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I needed to reciprocate, to make him feel as good as he had just done for me, but everything in me was too relaxed.

I heard the shift of clothing as Tallu undressed, and then he curled in bed beside me.

He wasn’t touching me, and when I looked over, there was a darker expression on his face, and that wasn’t right at all.

I rolled over, forcing his arms open, muscling myself into them, pressing so that our chests were touching, my head tucked under his chin.

“You are not alone.” I said the words forcefully and felt Tallu’s whole chest jerk as he gasped. “I am in this with you. You are not alone .”

Tallu shuddered, and I pushed on his shoulder, rolling him so that he was on his back and I could see his face. It was shattered, a glimmer of tears in the corners of his eyes.

“Both of us were taught to play a solitary game, but now we’ve found each other, and we will do this together.”

Bending down, I captured his mouth with mine, kissing him fiercely, with everything I had.

He opened for me, his lips parting, sighing hard enough that I felt the shiver against my own skin.

He was naked, and I could feel his soft cock begin to harden, pressing up against my ass as I ground down on him.

I moved, rocking myself against him, feeling anticipation build in my stomach. I wasn’t hard, wasn’t even sure I could get hard again, but there was pleasure to be had anyway.

“Airón—” Tallu broke off, clearly unsure what he was going to say next, but I swallowed my own name on his lips and grinned.

He was so hard now that my mind ran away with me, imagining what it would be like to simply lift myself up and plunge down on him, but that was a very easy way to make sure that I would be no help at all when we took on any of our enemies.

So, instead, I made a desperate grab for his side table, assuming that was where he kept his oil. Tallu matched me, pulling open his top drawer and grabbing the same jar from last time.

He looked at me, mouth falling open as I grinned down at him. Carefully, I dipped two fingers inside, pressing one to my entrance, then adding a second too quickly. The stretch felt amazing. I wanted more immediately.

Tallu watched me with hungry eyes, pulling himself closer and holding the jar out for me when I dipped both fingers in, taking more. I pressed them inside again, scissoring my fingers and stretching them wide.

Closing my eyes, I threw back my head, only to open them when I felt another finger nudging at my entrance. Tallu was watching me, one eyebrow raised, and I nodded. He pressed his finger inside, and it felt so good I nearly stopped breathing.

Gently, he worked his finger in and out, and I groaned before pulling my own fingers free, dipping them in the oil and wrapping my hand around his hard cock.

Tallu’s hips jerked up, and I felt my lips curl up in pure exhilaration before positioning him at my entrance.

He barely had time to pull his finger free before I was pressing down on him.

Even though I had just come, I felt the fullness and anticipation in my stomach again, my own cock trying to harden as Tallu filled me. Even three fingers had not been close to his girth, nor the length of him. He was everything.

They could crack open the door with Bemishu’s mighty elephants. They could declare war on the Northern Kingdom. Terror could return, demanding food, and still, Tallu would be my entire world.

It was worse this time because I knew what taking him would mean, and I was doing it anyway. He became everything in this moment, and I wasn’t sure I wanted it to end.

I pushed myself up, then let myself sink back down on him, riding him hard, panting and keening with desperation.

I felt something tense in my stomach and wrapped a hand around my own cock.

Impossibly, I was hard again, and it should have taken more to make me come a second time, but I was so close already.

My previous orgasm had left every nerve sensitive, and riding Tallu was just on the verge of pain. His fingers tightened on my hips, and he thrust up, and I tried to stay steady as he groaned, pushing me harder and harder.

I came again, everything in me giving in to the overwhelming sensation of Tallu fucking up into me.

Tallu’s body jerked, tensing and relaxing as he tightened his fingers, coming with a growl that made my spent cock twitch again. He pulled me close, and I dropped down onto his chest, letting his arms curl around my back.

In the middle of the night, I woke to a gentle trilling in my ear. Blinking open my eyes, staring at the moonlight reflecting off the ceiling, I wished I was back in the Silver City.

Even though animal speaking was a rare magical ability that grew even more scarce with each generation, residents of the Silver City were used to animals as a part of daily life.

Hunters kept wolves, cityfolk kept ravens or ferrets.

Some even kept poultry inside, treating the animals more as pets than food sources.

Cats chose whole neighborhoods as their own, claiming the residents as their personal servants.

No one kept animals here. Every time one of the ravens landed on my shoulder, I got strange looks. Maybe they assumed I was using forbidden magic, but more likely, there simply were no pets in the Imperial City.

Shaking my head, I looked to the side, assuming one of the ravens had made its way back indoors, enjoying the safety of a bedroom over the danger of sleeping outside.

Small black eyes blinked at me.

The dragonet was pale white in the moonlight, its scales as delicate as fresh snowflakes drifting down from the clouds. When its pink tongue flicked out, licking its nose, the difference in color was so profound that I barely believed it was possible.

“Hello,” I said, my voice low.

The dragonet tilted its head, purring again. Hesitantly, I reached out, offering a finger. I expected it to snap at me, but instead, the dragonet nuzzled closer, closing its eyes so that it could rub against my nail.

Its scales felt soft and delicate, but when it dragged them backward, they nicked my fingertip. Hissing, I sucked on the wound. The dragonet purred again, looking unhappy, and I shook my head.

“We’ll figure it out.” I offered over my thumb instead, stroking the scales in the correct direction.

The creature was small, its entire body stretching from my wrist to elbow, but that was so much larger than it had been only a few hours ago. Had it eaten?

Suddenly worried, I sat up, looking around the room, but there were no signs of blood, and the dishes on the table were undisturbed.

Cold.

The thought pushed itself into my brain, coming out of nowhere and exploding behind my eyes. I shook my head, staring down at the dragon.

“Did you do that?” I asked.

It was impossible. Animal speak magic facilitated communication between two creatures whose language shouldn’t have overlapped. I had never heard of it being used to communicate pure thought.

“What are you?” I asked, even though the answer was obvious.

Dragons were the purest form of magic known in the world. Some said the original One Dragon, the dragon that controlled all forms of magic, had been the one to teach humans how to perform it.

My mother thought that was a myth, pushed by the Southern Imperium and its dragon priests. After all, who was more powerful than a god? Those who killed a god.

So if dragons were the original practitioners of magic, if their very being was magic, then the empire who had killed the One Dragon was the most powerful civilization in the world. And their emperor was worthy of the promise given to him.

I shivered, a feeling of cold creeping up my arms, my mind echoing with a memory of my father taking me far out onto the ice, so far that I could no longer see the Silver City, and telling me that if I wanted no part in my mother’s plans, if I wanted to escape my own destiny, I could get off his wolf and walk into the wilds.

Blinking, I refocused on the dragonet, and it stared at me. Even though I knew very well its mouth didn’t have the proper muscles, I swore it was smiling.

“We can’t get ice right now. In the morning, Tallu will get you some.” I looked over at my sleeping husband.

His face was so relaxed, free of all the anxiety and pressure he carried around with him. I closed my eyes, unable to bear the pressure that put on me.

“Do you have a name?” I whispered the words, and the dragonet cocked its head to the side, that strange near-smile on its face again. I couldn’t give it a name, not if it was a creature as smart as a dragon should be. I would just need to wait until it told me what I should call it.

I sat up, turning away from him and looking out into the dark room.

Offering over my hand, I let the dragon crawl up my arm before getting out of bed, walking over to the low table and finding a small, untouched plate of soft cheeses.

I offered a crumble of some to the dragonet, and it grabbed it quickly, nipping my fingers as it ate it down.

When I had fed it the rest of the cheese, it settled on my shoulder, nudging its head against my neck.

I found a scrap of blank paper that Hipati had left behind.

I picked up a stylus and began writing.

We needed to investigate the Sunrise Estate and see if Bemishu had left any clues as to what he was doing.

We needed to find out if General Maki had managed to perfect the art of bringing corpses back to life using electricity.

We needed to find out what Lady Dalimu knew and if it was related to her trysts with my servant.

The blood mages could keep an eye on General Maki.

If he knew how to bring corpses back to life, perhaps he would mention it when he was with the other generals.

I could speak with Lady Dalimu. Hopefully, she had some idea of what General Bemishu was doing in Forsaith.

If she didn’t, she still had contacts that could inform us.