by G. A. Aiken
“I thought it would be like Gwenvael’s. Maybe even a little worse.”
Briec moved up beside her, his tail encircling her feet but not touching her. “Gwenvael doesn’t stay in his home much.”
She could believe that. The few days they all stayed in due to the storms, Gwenvael kept leaving and risking the weather so he could get a few minutes outside. He was not a dragon who liked being away from other beings for too long, unlike his brothers.
“So you do like it?”
“Yes. I love it.” She stepped away from him, pulling off her wet cape, and glanced into the different alcoves.
Briec cleared his throat. “If there’s something you don’t like, we can change it. Get you something nicer.”
“Nicer than what?” Everything before her was of the finest quality. Briec was definitely a dragon who liked his comforts expensive. “All of it is beautiful, Briec. Truly.”
She stopped at one of the alcoves only to find the largest bed she’d ever seen.
And, for some unknown reason, she felt bitter jealousy at the sight of it.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
She felt heat at her back and knew he’d shifted. So when his big arms wrapped around her shoulders, his hard body pushed up against her back, she wasn’t surprised. Although the extremely affectionate gesture confused her to no end.
“You don’t sound like it’s nothing.”
“You can’t expect me to sleep there.”
His head leaned over her shoulder, staring at the bed. “Why not? I know you wouldn’t prefer the floor.”
“I simply don’t want to.”
“I need something better than that, Talaith. What is it?”
She sighed. Might as well be honest. Couldn’t hurt. “I won’t stay in the same bed with you…”
“Why the hell not?” he demanded, suddenly angry, but unaware she wasn’t done.
“…that you’ve stayed in with other females.”
Talaith felt Briec’s body relax behind her as his anger receded quickly at her words.
Nuzzling his head against hers, he said, “You have nothing to fear, Talaith. I’ve never even used that bed. My brothers insisted I had to have one. Plus, I’ve never brought another female here.”
She snorted in disbelief. “You’re trying to tell me that you’ve never had another female here—ever?”
“Aye.”
His tongue traced the line of her ear. She worked hard to ignore it, unwilling to let him distract her. “How old are you?”
“Two hundred and sixty two winters last moon.”
“And in all that time you’ve never brought a woman back to your home?”
One of his hands slid across her collarbone, across her chest, settling comfortably on her breast. “Not this home. I won’t promise my parents’ den faired as well. I didn’t want any female here, thinking they could take over…move in. So I met them in their own lairs.”
Yet he was willing to let her make changes if she found anything displeasing. No, no. She wouldn’t think too much on what that could possibly mean and instead she focused on trying to control her breathing. Not easy when he squeezed her breast while his fingers tweaked her nipple through the material of her gown. “Well…I…I guess that’s all right then.”
His tongue dipped into her ear and her entire body trembled. “Are you sure, little witch? I want to make sure you’re comfortable. That you’ll be happy here.”
“I am.” She gripped the arm still wrapped around her shoulder, holding her close, unwilling to let her go.
“We can wait to get a new bed here. It will take some time. I’ll have to raid another village to get it. After the storms, of course.” His teeth tugged her earlobe and she marveled at how easily this dragon played her body. Like he’d been handling it all her adult life as opposed to just a few days.
“I don’t want to wait for a new bed.”
“Really? You’re sure?”
She wanted to cry in frustration as every tug of her earlobe leapt right to her sex and stayed there. Talaith didn’t even know when she’d begun squirming, desperate to feel the arrogant dragon inside her again.
“Yes. I’m sure.”
“You don’t sound like you’re truly convinced.”
“You are such a bastard, Briec,” she panted.
He chuckled in her ear. “I know. So you do like it?”
She bent her head to the side, hoping he’d kiss her neck. He did. “I thought we already had this conversation. I love it.”
“More than Gwenvael’s?”
“Well…”
He released her and spun her around to face him. “I expected an immediate yes.”
She shrugged. Playing with fire, she knew. But she couldn’t help it. “But he has the hot springs.”
“Is that it?”
“That’s very important.”
He grabbed her hand. “Come.”
“That’s what I was hoping for, but you stopped.”
He pulled her, leading through the cave. Down into an alcove with a path leading below.
“Where are we going?” She heard noise, but from where she now stood, she couldn’t quite make it out.
“You really need to learn to trust me. You act like I’m dragging you off to your execution.”
The deeper they want, the darker it became and the louder the sound grew. Finally Briec stopped. “What about this, Lady Demanding?” He said a word and flame lit torches.
Talaith sat down hard right where she stood. “Briec…” she breathed out, unable to find words to describe what she saw.
It was a waterfall. Here, inside the dragon’s cave. It was enormous, dropping right into a river that snaked and disappeared under rock.
“Briec, it’s beautiful.” She looked up and saw the pride on his face. Her words pleased him. Greatly.
He tugged her back to her feet. “That’s not all.” He took her all the way down until they stood right beside it. Their hands still clasped, he held them under the rushing water.
“It’s warm!”
“Aye. The waterfall is heated from under the ground and it warms up the river water.”
She grinned. “This is amazing.”
“My brothers don’t know it’s here,” he remarked offhandedly. “Actually, no one in my family does. They all think I use the lakes outside.”
But he’d told her. She now knew more about his home than his brothers did. The home where no other female, not a relation, had been inside.
“What do they do when they stay?” she asked, working hard to control her pounding heart.
“They use the lakes. If they knew about this, I’d never get rid of them.”
He turned to her and smiled, and her heart went back to full gallop.
“Aren’t you uncomfortable in that dress, little witch?”
She glanced down at it, grateful for the distraction. “No. It’s quite comfortable. That’s why I wore it for—” She lifted her eyes and saw him staring at her with one eyebrow raised. “Oh. Uh, I hate it. I feel completely trapped in this dress.”
“Then we best get it off you, eh?”
“All right then.”
Silently, she watched his hands slowly untie the ribbon holding the front of her dress together. The dragon took his time removing the ribbon and pulling the tight bodice apart, exposing her breasts.
He stared at them for what felt like forever. Merely stared. Finally, she couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Perhaps—”
“Sssh. Quiet. I’m concentrating.”
She didn’t know which took precedence. Yelling at him for shushing her—she really hated that—or asking him why he was concentrating.
Curiosity won out.
“Concentrating on what?”
“You’re still talking.”
“Briec.”
With an exaggerated sigh, he said, “Fine. Once again I have to find ways to silence you.”
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She gasped as he leaned forward and his warm mouth closed over her nipple. He sucked on it gently, driving her insane. She wanted more.
Talaith slid her hand into his silver hair, pushing him closer to her. “Harder,” she gasped. He chuckled, but obliged.
Eyes closing, she leaned back. One of his big arms wrapped around her waist and held her. With his free hand he took hold of her other breast and squeezed the nipple between his fingers. “Gods, Briec. That…that feels so good.”
He didn’t let up, keeping the pressure relentless on both breasts. She felt every suck, every pull down to her sex. Her panting grew worse. Her small cries more intense.
“Briec…I…I think I’m…” At her nonsensical words, he sucked and squeezed harder, and suddenly a climax was coursing up her back, through her groin, out her fingers and toes. She’d never felt anything quite like it.
She gasped and shuddered in his arms as the climax overtook her. In those seconds, everything held still. All she could feel was Briec holding her and his mouth and hands on her body. The cave walls could crumble around them, and she was relatively certain she’d never even notice.
When she came, he almost came with her. It took years of hard-learned self-control to keep his climax at bay. But as soon as her body settled down, he stripped her dress the rest of the way off and tossed it somewhere. He’d have to find her another because he had no idea where he threw it. He picked her up in his arms, her legs wrapped around his waist, her face buried in his shoulder, and walked into the water.
As soon as he had her under the waterfall, her head snapped up and she laughed like a child. Nothing had ever sounded sweeter.
“So, tell me now, little witch. Is my den better than Gwenvael’s?”
Arms thrown over his shoulders, legs high on his waist, Talaith was actually able to look down at him for once. Her hand caressed his jaw, pushing his wet hair off his face. “Oh, aye, Briec. It is.”
He smiled and held her tighter until she said, “Of course, I haven’t seen Éibhear’s den yet. It could be amazing for all I know.”
“Treacherous female,” he accused and dropped her. She briefly disappeared under the waist-high water, but as soon as he saw her flailing arms he grabbed her and picked her back up.
“That wasn’t funny!” she yelled, clawing wet strands of hair from her eyes.
“Oh, come on. It was a little funny.”
“No it was not. You vindictive—” he cut off her words with a kiss. Immediately, she melted into him. It didn’t take much to distract Talaith from her anger. One of the many things he enjoyed about her.
When he finally stopped kissing her, she finished, “Bastard.”
“Such cruel words from such a beautiful mouth.”
She blushed and looked away, always a bit uncomfortable when he complimented her. He’d have to get her over that. He loved a good compliment. And there were few beings he felt worthy of receiving them.
Unwilling to wait a moment more, Briec placed her on the rocky ledge. She watched him quietly as he pulled himself out of the water. Grabbing her hand, he leaned back against the ground, positioning her until she was over him.
“Ride me, little witch.”
Without an argument—for once—she straddled his hips. Grasping his already hard cock, she stroked it a few times. Briec arched into her hand. “What are you doing?” he choked out.
“I like how it feels in my hand,” she replied. “I like how it’s soft and hard all at the same time.”
“Is that all you like about it?”
Shyly, she shook her head. “I like how it feels when it’s inside me.”
“Then put it inside you, little witch. Don’t torture me.”
“Not even a little?” she asked.
“Later. Not now. My patience wanes.”
“Fair enough.” She lifted her hips, placing the tip of his cock against her pussy. Her juices already ran down her thighs, betraying exactly how wet she was for him. How ready.
Slowly, so damn slowly, she impaled herself with his cock. While her body stretched to accommodate him, she moaned and gasped. When she’d finally taken all of his cock inside her, she looked down at him.
“You feel good.”
He groaned. “You’re killing me, little witch.”
“I don’t mean to.”
“Yes. You do.” But he didn’t care. He wanted…no…he needed her to move. “Fuck me, sweet Talaith.”
She grinned and he didn’t like it one bit. “Say please.”
Evil wench! “No.”
“Fine. Don’t say it.” She clenched her pussy—once.
“You evil cow.”
“That didn’t sound like please to me.”
“Fine.” He glared at her. “Please.”
She stared at him and he snapped, “What?”
“Well, the way you were acting about saying that word, I thought you might burst into flame.”
“Talaith…”
“Calm down, O’ Scaly One.” She leaned over, her hands resting on his shoulders.
“Tell me if this feels good.” Her husky whisper had him arching into her before she even started the first stroke.
Her hips rose and fell, the walls of her pussy clenching tight on each upstroke. She was milking him, pushing him to come.
She leaned down and kissed him, her tongue sliding inside his mouth.
Gods, she did feel good. All of her. Briec was relieved she did like his cave, because she wasn’t going anywhere. She wasn’t leaving. Not now.
She dragged her mouth away from his and gasped, “Come for me, Lord Arrogance. I want to feel you come inside me.”
Briec grabbed Talaith’s hips and drove himself up into her, holding her steady for his pounding thrusts.
She panted and writhed on top of him, saying his name over and over. When he felt the walls of her pussy spasm around his cock, he let go and his whole body arched up as he came.
Finally, Talaith collapsed on top of him. Her entire body limp, her pussy still throbbing in time to her heartbeats.
He pulled her wet hair off her face. “You all right?”
She patted his forehead, which he found annoying. “Don’t ask me stupid questions, Briec.”
“As you wish, little witch.” He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight against him.
They stayed like that, in comfortable silence, until she said, “Why haven’t you gone down yet?”
“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him yourself.”
She sat up enough to look him in the eye. “I am not talking to your…your…”
“Mighty throbbing manhood?”
“Briec.”
“That which brings you much delirious pleasure?”
“Briec.”
“That which makes you whole?”
“Stop it, dragon. You’re making me physically ill.”
He cupped her face between his hands. “You like it here enough to stay? Yes?”
She stared at him with wide eyes.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Usually you’d say something like that as a statement. But that sounded suspiciously like a question. Are you asking me something?”
He reached down and swatted her bare ass with the palm of his hand.
“Ow!”
“Be nice, woman. I’m not used to this.”
She rubbed her ass and glared at him. “Do that again and you’ll lose that which you believe makes me whole.”
Briec grinned. “Should I kiss it and make it feel better?”
“No. Just keep that face of yours where I can see it. Cheeky bastard.”
“Such a way with words, little witch. I can’t believe the men haven’t flocked to you.”
Her eyes narrowed, but she couldn’t hide her grin. “And you with your humble, caring nature. A line of females should be forming outside your cave door as we speak.”
“Is this your way of saying no one will put up with us?
”
“My husband tried to have me burned at the stake and you brutalize your brothers on an hourly basis, which makes them not want to be too close to you for very long. What does that tell you, Briec the Arrogant?”
“That they’re jealous of our greatness.”
Talaith laughed hard, her face buried against his neck and her entire body shaking.
“What?” Briec asked in all sincerity. “What’s so funny?”
Chapter Twelve
The storms continued relentlessly. Although there would be moments of sunshine, moments of frightening calm, a few hours or sometimes even minutes later, it would all start over again.
Talaith barely even noticed or cared. For weeks now, there had been no sign of Arzhela. And after so many years of living in fear, she felt peaceful. She knew it wouldn’t last. She knew Arzhela would call her to perform her task, and she would go. Until then, Talaith spent her time enjoying Briec and not having that evil heifer in her mind for even a little while.
Briec seemed to enjoy their time together as well. If he wasn’t reading or sneaking out to find a cow or lamb, he was with Talaith. True, there were a few times he’d ask her, “Please by the love of all that is holy…stop talking!” Which, of course, she completely ignored. Leading them into one of their many arguments. They didn’t argue because they were angry, they argued because it drove them both wild.
It had become quite the joke. They’d find the most ridiculous things to argue over. One day, she yelled at him because the butter for her toast had gone bad. Another time he growled at her because she left a wet cloth on his cave floor. But no matter what they argued about, they always ended up the same way—fucking. Like two wild beasts in heat.
Talaith felt as if she were making up for the last sixteen years of her life where her husband would lay on top of her, bounce around a bit, roll off and go to sleep. True, it didn’t start out that way, but within the year that was the best she could hope for. Shutting off his desire for her with a spell turned out to be absolutely no loss.
Ah, but Briec. For a being not human, he truly understood a woman’s body. And he worked hers in a way even thinking about it in passing made her knees weak. Some days, after a particularly hearty argument, they’d couple fast and furiously. Each taking what they wanted and giving back only what was necessary. It was selfish and deliriously fun.