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15— Dragen Booty Duty

Heather was panting and holding her belly as they walked up the stairs, falling farther behind Graeme with each step.

When he realized, he said, “We take a break here.”

Heather sat down. Graeme came and sat next to her. He’d offered to carry her but she’d refused, saying he had a job to do and it didn’t include babying her. When she was rested, they got back to climbing the stairs, and in a few more minutes, they were at the top.

Graeme put the chest down against the wall of the house. He banged on the top once and it shuddered, then expanded to full size.

Heather sat down in the grass, breathing heavily. She held up the bag with the diadem in it. “Can this go in the chest?” she said.

“Aye,” Graeme said, taking it from her.

He took all six crates and the small chest out, placing them on the ground and opening them, examining the contents under the light of the moon.

While he worked, Heather had an idea.

“Graeme, can I clean your house?”

He stopped what he was doing and turned to look at her, a questioning look on his face. She stood up and looked in one of the windows, although she couldn’t see much in the dark.

“Remember when you tried to teach me how to clean with dragen magic?”

He nodded.

“I haven’t been doing it,” she said. “I’ve just been dusting by hand.”

Graeme smiled at her, then returned to inspecting his crates. “I know, leannan, I’ve caught you at it a time or two, and I’ve been secretly helping.” He winked at her. “Also by hand.”

She laughed. “I want to learn the magic, I’ve just been nervous to try because of what you said about it.”

He nodded. “Cleaning isnae easy. It takes a delicate touch, one I don’t possess.” He motioned to the house. “Yer welcome to try. Nothing inside holds importance for me any longer.”

Heather gave him a kiss and left him to his work. She went around to the front of the cottage and pushed the door open. It was dark inside and she walked by the light of the moon shining in the windows and touched the counter lightly. Her fingers collected dust easily and she recalled what Graeme had told her months ago.

Ye imagine the dirt or dust burnt to ash, and the ash burnt to nothing, then you flex the fire-making muscle in your mind gently. There's a real art to it and if ye overdo it ye'll destroy everything around ye, so be nice and easy. If ye are inspired to say words, say them, but silence is most conducive to dragen magic.

Heather skimmed her fingers over the dirt on a countertop, then she closed her eyes, imagining and flexing, being as gentle as possible. She opened her eyes and the counter was clean. Even the dust on her fingers was gone. A sense of accomplishment bubbled up inside her.

Graeme appeared at the doorway with the lantern.

“I did it,” she called to him, running her hands over the counter. “Over here.”

He came to her and hugged her, then shone the light around the entire room. “Ye got the whole place,” he said, his voice warm.

“No way,” she said, but he was right. Everywhere she checked was clean and dust free, even the floor, and nothing had been damaged.

Graeme hugged her close and said, “Yer a natural.”

She lifted her face for a kiss and he kissed her first on the forehead, then gently on the lips. Heather’s body responded at once, quickening and warming. She kissed him back passionately, eyes closed, as their tongues gently touched, warm and firm and familiar. His spicy hot cinnamon scent overwhelmed her with need and made her remember another time she’d felt the same.

She broke the kiss and gazed at her man in the dark, gripping his muscular upper arms. “Last time we were here, you wouldn’t have sex with me,” she said.

“I was a fool,” he whispered, his hands sliding down her hips to her ass, pulling her against him, where she could feel his cock growing thick and hard in his pants. “I’ll make it up to ye now.”

Heather melted into her mate, her heart beating faster, her body responding fully to him. His arms encircled her, and he snuck one hand into her hair, pulling her head back gently, then he took her mouth roughly. She clutched his shirt and he backed her against the counter, where he lifted her up to sit on. She opened her legs wide to him, then crossed her ankles around his back, running her hands up and down his muscular arms. Everywhere she touched, his skin heated. Everywhere he touched, her skin begged for more.

He took her shirt off and dropped it on the counter, nuzzling her breasts through her bra, biting her nipples softly. She took her bra off, baring her breasts to him, and he made a low, guttural growl.

Yer my everything, Heather, he said in her mind, bending to nip at her bare skin, his hands on her ass, kneading the strong muscles there. And if you hadnae been so persistent, I would still be lost. I never dreamed life could be like this. He returned to her lips and kissed her softly.

She grasped his shoulders, pulling at his shirt. You saved me, too.

He took his shirt off, then pulled her from the counter to stand, and they embraced for a few minutes, kissing, and petting heavily. Heather was consumed with lust for her bond mate, but also fully aware of the compressed gold in her pocket. She wanted to get rid of her pants, but at the same time, she was gripped by the need to keep the gold in her possession.

Graeme moved them across the room, still kissing her. He led her over to the couch, and then he gently laid her down on it. She curled up on her side, into what had become her favorite sex position since her belly had begun growing, then she slipped her pants off.

Graeme growled approvingly at her, making her laugh, but still, her mind was on the gold in her pocket. She felt compelled to protect it and keep it safe, no matter what else she was doing. She folded her pants up small and put them under her head like a pillow.

She was on her side facing away from her mate, but she heard his belt unbuckle and she turned to look at him. He was undressing, his eyes on her. His boots lay toppled nearby and his pants dropped to the ground as she watched. His naked body was a thing of beauty—strong pecs, thick arms, huge thighs, ripped abs. He joined her on the couch, spooning her, his skin hot like fire. She reached back and gripped his cock, making him suck in a breath.

Aye, lass, that’s the way, he said in his sexy, rolling brogue, and she laughed, remembering when he’d said it earlier.

You had this planned.

Graeme chuckled in her head but said nothing.

Heather turned and looked back over her shoulder at her mate. He got up on his elbow and loomed over her, kissing her, while his cock nudged at her ass. He rubbed it smoothly against her and it felt silky and hot. She raised one leg over his thigh, and he slipped forward until he was right where they both wanted him to be. Heather arched her back to guide her male inside her.

He groaned and clutched at her, saying My sexy, bonnie lass, in her mind.

He thrust in slowly and she ground back against him, countering his advance. He withdrew deliberately, an inch at a time, then lay down fully behind her, his hands on her shoulders, playing with her hair and stroking her skin, as he spoke softly in her mind, telling her how beautiful she was, and how perfect, and how much he loved her, as he established a slow and steady rhythm.

Heather moved with her mate, letting the tensions and the excitement of the day fall away, loving the smooth and sensuous texture of it all. Little by little, she felt drugged by the motion of his thrusts: in and out, in and out. His hands felt so good on her skin and she moaned, making small noises of encouragement and satisfaction. He grasped her throat gently with one hand and she slid his hand to her mouth so she could nibble on it and kiss his palm. He moved his other hand down her body, to her clit, and he caressed it softly, then rubbed it in the way she’d shown him.

Intense pleasure started in her belly, almost overwhelming her, and a pang of nausea gripped as well. She swallowed the nausea down, thinking, not now, not now. She closed her eyes and focused on the feelings of impending orgasm, then she came, hard and intense, crying out into the dark room, her growing belly a thick knot of tension that relaxed in sweet waves.

“Just like that, leannan, come all over me,” he growled into her ear.

She stiffened and squeezed both of Graeme’s hands as the waves of pleasure faded. He hugged her tight, continuing to thrust into her until he slowed and groaned out his pleasure, coming in hot spurts inside her.

Heather, feeling relaxed and sated, closed her eyes for just a moment… and without meaning to, she fell into a deep sleep, dreaming vividly…

She was a huge dragon, pink and covered in scales and spikes, romping through a forest, knocking over trees for fun. She blew fire out of her snout, then roared and snarled, just because it felt good. She felt like catching and killing something, tearing into it with her dragon teeth, and eating it raw. She looked around for something to hunt. Suddenly, the forest melted way and she was falling. She unfurled her wings and flew up, a feeling of freedom guiding her higher and higher—until she was somehow disconnected from gravity and her wings didn’t move her anymore. She floated, and then all daylight disappeared, and stars popped visible, one by one, over a vast distance above and below her. After some time, a female voice spoke softly from all around.

“Well done, Heather Herrin, Mistress of Flame, fated mate to Graeme of the line of dragen.”

Heather blinked as a shining, iridescent dragon rose over the horizon. It was immense in size, almost as large as the full moon, and twice as radiant. Clearly, this was where the voice was coming from.

“Now you are to hide my gifts well, in the manner of dragen . The diadem is yours to do with as you like, but the circlets you must hide away and mention them to no one. When you are all together, and the time comes, you will be given a sign to distribute them.”

Confused, Heather tried to speak, but all that came out of her mouth was a plume of fire.

“Tell no one,” the massive dragon said again.

But... my mate? Heather asked in ruhi.

“Your mate is the exception.”

Heather exhaled a deep sigh of relief, and then she drifted into a dreamless sleep.