Dalton, Tymber - Fire and Ice [A Triple Trouble Prequel] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (6 page)

Once they were both fully seated inside her, they took over, repeating the seesaw rhythm their hands had earlier used to bring her to passion. As she felt her body taking over from her brain, she closed her eyes and relinquished all control to their lead.

“Yes!” she gasped.

“Come for us, Goddess,” Stribog said. “Let us feel you.”

Svarog nipped the back of her neck. “We want to feel your body’s pleasure.”

They didn’t have to wait long. A rapid ascent into a pleasure akin to madness took her over the edge. It felt like white-hot energy exploded from them, engulfing them in a cloud of orgasmic sensation that bordered on pain in its intensity.

Both men let out loud shouts of pleasure as their cocks reacted to her body’s grip on them. She felt them, Stribog’s cool release in her pussy and Svarog’s hot seed in her ass, and yet another orgasm slammed into her like a landslide.

The world changed. Zaria saw a series of images flash through her brain. Baba Yaga and two other women…a battlefield…a victory.

Her eyes popped open as one more climax made her entire body shake before she collapsed on top of Stribog.

They tumbled into sleep as a tangled pile of limbs.

Chapter Five

Zaria stood at the window and shivered in the early-morning chill. Their slumber had been disturbed the night before when a wounded rider had arrived late, bloodied and exhausted, his mount lathered and trembling. The injured man had collapsed into the arms of the guards at the gate and reported on the latest siege, less than a day’s ride away.

Cockatrice.

Their dark army included not just the cockatrice’s kin, but some renegade creatures as yet unidentified. Some rumored demons, some claimed orcs or goblins. And humans who had allied themselves with the horrific forces with promises that they would reap the rewards of the battles.

“What troubles you, Goddess?” Svarog softly asked as he stepped in close and enveloped her in his arms.

She held on to him tightly. “Our people are dying. And yours. How can you ask me that? Is it not obvious?”

He kissed her neck. “Aye. That is why we must defend the lands as best we can. To the death.”

“I know.” She sighed.

He turned her in his arms. “Come back to bed and love us. Today, we plan. Tomorrow, we do battle and win.”

“And then we celebrate,” Stribog sleepily mumbled from the bed. “Come, lovely. Join us. The sheets are warm, the bed is soft. We do not have to arise yet.”

She managed a smile. “Even in the face of possible death, you cannot manage to quell your libido?”

Svarog nipped her shoulder. “Not when you are near, we cannot.”

“Later. We must go.”

“Go where?” Stribog asked, looking a little more awake.

“To the sacred spring. The one called Rachel’s Well.”

“What are we going to do there?” Svarog asked as she slipped from his grasp.

Zaria turned to them. “We have things to do. We are going to fulfill the prophecy.”

“You aren’t going to let us sleep in, are you, lovely?” Stribog asked.

“No. Sorry.”

“Ah, oh well.” He climbed out of bed. “What are we to do?”

She smiled at him. “We will ensure the cockatrice cannot get the upper hand. If we follow the prophecy, we shall vanquish them.”

* * * *

Zachary was in a near panic when he couldn’t find the three the next morning. The news of the latest attack had reached him. He was nervously pacing in front of the stable when Stribog and Svarog returned at midday…without Zaria.

“Where is she?” Zachary demanded.

Both men looked troubled. “She would not tell us where she went,” Svarog said. “She sent us back to the castle.”

“She said we could not follow her,” Stribog said.

“And you let her go?” Zachary asked incredulously.

“What were we to do?” Svarog said. “She is the Goddess. Her word is law!”

“Idiots!” Zachary muttered under his breath. “Go see the king,” he ordered. “He is preparing the plans for battle.” He ordered a horse be readied for him and set off in search of Zaria. After ten minutes of riding, he caught sight of a flash of fabric at the edge of the woods and changed his course. There she was.

He pulled his mount up short beside her. “What in the name of Heaven do you think you’re doing?” he demanded. He jumped off and quickly examined her for any sign of injury. “Are you all right?”

She looked startled to see him. “I’m fine. Did the men return safely?”

“Yes, but what did you think you were doing going off alone?”

“I had something important to do.” She grabbed his arms before he could object. “We had to fulfill the prophecy.”

He wanted to object, but he let out a deep breath and nodded. There was something different about her, something changed, and not simply because she now belonged to her two dragon lovers. “Let’s get you back to the safety of the castle. Now.” He mounted then helped her swing up behind him.

Ignoring the sad pang inside his soul over countless memories of them riding like this in the past, he turned his horse back toward home.

* * * *

Zachary followed Zaria into the hall where the king and his men had gathered. Not a single smile could be found, although there appeared to be more than a little relief when Zaria took her place beside her men.

“We have received unsettling news, Zaria,” the king said. “Scouts have returned with word that the cockatrice and their forces are on their way here. They are laying waste to everything in their path. They will reach our outer boundaries by morn. We have sent out riders to warn our villagers to flee the area.”

“Do we have reinforcements coming?” Zaria asked.

The two dragon men nodded. “They are on the way and will be here before sunset,” Svarog said.

“Good,” she said. “We have a lot of planning to do.”

Zaria felt recharged. She couldn’t explain what happened earlier. It was as if during the ceremony by the sacred spring another presence, wiser than herself, had taken residence inside her soul. It wasn’t until after she returned to the castle that she felt as if she was once again alone in her own body.

Not that she’d ever tell anyone about the experience. Not even Zachary. She didn’t know what had happened or how to even explain it. Perhaps it was simply a result of now being mated to her men.

It didn’t matter. There were more pressing matters to attend to if they were to survive the morrow. Unfortunately, she suspected the prophecy already foretold their fate.

Chapter Six

A phalanx of sixty dragons arrived early that evening, before dark. They caused quite a stir when they all landed in the castle’s courtyard, each dragon clutching a large rucksack, which held their belongings and weapons, in their talons.

Stribog and Svarog greeted their kin and made introductions. The leader of the group, Rossleo, knelt before King Elsleng. “We pledge allegiance to you, Your Majesty.”

The king smiled. “Up. I declare you all my knights. Now, let’s prepare our battle! When can we expect the others?”

“The wolves,” Rossleo said, “are on their way, perhaps a few hours behind us. They are travelling on horseback. They can’t shift and carry their belongings like we can. There are also bears and some felines with them, as many as we could all summon. And quite a few humans, as well.”

The other forces arrived as expected, and were updated on the plans. Zaria had exchanged her usual garb for one of Zachary’s shirts and a pair of his trousers. When her father protested her intent to join the fray, she once again reminded him of the prophecy.

“My power comes from my men,” she said. “I will not send them and our allies out to fight a battle that is every bit my war to wage as well.” She patted a sword sheathed on her hip. “They will find me every bit as fierce as any man out there.”

The king loudly sighed, but with a proud smile. “I cannot fault your logic, daughter.”

Two scouts returned before dawn the next morning to sound the alarm. They’d spotted the approaching dark army. With no people to kill, they were making faster progress. The good news was that the warnings to evacuate had been heeded by nearly all the residents, greatly lessening the loss of life.

The king stood before the gathered forces, human and shifter alike, and raised his sword to call for silence.

“We face a great foe,” he said. “There is no guarantee any of us will be here by the time the sun sets tonight. However, regardless, we will show them how fierce we are, and how they cannot expect to take our land, or our lives, without dire consequences.”

A roar of approval went up throughout the warriors. When they quieted, the king continued.

“We have the Goddess above on our side,” he said. “We have the Goddess Zaria on our side. We have the prophecies on our side. We have right and decency on our side. We only want peace, but if our foes wish a fight, we shall bring it to them!”

Another roar of approval rippled through the forces.

“It is a shame that it has taken sorrow such as this to bring all our peoples together as a united, unstoppable force. I pledge that from this day forward, we shall all be brothers, united and living peaceably together. Be they human, or wolf, or dragon, or other peaceful shifter, we shall all be kin.

“So to all of you, I say, ‘Merry meet.’ And good luck to all of us. We shall all assemble here upon the completion of our task, upon the defeat of the evil which seeks to destroy us. Then, we shall celebrate. I cannot see how such a great assemblage of spirit and strength cannot do anything but vanquish our enemies.”

They set up their positions. The smaller, swifter shifters were sent to the north and south, to help pen in their opponents, who were marching in from the east. They would close in behind them, and upon commencement of the attack would begin taking apart forces from the rear, hopefully dividing and slowing their advance. From what they could tell from the scouting reports, the weaker humans and other beings were trailing at the back of the forces.

They would also slaughter any who decided to retreat from the battle.

There would be no quarter given, no surrender accepted.

There would be no mercy given, since they gave none in return.

They would battle to the death.

Zaria took her men by the hands. “Join hands,” she softly said.

“What are you doing?” Svarog asked.

She closed her eyes. “What I feel is right. Join hands,” she repeated.

The men complied. Zaria felt it when the brothers joined hands, like a circle completed. As the earliest traces of dawn kissed the skies to the east of the hills behind the marauders, Zaria pictured the tablet they’d created the day before, as if it hung in the air before her face.

“Goddess above, Goddess below. Goddess within, Goddess without. Cast clouds of doubt across the skies behind our foes, and cast into their minds the feeling of woe. Remove from them their spirit strong. Replace their will with our victory song.”

She raised her arms to the skies above, still holding their hands and feeling power building amongst them, circling, flowing, growing.

“Goddess of All, Goddess of Light. Take from them their power and feed well our might!”