Briec sighed and shook his head. As he walked out, the mighty erection straining the front of his black breeches leading the way no doubt, he tossed over his shoulder to Gwenvael, “Explain it to the pup, would you? I’m busy.”
Éibhear frowned. “Explain what to me?”
She squealed as he threw her back on the bed. “Didn’t I say I wanted this bed made?”
Lifting herself up on her elbows, “You most certainly did not. And I’m not a servant. You want the bed made…make it yourself!”
The dragon growled at her and Talaith squealed again, trying to scramble away. He grabbed hold of her ankles and yanked her to the foot of the bed.
“Get off me.”
“No. You need a good lesson, I think. Saucy wench.”
He flipped her onto her stomach and dragged her back until only her chest rested on the bed and both of them kneeled on the floor.
She tried to look over her shoulder to find out what he might be up to, but he tossed the end of her dress over her head.
“Och! Briec, you arrogant bastard! Let me go!”
He didn’t answer her, but he did pry her legs apart.
Talaith gripped the fur coverings in her hands and bit her lip.
“What are you going to do?” she whispered, working hard to keep the giggle out of her voice.
“Nothing you don’t deserve.” She felt the head of his erection pushing against her sex. “And definitely nothing you don’t want.”
“That sure are you, dragon?”
He pushed his cock home with one thrust and she cried out. His big hands ripped the dress open from the back, then deftly stripped it from her body. When he gripped her breasts tight, she moaned and slammed back against him.
“I’m very sure, little witch,” he whispered against her ear. “Now tell me how much you want me.”
His thrusts started off slow but powerful, forcing her into the bed.
Panting, her body delirious with lust, she said, “I’ll tell you anything you want, dragon.”
“Mmmhhm. Good.”
“As soon as you beg me for it.”
He bit the back of her neck, making her wince at the slight sting then moan when he licked the wound. “Evil wench,” he muttered against her sweating flesh.
“Presumptuous snake.”
Then they stopped talking all together.
Briec intertwined his fingers with Talaith’s and pushed her arms over her head. Her eyelids fluttered open and she smiled up at him. “You never let me sleep.”
“Why sleep when there are more interesting things to do?” He kissed her neck and nuzzled under her chin. “You’re a Nolwenn witch, you have centuries for sleeping.”
“In other words I should enjoy you while I have you?”
His grip on her hands tightened and he kissed her chest. “Exactly.” He didn’t want to give her false hope. In another hundred or two hundred years, he’d be done with her. Or three hundred. He hadn’t made up his mind yet. Maybe even four if her already brilliant oral skills continued to improve. Or five if she continued to scream his name at the best times. But no more than that. And to promise more would be wrong.
Briec groaned as Talaith’s leg slid up his thigh to wrap around his waist. The sheath holding her knife scraping against his skin.
“Good. I hate to think I’d be stuck with your arrogance for longer than was necessary.”
“You’re the only one who says I’m arrogant. Most say I’m honest.”
“They’re afraid to tell you the truth. Afraid to tell you you’re difficult and annoying.”
“And why aren’t you afraid, little witch?” he asked seconds before sucking one of her nipples into his mouth. Her back arched and she moaned, her hands fighting to pull from his grasp.
Briec rocked against her, his cock teasing the soft skin of her thighs but he didn’t enter her. Not yet.
Her body picked up his rhythm, her hips pushing back.
“I don’t know. I should be afraid. You’re a fire-breathing dragon. Your kind hunts my kind for sport.”
“Aye, but it’s not much of a challenge unless you’re in a pack,” he mumbled against her breast, unwilling to release it.
She stifled a laugh and Briec grinned. He did enjoy making this woman smile.
“How do you live with yourself, Lord Arrogant?”
In between using the tip of his tongue to toy with her hard nipples, he answered, “Very easily, Lady Difficult. I find myself quite charming.”
“All that gives me ease is to know you’ll be done with me soon. I’ll simply leave when the rains end—”
Briec brought his head up so quickly she gasped in surprise.
“You’ll leave when I’m done, little witch. Not before.”
Her brown eyes narrowed. “You insist on pushing me, dragon.”
“There is no pushing. Merely fact. I will tell you when your blood debt to me has been paid.”
“Gods damn you, Briec.” She tried to pull away from him, but he held tight to her hands. “Why do you have to be such an ass?”
“And why must you fight me all the time?” He rested his lips against her ear. “Why can’t you just come when I tell you and be done with it?”
Talaith shook her head. “Briec…” She let out on an exasperated sigh. “Be grateful for that blood debt, dragon, because I truly believe I would have killed you long ago.”
“Now you sound like my mother.”
She opened her mouth, he assumed to say something but nothing came out. And was her eye twitching? After several seconds, when she still said nothing, he kissed her.
Talaith’s fingers gripped him tight while the rest of her body melted beneath his.
He liked that his mere kiss could do this to her. Make her this wet and ready.
He sunk his cock deep into her drenched sex and shuddered at the feel of her. Of the absolute rightness of his body inside hers. With each powerful stroke, he added more time on how long she’d stay with him. The first stroke led to another ten years. By the tenth stroke, another hundred.
When he finally climaxed and came deep inside her soft body, losing himself to her completely, the word “forever” crossed his mind.
Briec blinked, then stepped back from the cave entrance. His brothers stared, too.
“What the hell just happened?”
Shrugging at Gwenvael’s question, Briec took a careful step outside. The two suns shined brightly, no clouds to mar the beauty of the day. Normally not a strange occurrence…except for the fact that less than a mere second before, the storm had still been going full blast and had been for days. Black clouds roiled, rain came down in thick sheets to drench the land. And now—nothing.
“Anyone talk to Morfyd?” Briec asked softly.
“No. She’s been off with Annwyl.”
“You’d best track her down then.”
“What about you?”
He scratched the back of his neck with the point of his tail. “I’m taking Talaith home.”
From the corner of his eye, he saw his brothers glance at each other. “What?” He whipped his head around, nailing both dragons with one look. “What’s going on?”
Gwenvael rested back on his haunches. “You’re not going to toss her away when you’re done, are you?”
“What?”
“You’ll keep her, won’t you?” Éibhear asked. Well, it was more like a demand.
“What are you two idiots going on about?”
“We like her.”
“A lot.”
“And?”
“And, she’s not like other women,” Éibhear nearly snarled, but Briec already knew that. “Don’t simply toss her aside because you allow yourself to become bored.”
Briec didn’t think he could become bored with Talaith. Not ever. Since the rains hadn’t stopped for days, neither had they. Spending most of the day in bed or the hot springs. Only peeking out to get nourishment…or argue, which always led back to bed or the hot springs.
It had been amazing. Perhaps the best days of his already long life.
“What I do or won’t do, will be my business, brothers. Not yours.”
Éibhear, the youngest and most passionate of them all, pointed one black talon at his older kin. “Hurt her, Briec, and it will quickly become my business.”
Briec looked at Gwenvael. “Any threats from you?”
Gwenvael shrugged, his smirk well in place. “Just this—get bored with her brother, and feel free to send her my way. I’ll gladly take her in. And give her everything she needs.”
If Éibhear hadn’t jumped between them, Briec would have snapped Gwenvael’s neck like a twig.
“Not on your life, dragon!”
Talaith hid behind Éibhear, which seemed to anger Briec even more.
“You’re not being rational.”
“If rational means any more flying—then you’re damn right.”
Gwenvael laughed, but it turned into a cough as Briec’s violet eyes swung his way.
“You almost got me killed the other night. Can’t we walk? Or get a carriage with horses?”
Snorting out another laugh, Gwenvael quickly turned away.
“Talaith…come here.”
Wrapping the fur-lined cape Éibhear gave her tighter around her shoulders, she shook her head. “No.”
“If we leave now, we’ll be there in two hours. If we walk, we’re looking at days. In this unpredictable weather.”
Well, that didn’t sound much better. But the thought of flying turned her stomach.
“Can’t we stay here?”
Gwenvael smiled. This cave was his. “Why, of course you…ow!”
His claw covering where Briec’s tail had slashed his snout, he yelled, “What was that for?”
“Accident.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Talaith stepped out from behind Éibhear, who looked ready to blast his brother out of the bloody cave. “Don’t fight.”
“Then we best leave.”
Talaith scratched her head and wished she hadn’t had all those sausages for breakfast. “Fine.”
“Talaith…” Éibhear moved toward her, but she immediately saw Briec wouldn’t stand for that.
“It’s all right, Éibhear. I’m sure I’ll be fine. If I don’t fall to my death.”
Sighing in exasperation, Briec barked, “Woman, you test my patience.”
“And you push mine,” she snapped back.
She smiled at Éibhear. “It was lovely meeting you, Éibhear.”
“Well, I hope we see each other again.”
He could hope, but she knew better. Instead of lying, she reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck…or, at least trying. Dragons were so big. “And thank you for all the books.”
“I’ll send you more,” he promised.
She nodded and stepped away. “Now please take care of yourself. Especially in this weather.”
“I will.”
“And don’t let Gwenvael goad you into a fight.”
“I won’t.”
Briec let out a big sigh behind her, but she ignored him. “And be good, Éibhear the Blue.” She rubbed his snout with her hand.
“Are you going to tell me to be good as well,” Gwenvael asked.
Talaith rolled her eyes. “Oh, why bother?”
“It’s polite.”
She turned from Éibhear and walked up to Gwenvael. “Perhaps. But you are not. Polite, that is.”
“This is true.” He lowered his snout close to her. “Can I get a rub as well?”
Laughing, Talaith reached up and rubbed her hand against the scale-covered flesh between his nostrils, successfully avoiding the fresh wound. “You are a beast, Gwenvael the Handsome. And I can’t wait until some female comes along who will make your life absolutely intolerable.”
“That’s a lovely sentiment. Could you put that into verse for me?”
“I’m waiting,” Briec bellowed.
With a resigned sigh, Talaith walked over to Briec. “Perhaps we could—”
“Get on or I’ll take you there in my claw.”
“You are not a nice dragon at all.”
She grabbed hold of his hair and awkwardly hauled herself onto his back.
“Comfortable?”
“I’d be much more comfortable back in my…aaayieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
And she screamed like that all the way to Briec’s den.
“How bad is it?”
Brastias shrugged at Morfyd’s question. “It’s slowed us down. The mud will make it slow going. Why?”
“Only wondering when we’ll get back to Dark Plains.” He didn’t like the frown of worry marring that beautiful face. He adored everything about that face, but especially the female beneath it. He didn’t like to see her upset.
“Before the storms I would have told you not long. I mean, we separated from the other troops to get back quicker. But when Annwyl began circling this general area—”
“We’ve been going in circles?”
Her angry exclamation startled him. “I thought you knew.”
“I’ve had so much on my mind.” She rubbed her forehead. “Where’s Annwyl?”
“Sleeping. And please don’t wake her up.”
“Yes, but—”
“You know how she is when she hasn’t seen Fearghus for a long time. And she hasn’t seen Fearghus for a very long time.”
In battle, the queen’s forced separation from her mate made Annwyl a formidable foe. But when the battles were over, the men avoided the woman like she bore the plague. Unless Fearghus was near to keep her…uh…occupied.
“All right. I’ll wait until she wakes.”
“Is it something you can tell me about?”
Those blue eyes he dreamed of almost every night turned toward him. “It’s nothing to worry about, Brastias.” She patted his shoulder and his entire body tightened. She had to stop doing that. She kept touching him like a friend or one of her brothers. The last thing he felt for Morfyd the White Dragonwitch of Dark Plains was brotherly.
“You sure? I can be quite helpful.”
Finally, she smiled. Good. He loved seeing her smile. “I know you are, my friend.”
Friend? “Morfyd, I—”
Lightning flashed and storm clouds suddenly appeared. Morfyd looked up at the sky. “Dammit.”
Brastias sensed her concern went beyond getting Annwyl back to Fearghus. “What is it, Morfyd? What aren’t you telling me?”
Shaking her head, the woman turned from him and walked off. He watched her until she disappeared into her tent, then the skies opened up and rain poured down on him.
“Hold on.”
“Hold on? Why?” Talaith finally lifted her head from where she had it buried in Briec’s mane of silver hair. She should have never looked. The dragon was heading right for a waterfall…and he wasn’t stopping.
“What are you doing? Have you gone mad?” she yelled over the brutal storm. It had plagued them all the way from Gwenvael’s den to Briec’s. The dragon had been able to keep ahead of it until a bit ago.
“Don’t you trust me, sweet Talaith?”
“No!”
He chuckled as the waterfall—and the stone wall behind it—came closer and closer.
With a screech, Talaith buried her face into Briec’s neck, her hands gripping his mane. She knew the moment they hit the waterfall as even more water drenched her and a roaring sound assaulted her ears, then it stopped and she was in complete darkness. She thought it was over, until the dragon went free-falling into the blackness.
His humming during all this didn’t help either. It competed with her screams.
When the dragon suddenly stopped, she thought for sure whatever remained in her stomach would come flying back up. He spoke a charm and torches lining the cave walls burst with light.
“Finally. Home.”
Without releasing the beast, Talaith looked up and saw the enormous cavern the dragon had dropped down to get to this level. B
astard. He could have warned her he wasn’t planning on some kind of poetic suicide.
Briec flew slowly down the cavern and Talaith marveled at the size of Briec’s cave. Gwenvael’s hadn’t been this large.
The deeper they went, the brighter it became with more and more torches lighting the way.
After a good fifteen minutes, the dragon pulled to a stop, gently landing.
“You all right?”
She yanked his hair and he rewarded her with a short grunt of pain. “No. I’m not all right.”
He began walking, heading deeper into his cave. “You really need to get used to flying. And stop pulling my hair. It’s irritating.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s attached to my head.”
“Not why should I stop pulling your hair, dragon. Why should I get used to flying?”
“Because, it’s the easiest way to get out of here. Unless, of course, you’d prefer the long walk out.”
Knowing there was another way out, even one, gave her much ease. She’d have to find it later when the dragon slept.
“Do I have to ride bareback all the time? Can’t you wear a saddle or something?”
Briec abruptly stopped walking. “Don’t ever say that to me again.”
She didn’t know he’d be so sensitive about it. “Sorry.”
He nodded his enormous horned head and walked on. After another ten minutes, Talaith noticed large caverns filled with treasure. Also like Gwenvael’s cave. Eventually, he entered an enormous chamber and that’s when he finally stopped walking. Briec lowered himself to the ground and Talaith slid off his back. She leaned against him as her legs took a moment getting steady again.
Once she had some control, she pushed away from his body and slowly made her way deep inside. She gasped in surprise. “Briec…it’s…um…”
“Yes?”
“It’s beautiful.” She stared at the tapestries covering the walls. Beautiful ones that told stories of dragon heroes from long ago. He also had an immense dining table, silver-accented chairs surrounding it; couches for lounging, and one of the alcoves from the main chamber held the biggest bookshelf she’d ever seen, filled from top to bottom with books. More couches and chairs littered the alcove as well so one could rest and read.
It was warm. Cozy. And she’d never felt safer in her life. She fell in love with all of it immediately.