He'd transformed back into his human form and was untying the baggage. He nodded casually, then slung the bags over his shoulder.
“This is where I come to be alone,” he said. “I've never shared it with anyone.”
“Thank you for sharing it with me.”
“Everything I have is now yours, mo shíorghrá,” Raza smiled as if that was the best thing in the world. “I needed you to see this.”
“Then show it to me, dragon,” I teased. “It's cold out here.”
Raza led me into the modest opening. It didn't look like much. In fact, you wouldn't have even known it was there unless someone pointed it out to you. There were no plants to lighten the gray, or even dirt to soil the stones. Only rock. But that lasted just about four feet. Then the pebbled floor began to change. Raza blew a stream of fire ahead of us, lighting torches set into the walls, and the ground sparkled in the firelight. I peered at the smooth surfaces and caught the gleam of glassy ribbons of crystal.
The tunnel curved and angled down. Raza kept walking, one hand holding our bags and the other clasping mine. I began to hear the plink of water droplets, and soon, I felt moisture in the air. The scent of fresh water cleared my head, and my feet started taking larger steps. Raza laughed and sped up to match my pace.
He spoke a single word as we stepped around a bend, and fairy lights burst into life. I froze, staring at the cavern before us. Worn steps led down to a stone platform. No, not stone, crystal. The whole cavern was formed of quartz crystal. Shards of the translucent quartz stuck out from the ground, walls, and ceiling, catching the glow of the fey lights, and magnifying it. The bobbing lanterns drifted across the surface of a lake, then floated upward until their ascent was stopped by the ceiling. There, crystal points angled down, dripping water into the lake. The sound was soothing, a tinkling song for an otherwise silent space.
Around the pool, an edge of polished crystal spread out, and to the left, there was a luxurious collection of furnishings. A carpet laid across the crystal ground, and then a bed over that. There were chairs and a table, a cooking hearth, and several trunks. Raza headed down the steps, and towards the living space.
“I've already stocked up with a few days worth of food,” he said to me. Raza put the bags down, then turned to peruse my face. “What do you think?”
“I think...” I turned in a circle, admiring the way Raza's little spot of domesticity was outlined in clusters of crystals. The way it almost formed itself into rooms. There was the kitchen, then the dining room to the side, and finally, the bedroom. All divided by partial, pointed, crystal walls. “I love it.”
“Good,” he sighed and pulled me into a hug. “I hoped you would.”
“It's amazing,” I whispered. “Though I feel a little like Superman. I keep looking for a place to stick my crystal shard.”
“Your what?”
“Never mind,” I chuckled. “It's your own Fortress of Solitude, and I'm delighted that you brought me here, Superdragon.”
“Superdragon,” Raza pondered the name. “Yes, that's acceptable.”
“What do you want to do first, Superdragon?” I smirked.
“Do you really have to ask?” Raza slid up to me and quickly helped me out of my wedding gown. “I know exactly where to stickmycrystal shard.”
“Oh, that was horrible.”
He laid my gown gently aside as I chuckled. Then Raza scooped me up in his arms. I settled my arms around his neck and focused on his gorgeous face. My husband. Wow. How did that happen? Raza was amazing, far too wonderful for me. Yet somehow-
I flew through the air and landed in the lake. Cool water jolted me out of my daydreams and roused me into stark awareness. I shot to the surface and sputtered, pushing my hair away from my face. Raza stood, laughing, on the shore. He began to wade in.
“You're gonna get it, Superdragon!” I vowed in true villain style. “You'll rue the day you tricked me!”
“Really?” Raza lifted a brow. “How shall you make me pay, mo shíorghrá? I await your punishments eagerly.”
“I'll just bet you do,” I swam over to him.
Before he could come up with another witty Razaism, I climbed the mountain of his body and pushed his head under the water. We wrestled beneath the surface, then came up, clasping at each other. He was panting, his eyes glowing gold, and his manhood hard against me. Water dripped down his cheek and over the pulsing vein in his neck. I leaned forward and drew my tongue slowly over it. He shuddered, clasping me tighter. Then he set his mouth to mine and rolled my body with his.
Bodies entwined, tongues entwined, hearts entwined, we were all wrapped up in each other. Sliding sensuously in an aquatic dance, we didn't come up for air until we were drawing on each other's breaths. Raza barely gave me a second to gasp before he lifted me, spreading my thighs wide, and pulled me down on top of him. I clung to his shoulders as he ground into me. Slowly. Agonizingly. The pleasure built until my screams echoed off the crystal walls.
Then he carried me from the pool and laid me down on the smooth shore. His hot tongue lapped the water from my skin as I shivered. Claws and wings disappeared as he clutched me tighter, sliding down my body to position himself between my thighs. Raza took hold of my hips, and lifted me to his face, instead of lowering his mouth to me. It angled me up, turning my world, and disorienting me. The heat, the licking, the thrust of that insistent tongue. It all brought me to a screaming apex again. I tried to reach for him, but the position left me helpless, my fingers clawing at the slick surface beneath me. Then Raza brought me down suddenly, impaling me with one move.
The sparkling crystal ceiling became a perfect backdrop to his dark beauty as he thrust violently within me. Raza's face shifted from tender to savage, and his hands bracketed my face, to keep me staring straight into his molten eyes. His lips quivered, his jaw convulsing, as his breaths grew more frantic.
“Show me now how you will calm me, my sweet wife,” Raza growled, then bared his teeth at me. “Prove your vows to me.”
“You want calm?” I pushed him over, onto his back, and took control of our pleasure. “First we must ride out the storm. Hold on to me, husband, and I will bring you peace. I swear.”
