Chapter Thirty-Six

At my urging, the Sea King set me down outside the dining hall, and we walked the rest of the way to his apartments hand-in-hand. Our apartments, I mean. It was starting to sink in that his home was now my home. I had a home. And not one that floated around on top of the sea. Not just a single room either. I lived in a palace.

But Vax didn't take me to our beautiful bedroom. Instead of heading up the stairs, he went out to the garden. The garden of ash.

It had been cleaned; the ashes gathered and the black stains scrubbed away. New trees, bushes, and flowers had been planted. But they would need time to fill in and flourish into what the old garden had been. It had a feeling of rebirth to it, all that freshly tilled soil and trimmed foliage, but under that was a lingering sorrow. The kind of pain Vax had suffered there couldn't be scrubbed away with soap and water. It had seeped into the stones.

"Vax," I whispered. "I don't want to be here. I keep remembering you curled up among the ashes."

"I as well," Vax said as he lifted his chin and drew me down the bright stone path around the plants. "But I need to reclaim this place, Mate, and you're the only one who can help me do that."

He took me to a grassy circle surrounded by trees. The sod was as fresh as everything else, doubtless imported from the surface. It was also surprisingly soft when he drew me down onto it. I looked up at the branches bowed over us and then past them to the sea. It lay against Vaxarion's ward, thousands of pounds of pressure, maybe more, all held back by the King's will. It was humbling to think about. As a whale passed over us, I stared at its pale underbelly and shivered. To think that my lover could become a beast even larger than that whale was mind-blowing.

It had been many years since I'd spent so long underwater. I'd forgotten about the beauty down there. The lights of the city had been dimmed for the night, mimicking what was happening above the surface. But dim light was different from moonlight, and even without the whale of a reminder, I wouldn't have been deceived. I had a moment of anxiety and had to remind myself that I wouldn't be there constantly. I wasn't a prisoner. I was a duke. I had the freedom of the sea and the land.

I smiled as I looked down and found Vax staring at me, his eyes gone tender and his lips slightly parted.

"You are so beautiful, my sea butterfly," Vax whispered as he reached for my hair. In seconds, he had my braid undone and was combing his fingers through it. "So very beautiful."

I shook my head. "It baffles me that you think I'm the beautiful one."

"Oh, I know I'm glorious," he said in a teasing tone. "But your face was seared into my mind from the first moment I saw it."

"Vax." I took his hand from my hair and held it. "I'm so sorry you suffered without me."

"Never apologize for that again, Mate." He pulled me up to him.

I rose onto my knees and yanked off the fancy tunic I'd worn to dinner—courtesy of my royal mate. Then I surged to my feet and kicked off my new boots. My silk pants. My silkier undershorts. All gone. I stood before my lover nude, with him still fully dressed, and my cock hardened for him. It was also chest-level on him. Vax couldn't resist grabbing it and giving it a few strokes.

"You're helping to banish those dark days already, Mate." Vax took my hip and drew me closer so that I straddled his lap, then lowered his head to suck my cock.

As my mate twirled his tongue around me and massaged my sacs, I grabbed handfuls of his thick hair and steadied myself. With a groan, Vax took me deeper, his lips closing around me like fingers, then his tongue pressed up to add its velvety heat.

"Stop!" I cried. "I'm going to come!"

Vax growled but pulled away. "As much as I want to taste you, I think I'd prefer to see you consecrate the new garden with your desire. The sight of your cock streaming over the grass will be a strong memory to replace what happened here."

I groaned. "Fuck. Stop talking or you'll make me come anyway."

Vax stood up and grinned at me. "Then focus on undressing your mate."

I grinned back. "That, I can do."

I took my time removing the Sea King's clothing, enjoying the feel of his muscles beneath silk, velvet, and leather before pushing them away. A pile of clothing and shoes grew to our right. And then he was as naked as I, and I started to feel the thrill of being outside without being observed. This place was ours. Vax had been sad here, but that sadness had been for me. It was mine. I could claim it with him and turn it into something wondrous. Use all that shit to fertilize the soil.

I pulled Vaxarion's head down to mine and kissed him with my beautiful intentions bubbling forth. He seemed to feel it, maybe through our bond, because Vax shivered as he kissed me, then ended the kiss by sinking to his knees, his lips moving from my mouth to my throat and down my chest. He laved at one of my nipples before resting his cheek on my belly and just hugging me.

A wave of contentment washed over me as I held Vax pressed against my stomach and stroked his hair. That silken wealth of shimmering darkness pooled around his powerful body. Talk about memories to replace the past. I would remember him like this forever. The sight of his dragon, curled up in despair, started to fade. And then Vax looked up at me and everything faded except for him. I fell into his amethyst stare and drowned in him.

It's impossible for a Neraky to drown, but the Sea King didn't believe in impossibilities.

"I love you," Vax said.

I fell to my knees, sliding down through the ring of his arms, and kissed him again. I could have kissed him forever, just reveling in all he was and what we were together. But there were two hard cocks weeping between us, and they wouldn't be ignored. The heart could only overpower the body for so long, even when you had four of them beating in harmony. I canted my hips forward, and we groaned together, our flesh clashing in the best ways.

"I love you too," I finally replied. "Always, Vax. No matter what happens, you have my hearts. All of them."

He laid his palm on my chest to feel those three heartbeats, all working together to adore him. "I accept your offering and give you my heart in return. I only have one, but it's completely yours, Zixin."

"It's all I need."

And then we were kissing again, our hands moving over each other slowly at first, then more desperately. I sank onto the grass with my lover and rolled until he was beneath me. I needed to taste him, but I couldn't get to his cock without sucking at his tight nipples first. They were too luscious to pass by. And then I had to nibble at his belly and lick the line coming inward from his hip. At last, I was there, his hard flesh hitting me beneath the chin. I angled down to catch it in my mouth and grinned around it when I heard Vax suck in his breath. Oh, the power of giving a good blow job. Was there anything that felt so glorious?

Yeah, riding the cock that you got dripping wet. That would feel phenomenal.

I may have rushed the long, wet strokes after that thought hit. An urgent need to have my mate inside my channel was overtaking me. My mouth wasn't enough. Oh, but he did taste amazing. I ran my tongue up his length one more time before I got to my knees and straddled his waist.

"Lift your cock and sacs for me, Mate," Vax said. "I want to see my flesh join yours."

"Oh, you want to see it?" I grinned and turned to face his feet.

Another groan came from Vax, along with the feel of his broad hands on my ass. They spread me and earned me a third groan. Gripping his base, I angled myself down onto him, pushing and prodding until his plump tip breached my ring. We cried out together, and I shoved down, taking a few more inches. Then I rose and dropped again, going further. Once more and I pressed my ass into his pelvis. Firmly joined, I leaned forward and gave my mate an even better view.

"Great Gods," Vax growled and pushed my cheeks apart again. "Look at you, stretched around me. So pink and wet. Ride me, Mate. Take all of me into your tight channel."

I sat up, glanced at him over my shoulder, found his stare locked on where we were joined, and faced forward to grab his thighs. "Oh, I'm going to ride you hard, Mate. I want to hear you roar while you fill me."

I began to pump and grind, pushing down and forward to drag my balls over his. Seeing our sacs together, I couldn't resist massaging them as one, my hands lifting and plumping as I continued to ride the Sea Dragon. His hands kept me spread and his breath came faster.

"Soon, Mate," Vax growled. "I'm sorry. I can't last much longer. I've needed this all day."

"I'll join you," I promised, lifting one of my hands to stroke my cock.

"Oh, fuck." He pulled me down with his grip on my ass and lifted his hips to drive even deeper into me.

But I didn't give up control. I kept riding, dropping to meet the King's passion, and it turned our sex into something wild, every drop a slap and every lift a slam. Vax let go of my ass and it jiggled. He slapped it. And that was what sent me over.

"Vax!" I shouted as my seed spurted over the grass, just as he wanted.

The Sea King always got what he wanted.

"My Zix," Vax groaned. "Just a little more."

"Don't worry, baby," I panted as I shuddered. "I won't stop until you give me every last drop." I looked over my shoulder to meet his stare. "Fill my ass with your cum."

Vaxarion roared, his hips lifting one last time. So much power came with that final thrust that my knees left the ground and it truly felt as if I was riding a beast. His cock drove deep and gave me what I was after. The heat of him filled me. No tingling absorption this time, but I liked the feeling of fullness too. His heat. After I ground my ass on him, making sure that I squeezed it all from him, I slid off his cock, and that fullness remained.

With a smile on my face, I nestled in against my mate on the grass. He gathered me close, kissed me, and fell asleep. I was right behind him. And so was the garden. It drifted off to dreams with us, the pain that had tainted it now transmuted into a pleasure so great, nothing could stain it.