He smacked me again, sending a shocking burst of raw lust coursing through me. “My hands, my lips, my cock – I’ll have your body with every part of me. You may be queen, but when we’re alone, I’ll be the one in charge.”
No one had been in charge of me since I was eighteen. This brash seducer, part man and part beast, expected me to submit to his will? To my shock, my pussy flooded at his words.
I tried to pull myself together. “Lord Drayke…” I began, using my most formal tone.
He smothered my words with a kiss then drew away. “I like the sound of that, but you needn’t be so formal when we’re alone. You can simply call me, ‘my lord.’ Or ‘Master’ if you prefer.”
“Master?” I bristled, ready to give him a piece of my mind.
He laughed again. Then his eyes narrowed and his voice took on a dark tone. “I will master you – in bed. Often and thoroughly. And I’ll make you love every minute of it.”
A delicious shiver ran through me. I’d never been mastered before. I decided I liked the thought of it.
Drayke glanced outside. “Much as I’d like to stay here with you like this all day, we must be off. I’ve never allowed anyone to see my dragon, and soon it will be light. We need to get to the cover of the mountains.”
“The mountains? That will take hours. Do you plan to use more magic?”
“Not magic. Magic as you know it isn’t real. It’s entertainment. Illusion based on trickery – like the court jester who brags of his big cock and then reaches into his pants and pulls out a live rooster. The audience laughs and cheers but they know he didn’t summon the creature out of thin air.”
He went on. “What you did tonight – I called it magic, but it was mystical, not magical. You harnessed the energy of the Universe to do your bidding. Our ancestors branded it as sorcery. Were you not a queen, they’d have shunned you as a witch. You didn’t use magic tricks. You usedpower. Very few ever born have possessed the power you do. That’s why the Lord of Darkness needs you. He must have control over your ability to summon the forces of light from the Seven Stars. For only the light can defeat him.”
I had power. Mystical power. Though my rational mind rejected the idea, I’d proven it. The white rays shooting from my fingertips could have been an optical illusion or a hallucination. But after he jumped, IsawDrayke hovering above the ground on a cushion of white light, like a cloud. And here he lay before me, whole and uninjured. I sent the light that saved him with my thoughts, my will, my very being.
Ever since I was a child, at times I’d been able to see things, know things I couldn’t have seen or learned by any rational means. I took that for granted. It wasn’t magical or mystical. It was a gift I was born with, as others are born with the ability to flawlessly play music they’ve heard only once or do complex mathematical equations in their heads. But having power to summon the energy of the stars? How could I have possessed that ability and been unaware of it all these years?
Drayke kissed my forehead. “I know, my lady. It’s overwhelming at first, discovering there’s an unseen world existing side by side with our own. A world ruled by forces we’ve never encountered. Never imagined.”
He gave me a hug then got out of bed.
“You asked how we’ll get to the mountains? Prepare yourself. You’re about to witness another mystical power.”
Chapter Fourteen
Drayke
I shifted.
Slid out of her bed stark naked. Stepped outside, stretched my arms to the heavens, and let my dragon free.
Before my transformation, I explained we’d fly to the mountains, Melisandre riding on my back. I told her to get ready to leave. Quickly. She started to protest, but one firm smack on her bottom silenced her. She gathered the sheet around her naked body and disappeared into her dressing room. When she returned in garb totally unsuitable for battling the forces of evil, I insisted she change.
“Look at you. You can’t ride a dragon like that. I love the way your beautiful hair flows down your back, but it will whip around your face in the wind and blind you. The fabric of that gown will shred on my scales – and you can’t wrap your legs around my back like you did earlier if your thighs are encumbered by layers of silk.” I wiggled my eyebrows at her suggestively.
She blushed at the reference to her brazen behavior and left, returning in a white cotton shirt and a pair of dark brown leather trousers, her hair pulled back in a thick red-gold braid. She even had a heavy silver knife handle protruding from the sheath buckled around her waist. “This is what I wear when I’m training with Pieter.”
I tamped down my stirring cock, the other beast within me. Though I’d come twice already, this new version of my queen aroused me anew. I wanted to untie the braid and run my fingers through her luxurious mane of hair. The shirt, a man’s, was casually tucked in, emphasizing her lush breasts and trim waist. And the tight leather trousers hugged the twin curves of her fine ass as no gown ever would, making me ache to give them a squeeze. I felt sorry for poor Pieter, whoever he was, doomed to look but not touch.
When I knew she was ready, I stepped onto the balcony and let myself go. Though I couldn’t always stop it from happening when my beast took control, I’d learned how to morph at will. Once I quit fighting the change, I discovered it became easier. Over time, the pain lessened as my body adjusted to the sensation of scales emerging from beneath my skin, enormous wings sprouting from my back. My fingernails and toenails elongating into dangerous, sharp claws.
Her eyes grew round as saucers, and she shied away as my body disappeared and the dragon emerged. Twelve feet tall, with a wingspan nearly double that. I stretched them out, and she gasped.
“So beautiful! Every shade of red, from deep ruby to bright crimson shot with flecks of gold.” She took a timid step forward, hand outstretched. “May I…”
My dragon snorted and tossed his head when she stroked my wing. He’d never been touched by a human hand before. It felt strange but…not unpleasant.
Folding my wings, I crouched down, allowing her to climb onto my back. She settled in astride me, leaning forward to wrap her arms around my neck. I couldn’t hold back a menacing growl. My animal instinct wanted to rear up and toss her off but I fought it.
She patted my neck and made soothing sounds, as though I was a skittish stallion. I waited till my unease settled then hauled myself onto the balcony rail. I had enough sense not to frighten her by plunging off then swooping up just before crashing into the ground as I would have done when I was alone, reveling in my ability to defy the forces of gravity.