Maiden Flight (11 page)

“What are your intentions toward my daughter?” Adora asked boldly.

“Mother!”

“No, Belora, she has every right to ask such a question.” Lars raised Belora’s small hand, stroking her palm soothingly. “My intention is to love her and protect her all of our lives. I will be true to her, cherish her, and put her happiness above my own.”

“But you’ve only just met.” Adora didn’t understand how her sensible baby girl could fall in love with two men in nearly as many days, much less how those two men could claim to love her just as deeply, just as fast.

“Gareth knew her the moment he saw her. It’s the way of knights to know their mate almost on sight. I like to think I would have recognized her too, had I been the first to meet her. As it stands, since Rohtina told me of her intention to mate with Kelvan, I’ve been introduced and found time to get to know Belora. But my heart knew her already. When I first looked into her eyes, I knew I’d found what I’d been seeking.”

“Why didn’t you say anything before now?” Belora’s whisper carried in the quiet room.

Lars shrugged, his turquoise eyes locking on her as if she were the only one in the room. “It wasn’t yet time. Now it is. You’re ready to hear it and I’m ready to say it. I love you, Belora. If you let me, I’ll love you truly for the rest of our lives.” He sank down to one knee, humbling himself before her. “Will you be my wife?”

Tears streamed down her face as Belora reached down and kissed Lars on the lips, dragging him upward so she could put her arms around his thick, muscular frame. He wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her deeply, holding her close as the others watched, knowing they had been forgotten.

Just for the record, you understand, what’s your answer? Kelzy’s amused voice broke them apart.

“Oh, I think she said yes, Mama Kelzy.” Adora leaned comfortably back against Kelzy’s sparkling foreleg, watching her daughter with amusement.

Lars and his partner seemed to be surprised by Adora’s familiarity with the older dragon.

Well, I think that’s settled, isn’t it?

“I’m still not totally sure I’m comfortable with this two husband arrangement.”

Child, do you trust me?

“Well, of course I trust you. You raised me, didn’t you?” Again the two newcomers were surprised by the conversation, but didn’t interject.

Then trust me on this. It’s the way of Lair life and no hardship on the woman, I can assure you. Your girl will come to no harm with her two mates and will, in all likelihood, be very happy.

“You promise?” Adora held out her little human hand to the huge dragon.

I promise. Kelzy put one huge talon carefully into the small woman’s hand and they shook once as if in some childhood ritual. It was totally charming and utterly strange behavior for a fighting dragon – especially one of Kelzy’s stature.

“Okay then.”

Now off with you three. Adora and I have plans to discuss for tonight and plots to hatch. Kelzy swept one of her great wings toward the entrance shooing her guests out.

Belora hugged her mother once and headed out with Lars and his dragon partner.

“Your mother is definitely and interesting woman,” he mused as he settled his arm around her waist.

“Lady Kelzy practically raised her from the time she was just a toddler ‘til she was about ten years old.”

Kelzy? Raise a human child? The others talk about her strange ways but I didn’t realize there was some truth to the tales.

“Lady Kelzy was the best thing that ever happened to my mother.” Belora defended her mother and the older dragon fiercely. “She has a kind heart and a pure soul. If the other dragons have a problem with that then they’re just bigoted idiots.”

Rohtina stopped short on the wide ledge they were traversing to turn her large head toward Belora. She blinked her golden topaz eyes down at her for a moment, considering her.

You’re brave for a human female. I think we’ll get along just fine.

Rohtina moved to the edge of the cliff and launched herself magnificently into the sky while Lars and Belinda watched.

“Either she hates me or we’re starting to find some common ground.”

Lars reached down and placed a kiss on her hair. “Oh, she likes you all right. You just passed her test.”

“That was a test?” She spun in Lars’ arms to look up at him as he nodded.

“She holds Kelzy in high esteem. You probably don’t realize it, but Kelzy and her partner Jared are the leaders of this Lair. They oversaw its construction and Kelzy leads the dragons here. She holds a lot of power and is one of the most respected dragons in the land. She serves the royal family directly. Others may gossip about her sometimes undragonish ways, but my Tina admires her greatly. She wants to be just like her, and of course Kelvan is a lot like his mama, and she loves Kelvan.”

“I had no idea.”

“Tina’s hard to read until you get to know her.”

“Sort of like her partner, you mean?” Belora teased him with her smile.

He nodded with a self-depreciating grin. “I’d have to admit you’re probably right on that one.”

It warmed her heart to see his smile. She reached up and palmed his cheek, urging him down so she could place a light kiss on his lips. One kiss turned to two, then two turned to more until they were all but necking right in the open, for anyone to see.

Gareth came upon them long moments later, his chuckle finally penetrating the fog of desire that swirled around them.

“I see you two have come to terms.”

Belora eased down and a little apart from Lars. Both were breathing hard.

“I asked her to be my wife and she agreed,” Lars reported, never removing his hot turquoise gaze from her.

Gareth slapped his friend on the back in congratulations, but Lars was so solidly built it barely made an impression. Gareth grinned happily when Belinda finally tore her gaze from Lars to realize they’d drawn a small crowd of onlookers.

Single knights were watching them, some with appreciation, some with longing in their eyes. It was disconcerting at first until she realized all looked on them with true happiness that their fellows had found a woman to share their lives. She realized in that moment that she, in a small way, represented hope for them all. Hope that they would find women willing to be their wives and share their lives.

No doubt it was hard for most human women to accept dragons in their midst, but the idea of having two husbands was also a bit daunting. Daunting and exciting at the same time.

* * * *

The mating feast was a grand affair. Every soul in the Lair had gathered in the communal area, up on the bluff above the entrance to the Lair. Up on the flat, there was enough room for all the dragons and the humans as well. A huge fire had been lit at the center of the gathering along with several smaller ones for cooking and for those who wished more intimate circles, but the guests of honor were gathered at the center, where the dancing was.

Belora and her new mates had already danced all of the dances they’d taught her during her brief lesson, some three and four times. The party in full swing, the other mated trios joined them while the unmated knights watched and clapped their hands in time with the music. Belora felt the pull of the men’s eyes on her, but her full attention focused on her two mates and on the two mighty dragons who watched, their necks twining together as their own passions rose steadily through the evening.

There had been excellent food served to them as the celebration began, joined by fine wines and beers, and even sweets for dessert. Then the tables had been cleared away to make room for the raucous dancing. But first, the ceremony.

As the elders of the Lair, Kelzy and Jared waited in the center of the clearing, the huge dragon a witness and support behind her knight, the General of the winged forces of this Lair. It was before Jared they would promise themselves to each other and with his words of blessing, they would officially be wed.

The ceremonial words were short, but no less beautiful for their brevity.

Belora's mother wept openly as she watched her little girl pledge her life to the two strong knights that stood tall and strong at her sides. Gareth and Lars took turns promising their love and protection for all time to the woman they both loved and then it was the dragons’ turn.

Kelvan and his beautiful Rohtina stood behind the humans, surrounding them and protecting them as they shared in the joining ceremony. They pledged their lives to each other in the presence of Kelzy and Jared, receiving slightly altered words of blessing from the dragon in return for their promises to share their fire and their flight with only each other for as long as their knights and their mate should live.

Belora realized belatedly that dragon joining had to depend greatly on the humans involved—at least among fighting dragons who were paired with human knights. Since dragons lived far longer than their human partners, they could mate only while the humans had their own partners, unless they wanted to break the laws that bound human and dragon together and drive their bonded partner insane with need at the same time. It was just not done.

Belora shed a tear when she realized just how greatly the dragons sacrificed to protect their human partners and what such a partnership really meant.

"Whom the Mother has joined, in Her wisdom, let none put asunder."

Jared's voice boomed out so that all could hear, echoed by Kelzy's triumphant trumpeting call. The other dragons joined in, howling their happiness to the heavens as the ceremony concluded and Belora felt the thunder of their call rumble through her body. It was an amazing feeling.

Moments later, the dancing began in earnest and her new mates swept her up into their strong arms and twirled her around and around, making her dizzy with happiness. She danced with them and noticed the other trios joining them in the space set aside for dancing. There were more family groups in the Lair than she had realized. Every woman she had met was on the dance floor with two knights each and she realized that there were no single women in the Lair, only a wealth of single men who had little hope of finding a mate who could fit in with their odd lifestyle.

They had been dancing for hours, though it was such fun it seemed like only a few minutes to Belora. Her two men had grown increasingly bold as the night wore on, handling her body with possession and a masterful strength that excited her blood more than she had thought possible. Lars was coming out of his shell more and more too, it seemed, equal with Gareth on every count both in his provocative actions and in her heart.

Before the feast, they had gifted her with a special outfit, crafted of the finest, softest leather. It was a strange garment, consisting of a short, floaty skirt and a halter top covered by a wrap that preserved her modesty on top.

She had been afraid she might be cold, but the fires and increased tempo of the dancing kept her warm as the night wore on.

When the mating dance began, she did the few steps required of her, then gave herself almost completely over to the control of her two men.

Smiling up into their faces as they lifted and twirled her around, passing her from one to the other of them, she was warmed by the love and fire flashing back from their eyes to hers. How she loved them both!

At one point, they let her back on her feet for a moment. Gareth twirled her about, stealing the wrap from about her upper body, leaving her clad only in the brief halter and skirt. She gasped as the night wind caressed her body, but only a moment later she was twirled into Lars’ strong arms. He held her close; his own shirt gone now and her skin brushed his with longing. When she next saw Gareth, his shirt was gone as well.

The dance progressed, their flesh making contact in tantalizing, mesmerizing, and gratifying brushes that only heightened her excitement and desire for her men. She wanted them. Oh, how she wanted them! Separately, together, however she could get them.

“Now we come to it, my love.” Gareth spoke in a low, harsh voice as he held her off her feet, her breasts soft against his hard, bare chest. “The dance is nearly over and the true wedding rite begins.”

Lars pressed up behind her, sandwiching her warm body between them.

Her eyes widened and all around them she noted that the other married trios were in the same position. The dance ended, but all held quiet while the dragons around began their trumpeting calls. Two by two, the dragons were twining their necks around each other, moving off toward the ledge from which they could easily launch skyward. Two by two, they took to the sky, their knight partners and their mate disappearing from the dance floor to seek the shadowed bowers that were a natural part of the bluff.

Last to seek the sky were the newly mated Kelvan and Rohtina. When they beat their great wings in time and launched skyward, all the unmated dragons bellowed and breathed fire up to the stars in a magnificent send-off.

As Kel and Tina took to the air, Belora was lifted in her mates’ arms and led to the beautiful bower in the shelter of magnificent fir trees that had been reserved for them alone this night of nights.

The married women of the Lair had prepared this special love nest with all the comforts of their home below, decorating it specially for this one perfect night. Soft pillows covered a bed of piled furs. Lars lifted her high and placed her gently on the center of the fur bed, coming down almost immediately to one side while Gareth claimed the other. Both men had fire in their eyes as their dragons twined around each other in an intricate dance in the sky.

Belora knew that both knights were intimately bound to their dragons and that as the dragons’ lust grew, so would theirs. The other women had warned her that this first time could be somewhat overwhelming since both dragons were very young and had never mated before. The dragons might not realize how their passions would inflame their partners or themselves and they could easily work themselves and their knights into a frenzy before morning.

The women said this uniformly with a twinkle in their eye and a look almost of longing while reassuring Belora that she would enjoy every single moment of it. But the caution remained. They warned her not to deny the knights this one, most important night of their union. This night, she must remain passive and allow the men their ease. All the women assured her that taking a passive role, at least this once, would be more rewarding than she could imagine and she trusted their judgment. After all, these women had lived through it. They knew what they were talking about. She would have to trust their judgment in this and in other things as she learned from them the everyday ways of life in the Lair.