Page 16 of Storm of Blood and Shadow (Merciless Dragons #3)

Somehow, he knows. Varex knows that I gave Serylla the dragon claw I found and asked her to kill Kyreagan.

I regretted it during the dance, when I glanced away from Varex and saw the way Kyreagan was dancing for the Princess, his eyes locked with hers. When he snatched Serylla up in his jaws as if he was about to gobble her up, my heart went into my throat and I wished him dead, desperately.

But then he let her go. He hovered over her, pressed his body against hers, and stared at her with such intense longing that I couldn’t breathe. Serylla gazed up at him and smiled, her face triumphant, almost smug, as if she finally elicited the confession she wanted. She chose him of her own free will, and I knew in that moment that my temporary hope, my wild plan, was a failure.

My scheme to kill Kyreagan was a vestige of who we were when the dragons first brought all of us here. It does not reflect the relationship we have with our captors now.

Only those of us who’ve been on the island could possibly understand what has happened here. I’m not sure I understand it myself. But undeniable bonds have developed among humans and dragons. We’re joined now in a fight for our very survival; and as Kyreagan flies away with Serylla, I finally abandon my last thoughts of killing the princes, or any of the dragons.

My shoulders slump as I face Varex. I gaze at the ground, unable to meet his eyes.

When I don’t answer, he ducks his head, bringing his muzzle level with my downcast face. His voice is the deepest I’ve ever heard it. “Tell me what you said to the Princess.”

I bite my lip, momentarily piqued because Serylla betrayed me and repeated some part of our conversation to him. “What did she tell you?”

“Never mind that. I want to hear the words from your lips, the ones I have kissed. The ones that have closed so prettily around my cock.”

I wince and glance away again. “I gave her a dragon’s claw that I found. And I asked her to…” I cringe as he moves nearer, his hot breath on my face.

“Asked her to what?” he hisses. “Say it.”

“I asked her to kill your brother.”

Varex makes a wounded sound, half growl, half moan. It cuts straight to my heart.

He will abandon me now—give me to another dragon or leave me out in the storm to die. I won’t apologize or beg him for sanctuary. I have a few shreds of pride left.

Two male dragons approach us tentatively, clearly wishing to speak to Varex. He turns to them, and one says, “My prince, neither of us were chosen by a female. What shall we do?”

Varex looks at me, and for one terrifying moment I believe he’s going to give me to them. He holds my gaze for what feels like infinity before turning back to the pair.

“See if a couple of the women will accept a second partner,” he tells them. “Or the two of you could share a cave with each other. If those options do not please you, you must remain alone in your caves during the storm. Enduring the mating season in solitude will not be easy, but take heart! There will be other chances for sex and love in your future.”

The two dragons depart, and I release a taut breath. For a moment I was sure he would force me to be their partner for the mating.

“Were you worried, darling?” he says archly, lashes draped low over his amber eyes. When I don’t answer, he chuckles. “Wait here. I have a few more announcements to make.”

He leaps up onto the slab of rock to address the clan. The announcements are mostly practical reminders about safety, cleanliness, and rationing of food during the storm.

The wind begins to howl as he finishes his speech. The rest of the dragons quickly clear out of the valley with their partners. I hunch down under the sloping slab of rock, waiting, wondering if he’s going to leave me behind.

Varex leaps down from the rock, landing lightly beside me. “On my back,” he shouts. “We must get our supplies.”

We fly to the cavern and dart inside. To Varex’s chagrin and mine, there’s not much food left.

“I should have taken supplies earlier,” he snarls, clearly displeased with himself.

We gather what’s left—enough to last a few days if we’re careful. I stuff my bag with the supplies and climb onto his back.

“You should leave me here,” I shout as he readies himself to depart. “You should take the food and go. Then you won’t have to share it.”

“Fuck that,” he snarls.

It’s difficult for him to mount into the air, now that the wind has grown so strong. The sky has darkened, overtaken by a bank of churning clouds. The Mordvorren is nearly here.

I want to scream at Varex to try harder and fly faster, but I clamp my teeth and keep silent while he battles the incoming gale. He isn’t as physically large and powerful as his brother, but his will and his spirit are indomitable. With fierce wingbeats and roars of defiance, he fights his way upward and through the valley.

We’re chased along the cliffs by thunder that growls like an eager beast behind us, and by lightning that stabs the rocks like arrows, as if the storm is hurling bolts at us on purpose. Perhaps it is.

With a final burst of speed and power, Varex dives into his cave, bounding all the way to the back before he halts and lets me slide off. I haven’t explored the depths of the space, so I don’t move until he has heated a couple dyre-stones for illumination. I’m surprised to see a narrow passage cleaving the back wall of the cave, heading deeper into the mountain. The crack definitely couldn’t accommodate a dragon, but it’s big enough for a human.

Breathing hard, I set down the bag of food. There’s a single wild pig near the back of the cave, hanging by a flap of its skin from a sharp hook carved into the stone ceiling.

This is all the food we have. And the Mordvorren can last for a week or more.

Our stay in this cave is not going to be pleasant. If the storm lasts too long, we will both starve—or Varex will eat me, and not in the good way.

When I glance at him, I know he’s thinking the same thing.

“I failed,” he says hoarsely. “I did not provide adequately for us. Fuck!”

He dashes his tail violently against the floor, every spike on his back and neck bristling.

“You did the best you could,” I say.

“No, I did not. There was a deer I could have taken, and I let another dragon have it. I was soft-hearted and foolish.”

“Yes, you were,” I say. “But not about that. Varex, why am I here? I told you what I did.”

He veers around, his amber eyes narrowed. “You asked Serylla to kill my beloved brother. My last living relative.”

“Yes.” I swallow hard. “Did you bring me here to kill me?”

“Now why would I do that?” His voice is a malevolent purr, and his neck snakes down so he can meet my gaze on my level. “Why would I waste a perfectly good pussy during mating season?”

My heartbeat stutters, fear spiking in my chest.

Varex sighs and tosses his horned head. “If you think that’s why I claimed you, you don’t know me at all, darling. I told you that I love you. My love is not a frail, weak thing. It is immortal. You cannot slay it, even with such a betrayal. I love you, and I will protect you, no matter what evil you may wish on me and my blood.”

Incredulous gratitude wells up in my heart.

“Serylla won’t do it,” I say. “I saw it in her eyes. She cares for your brother. She won’t murder him.”

“No, I don’t believe she will,” Varex replies. “But she believes that you plan to murder me when I’m in human form. Should I fear you, darling? Should I remain watchful when I’m in my vulnerable shape, in my soft human skin? Are you going to slit my throat while I sleep?”

“No,” I say faintly.

“So you say, and yet you could be lying to me. It does not matter. If you kill me, you can eat my flesh to survive, and so I will continue to protect you and be part of you.”

My throat tightens with a joy so terrible and confusing that I almost can’t bear it. “That’s so fucking morbid,” I whisper. “And it’s also absurdly romantic.”

“Is it?” His eyes brighten, and his jaws part in something remarkably like a dragonish grin.

Thunder rattles the world outside, and my pride crumbles in its wake, washing away with the torrents of rain that descend upon the island.

“I should never have given Serylla a weapon or wished for your brother’s death.” The words spill out of me like the stones of an avalanche, each one a weight rolling away from my soul. “After everything you’ve endured, after what you’ve vowed to me—it was unforgivable. I don’t deserve your mercy or comfort… but I crave both. And I swear, no matter what disagreements we may have about the future, that Kyreagan’s death will never be a part of my plans. Nor will yours.”

Varex’s eyes shine warm in the gloom. He’s about to reply, but at that moment a cataclysmic crack resounds through the sky, and the entire mountain range trembles. The sound was loud enough to be a whole cliff splitting in two. Instinctively I cringe against the rear wall of the cave. Lightning shatters the night, starkly brilliant, and even after it’s over I can see it every time I blink.

“This is terrifying,” I murmur.

Varex is staring at the mouth of his cave, his spiked ears swiveled in the direction of the pouring rain. “Did you hear them?”

I frown. “What?”

He takes a step away from me, toward the cave entrance. “Voices in the rain. Words on the wind.” His voice is hollow, distant.

“The wind sounds like someone wailing or screaming, but there are no words in the sound.”

Varex remains tense, listening, his wings peaked and his tail lying motionless on the floor.

A strange dread tugs at my soul, and I move toward him. “Varex. Look at me.”

He turns, and I gasp.

His eyes are filled with lightning—not purple this time, but pure white lightning, flickering across the eyeballs—not a sign of his vertical pupils to be seen. The lightning flickers and crackles between his jaws, too, and within the shells of his large nostrils.

He has been so kind to me, so refined, so gentle, that I almost forgot what he is—a warrior, a dragon of void and darkness. Something in him shares a kinship with this storm, and it’s summoning him, calling to him. He’s trembling, muscles taut, torn between listening to me and listening to the storm.

I know one thing that will occupy his full attention.

“Prince of dragons.” I slide my dress off my shoulders, and his eyes follow the garment as it drops to the floor. “Come here.”

The lightning recedes, fading from his eyes, replaced by heated interest and desire. He prowls toward me, a low rumble burring in his chest, like the purr of a pleased cat.

“That’s it,” I say, reaching out both hands and taking his slender, scaly muzzle between them. “Good boy. Good dragon. Show me your pretty cock.”

He whines a little and shifts his haunches, showing his belly scales to me. The tip of his cock is barely protruding from the protective slit within his body. I move closer and caress the blunt end, coaxing his length out. It’s a strange delight to watch it emerge, huge and thick, burning hot and helplessly hard for me.

“I’ve seen you flatten your spikes,” I say. “Fold them down as far as you can and spread out your wings. I want you on your back.”

Obediently he shifts his muscles, flattening the spikes. With my help he rolls onto his back, wings outspread so he won’t crush them. In this position, with his forelegs curled against his chest and his back legs spread out limply, he’s utterly at my mercy.

“Cruel darling,” he seethes, writhing a little as if the pinned position of his spikes makes him uncomfortable. So much the better. It will take his mind off whatever the storm might be whispering to him.

“Be still,” I say. “Let me thank you for bringing me here and keeping me under your protection.”

“I chose you over family,” he says significantly… a pointed comment that I choose to ignore.

I seat myself astride his belly, at the root of his cock, so my front is pressed to the underside of his length. Wrapping both arms around the sleek shaft, I begin rubbing up and down. Now and then I pause to kiss and lick him, or to drag my whole self along his cock. I slither up and down, wind my body around him, hook one leg and slide it up and down.

“It’s like making love to a tree trunk,” I murmur.

Varex groans. He’s panting, his stomach and chest heaving in the most gratifying way. When I cup both hands over the tip of his cock and slick the arousal down his shaft, a shrill whine emerges from his throat. I smile, pleased by the helpless, wordless confession of his need.

Leaving his cock unattended for a moment, I walk up his belly, onto his breast. His neck lies limp, his head turned aside and his jaws parted. His tongue quivers between his teeth, and his lashes flutter.

Stepping off his chest, I walk to his head and drape myself across his face, my legs astride his muzzle and my ass near the end of his nose. His nostrils spasm at the scent of me, and a corresponding shudder traces through his whole body.

“Whimper for me, dragon,” I say.

“Your fragrance,” he moans. “It is torture.” His tongue glides out and swipes across my rear, then slithers through the crevice between my ass cheeks.

“That wasn’t a whimper.” I rub my pussy against the surface of his muzzle, wetting the smooth scales with my arousal.

A whimper trembles through his throat, the loveliest, most wretched sound.

“Beautiful.” I kiss him between the eyes, then swing off his face and return to his cock, massaging the especially sensitive area just beneath the tip. “For that, you will have a reward.”