Captured by the Dragons, page 17
I smiled, listening to her chattering away excitedly as we approached the horse. I put the bowl and supplies in one of the saddlebags I'd fashioned from my old cloaks, and helped Lyra onto Snow's back, climbing on behind her.
"Where to?" I asked.
She pointed, to the other side of the village, towards the direction of the Pass. I clicked my tongue and dug in my heels, sending Snow off at a swift canter.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
ALICE
Lyra spent most of the day with me, taking me through a network of caves in the mountains. She changed shape into her dragon form so that her fire could light the way, and she could pluck gems out as she sniffed them out and showed them to me, for me to keep or discard as I liked. She had ended up finding a few herself to keep, and I was glad that my friend wasn't leaving empty-handed for all her hard work.
Now, she was back on the mountain, running interference and keeping the boys busy so I could work in peace. She had told me to use Frost's cave, since no one would think to go up there and no one would bother me.
I knew at least Galen suspected I was up to something. His presence kept nudging curiously at my mind, but I had my walls up high, shutting them all out. Occasionally a rumble that sounded a lot like Mishael came close, to be chased away by Lyra's aggressive chittering.
I smiled to myself. Lyra had fetched me a bed of lake stones and lit them with her fire, along with some tree branches soaked with oil so that the fire burned very hot and for a long time. I had placed the bowl within the nest of flames, and poured gold into it until it began to melt, and bubble.
The gems I had chosen laid beside me. There were six, in total. One, a lovely ruby, that could fit into my palm. There were two sapphires, as well, of the same size. The third were all large pieces of diamond, cut and shaped by Lyra's hand so that they each had a flat side, and large enough that their weight was hefty in my hand.
The leather gloves shielded my hands well enough that, combined with the tongs, I was able to lift the bowl once the mixture was melted. I had had Lyra crush one of the diamonds to glittering pieces, and poured it into the mixture, mixing it with the tongs.
I lifted the bowl, careful not to let anything drip, and poured it over the stag's skull. Gold pooled around the sockets of its eyes and nose, lacing its teeth. I lifted the bowl when it was half empty and set it back down, and painted the skull with my fingers, so that the gold covered every inch of bone. It shone dully in the firelight, the stag's empty eyes dark and hollow.
I smiled, and turned to where I had set the molds out. I poured the rest of the gold in them, and set the bowl back down, waiting for them to cool enough I could mold them without burning myself with liquid gold. I took up the diamonds, and set them in the sockets of the stag's eyes while the gold was still melted, pleased when the metal wrapped around them and held them tightly in place.
When the metal links had cooled enough, I removed them from the molds with the tongs and shaped them into links, with enough space that I could link them together. I had enough gold to make almost twenty links, and I draped them over the stag's bare horns, creating a cradle of glittering metal between them that shone as warmly as the skull did.
The final pieces: the ruby and sapphires, and the remaining diamond.
I bit my lower lip, considering the placement. After a moment, I lifted one of the strands of golden chain, and wrapped them around the base of the stag's horns, forming a cradle. I dipped each gem in the remaining liquid gold, and placed them delicately within. The diamond was the centerpiece, the two sapphires framing it, forming a crown. The ruby, I placed into the stag's mouth, so that it was held delicately between its front teeth, wreathed with gold. It was the best guarded of the gems, the most precious, cradled by teeth and claws and beautiful metal.
I sat back with a pleased sigh, and pulled off the gloves, setting them down. I stood, and went out to the mouth of the cave, spotting Lyra sunning herself on the crag she and I had hidden behind the first time I came up here. She met my eyes, and I smiled, beckoning her over.
She entered the cave with me, and when she saw what I had made, she gasped, her eyes wide with wonder. "Oh, Alice," she breathed, and stepped forward. She didn't touch it, but the awe on her face told me I'd done a good job. "It's beautiful."
"Do you think they'll like it?" I rasped.
"I think they'd be fools not to," she replied earnestly. Her fingers trembled, her lips spreading into a warm smile. She embraced me and kissed my cheek, purring happily. "I'm so glad I can call you my friend, and my sister."
"Me too," I replied. I was home. This was home, with my friends and my family. Not back in Eventide, by the sea, not in the shadow of the mountain, but on top of it.
"Do you think you can keep them occupied while I bring it to the cave?" I asked, pulling my cloak from my shoulders so I could cover it once the gold had cooled. It was cold in Frost's cave, still, and I was certain it would be ready to move soon.
Lyra winked. "Leave it to me!" she said, and turned, running from the cave, shifting midstride and leaping into the air with a delighted chirp. I smiled, and waited until the gold was cool to the touch and the gems were all solidly in place, before I covered the skull with my cloak and lifted it into my arms.
It was heavy, and I grunted with effort, but I was determined to carry it myself. I brought it down to the cave and left it in the center, in front of all three of the nests, on the stone where Rhys often left my food. It was bare, right now, since he had been kept out of the cave all day.
I smiled, nervous but excited to unveil my gift, and settled down to wait for my mates to return to me.
*
Dusk had come, coloring the mouth of the cave a deep, beautiful pink hue, when Mishael, Galen, and Rhys finally returned. They all rushed towards me eagerly, but stopped when they saw the covered gift I had left on the stone. Mishael breathed in deeply, Rhys' fingers twitching, Galen tilted his head.
"What's…?"
I smiled shyly, biting my lower lip, and pulled my braided hair in front of my shoulder. "I wanted to give you something, for everything you've done for me. A gesture to show how much I love and admire each of you, and how much I appreciate all three of you."
I stood. I had been calm until the minute they entered the cave. Even still, they gravitated towards it, pupils flaring out as the lust for riches all dragons share began to cloud their vision. I could feel it, myself, as their emotions and presences in my head fogged around my skull, seeping through the walls I had built to keep my intentions hidden.
"I hope you like it," I finished, and pulled the cloak from the stag's head without flourish. I stepped back, so that they could see it.
They stared at it, silently. Unmoving, overwhelmed. My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest, my stomach tensing as I tried to remain calm and control my breathing. I had stopped bleeding, and so wasn't in any more pain, but now anxiousness replaced the vicious cramps and I thought I would collapse if they didn't react soon.
Mishael was the first to move. His eyes lifted to me, brilliantly blue, shining with some mix of emotions I couldn't name. Awe, joy, gratitude, hunger. Galen's eyes lifted next. Finally, Rhys', so all of them were staring at me, so focused I imagined this was what it was like to be a prey animal cornered by a ferocious beast.
The thought didn't make me tremble with fear, but excitement.
"Alice," Mishael breathed, and took a single step forward.
That one step was like the first rock falling off a cliff, as bigger pieces broke off, creating a rockslide, an earthquake. I shivered where I stood, my hands clasped together in front of me. Their minds nudged me, insistent as hungry animals.
"Alice -."
"Beautiful -."
"My love -."
"Precious -."
"Alice."
They all lunged for me and I laughed, as Mishael reached me first, taking me in his arms and lifting my feet from the floor. I gasped in surprise, and smiled when he kissed me, wrapping my arms and legs around him. Rhys was second, wrapping a hand in my hair and stealing my mouth so he could kiss me as well. Galen came last, pressing himself against my back and nuzzling my exposed neck, a powerful rumble in his chest.
"So," I laughed weakly, "you like it, then?"
Mishael snarled, and pushed past his nestmates, laying me out in the middle of his nest. I fought against him playfully, moaning with desire when he easily overpowered me and pinned me on my back. I spread my legs, nodding eagerly. His upper lip curled back, showing me his teeth and the fire in his throat.
He bowed down, nuzzling my chest, my stomach. Galen took my vision as he kissed me, sliding into place at my side. Rhys peppered kisses down my shoulder, to my chest, kissing the center like I had a fire stone as well. I felt like I did. There was heat everywhere, warming my insides and fanned by the flames of their desire. I trembled beneath them, and let out a sharp, startled cry as Mishael's warm tongue slid between my legs. He parted my slick flesh easily, tongue curling around my clit as he licked from my entrance, up, sending sparks of pleasure through every inch of me.
I felt like I was simply a mess of nerve endings. Everywhere they touched set me ablaze. Mishael released my wrists and I slid one hand into his long hair, the second scratching and clawing at Galen's bicep. He purred against my mouth, cupping my face as he kissed me again and again. Rhys sucked my nipple into his mouth, playing with the other, much more confident now that he had learned how I liked to be touched.
My fingers clenched in Mishael's hair as he closed his lips around my clit and sucked, tongue flicking over it in assured strokes that made my toes curl. I whimpered into Galen's mouth and arched my hips, bucking helplessly until Mishael laughed lowly, and pinned them down.
I dragged my nails over Galen's hairy chest, and wrapped a hand around his erection where it pressed against my flank. He let out a guttural, beast-like snarl, gasping as I started to stroke him. Rhys whined as well, and I looked to see that Mishael had flattened a hand over Rhys' cock, giving him something flat to rut against.
He looked up at me, meeting my eyes, his own shining. His smile was wicked, his lips and chin soaked with my slick. He tilted his head and pushed his tongue inside me, fingers of his other hand pressing down on me and thumb circling where I was most sensitive. I groaned weakly, tossing my head back and panting to the ceiling as I came on his tongue, shuddering and bearing down so hard it was almost painful. Mishael purred against me, and slid his hand up to rest over my racing heart.
"Please," I gasped. "All of you. I don't care who goes first. Please."
Mishael snarled, snapping his teeth together to ward off Galen or Rhys fighting for their place, though neither of them tried to move. He rose above me, as magnificent and powerful as the dragon he was, and prowled into place between my legs. I welcomed him eagerly, inner muscles still clenching with aftershocks as he pressed his hands to the backs of my thighs, spread me open, and pushed inside.
He moaned, and folded my legs over his arms, bowing his head as he thrust in deep and rutted, making my toes curl as my oversensitive skin tingled and flushed beneath him. He bit my lower lip, and cupped the small of my back, making me arch. I gasped when I realized he was angling me, so that his seed flooded me as deeply as possible. So that I could breed for him.
I clawed at his back, knowing I was raising red lines. Mishael's jaw flexed, neck flushed with the heat of his fire. I wanted to claw it out of him. I wanted him to give me everything. "Harder," I commanded, steel in my voice. He obeyed instantly, helplessly, his face pressed to my neck as I squeezed around him and made him lose his rhythm.
I reached for Rhys with one hand and threaded my fingers through Galen's hair with the other. I kissed Galen and dug my nails into the bite I'd left on Rhys' shoulder, making him moan. Galen met my eyes, and nodded, though I didn't say anything. He rose, and yanked Mishael back to the foot of the nest. Because of Mishael's handhold so tight on me, I slid with him, and laughed, the sound quickly turning to a choked-off moan as Galen plastered himself to Mishael's back, and cupped my hips with Mishael, and lifted me.
"Oh, God," I groaned, tipping my head back, completely suspended from the nest except for my shoulders and head. The new angle felt incredible, Mishael's cock was dragging against some place inside of me that was like when he had licked me open. I trembled and wrapped my legs around him, moaning in encouragement.
I turned my head, reaching for Rhys, and pulled him down beside me. I met his eyes, which were wide and shining metallic, and parted my lips, guiding the head of him into my mouth. He gasped, and his thighs twitched by my head. He reached down and cupped the back of my skull, helping me with the angle as he slowly, tentatively, slid a little deeper.
I choked, and he pulled back immediately, but I didn't let him retreat. I liked the weight of him in my mouth, the slightly bitter flavor of his precum, the way he was panting so heavily, watching me with nothing short of complete worship.
Mishael moaned, stuttering, and I whimpered when he came inside me, flooding me with warmth. He and Galen placed me gently back down, and I pulled off of Rhys with a gasp, stroking my saliva down his shaft.
He whined, and turned to look at Galen, rumbling frantically in askance. Galen laughed, and nodded, and Rhys scrambled into place between my legs. I smiled at him, and cupped his face and held him as he entered me. Rhys was by far the sweetest, at least in regard to this expression of love, and I felt his gentleness like the heat of warm stones beneath my bed instead of the blazing, passionate fire Mishael and Galen conjured in me.
I kissed him as he came, panting roughly against my mouth. Galen laughed behind him. "We need to work on your stamina, fledgling," he teased. Rhys blushed, and slipped out of me, moving away.
"He suits me just fine," I replied, arching a brow as Galen knelt between my knees. I could feel myself leaking, and bit my lower lip when I saw the darkness in his eyes. "I need three of you, after all, to feel satisfied."
Galen's eyes flashed, hearing the challenge in my voice.
He smiled, and leaned over me, brushing my sweaty hair from my face. He purred, and I gasped, reaching down to touch myself as I felt his body force my thighs farther apart.
He lowered his mouth to my ear, and rasped, "Get on your hands and knees, my love. I'll see you satisfied."
My breath left me in a punched-out whine, and I nodded. He rose, and I sat up, and crawled to my hands and knees in the nest, my head at the foot of it so that I could see my other mates, who sat by the stag's head and looked as though they couldn't decide if they would rather look at it or me.
Galen moved with me, kneeling behind me. I gasped as he bowed over me, lacing our fingers together, stretching them high above my head. He pushed my knees out until I was at a good height, and rutted against my dripping entrance like an animal.
He caught, and pushed inside with a growl, his breath warm on the back of my neck, weaving into my hair like a seeking hand. My lashes fluttered and I moaned, bowing my head, bowing my entire upper body down, lifting my hips into his deep, powerful thrusts. My thighs trembled from holding his weight and I was panting, and felt completely consumed by him.
"You have given us a precious gift," Galen rumbled, biting gently at the back of my neck, my shoulders, the arch of my ear. My knuckles went white between his. "Your presence, your love, and now this." He shivered, and I choked on another moan as his cock rutted against that sensitive spot. There was nowhere, raw as I was and big as he was, for me to hide. "You cannot imagine, Alice, how rare and treasured you are."
I looked up, and met Mishael and Rhys' eyes. "I think I can," I replied. They smiled at me, and crawled over to take my hands as Galen slid his grip up, rising from my back and holding my hips steady as his thrusts gained speed. I gasped, pinned and unable to move, as Rhys kissed my fingers and Mishael nuzzled my wrist, and Galen slid one hand between my legs, and my entire body tensed and tightened.
I bowed my head and muffled a scream into the nest as I came again, my entire body trembling and tightening up. I tried to pull my legs together, and Galen merely laughed and kept touching me, until I was moaning and shuddering with oversensitivity. Still, he didn't slow for a second, whispering how beautiful I was, how good it felt inside me, how perfect and precious and adored I was.
It was like I was in freefall. I was trapped in the safety of my mates' wings, and free as a bird.
I spasmed around him with another pitiful whimper, and he finally had mercy on me, taking his hand away. His thrusts slowed, and he pressed deep, rutting against me until he came with a soft roar, purring against my neck. I smiled, warmed to the bone, their shared satisfaction flooding my skull like rainwater, like molten metal.
Rhys kissed my hand, and then my shoulder, and then my mouth, cupping my face in tender hands. Mishael helped me up when Galen pulled out, and I shivered at the sudden lack of warmth and pressure on my back. They were quick to correct it, bundling me up and curling tightly around me.
I sighed happily, kissing each of them in turn. "I love you all," I murmured, feeling the truth of it in my stomach. In my chest, around my heart, as strong and warm as a fire stone. "So very much."
Rhys smiled from his place at my hip, and rubbed his cheek against the fur covering me. "We love you."
"So much," Galen rumbled, kissing my hair.
"Forever," Mishael finished, nuzzling my shoulder.
I smiled. Forever, and a day. It was more than I had ever dared to hope for. It sounded perfect.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
ALICE
I didn't bleed the next month, or the next. When I felt the first swelling of my stomach, I knew I was pregnant. It didn't fill me with fear or nervousness, as it would have mere months ago, when a lackluster marriage to a simpleton of a man was the only thing in my future, or destiny as a spinster.
