Finally spotting what he'd been looking for, Tanner slowly descended toward a lone cabin in the woods. The place stood in darkness, and Tanner could sense no life within. Deserted or vacant, he couldn't tell, but the absence of humans was enough.
He set Matthias down gently and shifted into human form, needing the dexterity of his hands to help aid the injured prince.
"Matthias, can you hear me?" He ran his hands over the smooth green scales, tingling at the odd heat racing through him. Matthias's body felt as if an electric charge surrounded it. Tanner shook off the strange feeling and continued to move his hands over the dark green scales, searching for the cause of the bleeding he could smell but couldn't yet determine.
Tanner stared at Matthias, seeing easily in the dark with his Dracon senses. Though blood spattered the prince, none of it pooled anywhere. And a head wound should have been obvious. Yet there was no blood, and the prince remained unconscious. A puzzle. Tanner wished Matthias could shift back. Studying him in a man's form would be much easier than trying to look over his huge, protectively scaled dragon's body.
The prince suddenly groaned, music to Tanner's ears.
"Matthias, can you shift back for me? I can't see where you've been hurt."
Matthias blinked his eyes open, and Tanner froze at the sudden connection between them. Lust surged in his blood, a hunger for something intangible that confused him. Matthias lifted his claws to catch Tanner's arm.
"
You.
" The prince's eyes widened and he shifted into a man's body. A slow, satisfied smile curled his lips, and then his grip went slack and he passed out again.
Tanner stared unseeingly at Matthias's torn clothing over golden skin.
What the fuck was that?
He moved uncomfortably, aware he had the mother of all hard-ons right now. Which made no sense. He wasn't into men, and shouldn't have had any desire for sex when his every concern was to ensure the safety and health of the prince.
Grumbling under his breath, Tanner eased the prince out of his ripped and useless clothing.
Good for nothing but rags, now.
A glance at the many bullet holes through denim showed him the futility of keeping the garments. Tossing the mess to the side, he focused again on his charge.
Ignoring his own unruly body for the moment, he checked Matthias for injury and found several bruises and two deep gouges, one across Matthias's temple which had been hidden by his hair. That injury must have accounted for his sudden loss of consciousness. Thank God it hadn't been worse. Matthias's scales must have deflected much of the shotgun blast, even at such close range.
Breathing easier now, Tanner knelt to take Matthias in his arms. The minute his palms touched his prince's hard flesh, his body screamed for sexual release.
What the hell is wrong with me?
Grunting under Matthias's weight, he gauged the prince to be an inch or two taller than his own six three frame. All bone and muscle, and heavy as hell deadweight. But with sure steps, Tanner walked into the unlocked cabin.
Though small on the outside, the log cabin's interior looked much larger. The moonlight shone through the cabin's unfettered windows, highlighting a well-tended, heated home. Whoever had been living here would be back, and Tanner would need to be ready.
That in mind, Tanner looked for a place to put the prince. Homey and warm, the cabin looked to be one large living space with two doors to the left. The first, Tanner discovered, was a small bathroom. The second, a surprisingly feminine bedroom. He settled Matthias on the pink and white quilted bed and left for the bathroom. Big enough to fit a small toilet, pedestal sink and surprisingly spacious shower, it also held what he'd been looking for in the cabinet over the commode. A first aid kit.
Tanner collected the first aid kit, a wet washcloth and a towel and returned to Matthias. Settling beside him on the bed, Tanner spread out his supplies. Nothing appeared to still be bleeding, and Tanner decided to clean Matthias up before tending to his wounds, which by and large seemed surprisingly superficial, save for the head wound and another deeper cut near his groin. The damned shotgun had hit more than Matthias's hard head.
As he cleaned the prince, Tanner couldn't help noticing the strong lines of muscle over the man's frame. Long and lean, Matthias had strength abundant in his corded arms and thick, powerful thighs. Even the bruises on his skin couldn't hide Matthias's supple flesh, the firebreather's warmth radiating health in that royal frame.
Tanner frowned as he ran the washcloth over Matthias's arms, belly and chest. For such a large man, Matthias had soft skin over those ropy muscles. And the golden color told Tanner the prince often worked outside. Curious, Tanner reviewed what he knew of the royal family, wondering again where Matthias fell into the scheme of things.
The Dracon king, Ferin, had recently taken a mate, a human whom he'd converted into Dracon. The queen was due in a few more months to birth triplets, a fact that had caused much joy throughout the Dracon across the nation. The royal line had been extended, the queen would bear young, and now other females had begun to enter fertile cycles.
Unlike humans, the Dracon had peculiar mating habits that remained in secret, for a very important reason. The royal family had to be intact, or all the Dracon would perish. That the king had finally taken a mate meant the Dracon, as a whole, would survive at least until the next generation. No one knew exactly why or how the process worked, but if no queen existed, female Dracon remained barren. A pregnant queen brought even greater joy. Because now other females could conceive, and from what he'd heard, several in his new clan in Asheville already had.
Because the royal line was so incredibly important, their identity was kept secret. No one openly referred to the royals as prince or king. And the measure brought the monarchy closer to its people. From Ferin on down, none of the royal line were bowed to or treated as superior in any way. But the Dracon clan naturally treasured the means to ensuring their future.
The king had done his duty and found a mate, and the Dracon couldn't be happier. Hell, even Tanner felt a stirring of pride in his shapeshifting heritage. The Dracon would continue and prosper, at least until the next generation of royals needed to mate.
Matthias, now that his brother had found his queen, could take a mate or not. But the pressure was no longer on him or his brother Adrian to produce young. Of course, everyone wanted to ensure the continuity of the species. So the more young in the royal family, the better.
The Dekkers were afforded respect and deference, both of which they'd earned as true leaders of Dracon Mount and over the country as a whole. Though Dracon the world over no doubt wanted to marry one of the sought-after princes, Matthias and his brother remained unmated. Rumor had it that Prince Adrian and Lucas shared a special relationship. The Dracon valued love and sex, gender mattered not. But still, the populace would love for Adrian to have young.
Tanner swallowed hard as he realized he'd been stroking Matthias's chest with tender, almost lover-like motions. Immediately he stopped, and Matthias moaned, growing restless. Tanner moved the cloth again and the prince stilled, quiet and calm once more.
Taking a deep breath, Tanner continued to minister to his charge.
My responsibility
, he reminded himself. Running the cloth over Matthias's firm jaw, full lips and strong, stubborn nose, he grudgingly admitted Matthias's attraction...
to the opposite sex.
Though all three Dekkers looked alike, with dark hair, dark eyes and strong, warrior builds, Matthias was considered by most to be the best-looking. Ferin had an imposing manner and sexual grace. Adrian held an energetic, animalistic energy. And Matthias was quiet, a still, thinking predator with speed and agility. And a poet's full, carnal mouth.
Swiftly taking his eyes from said mouth and the uncomfortable thoughts it stirred, Tanner ran the cloth carefully over Matthias's temple, his high cheekbones and square jaw and then dried the prince with the towel before fixing a small bandage over the gouge on his forehead.
Matthias seemed to turn into the soft touches, and Tanner felt a measure of peace that at least Matthias had escaped the brawl intact and mostly unhurt. The scare of that loud boom and the sight of Matthias falling refused to leave him, however, and he paid special attention to each mark the prince now carried.
Several moments later, having cleaned and tended to almost every area on the prince's body, Tanner took a deep breath and moved to Matthias's groin, where a large gash sat on his inner thigh--a place Tanner had deliberately avoided.
Matthias had much the same build as Tanner, and his cock was no exception, long and thick, and dusted with a dark thatch of hair at its root. Flushed for noticing at all, Tanner reminded himself he did this service for the prince and the royal family. Nothing sexual about it. Nothing improper about cleaning and tending to an unconscious man.
Gritting his teeth, he moved Matthias's shaft so that he could better tend the deep gouge on his thigh. Tanner spread the prince's legs wide and couldn't help noticing the plump, ruddy sack resting between Matthias's thighs. The sudden image of Tanner suckling that flesh, of engulfing that cock with his wet, hot mouth took him by surprise.
He stared hard at Matthias's face, wondering whose thoughts he'd been sensing, wanting desperately to place to blame on another. Matthias, however, continued to breath easily, unconscious. Staring at the wound, and
only
the wound, and praying to get this over with, Tanner leaned closer to the injury. He ignored his own throbbing erection--as if disregarding it would will it away--and applied antiseptic and a butterfly bandage. Hopefully, Matthias's strength would heal the wound without the need for stitches. A day in this cabin, provided the owner didn't soon return, and they could resume the search for the person Matthias hunted.
Except Tanner couldn't stop his gaze from lingering over Matthias's cock. Images again flooded his mind, thoughts so carnal and so hot he couldn't stop himself from reaching out.
Tanner felt a sweat break out over him as he took that golden rod in his hand. Without thinking, he ran his fingers down the skin, amazed at the similarities and differences between it and his own. Matthias's cock was more tanned, and growing flushed as it hardened. Fascinated despite his astonishment at his actions, Tanner watched as the organ deepened in color, growing thicker and fatter as Tanner began stroking in an all too familiar manner.
He stopped immediately, disgusted at himself, then froze when Matthias groaned and trapped Tanner's hand beneath his own.
"Don't stop."
Stunned, Tanner stupidly nodded, though Matthias had yet to open his eyes. Sexual need, affection and trust came to him in images, and Tanner didn't understand how he could know Matthias's feelings. He'd never received emotions through mindspeak before. But he felt compelled to offer the comfort and release that he himself longed to receive. Sitting up, he splayed his legs wide, his hand still gripping Matthias while he tried to ignore and relieve the pressure on his own arousal pushing up through his jeans.
His gaze glued to Matthias, he fisted a hand around the man's erection. Slowly, up and down, softer, then harder, he pulled. Matthias's chest rose and fell faster, and his breathing sounded raspier as he shifted his pelvis closer to Tanner. In his mind's eye, Tanner saw himself taking that cock in his mouth, sucking on the crown and lapping up the small drops of fluid leaking from the tip.
Then he blinked at visions of himself plunging into Matthias. The prince on his hands and knees, his face in sensual agony as Tanner fucked his ass. Another image, this one of Tanner sitting on a large, black, velvet-covered, king-sized bed, his thighs wide, as he watched Matthias's dark head bobbing over his cock. Grunts and groans, straining, and then the prince swallowing his cum...
Pushed beyond endurance, Tanner groaned and let go of Matthias. Quickly unsnapping his jeans and pushing his pants and underwear to his knees, he sat again on the bed. Taking Matthias in hand, he gripped the prince's fat cock dripping with cream. And with his other hand, he began masturbating, bringing himself pleasure as well.
Matthias moaned and thrust his hips toward Tanner's hand. "Harder," he rasped, his eyes still closed as Tanner held him tighter.
Tanner panted, his movements jerky as the unreality, the sheer fantasy of the moment took him over. He smoothed Matthias's fluid over his cock, using the pre-cum as a lubricant to increase the frenzy of his hand. His own hand did the same, mirrored actions between two states of arousal, two warriors in their prime straining to achieve bliss.
Matthias's breath came faster, and Tanner joined him, a symphony of need washing over the two of them. Tanner could feel the prince's desire as his own, could see visions of the two of them together, in positions Tanner had never even imagined. Suddenly the picture of a woman entered, sandwiched between them. More of them all fucking and then Matthias cried out and came, his cum jetting over Tanner's hand, creamy and thick, like royal honey.
Smelling and feeling Matthias's warm cum on his skin, Tanner fell over the edge, his orgasm explosive as he grunted and shot. He continued to milk Matthias even as he strung out his own climax. And unable to explain his next actions, he leaned down and took Matthias in his mouth.
The taste of the salty rapture had Tanner shuddering as sensation overwhelmed him. He sucked and licked his prince's cock clean, until nothing remained but a bead of fluid on a slowly flagging erection. Matthias groaned his thanks, then sighed and slid further into sleep.
Tanner stared in shock at the naked prince, his bruised belly spattered with the semen Tanner hadn't caught in his fist. And then Tanner gazed at his own hand still wrapped around his sticky cock and watched as his seed was slowly absorbed by his skin.
What the fuck am I doing?
Amazed, disgusted and scared at his out of control lust, Tanner left for the bathroom to fix himself. He returned with another towel and cleaned up the mess still on the bed sheets and wherever the hell else it had landed. Once he finished and assured himself Matthias rested, tucked beneath the thick quilt, he left the bedroom and sat at the lone table near the small kitchenette.