Page 10

Mezerath

Trailing his hand down his future lover’s side, Rath’s fingernails traced his pocket, every shard and bead within a painful memory and bitter symbol of all the hurt he’d gone through.

“None will ever lay a hand on you like that again, not by my hand or word, my Ashen one. I vow it on my crown, on my very soul.” A vow like that held weight for Rath, whether Asha knew it or not.

To break the vow would slice his very heart.

The first cut weakens the magic and soul; the second cut weakens the body, and the third cut…

It snipped the string of fate and life, unraveling Rath to his core. “On every sliver of gold that shines.”

“Gold… Why did the gold you gave the countess and earl look so…dead?” Asha struggled to define the state of the metal, drained and lacking the luster.

Rath’s heart swelled in his chest and if he was not mistaken, his cock wasn’t far behind, rising and falling so wantonly against Asha who either didn’t notice or plaintively ignored. He can see!

His mate had the sight! Magic knew Asha like the air, knew his lungs and ice would claim his heart.

Such a beautiful creature he was, tempting, unlike any of the bedservants he’d had before.

He so badly wanted to touch and kiss Asha affectionately, to show his adoration and bed the male as his very soul demanded he do.

“Because the magic has forsaken it. We use gold to channel and hold our power. Over time, it erodes, and to certain people, they can see how dull and listless it is.”

Asha tilted his head, and Rath wished he could see the expression on his face. “So, there’s magic in this?” Asha ran his hand over Rath’s thigh to grasp the delicate filagree embroidered onto his coat, fingering the stitching.

“Yes. My mother’s magic. She stitched this by hand.

She stitched all my father’s garments by hand and put her own magic into it.

Ashen magic.” Rath traced the embroidery, letting his fingers travel to meet Asha’s.

They connected for a moment with something akin to a spark and he pulled away, averse to their interactions.

It was to be expected, coming from what he endured, the way dragons had been portrayed to him, and what humans of their kind thought of men that loved men.

Rath couldn’t wait to hold Asha against him, feel his body and lick the smoothness of his skin as his body gained the magic needed to show his scales, to bring forth his wings, that last fiery storm that would end his humanity.

“What’s it do?” The small question drew Rath out of his daydream, and he situated himself, very aware that Asha’s soft rear pressed into his aching hardness. Jeron hadn’t been able to touch him in so long, and his heart called for Asha.

“This is to protect me. It’s enchanted to stop a blade or claw from piercing my scales. We’ll have you measured, and I’ll make one for you. My embroidery isn’t nearly as good as my mother’s, but I’ll make sure to do a part of it, at least to seal the enchantment.”

“Why?” Asha stiffened against him. “Why would you give me a fine coat like that? Why am—I…” Asha shivered, every inch of his flesh icy through the thin clothes that he wore. Rath unbuttoned his jacket and leaned forward, wrapping Asha partially in as he sighed.

“We share a bond. Your magic likes mine. And I recall you telling me that you love no women. I’m rescuing you from that horrid place, to let you be yourself for the first time.”

Asha froze, silent and unsure for a long while, but he accepted Rath’s warmth, being wrapped in his arm, his ear whispered into.

“Rath?” he eventually said, turning his head to catch the dragon’s gaze. So much uncertainty swam in his face, mistrust and bitterness.

“Yes, Asha?”

“I want honesty. I know I’m in no place to make demands, but I want to know why you took me.” Asha pressed back into Rath’s warmth, whether on purpose, for comfort or temptation, or not… Rath couldn’t say.

“When an Ashen one’s soul cries out to a dragon, they are bound together by the gods in much the same way as lovers, and your soul calls to mine, Asha.

I won’t force you to do anything, but I need to keep you safe for now.

And you deserve so much more than what you had there.

” Rath tightened his grip and Asha didn’t reject it, which was a step in the right direction.

“Why didn’t you get me sooner?”

“Something in you changed, and you found enough magic to call for me. And you were in so much pain that reaching for you hurt.” Rath rested his head against Asha’s, hoping he didn’t spurn the contact. He seemed hopefully receptive. “I drank poppy milk to find you.”

“And you say I’m a prince. Won’t you need a princess, or a queen or something?” Asha pulled his head away, his affection going as cold as the whipping wind.

“No. I need no female. Only you. Truth told, I do not know which of us… If you so, choose to mate with me… One of us will be able to bear an egg. I don’t know if I am a bearer or not.”

“How do you not know? And I—I’m the bearer, aren’t I?”

“We won’t know until we mate. You say this because you enjoy being beneath a man? I’ve never been beneath a man before.”

“I don’t know. I’ve never… Humans don’t… We’re not…” Asha rolled his shoulder to loosen Rath’s grasp. “How many?”

“What?”

“How many men have you bedded?” Asha carefully enunciated each word.

“Four. Only people designated for that role. My bedservants. Though I have none now and will never again. A bedservant only serves to soothe my dragon’s soul and his primal urges.

They are servants who are trained and rewarded for their service, but now that I have touched you, no other male will do. ”

Asha scooted his hips forward a fraction of an inch, that painful lessening of pressure and movement enough to reject Rath. “So, everyone in this group flying around here knows I—they know we—”

“Yes.” Rath didn’t push his affections any further, but Asha’s face, from the little Rath could witness, turned a violent pink.

“So, everyone around me knows that I’m a flower boy and will be bent over for you like some Saurian concubine?” Asha tensed and Rath’s heart leaped in his chest when the male scooted again, fearing he’d jump.

“I think it matters more to you than it does them. You are a cause worth celebrating to them. A time of prosperity comes when a king finds their mate.”

“And you’ll…an egg…”

Rath cut his gaze around his servants and whistled once to give his captain a nod to stay the course while he and Asha rose at Heckle’s beckon. He tugged the reins and Asha clutched worriedly.

“One of us will bear an egg, yes. But that won’t happen until one of us starts their cycles. We’ll crave the other like air itself on the full moon’s eve.”

“And if I don’t want to bed you?”

“Then I hold my breath. There’s no shame in what we are, Asha. But make no mistake, you are a prince. You’ll be treated as such.” Rath chanced pulling Asha into his chest once more.

“And if I don’t want to be around you at all?” He said it, but his tone lacked conviction. Every muscle touching Rath’s skin softened at his mere touch.

“Well, I should hope your valet will be good company to you. He’s been ever so excited to have someone to lavish his adoration upon.

He’s far more educated in what you are than even I am.

I was born a dragon, but like my mother, you—” Rath paused, and Asha turned his head, a curious but cold gaze locking onto Rath’s.

“You’ll become one,” Rath finished, swallowing the sudden dryness in his throat.

“What?”

“Your magic is that of a dragon’s. I’ll teach you as the magic fully bonds with you each cycle. But I’ll give you as much choice as possible. And Jeron, your valet, will be instructed that you are his first priority, and your orders supersede mine, unless it will bring harm to yourself or others.”

“What would I need a valet for?” Asha almost laughed. “A servant for me?”

“Because you’ve had a lifetime so far of suffering. You deserve to be tended to and spoiled. Jeron has been a fine attendant to me and wished to serve you.”

“So, he’s been in your bed.” There that coldness was again.

“Yes. I see no need to hide this from you. A dragon’s needs are more intense than a human’s. I’m left to understand. I choose a new one every so often so as not to grow attached. They are paid well, and it keeps me from becoming… What was it you thought of the earl? A promiscuous rodent?”

Asha snorted.

“It’s true! But I’d never do to you what Earl Tippin did to his mate. The moment I felt you, no other male would do. If I do not have you, I will have no one else as long as you breathe.”

“You say this, but bed your servants.”

“I bedded servants who were trained to do nothing more than relieve my stress in the most basic of ways, as they taught me how to pleasure a male in a way he deserves. I am experienced for you, but I do not expect you to believe me on word alone. None have ever given you a reason to trust.” Rath rested his chin on Asha’s head.

“Anything you ask for, I will get. Anything you want done, you need only say so.”

“And if I want no more to do with you? If I do not want to be a dragon, or this Ashen one you speak of?”

“I cannot change what you are, but in three months, if you cannot stand me, I will give you all the riches you can carry and let you be on your way. I won’t keep you prisoner.”

Asha remained silent for a lingering moment and sank back a little bit into Rath’s chest. “It’s a deal, then. Three months, but what happens if I want to stay? Do I become prisoner or property?”

“Neither. You’ll be my mate, my prince, my equal.”

“Equal! Ha!” Driven into giggles, Asha leaned back, settling against Rath.

“I mean it!”

“I’ve heard men say a multitude of things to woo a woman.” Asha’s body brought emotions and sensations through Rath, the way he leaned and moved, subconsciously inviting Rath to press into his backside.

“Okay. I’ll counter this. I won’t engage in intercourse with you until I mate you before the court and nobles. This, I vow.”

“Mate…in front of people?” Asha tensed.

“Marry. We don’t call it marriage; we call it mating. We will join our lives.”

“Mating is an act of copulation.”

“Not with witnesses, it isn’t.” Rath shuddered. “What I do in my nest with my mate is my business, not everyone else’s. Thank you.”

“Nest?” Asha perked up at the word.

“What? Dragons don’t sleep in beds. We’re not designed to lay flat and prone like some sort of fish.

We were meant to curl into someplace warm, like you in the hay, when I found you.

You were so comfortable there in your nest.” Rath pulled Asha in and kept their path above the others, gliding on the frigid air.

“I’ve a nest already prepared for you, the best of all nests, and I’m so very proud of it.

I look forward to seeing your reaction.”

“Nest… That’s why I did that?” Asha stared down at Heckle’s neck and reached forward to stroke along his scales, tracing them like he longed for his own. “Have you fucked another in this nest?”

Rath bristled and reached for Asha’s face, turning so they could look one another in the eye.

“Listen to me when I say this. Jeron has been in my nest for my own comfort, but I have sex with no male in my nest. You will be my first if you so choose. Only you, and only once the world knows you are mine.”