* * *
“By the stars, brother. I’ve not felt that before in a joining. And I’ve a mind to feel it again,” Matthias roared to his brother in the language of dragons.
“As have I,” Adrian added, breathing a playful ball of fire at Lucas.
“Our guard fucked so hard I still feel his cock up my ass. And I’m not complaining.”
Ferin grinned, more than pleased with his mate. Though he would not have thought to choose a human, fate had decided for him. For too long he’d been fixated on the stubborn woman, never dreaming she could his Draka, the queen of his heart and of his power.
Lea Venlay knew the Dracon, and despite her family’s history with his, he had a feeling she would be more amenable than most to ending their long-standing feud. She had an intelligence and grit about her that spoke to his heart. And remembrances of what they’d just shared more than told him she spoke to his cock.
Mother of Treasure, but the quiet little art house bookkeeper was way more than she appeared. He’d lain with many a female Dracon, but none had taken him and his brothers the way Lea had. And though he knew she’d never before participated in such a carnal encounter, she’d met them every step of the way. He only hoped she had no regrets upon awakening.
He shook away the ugly thought. He would not allow the perfection of this night to spoil. Lea was his. She was meant for him, just as one of her female relations had been meant for one of his. The coincidence could not be overlooked. Ferin believed in fate, and he learned from the past. Though many in his clan would welcome her for the priceless gift of life she brought, others would not be so pleased. He would have to be ready.
His thoughts on his mate, he swooped low once more before returning to Lea. Once inside his chambers, he studied the woman, seeing in her the future. A lifetime of love and anger, of quenching her hungers, soothing her piques and encouraging her studies. Her studies…. He frowned. Under his supervision, she could certainly resume her work, but not at the expense of the clan. Some truths simply could not be shared, not if the Dracon were to survive.
He sighed and caressed her flushed cheeks. Lea was intelligent. She would understand the risks and merit of such stricture. And, hopefully, she would take to their joining with as much pleasure as she’d just shown him.
A woman, human or Dracon, could not share so much of her body and soul without sharing her heart as well.
He hoped.
* * *
When Lea next awoke, it was to a cup of steaming coffee just the way she liked. A breakfast tray lay on a table next to the bed, and Ferin sat quietly beside her.
“Wow, breakfast in bed. I guess last night wasn’t a dream after all.” Several chuckles followed, waking her quickly. She glanced up to see not only Ferin, but Adrian and Matthias too, all dressed casually, all staring at her. She felt a sudden draft over her breasts and blushed.
“You might have mentioned I was half-naked.”
“Actually, we were hoping you’d lose the sheet,” Adrian murmured, coming closer to run a finger over her shoulder.
Immediately, heat rushed to the area, and her womb tightened with desire.
“Really? I thought Lucas did most of
your
work,” she said with some cheek, earning a grin from his brothers.
Adrian laughed. “He did last night, sure enough. But he received as much pleasure as he gave, and all because of one very special, very sensual woman.”
She slowly sobered at the seductive look in his eyes. Hello, but she’d come here with Ferin. In the light of day, she now questioned what she’d done last night. This was going to be a problem. Or so she thought. She glanced at Ferin and saw his approving nod.
“I thought Dracon were possessive.” Something about their escapade last night seemed off. Pleasurable, yes, but so very not normal for the possessive Dracon.
“We are,” Matthias answered. “And as S. M. Ryans, you’d know all about us. But you’ve never written about our mating practices.” He gave her a sexy grin, and she wanted to sweep the fall of black hair from his forehead so she could better see his eyes. “I bet you could write a book now.”
“With that little demonstration last night?” Adrian scoffed. “Be serious. Wait until I’m inside her, riding her to oblivion.”
“You?” Matthias shook his head. “Try me. Though her mouth is heaven, that pussy had Ferin hard even after our last course.”
“Fellas,” Lea said, not surprised to feel her face flaming. She’d never had men talk about her in such a way, at least not that she knew of. And why were their words making her wet? She might have thrown caution to the wind last night, but she’d had a shocking evening. A gallery exhibit she’d tirelessly prepared for. A break-in at her home.
Her first dragon ride,
ever.
Was it any wonder she’d been off-kilter enough to accept sex with not one, but four men, more than fulfilling her deepest sexual fantasies? Just the thought of it turned her bright red.
What Ferin must think of her…hell, she didn’t quite know what to think of herself. At the rate she was going, she might want to start looking for a career in adult entertainment.
Four men?
“Adrian, Matthias, you can see she’s alright. Why don’t you let me take it from here?” Ferin waited until his brothers left, grumbling and poking at one another. “They demanded to see that you weren’t suffering any ill effects from last night.”
“I’m not.” She sat up clutching the sheet beneath her arms and sipped at the coffee he held for her, trying to think of what to say and blundering. “Okay, I’m a bit embarrassed at what I did. You caught me off guard,” she said defensively, and saw his mouth quirk. Damn, even that had her heart racing. “I just, I don’t have sex…like that.”
“Like what? With Dracon?”
Oh hell, he looked offended.
“With
four men
, you jackass.” His mood cleared and he laughed. “I love when that prim voice of yours denigrates into sexy, frank talk. You have no idea how hard you make me. Constantly,” he murmured and placed one of her hands over his growing erection.
Damn. Her embarrassment was swiftly turning into desire.
Impossible, yet there it was.
“I want to fuck you right now, long and slow,” he rasped, and her womb clenched. “But we’ve much to discuss. I need you to know what last night really meant.”
She slowly lowered the coffee to the tray, uneasy because she knew, on a deeper level, that last night had been unusual for him as well.
Though she’d never written anything about the Dracon mating practices, she knew more than Ferin and his brothers gave her credit for. The Dracon were an extremely possessive, and protective, race.
They held fiercely to their own, their loyalty unquestioning. Very few Dracon ever betrayed their own kind, making what had happened to Lea’s relative such an extraordinarily tragic loss.
But Ferin didn’t strike her as an atypical Dracon. Quite the opposite, actually. In him, she saw the legendary creatures as she’d always imagined. Dangerous and beautiful in dragon form, sexy and charming, enthralling when walking as a man. And as she stared at him, her heart took that funny dip, the same one it had taken last night when he’d proclaimed her his.
“Ferin…”
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, as if seeking answers beyond him. When he opened them, they glowed, a bright rainbow of color and light, his inner dragon blazing at her. She didn’t know why, but she found it almost as sexy as the feel of him inside her.
“Lea,” he began tentatively, his tone making her sit up straight, her hands clenching the sheet around her. “Last night we bonded. You know that Dracon have sex just like humans do. We like men, we like women. Sexuality, as long as it’s mutually enjoyed, is never taboo. But bonding goes much, much deeper.”
The knowledge in his eyes triggered her to be cautious. “You’d be surprised at what I know about the Dracon.”
“Ah, yes.
Reem’s Lost Arts.
” He reached into his nightstand and pulled up a copy. “Before you fly off the handle, it’s not yours. There are only ten copies in existence, and the Dracon had nine of them.
Presumably, now ten, if the thief we sent to your home did his job right.”
Indignation filled her at memories of her study. “I knew it! Why the hell did you steal my copy? And why trash my office?”
“That was a mistake, and one I intend to rectify.” His eyes flared, and she realized he hadn’t planned such destruction. “His orders were to steal the book. And you know why, don’t you S. M. Ryans? What I want to know is why you haven’t told your family.”
“Who says I haven’t?” self-preservation urged her to say.
“Because we’re all still alive,” Ferin said dryly. “Come, love, tell me why you didn’t tell them. Tell me why you came to me last night, and accepted me and my brothers.”
He’d called her “love.”
Her brain turned to mush, and she had to clear her throat before she could speak again.
“Look. All I know is that I’ve made a decent living working at my family’s art gallery. But it’s not what I’m passionate about. The Dracon have always fascinated me. Maybe it’s because of my family, maybe it’s just because no matter how you look at it, dragons are wonderful.
Magic in a world needing more of it.
“I don’t hold with a centuries-old grudge. I never have. A Dracon and a human conspired to kill one of my relatives. Sad, yes. But it’s history. If only my brothers would see that,” she muttered.
“So that’s why you didn’t tell them what you learned?”
“Yes.”
When he waited, she sighed. “You want to hear me say it, right?
The great secret the Dracon would willingly kill for?” He frowned.
“Okay, steal for?”
He nodded.
“Fine. But remember, one of you Dracon owes me a chair. So, okay. Between the few legible parts of Meredith’s journal, in connection with Reem’s book, I learned the key to destroying the Dracon.” She took a deep breath and kept her eyes on his, not wanting to dwell on the sadness that dragged her at thoughts of the Dracon annihilated. “All the Dracon are tied to the royal line. It’s a psychic, or maybe mystic, link that I don’t quite understand. The point is, Reem knew, as did Great-Gran Meredith, that love is a bond stronger than any blood.”
He nodded. “True.”
“And, apparently, and correct me if I’m wrong, but to continue the Dracons’ existence, the king has to find a mate, not only to procreate, but to make sure the rest of the Dracon don’t suddenly become infertile, dying out one by one. Kill the king or his mate, you kill the Dracon.
End of story. The fact that Meredith died and the Dracon continued may mean one of two things. Either she wasn’t his mate, or a Dracon king may have more than one possible love.”
“
Or
a king may follow his chosen mate into death’s kiss, in which case a new king, one of royal blood, would be appointed. In Meredith’s case, once she died, her lover, King Stowen, launched himself off a cliff and deliberately fell to his death. His younger brother, Rafael, assumed the throne and took a mate. So the royal line stayed true.” She nodded. “I
knew
Meredith was Stowen’s true mate. A lot of the garbled stuff she wrote I still can’t understand. I think she wrote in code to protect the Dracon. It looks like a phonetic rendition of Drac, which I’ve never understood. If I had the journal, I could show you.” At his bright look, her eyes narrowed. “Why do I get the feeling you have it here?”
“I had a few Dracon clean up your study after we left.”
“Nice.”
He had the grace to wince. “It wasn’t about stealing your things. I brought them here to keep them safe. And for you.” He walked over to an ornate armoire covered in detailed dragon carvings and opened a door. Several items of her clothing appeared. “This, too, is for your comfort.”
She stared from her clothing to him, stunned. “You brought my things to your home? Your fortified castle?” A thought struck. “Are you kidnapping me?”
“Of course not.” He rolled his eyes. “You’re overly dramatic, Draka. I simply wanted you to be happy while we spent some time getting to know one another. While I love your body, it’s also your mind that intrigues me.”
“Don’t you mean S. M. Ryans who intrigues you?”
Her mind?
So that’s what he wanted. To know what she knew about the Dracon.
Disappointment welled within her, along with an absurd need to cry.
“Stop what you’re thinking right now.” Ferin growled, looking uneasy. “Don’t you dare cry. Whatever you’re thinking is wrong. I want to know
you,
Lea Venlay. I’ve read as much as I need to know about S. M. Ryans. I want to know Lea’s favorite color. What makes her laugh. Why she was always so annoyed whenever I showed up at the gallery. Wooing you has never been so hard.” She immediately brightened. “You were wooing me? I thought you were pestering me for info on my family.”
“Like you, I’m tired of the animosity between the Venlays and the Dracon. A tragic happenstance several hundred years ago should be buried. I didn’t kill anyone, and I know you didn’t. I’d rather make love than war.”
The look on his face promised delights her body was more than ready to handle.
“Love, hmm? Just you and me?”
He smiled, male satisfaction blazoning. “If that’s what you’d prefer.”
“Last night was incredible, but I’m a little worn out from so much attention.”
He laughed and leaned in to kiss her. Like before, she melted into him and met his tongue with her own. Her heart did that funny little dip again, and she accepted the growing affection easily, her mind on other things.
Ferin groaned and lowered her into the bed.
“I can’t help projecting my pleasure to my brothers. It’s a sibling bond we share, a sharing of emotions.”
“Fine. As long as I get to be on top.” Lea shimmied out from under him and trapped him under her body.
He returned her kiss wholeheartedly, his hands cradling her breasts with callused palms, the contact making her wet and needy. She squirmed over the bulge in his jeans and sucked on his neck, much as he had the day before. She couldn’t explain it, but being with Ferin quelled her inhibitions, and she felt like a woman without restriction.