“Is that normal?” he asked.
“The triplets got them all the time when they overfed,” she murmured as she placed a gentle kiss on her son’s head. “He’s the most beautiful thing in this world.”
“Must take after his mother then,” he muttered as he dropped his lips and kissed her, as she kissed Fury’s cheek.
“Let’s hope he doesn’t have his father’s stubbornness or we’re doomed,” she laughed.
Blane sat up, moving over the top of her as he pinned her to the bed. “I’m not stubborn.”
“You’re built stubborn, boy,” she teased. “But I kind of like it, and you.”
“Is that so?” he asked as he dropped his lips to hers and claimed them in a kiss that devoured any resistance she might have had. It was a desperate kiss, filled with emotions that trampled over her heart, clenching around it as he dug is talons into it. “I like you better on your back,” he murmured thickly.
“I like you better on yours too,” she agreed before lifting her lips to capture his in a searching kiss, moaning against his mouth as he dipped his tongue between her lips to find hers, dueling with it for dominance until they were both panting breathlessly.
“You undo me, sweet girl,” he growled as he rolled to the other side of her and pulled her close. “If you ever leave me again I will chain you to the fucking wall of my room and leave you there to use as I see fit. I don’t ever want to feel that again.”
“Was it an abyss that hungered for me, one you were unable to fill even with things that once made you full?” she whispered as she turned to look at him. “An ache that continued to grow until you feared it would swallow you whole?”
“You felt it too?” he murmured.
She nodded as she stared at him. “I wanted you even though I wanted to hate you more. I felt our child growing, and I wanted you with me to experience it. I wanted to kidnap you, to chain you in the dungeon until Fury was born.”
“You had decided on his name before I arrived,” he said softly. His hand pushed her hair away from her face as he kissed her forehead. “You chose well.”
“It’s a strong, proud name for a child who kicked like a horse near the end. I would be walking and have to sit because he kicked me so hard I feared he was fighting his way out. Then I almost panicked because I wasn’t sure how dragons were born and the lore says nothing. My father wiped all information we had on dragons out as if he could erase their existence. I had no idea what I was doing or if I would survive his birth, and the only thing I wanted was you. That terrifies me, to think I needed you to hold me up so I didn’t fall. I don’t know why I needed you, but I did. I’m glad you showed up when you did, because I knew I was in labor and I refused to have him until you were with me. Honestly, I don’t think he agreed, but somehow we managed to wait for you.”
He swallowed as he stared at her. “You’re the stubborn one. You cannot stop labor to wait for someone, you crazy girl.”
“Oh, but I did. I waited for you, and you came.”
“I’ll always come for you, Ciara. You’re my wife,” he uttered as he turned her in his arms and curled around her. She pulled Fury closer and exhaled.
“I’m glad I’m your wife, Blane.”
“I missed you, Ciara. Gods, I fucking missed you so much it felt like a part of me was just gone. I couldn’t breathe without you.”
“I missed you too, dragon.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
The dragons’ palace was huge and beautifully crafted from the outside. It meant her brothers had done more than just rebuild it. They’d given Blane back his kingdom, and a stronghold that could withstand a siege. It had a huge drawbridge that had been left lowered to welcome them. Huge ancient statues of dragons stood guard over the castle and all around it.
The entire entourage of warriors stared at it, and then the large tombstone that she knew Ryder had created stood proudly in the middle of two dragons posed in flight, protecting the dead. Her gaze traveled over the runes that covered the walls, protection runes from the Fae and any others wanting to harm those who resided in the walls.
Atop the highest tower was the flag of the dragons, a single dragon skull with a white background, and next to it, was the Horde’s, adorned with golden wings, indicating the mark of the beast. It hadn’t flown before, not since they’d taken the castle from Alazander, showing a new king had been chosen and that it was claimed for the Horde.
“He gave his approval,” Blane muttered. “He kept his word.”
“You assumed he wouldn’t?” she asked as she accepted Fury from Darynda and stood beside Blane. “Little man, you’re home,” she murmured as she ran her nose over his head. “Your daddy was born here, and his before him. And now you’re here, and one day, this will be yours.”
“The men will go in first and clear it, then we will find our rooms, and you will remain there until I say otherwise.”
“And Fury?” she asked, praying to the Gods he didn’t take him away.
“He will remain with you. This isn’t a punishment, Ciara. This is emotional to everyone here who is returning for the first time since we fled for our lives from your father’s army. I’m protecting you from whatever may or may not happen. Fyra and Remy will be at your door, as they have volunteered to keep you safe until I can join you. Darynda is to join you, and once the celebration has ended, I will come to you.”
“You fear they will attack us?” she asked.
“I don’t know what they will do so I am taking precautions. You’re mine to protect, as is Fury. They’ve cleared it,” he announced when Remy waved from the top of the wall. She smiled up at him, already knowing it was empty.
She knew Synthia had placed the runes, which meant it was safe from any creature, minus her. She’d set the ones for the Fae wanting to do harm, which hadn’t missed Blane’s notice. He watched as she walked through the gates and she heard his exhale, which burned; he still didn’t trust her.
The moment they entered the courtyard, it shook. She peered up, watching as dragons soared high above them. Some landed in the courtyard, rolling as they landed, and she observed Blane, gazing at them longingly.
“We will never have that together,” she pointed out as he looked away from her to hide his feelings.
“No, you’ll never fly with me in the clouds,” he admitted. “Our son will.”
“Welcome home, Blane,” she whispered as she passed through the main entrance and stared at the beautiful job her brothers and the Goddesses had done. She gasped as she realized this was the room she’d walked barefoot into. This was what he’d wanted her to see, and it was exactly how it had been when she’d been here. As if they’d plucked it from her mind.
“Remy, take Ciara to our rooms,” Blane said as he paused, kissing Fury before she started walking away, following Remy. He called out over his shoulder. “There should be three sets of rooms at the top of the staircase. One is the queen’s room, the other a nursery. My room is off-limits to them, both of them.”
Ciara swallowed as she rolled her eyes, turning to look at Remy who scratched the back of his head. “This way, pretty eyes,” he muttered as they started up the stairs. Ciara was healed, luckily, because she tried to sift and failed. She peered back the way she had come in, finding men already painting over the runes on the wall. “For our protection,” Remy explained as he caught her stare.
“Or so I cannot leave him again,” she mumbled as she followed his stiff back to the top of the stairs and down a long, winding hallway.
The doors opened, and she walked inside, finding the mirror image of her bedroom where the queen’s quarters should be. Rainbow hues of cloth covered the bed, which was almost exactly like hers, but much larger. It was sterile white, which she preferred everywhere else. She moved to the small cradle which had dragons lovingly carved into it and pla
ced her son down so he could continue sleeping.
“What the hell, it’s a damn rainbow in here,” Remy complained. “It actually looks as if one took a shit inside this room.”
“It’s my bedroom back at my palace. Only the sheer material is of color, everything else is white. In the pavilion, the white rooms were off-limits to my father. His beast would stay away from them, as would he, so we would hide in them as children. The cloth or gauze curtains could be of any color you choose, but the entire room remained white otherwise. It is how I prefer it to stay.”
“It’s pretty, but you know you have a baby, right? They enjoy destroying white things. And he’s dead and can never harm you again, Ciara. You’re safe here, with us now.”
“He is, but so were other creatures that have risen from their graves. It soothes me, and they know it, which is why my room is white. I don’t need a flashy room; simple but elegant is enough.” She moved to the balcony, pushing aside the colorful silk curtains and opening the doors.
Dragons filled the skies, hundreds of them, as they flew around the castle in a circular pattern. Blane was among them; she could see him in the front, flying beside a female dragon, and pain pierced her chest. Her throat tightened, and she exhaled before she tore her eyes from them.
“Fyra didn’t come to guard us.”
“No, she asked Rayna to take her place so she could fly among the dragons. She’s with Blane right now…there,” he pointed them out in the large pack of dragons that twisted and dove, then soaring higher into the sky. “It’s a rite of passage we have been unable to take because we’ve been incapable of returning here. It will last until dawn, and then they will mate.”
“All of them?” she asked softly as she tilted her head.
“I can’t say what will happen, and who will finish the ritual to completion. I only can tell you what it entails. Do I think he will mate with her? He could; his dragon chose you, and he didn’t. He isn’t bound to the rules that we are, he’s different. His human form can choose who he sleeps with, but his dragon will always choose you, Ciara.”
“He’s a demi-God, I’m aware of what he is.”
“Then you know he is unlike I am; he can fuck who he wants, and if his mate is killed, only his dragon will mourn her loss. The thing is, his dragon has mated twice now, unlike any other dragon created, but then he is the first dragon created. We mate for life, as do our dragons, and even Blane’s dragon doesn’t follow our rules. I plan to mate for life anyway, and follow who my dragon chooses. He’s smarter than I am; he likes you and always has, even when I didn’t. But I also wasn’t here when this happened, either. I was serving the king, but I lost everyone I loved in the war of dragons. I returned to find the castle razed, and nothing but ashes and burned bodies when I entered it. We found them in the woods, hiding from the Fae. Blane was just a child, but we all knew he would become our king someday. Unlike the rest of us, he wasn’t born with a dragon. He inherited it. When Fury died, it found him, and he was unstoppable, driven by revenge for what he’d witnessed. I’m glad I was gone, or I’d have died fighting against them to save those I loved, as countless others did.”
“You heard my brother, so you’re aware he led the army here to save me,” she replied, turning to look at him. “Do you think he should have done it? Or let me die?”
“If you’re asking me if I blame you, I don’t. I don’t blame him as much as the others; he wasn’t given much of a choice. There’s also the knowledge that he was only a soldier following orders. He led because he was told to by his king. He didn’t decide our fate, and from what you’ve said, he didn’t enjoy his task, and your life was on the line. If my sister’s life had been on the line, I wouldn’t hesitate to save it. So do I blame you for the deeds of a monster? Absolutely not, Ciara,” he growled as he placed his hands on his hips and bowed his head. “Life is fucking fickle, and most of us are only soldiers who go where we are told, kill who we are told to kill, and we do it without hesitation. He hesitated, which means he didn’t want to do it. That means what we believed to be true wasn’t, and then there’s you. You’re nothing as we expected and I respect you, even if you’re bullheaded and have the hottest tits I’ve set eyes on in a long time. You’re the opposite of what I thought you were. You rushed in to save us, even though you did hesitate. Yeah,” he said, waving her protest away before she could argue it. “I saw you pause, and I don’t blame you for it. You could have fled then; there was nothing that said you had to save our lives. You were our prisoner, and yet you rushed in and saved us. You didn’t have to, and everything we’ve been taught told us the Horde enjoys watching innocent lives as they fade away. You rushed in. That to me says more than any rumor can ever say or prove. You’re a fucking Goddess warrior who endangered her own life for dragon babes and children. If I was given a choice of who to name as queen, it would be you.”
“But Blane doesn’t see it that way,” she frowned as she stared into the night.
“He is king here; his people demand revenge for what occurred. He is honor-bound to seek it, and if he changed his mind, he could face war among his own people. There is a lot who just wanted to come home, so he may be able to change the others’ minds since your family saved us centuries of redoing this place. Even those of lesser noble standing were given homes of grandeur. You were wise to ask for it.”
“How do you know it was me?” she asked.
“Because you’re our queen and you hated seeing them in tents. Because who the fuck else would think of the lesser people other than a queen? When we announced we were moving again, you wanted to prevent it. And I can read minds, and know the truth from a lie, something my dragon gave me when I took my rite of flight.”
“That explains a lot,” she grumbled as she turned and sighed. “It’s late, and I need to bathe and feed Fury so he can sleep.”
“Of course,” he smirked. “But if you have any milk left over…”
“Do not finish that,” she laughed as her face scrunched up. “That’s so wrong on so many levels, Remy. Go away, you’re incorrigible.”
“Good night, my queen,” he said as his eyes dropped to her swollen breast. “They look like they hurt. If you need a massage…”
“Out with you,” she growled as she pushed him towards the door.
Once she was alone and had checked in on Darynda in the nursery, she fed Fury by the balcony with a blanket draped over his head as she watched the dragons racing across the sky. She’d heard stories of their rite of passage, with the strongest, fastest dragon claiming any maiden he wanted when the sun began to rise, or sooner if he’d chosen her already.
She settled Fury into the nursery and went back to stand on the balcony to watch the dazzling display of magical beasts as they fought to claim the fairest maiden. The wind rustled the silk curtains, sending them flying up around her. She looked around the sky as the dragons continued to soar higher yet. Her eyes wandered until she caught a large object out of the corner of her eye. She swallowed hard as one flew directly at the castle, right towards the balcony on which she was perched.
In the darkening sky, it was hard to make out who it was, other than one of the many airborne dragons. Her heart leapt to her throat as fear raced through her and down her spine. She backed up slowly, unable to scream as power radiated around her. The candles blew out as the wind intensified, leaving her in darkness with only the moonlight to see from. Her hair flew around her face as she backpedaled faster until she touched the wall and couldn’t escape any further. It didn’t stop, aiming right for the open doors of her bedroom. Right when it should have hit the side of the castle, power exuded from it, and her hair rose as the electrical charge filled the room. It left her breathless as she watched it transform midair, smoothly entering the room and heading right for her.
“Blane,” she murmured breathlessly as he strode towards her with a singular purpose.
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His transformation had been effortless as he moved to where she stood and lifted her against the wall, claiming her lips hungrily. His hands held her legs apart as he rubbed his erection against her as his sheer magnitude of power rippled through the room. “I’ve come to claim my maiden,” he growled as he kissed her neck, slamming her against the wall hard to drive his point home. “I hope you’re hungry, my little queen, because I’m fucking starving for you.”
Chapter Forty
He slammed her against the wall, lifting her legs as he claimed her mouth until she moaned against the pressure his cock was creating against her center. He growled thickly, crazed with need and whatever the hell the rite created inside of him. His hunger was raw, unchecked, and his mouth fucked hers until she grew dizzy and lightheaded. Blane released her mouth, allowing air to enter her burning lungs, and then he removed her shirt, tearing it from her body and tossing it aside as he kissed his way to her neck, bowing his head as he took in the sight of her naked breast.
“Do they hurt?” he asked, and she shook her head. His mouth touched her swollen breast, and she groaned as he lifted his blue eyes to hers and smiled alluringly. “You’re wet, wife,” he whispered gutturally. “I can smell your need to fuck as if it was the sweetest perfume ever created.”
“Can you?” she whispered as she let her head roll back to the wall as she ground her body against his. The sound he made deep in his chest made her head lift and eyes open. His dragon watched, rattling against the cage which held him. “I see you in there,” she murmured as she claimed his lips as he carried her to the bed, pushing his way through the rainbow drapes that shielded her bed from prying eyes.
“Gods, creature, you drive me mad,” he snarled as he kneeled between her legs, pulling the skirt she wore from her. She wore black panties with bows on the sides. His teeth lowered, untying the ribbons that held them up with his teeth. Once he’d finished, he nipped her hip before he used his teeth to pull them the rest of way away from her body, tossing them aside before his tongue lowered, lapping hungrily at her sex in a zigzag pattern until he pushed inside.