Chapter 15

15

Campe

I settle against the wall in one corner by the door, the spot with the best vantage of the entire room and all its windows. My mind feels heavy with the echoes of the day and the expectations levied on my shoulders. Nemea sleeps, her breath steady but restless, her aura pulsing faintly with the colors of someone dreaming. The dim light from the fire casts shadows that dance on the walls, flickering like the doubts in my mind.

I am struggling to find pleasure in my newfound freedom, but my past feels like chains around my soul. Once a prisoner in Tartarus, now its guardian, freedom has been a distant memory, blurred by millennia of duty and battle scars. My loyalty to Vesh and his cause keeps me anchored, but there’s a gnawing desire within me—something raw and personal. Something I didn’t believe could be mine.

Nemea.

She stirs in her sleep, and that first vision of her and Alcides in that cave slips into my mind. My view was filtered through Vesh’s eyes, but the sensory memory is etched into my psyche. Their scents mingled, their bodies entwined. Vesh seemed as stunned as I felt, unable to emerge from the shadows until they finished making love.

It was primal and beautiful. The urge to join them was overwhelming. To share in that connection. And it wasn’t just my own urge, but Vesh’s too, our twin desires magnified, intensifying as we observed the pair of them completing their bond.

It wasn’t until they disappeared briefly, leaving only wisps of shimmering smoke, that I could catch my breath. Their departure was barely a flicker, and then they returned, and Vesh silently grieved, long past hiding his feelings from me, not that he ever really could.

He grieved his banishment from Nemea’s embrace, from her inner sanctuary, his jealousy so profound over seeing another one of his guards let in while he remained out in the cold.

I crave that bond every bit as much as he jealously misses it.

But duty must come first.

To my left is a vanity with a mirror above it. This is the perfect opportunity to flex my shapeshifting abilities, rusty with disuse. I need to perfect my form for the upcoming heist. Mimicking Sybil’s appearance will be crucial to our success.

With a deep breath, I focus first on the familiar. I let my body shift and morph. My shape expands into Vesh’s broad shouldered figure with dark, violet-tinged eyes and short hair, complete with black trench coat and severe expression. Then I change again, muscles bulging to mimic Alcides’ powerful frame. Another shift and I am Erebus, with spiny black protrusions all over my big body, shadows curling around me.

Each transformation feels like slipping into another life—a different set of memories and emotions. Every time Vesh and Pan create copies for us to inhabit in the mortal world, remnants of the others linger since we all effectively share the same body, even if they are discrete shapes. But none of those lives feel quite right. I haven’t felt right in my own skin since I was cast into Tartarus for impersonating my sister.

“Campe,” Nemea mumbles sleepily, eyelashes fluttering slightly in the reflection behind me. “I prefer you as you are.”

Her words strike a chord deep within me. I allow myself to revert back to my most familiar form—darkly iridescent scales shimmering at the edges of my jaw and the tops of my shoulders and arms, eyes shifting with prismatic colors beyond my control. My horns return, rising from my temples to dark, twisted points.

She lies on her side, one hand beneath her cheek, her black hair a tangled mass of waves behind her. I don’t remember her removing her braid, but the sight makes my fingers itch to wrap themselves up in those silken strands.

Her tattoo twists against her neck. One tentacle coils down her bare upper arm, seeming to beckon.

I approach her bed slowly, sitting on the edge with deliberate grace.

“You should sleep,” I admonish, resisting the urge to brush a hand over her cheek. It’s a weirdly nurturing, maternal urge, yet rooted in pure desire for simple contact with this woman. Her expressive gaze is both hopeful and hungry, and she tentatively reaches out a hand, touching my wrist.

“We don’t have to sleep. I’m not actually tired.”

“Do you know what you’re asking for?” My voice is low, resonant with power I inadvertently let slip.

She smiles softly, a hint of mischief in her eyes despite her drowsiness. “Yes.”

The air between us hums with unspoken desire. I can see it in her aura—bright and pulsing with want.

“You need rest,” I whisper, though it’s more for my benefit than hers. I’ve been too long away from a love like this, if I ever had one. My hunger is too great to satisfy in one short night.

“I’ll rest better knowing you’re close,” she replies, sliding her palm over the back of my hand, turning it on the covers and pressing her palm to mine. Her touch steals my breath, and I simply hold that breath, not wanting to betray how my entire body responds.

“I’ll always be close,” I promise, wrapping my hand around hers and squeezing, though part of me wonders if that’s more of a curse than a comfort. She wants freedom, not mates who are constantly watching her, constantly wanting her.

“I’m counting on it. But you can be closer. Tell me why we shouldn’t complete our bond now, before I dive headfirst into training with you.”

“Because…” I cut myself off with a wince, realizing my excuse is ridiculous, even if it’s true.

I sigh. “Because I’ve waited so long for this, for you, that rushing the bond seems like it would diminish its importance.” I take a deep breath, then add the logical part of my thought process. “But we don’t exactly have the luxury of time, do we? Still, you really should rest.”

She rises onto her knees, her scent rising with her. I inhale, taking it in deep, realizing that it isn’t just her; it’s Alcides I smell too.

It irks me that he’s still clinging to her, but I don’t begrudge him the experience. He has always been the most pent-up of all the guards of Tartarus, and I admit I’ve wanted to see him let go just once with the others. I haven’t exactly been generous with my affections myself, but I haven’t avoided them either.

Now that I’ve witnessed him with her, I think I understand him a little better.

“I told you, I’m not tired.” She takes my face between both her hands and leans close, placing a gentle kiss to my lips. The contact causes something to give way inside me; some last vestige of a barrier crumbles.

Alcides is standing guard, I tell myself. I can have this.

But it would be irresponsible to just take it without letting him know. Before she can deepen the kiss, I reluctantly push her away. “Do you have a telepathic link to him? You should tell him we’ll be engaged for a few moments.”

“Only a few moments?” she asks, smirking. “What if I want to go back to the style of training Vesh wanted to subject me to? We can spend all day right here.”

Her soft curves beckon, her breasts loose and full beneath a tight black tank top, her hips clad only in thin black cotton. I indulge in one quick glance before looking toward the door.

“Alcides!” I call.

The door swings open before I’ve uttered the last syllable of his name, his bulk filling the entire frame.

“What is it?” he blurts, holding his club in front of him. When he sees Nemea kneeling at my side, her hand resting on my shoulder, his gaze heats. He lowers his weapon and places a hand at his waistband, gaze darting between us both as if waiting for the confirmation that this is an invitation. I shake my head.

“We agreed that it’s best for Nemea to bond with me now. Please keep watch.” When he frowns, I add, “Outside.”

He lets out a snort only mildly tinged with disappointment, then retreats, closing the door behind him.

Nemea chuckles. “What could it hurt to invite him too? It isn’t like I can’t take you both.”

“I know you can,” I tell her, turning to face her more fully now. I reach up and comb my fingers into her hair and stare into her eyes. “But I want you to myself. Is that so bad?”

“Only if that’s the only way you’ll ever have me. I won’t lock them out forever. Well, I might lock Vesh out forever, but not the rest of you.”

She tugs the hem of her top up and peels it off, then lifts and pushes her underwear off her hips, falling back against the pillows to shimmy out of them. I’m too busy enjoying the view to fully react when she rises again and swings a leg across my lap.

“Can I undress you?” she asks, fingering the leather laces at either side of my breastplate.

My hands fall to her hips like moths to a flame. She’s warm and soft, her full breasts a decadent temptation right in front of me. Her aura’s pulsing with arousal even though I’ve barely touched her.

“Not just yet,” I say.

“We need to taste each other to bond, don’t we?”

“For a dragon, that isn’t necessary, but that doesn’t mean we can’t. All I need to do is mark you. Why do you look disappointed?”

She frowns down at my armor, then toys with the end of my braid, secured by black twine. She works the twine loose and begins unraveling the plait.

Apprehension blooms like a chilly fog inside me, a sense of being undone along with the carefully secured braid I always wear. The only times my hair hangs loose is when I bathe, before it’s quickly bound up again.

It would feel safer to let her undress me.

Before she can get halfway up my braid, I grab her wrist and spin her, pressing her back against the pillows with her wrist over her head. I snag her other wrist and pin it too, enjoying the wide-eyed look of surprise she gives me.

She twists her body, trying to free herself, her supple curves undulating enticingly beneath me. My own pussy pulses hotly between my legs.

“Don’t move,” I command, exhaling a measure of dark smoke that winds itself down to my unraveled strands of hair and resecures them.

“You’re touchy about your hair. Got it,” she says. “So what am I allowed to do? Just lie here and let you have your way with me?”

“Pretty much.” I exhale a thicker cloud of smoke that trails up her arms and wraps itself around her wrists, then around the sturdy horizontal log that serves as a headboard. It solidifies into ropes.

“You’re no fun,” she quips, staring up at her bound wrists. But there is humor there, particularly when she smirks back at me, making it clear she’s indeed having fun. “Just don’t tell me I can leave whenever I want unless you actually mean it.”

That makes me pause, and I briefly reconsider tying her up. She laughs.

“I’m joking. I’ll tell you if I don’t like what you’re doing.”

I place both hands on the bed to either side of her arms and hover over her. “You can tell me if you like it too. Positive feedback is just as welcome.”

Before she can answer, I kiss her again, savoring her mouth as I would one of the sweetest, most decadent treats. I’ve never tasted a kiss so sweet, and it quickly goes to my head, my pulse quickening, the throb growing even more insistent between my legs.

She lets out a moan and hooks one leg around my thighs, tilting her hips up. I glance down her body, mouth watering as much over the brightening pulse of her aura as the way I know she will taste.

But she will taste even better if I draw this out. I kiss her again as I coast one hand down her side and back up to palm her breast, then tweak her nipple. Her skin is soft as silk, and she shivers under my touch.

“Campe,” she breathes. “Let me see your tongue.”

She doesn’t need to clarify for me to know what she’s asking for. So I show her by dipping my mouth to her breast and sucking her nipple between my lips. When I pull back, I extend my dragon tongue and continue flicking it over her stiff tip. She watches briefly before arching her back with a moan. I shift my attention to her other breast, teasing it to a pebbled peak before returning to the first one.

My craving for her is so intense it’s a void inside me now. Keeping myself propped on one hand, my tongue at her breasts, I slide my other hand down her belly to cup her pussy. She’s slick and so hot, and it’s my turn to moan when I part her with two fingers and easily slide them inside her. She lets out a cry and bucks into my hand.

“Do you want my mouth on this dripping pussy?” I tease. “Do you want this tongue tickling your clit?” My words come out sibilant when my tongue is in its true shape, but the change seems to mesmerize her. She spreads her legs wider, and I sink another finger into her. I’ve seen her riding the minotaur’s cock, so I know how much she can take, but I don’t need to rush this.

“I want to see you,” she says, panting softly. “Take off your clothes. Alcides won’t let anything happen.”

“I’m not worried about being caught naked. My armor is just for show, you know. And to avoid distracting my fellow guards.” I smirk at her, gratified by the soft laugh she gives me.

Her cheeks are flushed, and her mouth opens when I sink a fourth finger into her.

“Campe,” she says on a moan. “Please.”

With every plea, my armor feels tighter. I expel another long breath, this time the smoke settles around my body, dissolving the conjured leathers entirely. When they’re gone, I take a breath, reveling in the freedom I rarely allow myself for very long. I briefly rethink keeping her bound, just to feel her touch, but the sight of her restrained and writhing beneath me is too lovely not to enjoy for a little longer.

She’s watching me intently now, and I wonder what she sees. I have no scars in this form. My body is perfect. It’s in my true shape where the flaws show—the discolored scales; the damaged spines; the one horn gouged from a long-ago tussle with a giant.

But when she licks her lips, I think I know what’s on her mind. There will be time enough for that, though.

I dip back to her breasts, teasing my forked tongue over their tips again for a moment before moving lower, kissing my way down to her navel. I linger at her hips while I fuck her slowly with my fingers, then hover over her pelvis, watching her expression as I extend my long tongue and tease her clit.

Her flushed face goes slack, and she spreads her knees wide, letting them fall to the sides like a butterfly.

“Good?” I ask.

“Don’t fucking stop,” she demands.

Her pussy flexes around my fingers, hungrily grasping. Her aura is a pulsing red orb now, expanded to encompass me within it. There is so much power built up in her, I can feel it humming against my skin, just waiting for the moment for her climax to release it all into me. Absorbing that release of energy is the ultimate act of intimacy for a dragon.

But filling her hot cunt with my fist might be a close second.

Her slippery flesh gives easily when I curl my thumb into my palm and push my whole hand into her. She arches and cries out, her core clenching around my fist hard enough that I feel my bones twisting in my hand.

It’s the biggest fucking turn-on, and my own craving ratchets up. I dip lower, pressing my mouth to her clit and flicking my tongue over it fast and hard. I’m ready to devour every ounce of magic she can give me, just so I can fill her up again.

Her cries come fast and sharp when her climax hits. Her pussy gets even wetter, her flavor flooding my tongue and her clit pulsing hard against it. But it’s the magic flowing from her into me that makes my head spin, the sudden, potent torrent intoxicating in its power.

She’s like a fucking drug. After her cries die down it takes me a moment of dizzy bewilderment before I come to my senses. I remove my hand from her pussy and slide back up her body to descend on her fully, mouth against hers, hungrily kissing.

She kisses back with abandon, twining her legs around mine and pushing her damp pelvis up against me. Her skin against mine feels like heaven after so long of virtually no intimate contact.

I’m almost as wet as she is, my own desire still building in a pulsing bubble near to bursting.

“Let me make you feel good,” she says in a husky whisper. “Let me taste you too.”

“Not yet,” I say. “I’ve got you where I want you. I intend to take advantage of it.”

She’s already bucking against me, grinding her hot core against my hip, twisting until her hip presses and grinds on my pussy. There’s no disguising my arousal, and she yanks her bonds and lets out a frustrated groan.

“No fair,” she complains.

“I think it’s perfectly fair, all things considered. This might be the only time we’re alone together. Let me have my fun.”

She lets out a huff and settles. Or she mostly settles; her body still undulates in its slow rhythm, which I realize I’m matching with a slow rocking of my own.

I want to fuck her again, but with both hands free to tease other parts of her. I want to watch her come apart at the seams.

My tail manifests almost without conscious thought, curling around our thighs and beneath her. The tip has a mind of its own, homing in on her pussy easily.

Nemea’s eyes widen when she sees the thick appendage covered in iridescent scales wrap around us. Then her mouth falls open when I push the tip into her. I sink it in slowly, because even though it’s tapered, at its thickest it’s broader than my fist was.

“Oh fuck,” she mutters, her eyes fluttering closed.

“How much can you take?”

“All of it,” she says in a delirious whisper.

At first I think she’s exaggerating, her words coming from a place of raw hunger, a need to be filled even more than before, up to a limit. But when my tail keeps going deeper without resistance, I have to slow, because there’s no way this much can fit.

“Is this okay?” I ask. “I’m not hurting you, am I?”

“More,” she says.

I look down between us to where my tail is buried inside her, more than a foot of it engulfed by her pussy.

“How in all the hells,” I murmur.

“Campe, just fuck me,” she demands.

As if in emphasis, a smooth purple tentacle rises straight out of her side and wraps around the back of my neck, pulling me down to kiss her.

It’s my turn to surrender to her, and I continue to fill her even more with my tail while we kiss. I’m only peripherally aware of the beautiful strangeness of her, but it only makes me hotter.

I’d made the mistake of thinking of her as human when that’s the farthest thing from true. She is nothing close to human in this moment, with a pussy capable of devouring my tail inch by inch until I hit my limit, and a tattoo that’s taken over, holding me against her with two strong tentacles while it tentatively traipses down my body with the rest.

Out of the corner of one eye, I see one tentacle coiling up one of her arms and untying her wrists. Then her hands are on me, pushing my shoulders back to roll us onto our sides. She hikes her hips closer to mine and kisses me harder, one hand sliding down my back to squeeze my ass, then up and between us to cup my breast and pinch my nipple.

Her tentacles have a mind of their own, pushing down between our bodies and my legs. I’m not sure what to expect, but it isn’t the deftness with which they tease me, parting my folds and dipping into my entrance while simultaneously toying with my clit.

Our magic swells together now, our auras blended in a brilliant bubble around us, a blinding glow that could only be visible to a dragon. She’s the one in control now, pulling my pleasure to greater heights than I’ve ever experienced.

“Your turn,” she says, releasing my mouth to give me a wicked smile as two of her tentacles plunge into my pussy and fuck while a third flicks against my clit.

I’m a gasping, moaning mess, only able to let go and ride the high she’s taking me on, stronger than the strongest wind. I clutch at her head, forehead pressed against hers, our hips writhing together as we fuck each other.

When we crest, it happens simultaneously, the built-up power exploding in a brilliant burst before being sucked into both our bodies, mingling our magic inside our reservoirs.

I’m struck delirious a second time, like I just shot a strong drink that went straight to my head. I withdraw my tail from her body, and it lies limp across our thighs. Her tattoo withdraws too, going back to a dormant, two-dimensional shape on her torso.

But when I feel a gentle probing between my thighs again, I look down to see her dipping her fingers into me once, gathering a measure of slick fluid on her fingers, then raising them to her mouth.

When she places her fingers onto her tongue and licks them off, I want her all over again, with just as much need as the first time.

“Are you ready to come home with me, Campe?” she asks.

Before I can answer, the room around us disappears.