Chapter 15

CHAPTER15

It felt strange, how badly he wanted Jade to touch him after he’d been brutalized by so many of the citizens of the capital he called home. Larkin didn’t blame them, not truly. They’d been misled, fooled, and they’d thought him a common criminal.

When he took the crown, though, he’d strike down that law at once. Traitors would simply spend time in prison, without abuse or pain doled out to them for their crime.

That was where Elric and his mage would go…

Tears welled up in his eyes, and Larkin forced his thoughts back to the present. His body had been healed, but his soul ached. His mind was lost, and he could think of so little that was pleasant. So he rested a hand on the back of Jade’s head and urged him down for a kiss, relieved when the familiar feeling of the saliva’s effects started to make his head fuzzy.

There.

He would have better memories of this day, of this night.

He was good at blocking out the negative, apparently, though he’d need Jade’s help to do that this time.

Just like last time…

No. He wasn’t thinking that way. He kissed Jade harder, more insistently, drawing the dragon closer to him.

“Larkin…” Jade murmured against his lips. His eyes opened, revealing the foreign-looking dragon pupils. “I think you should rest. I don’t want to strain your body.”

Larkin shook his head, clutching Jade more tightly. “Please,” he whispered raggedly. “I need…” He swallowed hard, a shudder running through him. “I need to forget, before I sleep. I’m… I’m afraid of what I’ll see otherwise. Please, Jade.” Tears welled up in his eyes. “Show me you forgive me for being such a fool.”

Jade finally got onto the bed with Larkin, keeping a hand on him the entire time. “You weren’t a fool.” Jade kissed Larkin’s jaw and pulled him closer against his strong body. “You wanted to believe the best of your brother. It’s my fault, for not listening to you properly. For ignoring your desires.”

Larkin sighed. He had tried to tell Jade how important it was to him, but the dragon hadn’t listened. Jade hadn’t been concerned with matters of the kingdom, and he’d been so sure that Larkin would simply… forget about his duties.

He could never.

Even now, he knew he wouldn’t be able to leave Elric in charge—especially now, when he knew his mother’s wishes and he’d seen what Elric was willing to do to seize the throne. He couldn’t allow the kingdom to suffer under such greed and overambition.

“I have to go back,” Larkin said softly. “But I need… I need you before I do. I need your strength. I need you to show me I’m loved. I…” Tears started to fall. “I don’t feel like a treasure anymore. Not after…”

Not after he’d been so thoroughly defiled.

Jade pressed his nose against Larkin’s head and took a long, deep breath. “No matter what happens, you’ll always be my treasure, Larkin. There’s not a single dragon who would discard a treasure just for something as petty as… as… a few scuffs. Some bruising. I would rather burn up the rest of my collection than lose you, my jewel.”

That shouldn’t have been so reassuring. Larkin wasn’t supposed to want a dragon’s attention. He was going to be the king, he was…

His vision blurred as the tears grew stronger. “Thank you,” Larkin said shakily. “I need you to show me… show me I’m still worth something to you.”

Jade nodded, although he didn’t break the embrace. Larkin could feel Jade’s two cocks against his thigh, and he wormed a hand between them so he could grip one.

It was good that Jade was a dragon. His cocks were cooler than any of the humans’, and the skin was smoother. There were little bumps and ridges to remind Larkin with a single touch just who this cock belonged to. No pubic hair, just scales that marked where his sheath would have been in dragon form.

“If you’re sure,” Jade said, kissing Larkin’s head one more time. “But I want to make you feel good. Let me suck you, bring you pleasure.”

“But I like feeling the pleasure of you in my mouth,” Larkin protested. How he could want to suck Jade after—

No, he wasn’t thinking about that. He was thinking about the feeling of those cocks in his mouth, the dripping of precum onto his tongue as it helped him drift further and further into his own private wonderland.

“At the same time, then?” Jade suggested. “You deserve to be pampered, my treasure.”

“At the…?” Larkin tried to imagine how that would work, but nothing was coming to mind. As flexible as Jade was, he didn’t think even a dragon could bend like that.

Jade gave him a little smile. “Lie back. I’ll move.” He sat up—one hand thankfully still on Larkin’s hip—and rearranged himself so his knees were straddling Larkin’s head. His cocks hung directly above Larkin’s face, and Jade’s own head was at Larkin’s crotch.

Larkin blinked, and it took him a moment to really understand what was going on. Oh. Oh. He rested his hands on Jade’s back, unsure of where else to put them but wanting to touch that lightly scaled skin. He leaned up, taking the tip of one of Jade’s cocks into his mouth. The flavor of his precum exploded onto his tongue, and he gave a contented sigh as he started to lose himself in sucking Jade’s cock while the other dangled against his cheek.

Jade made a satisfied sound, emboldening Larkin to suck a little bit harder—but Larkin’s concentration completely scattered when Jade wrapped his lips around Larkin’s cock.

Jade’s tongue was longer than a human’s, and it wrapped around and around Larkin’s cock, squeezing like he wanted to milk Larkin. The pleasure was so sudden and so intense that Larkin forgot to breathe for a second.

It only got better. Jade took more and more of Larkin’s cock into his mouth, until his cock was rubbing against the soft flesh of the back of Jade’s throat.

Larkin had to stop sucking just so he could get some air. “H-how?”

Jade pulled away and chuckled. “Have you ever met a reptile with a gag reflex, Larkin?”

“I’ve… never been around reptiles before,” Larkin confessed. “And I can’t say I’ve ever thought about their gag reflexes.” He blushed a little, because it seemed so taboo to talk about. He supposed a dragon was a giant reptile, but he didn’t want to think of Jade that way. Half-scaled, sure, but a dragon was a majestic creature. He didn’t want to think about dragons or reptiles, though. He leaned up again, taking a little bit of Jade’s other cock into his mouth. Just for a taste, just to get it nice and hard for him so he’d be able to take him through both—assuming he didn’t come first.

He could at least make one of Jade’s cocks come, Larkin decided. A challenge, something to focus on. Make Jade feel good, in exchange for that delicious semen and the pleasure Jade was giving him. His mind was already beginning to fuzz up just from the precum alone.

Larkin had sucked off Jade plenty of times, so he was familiar with what Jade enjoyed. He had that advantage, even if he kept getting distracted by Jade’s tongue squeezing, or Jade’s throat convulsing around the head of his cock.

He wasn’t going to last long at this rate, but he had to at least get one of Jade’s cocks spilling into his mouth so he could experience pleasure from all directions. He loved the feeling of Jade atop him, balanced so delicately and making expert work of sucking him, and he felt safe rather than boxed in.

He focused on Jade’s left cock, pleased by the groan that escaped the dragon’s lips when Larkin turned his full attention to Jade’s favorite one. He licked and sucked, urgently and more desperately as his lips and tongue tingled with the precum steadily dripping out of it. He chased it, wanting more of it, needing more of it, as he stopped thinking about anything else but Jade.

That was how he always wanted it to be.

He tried to prolong his own pleasure, fighting off his own climax, but when Jade spilled into his mouth, he gasped and lost control. He sucked harder, eagerly drinking down every drop of what Jade had to offer as his own cock emptied down Jade’s throat.

Blindly, without even thinking about it, Larkin turned to Jade’s other cock, guiding it into his mouth as his body rode out the pleasure and begged for more.

“You don’t… you don’t need to…” Jade mumbled, his mouth still against Larkin’s sensitive cock. He kissed the length of Larkin’s shaft. “This is meant to be about you, my gem.”

But Larkin wanted to. He wanted the only thing on his mind to be Jade, to be pleasure. He wanted the sweet taste of Jade’s cum to flood all of his senses.

So he kept sucking, reveling in how Jade’s second cock pulsed in his mouth, and even using his hand to keep the first cock against his face, rubbing whatever seed was on it into his own skin.

When Jade finished for the second time, Larkin sighed in pleasure around him once he’d drained him dry. He didn’t let go, his mouth still around Jade’s right cock as he gently suckled. He was aware of how sensitive Jade would be right after climax, but he wasn’t ready to let go just yet.

Jade’s legs trembled. “I think you’ve exhausted me,” Jade mumbled, drawing one of his cool fingers along Larkin’s thigh. “I didn’t think it was possible.”

Smug satisfaction filled Larkin. For once, he’d managed to get one over on Jade. He slowly, reluctantly, released Jade’s cock.

“Can you hold me? While we rest?” he asked, his voice cracking—from having cock ramming against his throat, and not for any other reason.

Jade slowly got up and came back to lie next to Larkin. “Of course, my gem. I’ll hold you whenever you want. I’m… I’m never going to let go of you, ever again.”

Part of Larkin wanted to protest. There was no place for a dragon if he was going to take the throne… But then, Jade was wise, and Larkin could use that wisdom.

But now wasn’t the time to think about it. Now was the time to revel in Jade’s embrace and the luxurious feeling of pleasure as his body absorbed every last drop of Jade’s cum. He nuzzled Jade affectionately, kissing his cheek, then his mouth. He dipped his tongue past Jade’s lips, still more of that dragon saliva lulling him into a pleasant state of bliss.

He didn’t even fear the nightmares when his eyes drifted shut.

* * *

Larkin woke up warm and safe. Jade’s arms were still securely around him. As long as Jade was there, Larkin knew that nobody could touch him.

It would be so easy to simply stay like this forever.

Your brother is motivated by greed and ambition.

But it would be unfair to all the people of his realm. Larkin was weak, maybe, and stupid, but he was still the prince of Kithage, and he would not allow anybody to suffer simply because he was afraid of his brother.

“Jade?” Larkin lifted his head to get a better look of his dragon.

Jade’s eyes opened, and he flicked his long, talented tongue out briefly. “Yes, my gem?”

Larkin opened his mouth, and immediately closed it again. Jade had said he would listen more—or, no, he said he should have listened. That didn’t mean he would listen now. A small bubble of doubt rose up inside him. If Jade refused to cooperate, Larkin had no chance.

He wouldn’t be able to fight Jade. He wouldn’t be able to leave Jade again.

“I… I need to go back, Jade,” Larkin said haltingly. “To stop my brother.”

Jade hissed angrily. “I will devour him. Rend him apart.”

Larkin quickly shook his head. “No. No more torture. No more death. He will be tried by the royal court after I present them with Mother’s documents, and when he is found guilty, he will have a place in the castle for the rest of his days. Under arrest, of course, and heavily guarded, but unable to spread slander or risk my rule.” He frowned. “There’s also the matter of the mage…”

“No human magic could compete with mine,” Jade said. “No human can compete with me, period. If you want your throne, I will guard you, and it. Nobody will ever question your rule, my gem.”

“It feels a little like cheating,” Larkin said, frowning a little. “But… I have no armies, no militia, no influence. I have been deemed a traitor, and it will be a fight. I don’t wish to put you at risk, even if you can withstand any human magic or attacks. I would never forgive myself if you were even injured.”

Jade laughed, kissing Larkin’s cheek. “Do not worry for my sake. I’ve been alive longer than your kingdom has existed. A few swords and arrows won’t affect me.”

“But I do worry!” Larkin answered stubbornly. “You keep calling me your treasure, but… it goes both ways, Jade! I… I have feelings for you too. Leaving you broke my heart, and I don’t ever want to be separated from you again. So we have to be careful. And do things right, so that nobody has any reason to wish us harm.”

Jade’s expression softened, and he pulled Larkin closer. “All right. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to diminish your worries. I have been… a terrible guardian. I don’t deserve you. But if you will have me, I will continue to watch over you and make sure you shine brightly, for all to see.”

Larkin had a feeling that even if he tried to refuse Jade, the dragon would go nowhere. The talk about if you will have me was posturing, but Larkin appreciated it nonetheless. He loved Jade more than he’d wanted to admit even to himself, and he wouldn’t be able to stand it if they were even separated for a few days.

“All right,” he murmured. “I will allow you to stand by my side and guide me, for us both to love and know love.” He looked a little shyly at Jade, wishing he was truly clean from more than a few rounds of a bucket bath and that his hair wasn’t sticking up in all directions like it was wont to do when he woke. “Do you still wish me to be your betrothed?”

Jade smiled widely. “It would make me beyond happy to call myself your betrothed. For us to marry, as you humans do.”

It was strange, that Larkin could smile back, after everything that he’d gone through. The terrible memories weren’t gone, and he had no doubt that nightmares would plague him in the future, but he also had Jade at his side, willing to do anything for him. Willing to wash away the touch of other men, the doubts and the fears.

“Once I’m king,” Larkin said, more confidently, “we’ll plan a wedding. A royal wedding, where we’ll invite all the neighboring royalty, so that they can witness our love. Oh, and… you have siblings? They can come too.”

Jade chuckled. “I have a lot of siblings. But Citrine, at least, would want to visit. And I’ll convince Topaz too. She’ll be so jealous.”

Larkin canted his head to the side. “Jealous? Why?”

“Because my treasure is better than any she’s ever managed to keep,” Jade answered smugly.

Larkin blushed, but he pointed out, “She may not feel the same way. She may not like me at all.” That filled him with insecurity. He wanted Jade’s family to like him. What if they didn’t? Would they try to convince Jade to leave him?

Would Jade do it if they did?

“They’ll love you, I’m sure of it.” Jade wrinkled his nose. “Everybody even likes Citrine’s cats. I think you’re much easier to like than a cat.”

Larkin had a hard time believing that, although he couldn’t imagine a dragon with cats, either. But all of that was something for the future.

“We need to stop Elric’s coronation first,” Larkin said. “I have my mother’s letter, and her testament, hidden away. After we… after we bathe, and get dressed, and… oh, I need my sword. But the coronation is the day after tomorrow. Is there enough time to…”

“Don’t worry.” Jade petted Larkin’s face. “I’ll make sure we get everywhere we need to on time. Just tell me exactly what you want to do.”

Larkin met his eyes, and hope filled his chest. He didn’t want to depose his brother. He still couldn’t believe this was something he had to do.

But with Jade at his side, he knew that he was strong enough to do it.