The Dragon in the Stone (13 page)

His eyes narrowed, and flames licked across his
irises, showcasing his dragon, when he noticed her reaction.

This isn’t funny, little dragon. I’m damn good
with a cane, too, and unless you stop laughing at me, the next spanking you’ll
earn yourself will be courtesy of mister cane.

“
You
wouldn’t dare.” Even as she murmured her protest, the wicked gleam in his eyes,
and his raised eyebrows told her that he would very much dare.

You know I would, and what’s more I think my
naughty mate would rather enjoy it. I can smell how wet you’re getting for me
even now.

Taking a step closer, he slowly pulled her dress
up. The slide of the material across her overheated skin instantly made her
pussy clench, and that smirk of his grew devilish.

“
If
I pull this all the way up, what will I find, I wonder? A cunt drenched for me,
perchance? Dripping in need for my cock?”

Words failed her as he pulled that dress higher
still, then swung her around and kicking her legs apart, pushed her face down
onto the writing desk.

A groan of pure need escaped Rhonda when he flipped
her dress and undercoat up, and smacked her ass twice in quick succession. The
action pushed her clit into the edge of the table, and that little bundle of
nerves contracted in need.

“
God,
yes...”

Drorgan chuckled, and sliding two fingers through
her pussy lips, he swore.

“
Do
you have any idea what a fucking turn-on it is to find your cunt this wet
already? Makes me want to fuck you raw right here and now.”

Rhonda closed her eyes and gripped the edges of the
desk for support when he pushed what felt like several fingers into her aching
pussy. Her internal muscles clamped down on the invaders, and she cried out when
he curled them slightly, and having found her sweet spot, began to mercilessly
pump them in out. Every move made the spirals of bliss inside her tighten until
she was gasping for breath and hovering on the edge of release.

“
Please,
I need … want your cock … oh yes … now … please…” Even to her own ears that
deep throaty voice sounded alien, and she sobbed in disappointment when Drorgan
abruptly withdrew his fingers and stepped away from her. Before she had time to
draw a shuddering breath into her lungs, he was back, shoving his large cock
into her pussy without any finesse whatsoever. Rhonda’s mouth opened in a
silent scream at the incredible feeling of fullness inside her. His balls
slapped her clit, which made that bundle of nerves contract and send shivers of
bliss around her body, as the familiar tingles started.

“
This
will be quick, sweet thing.” Drorgan’s strained voice barely registered over
the blood rushing in her eras, as her muscles contracted around his dick.
“Fuck, yes, so fucking tight and hot. Come for me, my love. Drench my cock with
your cum, and take me with you. Show me what a greedy little cunt you have.”

The words delivered as they were in between
forceful thrusts into her body were enough to send her over that edge. As the
contractions of her release rippled through her body in breathtaking waves of
ecstasy, Drorgan
pistoned
in and out of her with an
inhuman speed and force that made the desk bash against the bookcase. As he
came with a roar of completion, pumping his seed deep inside of her, more books
fell down around them. One hit Drorgan on the head, while he deflected several
from falling on Rhonda, and with him still pulsing inside of her, they
collapsed on the floor. Once Rhonda could breathe again with any semblance of
normality, she opened her eyes and promptly got the giggles. The action
dislodged Drorgan’s softening cock, and he lifted her up and onto his lap,
which only made her giggle more.

Drorgan mock pouted at her, but eventually he, too,
started laughing, especially when the door to the library opened, Eugene stuck
his head through, blanched, and then slammed the door back shut again.

Sobering, Drorgan kissed her on the nose, and
smiled.

“
Now,
look what you made me do. We’ve shocked poor old Eugene.”

Rhonda playfully slapped Drorgan’s massive chest,
looked down on herself, and burst into renewed giggles. It really was too
ridiculous. Here she was with her hair having come loose and hanging in wild
disarray around her face. Strands of it were playing peek-a-boo with her nipples,
her dress having given up any pretense at covering them, let alone holding in
her boobs. Said dress was crumpled up around her waist, and her pale limbs were
sprawled in between several books on the floor.

Drorgan didn’t fare much better. With his leggings
pulled just past his knees—giving her pussy renewed palpitations at this very
visible reminder of just how frantic their coupling had been—they were the very
image of debauchery.

“
This
isn’t funny, woman.
 
I thought he was
non-shockable after all these years.”

Rhonda grinned and shook her head.

“
Well,
we did just have sex in the library.
 
Guess I’ll cross that off my bucket list then.”

It was her turn to smirk when Drorgan narrowed his
eyes.

“
I
thought you said that you weren’t just
any woman.
I think those were
your exact words, were they not, minx?”

Rhonda shrugged her shoulders, earning herself
another one of those clit clenching glowers of his.

“
Well,
I’m not any woman. I’m your dragon mate, am I not?” She paused when his smile
at her words lit up his harsh features.

“
Say
that again.” He growled the words at her, and Rhonda’s heart felt full to
bursting with the love she felt for him right now.

“
I
said, being that I am your dragon mate, and you seem to think you’re entitled
to snoop about in my head at a moment’s notice, that I will keep my secret
fantasies to myself for as long as I can.”

His dragon growled his displeasure, and Rhonda
shrieked in mock outrage when he bared his teeth at her.

“
You
do realize that I am going to take this an invitation,” he said. “After all
what sort of a mate would I be, if I didn’t set out to fulfill all my mate’s
fantasies?”

Rhonda knew her own grin was splitting her face in
half. In fact her jaws ached from it, but she couldn’t help herself. She had
never felt happier than right here in this moment with her very own dragon
lord.

“
Promise?”
she asked.

“
Most
definitely. After all we’ll have a very long time to explore them. As my mate
your lifespan will match mine.” He nodded at her sharp intake of breath. “Every
time I come inside of your body, it changes your genetic make-up. Once you
carry my child, those changes will become irrevocable.”

Rhonda held her hand up, and Drorgan tensed as
though he was worried about what she was going to say that. Sure enough he
rushed on to explain.

“
Not
that I expect you to want my children. I’m not too up to fait with herbs, but I
know Magda can make a potion to prevent pregnancy if you’re not ready, or don’t
want to have them and—”

Rhonda shut her silly dragon up by the very effective
method of kissing him. By the time they broke apart they were broth breathing
heavily, and Drorgan’s cock was a solid ridge under her ass again. She wriggled
her hips slightly, and Drorgan pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his
head.

“
For
the love of all that is holy, woman, stop that. We should get ourselves
presentable. No doubt Eugene will be back soon and I can sense Geva waking up.
If Eugene doesn’t reappear, then you can bet your luscious behind that Geva
will come looking for us, and as much as I love my daughter, I don’t want her
to find us with me buried balls deep in her mother’s cunt.”

That was a sobering thought indeed, and Drorgan
gave a wry laugh, when Rhonda scrambled to her feet. The dress fell back down
to her ankles covering up her swollen and still tingling nether regions. She
fumbled with the bodice all fingers and thumbs, until Drorgan took over, and
expertly laced her back into it.

Having pulled up his leggings and rearranged his
tunic, they were in the process of picking up some of the books, when the doors
flung wide open and little Geva ran into the room.

Arms spread wide she twirled in a circle, and her
little face fell when she seemed to take on the seeming devastation in her
beloved library. Come to think of it, it did look bad. Surely their lovemaking
hadn’t been that strenuous to cause this much carnage, or dragon mate or not
Rhonda wouldn’t be able to stand up?

Belatedly she remembered that terrifying moment
when everything around them seemed to fade from view, and she dropped the book
she was holding in her hands. It hit her foot, and she screeched.

Geva, having seemingly recovered from her shock,
bounced across, picked up the leather-bound cover, and grinned showing Rhonda
the title page.

“
Well
that figures.” Drorgan’s amused words shook her out of the funk invading her
mind at this moment, as he took the book out of his daughter’s hands and winked
at her.

“
Yes,
you’re right. Beauty did get her beast, didn’t she?
 
I think we got the better deal, little bird.”

Geva giggled and wrapped her little arms around
both their legs, while Drorgan cupped the side of Rhonda’s face.

Smile, my love. This is where the fairytale
ends, and we all live happily ever after.

Rhonda couldn’t shake the impending feeling of
doom. It couldn’t be that easy could it?

What if it’s not?

Drorgan frowned at her whispered question in his
mind.

What do you mean, little dragon. You’re here,
I’m here,
the
castle still stands.

He closed his eyes, and his frown deepened.

As do the boundaries, admittedly.

Boundaries?

Drorgan winced, and Rhonda was quite pleased at her
ability to shout in his mind. Who knew one could do such things? Aware of the
curious look on Geva’s face as she let go of them both, and looked up at them
expectantly, she smiled and picked her up.

Never mind, you can fill me in on that later,
unless it’s something I need to know right now?

No, just stay in the castle until I can explain
them to you.

Drorgan
looked worried,
but he, too, fixed a smile on his face and putting his arms around her and Geva,
twirled them around.

“
I
say, we go and sneak into the kitchens and see if we can liberate some of
Cook’s cookies that she’s baking for the steward’s daughter’s wedding.”

Geva clapped her hands together and taking hold of
both Rhonda and Drorgan dragged them out of the library. Neither one saw the
one remaining bit of parchment, glow and expand, as it pulled the ashes to
itself, nor did they hear the whisper in the breeze.

Too easy…

Chapter
Thirteen

Six months later

Drorgan banked to the right, taking off across the
sea. Air rushed by him, and breathing in deeply he pulled the promise of spring
into his nostrils. It had indeed been a long hard winter, just as he’d feared.
However, having been holed up in the castle for most of it, it had also been extremely
pleasurable. Rhonda made every day seem brighter the minute she smiled at him.

Glancing down at his distorted reflection in the
waters he found his dragon self, grinning back at him. Who’d have thought that
being mated would turn a man into a grinning fool? Not that he ever felt a fool
for showing his emotions in front of Rhonda.

He’d very quickly learned that his little dragon
mate had a temper to match the fiercest she-dragon he’d ever had the misfortune
to meet. After their shaky start, he’d do anything to make Rhonda happy, and
talking
played a large part in that. Drorgan shook his head. He’d rather solve any
disagreement by fucking. Surely that made more sense than this baring of one’s
feelings
?

That just meant he was fast losing his fearsome reputation
around his people, and he’d been somewhat aggrieved to find that handing him a
baby to bounce on his knee, when they came for an audience now seemed the norm.

Surely there ought to be laws about showing such
little respect to one’s dragon lord? Not for the world would he admit to anyone
that baby bouncing was also fast turning into his favorite way to pass the
time. That and the making of said babies, of course. He pushed the melancholy
moment of sadness away. If there was one fly in the ointment of his content, it
was the fact that Rhonda had yet to conceive. It certainly wasn’t due to lack
of trying on his part. He knew it bothered his mate greatly, but he wasn’t
concerned yet.

There was plenty of time, and in the meantime he
enjoyed the getting there part immensely. Swinging back the way he came he made
his way toward the Emerald Isle. A sense of peace came over him whenever he
approached his castle. Childish laughter reached his ears, and he swooped lower
to see what all the commotion was about.

He spotted Geva’s blonde head easily enough. It
seemed with the snow having melted away, and the sun out today, Rhonda had
decided it was time to take playtime outside of the castle’s grounds. It still
worried him a little when she wandered off. Not that the boundaries had moved
even an inch in the last six months. Maybe the curse was well and truly broken.

Rhonda seemed to think so. She had been fascinated
by the invisible boundaries when he’d pointed them out to her.

“
So,
no one can go through, and they all turn to dust if they do?” she’d asked. “I
guess I can understand that, if it’s folks from the past, because they don’t
yet exist in the future. But, surely I ought to be able to go through?” He’d
had to admit that he didn’t know the answers. Her nose had wrinkled up in her
confusion. Whenever she did that it made him want to ravish her. For the life
of him, he didn’t know why that was such a turn-on. He certainly didn’t find it
all that attractive on other women. On his mate, however, it was an entirely
different story. Setting himself down on the top of the cliffs, he tucked in
his wings and watched her. It seemed all of the village children had joined his
mate and daughter, and he shook his head in mild amusement. He shouldn’t be and
wasn’t really surprised.

Children seemed to naturally flock to his little
dragon and under her careful patronage the castle, and in particular the
library and ballroom had become an impromptu play group. Rhonda held a daily
story telling time in the library, and she had recently added what she called
an art and craft session.

To Drorgan it just looked like an excuse to let the
little devils loose with paint, fabric, knives, sticks, and glue, to mention a
few of the things that had crunched under his feet lately, but the children
certainly enjoyed it.
 
More importantly
Rhonda’s smile was never far away these days, and little Geva certainly enjoyed
getting to know children her own age.

While she could easily project her thoughts onto
anyone now by the mere act of touching them, it was nonetheless gratifying to
see her peers learning her sign language.
 

Today’s session seemed to involve kite-flying.
Drorgan regarded the flying objects invading his airspace with a healthy dose
of suspicion. How these flimsy creations of sticks, leather, cotton, and
various other assorted fabrics managed to fly at all was beyond him. Fly they
did, however, and while
they
defied the rules of
gravity, they also confounded him by not following any discernible pattern.
He’d lost count how many times one of the blasted things had collided with him.
There were rules to flight, dammit, and these things, especially in the hands
of small children, never followed them. He winced recalling the moment one of
the damn things collided with his bollocks spiky end first. His fiery outburst
had resulted in setting the torture object alight, and the resulting screams of
the four year old owner of said object had deafened him for a good long while.
Little Ernest still gave him that longsuffering reproachful look every time
they crossed paths again.

It was why he chose to stay on this cliff top and
observe proceedings from afar. It was far safer for everyone, though the close
proximity to the invisible barrier at the bottom of the long grassy slope gave
him some reason for concern. Rhonda knew it was there, of course.

As fascinated as she was by the concept of the
barriers, she’d never tried to breach them. Drorgan knew her argument was that
she would be okay if she did, because that was her time on the other side. However,
as they couldn’t be sure if either of them could go back, were they to try to
breach them they’d agreed never to attempt
it.
Her
declaration had soothed the last niggling doubts in his soul.

“
I
have everything I need right here. There is nothing and no one important enough
to make me want to go back there.” She’d grinned at his sharp intake of breath,
and standing on tiptoes had brushed her lips against his. “I love you, you
silly dragon, and I’m not going anywhere, so get used to having me around.”

He grinned recalling that moment now, because,
naturally it had been his solemn duty to show his insolent mate who was the
boss in their relationship. After having spanked her behind into a nice red
glow, he’d proceeded to fuck that ass. All in all a most satisfactory way to
spend an afternoon, and now that the snow had finally melted and the air was
warming up, one that they would have to repeat very soon.

As though she sensed his thoughts, Rhonda chose
that moment to look up at him. With the sun behind him she had to look straight
into it. She shaded her eyes with her hand, and smiled up at him, before she
switched her attention to the little girl trying to launch her kite into the
air. The blacksmith’s daughter hung onto every word and nodded solemnly, before
she took off at a speed belying her little legs.

His dragon roared a warning, as she ran straight
toward the edge. Flapping his wings he took off to intervene, but Rhonda was
closer. Not caring for her own safety she threw herself at little Marianna, and
knocked her off course. His blood ran cold, when Rhonda caught her foot in a
protruding tree root, and fell sideways.

Claws outstretched he swooped low in a desperate
attempt to reach his mate, before disaster struck. Rhonda gained momentum at
terrifying speed, however, as she rolled down the grass bank and through the
veil seconds before he could scoop her up. Her scream of terror rang in his
ears as he, too, crashed through the veil, getting one last glimpse of his mate
in a crumpled heap on the asphalt of the road she’d landed on. There was the
sound of a horn, and the metallic squeal of car’s brakes being applied to the
maximum of their ability, and then the landscape changed to the rolling hills
of his time. Nothing but farmland and open space as far as the eye could see,
and most terrifying of all, no barriers. The veil guarding her time had
disappeared just like his mate had. Drorgan howled his grief to the skies, but
it was no use. None of the barriers were there anymore. He was finally truly free,
as were his kin, but at what cost?

Faint laughter carried across the breeze.

Is your love strong enough, oh mighty Lord
Drorgan…

Drorgan threw a stream of fire into the path of
those words, but it was useless. He was alone once more.

****

A brass band seemed to have taken up residence in
Rhonda’s head when she struggled back to consciousness. Everything hurt as
though she had been dragged through a hedge backwards, and her heart rate
kicked up as she recalled what had happened. That annoying beep in her ear got
louder, more rapid and insistent, and she pulled in deep breaths. Something was
covering her face, and when she tried to pull it off, her fingers encountered
what could only be the rubbery plastic of an oxygen mask, which meant...

“
Drorgan,
no. What? Where?” The words came out muffled, and she struggled to open her
eyes. When she managed the task, she was immediately blinded by the glare of
the overhead fluorescent lighting, and that beeping sound became frantic.

A sob escaped Rhonda’s throat, and tears blurred
her vision as reality sat in. She was back in her time, wired up to machines to
check her oxygen levels and heart rate. Machines which would any minute now
bring the medical personnel running in to check on her. What was worse, she
couldn’t sense her dragon anywhere. His reassuring spicy musk was missing. In
its place was the unmistakable aroma of a busy hospital ward.
 
Antiseptic, the low murmur of voices, the
squeaking of rubber soles on the linoleum flooring, and underneath it all, once
she managed to yank the rubber mask off her face, the stench of pollution
coming in through the slightly open window. Gasoline, oil, the smell of fast
food being prepared somewhere.

It all hit Rhonda at once, overwhelmed her, so when
an elderly nurse came into her room, smiled at her, and urged her back onto the
narrow hospital bed, while putting her oxygen mask back on, Rhonda didn’t fight
her.

“
There
you are, my dear. Take it easy now. You took quite a tumble, according to the
driver who brought you in.” Rhonda’s eyes widened at those words, and she was
right back there. The moment she fell through the veil of time, right into the
path of the oncoming car. Drorgan’s terror filled shout in her mind, drowned
out by the squeal of brakes, the smell of burning rubber, and then nothing but
darkness until she woke up here.

“
Tell
Dr. O’Byrne that our Jane Doe is awake at last. Vitals are all good, but she
seems confused.”

“
Not
surprising with the blow to the head.”

Rhonda squinted past the rotund, elderly nurse to find
that voice belonging to a young health care assistant with a shock of red hair,
which reminded her of her maid Miriam back home.

Home
.

The thought tore her heart in two, and the young
woman’s smile faltered when Rhonda started to cry.

“
Oh,
duck, don’t upset yourself. We’ll soon have you right as rain. Don’t just stand
there gawping at her, Betsy. Go, fetch the doctor. If she doesn’t stop crying
we might need him to prescribe a sedative.”

Rhonda yanked her mask off and despite the
immediate waves of nausea assaulting her system struggled to sit up.

“
No
sedative. I need a phone. I need Drorgan, dammit. I want Lord Drorgan.”

“
There
now, like I said we’ll take care of you, my lovely. Ah, here is the good doctor
now.”

Rhonda pushed the nurse’s arm away and tried her
best to concentrate on what she was saying to the newly arrived doctor.

Words like “confused” and “delusional” reached her
ears, and seeing the grey haired, bespectacled man consult her chart and nod
was the last straw.

“
I’m
not fucking delusional. I hit my head, that’s all, and my hearing works
perfectly well.
 
Give me a damn phone so
that I can—I can…” She ran out of steam, because, really who would she phone?
She had no idea what year it was, let alone what day, and it wasn’t as though
she had Drorgan’s number. That was if he was even still alive. He’d said
dragons lived for centuries, but how long had he been alive already? And what
about Geva, Magda, Eugene, Miriam, all the other people she had grown to love
like family?

“
I
will gladly give you a phone, once I’ve established that you are okay. First
things first, can you tell me your name?” Dr. O’Byrne grasped her wrist as he
said that, and Rhonda tried her best to calm her racing heart. They had clearly
pegged as her as some form of lunatic, and it wouldn’t do to give them more
ammunition.

So instead of yanking her arm away from him, she
settled for glaring at him.

“
Of
course I know my name. I’m Rhonda Butterbaugh.”

Dr. O’Byrne smiled at her.

“
Very
well. Follow my finger.”

He let go of her hand, shined an annoying little
flash into her eyes, and Rhonda did her best to comply. She must have passed
that test, because he nodded again and scribbled something else into her notes.

“
So
far so good. Tell me what year it is, would you Ms. Butterbaugh, and is there
anyone we can call for you? Next of kin?”

“
Err…”
Rhonda stalled for time, and when his eyebrows rose again, she settled for
answering the easier question.