The Goddess will not be pleased if you lose me,the Eye said.You know her fury is unmatched. She may remove the mating bond you are establishing.
I roared in fury this time, and I did so aloud. The world around me shivered with the power of my anger and the claiming I refused to stop.
I'm not saying to stop claiming him,the Eye said.Claim your mate. Fuck him until the bond settles. But don't tell him until after you have claimed me as well.
I will not be able to part with him for several weeks,I snarled back.My dragon won't allow him to even leave this chamber until he's satiated, and that will probably take days.
Do what you must, but don't tell him or you will lose the upper hand. You need to control him, Lyrandir. And if he knows he's your mate, he will control you.
The thought of a man, any man, controlling me was enough to break through the ecstasy of mating and clear my head enough to focus me. The emotions I felt suddenly felt like threats. A warning. If I let myself get lost in them, I would lose control as well. I would become a slave to those feelings—a slave to Aras. No! I wouldn't tell Aras. Not until I had the Eye. Then the Goddess's magic would strengthen me, and I wouldn't worry about losing control. I would claim Aras and provide him with excuses to explain my strange behavior. Anything to keep him close. And I would order my knights to keep my secret too. They'd know who he was as soon as they smelled him.
That's very wise,the Eye spoke in a calmer tone.I will leave you now to claim your mate.
“Your Majesty?” Aras frowned up at me.
“Roll over onto your stomach.”
Aras obeyed, but his confusion was evident. That ceased to matter when I used my foot to rub my essence past his fur and into his flesh. Aras cried out, then sighed and pumped his hips against the bed. I kept releasing my essence, coating my mate inmy scent and soul. No matter what happened now, whether Aras knew it or not, he was mine.
At last, I collapsed onto the bed beside him and sighed in relief and joy.
“Your Majesty?” Aras lifted his head, swaths of dark hair falling across his face boyishly, but the veil couldn't hide his wonder from me. “What was that?”
“Come here.” I pulled my mate into my arms and nestled his head in against my neck. “Call me Lyrandir.”
Aras wasn't satisfied with the boon. He pushed up, out of my embrace, and looked down at me. “Was that the way a Dragon declares himself?”
“Declares himself?” I lifted my brows.
“I'm trying to ask if we're lovers now.Monogamouslovers.”
The thought of the opposite, that Aras might go to another, nearly made me roar again. I pushed the urge down, but only because lust was rising once more. It would be like this for at least a couple of days while the bond settled. I'd need him every few minutes at first, then every few hours. After that, the mating should be set, steady enough to survive a short separation.
Again, the thought nearly roused my dragon. But that primal part of me was already reaching for my mate, needing what only he could give me.
“Yes, we're monogamous now. Fuck another man, and I will kill him.”
Instead of being horrified, Aras grinned. “Can I kill whoever you fuck?”
I stared at my mate, contemplating how he would be the only man I'd fuck for the rest of my life. But I couldn't say that to him. Not yet. So, instead, I said, “Yes. If I betray my promise to you, you may kill the man I take to bed.”
Aras's eyes twitched. “I don't like the thought of you bedding another.”
What a relief that was to hear. But again, I couldn't tell him. I just smiled and sat up.
Aras had to back away to give me space to get to my knees. “What are you doing?”
“You will be doing me,” I said and turned around to get onto my hands and knees. I looked over my shoulder at my mate, joy once more infusing me. “Fuck me as hard as you want. Harder, even. And you may taste my blood again, if you wish.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something twitch. His cock. It rose at my words. And I smiled wider. Was the bond already telling me what my mate needed? Maybe. Or maybe I was just very observant where he was concerned. Either way, I took great pride in knowing that I could satisfy all his needs.
Chapter Four
“Are you ever going to let me out of your apartments?” Aras asked the next day as we lay entwined in bed after our latest round of mating.
“After I feel you've done enough penance perhaps,” I said lightly.
You cannot tell him,the Eye said.
