Dragon's Tribute Part 5

She gave the swollen k.n.o.b a tentative lick. He eased between her lips, his muscles quivering as if he could scarcely keep from thrusting inside. She circled the head with her tongue.

"Yessss." His fingers ma.s.saged her hair. "More!"

Anchoring herself by gripping his thighs, she lapped up and down the shaft. It leapt under her tongue.

When she skimmed the tip, she tasted a drop of salty fluid. She opened her mouth and rubbed the head of his c.o.c.k around the inside of her lips. The contrast between the silky surface and the stiff flesh thrilled her. When she sucked it in and out between her pursed lips, the flesh between her thighs twitched with eagerness to feel that same motion. Her c.l.i.toris thickened so that she had to cross her legs to relieve the ache.

Remembering how he'd tormented her with his tongue, she licked faster, spiraling around his shaft and teasing the opening at the tip. He stiffened harder than she had ever felt him before. Pressing a finger into the ridge behind his b.a.l.l.s, she felt a throbbing deep within.

"Now!" he cried. "I have to spend!" With his hand on the back of her head, he flexed his hips to plunge deeply into her mouth. Her tongue circled the end of his c.o.c.k while he thrust in and out. She sealed her lips around him to suckle until she felt his whole body turn rigid. His c.o.c.k pulsed, and hot fluid shot into her mouth. Clutching his b.u.t.tocks, she swallowed his seed and held him in her mouth until he went limp with satisfaction.

Her sheath throbbed with longing to receive his hardness. But he had refused to penetrate her. She wiggled up the length of his body, and he wrapped her in a tight embrace. "Help me," she gasped. "I need-"

He reached between her legs. His caress on her bud drew a moan from her. "Is this what you need?"

"Oh, yes! Inside me!"

He nuzzled her hair. "Inside you? Where?" She heard the smile in his voice.

"In my-my c.u.n.t." A hot flush flooded her face and b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Instantly, he plunged his fingers into her. She arched her back and rocked in time with the exquisite motion. He found a spot that burned with almost painful intensity when he rubbed it. Piercing sweetness suffused her whole body. She closed her eyes to immerse herself in it. "No," he whispered. "Look at me."

She obeyed, staring into the smoldering, green fire of his eyes. Her head spun with dizziness. She felt she might fall off the edge of the earth if she let go of him.

"I have never seen eyes so blue as yours," he murmured. "Like the sky. I could fall into them and drown." He quickened the dancing of his fingers. "Let me drown while you soar to the heights."

By now she could hardly understand his words. She rocked faster, his face a blur before her half-open eyes. Between the pressure and stroking inside her and the merciless strumming of her c.l.i.toris, she was melting, shattering- She collapsed in his arms, with the flavor of him still on her lips, and trembled with pleasure at the warmth of his breath rustling her hair. His skin, like hers, felt slick with sweat. She kissed his cheek, tasting salt.

"You see," he murmured, "we need not sacrifice any of the delights we have shared. I shall always desire you, and I rejoice that you desire me."

"Yes, I do." She couldn't deny that feeling. But did she also want the child she carried? She still had deep-rooted doubts about that.

Over the next few weeks, Rowena suffered none of the aches and nausea she had seen her mother endure in pregnancy. She didn't even find herself drowsier than usual, only ravenously hungry. The dragon caught wild game for her every day. Tired of spending so many monotonous hours in the cave, she began hunting with him more often. In dragon form, she had no qualms about devouring a rabbit or deer raw, still steaming with life as its blood soaked into the earth. Sometimes Virid showed her where wild berries grew or guided her by night to an orchard temporarily left unguarded, to let her fill a basket with fruit while he kept watch. Human beings, he said, could not remain healthy on meat alone. She had shed the last of her misgivings about eating uncooked fruit, considering how quickly she had accepted a diet of freshly killed flesh.

He encouraged her to fly with him but snarled in protest when she ventured out on her own. "After your narrow escape at the mill, I cannot feel easy about having you wander the countryside alone," he admonished one day when he caught up with her on a peak where she could scan the horizon and see the Baron's keep on a distant hilltop and the villages and hamlets that owed homage to him scattered across the landscape like wooden blocks. She stretched her wings with an impatient flap. "You speak as if I'm a child or a pet. I'm a grown woman and the mother of your babe, as you won't let me forget."

"Grown in human years, but very young as a dragon."

She snorted smoke from her nostrils. "How long do dragons live?"

"A thousand years or more. I have never seen one of my kind die of old age. When ancient dragons become weary of life, they take refuge in remote, well-hidden lairs. Whether they die or merely sleep, no one knows for certain."

His casual mention of a thousand-year lifespan chilled Rowena. Hiding that reaction, she asked, "Will I live that long?"

Viridiseffulgentissimus gave her a long, unblinking stare. "Again, I know not. With your dragon blood awakened you have a chance at centuries of life."

"It's possible, then?" At his slow nod, she said, "So when I'm a hundred years old do you still plan to watch me like a bird with a single fledgling?"

He tossed his head like a horse. "You have many years to go until you reach your first hundred."

"Well, if you keep me like a hooded falcon, I won't know how to survive even then, will I?"

"If you are truly eager to learn dragon ways," he said, " you should spend more time in this shape. Except while hunting, you insist on remaining human hour after hour."

"But I am human. Human first."

"If you continue to think that way," he said, "you will remain weak, and you will put yourself in danger."

Confused, she sprang into the sky, where the rush of wind could blow away the sadness that clouded her mind. Viridiseffulgentissimus followed, overshadowing her with his wings as usual. Now that the freshness of the experience had worn off, she felt that the adventure of becoming a dragon did not live up to its promise, not when her mate kept her tethered so closely. Besides, she couldn't shake her worries about her family. Little Harold had obviously been sick when she'd seen him. Had he recovered or died?

Constantly watched, how could she find out?

A plan occurred to her, a simple way to make contact with her people. The first step required that she learn to read and write, something Virid himself had suggested. Back at the cave, she broached the subject. "I have nothing to do all day. I'm used to hard work, and there's none here. No cooking orbaking. Almost no cleaning." She had made a crude broom out of twigs to sweep the cavern's floor every day and brush the worst of the cobwebs from the chests, casks, and loose heaps of treasure that made up the dragon's h.o.a.rd. That task took little time. "No animals to tend. Not even any laundry to speak of. At home, we spent a full day each week on that." She washed her undertunics and hose in the bathing pool when necessary, but where outer clothing was concerned, the h.o.a.rd included such an abundance of gowns and kirtles that she never needed to wear any garment more than once if she chose not to. "Until the baby comes, I'll sit idle most of the time."

Virid, sitting on a closed chest in human form, scanned her with a puzzled expression. "You miss all that drudgery? You should be glad of freedom from it."

"In a way, I am. But not without something to take its place." She flipped open one of the boxes and took out a small, leather-bound volume. "Teach me to read, the way you said you would."

"Very well. But you cannot begin with a book like that. We shall need writing materials." He rummaged around in a smaller box for a sheet of blank parchment, a handful of quills, and a vial of black powder.

Leading Rowena to sit on a box, using a larger chest for a table, he showed her how to mix the powder with water to make ink. "You say you know your letters?"

"Mostly, or I did once. I might have forgotten some." Clutching a quill in her right hand, she tried to imitate the way Virid held his.

"Then let us begin at the beginning. This is A." He dipped the quill pen and marked the letter on the parchment.

"Of course I know that one. It's the end of my name." It had been a long time, though, since Grandmother had made her practice writing. She found the process awkward, and her A looked crude next to Virid's.

"Do not concern yourself with elegance yet," he said. "Concentrate on remembering the shape."

After an hour of drill, the alphabet and its sounds came back to Rowena. That basic knowledge was a long way from mastery of the skill, though. She ran her fingers over the binding of the book she had set aside. "When do you think I'll be able to read something like this?"

"You have a great deal to learn before that," he said. "Most of these books are written in Latin or Greek, of which you know nothing. I must first teach you to read your own Saxon tongue."

Since that was exactly what Rowena wanted, she made no objection. "Can you tell me what's in thebooks, though? What about this one?"

Picking up the small volume, he said, "This is the Metamorphoses of Ovid, a poet of Rome's golden age. Shall I read to you from it?"

She nodded. Her right hand felt so cramped from the unfamiliar task that she knew she had to rest it before she tried again.

Cuddled up with Virid on the sleeping cus.h.i.+ons, she listened to his translation from a section of the long poem, tales of pagan G.o.ds pursuing shy maidens who changed into flowers or trees to escape their suitors. "Do you think such things really happened?" she asked when he closed the book to save more for another time.

He wound a lock of her hair around his fingers. "I cannot say for certain, but I doubt it."

"We change from dragon to human and back, though. And I've heard of men who take the shape of wolves."

"That is different from a woman transforming into a tree. That would be far beyond the power of dragon magic, much less that of a merely human sorcerer like your Baron's wizard. It would take the enchantment of a deity."

"You don't think the heathen G.o.ds really existed, then?"

He reclined on the cus.h.i.+ons and drew her closer to his side. "I have never met one, nor have I heard of any other dragon who has."

Tracing swirls with her fingertip on his gleaming, olive-skinned chest, she said, "I've heard the old G.o.ds were really demons in disguise."

"Do you believe that?" His open palm stroked down her side to her flank, then strayed to her a.r.s.e. They were both naked. Virid never wore clothes, and Rowena hadn't bothered to dress when resuming human form after their flight. Though she sometimes enjoyed trying on the silken robes and fur-lined cape, her awakened dragon blood kept her warm enough in the lair with no covering.

"I don't know. It's said dragons are a kind of demon, too. Tales claim the Devil sometimes appears as a dragon."

He emitted a contemptuous growl. "Typical human folly. I am certainly no demon, nor any of my kin."

She rubbed her head, catlike, against his shoulder. "I know that now. If you were a demon, I'd have tobe one, too, because I'm part dragon. But I do wonder if dragons have souls. Do you?"

His brows arched in obvious surprise at the question. "How would I know? I have no idea whether souls even exist."

She stared at him in shock. She had never heard anyone suggest that possibility before. "If dragons don't have souls, do I?"

"So now you are becoming a philosopher, my golden one?" A laugh rumbled deep in his chest. "Do not trouble yourself about such things. Enjoy what your new life gives you. Such as this." He bent to kiss her.

Whenever she expressed worries of any kind, more often than not he tried to distract her with dalliance.

To her annoyance, she usually succ.u.mbed to those distractions. She turned her face away, ignoring the frisson she felt when his tongue brushed her lips, and said, "I was brought up to worry about those things.

I can't just stop thinking about them, any more than I can stop missing my family and friends."

He frowned. "That complaint again? Dragons do not need company, except perhaps that of a mate."

"Well, I'm not all dragon. My human half still has its needs."

"Needs that you will be happier if you overcome." He stood up and reached for her hand. "Shed your human form and fly with me. I want to share a new pleasure with you."

"Again so soon? What do you want to show me, another kind of lovemaking?"

"Not this time. I have an adventure to offer you." He strode toward the exit.

Curious despite herself, she followed. On the ledge, they both transformed, and she launched herself aloft with him.

Following in his wake, she flew higher and farther than ever before. Above the clouds, the sun blazed in her eyes, yet the clear air blew chill across her wings and whistled through her bared teeth. The landscape spread out beneath them as, she thought, the eyes of G.o.d Himself must see it.

Her wings began to ache by the time her mate spiraled toward the earth on a plateau wedged between two hills. Flower-strewn gra.s.s surrounded a blue lake. Viridiseffulgentissimus folded his wings and waited for her to glide to a landing beside him. "See that rivulet trickling downhill?" He swiveled his neck to indicate the narrow, rapid stream. "That is the origin of the river that waters your village."

"We're so high," she marveled. "I'd wager not even the Baron has ventured this far. Then, why would hecare to?" Laughter rippled from her in a burst of flame. "There's nothing here to profit him or add to his prowess in battle." She savored the scent of the crisp air. "If I'd never come to you, I wouldn't have seen this place, either. I never imagined traveling so far from home."

"This is only the beginning. You told me you used to crave adventure? When our child has grown old enough, perhaps I will take you to the sh.o.r.es of Greece, the mountains of Carpathia, the sands of Egypt, or even far Cathay where they spin the silk that drapes so beautifully on your delicate body."

She laughed again at the extravagant compliment, as well as at the idea of traveling to such exotic lands, which sounded as likely a destination as the Garden of Eden. He stretched his neck over hers and nuzzled her. The friction of his scales against hers made her quiver with delight. She whirled around and gave him a playful nip.

Leaping backward, he spread and flapped his wings, raising a wind. "Now, join me in the lake."

He folded his wings tightly to his sides and dove into the water. A waterspout splashed high into the air when he plunged beneath the surface. She dubiously eyed the deep tarn. It must be deep if a full-grown dragon could dive into it. She didn't want to behave like a coward in her mate's presence, though. She leaped in an arc and dived after him.

Instinct made her draw a long breath before jumping. Her nostrils automatically compressed to shut out the water. She squeezed her eyes closed against the impact. Icy liquid enveloped her. Forcing herself to open her eyes, she saw schools of fish scattering out of her way and the huge body of the dragon gliding gracefully beside her, with his wings spread as if flying. She imitated him and thrilled to the silken flow of the water over her wing membranes. Venturing a glance down, she saw the lake bottom s.h.i.+mmering far below.

Over his shoulder, Viridiseffulgentissimus threw a challenging look at her. With a brisk flap of his wings and tail, he shot ahead. She picked up speed to swim after him. He sped through the water like a falcon through the air. He hurtled into the midst of a shoal of fish. A snap of his jaws caught one of them. Eager to match his skill, she gnashed her teeth amid the roiling ma.s.s of frightened creatures. Just before the pressure in her lungs increased almost to pain, she captured one large fish. Her mate shot up to the surface, and she followed him. Cold water splashed around her and flowed down her sides, glittering like countless tiny crystals in the blinding sun.

She swam to sh.o.r.e, blinking until her eyes adjusted to full daylight again. She gulped down her fish, salty and refres.h.i.+ngly cool, while Viridiseffulgentissimus ate his own catch. The water sparkled on his scales like rainbow-hued gems. Her breath caught in her throat at his beauty. "Now we dive still deeper." He hurtled himself into the lake again.

Filling her chest with air, she dove in his wake. Underwater she saw the iridescent streak of his body swimming almost straight down. Within minutes, they glided within a dragon-height's span of the lake bottom. The current of their pa.s.sage stirred patches of weeds in which tiny fish darted. Her mate led her to a heap of white sticks that at first glance she took for the wreckage of a boat. But who would sail across this mountain tarn so far from any suitable site for a town?

With a closer look, she made out the shape of an elongated, fanged skull. The "sticks" were gigantic bones. A creature twice the size of a dragon had died here long ago. Around the neck of the skeleton was looped a silver chain with a pale, oval gem hanging from it. Viridiseffulgentissimus snagged it with a claw and surged toward the surface.

When they emerged onto the bank, she asked, "What kind of bones are those?"

"Why, those of a lake dragon, of course. Centuries ago many of them lived in the waters of this land. A few still dwell in the deep lochs of the highlands beyond the Roman wall." He held out the necklace to her. Now she could distinguish the color of the stone, sky-blue with swirls of rose in its depths. "This is a moonstone," he said. "For you, my treasure." He hung the chain around her neck.

"Is it magic?"

"Not as you understand the word, but it is rare and beautiful, and therefore you should have it."

Touching the moonstone with a claw-tip, she marveled at the glow of the colors at its center. "I have never seen anything so wonderful."

His tongue flicked her ear. "Change," he said.

She flowed into human shape. The cool breeze on her naked skin momentarily made her s.h.i.+ver, but her mate's body, like a living oven, quickly warmed her. The chain dangled loosely, with the moonstone hanging below her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Virid's tongue looped around her neck and teased the hollow of her throat.

Trembling, she leaned against his side. He swept her hair over her shoulder to lick the nape of her neck.

Chills raced down her spine, and he followed them with rapid flickers of his tongue.

"How can you doubt that I cherish you and consider you beautiful?"

"Show me," she murmured.

He delicately sifted her unbound hair through his claws. His tongue circled her neck again and exploredthe hollow of her throat and the valley between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Her nipples puckered, and her breath became quick and shallow. She stared into the glow of his green eyes, feeling entranced like a mouse under the gaze of a serpent. Yet he looked at her with a hunger quite different from a snake's for its prey, as if the sight of her enraptured him and cast him, too, into a trance. How far they had come since her terror in the first moment she'd seen him.

One of his claws traced a tingling line down the center of her chest, while he tasted each nipple in turn.

Impatient, she wanted to embrace him and pull him down to her, but her arms barely reached around his neck, and her merely human strength had no hope of overcoming his resistance. She had to squirm helplessly while his tongue spiraled around each breast and worked its way over her stomach to the damp curls at its base.

She slid to the ground and lay on her back, legs spread in invitation. The tip of his tongue probed her cleft. Letting out a hissing breath, she arched her hips. He licked up and down the moist folds, and with every stroke, she melted still more. Her c.l.i.toris tightened to an unbearable ache. She could tell by the way his tongue fleetingly brushed there that he knew what she yearned for. She couldn't force out the words to beg for it, only moan and clutch at him.

When she felt about to shatter with need, he settled into a steady licking of her swollen bud. He curled his tail around her and inserted the end of it into her sheath. His tongue strummed her harder, faster. She felt herself plummeting toward the cliff-edge of release-a scream ripped from her throat-she plunged into the abyss- Heavy-lidded, she gazed into his eyes, close to hers with his huge head resting beside her. "You've had no satisfaction," she said when she could breathe again.

"That matters not. Your pleasure fulfills me."