Chapter 16: Bane

Chapter Sixteen

Bane

M y nerves are shot, and my fury is at an all-time high as I jog inside my front door, completely nude. The clothing I wore when I left was fully shredded upon listening to news I expected but didn’t want to hear.

My head tilts.

There’s no breathing or noises to indicate anyone is here.

Not even Eldritch.

That motherfucking piece of shit.

I stomp back out the door, and my wings erupt as I cross the courtyard to check Charity’s house.

It’s a quick trip.

Ripping open Charity’s front door, I move inside.

Athos, of all fucking creatures, comes out of the kitchen in Charity’s frilly pink apron with a mixing bowl in the crook of his arm. He frowns, gesturing at my nude form. “You forgot your pants, but somehow remembered your ridiculous boots.”

I found the boots and my phone next to my destroyed clothing in the meadow where I met my informants. I’ve learned from experience, replacing phones is a pain in the ass, so I shoved the device in my shoe before taking off.

Athos’s head tilts. “Are you okay?”

“Where is my mate?” I growl as my claws elongate.

My dragon is riled to the point he’s about to push me out of the driver’s seat if we don’t see Charity within the next thirty seconds.

“Our mate is in her bed with her newly awoken other mate,” Athos says in a jovial tone that makes me ache to rip his head off. “Did you get the pictures I sent you?”

A low warning growl escapes my lips as the dragon fights for control. He has very particular ideas about what we should do next.

The first step is to kill Eldritch.

The second will be to fuck and bond our mate next to his bleeding corpse.

“Why don’t you just not do whatever it is you’re currently contemplating?” Athos suggests. “You’re stubborn as fuck, but they’re bonded , Bane. You understand how a matebond works. He can’t hurt her. He would never want to, to begin with.”

Charity wails from upstairs, and my nostrils flare, picking up the scent of her arousal.

“That also means you can’t murder him,” Athos says, like he’s breaking something down for a toddler. “It would hurt your mate.”

“Fuck you,” I growl as the irrational thoughts continue.

Fine.

Maybe I can’t kill him, but I could find a nice secluded cave and stash him there for eternity.

My vision goes hazy, and the next thing I know, I’m on the stairs.

“Well, this should be fun,” Athos mutters.

Charity’s door slams against the wall with very little effort. The dragon hisses his displeasure at finding Charity riding Eldritch.

“Uh-oh,” she whispers, peering over her shoulder with wide eyes. “Are you okay?”

The snarl that bubbles out of my chest would terrify any other being, but not my mate.

She rolls her pretty blue eyes, patting the wyvern’s chest.

“I have a feeling he’s about to have a tantrum.” She lifts the bottom of her dress and climbs off his cock. “Don’t destroy my house, or you’ll be the one to pay to fix it.”

My dragon is in full control as I growl, “Mate.”

“Banyan Oxtari,” Eldritch says, sitting up as his eyes glow in response.

It’s fitting that he recognizes me by sight, when I’ve never seen him before.

I’d imagine that speaks to how well the royals hide his existence. Sure, I’ve always known the whispered secrets were true, but even as high up as I was in the Dragon’s Shield, I’d never laid eyes on him.

“Okay, no way are the two of you about to try to kill each other in my house.” Charity huffs, climbing off the end of her bed. “You’re super naked.”

My clawed hand digs into her ass as soon as she’s within reach.

“They’ve hoarded you for long enough.” I snatch her up, wrapping her around my front. Eldritch moves to shove himself off the bed, but my dragon growls his warning. “She’s my mate. I would never hurt her. You, on the other hand?” I reach the doors that lead to the small second-floor balcony and rip one open. “Follow us, and I will kill you. It’s my time with my mate now.”

The pain that normally pinches when my wings erupt isn’t even a thought in my mind.

My dragon is leading this show, and he proves as much by shifting our tail. Or some modified version of it that I’ve never used in human form. It coils around Charity’s back as she climbs my torso, holding on for dear life.

“So, this is romantic,” she says, giving me a goofy smile. “I haven’t flown before. Well, not outside of the night the wyvern scooped me up, but I was too terrified to enjoy most of it.” Her nose wrinkles as her lips turn down. “I’m not sure that helped. I was just trying to say that this is a much more relaxing mode of transportation.”

“You smell like him.” I hear myself growl in disdain.

“Yes, well, he is also my mate, so that’s likely to happen frequently in the future.” She gives me a defiant look that makes my cock throb.

My dragon is not nearly as enamored. She doesn’t have any idea how much we care for her or the lengths we’ve gone to in order to keep her and Veryn safe.

She pulls a hand from my neck and slides her fingers down my bare chest as we fly through the air. Our houses aren’t far from the forest on the back edge of town, which is good, because I don’t need to flash my ass to half of Haven.

Charity’s hand wraps around my half-hard cock, and I groan.

“Damn, Bane,” she whispers, staring at me under her lashes. “I guess there’s a reason you’re so cocky.”

“Woman.” I chuckle, weaving us through the trees as we aim for my cabin. It’s where I stayed during missions to the human realm, long before I was ever ordered to locate Aline. “You’re dangerous.”

“I don’t mind you stealing me away, but we should talk about Athos and Eldritch.” Charity runs her thumb over my crown, like she can distract me enough to be agreeable.

“You’re mine,” I hear myself snarl, my voice lined with the dragon’s.

“I’m not disputing that, but they’re mine too.” She stares straight into my eyes, which wouldn’t be possible with the dragon’s dominance, except that she is my mate.

The irrational urge to wipe their smells from her scent washes over me, and the dragon doesn’t allow me to fight his actions.

Spinning Charity in my hold, I don’t stop until her pussy is right in front of my face. The dragon’s tongue flicks out as he tugs her dress out of the way, using his tail.

Our tail.

Whatever.

It’s weird as fuck to have access to it in humanoid form.

Charity squeaks and grabs on to my hips. “Oh my God, Bane. Way to shove my face right in your dick.” Her warm breath fans over my shaft, making it jump and thicken. “I mean, not that I’m complaining. Holy crap, it’s even bigger than I realized.”

Fuck me.

She’s cute as hell.

The dragon doesn’t acknowledge her words. He’s completely in control of my body.

It’s frustrating.

The last thing I want to do is taste two other guys’ cum, but my beast is dead set on removing their scents from her. He doesn’t care what he has to do to accomplish it.

My wings flap, flying us higher.

This way, we don’t have to worry about weaving between the trees.

One arm stays wrapped around her back, holding her to my front, while the other moves to her ass as her legs bounce like she’s not sure what to do with them.

Luckily, using the dragon’s extremely long tongue allows me to mostly see where I’m going over the globes of her ass. My clawed hand lands on her ass, spreading her pussy apart, so our tongue can tease over her soaked cunt.

Charity’s nails dig into my pelvis.

“You’re not going to drop me, right?” she asks breathlessly.

“Never,” I hiss.

It might be my mouth, but my tongue is fully in dragon form as it buries deep in her pussy.

The naughty little vixen pushes herself away from my front enough that she can pull my crown to her lips.

I wish she was completely nude, so I could feel every inch of her soft flesh pushing against mine.

All thoughts swiftly disappear with the way her tongue circles my tip.

My eyes gleam yellowy-green, and it lights Charity’s skin with a light greenish glow. Her mouth works farther down my cock while my dragon tongues her tight core. She wiggles against my front, like I hit some place inside her that she enjoys.

I quite like the thought of that. Every part of my being aches to please her.

I need to prove that I can meet all her needs, so she never tries to escape. Neither the beast nor I would allow that to happen.

The cool night air slaps against my skin as I move us away from town.

“My clit,” she grunts around my length.

Right.

I’m doing the best I can here with zero experience.

The Dragon Shield’s oath is all-encompassing, requiring complete fealty to the crown.

Not that I wouldn’t have honored my personal morals, anyway.

My bond with Charity will allow her deep access to not only my thoughts and feelings, but also my memories, should she wish to explore them. My parents may have abandoned me to be trained for the dragon’s guard from a young age, but in the little time I spent with my father, he impressed upon me the value of waiting for one’s mate.

Never did I expect it to take several hundred years, but my initial commitment to the Dragon’s Shield was two-hundred years.

So, in a sense, it was a blessing that I didn’t find her until that oath was complete.

Although, with the way she hollows her cheeks, swirling her tongue around my throbbing cock… I probably would have disappeared early, just like I abandoned my assignment as soon I saw her big blue eyes.

The dragon retracts his tongue from her hole and moves to lavishing attention on her swollen clit.

My nostrils flare, scenting the air. She still smells faintly of Athos and Eldritch, but it no longer overpowers my senses.

My mate finally gives up holding on to my hip and moves her other hand to cup my knot. It pulses in response to the pressure, and I shake my head to attempt to stay focused.

The dragon relentlessly teases her clit as my crown hits the back of her throat, and she works the leftover inches of my shaft with one of her hands.

Gods.

Does she want to kill us both?

My wings stretch as I gain altitude again.

This is both the most enjoyable and stressful experience of my life.

She’s precious cargo.

Charity continues bobbing on my cock, and the next time my tip hits her tonsils, she swallows.

The pressure and stretch are unlike anything I’ve ever felt.

My entire body trembles as I try to hold back from thrusting. Her palm continues to cradle my knot, but her fingers brush my heavy balls. They’re tight and full and aching to unload every drop of my cum down her throat.

Charity begins to convulse against my chest as she gets so much wetter. I lose the battle to hold on, bucking and grinding my hips.

My cock explodes, making my vision go hazy. I hold tight to Charity as she whimpers around my length.

Fuck.

Perhaps I should have given her some type of warning?

She continues to swallow around my throbbing shaft as my dragon lavishes attention on her clit.

“Too much,” she groans.

I have no idea what part is causing her trouble, so I slam my will into the dragon until he rearranges her with her facing the proper direction.

She grins, licking at her lips with pink cheeks.

Fuck me.

If I wasn’t in love with her before, just that look would have made me fall.