Abandon (6 page)

“
Rikard
.
I am not going to kiss your ear. Get those lips over here.” It was hard to have a deep kiss while grinning, but she managed to smooth her features as the warmth of his presence flowed through her. That was something that had been missing from
Khiron’s
kiss.
The feeling of belonging, of being home.

Sure, there had been passion, but that would fade. Or perhaps not, but it still lacked the comfort of
Rikard’s
embrace.

So, now the two men she wanted would battle for her hand.
And the rest of her.
This day had taken a freaky turn.

Chapter 9

There was a crowd gathering outside the Dragon council hall. It seemed that the news of a challenge was one of the greatest draws in Realm.

She stood between her parents on the walk on the wall and looked down at the field where they would fight.

Swords were standard, armour unnecessary. They faced off, waiting only for the signal to begin. All forms were available for the battle, but shifting lost points in the judgement and in the eyes of the watchers.

It was the weaker opponent who would shift first.
Or the one with a strategy.
One never knew in these things.

“This will not be a battle to the death! But rather to exhaustion! Take your places, and begin!” Matthias dropped a white handkerchief to the ground, and the instant that it ceased fluttering, the warriors collided.

With endurance in mind, they circled slowly, each looking for a weakness in the other, an occasional feint made the onlookers gasp, but it was only when they both engaged in hacking and slashing that the cheering and betting started.

She sighed and looked around. It was bizarre, but ninety-eight percent of the crowd was male. It seemed that they enjoyed watching other guys bashing each other around.

Each time that the dragons connected a roar came from the crowd. They were so equally matched that it seemed that hours would pass before a winner was declared.
Graylin
turned to Matthias and was about to ask if she had to watch the whole battle when a talon scooped her up and she was suddenly airborne.

“What the hell?” She looked up and only saw a metallic blue underbelly, no clue as to whom it belonged to from her recent suitors. This was ridiculous.
“Who are you and what do you think you are doing?”

“I am
Icarin
, and I am claiming you as my mate.”
He banked suddenly and it was then that George realized that they were being followed. A blast of fire struck
Icarin’s
neck, near his head and he shook it off and continued flying.

She craned her neck around and saw a furious
Rikard
leading a pack of dragons, the one nearest to his size must have been
Khiron
.

A second blast from
Rikard
and the kidnapper dropped her. She gasped in surprise, but before she could shift her own form her lover had her carefully in his grasp. The remaining flight of dragons was knocking her abductor about.

“Are you alright? He didn’t injure you did he?”
Rikard
was flying as if she was made of porcelain. He returned to the council hall and set her delicately on the parapet before shifting his form back to human.

“No. I am fine. He just surprised me is
all.
”

Matthias was approaching rapidly. He looked furious and as the dragons returned with
Icarin
, he took out his fury on the now-human form. He began to beat the hapless male with an aggression that George found appalling.

“What are you doing? Stop it!”

He whirled on her as her hand tugged at his shoulder. “He defiled you!
Taking you after he had already lost the right to a mate.”

“You are the idiot who made me a prize! What did you expect? That you would get them all hot and horny,
then
leave them with nothing?”

Her father’s mouth opened and closed in surprised. “It is the way things have always been done.”

“I beg to differ.”

“What?”

“My mother found another way, Marcus and
Lia
,
Alethea
and Rhys,
Devon
and
Vinya
. They all found away around the Dragon Council edicts. They mated and bred without these trials.”

He looked like a gaffed fish. His mouth opened and closed in amazement. Then he turned to
Arabel
, “You told me that she didn’t know of the other families.”

“Don’t blame her.
Rikard
had a family history in his horde. I can read.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her parents. “I choose
Rikard
. I selected him, he selected me, and we choose each other. I am sure
Khiron
is a wonderful choice as a mate, but he is not mine.” She inclined her head formally to the dragon in question and tried not to look directly at his nudity.

None of the males had bothered to reacquire clothing when they shifted, and it was quite a sight. She tamped down on her hormones and tried to keep a straight face.

Rikard
came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned back into him and relaxed. Matthias looked at them and a resigned expression crossed his features. “You are right. I suppose my clinging to the older traditions is what kept your mother from me all these years.”

Arabel
smiled, “Wow. You have finally clued into it. Matthias, you were one of the most attractive men I had ever met. Even transformed, you were an amazing lover, but you were locked in a cycle of tradition and formality that didn’t suit me at all.”

“And now?”

“I am willing to work on it if you are.” She smiled at him in a challenging fashion. He was stunned. There was no other way to describe it.

“Matthias, do you give your blessing to your daughter and
myself
?” His voice was soft and husky in her ear. The erection that was prodding her backside was the reason for his darker tone.

Apparently,
her
in a toga was more than he could stand.

“I do. But only with the knowledge that she herself has declared it.” She smiled as he looked pained at his statement. Perhaps evolution wasn’t that time consuming after all.

Rikard
asked the other male. “It will be recorded?”

“It will.”

“Then we will see you in a week.” His arms tightened around her and he pushed off the parapet with her in his arms. His wings began to flap and she laughed, startled, as she realized that his warrior form was what had been holding her.

Heavy beats carried them low over the terrain and then he swept higher, climbing into the sunny skies of Realm.

As they reached a point so high that she had trouble breathing he relaxed his grip and whispered into her ear, “Change.”

Grinning with anticipation, she shifted to face him and moved into warrior form, her toga rising as her tail lifted the skirts.

Chapter 10

Wrapping her thighs around his hips, his cock nudged into the hollow that had grown wet during their flight. She grunted and circled her hips against his, working him slowly into her.

Her high-pitched sighs matched his groans as he was slowly worked in to the hilt. She glanced down to see where they joined and sighed with satisfaction at the wave of heat that the smallest movement brought on.

At last, he was finally seated. “Do you want to move, or shall I?” Her joking comment had him diving through the sky, her claws biting into his shoulders and her own wings struggling to open. He regained control and once again climbed into the atmosphere.

“Does that answer your question?” His grin was unrepentant.

She wrapped her tail around one of his legs for leverage and began to rock her channel up and down his hardened cock. The sudden dips in their altitude were her clue as to how effective her ministrations were.

Sweat slicked the flesh between them as they flew and fucked through the skies of Realm.
Rikard’s
eyes glowed as he approached climax, and his thumb found her clit between their writhing bodies. A few sharp strokes on that sensitized flesh and she screamed, making the way for his orgasm.

His teeth flashed and he bit down sharply between her neck and shoulder as he came, pumping venom into her body to allow for her pregnancy. As his body shuddered in release, his wings lost their beat and once again they were falling, the ground sweeping up to meet them.

George reversed their positions and now she was on ‘top’, her wings opening to catch them before they had gained too much speed. It was hard, but she managed to keep them aloft while he withdrew his teeth and came to his senses.

She slowly took them to the ground and landed as gently as she could with him being nothing but dead weight.

She sat next to him on a rock and watched the stars fade from behind his eyes. “Was it good for you?”

He simply grinned at her.
Completely unabashed at lying there with his cock softening, shining with her juices and his own.

“Next time, we will try that over water.
Less chance of hitting solid ground.”

“You are imagining that there will be a next time.”

“I have centuries to try and convince you. I am willing to try.” He stood and brushed some grass off his ass. “Shall we return to my home so that we can continue to bond?”

He shifted into his dragon form and beckoned her forward with one clawed hand. Shaking her head in amusement, she mounted up and settled her nether parts against his neck, snugly. If she had to ride a dragon she was going to have some fun.

“What are you doing back there?”

“Turning your neck into a home entertainment center.”
She rocked against him and in moments she was slick with her own juices once again. The remnants of her earlier arousal coated his neck, with his own contribution.

“Alright, but don’t tire yourself out. I have plans for this evening.”
He chose that moment to fly through some turbulence and she almost came from the friction.

She did moan in release as he arched his neck to enter his portal to the mortal world. The magic swirling around her intensified her release and she was screaming by the time they exited over his home.

She was shaking with the depth of her orgasm when he landed, sliding off him with a thump as she hit the ground butt first.

He looked down at her and sniffed her from head to toe, then shifted back into human form. “You were busy.”

“You were steering. I had to do something.” She was still flat on her back on the ground near the front door and her breathing was gradually returning to normal.

“But was getting off against my neck your only option?”

“Well, I didn’t have my tax returns, so it was my second choice.” She was unrepentant and looking up at him was funny, his erection had re-emerged and from her vantage point it seemed to be sprouting from between his eyes.

“I have to take a picture of you like this one day. Remind me.” He grabbed her hands and pulled her to her feet as she rambled on.

“Come along. I have a few family heirlooms that I want you to have.” He walked with her steering through his repaired main room and study, down the tunnel to his horde.

Chapter 11

He took her past the room she had been living in, shaking his head over the mess she had made and to an ante room that she had not noticed in her learning orgy.

It was much more orderly than the horde.

He waved his hand in front of the wall and it melted away.
Literally.
The stone formed a puddle at the base of the cave wall.

Inside were his prize possessions.
The private jewels of a male dragon.
A necklace, bracelets and anklets made of tiny and diamond-hard scales.

“Were those taken from
your
…?” She looked down, and sure enough. Tiny scars that she hadn’t noted before dotted the skin above the root of his cock, and made a small trail down the skin of the shaft.

“Yes. I created them fifty years ago.
When I felt my mate enter the magical world.”
He looked worried.

“Are you going to put them on me?”

Relief ran over his features and he reached for them.

 
“I am not that liberated. I chose you, and everything that goes with you. That means your marks.” She stood quietly as he knelt to attach the anklets. They snapped on and the warmth of his magic flowed around her. The same reaction occurred with the bracelets. When the choker locked in place she was bound in warmth. She knew instantly that the warmth was his mood.

Possessiveness blazed in his eyes as he surveyed her in the toga and his scales. “I think you would look better with nothing else on. Would you mind?”

Smiling, she untied the cord that held it in place and slid the fabric off her shoulder and to the ground. She stepped out of it and toward him. And then was up against the wall once again, this time with his hard cock plunging into her and her own hands struggling for balance against him.

She wrapped her ankles around his hips and let him pound into her, her own arousal growing more slowly then bursting as the bands she now wore sent a bolt of lust through her in an inexorable wave.

She was coming again, arching against the stone and thrusting her hips out to meet his as he slid and slammed within her. His groan and suddenly un-rhythmic thrusts as well as the bite to her neck let her know he was spilling his semen into her in hot jets.

Her body was still pulsing and shaking as she let her legs slide in short jerks back down so that she was no longer depending on the pressure of his body for support.

“I gather that you like the look of me in your scales?”

He was fighting to regain his breath, his chest was still heaving like a bellows. “That would be a safe assumption. Would you care to adjourn to the house, so we can get some rest?”

She was a little weak in the knees and it had been one helluva day, “Sounds like a plan. Let’s go.”

They staggered arm in arm back to the house, meandered up the stairs and then flopped into the bed with little ceremony.

It had indeed been one helluva day.

* * * *

The insistent chirp of her cell phone woke her the next morning. She retrieved it from the pack that
Rikard
had brought her and almost jumped out of her skin at the message.

She jumped up and grabbed her sleeping dragon by the shoulder.
“
Rikard
.
Do you want me to travel around without you?” She was frantically
texting
with her free hand, cursing and using both as she made a mistake. A few precious moments were spent thus, and then she tossed her phone into her pack and she began to look around for the wardrobe he had stocked for her.

“No, we just mated. We are supposed to take a break and spend a week or more together.”

“Great. Grab some stuff and come with me. We are going on a road trip.” She was loading her pack with the new clothing provided by her mate.

He didn’t get up easily. “Where are you going?” She opened one of his drawers and started flinging clothing at him.

“You remember all those new spells that I have?”

“Yes.”

“That they seem designed for modern times?”

“Yes.”

“And that I am the only one peddling them?”

He was moving now, tugging on some shorts,
then
moving on to slacks. “Yes.”

“One of my friends, Jinx, is an Archive. Her family just handed her over to a werewolf pack and her grandfather has objected. If something isn’t done soon, they might just tear her limb from limb. Or worse, hand her over to the Magus or Warlock Councils.”

She faced him, wearing jeans, sneakers and a t-shirt. Her necklace of scales lying flat against her skin and proudly displayed. “She would rather die than be locked up like that. So I am going there to meddle in matters that are none of my business.”

He shook his head wearily. “You just said it was none of your business.”

George looked at him for a long moment. “I know that. But she is a friend. It is my business to meddle. Are you coming?”

“Why don’t we fly?”

“Because I don’t want to freak out the wolves with some dragons in the sky.
They tend to think we are going to eat them, and we don’t want that kind of attention. We will simply be concerned friends staying at the guesthouse.” She flipped her pack over her shoulder and looked at his half-hearted efforts impatiently. “Let’s go, lizard butt.”

“You will pay for that.”

“Yeah, but you will have to get your butt downstairs to catch me, so it’s win-win.” She laughed and led her mate on a journey into the heart of werewolf territory. He enacted his revenge for the lizard butt comment several times on the trip, and she had to admit that he was very creative while using the hood of a car for leverage.

She could only hope that the guy that Jinx got was half as creative, and that Jinx was flexible enough to manage it.

To be concluded in Archive…the fourth book of the Half-Blood Club.