Dragon's Mate [Cairgorm Dragons 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (9 page)

Braemuir wouldn’t put Eilidh down. He carried her upstairs, stripped her, and gently lowered her into the hot water. She sighed.

“Hot water. Just what I need.”

“This isn
’
t the only hot water you’re in. When you
’
ve recovered
,
I shall want to know why you disobeyed me yet again.”

There was steel in his voice, and she shivered in anticipation.

“Yes, my little one. That is exactly what awaits you. Evidently you learned nothing the first time. I shall have to spank you again. This time I shan’t be so lenient
.
”

He washed her hair
and
soaped her back, breasts
,
and pussy. Then he poured a couple of flagons of hot water over her to rinse off the soap. Spluttering
,
she reached for the drying cloths, only to find he held them out for her as she stepped out of the bath. Wrapping her in the largest one, he carried her to the fire and set her on her feet before it. Kneeling, he proceeded to dry her, at the same time arousing her to what he knew must be a painful degree. By the time she was dry, she was panting, and cream soaked her thighs
. H
er nipples were like pebbles. He chuckled and made it worse by tickling her and making her squirm. He gathered her in his arms, burying his face in the junction of her shoulder and neck. He licked and sucked the pulse that throbbed there.

“Do you know I was nearly out of my mind? I thought I’d never see you again. I thought we would both die and our son with us. How could you do that to me?”

She had no real answer
. H
e could see how puzzled she was.

“I panicked. My parents were in danger because of me. I had to go with him or he’d have killed them. I felt a compulsion to go with him. I couldn’t turn back or stop. Then
,
in the cave
,
I couldn’t reach you, or hear you.”

Braemuir was more concerned than he let her see. It would have taken a really powerful mind to influence her, to coerce her like that. He wondered if her parents had any useful information. If Oidhche had managed to
“
persuad
e”
Eilidh, what would he have done to her parents? Braemuir resigned himself to getting nowhere again
.

He put those thoughts and concerns aside. Tomorrow would be soon enough. Now he had a much nicer task to occupy him until it was time to eat.

He tipped her face up and began to kiss her, tender little kisses at first, but as she responded, he became more urgent. She wrapped her arms around him. He stood, lifting her with him. Her legs gripped him as he strode to the wall. With her back pressed against the wall, he thrust his cock inside her.

“I can’t wait. I need you now.”

Usually he saw to her pleasure first, but he’d almost lost her. He needed to be inside her, to feel her hot, wet pussy clenching around his painful erection. To remind himself she was alive and
his
. He was in no mood to be slow or gentle.

“I need you, too. Take me hard and fast.”

She didn’t have to ask twice. His hips pumped his cock into her. Her back to the wall, at every thrust she must have felt the hard surface, bruising her back, but she didn’t complain. On the contrary, she was as heated and urgent as he was.

“Faster, my love. Fuck me hard and fast. I need to feel your cock deep inside me.”

His hips bucked. He couldn’t control his thrusts anymore. She screamed as she came, her cunt clenching and milking his cock. With one more deep groan, his hot cum flooded her pussy, as his release spurted from him, in jet after jet. He stumbled to the bed, and she held tight to him, refusing to allow him to withdraw.

“No, don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me yet.”

The way she clung, wanting to retain his cock inside her, for as long as possible, was one of his dearest delights. He had no strength to move the covers. All he could do was pull one end over them, to keep her warm as they lay linked together, until his softening cock slid out of her. He’d promised her a spanking, and she’d get it, because she enjoyed it, not because she’d gone with Oidhche. She couldn’t help that, he knew. He would see to her needs later, not now. He curled around her, protecting what was his, and dozing in the warm afterglow.

When he spoke to them later, he found he was right. Her parents had only hazy memories of who had taken them to the gardens, and thence to the caves. They didn’t remember the name of the man or his face. Braemuir sighed, but had to accept that Oidhche had won that round, too. He was damned if the bloody man would win the battle.

Oidche was furious. How had she got away? He’d thought the plan out very well and had seen no flaws. His mind control had come in useful yet again. He consoled himself with the fact that neither Braemuir’s mate nor her parents would have any useful information. That might still give him the advantage over Braemuir. First he had to get Ciarda here. She could shelter in the copse overnight. It wasn’t cold. He needed her at hand. Her condition would be a point in his favour. She was beautiful, in both her dark green dragon-form, and her human-form. They were well matched in names, colours, and appetites. She would serve him well.
Am I getting soft now she is impregnated?
He rejected that thought outright. He had one last throw of the dice. He would have to come out in the open, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

He strode quickly down to the copse, through the trees and, once out of sight of the Caisteal, changed into his dragon. He flew to the settlement. On the outskirts, he became a man again. It was dangerous to be seen there. He hoped he could get Ciarda’s attention, without being seen by anyone else. His luck was in. When she was told what she had to do, she was reluctant. He told her she would do it, and he heard no more demur. They took off together, landing by the copse.

“Kneel on the ground.”

She knelt. He didn’t have to tell her what he needed. She moved his plaid aside, cupped his sac, and rolled his balls in her hands. She was none too gentle, but that did not bother him. He knew she wouldn’t go too far.
I’ve trained her well. She knows better than to inflict pain on me, or she’ll pay for it tenfold.

“Get on with it. I don’t have all day.”

She took the head of his cock in one hand and sipped at the slit. The pre-cum that had leaked out shone on her lips. Her small, pink tongue lapped at his slit, and then she swirled it around the head. All the time she made a purring noise deep in her throat.
Man, but she can suck cock. I’m glad I’ve impregnated her. I don’t want to train another.
He knew when her hand strayed to her pussy, but he didn’t care. If she came, that was fine by him, this time. Her mouth was tight, and he was thick and engorged.
She’ll manage it. She’d better!
His cock hit the back of her throat, and she gagged. He began to thrust his hips forward and back, using her mouth to pleasure himself. She whimpered but kept up the suction and the laving with her tongue. He felt her stiffen. Her mouth felt tighter as she shuddered and shook in her orgasm.
Time to finish this.
He seized her head in his hands.

“Be still.”
He pumped his rigid cock in and out of her mouth until he came, growling his release as jets of his seed spurted from him, and into the back of her throat. She swallowed convulsively then licked him clean.
He left her, telling her to stay out of sight until he needed her. She knew what she had to do, and when he gave the signal she must do it. Both their lives and the life of their child depended on it.

* * * *

Summer solstice was upon them. The Clan assembled in dragon-form. Braemuir was uneasy. Oidhche had not been unmasked. It was the hour before sunrise. Time to issue the age-old challenge, a mere formality these days. He raised himself to his full height, on his powerful hindquarters, and bugled his challenge once, twice, three times. He had been expecting nothing, so when a huge black dragon answered the challenge, he was startled, but he rose on his hind legs ready to do battle for the Clan.

“I challenge you to fight. I have a mate who is impregnated. With me, the future of the Clan is safe.”

“Who are you? Reveal yourself.”

“Time enough for that when you and yours are no more. Fight, or are you too afraid?”

“I am afraid of no one. I’m not the one who has skulked in the shadows and tried to kill innocents.”

“Fight, damn you. Enough of this idle talk.”

Oidche launched himself in the sky. Solus followed, and the battle began. Solus knew it would be a fight to the death. He didn’t want to kill, but if he didn’t, the Clan would doubt his strength, and this black menace would never go away. Death was the only option.

* * * *

Ciarda made her way to the Caisteal. She had scratched her arms and was covered in dirt. She looked as if she had been in an accident, which was how she’d been told to present herself. Seonag met her at the door.

“What is it you want? What’s happened to you?”

Ciarda knew
that Seonag didn’t like her, Ciarda didn’t care, the feeling was mutual. When Oidhche was Braemuir, Seonag would have to go.

“I’ve a dreadul tale to tell, but it is for Eilidh’s ears alone.”

“Eildh can’t see you now. She’s awaiting the call to her dragon mating.”

Ciarda had been told to expect this and how to react. She threw herself at Seonag’s feet and, weeping and sobbing, begged to see Eildh.

“What is it, Seonag? Who is this? What’s wrong?”

Ciarda permitted herself a smile of pure malice, unseen by these clods.

“Eilidh, I have something I must tell you. It is important and can’t wait.” She said no more. Oidhche had told her that silence often got more than too many words. He was proved right when Eilidh began to descend the stairs. Ciarda fingered the knife hidden in her shawl.
Just a little closer. Come down a few more steps.
She saw that Eilidh was slowing, so she moaned, clutching at her breast.

“Ah, I’m in such pain, Eilidh. I need to tell you before I die.”

She heard that stupid cunt, Seonag, snort in derision. Eilidh seemed to waver, but Ciarda moaned, and the silly fool came down two more steps. Not quite near enough. No more words, just moans.

Ciarda saw Eilidh step down into the hall. Ciarda seized the knife in her hand and leaped up to plunge it in Eilidh’s breast.

“Die, fool. You don’t deserve to be Braemuir’s mate.”

The final battle was watched by the whole Clan, in dragon-form, but there was little doubt in anyone’s mind of the outcome. Solus wondered if there was even in Oidhche’s, who fought well at the end. It was a bloody business, and Solus hated to kill one of his own, but he knew that Oidhche would never give up. Solus had a mate, his heir and the welfare of the Clan to think about, and he couldn’t let one rogue dragon destroy it all. He knew that Oidhche would never cease to try and wrest the chieftainship from him if he were allowed to live, thus putting them all in danger. Some would take one side and some another, and it would rip the Clan in two. He couldn’t allow that.

* * * *

They locked talons and struggled for hours. Oidhche tried to break Solus’s hold in order to slash at him, but Solus was the stronger by far. Oidhche began to weaken. As they hurled themselves through the sky, both screaming defiance and bugling their challenge to each other, it soon became clear that Oidhche couldn’t keep it up for much longer. The end was fast approaching. He knew that Ciarda had failed in her attempt. She was wounded and failing fast. He could hear her cries in his mind. They had risked it all, on one last throw of the dice, and fate had been against them. When Ciarda died, if she died first, he would die, too. Oidche made a decision. He tried to break free. He intended to end his own life. No one would have blamed Solus had he killed Oidhche, but in this way, Oidhche
atoned, in part, for his past. With a supreme effort, the black dragon broke free of Solus’s hold, closed his wings, and dove down to end his life in the whirlpool of Corryvreckan. Just before he reached the roiling sea, he sent a goodbye to Solus who, when he heard it, dove after Oidhche, bellowing, “Come back, Riaghan. Stop, wait…”

Oidche knew that all the dragons could hear the despairing plea in their minds and were appalled. They would recognise the name Solus called out in his pain. They would know now who Oidhche was. No one had known the man-name of the black dragon. Now they did. By hurling himself into the mighty whirlpool, he’d spared Solus the necessity of killing him, atoned, in part, for his misdeeds. He would return to claim Ciarda, and they would depart this life together.

* * * *

Solus watched Oidhche as he hurtled toward the sea. He’d not been able to reach his twin. He’d had to pull out of his dive at the last second before he too perished in the whirlpool. He alone had heard the reply.

“It
’
s better this way. I can’t live, for if I do, I know I’ll try until I succeed in destroying you and yours. In any case
,
my mate is dying
,
too. Forgive me, brother.”