Page 15 of The Dragon Queen (Ember: Queen Of Dragons #6)

MALIK

I've never flown so fast in my life.

Neither have Ember's other mates, apparently.

As I approach the outskirts of the old Water Kingdom capital, Storm's ice blue dragon is swooping in from the west. Jianyu's silver one and Rafe's fiery, crimson form are bright streaks in the sky to the east and north.

In the end, Storm wins the race, but only by a fraction.

All four of us alight on the stone courtyard outside the castle in our human forms. It's scarcely dawn, and except for a few guards, the place is clearly still asleep. But our arrival hasn't gone unnoticed.

Freya strides through the doors to meet us. She's dressed, but her hair is in a loose braid, like she rolled out of bed at the news of our approach.

My voice comes out with a growl, my dragon still close to the surface. "Where is she?"

"In bed, I imagine," Freya says dryly, raising her brows.

"Good talk," Rafe says, clapping her on the back in greeting as we surge past her to the door.

"Welcome home," Freya calls after us, and a pleased shiver rolls through me.

Home. I like that. After spending a decade in hiding, this place where I grew up still feels like home.

I've spent the past week and change moving in secret through the new Water Kingdom and its surrounding territories, and all the subterfuge left an itch beneath my skin. All the familiar sights felt foreign. My mother's likeness on official portraits and busts just reminded me of her betrayal.

Being back here? Where she was a mother first and a queen second? Where my father's and brothers' spirits still linger?

It feels right.

And the closer I get to my mate, the more right it feels.

As we race through the quiet halls, the tug inside my chest, yanking me toward Ember, grows ever stronger. I can smell her on the air. My skin sizzles with the promise of her touch.

And my heart races. The pangs of distress in our bond that brought me home aren't as intense as they were last night, but the memory is an aching bruise on my heart.

I need to put my hands on her. To reassure myself that she's all right.

I need to find out what's wrong.

Finally, we burst through the doors my old rooms. The curtains are drawn, the space dark. Ember's scent permeates the air, but it's...different.

My nostrils flare, and I glance at my companions. Storm's brows draw together, and Jianyu's eyes are pinched. Rafe curls his hands into fists, his dragon breathing smoke into the air.

My stomach clenches. We all sense it. Something's off.

But what?

Tension tightening every muscle in my body, I throw open the bedroom door. The place is a mess, clothes and pillows scattered about, and that's endearing in its own way. I pause at the threshold. Ember's scent is strong here, but so is the unfamiliar wave of energy.

Then I spot her.

She's splayed out on the huge bed, dwarfed by its emptiness. Even in a soft sleep shirt and frayed shorts, she's stunning. Her body calls to me with a ferocity that has heat blooming in my blood. Her soul's call is stronger still.

She twitches violently.

All four of us rush to her side. She's asleep, but not soundly so. Her eyes move erratically behind her closed lids, and she thrashes. A moan escapes her lips.

I've heard her moan before. Many times--but never like this.

"Beloved--" I put my hand on her bare leg.

She jolts upright, purple shadows glowing in her eyes, her body a coiled spring. For half a second, her hands light up with magic, but then she breathes in, blinking hard.

All the fight goes out of her at once. Her eyes widen with disbelief.

"You--" she sputters. "Am I--?"

"You're all right," I promise.

Rafe grins, but his unease hasn't receded a bit. "Surprise."

"We're here," Storm assures her.

She looks from one of us to the next, her head spinning. "But-- but how--"

Jianyu takes her hand in his. "How could we stay away?"

A glassy sheen overtakes her eyes.

And then she's launching herself at us.

I'm closest, so I'm the first, and the male pride within me roars. I catch her up in my arms. Our mouths crash together, and she tastes like sweetness and light and that deep, swirling darkness that I love in her.

There's still that strangeness, though. Maybe it's just the exhaustion, the separation.

I pour my love and desire into the kiss, pressing forward with my tongue, skating my hands down her sides. The soft heat of her awakens something possessive and needy within me. We've been apart for so long; her sudden nearness overwhelms my senses. All I want to do is drink my fill of her, but there's no time to luxuriate--the urgency of the moment is too great. Her curves are so perfect beneath my palms, her scent heady and ripe. My cock goes instantly, painfully hard, and I can feel the others pressing in on us, wanting her with the same ferocity.

She whines into my mouth, and I chase the sweetness of her sigh, nipping at her lip with my teeth. I want to devour her--I want--

She arches into me, and her legs part, and a new wave of her scent crashes over me.

I yank away, dizzy.

Her scent--her taste--her very aura--

It's...

"What?" Her voice is raspy and wet, her lips swollen from my kiss.

"You--You're--"

A miracle.

My one, true, own beloved mate.

But there's something more. Something wrong--

And then my eyes fly open.

There's nothing wrong about her.

Only different.

Realization hits me, and it's a thousand pounds of sea-wall crashing over my head.

My jaw drops.

Because this is the farthest possible thing from wrong. It's so right that I can't see straight, can't breathe, can't speak--

"What the hell?" Rafe grouses, trying to pull her from my arms.

But I won't let go.

I put my hand to her abdomen.

Agape, delirious, awe-struck, I whisper, "You're with child."

EMBER

What.

The.

Fuck.

"That's impossible," I say, automatic. I push Malik's hand from my abdomen, glancing around at my other mates, who seem just as stunned.

But Malik shakes his head. "It's not--"

"Of course it is. I can't--"

And then it hits me.

A dragon can't get pregnant--not until they've Emerged.

My head spins, and I think I might throw up.

Oh Gods--the coffee that wasn't sitting right with my stomach. I blamed it on exhaustion.

And I've been so tired. So off. I assumed it was the stress and the rigor of training and the strain of being separated from my True Mates.

But...

My eyes widen, and I meet Malik's soft, liquid blue gaze.

All these years. I failed and failed and failed to Emerge. My entire adult life, I've been on the ultimate birth control; being unable to reproduce became a part of my identity. Something I took utterly for granted.

But that's over now. I Emerged--did I ever. And then the day after? Without even thinking about it, what did I do?

Get absolutely railed by all four of my mates.

I shudder, my hand still on Malik's neck, his body still pressed to mine. Rafe's holding onto my arm, and Jianyu and Storm are so close I can taste them, my skin starving for them all.

That morning after we arrived here in the old Water Dragon Kingdom, after I slept off my magical hangover... I fretted about having lost the bracer, and these men came to me. They consoled me and held me and reassured me that everything would be all right. They reminded me that being a dragon can be freaking awesome.

And then they each had me, one after another, and then--oh Gods--two of them at a time. They each filled my womb with their essence.

"Holy shit," I breathe.

Rafe leans in closer to press a hot, wet kiss to the tender flesh beneath my ear. "Good luck figuring out who the father is."

My insides clench with need at the delicious warmth of his breath against my throat, and I reach out for him, curling my hands in his lush hair.

I shake my head, even as I'm leaning into his mouth. "We don't even know for sure..."

"I'm certain," Malik says with finality, and then he's kissing me again, soft and slow and so fucking deep.

Malik's gift with water has allowed him to perform healing magic in the past, but that doesn't make him a board-certified OBGYN. Still, his conviction rocks something within me.

Jianyu brushes his hand against mine. "He's right."

I cast a glance in his direction. Intensity burns in his dark eyes.

Storm makes a strangled sound. Our gazes meet, and his is full of absolute love. "I always dreamed..."

My stomach does a somersault, and it has absolutely nothing to do with nausea.

Back when we were dating in secret, we idly speculated about what life could be like if we were free--if he weren't in line for the crown and if I weren't a defective, wingless outcast. Even in our wildest fantasies, we never imagined anything beyond running away together to some isolated, hidden island, though. Our imaginary plans never involved a family.

Or least they didn't for me.

But suddenly the impossible isn't just possible. If Malik is correct, it's reality.

And Storm's joy is brilliant light erupting in our bond. The happiness spreads inward from each of my mates, and my eyes sting at the warmth flooding my chest.

A baby. A bundle of love and hope, growing within me.

"I can't believe it," I whisper.

"You've got some time to get your head around it," Storm promises.

Jianyu nods, his normally serious expression lit from within. "And we should get you checked out by a doctor."

"Later." For now, all I can do is throw myself at my mates once more.

I kiss Malik again, harder now, letting the heat build between us. His hand stays gentle on my flat stomach, but his mouth is rough and possessive--exactly how I want it. Rafe bites at my throat while Jianyu slips a hand under the hem of my shirt.

Groaning, I drag myself away from Malik to kiss Storm, who cups my face like I'm precious, and I melt just a little bit inside.

"Are you okay with this?" he asks me.

I laugh. "Hell if I know."

"It is a gift," Malik insists.

"We'll protect her--and you--with our lives," Jianyu vows.

I light up inside. Her. A daughter--it's not a given, of course, but it feels right.

But at the same time, a flicker of doubt threatens to break through our happy moment. "How can I fight--"

"We fight because of her." Malik's eyes glow aquamarine.

The rightness of what's he's saying takes my breath away. The idea of going into battle with a child growing inside me is terrifying, but how can I not? Our child--she has to grow up in a world that's safe from fear.

She has to be born into a world full of magic.

I won't let the Shadow King steal that future from her.

I kiss Malik again before moving to Jianyu. I would kiss Rafe, too, but he's sucking a bruise into the sensitive spot where my neck meets my shoulder, and I moan. Quicksilver jolts of electric desire zip from every point of contact with my mates to the achy, wet place between my legs.

Just like that, the pain of being away from them for so long meets with the shock of learning we may be having a baby together, and all the brewing need within me boils over at once.

My mates are on the exact same page, suddenly tearing at my clothes and at theirs. I can barely keep track of whose hands are where, whose mouth is on mine and whose tongue is on my tender breasts. My skin is on fire, and deep inside me, there's a molten burning.

"Can't believe," I breathe, sliding a palm down a naked torso, arching my spine into the chest behind me. "I never thought--"

"Me, neither," Storm groans as he seizes my lips.

"I can't wait to see you round with our child." Malik is still holding onto my stomach, even as my clothes are peeling away, and normally, I'd think that was so weird, but right now, I fucking love it.

I love it even more that he says our child. "She's all of yours'," I babble. "I don't even want to know--"

"Pretty sure we'll have a clue when she comes out," Rafe muses, and fine, okay, I'm mated to a Black man, an Asian man, a redhead and an olive-skinned brunet, it's going to be really freaking obvious, but I don't care.

"It doesn't matter. Or maybe--I don't know." I pull my hand away from Jianyu's rippling abs to wave it randomly in the air. "Magic."

Rafe laughs, and Storm groans, slipping his fingers between my legs. I gasp at the brushing touch against my most intimate places, my insides flexing, and slickness blooming within me.

"Okay, sexy," Rafe says, grinding his cock against my ass. "Whatever you say."

"That's what I like to hear," I quip, but I'm cut off when Jianyu cups my face and pulls me in.

His kiss melts whatever solidity was left within me, and when we break for air, his gaze has a new level of amazement and devotion to it. My heart spasms within my chest, our bond vibrating with so much love I can hardly breathe--but I don't need air.

All I need is them.

I'm surrounded by my four incredible mates, Rafe still at my back, Malik in front of me, Storm and Jianyu to my sides. They've always shared nicely, taking turns with me, but no one seems to be willing to let me go for more than a moment, and I'm fine with that. My head spins as I rotate around them all, kissing one after another. Hot hands peel the last of my clothes from my body, leaving me gloriously naked. They're all dressed in only skin and desire, too, and the sight and press of all those hot, hard cocks has me salivating.

A sharp, piercing ache stabs my middle. It's been too long--weeks without their touch. I need them all--now.

"Come on," I beg, wrapping a hand around the first cock I can find--Malik's. "Need--have to--"

"Shh." Rafe slides his searing palm up my spine before dragging it back down. "We've got you."

With that, I surrender, leaning back into him. I spread my legs, and Storm's thick fingers delve between my slick folds. Two dip just inside, and I cry out at the delicious tease, but it's not enough. I'm a live wire, ready to explode at any moment. I drag Malik in, rubbing the fat head of his cock against my hip, and he growls.

"Beloved..." He kisses me then, hot and deep, pulling any words from my lungs. The angle is all wrong, but I try to line him up with my gushing pussy. I need him inside, need to be full of him--of all of them.

I let out a groan of pure frustration, but then Rafe is lifting me. He sits me on his lap, my legs wide open, my pussy gaping in invitation. Malik grabs me by the ankles and spreads me even wider. Kissing me, he rubs the underside of his cock all up and down my gash, getting himself wet with me, and I rake my nails down his spine.

When he finally shoves himself inside, I scream. "Malik--yes, yes--Gods--"

"Ember," he groans, setting up a punishing rhythm. It's hard and fast and rough and exactly what I need. Being filled after days without them heals a wound I'd been denying. All the loneliness and the exhaustion fade away, erased by his magic cock.

He hammers in all the way to the hilt, his pubic bone pummeling my clit, and just like that, I boil over.

Orgasm crashes into me out of nowhere. I cry out in absolute ecstasy, flexing around him, but this is one of those climaxes that brings no satisfaction.

It only makes me hungrier.

And my men can tell.

"That's it," Rafe rumbles at my ear. "You take us so well, don't you?"

I pant, coming down from one orgasm only to sail right off into the next.

"You love us claiming you like this, don't you?" Rafe slips his hand between me and Malik to splay out across my abdomen, and how can that be so freaking hot? "I love it. Love you--love knowing it's our baby growing inside you--"

I thrash my head to the side, arching upward, and yes--Gods above, I love it.

I love knowing that their seed has taken root in me. That I'm theirs forever, and that the fruit of our love is springing to life.

"You talk too much," Malik growls, and then he's barreling into me faster and faster, so hard it hurts, and it's perfect.

I shout his name, and his cock kicks inside me, his mouth dropping open.

The first hot jet of Malik's come fills me to the brim, tipping me over into orgasm once more. I clench around him, squeezing every drop from him, even though I'm already knocked up. I can't get enough.

Malik collapses over me for all of about thirty seconds.

Then he's pulling out, Storm chasing him away. He pulls me in, dragging me from Rafe's lap into his own, and I go happily, landing astride his hips. I'm so wet and open, it's no work at all to sink down over his enormous length. I shudder at the delicious stretch, Malik's come easing the way, my entire body pulsing with need.

"Baby," Storm gasps as I take him all the way to the hilt and start to ride. My breasts bob up and down, my tender nipples rubbing against the hard planes of his muscular chest. His hands move all over me, like he can't decide where to touch. Like he's as wild and untethered and desperate as I am.

Before long, he's cupping my hips and helping me set the pace, though, and yes, perfect, that's exactly what I want. Rafe stays close at my back and Jianyu near my side, and I love feeling encompassed by my mates so completely.

Especially when Rafe slips a finger up the crack of my ass.

My groan of approval is muffled against Storm's tongue, but I arch my back in the clearest invitation I can present. Before long, lube has magically appeared from one of our drawers, and Rafe's touch returns, slick and delicious. It's been a while since they've played with my back entrance, and there's a soft sting as he opens me up, but I welcome it.

I draw away from Storm. "Come on," I beg Rafe, "do it, I need it--"

"Shh," Jianyu gentles me before claiming my mouth.

My pleading gets lost in Jianyu's kiss, but then whatever I was saying gets cut off anyway. I stutter and gasp as Rafe pulls his fingers free to replace them with his cock.

Storm groans, clutching me, still buried in my pussy as Rafe slowly but unstoppably forces his way into my rear passage. Fire lances through me, but it's the best kind of burn. I know how to relax--how to let them in, and I whimper in delighted, wrung-out triumph when Rafe's hips meet the cheeks of my ass.

It never fails to wreck me to have two of my men inside of me at the same time like this. The fullness clears my mind, obliterating any other possible concern or thought I might have harbored and leaving me with an absolute clarity. I start to rock back and forth on them both, making wet, pained noises against Jianyu's mouth as he cradles my face in his hands.

"Amazing," Jianyu whispers, "love, you're so--"

"Incredible," Malik finishes from my other side. As he returns to his senses, he curls a hand around my breast, tweaking my nipple in exactly the right way.

And just like that, I'm tipping off into yet another mind-blowing orgasm. Rafe and Storm grunt as I spasm around them, but they don't lose their rhythm. My thighs ache, and my pussy and ass are both raw, and everything feels so good. I lose myself in the delirium of getting fucked in both holes, kissing one mate and being touched by another, and it's all so good.

The orgasm doesn't fade--it just crests, only to merge into the next. Before long, Storm's swift, rough strokes into my pussy start to falter. He bites down on my neck with a groan before thrusting into me to the hilt.

I shudder at the hot gush of his come rushing into me, drinking in his ecstasy as it permeates our bond, driving me to an even higher peak.

His softening cock slips out of me, and I shudder, hating the emptiness. My pussy throbs and flexes, and Rafe hauls me off of Storm's lap and back into his own, and then Jianyu is climbing on top of me.

I welcome him in, taking his cock with barely a twitch of resistance, and Gods, yes--yes--

"Missed you so much," Jianyu murmurs as he fucks into me hard and deep. I'm so wet, so swollen and open.

"Missed you, too, cupcake," Rafe murmurs, still pistoning in and out of my ass.

"Fuck all the way off," Jianyu tells him, but there's no heat in it.

I kiss him to distract him, and he's happy to let me, and then there's just the familiar, all-encompassing pleasure of being DP'ed by my first two mates, and I love it--I love them.

"Can't wait to do this when you're huge," Rafe groans, nipping at my ear and caressing my flat belly, and it's so messed up that that sends me off into yet another impossible peak, but how can I help it?

"Can't wait to meet her," Jianyu murmurs, and that's probably even more inappropriate--to be whispering sweet nothings about our theoretical, unborn child while I'm taking both their cocks.

But I love it. I love them. I love being reunited with these incredible men--love feeling, for the first time since the summit was bombed, like we have a future beyond death, destruction, darkness and pain.

I reach out to both sides as the rush of climax hurtles to its peak again. Storm and Malik both take my hands, and I hold on as tightly as I can. Over and over, I bounce myself on Jianyu and Rafe, reveling in the raw power and pleasure, my dragon swooping in ecstatic circles in my chest.

Rafe gasps, and as I tip over into pure white pleasure, his hot come fills my ass. Jianyu follows us down, hammering into my cunt until he's spilling his essence within me, and I hold on for all I'm worth.

To my mates.

To our future.

To the most fragile sliver of hope.