Dragonborn (The Jade Lee Romantic Fantasies, Book 1) (41 page)

Damn pleasure hog. Now she knew why babies gurgled all the time. It was a joy just being in a young body, whereas hers felt like it had just... had just been carrying that huge dragon around like it was a suitcase strapped to her belly. Then she'd popped it out like a cork from a bottle.

She frowned, knowing her images didn't make sense. But, d'greth, now that her mind felt centered back in her human body, she was in pain! Everything ached, and... She looked down at her naked belly where she'd once carried the egg. There was blood everywhere—dried and mixed with sand—but mostly she saw her navel with thin ugly veins drooping out of it. That was what had connected her to the egg. And all around her and Kiril, her flesh sagged, lying on the ground like the bloated skin of a fat gommet.

Sweet Amia, she was hideous!

"Well, at least I know you're in there," Kiril grumbled as he sat back on his haunches. "I seriously doubt a dragon would care what you look like. And only you could look at your naked body and make sounds of distress."

She concentrated hard, and was able to lift her human head to look directly at him.

He grinned, even as impatience laced his tone. "Yes, you are still beautiful to me. No, there aren't any stretch marks—or at least none that won't fade pretty soon. D'greth, Natiya, you are an amazing woman, in more ways than just your body. Now can we please get back to deciding if I have to kill you or not? Can you control your dragon?"

It was time to stretch her skills. She had mastered moving her head. She could control her vision, switching back and forth between the Queen's and her own at will. Now it was time to conquer speech.

"Frrrrreeegnoooow."

"What?"

"Frmrr. Nowwwww."

"One more time, Natiya. Really concentrate."

"Foooorrrrr. Nowwww."

"For now?"

She nodded.

"For now. For now what?"

She glared at him.

"Oh, right. For now. You can control your dragon for now." He frowned as her words at last sank in. "For now! Natiya, how long is now?" He abruptly stood up, his sword raised.

"Op!"

He froze at her loud tone. She concentrated harder.

"Ssssstop!"

"Natiya, I can't risk—"

"Shhhhut up! Sworrrrrrd away!"

"But—''

"Lisssten."

He hesitated, then sighed, dropping his sword into the sand. She didn't fool herself into thinking she was safe; Kiril was still lightning-fast if he wanted to be. Whatever she said now had to be good.

"Dragon nooooot evil."

He didn't answer that, and she could have kicked herself for her stupidity. This was old territory for them, an old disagreement. Just repeating the same thing was not going to change his mind. She needed another tack.

"Have plan," she lied.

"Great," he answered evenly. "What?"

And wouldn't she like to know that as well? But then she focused her thoughts away from self-pity. She did have a plan of sorts. She just needed to expand on it, figure out the details.

"Kill Rassssshad."

He frowned. "Rashad? Who's Rashad?"

"Empemrror."

He grimaced. "How long can you control your dragon?"

She wasn't sure. She now strongly suspected that dragons only allowed their human pairs the illusion of control. That if the two beings truly struggled for dominance, the best she could hope for was to control her own body. Fortunately, she and her egg had reached a kind of understanding during the last few days.

"Untillll we separrrrate."

He frowned. "Separate? You mean, from your dragon? But you can't—"

"Cannnn," she stated firmly. She could. She just wasn't quite sure she wanted to pay the price to get sole ownership of her mind back. Then again, it was too late for second thoughts. She'd chosen this path a long, long time ago.

"How?" Kiril pressed.

She knew he was asking for details of the separation, but she pretended to misunderstand. She looked at him, doing her best to bring him over to her side. Without him, she didn't stand a chance. "You must teach meeeee. To fight."

He snorted. "That takes a lifetime, Natiya. How—"

"You fight Emperor," she interrupted. "I fight Copperrrr."

He paused, obviously thinking hard. "The Copper is large and mature. Even if we can hide long enough for the Queen to grow—"

"He will not kill his Queennn." Speech was becoming easier as Natiya felt herself more and more grounded in her body. "But you must help us learn."

He laughed, a quick explosion of sound that had more to do with disdain than humor. "I don't know anything about dragon fighting."

"Then we will learn together."

"Natiya—"

"Trust me." She hated those words. They were the last-ditch plea of the truly desperate. If he didn't trust her now, begging him to believe in her would be pointless. And yet, it seemed to have an effect.

Kiril dropped his chin into his hands and looked at her before shifting his sights back to the Queen. The creature was still sitting on her backside, her large belly protruding onto the sand. In truth, she looked cute, almost cuddly. But Natiya knew there was a strong mind and an even stronger will inside that pudgy body. And if she had any doubt, all Natiya had to do was look into the dragon's golden eyes to see how closely the Queen was listening to their conversation. It, too, was making plans, though only Amia knew what.

Then, just to make doubly sure, Natiya directed a quick flurry of questions at the Queen.

Our bargain still stands, doesn't it? You will fight the Copper? Defeat it? And then we will separate as planned?

That is the true purpose of this joining.

But Kiril is right. The Copper is very large and experienced. He has won many battles.

He will not kill his Queen.

There was no doubt in the dragon's mind, and so Natiya nodded, turning her focus back to Kiril, who was looking down at the dry remains of the dragon egg.

"I have betrayed Sabina, myself, and all of Ragona," he said softly. "I know I should have killed you. I probably ought to kill you now." He lifted his gaze to look directly at Natiya. "I think the dragons have more power than you know. I think she will eventually control you, and I will have betrayed everyone for a monster."

"No—" she began, but he cut her off.

"But even so, I believe in you. And I will help you."

She nodded, but again he didn't wait for her comment.

"You understand that I will have to kill you eventually, don't you? The moment she gains control of you, I will have to kill you both."

Natiya sighed. "You don't understand. We will separate." Just not in the way he thought. She leaned forward. "Do you know why Dag Racho is evil?"

Kiril shrugged. "Because he controls everything with terror. He conquers without thought and kills without justice."

"Because he will not let the bond finish its purpose," she corrected. "Dragon and man were not meant to remain linked so long. Holding on creates madness—in both man and dragon."

Kiril straightened. "And what is its purpose?"

She struggled with her answer. She was only now beginning to grasp its full meaning. In the end, she settled for a partial truth: "The Queen was born to force Rashad to finish his bond. To end Dag Racho's reign of terror."

"I pray that is true," Kiril answered coldly, "because all our hopes rest with you now."

She stared at him, hearing the dull echo of his words but seeing something else as well. It was not her dragon sight that revealed it to her, but some part of her human self that she could not name. Some part of her heart, perhaps, that said he was feeling lost and terrified.

"What do you fear?"

He looked up at her, his heart in his eyes. "I cannot fail again," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "I cannot watch everything I love destroyed. Not again." Then he swallowed. "I will go mad," he whispered.

She stretched out her hand. Not her wing, but her hand, eventually finding his arm. He shifted his body, adjusting slowly until they gripped each other—touching finger to finger, palm to palm. "I cannot do this without you," she said. "It is so confusing. I need your help."

"You have it," he vowed, and looking at his face, she knew that he had just given her everything. Not just his vow, but his heart and his soul as well.

"Why?" The word did not come close to being the question she meant. Why would he give her such faith? Why would he risk everything for her? Why was he the man he was? And why did she need him so desperately?

He struggled with his answer, emotions flying across his face too quickly for her to read. Until, finally, he shrugged. "You give me hope, Natiya. And I have not had that in a long, long time."

She swallowed, straightening as best she could in the sand. "I will not fail you." This time she was the one who pledged her faith. She would live up to the hope in his eyes or die trying.

He brought her hand to his lips, kissing their joined fingers. "Nor I you." In this way, they began the war.

Chapter 19

Preparing for war was not at all what Natiya expected. She'd envisioned endless hours in flight, drilling for this aerial twist, that winged attack. She wanted to move, to fly, to dance among the clouds.

Kiril wanted to take things slower. He wanted her to control her own body first before she controlled the dragon. He wanted her to sit her dragon still—in silence—while she stretched her aching body, while she walked or ran or even danced. And then, when her human body could take no more, he continued to make the Queen sit and watch, growing larger while Natiya practiced moving individual parts of the beast's body. One finger on the wing. Not the entire wing, just the finger. One toe of the left foot. The nose. The bellows. The tail.

War was about discipline, he kept saying. But mostly this war seemed to be about fear—Kiril's fears. Fear that the Queen would control Natiya, not the other way around. Fear that they would be discovered unless the dragon stayed hidden. Fear that Dag Racho's soldiers were even now scouring the mountains to find them. Of course, the hell of it was, he was right.

She exercised rigid discipline over her dragon, allowing it to fly only at night, only through the darkened sky without flame, and to hunt fish when the mount was gone. That was the most glorious time for both of them: She released the Queen to hunt, only sharing in the experience through thought. Mind to mind they were, and the experience poured into her soul. She would lie down on the sand, closing her human eyes, while the Queen took control of herself, learning to control her rapidly maturing body, learning to develop her own skills.

Unbonded dragons, Natiya learned from the Queen, grew much more slowly. Part of the magical bonding process allowed bonded creatures' minds to mature long before hatching. Then, when the body at last emerged, the dragon's physical form rushed to catch up, growing as fast as it could eat, maturing as quickly as its sustenance allowed.

Each night Natiya soared with the Queen, while beside her, Kiril touched her human body, constantly reminding her that this was where she belonged, that there was glory in the human physique as well. He made a persuasive argument, and inevitably she would abandon the Queen to its feasting while she turned her attention to Kiril.

His bedroom skills were legendary at court, he confessed one night, and the things he taught her were beyond anything she imagined. And yet, he misunderstood what she valued. He believed she ached for his kisses, and he worked hard to make sure they inflamed her senses. He would shift and adjust, his every caress seeking that special moment when she began to hum, deep in the back of her throat, almost like a purr; for in this, her human body echoed the dragon's. He would then grin in satisfaction, deepening his touch, stroking her with his tongue until that hum became a groan of hunger. And when he opened her thighs, pleasuring her with his mouth as he'd done during the hatching, he pressed his hands to her lips as if trying to measure the pulsing tremors he coaxed with such quivering explosion. Only when she was sobbing his name did he at last couple with her, and then it was as if he hated himself for taking his own pleasure while she wrapped her legs around him, demanding his thickness deep and hard and most wondrously filling her.