Dragon Avenged: Immortal Dragons Epilogue Read online

  Deva took a shaky breath and shook her head. “But you’re losing your chance to find a mate . . . to have a family. Neph could send any of the nymphs to take your place. You don’t have to do this. They need you more than I do.”

  The briefest flash of hurt crossed his face and made her want to take back her words. She did need him if she intended to leave the higher realms and explore the human world, but it wasn’t fair of her to. Not when his entire race needed him more. He and his Thiasoi brothers were the last males of their race who weren’t spoken for. The other three would likely wind up with multiple nymphs apiece for mates in an effort to replenish the satyr numbers and strengthen the protection of the Haven. But Llyr would be trapped in a formal arrangement with her as her bodyguard.

  “I made a vow to my leader. I won’t break that.”

  A thought occurred to her that seemed both terrifying and exhilarating. “What if I chose you as my mate?”

  Llyr went very still, his eyelids sliding closed as his aura flickered wildly. The conflicting signals made it difficult for Deva to understand what he was feeling. Was he angry at her for suggesting it?

  “You shouldn’t ask that,” he finally said. “It isn’t possible. Not when we still barely understand the full scope of your nature.”

  “It’s because of my ursa side, isn’t it?” She expelled an exasperated huff, irritated by his subtle reminder of how potentially dangerous her fertile magic could be, if she manifested the way most ursa females did.

  “That, and the fact that your existence is completely beyond our grasp. You exist outside the normal flow of nymphaea magic. The River that allows us a glimpse into the current of time. We can’t see any sign of what you will become, Deva. We have to be cautious.”

  A burning ache built in her belly. “What about what I am right now? I’m just a woman trying to understand who to be. I know I’m inexperienced, but I still have desires. I crave love. And a purpose. This ritual might be my only chance to prove myself, but I need more than this. I need someone to look at me and see more than just a mystery to solve. I’m a person too.” Yet his comment about the lack of any sign of her path was a stark reminder of what was really wrong with her. She had no soul, so no wonder he refused her offer. How could she be his soul mate without that one crucial piece?

  Her voice shook and her eyes burned, but another surge of the potent divine power flooded through her from the water at her feet, making her gasp in pleasure and sob at the same time. She clung to the tree root and clenched her eyes shut, struggling to hold back her tears.

  When she opened her eyes, Llyr hovered in front of her, his dark brows tight with concern. He cupped her face with both hands and gazed into her eyes. “I see you, Deva. Trust me, I see you.”

  Chapter 10

  Aodh paced the length of the beachside bungalow Neph had led them to for their own part in the ritual. This was a corner of the Haven he’d rarely visited. When he and Neph had begun their affair so long ago, they’d meet in their secret temple garden beside the Nile rather than risk getting caught inside Neph’s own realm. The secluded bungalow with the ocean view was far more comfortable, but despite the lulling crash of the surf, he couldn’t shake the worry over enlisting Deva to help with the ritual, even though she had seemed more than eager to do so.

  “It’s time,” Neph said, resting a hand on his shoulder.

  Aodh turned and was instantly overwhelmed by the shared worry flooding the minds of both his mates. Their blood meld had grown stronger over the past year, and their emotions were particularly raw today. Vrishti slipped into his arms and pressed her face against his chest.

  “She’s frightened. I can feel it,” Vrishti said. “But she’s also determined to prove herself. She reminds me of myself when I decided to come find you last year.” She turned her face up and met Aodh’s gaze, then Neph’s. “She can do this. I have faith in her.”

  But it wasn’t just this ritual Aodh was worried about. “Are you sure Llyr was the right choice to guard her?” Aodh speared Neph with a challenging look. “I’m not sure I like the way he was looking at her when they left this morning.”

  “He knows not to cross the line,” Neph said. “If he disobeys me, he’ll be punished.”

  “What exactly is that line?” Aodh asked. “She’s a highly sensitive girl. She craves validation . . . She already has an unhealthy attachment to Ozzie. Is there any reason to believe she won’t transfer that need to Llyr?”

  Neph gave him a helpless look. “What are we supposed to do? She’s stagnating here, and we can’t let her out into the human world without protection. Ozzie’s no longer an option to watch her, and Llyr has the strongest link to her. If we want her powers to mature, we have to give her the freedom to explore them beyond the bounds of the Haven, or any of the other higher realms.”

  “Guys, can we give our daughter a little more credit? She’s taking control of her life the best way she can, and I fully support letting her make those decisions for herself. Also, we probably ought to actually do the thing we really came here to do . . .” Vrishti reached up and placed a palm to Aodh’s cheek, urging him to look down at her.

  The Summer spirit blazed with fertile power behind Vrishti’s eyes, and that spark was enough to dissolve Aodh’s worry and ignite his desire. It helped that Vrishti’s warm, sensual presence had seeped into his mind through their meld and was diverting his protective urges toward Deva into a more present, potent need.

  “Perhaps you’re right. She has three of the strongest females I know for mothers. Your influence will hopefully steer her well.”

  Vrishti gave him a sardonic look. “She will blossom if all her overbearing fathers give her the freedom to do so. If there is one thing I loved most about my own father, it was that he trusted me to decide what was best for myself. You can’t dispute I made the right decisions, can you?”

  Aodh chuckled at her subtle taunt. “I definitely have no room to object to your choices, Vrishti.”

  She pulled away from Aodh and stood between him and Neph, glancing between them. Coyly, she unfastened the toggle closure of the filmy robe she wore.

  Neph’s previously agonized expression smoothed as her gown fell partly open to reveal a stretch of brown skin and the luscious inner curves of her breasts. The very edges of the material were caught on both her erect nipples, still concealing them, but Aodh had a clear view of the center of her soft belly all the way down past her navel to the perfect black triangle of curls between her legs.

  In one fluid motion, Neph moved behind her, his body morphing as he positioned himself at her back until he towered over Vrishti in his full primal satyr shape. He hooked one big hand around her jaw and tilted her head to the side, bending low to graze his lips along the curve of her neck. She looked so small, so delicate, in contrast to the huge, horned satyr, but Aodh was fully aware of how completely she owned both their primal beasts and could easily accommodate both dragon and satyr whenever she wished.

  Her summer spirit blazed hot through her aura, her love and desire reflected in the intensity of the gaze she leveled on him. Neph’s big fingers hooked the edge of her robe at her shoulders, but the satyr looked up at Aodh before proceeding.

  “Are you just going to stand and watch?” Neph rumbled. “I am happy to fuck our mate for your entertainment.”

  Aodh’s stiff cock twitched in his pants and he silently let the conjured garment fade. Vrishti licked her lips, her gaze flitting down to his hips and back up. He closed the distance with a rough growl, framing her face in both hands and capturing her mouth with his. She moaned deliciously into the kiss, sliding her hands around his neck to tangle in the hair at his nape.

  Behind her, Neph tugged her robe off her shoulders until it hung from her elbows. Her breasts grazed Aodh’s bare chest, full and lush. He was constantly amazed at the potency of the hunger he always had for her, springing up hot and undeniable regardless of how sated she had left him the day before. Between them blazed the hot pul
se of the dragon mark that graced the skin beneath her navel, directly over her womb. The brilliant glowing glyph was a reminder of Vrishti’s near constant ache for them both to spill their seed into her and have it take root.

  Mere days after the end of last year’s war, she’d given them both the happy news that they would be fathers again. Though they both adored Deva, they weren’t her only parents. Their new daughter, Neha, had become the singular focus of their lives since the very moment they sensed her tiny consciousness growing inside her mother.

  Now Vrishti’s body wanted another, and Aodh longed to give it to her, though he couldn’t help but wonder whether Deva’s uncommonly swift growth to adulthood had left an even greater need behind for Vrishti to nurture a child—or children—through their early years. He would give her as many babies as she wished for and would love them all every bit as much as he’d loved their first, even if Deva was never wholly theirs.

  “How do you want us, kitten?” Neph rumbled at her back.

  “We should be in the water,” Vrishti murmured, and before Aodh could react, he sensed the pull of the drift. They landed in a splash only a few yards across the bungalow in the sunken stone pool on the deck that overlooked the sandy beach. A nearby stream fed the pool with refreshingly cool water that covered him to his waist, his feet solidly planted on the pebbled bottom.

  Aodh laughed and pulled back to look at his mates. “We could have walked.”

  Vrishti giggled and grabbed his shoulders, hoisting herself up to reach eye-level with him. “We already wasted enough time today.”

  He cupped her bottom beneath the drenched fabric of her robe and hungrily accepted her kiss once more. She broke away breathlessly just long enough to allow Neph to finally divest her of the tangled, sodden garment. Then the satyr’s hand found Aodh’s cock and stroked it deftly, grazing the swollen tip along the hot seam of Vrishti’s opening. Aodh and Vrishti both moaned into each other’s mouths as Neph teased them with each other. The growing need made Aodh dizzy and he carefully stepped backward until his ass met the edge of the pool.

  He sat on the smooth stone and shifted until the backs of his bent knees aligned with the very edge, his feet still dangling into the cool water. Breaking away from Vrishti, he lay down, his gaze still fixed on her face, his own adoration reflected in the deep summer green of her eyes. She crouched over him with her hands on his belly, her cheeks flushed, and her eyelids fluttering while Neph continued tormenting her slick clit and hot opening with the tip of Aodh’s cock. Despite the torturous pleasure that shot through him with every squeeze and stroke, Aodh was far too enthralled by the transformation of Vrishti’s pleasure from a relaxed, open-mouthed sigh, to more desperate clench of her brows accompanied by moans that betrayed her need to be fucked.

  “Please,” she begged, her fingernails digging into Aodh’s belly while she remained poised over his cock, seemingly paralyzed by Neph’s almost casual hold on her hip.

  “Lower, kitten,” Neph said. She slipped her hands higher up Aodh’s chest as she tilted toward him. “You want to feel him inside you?”

  He squeezed Aodh’s shaft, sending a spike of pleasure through his torso and eliciting a startled gasp of pleasure and a jerk of hips. Aodh desperately wanted to feel it, but the question hadn’t been directed at him. He enjoyed this game they played, though, with Neph directing the fun, pretending Aodh’s body was the prize if Vrishti followed all his commands.

  “Yes,” she sighed, her gaze fixed on Aodh’s face. “I want his cock fucking me.”

  “Do you want to feel me inside you?” Neph asked in a gruffer tone.

  “Oh, please, yes!” she said, shooting a desperate look over her shoulder.

  “Where, kitten?” Neph’s aqua eyes were a swirling maelstrom, his more severe satyr face the epitome of lust and carnal hunger. He gripped her shoulder and pushed her down until her chest flattened against Aodh’s, leaving her round ass up in the air.

  Impulsively, Aodh slid his hands down and grabbed both cheeks, squeezed them hard, then lifted his hands and smacked them. Vrishti squeaked in surprise and buried her face in Aodh’s neck, teeth clamping down on his flesh.

  “You like that?” he rumbled softly against her ear. She only responded with a shuddering moan and he glanced up to see Neph’s face buried between her cheeks.

  The satyr tongued her with abandon, still steadily stroking Aodh’s cock and occasionally dipping his head and sliding his lips all the way down Aodh’s thick shaft. He was going to go mad soon if he didn’t get inside her, but he loved the way Neph seemed so intent on choreographing their pleasure before he took his own.

  The satyr’s aura betrayed his need, however, and Aodh was sure he would break very soon.

  * * *

  As much as Vrishti ached to be fucked, she was too wound up in pleasure to tell Neph to stop. The satyr’s tongue had captured all her breath, and it was all she could do just to cling to Aodh’s big body to keep from losing her mind. When Neph slipped one finger into her ass, and then another, she understood he was on a mission.

  Even though she’d recovered quickly after their daughter’s birth, the added distraction of the baby had disrupted their normal routines. Neph’s responsibilities leading the Haven beside his sister didn’t help. This was the first time in months that the three of them had an entire day they could devote entirely to each other’s pleasure.

  Clearly, Neph was determined to waste no time. Her ass tingled with pleasure and pain in equal measure when he slid a third digit into her. She trembled with need for more, her abandoned core hot and aching.

  When she let out a harsh plea, Aodh grabbed the sides of her head and urged her to look at him. His pale eyes blazed. “I hope you’re ready to get good and fucked today, baby. Your ass is about to get a workout.”

  The big satyr shifted positions, and in her periphery she caught sight of him tilting a clay bottle over her back as he lifted one wet, hooved foot out of the water to brace on the edge of the pool.

  Cool oil drizzled out of the bottle, around the three fingers he had buried in her ass, and up her spine. The liquid trickled down her sides and Aodh slicked his hands through it, spreading it farther down her sides and back up to coat her heavy breasts with it. He toyed with her nipples, sending tingling heat back to her aching core and lifted his hips until the head of his cock pressed against her entrance.

  “Please fuck me,” she whimpered.

  “In a second,” he rumbled in her ear. “He’s almost there.”

  Gaia’s tears, he had her ass so full already she was afraid she’d come to pieces if he did any more. Neph’s hot, heavy shaft grazed her ass cheek as he moved into position, his body casting a shadow over her back.

  Vrishti closed her eyes when the length of Neph’s thick erection stroked once along the place where his fingers plunged into her. Then his fingers disappeared, only to be replaced by the hot, round, bulbous head of his cock.

  She held her breath when he speared her stretched opening, then let it out in a loud cry as Aodh lifted his hips in a sudden jerk, instantly filling her pussy from beneath. Before she could even process the fullness of their invasion, her orgasm tore through her, but she was at their mercy and unable to do anything but surrender to their cocks both fucking her.

  She clung to Aodh for dear life to weather the pleasure, more intense than any she’d felt since the first day she’d been blessed to have them both at once. Behind her Neph let out a resonant roar and pulled his cock free of her ass. The sound of slick smacking still continued behind her and she shot a fevered look over her shoulder to see him intently stroking his immense cock until thick white ribbons of semen erupted from his tip, the hot fluid landing squarely at the sensitive opening he’d just vacated.

  Beneath her, Aodh stiffened, his cock swelling in her tight channel, then flooding her with his own hot seed. He squeezed her ass hard as he pumped up into her a few more times, then fell still. But he only paused for a breath before he had her up an
d off him and flipped her around, her back flush against his chest.

  “My turn in that tight ass,” he rumbled. He hooked his arms beneath her knees and sat up, cradling her against his chest with her legs spread wide. Vrishti grabbed at his arms to hold on, still tingling and dazed from the body-warping orgasm their first round of fucking had inflicted on her.

  “Relax, baby,” Aodh murmured against her ear as he lowered her onto his cock. She closed her eyes and bit her lip, waiting for the pain of yet another immense cock burying itself in her tender backside, but his passage was eased by the hot remnants of Neph’s orgasm coating her opening.

  Her eyes fluttered open as Aodh teased her clit while he pumped up into her. Before her, Neph had sunk low into the water but now rose, sluicing suds off his cock and rinsing it clean. He stalked toward her and fell to his knees between her thighs. His big horns came as high as her shoulders when he buried his face against her soaked folds.

  She grabbed on, letting her head fall back against Aodh’s shoulder while they carried her through another orgasm, Aodh’s cock thrusting rhythmically into her ass while Neph sucked hungrily at her clit.

  No sooner had that orgasm faded than Neph straightened and plunged his cock into her in one single, urgent thrust. The pair of them proceeded to fuck her until her ass and pussy both were flooded with their spend once more.

  With limp limbs, Vrishti succumbed to Neph’s gentle tug and fell into his arms, sighing. He’d shrunk to his human size once more and carried her to the center of the pool, chuckling softly while he held her. “That was only the beginning, kitten. We’ll be at this all day until we get word that Deva’s completed the ritual and transmitted the message. Judging from Llyr’s account of the progress, she’ll need all of us sending constant power to her before there’s enough.”