Chapter Thirty-Four

“Ly,” Aras murmured as he stroked a hand down my chest. No, not a hand—claws. Just the tips, scraping gently.

I sighed and closed my eyes. It enhanced the feeling of fur against my skin when he pressed his face into the curve of my neck and kissed me there. The tickle of his whiskers. The velvet of his tongue. The rough pads of his fingertips. My mate was a tapestry woven of many yarns. It made all other men boring by comparison. I could never be satisfied with the feel of skin after having all this.

My mate clenched his hand on my waist, his claws drawing blood, and I sucked in an excited and shocked breath.

This too, I couldn't give up. The sharp mix of pleasure and pain. The sting with his kiss. The taste of his blood on my lips as he enjoyed mine. Fiendish? To some. To us, this was love and anyone who didn't understand it could fuck off. This was ours. We didn't have to explain it or even tell anyone about it. That would be the motto of our love. We would do as we pleased.

Speaking of which.

“Oh, there's one last thing I didn't tell you,” I said as my mate slid between my legs.

Aras looked up at me, his eyes bright in the light of the lanterns. It was late, but we weren't ready to sleep yet.

“You're a duke now.”

Aras smirked. “I'm a duke?”

“Yes. Normally, there's a presentation ceremony for a Dragon king's mate, and if the entire dread doesn't accept the mate, the King must reject them or step down.”

“What?” Aras snarled.

“But I'm changing the rules.” I cupped his cheek. “Fuck them. They're already coming for me. It's not as if we can present you now. Even if we could, they'd only use it as an opportunity to get rid of me. So, I have the perfect excuse to do away with that law. At least for my kingdom.”

“So, I'm a duke? Just like that?”

“Yes.” I lifted my head to brush a kiss across his lips. “Duke Aras of Gavemor. You'll have to limit your sea journeys now.”

Aras frowned and sat up.

My chest clenched. Oh, fuck. I sat up too. “Is that all right?”

“I will give up my position as captain and hire someone to replace me under one condition.”

“What?” I whispered.

“It starts now. I am here with you now, and this is where I'll stay. I'm your mate. I stand at your side no matter what. No matter who comes against us.”

I groaned. “Oh, you wicked man. You turned that against me.”

“I won't leave you now, Ly. You can't expect me to.”

“Aras, please. You've proved your bravery and loyalty beyond a doubt. Don't make me watch you risk yourself again. Seeing you hurt, hurt me. Can't you see what that would do to me on a battlefield? Just the possibility of it is enough to cripple me.”

Aras paused. “I don't want to . . . Ly, I can't just leave.” He rolled off me and landed hard on the pillow beside me. “I can't. Imagine if you had to leave me to face enemies alone.” He turned his head to look at me. “Could you do it?”

“Well, fuck,” I muttered.

Aras chuckled. “Exactly. So, what do we do?”

I turned on my side to face him. “Would you agree to wait on the city wall? You could still watch the battle. Just promise me that you'll leave if I . . .”

“Die?” he growled. “You want me to run if you die?”

I grabbed his throat and yanked him closer. “Do you know what they will do to you if I lose? You're my mate.”

Aras pushed my hand away. “No one knows that.”

I winced.

He scowled at me. “Who knows?”

“Every Dragon who has come within smelling range of you knows.”

“They can scent it on me?”

“Yes. And so will the nobles.”

Aras rolled onto his back and slammed his head onto the pillow several times. “If you fall, I don't know if I'll have the mental capacity to run.”

I understood. If I saw Aras killed, I would go on a rampage of killing that wouldn't end until someone killed me as well. But I didn't want that for my mate.

“I will make a compromise with you,” I said. “If you stay, you will have two Dragon escorts. They will take you to safety if I'm killed.”

“Ly, no.”

“The compromise is that you can stay. I'll also offer you this—if it becomes clear that we will lose, I will call for a retreat. I will lead my forces to safety and take you with me.”

Aras let out a breath. “All right. But what about my crew?”

“Send them away now. Out to sea. If my crown is taken, Morilren may be our only refuge.”

“I'll send them to dock in Latur.”

“That may be too close.”

“That's why I want them there. They can reach it in a day and we can send someone to take them down to Shasenai if we lose.”

If we lose. I had contemplated losing my kingdom many times, but now the idea hurt more than before. I wanted to give my mate the life he deserved, not the life of a couple of refugees in an undersea kingdom. A man provided for his mate. And Aras had mated a king. There were expectations. Mine, not his. I knew Aras didn't expect anything from me. He'd only just learned who he was. Still, I wanted to give him the world. After all, he had rejected the moon.

“All right,” I said. “Send the Tiger's Claw to Latur. But choose a coastal town as north as possible.”

Aras nodded. Then he smirked. “Can we get back to making love now?”

“Is that what we were doing?” I smirked back at him.

“This is the first time we're going to have sex while knowing how we feel about each other. So, yes, that's what we were doing. It's what we're going to do right now.”

Aras grabbed the back of my head and yanked me into a kiss.

He was right. Of course he was. Love rose between us immediately, finally acknowledged and verbally exchanged. Words have power. They hold vibration, intention, and a little bit of magic. Speaking our feelings had engraved those words into our hearts and given our bond additional strength. Nothing could part us now.

Nothing but death.

I pushed away the thought. There had been enough talk of a terrible future. Now was the time to rejoice in the wonderful present. Aras was mine at last, and I was his. Things were as they were meant to be. The Goddess may not interfere in the war, but she had given me Aras, and she had shown her support for me. How many men could say they had spoken to the Dragon Goddess? Not many. The God, certainly. Karadas had made himself available to all. But Ensarena was more secretive. More reserved. She had been hurt by her lover. Betrayed. Now, he was mated to another. She had reasons to be bitter and aloof. And yet, she had held me in her heart. She had granted my request and spared Zixin. I had to have faith that she would see me through this war.

Her and my Sea Dragon allies.

I growled into my mate's kiss and ground myself against him. Even that, the mere beginning of intercourse, was magical—the build-up beautiful. Every brush of fur against my skin heightened my pleasure and brought fresh joy to my heart. Elation—that's what I felt. Elation and ecstasy that had nothing to do with sex. Well, not entirely.

My shaft fought with Aras's, bouncing with eagerness. All of me was eager. And nervous. After what he said, I needed this to be special. Should I dominate him? I didn't want to. I wanted this time to be tender. But what if he wanted that? What if I disappointed him with my gentleness? What if—

“Ly!” Aras cupped my face. “Stop it.”

“Stop what?”

He grimaced at me. “We just went over how our bond connects us. You can't hide from me anymore.”

I grinned sheepishly. “I've spent too long hiding from you. It's about time I fully embraced our mating.”

Instead of wondering what my mate wanted, I simply felt for him down our bond. And there I found relief. We were in harmony. Aras wanted this to be real lovemaking. It would be a first for both of us. And domination had no place in it. Blood and pain had no place in it. They were great to get us off, but we were celebrating more than physical pleasure. And we needed to keep that simple.

“I love you,” I said, my voice strong and clear.

“I love you too, Ly,” Aras said. “Now make love to me. Let's forget about war, death, and the Gods for a while.”

“Agreed.” I pulled him on top of me, spreading my legs around him.

Aras wasn't surprised. As I said, this wasn't about dominance. I didn't feel the need to assert myself anymore. My mate knew who I was and loved all of me. Having him above me wasn't demeaning. It was wonderful. Freedom.

When Aras bent his head to suck me into his mouth, that wonderful emotion grew. And I didn't rush it. I luxuriated in the feel of his wet warmth, the soft texture of his tongue, and the smooth pressure of his fangs. It felt natural to draw my knees up as he pleasured me. Natural to angle myself for his ease.

Aras groaned and drew off me. We were so in harmony that I simultaneously gripped the backs of my knees to pull my legs out and down. His cock shone with arousal, and he gathered that lubrication onto a finger. Watching me, Aras smoothed his essence over my entrance, then prodded me gently.

“You're clenching around my finger, Mate,” Aras said. “Do you need my cock so badly?”

Mate. He had called me "Mate." My heart pounded exuberantly and that ring of muscles clenched around him again.

“If you don't give it to me soon, I'll push you onto your back and mount you,” I threatened.

“No. I want you like this.” He slid out of me to grip the base of his shaft. “Just seeing you with your legs out and your pink hole begging me to fuck it makes my sacs clench. You're beautiful like this.”

“You have me any way you want me, Mate. If you want me to lie here like this forever, I will.” I grinned and added, “But I will be very disappointed.”

“We can't have that.” Aras bent over me, setting his other hand on the bed beside me. He prodded me with the tip of his cock, then gently pushed in. “Oh, fuck,” he whispered. “Lyrandir.” He went deeper. “Oh, fuck, your channel is the perfect tightness. I swear you were made to hold me.”

“I was.” I hooked my legs over his arms and grabbed his shoulders. “And you were made to fill me. Go deeper, Mate.”

“Ly,” he groaned and pumped deeper. His head bent to press our foreheads together. “I love you so much.”

“I don't deserve it, but I'll take it anyway.” I angled myself up to meet his thrusts. “I'll take all of you, and I will treasure you until my last breath.”

“You will never take that breath,” Aras growled, his thrusts coming faster. “And we will never be parted. Swear it!”

It might be a lie, but I didn't care. “I swear it, Mate. I will win the war for you. Because you command it.”

Aras bared his teeth, then said, “Yes, you fucking will.” His hips slammed against me. But then he remembered that we were making love, not fucking, and slowed down. His expression softened, his stare coasting over my face adoringly. “Lyrandir.”

“Aras, I can hardly believe you're mine.” My hands slid up the sides of his neck to cup his face. “You're more than I could have hoped for. A gift from the Goddess. Thank you, Mate. Thank you for loving me despite everything I put you through.”

“Lyrandir,” Aras whispered and brushed his lips over mine. “Don't you understand? I've been yours from the first touch. That tiny promise that we could become this held my heart hostage, keeping it from all others until you claimed it. Once I knew you wanted me, I didn't want another.”

“But your lover. You kept him.”

Aras snorted. “I kept him but didn't fuck him. I didn't even try.” He grinned and rubbed our noses together while he continued to gently slide in and out of me. “Unlike you, I knew I wouldn't be satisfied with anyone else.”

I looked away.

He bent to nudge my face forward again. “I love that you tried to take other men and couldn't.” He smirked. “It proves that I had your heart caged as well, right from the start.”

“More than my heart.” I wriggled my cock against his belly.

Aras burst out laughing, his cock kicking inside me, and I joined him. He fell forward atop me, shoving my legs out further, but I didn't care. I pulled him even closer and held him until our laughter abated. It didn't affect our erections at all. We were both still hard when Aras pushed up on his hands to stare down at me.

He slid in as deep as he could and held himself there as he said, “I'm glad I didn't know.”

“About the mating bond?”

“About all of it—Dragon mating, you, and love. You introduced me to everything I now treasure most.”

I scowled. “I also tortured you with it.”

“Worth it,” he vowed. “It made this all the sweeter.”

“Truly?”

“Truly.” Aras started thrusting faster. “But I can't hold on to that sweetness for much longer, Mate.” He bared his teeth and spoke through them, “I need to rut!”

“Thank the Gods,” I said. “My dragon is clawing at me to do the same.”

“Hold on, my love,” Aras said. “This is going to get wild.”

“I will never let go. No matter how wild it gets.”