Maiden Flight (8 page)

“Then war is definitely on the way?” Adora’s eyes darkened with worry.

“Yes.” It was Jared who answered, his voice firm. “There’s no escaping it now. The Skithdronian king has been working toward all out war for a long time and he’s just about ready now, we think, to launch it.”

Which is why you must stay here with us, Adora. You will have no protection in the forest. The skiths will ravage man and beast alike when they are loosed.

“Which is why I must go back. I’m the only healer within twenty leagues.

I can’t just abandon those people.”

“We’re flying patrols now. When the skiths come, we’ll engage them whenever and wherever we find them.” Jared kept his voice calm and deadly.

He surprised even himself with the sentiments he was feeling. “We’re here to protect the people and lands. What good can one unprotected healer do out there? Wouldn’t your talents be better used here?”

“You may very well be right, Sir Jared, but I have to go back. They depend on me. I’m not so conceited as to think that my destiny lay in such a grand place. I’m a simple healer, not one to be worthy of working with your knights.”

Sheep dung! That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard you say, Adora. And here I thought you were smart for a human.

Adora smiled softly. “I love you too, Mama Kelzy, but the fact remains, I must return to my cottage.”

Cottage? My son tells me it was no more than a hut! How can I leave you in such a place?

Adora stroked the dragon’s shiny scales soothingly. “Because you must.

It’s what I have to do.”

“But you’ll at least stay for your daughter’s wedding, won’t you?” Jared surprised himself by asking.

She nodded. “I’ll stay for the mating feast, but I must go home the next day.”

Kelzy snorted smoke, clearly upset. We will take you then, but don’t expect me to be happy about it.

* * * *

"Kel will seek his mate soon." Gareth knew he had to tread lightly. Belora had not been raised in the Lair and did not know the way of things among dragon matings.

"He’s already chosen a mate?" Belora spoke softly, wrapped in his arms in the dark of the night.

"He hasn’t made his formal declaration yet, but he will soon. That means we’ll be adding to our family as well."

She turned to peer up at him in the darkness. "How so?"

"When dragons mate, their human partners cannot help but share in the event. It's because of the close bond we share with our dragon partners.

Kelvan intends to mate with Rohtina. Her partner is named Lars. He and I have been friends for a very long time. When Kel claims his mate, we will become family of a sort. Lars and I will train with our dragon partners and will go into battle together from then on. We will patrol together and work together—even live together in the same set of apartments."

"Does this Lars have a wife?"

Gareth shook his head. "No. There are so few women born with ability to hear the dragons, many of the knights never find a woman to share their lives. It was a miracle when Kelvan found you. He would have given you the stag, but he made an issue out of it so he would be able to bring you to me.

He suspected the Mother of All put you in our path so that I could find you and make you mine, and I quite agree."

"Praise the Mother, then. She certainly knows what She's doing." She reached up and kissed him deeply, caressing his cheek with her soft fingers.

"As soon as we move the rest of your things from your cabin into our new apartments, there will be a mating ceremony held for us. It's basically an excuse to eat, drink and be merry as our fellows wish us well. There will even be dancing."

"Oh, Gareth! I don't know how to dance."

"Not to worry. I didn't expect you would know our style of dance anyway, so I talked to your mother and she's setting up some practice for us."

"What's different about your kind of dancing?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "Since there are so few women among us, our dances are designed around sets of three—two men and one woman. We don't dance often, but a mating ceremony is one of the times when tradition requires it, and it really is a lot of fun. Don't worry; you'll enjoy it. I promise."

Lars was a big man, the same tall height as Gareth, but even more muscular. Where Gareth had the sleek muscles of a racehorse, Lars had a stockier sort of strength. His hair was the color of pale wheat and his eyes a sparkling turquoise blue that crinkled at the corners when he smiled. His smile, when it appeared, was open, generous and surprisingly kind, though it seemed he was a quiet man by nature.

Belora took one look at him and had to fight the odd feeling in the depths of her womb. Was it right to be so attracted to a man after pledging your life to another? She wasn’t sure, but she found it impossible not to notice the tingle in her skin when he took her hand in the moves of the dances they were teaching her. She caught his eyes twinkling at her at times with an odd sort of speculation and a definite masculine appreciation that fairly took her breath away.

She thought she intercepted a look or two between the men that made her loins burn. When she caught Gareth’s eye he was wholly approving of her, encouraging her to learn the more intricate steps of the progressively harder dances they showed her. By the time they moved on to the “mating dance”

that would culminate the feast in their honor, her blood was sizzling with desire and the two men were more than familiar with the feel of her body under their guiding hands. It was an amazing feeling.

“Let’s take a short break before we begin the next one.”

Gareth moved over to a small side table where a jug of wine and several earthen cups stood. He poured for each of them and served with good grace as Lars helped Belora to sit on the pretty, warm bricks that edged Kelvan’s wallow. They had shown her about five different dances, each one progressively harder. They involved a bit more touching than she was used to, but touching two such handsome men was no hardship, she thought with an inward grin.

“Will I be expected to dance with other people?” she asked over the rim of her wine cup as Gareth sat down beside her.

“No. Just us. Lars is our third since he and Rohtina will be joining our family.”

“I think Kelvan and Tina will enjoy the larger quarters. I went by there today and it’s nicely placed.” Lars sat beside them and gazed over the warm sands of the smaller sized wallow. When his dragon partner and Kelvan mated, they would require a much larger space to share.

“I’m going to start moving my stuff over tomorrow. How about you?”

Gareth moved closer to her, pulling her back against his chest as his free arm tucked around her waist. She was surprised by the intimate move, but neither man seemed to think anything of it, so after a few moments, she relaxed back against him.

“I figured I’d do the same. Tina has some stuff she’s collected over the years that she wants me to shift for her. Little sparkly stones and bits she’s found in her journeys.”

“Women of every species like their gems.” Gareth and Lars chuckled but Belora gasped as Gareth’s large hand moved up to cup her breast. She couldn’t believe he would fondle her in front of his friend, regardless of whether or not they were becoming some sort of family. She stiffened and would have pulled away, but Lars took her hand in his surprisingly gentle grasp and held her eyes.

“Don’t be embarrassed. It is our way to be free amongst our family. I’ve accepted that I will never find a woman as Gareth has found you. Let me share in what you have together, at least in this way for now.”

“I’m not used to this. Your ways are very strange to me.” She settled back against Gareth with a little trembling in her limbs, but didn’t object further as his hand moved down inside the V of her blouse to cup her bare breast and flick the nipple so it stood out against the soft fabric. She knew Lars could see it clearly as his eyes dipped to focus on her nipples, blossoming under Gareth’s skillful touch.

“I know, love, but this will be your home now. I hope you’ll try to adjust to our ways.” Gareth dipped to kiss her neck as he spoke softly next to her ear. “I won’t rush you, but I need you to be open to new experiences. Can you do that for me? For us all?”

His hand squeezed her nipple hard and she felt little tremors of excitement course through her womb. She found she liked the hot flash of Lars’ turquoise eyes as he licked his firm lips, his eyes glued to Gareth’s manipulations under her shirt. It was definitely a new experience, but she found she wasn’t afraid. She trusted Gareth with her very life. It was little stretch to trust him with her pleasure. He would never hurt her or make her do anything she didn’t want to do. She knew that in her soul and it allowed her to let go and let him lead their pleasure.

She nodded as he moved his hand out of her blouse and turned her in his arms to face her. His eyes held hers and sought her answer.

“I trust you and I’ll try.”

A broad smile spread across his lips before they claimed hers in a deep, happy kiss. He lingered over her lips before turning her once more in his arms. Lars had moved closer while they kissed and now he was only inches from her aroused body. Gareth pushed her gently toward his friend, encouraging her with his voice.

“Kiss Lars, sweet. Let him know there are no hard feelings. Welcome him to our family and let him know just a tiny bit of what we share.”

She looked back at him questioningly, but his eyes were encouraging and his hands open, willing to let her decide whether she would go through with his suggestion or not. It was the freedom to choose that made her move forward. A kiss was a small thing, after all, and it was not like it was any kind of hardship to share a kiss with such a handsome and kind man. She turned back and smiled at Lars as she moved into his strong arms.

He clasped her against his chest and moved his head down, his turquoise eyes dazzling her as he drew closer, oh, so slowly. When his firm lips met hers, her eyes shut in self-defense as his scent, his feel, and his amazingly gentle touch flooded her senses with warmth. His lips caressed hers for a long moment before his tongue sought entrance, taking the kiss deeper. She was surprised, but more than willing, swept up in the passion of the man and the moment.

Lars kissed like a dream. Gentle as only a very strong man can be, he tempered his strength with a deep passion that she could feel as his muscular arms trembled the tiniest bit. He made a small, inarticulate sound of pleasure as she wrapped her arms around him. It spurred her on and she answered the sweeping intimacies of his tongue in her mouth with her own daring forays into his warmth. She felt hot all over and realized vaguely that Gareth had moved up behind them, enclosing her between the two men. His hands teased her nipples and stoked her fire.

When at long last the kiss broke, all three were panting. Belora shot shocked eyes up to Lars and was greeted with a stunned smile.

“You are beautiful, milady, and much too good for a scoundrel like Gareth. I wish I had met you first.”

She laughed and the tension of the moment was broken. She realized that while Gareth had been palming her breasts, Lars’ hands were up under her skirts, skimming her legs. They now rested on her thighs, his fingers dangerously close to the juncture that fairly wept with arousal.

“In the mating dance, you will be expected to kiss us both and we will both handle your body in ever more intimate ways — lifting you up in our arms, twirling you around, touching you all over. You must give over control to us completely.” Gareth’s breath pulsed against her ear and made her shiver. “Can you handle it?” He spoke it like a dare.

“I can handle it, but will everyone be watching?”

Lars nodded. “The mated pairs will be dancing with us, but the single knights will certainly enjoy the show, dreaming of the day they find their own mate and are able to claim her before the entire enclave. It’s a rite of passage and something we do to solidify our families and share our pleasure with our fellows. It’s important.”

The earnestness of his words touched her heart. It made an odd sort of sense and it made her want to perform this strange dance with these two strong men, for the good of the Lair.

“All right. I guess it won’t be so bad if we’re not the only ones doing it.”

Gareth chuckled as he rose and lifted her up by the arms. Lars stood in front of her and they moved back to the cleared area where they’d been practicing before.

“We’ll all be dressed differently of course, so we’ll just pantomime some of the parts we can only do while in the ceremonial clothing.”

Gareth moved in front of his mate-to-be and positioned her for the start of the dance. He was much closer to her than he had been for any of the other dances she’d learned that day and Lars stood so close to her back, she could feel his warmth. She did the moves as they taught them to her but quickly realized just a few minutes into this strange dance that he was not kidding when he said she would have to give over control to them both.

After a few initial moves, she was simply swept off her feet by first Gareth, then Lars, passed between them as her feet barely touched the ground. The two brawny men did most of the work as they swung her around in their strong arms, her body held tight to their own while little tingles of electricity raced through her frame. Gareth made her burn with his barest touch, but the look in Lars’ turquoise eyes as he held her close nearly made her insides melt. The set of his jaw proclaimed how very hungry he was for her and she could feel his shocking erection against her abdomen as he held her close.

“That’s enough for now, I think.” Gareth’s voice was calm as he stood behind them. Lars’ mesmerizing eyes were fused to her own. Gradually, he released her and she slid down his hard body to rest once more on unsteady feet. Her entire body trembled and she could feel that he was hard as granite against her. A muscle ticked in his jaw but otherwise he indicated none of his discomfort.

Gareth snuck his arm around her waist from behind and pulled her unresisting body back against him as she swayed on her feet. She was glad of his support though her dazed eyes were still locked on Lars.