The Dragon's Distrust (6 page)

Brynt shook his head, “No, my Lady.
What do you like to do in the dark of the night?”

“I like to make dreams come
true.”

“How much?”

She chuckled devilishly, “Oh no,
darling Prince. I am not bought. If I were, you could not afford
me.”

“Forgive my rudeness.”

She shook her head, “There is nothing
to forgive.” She placed both her hands on his chest and pressed him
against the wall tenderly. He easily bent to her will.

“What dreams do you fulfill?” he
asked.

“What dreams do you have?”

“What did you mean when you said I
could have a rich kingdom, a beautiful wife, and glory?”

“Would you have me?” she asked shyly
but there was nothing shy about her.

He nodded, “I would have you here and
now.”

She giggled and bit her lower lip, “Of
course you would. I can make anything happen.”

“How can you do these
things?”

“I can do nothing—I can only help you
reach your full potential.”

“How?”

“By pointing you in the right
direction. You will have me at your side, in your bed…”

With the last statement Brynt lost his
control and took the woman in his arms. He eagerly kissed her lips
and nibbled on her cheek. His tongue slid down her neck but she
pulled back easily.

“Calm down, my Lord. One step at a
time. There is some business to attend to first.”

“But you said you did not accept
payment?”

“My darling Brynt, you need to be King
before you can have me.”

“What must I do?”

He did not need to be swayed for this
desire to come true. Brynt knew his father, Polas, was no longer
mentally sound to run and take care of a country. Brynt, on the
other hand, had been groomed to take the throne. He was in good
health and of sound mind…sound enough to claim the throne for his
own and make the Kingdom the envy of surrounding realms.

Brynt did not consider, however, who
the woman was nor what her intentions were. He was of the sole mind
to reclaim glory. He did not even know her name and there was
always power in a name.

The mystery woman
knew
his
name…and
she knew a great deal more than he would even know or
expect.

Chapter 7

Tania spent the past several hours
either stroking Patryck’s limp body or snuggling close to Aristo’s
bruised and battered form. They both needed looked after and she
was more than willing to nurse them back to health. However, she
could not search for food because Aristo would not allow her out of
his sight so the dragons were growing weaker with each passing
moment. So was she.

She had been exposed to the elements
and hadn’t eaten in days. Her last bit of food had been the
strawberry Stephan had given her so long ago. Her belly continued
to growl more loudly than any wild beast. She rubbed her tummy and
realized she had become a bit thinner. She sighed. She wished to
have feminine curves not become a stick thin woman. She may be
frumpy, but skinny was a sign of poverty and illness. It was looked
down upon. She frowned. Perfect. Now the townspeople would look at
her as if she was unclean. Perhaps she should just escape to the
leper colony and live out her days with the rest of the outcasts.
Perhaps then she could avoid the mockery and scorn from the
townspeople.

Tania frowned but immediately her
attention was drawn elsewhere. Patryck moaned. He hadn’t uttered a
sound for what seemed like ages. Tania ran toward him and stroked
his cheek. The dragon stirred. It was the first time she had
realized just how immense Patryck was. The other dragons referred
to him as the youngest and therefore the smallest, but he was huge.
The tip of his snout down to the tip of his tail was at least
twenty feet wide and the tip of his tallest spine measured the same
as his length. He was a dragon and she wasn’t sure why she never
saw it before. His size slightly frightened her but the most
frightening thought was that she loved him. Even though Aristo had
said her love for other dragons was acceptable, she still couldn’t
accept it.

There was only one dragon for her. What
would she tell Patryck when he woke? She couldn’t bear to hurt him
further.

Tania glanced back at Aristo. He was
napping. When he slept, he was so peaceful. She could watch him
sleep for hours but then she missed his touch when he would
wake.

Tania turned her focus back to Patryck
who stirred again. As she looked down his liquid body, she noticed
that many of the leaks had gone. He was healing quickly. Within a
matter of minutes she knew he would wake and that he would be fine.
Sore, but fine.

A part of her rejoiced that he was
returning to her and the other part grimaced. She was completely
torn between the two dragons in her life. Her thoughts went back
and forth. If only she wasn’t so fickle…

As Patryck blinked his eyes open, she
realized it immediately—she loved them both. She needed them both.
She never wanted to be without either of them. They belonged to her
and she to them. She had claimed both of them as mates and they had
claimed her.

“Patryck,” she whispered.

His large, bright blue dragon eye
stared up at her. She could swear he smiled. He turned his snout to
nuzzle low in her belly. She giggled. His whiskers tickled. Even
though his scales were sharp, he managed not to scrape her. In
fact, he was soft. He was water and he caressed her just as gently
as the morning mist.

“I am glad you are feeling better,” she
said. The only response from the dragon was more nuzzling. She
laughed as he pressed his snout all over her chest. He was happy to
see her and she was very happy to see him alive and
playful.

Tania wished to speak to him, but it
would be a one-sided conversation so she merely smiled and
continued stroking his long neck. Her fingers flowed over him just
as water would flow over her hand. It was an odd sensation to pet
liquid but the gesture was heart-warming.

She couldn’t contain her excitement, “I
was worried. I was scared I had lost you.”

The dragon jerked his head back and
managed to raise a scaly eyebrow. Even in dragon form, Tania could
see his human gestures. She knew there was a man underneath all
that monster. She had always known Patryck was more than just a
dragon—he was a lost soul who needed to be loved.

She giggled, “I was! I was horrified
that you would never…” she shrugged. She had never been schooled on
showing her emotions. She did not wish to embarrass him by
admitting out loud how much she loved him. In her opinion, men were
very complicated and with her past, she thought being loved meant
abusive behavior, not tender kisses. She was in a new world of
emotions that she didn’t understand. One day she would, but for
now, she was confused—always confused.

The Water Dragon slithered around her
and splashed along her back. Tania shivered. He was cold and she
was dripping wet. His liquid claw wrapped delicately around her
legs and he pulled her closer, so close that her hair was now
soaked. She shook her head and brushed the drenched hair out from
her face.

“Has anyone ever told you how difficult
it is to cuddle with water?”

A low gurgle escaped his throat which
sounded very much like a chuckle. The dragon laid his snout down
beside her and closed his eyes once again. Tania continued petting
his head until his breathing became rhythmic and smooth.

He was a beautiful dragon. As she was
gazing at the sleeping dragon, Aristo sat down in front of her,
careful to avoid touching any part of Patryck. He was looking much
better considering the amount of torture he had recently suffered.
The swelling of his nose had lessened, his jaw was much less
crooked, and of course, the blood that had been caked into his
wounds had finally crumbled away. He looked much less the vagabond
and more like the dashing rogue she had first seen in her father’s
dungeon a little over a week ago. Even then, he had been badly
bruised. She had never seen him fully healed.

Tania reached out for him and he took
her small hand in his large hand. He placed a kiss on her palm and
closed his eyes. She could feel his pain. He wasn’t in physical
pain, he was emotionally hurt, “I am sorry,” was all she could say.
They had already spoken about her betrayal, about the duty of being
a Dragon Mother. She had hurt Aristo and she did not know how to
remove that hurt.

“No,” he said, “I am sorry. I know this
has to happen. I just didn’t want to share you so soon. I want you
to be all mine. I know I’m being selfish, but I don’t want to see
you love anyone else. You’re mine…”

“You know I am.”

“I do,” he sighed, “I just want to be
angry for a little while. I know one of these days or nights you
will choose him over me and I will have to accept it. I just don’t
want to.” He faked a smile then leaned in close, “Follow
me.”

Aristo was nearly out of the wrecked
clearing before Tania found her footing. She tiptoed around Patryck
and quietly snuck toward the thick underbrush. Aristo had managed
to crawl through easily but Tania was having a difficult enough
time following. Where was he taking her? After their conversation,
she was slightly nervous but she trusted Aristo so she dragged her
body through the thorns and jagged branches.

She stumbled over a felled log and fell
face first into a small brook. She was about to get up when
something heavy pressed her back down. Aristo’s smooth, hot voice
lingered on her neck, “Stay down, lover, there are some things I
have been itching to do to you. You are mine, now and forever. And
I will make sure you know that. I will make sure you always scream
my name.”

Tania came up for air as the bubbling
brook cascaded around her neck, “Do your worst,” she gasped. She
had repeated Aristo’s words that she had never heard before. The
magic connection between them was strong. It was as if Tania had
heard every word, felt every sensation that Aristo had dealt with.
From the very beginning, Tania and Aristo had shared something
special. She knew no Dragon Mother magic would ever sever their
bond.

“Mmm, I shall do that and more…” his
voice was raspy and breathy. Aristo dug his knees into her hips to
open her legs. She didn’t need the coaxing. Just the feel of Aristo
on top of her once more sent her into a lust-filled fog. She didn’t
know which way was up or down nor did she care. There was nothing
else better than Aristo’s touch, dominance, and love.

His soft, puffy lips found her ear
lobe. He nibbled gently at first, and then tugged on her ear,
sucking it inside his warm mouth. Tania hissed as the heat from his
mouth mingled with the cool water. Chills erupted along her arms
and chest but it was more than just cold that had her
shivering.

Aristo had a way with his tongue. It
darted to and fro and slid along her shoulder blades, circling
around her muscles. She tried to turn around in order to face him,
gaze into those dark, ebon eyes, but he would have none of it. He
kept her face down, her arms and legs splayed to either side. This
was his game. He was the Master here. He was her Lord and she was
his willing conquest.

His teeth dragged along her spine while
his hands held her wrists steady. She was not allowed to
move.

He groaned the more he kissed her, “I
have missed you,” he whispered. His lips quivered on her spine and
Tania felt the hesitation. There was much more he wished to tell
her, something more intimate that mere pillow-talk but the moment
quickly passed and once again the heat from his mouth ignited her
fire.

“Oh, how I missed your taste…” he
sniffed her skin, “your smell…”

Aristo’s tongue circled lower until he
paused on the mounds of her buttocks. Tania whimpered. She could
feel his stare boring straight through her like a strike of
lightning tearing apart a withered towering tree, “My beautiful
lover…you are but gorgeous.” He moaned as his gaze wound over her
nude form.

Tania echoed his longing sighs. He was
teasing her and it was driving her mad. She wished she could throw
herself on him and make love to him until the moon shattered in the
sky but his power overwhelmed her and she desperately wanted him to
take her without consequence. She yearned for his
dominion.

And just like a true mate, he knew her
dark desires. Aristo felt her blood rush toward her core and he
knew she was ready. There would be no foreplay. He did not wish to
waste time on such luxuries. Instead, he was eager to plow deep
inside, to reforge the love connection that he had been
missing.

Aristo balanced himself on his forearms
as the brook flowed steadily over Tania’s bare back. The stream
seemed to follow her curved form like a delicate finger tracing
over her fine lines. Aristo suddenly growled and yanked Tania close
toward him. He dove inside her without warning, without
tenderness.

Tania screamed even as her breath was
knocked aside. She could barely gasp as the large rock-hard member
of her claimed lover thrust deeply. She muttered and moaned,
babbled and whispered nonsensical words the more Aristo plunged.
Wild noises of the dark forest beat in time with her pounding
heart. It was as if the wilderness was playing a symphony for her
to make love to. If the sex wasn’t so rough, she would have said
the act was a beautiful ballet.