Chasing the Shadow Dragon

Chapter 6

6

T he night seemed to never end, but eventually the time was right for the newlyweds to take their leave. Shortly after, Astrid met Aureliusz in a secluded doorway and cloaked them both in her smoke so they could walk the corridors unnoticed.

They reached the door to the couple’s chambers and knocked, Astrid letting the cloak fall only for a second when Gwendolyn opened the door so she would know it was them.

The princess’s eyes brightened and she stood aside to let them into her anteroom, then closed and locked the door behind them. Dominic was pacing in the bedroom, but halted, then jogged to greet them.

“You came,” he said, sounding immeasurably relieved. He closed the distance to Astrid, grasping her by the jaw and kissing her so deeply her toes curled. Both he and the princess wore only light robes, and his erect cock pressed to Astrid’s belly through the layers of her gown.

“I fear we are fevered with need for you both,” Gwendolyn said when Aureliusz finally released her from a passionate kiss. “Is this unnatural? Is there any remedy but to surrender?”

“It’s the way of things between dragons and their fated mates,” Aureliusz said. “We share the same longing. Ever since we met the two of you, we can think of nothing else. Which is why we want to propose that we make it permanent.”

Gwendolyn’s brow knitted and she glanced between him and Astrid. Dominic frowned as well and asked, “How do you mean? Gwen and I are already married. It’s a political match, of course, but we have no desire to destroy the alliance made by our union.”

“Dragons don’t wed in the way humans do,” Astrid said. “Our mating bonds are permanent, but can also be kept secret, if we wish. We have many, many tricks to make it work, but the most important detail is that we have time . If you become my mate, Dominic, your life will be extended. At an appropriate time in a few years, we can fabricate stories of your untimely death, and then perhaps the princess’ to follow.”

Gwendolyn’s eyes widened and she grinned. “A ruse! I can be so overcome with grief, I take my own life, or so they will think. Then we can disappear to wherever you call home and live happily ever after!”

Aureliusz smiled indulgently. “Something like that. So, is that a yes?”

Gwendolyn didn’t look entirely convinced. “But they say dragons live in dark and dingy caves, coiled on mounds of gold and jewels. I don’t know if I’d enjoy living in a cave.”

Aureliusz snorted. “That’s only one of many false tales designed to maintain our mystery. Our race is every bit as civilized as humans. In fact, I have several estates and castles around the world, so you may take your pick. The one detail that is true is that we love to hoard valuable, pretty things. But nothing will be so valuable to me as you, love.”

She beamed up at him and nodded. “Then it is a yes.”

As they kissed, Astrid looked up into Dominic’s eyes. “Do I need to ask?”

His heated gaze was answer enough, but his breathy “yes” gusted over her mouth a second before he kissed her.

He backed her against the door, dropping his hands to grip her behind her thighs and lift her. She wrapped her legs around his waist, mentally dissolving her conjured gown in the process. He only looked mildly surprised when she was suddenly naked, but took advantage of it immediately, dropping his mouth to one breast and taking her nipple in his mouth. His erection nudged at her core and she reached between them, aiming him right where he needed to go.

He slid home in a rough and exhilarating thrust, fucking her so hard her head banged against the door. From the other room the rhythmic sounds of Aureliusz and Gwendolyn echoed theirs, and a moment later four voices rose in a chorus of orgasmic bliss.

“Let’s go see how they’re doing,” Astrid said when Dominic released her, gently setting her back on the floor. She took his hand and led him through the anteroom into the bedroom.

Aureliusz lay naked with the spent princess sprawled across his chest. He was still fully erect, his cock glistening with remnants of their coupling.

Astrid climbed onto the bed, reclining on her side and beckoning for Dominic to join her. “Are you ready to become my mate? All I need to do is mark you and it’s complete. Then the four of us can enjoy each other for the rest of the night.”

“You may do whatever you wish to me, dear Astrid. I’m yours already, body and soul.”

“What about you, Gwendolyn?” Astrid asked, turning to look at the princess. “Are you ready for Aureliusz to mark you too?”

“Mmm, I have one request first,” she said, pushing up on her hands to look into the Golden dragon’s eyes. “Make love to me again with your real cock. I want to know what it feels like.”

He pushed up onto his elbows, watching her as she scooted down his body to straddle his thighs. His cock stood between them, as smooth as any human man’s, and jerked as the princess began to stroke it.

“Why don’t we work up to that? What I can do is give you a scaled-down version of it. Would that satisfy you for now?”

Before their eyes, his shaft transformed. It thickened around the middle as the texture of his skin turned metallic, and fleshy, scale-like ridges formed along the top.

Gwendolyn’s eyes widened and her smile grew. She bent to kiss the tip, lapping at the droplet of fluid slowly trickling down the underside. She explored him with her fingers, tracing the contours in fascination.

With an impatient rumble, Aureliusz grasped her wrist and yanked her toward him. He rolled her over and crashed his mouth into hers with a growl. She moaned and tilted her hips up to meet him as he pressed himself to her opening. Then he leaned back, holding her hips up as he plunged inside.

“Are you ready?” Astrid asked, turning back to Dominic.

“Let’s watch them a moment longer,” he said. “Turn over and let me fuck you from behind.”

She had no objection, and sighed with pleasure when Dominic pushed his cock into her again.

Aureliusz was a beast, his body half-shifted with shimmering scales cascading over his arms and chest, his horns jutting from his temples. The princess gazed up at him, enraptured, her breasts bouncing with each hard thrust.

She splayed her arms wide and arched her back. “Mark me, my love. I want to be yours for eternity.”

He didn’t waste a second, curling his big body over hers and lashing his tongue out with fiery precision. Gold smoke rose in wisps from the brand he cut into her skin, curling around her neck like a collar of pure gold. It could easily be mistaken for jewelry to the untrained eye, but no dragon would mistake it for anything but a mate’s mark.

“Beautiful,” Dominic murmured, pulling out of Astrid and urging her to turn. “Will mine look the same?”

“My magic is darker, so no,” Astrid said. “Would you like it in a darker place?”

She smirked at him, but her eyebrows rose when he gave her a serious look in response. He rolled onto his back and looked down at his cock, still wet with her juices.

Astrid frowned. “It will hurt.”

He twisted one muscular arm, showing her the dark tattoo of a viper coiled around his right bicep. “If it’s anything like this, the pain will pass, I’m sure.”

“It will pass even more quickly. Once I mark you, you will heal most wounds within seconds. If this is what you want, I’m happy to give it.”

More than happy, really. Dominic’s cock was as lovely as any she’d seen, and it would be even more perfect adorned with her mark.

She slid down his body and took him in hand, stroking slowly as she watched his face, giving him time to change his mind. He licked his lips and nodded at her.

“Do it.”

Rather than mark him immediately, she took him into her mouth, sucking him deep until he let out a low moan and curled his fingers into her hair. On the next downstroke she unleashed her dragon tongue, extending it around his balls. She could taste his imminent undoing, and only then did she pause to do the deed.

Starting at his tip, she traced violet fire with her tongue, first down the underside of his shaft in swirling scrollwork, then around the entire girth in an elaborate symmetrical motif.

Dominic hissed and gripped the bedsheets, but his erection didn’t flag. If anything, he grew harder, and when the mark was complete, Astrid blew on it to ease his pain until it healed a second later.

“Come here, mate ,” Dominic demanded, gripping her by the arms and hauling her atop him.

Astrid straddled him eagerly, sinking down onto his newly adorned shaft, and gasped as exquisite fire flooded her. She arched her back, only moving once she was able to regain control.

Her pleasure grew more quickly than ever before, until it felt as if the entire universe had condensed into the head of Dominic’s cock, and the moment he climaxed, new stars were birthed within her womb.

She collapsed in a heap at his side, drifting in a dream of happy, sated bliss.

Sometime in the night she woke, aware of Aureliusz beside her in the bed. He lay on his back, staring into the darkness, one arm curled possessively around his sleeping princess, fingers tracing delicate lines over her back.

“We chose well, I think,” Astrid whispered, reveling in the warmth of Dominic’s body at her back.

“Yes. They are the perfect mates for us. Five hundred years I’ve longed for this, and now that I have it, I’m not quite sure what to do.”

“Enjoy it, of course. You’re a Gold dragon—surely you can grasp that concept.”

He turned and gave her a brilliant smile, his golden eyes gleaming in the darkness. “As long as I have you to share the joy with, I am sure it will never fade.”

THE END