Chapter 30

THE NEXT MORNING, Arustling sound made him open his eyes. He glanced over to see Ryder munching grass near the oak grove as the faint light of dawn spread across the sky. A soft dew covered them along with a grass blanket.

He frowned in confusion. He was decent with trees and shrubs, but a master with vines. They were easy and took very little magic, but grass had long given him trouble. How had he formed a blanket? He turned his head, Eirwyn"s warm body curled into his side.

He reached down and traced her cheek with his finger, shifting to lay more on his side as his tail had fallen asleep in the night. It tingled with awareness, and his cock throbbed at the feel of her pressed against him.

He kissed the top of her head, and she hummed in her sleep, rolling onto her back. Her black hair fanned out around them, and he pushed the grass blanket off them both. It absorbed back into the ground, but he didn"t pay attention.

He couldn"t get enough of Eirwyn. He sat up and traced a finger down her breasts to her navel, then on down to the cleft between her legs. He shifted, pressing softly on her legs. They fell apart in her sleep, and he dipped his head.

She smelled of desire and honey, of venom and earth. Heat settled in his groin. White hot animal longing drew him down, close enough to part her pussy and set his mouth to her clit.

She gasped, her back arching as her feet settled flat on the ground. "Wha– Knox?" she asked sleepily.

He slid two fingers inside her as his tongue kept her prisoner to desire. He teased her open, questing, conquering as he worked his strong fingers into her. She writhed against his hand, already lost to pleasure. She was slippery as his tongue circled her tight bud. He drank from her, ate her, never stopped working his mouth on her hot clit. He found her trigger and fired off short little licks and sucks, all the while pumping his fingers.

Her breathing turned ragged as he adored her. Her hands settled on the sides of his head, her fingers raking along his scales and making him moan into her pussy.

"Gods yes," she gasped. "Knox, please, I need you."

He pumped harder, wanting her to cum for him first. She panted, her breathing turning ragged as her hips lifted in time with his fingers. Then her body was shaking and she thrust up, grabbing his horns and holding him close.

Her body went taut, every secret part of her crying out his name. She made guttural sounds that spoke to his beastly nature. Her pussy clenched on his fingers, pulsing as she shuddered in ecstasy.

When her legs went limp, he released his hold of her clit and pulled his fingers from her. He slid up her body and grabbed his throbbing cock, teasing her folds. She looked up at him with heavy-lidded eyes, her chest rising in shallow breaths.

Then he slid home in one deep thrust. Her mouth fell open as she moaned, her back arching and her nails digging into his biceps. He pressed harder, shifting his hips to start a driving rhythm. Beat for beat, she met him thrust for thrust, arching her hips and clawing at him.

His fingers dug into the dirt next to her head. His cock seared into her, burning like a brand. His tail buried into the ground above her head. She was deliciously tight as she quaked and trembled beneath him.

She locked her legs around his hips, and he pounded her into the ground. The ground rolled beneath them, and her pussy squeezed down, trapping him inside.

He buried his head in her neck with a groan as her muscles gripped him tighter. Still, he rammed into her with relentless thrusts. He drove into her with an animal fierceness, and they moved as one.

Her inner walls rippled against him as she gasped, "Yes, gods, yes, Knox. Please, Knox."

He hammered into her, a hot rush of pure need. Hunger matched hunger as their bodies slammed together. She was wet, wild, and all his. Forever.

She thrashed and moaned, her body spasming around his cock as she thrust her hips up and screamed. Birds flew from the trees overhead, and the wind swirled around them.

He thrust deeper, faster. His balls tensed up, but something drove him to keep going. He couldn"t stop, not yet. He had to get deeper. He clenched his jaw, and it felt like his balls exploded into his cock.

His shaft swelled, making Eirwyn scream and buck with every ripple and movement. She thrashed under him uncontrollably, her moans and groans not even words as she shook her head, her hair lifting and twirling with the wind. Light swirled around them in bursts.

He plunged into her hidden depths, then went absolutely still, paralyzed by pleasure. His release was hot and violent, like a geyser that was long overdue for eruption. He stiffened and convulsed inside, a roar of satisfaction upon his lips. His body jerked, every muscle tight as he poured himself into her.

The heat spread from their joining as they climaxed. They came hard, each fueling the other"s release. Their bodies fused into one shared hot, sticky release.

The ground continued to rumble underneath them, shaking softly. The light was growing brighter as the sun rose, and Knox" stomach rumbled.

Eirwyn chuckled, her arms wrapped around his back and slowly tracing up and down his scaly spine.

"Is that your stomach or the ground?"

He lifted off her, still joined at the waist, and pushed her wild, black hair out of her face. He kissed the tip of her nose and smiled. "Definitely hunger. I"m going to take a dip in the pond. Do you want to join me?"

She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "No, thank you. There"s no telling what kind of slime is on the bottom. I"m not a fan of being dirty."

His brows rose, and he pushed himself onto all fours to offer her a hand. He helped her up as he replied, "There"s the princess side of you. After last night, I was wondering where she"d gone."

Eirwyn rolled her eyes and walked back to the house through the garden. He followed her, loving the sway of her hips in the morning light. She walked with a straight back, her head held high like the princess she was, regardless of her lack of clothing.

She ducked into the kitchen, and he continued on to the pond. He strode straight into the frigid water, the sun not yet heating it. He ducked under, washing quickly before swimming across to the other side.

It wasn"t a large pond, but it was enough to get his blood pumping. Then he waited in the shallows, his tail poised over the water with barb ready. A large fish swam lazily by, and Knox speared it. He flicked his tail, sending it to the bank where it flopped.

He turned his attention back to the water. After a second one joined the first, he strode out of the water and gathered them both, hooking a thumb into their mouths. He carried one in each hand to the kitchen door.

He paused, dripping water on the threshold. Eirwyn was dressed, her hair braided in one big braid down her back as she talked with the ghost, Leopol.

She turned from the skillet over the fire in the hearth and looked him up and down. Her eyes glazed over, and he grinned as she stared at his cock.

He held up the fish. "I caught lunch," he said. "Where do I put them?"

She waved to another skillet on the counter, now cleaned from last night"s dinner. "In that one. Breakfast is ready, if you"d like more berries and nuts."

He set the fish down, then turned dunk his hands into a pail of water, rinsing them off. "I"ll eat your berries, if you"ll eat my nuts," he said.

Leopol snickered, and Eirwyn laughed.

"Well, it"s been lovely, your highness, but duty calls. I"ll be in the office," Leopol said, a grin on his face as he floated through the kitchen door into the house.

Eirwyn watched him dress out of the corner of her eye. He left his cloak on the back of a chair, for the first time in years not automatically putting it on. He loved the feeling of freedom this place brought him.

She set the bowl of berries in front of him and turned to walk away. He reached out a hand and pulled her close, nuzzling her breasts through her shirt. Her hands landed on the sides of his head with a gasp, and he moaned.

"Your fingers on my scales are heaven, Eirwyn," he sighed, his shoulders lowering. She kissed one side of his head, her breasts nearly suffocating him. Not that he was complaining, not at all.

"I love touching you, so I"m glad you like it," she said before twisting out of his arms and going back to the counter. She hummed a soft tune as she took her dagger and skinned the fish.

"We need to leave after lunch today if we"re going to get to the dwarves before dark," he said.

She nodded and kept singing softly under her breath as she worked. He wanted to just sit in the kitchen and listen, watch her, be in her presence. But if he was going to learn all he could about who he was, he had to get back to the office.

He sighed and walked silently out the room.

A few hours later, he rubbed the sides of his head and sighed. Leopol and he had gone through book after book, and his head was aching.

"Do you really think it"ll break the spell of protection on the forest though? I don"t want to undo my mother"s spell," Knox said, flipping through yet another book in his father"s office.

Leopol shook his head. "I don"t know. There are so many unknowns, including how I died, where my body is, and why I"m even here."

Knox raked a hand down his face. They"d been digging through the books for hours, but every answer led to even more questions.

Eirwyn"s singing had echoed through the halls, making him smile. He glanced outside and noticed the sun was overhead. He closed the book and slid it into his saddle bag.

"I"m going to take this one with me too."

Leopol frowned and followed him through the door and down the hall to the kitchen. "Do you have to leave today? Can"t you stay another night?"

"We need to get to the dwarves by nightfall. Eirwyn will be safe with them for a few days, but I"m worried about Scarlet."

He"d explained to Leopol about his upbringing. It"d been a touchy subject at first with Scarlet being a Hunter, and Hunter"s being the drakin riders that had destroyed the dragons. But Leopol didn"t say a word at the mention of her name now.

Knox went through the kitchen and breathed deeply, peace filling him. The smell of simmering fish and vegetables filled the air, but Eirwyn wasn"t there.

He went out the open door to see her carrying a cloak full of berries, her hand stretched out to feed some to Ryder. The horse followed along beside her like a puppy, and Knox didn"t blame him at all.

He felt like that too. He adored her and wanted to spend every moment with her. He"d follow her into the depths of hell if he needed to.

She turned and smiled. The sun peeked behind a cloud, lighting on her like a halo, and he sighed. She was his mate. He still couldn"t believe fated mates were real or that she was his.