She sniffled, battling against her emotions. She was determined to get through the story, no matter how painful. “And eventually . . .” Her bottom lip quivered. “He turned his ire on me.”
“No,” I growled, shuddering with impotent rage.
She nodded. “He never, um, had his way with me, but I wasn’t good enough to avoid his drunken wrath, or the belt, or his palm or fist.”
“Leviathan . . .”
She raised a finger to silence me. “It was his mistake, turning that shit on me. It escalated everything. Because when Mother found the bruises on my face and body, she confronted him, hysterical with anger. It was the first time I’d ever seen her fight back, but he was bigger and stronger and shrugged her off.
“The next day, he went too far. I walked in on him punishing her for what she’d tried to do the day before—emasculating and humiliating him and becoming an uncontrolled banshee, he said. Except this time, he didn’t stop hurting her.”
Her breathing became shallow like she was close to hyperventilating. Her words picked up speed to race to the conclusion of her story before she broke down.
“I saw him beating her and grabbed the nearest heavy object I could find—a pan. I’ll never forget the twanging sound it made when I smashed it across the back of his head.”
Levia turned her lavender eyes to me, tears trickling down her cheeks. “And I didn’t stop, either. My mom was unconscious, or I know she would’ve tried to stop me. I was young, around ten, but wiry enough to swing with some force. The first hit made him groggy, the second knocked him out, and I think it was the sixth one that killed him.”
I kept my face blank except for the twitching of my jaw, trying to avoid showing any reaction because she was examining me so intently. I didn’t want Leviathan to think I had anything but admiration for her. I was proud of her. The merest raise of an eyebrow or tug of a frown would make it look like I didn’t approve of what she’d done.
But of course I did. How could I not?
“My mom died from her wounds, too,” she said, sniffling and wiping her nose with her forearm. “So I ran away because I feared ge
tting in trouble from the authorities. I became a street rat—it was either that or a life as a young whore. Being homeless made me scrappy and taught me things, but I was also incredibly alone.”
Her tone shifted and a slight smile rose on her sad, tear-riddled face. “But then I met Blythe. And she showed me love for the first time. She’s the only other person who knows that story. Together, we found other homeless girls and took them in, making our way in the savage world until we’d stolen enough money to buy back my house and turn it into the shelter. We had other women who helped invest, too, like Alondra and—”
“You bought back the same house where you lived with your father and mother?” I asked, unable to hide my astonishment. It was just baffling to me.
She nodded firmly. “I never wanted to forget where I came from, Coalt. Evil spirits inhabited that place for far too long, and I wanted to prove that love could flourish there. I know, it doesn’t make sense, but—”
“No,” I said, and her shoulders tensed. “When you put it that way, I understand. Leviathan, I . . .” I was at a loss for words, unable to grasp the right ones. “I’m so sorry.”
She lunged forward and wrapped her arms around me. She bawled against my chest, not holding anything back. Her tears trickled down my skin, hot and more scalding than any scar I wore.
I kissed the top of her head then tipped my cheek against it, holding her trembling body while she let her emotions gush out of her.
“T-Thank you for listening,” she said in a small voice. “It actually feels strangely cathartic to let it out after so many years of blocking it all off.”
I took her cheeks in my palms and pulled her apart so she stared up at me with her big, vulnerable eyes. “You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met.”
Through her sniffles, she chuckled. Her lips pressed against mine, sealing our warmth. With our bodies together, I felt something red-hot press against my chest.
I let out a hiss, wondering if it was her roaring heartbeat. If that was even possible.
She pulled back and eyed me strangely, following my gaze to her breasts—but not to them, above them, where she always kept the locket around her neck.