“Thank you, brother.” Lucyan leaned over and kissed his brother’s forehead as he slipped back into sleep. He tucked the covers around Alistair, then opened the adjoining door connecting their rooms. Hopefully the guards wouldn’t come in to look for him, but if they did, he would just tell them he went to check onDareena.
“Lucyan?” Dareena asked sleepily as he lifted the covers. Her eyes widened as she noticed he was stark naked—he’d stripped off his clothes before approaching the bed. “I thought you were watchingAlistair?”
“He woke up briefly, then told me to go snuggle with you to conserve my strength before he passed out again,” Lucyan said, pulling her against him. “At the rate he’s healing, I suspect he shall be right as rain in themorning.”
“Thank the gods,” Dareena said fervently, hugging Lucyan tight. They stayed there for a long moment, simply savoring their embrace. Lucyan breathed in Dareena’s scent, and his chest loosened. Even with her nightshift in the way, her touch was making him feelbetter.
“Alistair said that skin-to-skin contact was best to combat the effects of the anti-dragon spell,” Lucyan said, toying with the hem of Dareena’s nightshift. Slowly, he pushed the thin cloth up her leg, his hand skimming the silky-smooth skin of herthigh.
“Did he?” she purred, leaning into him. Lucyan’s blood thrummed in his veins as he felt her nipples harden beneath the fabric, and he hissed when she nipped at his chin. “How muchskin?”
“He didn’t specify,” Lucyan said, his hands sliding up her ribcage. Dareena gasped as he cupped her breast, and he smiled wolfishly at her. “But I’m thinking we should try for as much skin as possible. We wouldn’t want me getting weaker, wouldwe?”
“No, of course not,” Dareena said breathlessly. She lifted her arms above her head so Lucyan could pull the nightshift over her head, then wrapped them around him and kissed him deeply. Lucyan growled at the taste of her as he slid his tongue into her mouth, his cock hardening even more as it pressed against her hip. She felt so fucking good in his arms, even better than he last remembered. And his last memories of them in bed together were pretty damngood.
“If we were back home,” Lucyan said, rolling Dareena onto her back, “I would make you scream loud enough to wake the stable boy.” He cupped her breast, and she moaned softly when he slid his thumb over her taut nipple. “But since we’re in enemy territory, we’ll have to be a little morediscreet.”
Dareena’s eyes blazed as she reached for the pillow next to her head. “Do whatever you want to me, Lucyan,” she panted, stripping off the pillow case. “The guards won’t be able to hear athing.”
Lucyan chuckled as she balled the pillowcase up and stuffed it into her mouth. “I remember how shy you were when you first came to the castle,” he said, gently massaging her nipples. She arched into his hands, the cloth muffling her moan. “And now look at you. You’re wanton now,” he said, leaning in to bite down on her leftnipple.
Dareena moaned again, her sounds of pleasure loud enough only for Lucyan to hear. She rubbed herself shamelessly against him as he licked and sucked her nipples, and Lucyan sucked in a sharp breath at the feel of her wet pussy sliding against his thigh. He reached between them to slide his thumb along her slippery folds, and her hips came off the bed, seeking out more. Part of Lucyan wanted to draw this out, but a larger part of him wanted to feel her come beneath him, watch her fall apart as she screamed her pleasure into that self-imposed gag, so he stroked her faster, finding her sweet spot with ease. In no time her eyes glazed over, color spilling across her cheeks as she strained against him, seeking thatrelease.
“There you go,” he said as she went over the edge. He thrust his cock into her as she shook from the force of it, then bit back a curse as her inner walls clamped down on him. He bit down on the inside of his cheek to keep from coming, but it was so bloody hard with Dareena bucking against him, frantically milking him for every bit of pleasure she could get. Bracing his hands on the bed, he quickened his pace, refusing to let her catch her breath even as she started coming down from thehigh.
“You are so bloody perfect,” he panted, ripping the gag out of her mouth. He kissed her deeply, swallowing her breathy moans as he fucked her, wanting to make her come again. She clawed at his back, nails sinking into his skin, and the pain spurred him on, driving him even deeper intoher.
Finally, Dareena’s body went rigid beneath his, and her pussy clenched tight around him again. Lucyan groaned into her mouth as her orgasm pushed him over the edge, and his vision went white for a moment as he became overwhelmed by the wave of utter bliss. Winded, he collapsed onto his elbows and buried his head in the crook of Dareena’s neck, breathing in their combined scents as he fought to catch hisbreath.
“You truly are the Dragon’s Gift,” he said when he could speak again. His exhaustion evaporated as renewed energy that only Dareena could give surged throughhim.
“Was there ever any doubt?” Dareena asked teasingly. She reached up to cup his face, her green eyes filled with satisfaction andtenderness.
“No,” Lucyan said. He slid down Dareena’s body to press a kiss to her abdomen. “Not anymore. Our son is growing in your womb.” He had no idea if the child was from his seed, but it didn’t matter—as far as he was concerned, it was as much his as it was Drystan’s or Alistair’s. “I can’t wait until your belly begins to round,” he said, nuzzling her dampskin.
Dareena smiled. “We’ll be back home then,” she said, a dreamy look in her eyes. “All four of us togetheragain.”
“Yes, but we need to get out of here first.” Lucyan rolled onto his side and propped up his head to face Dareena. “You said you learned to manipulate your elven magic. It turns out I too have a new trick up my sleeve—I canshift.”
“You can?” Dareena sat up, her face lighting up with joy. “Oh, Lucyan, that’s wonderful!” She threw her arms around him and hugged him tight. “You must be thrilled. Can youfly?”
“A bit,” he said, “though that will not help us much until we can get beyond the castle walls. I cannot risk any of the guards taking me down with that horrible warlockmagic.”
“No, you certainly cannot,” Dareena said. “Although, do you think it’s possible your amulet might protect you? It has worked against the anti-dragon spell sofar.”
“The warlock warned me that the amulet might fail if it tries to combat more than one spell at a time,” Lucyan said ruefully. “As much as I would like to try, we would find ourselves in even more dire straits if we accidentally destroyed the amulet in the process. Tariana flew over the border to try to rescue Ryolas before he was brought to the castle, and she nearly died thanks to that blasted warlock magic,” he growled. “Luckily, I came upon her and helped her heal with the amulet, and managed to convince her to go home by promising I would rescue Ryolas if Icould.”
“I’m glad you did, because a rescue is no longer necessary,” Dareena said. “Arolas was thrown into the dungeons after what he did to Alistair, and Ryolas was released. He is confined to his quarters, and resting comfortably, from what Princess Basilla has toldme.”
“Thank the gods,” Lucyan said, relief sweeping through him. That was one less burden for him to worry about. “It will be far easier to escape if it’s only the three of us. If we can successfully sneak out of here, I can carry you two on my back and fly to Dragonfell. Do you think you might be able to use your magic to make us invisible?” he asked, remembering how Ryolas and his men had done so in theforest.
Dareena shook her head. “Invisibility is beyond the purview of nature-based magic,” she said. “If we had your invisibility cloak I might be able to strengthen it a bit, but I could not fashion such a spellmyself.”
“That is unfortunate,” Lucyan said. “And no, I no longer possess the cloak—Shadley managed to lose it while he was fleeing Paxhall. What about offensive spells? Can you use your magic as aweapon?”
“Oh yes,” Dareena said. She sat up and reached for the drawer in the bedside table, and the sheet slid down, exposing her round, lovely breasts. Lucyan’s cock twitched, and he gripped the bedspread to keep from reaching for her again—the conversation at hand was far more important than his sexual desires. “Here is the primer I was telling you about.” She turned back to show him the slim volume in herhand.
“This is written with elven runes,” Lucyan said, flipping through the pages. “You’ve already taught yourself to read this?” He shook his head, amazed at her aptitude, though perhaps he shouldn’t be. She’d learned those dragon runes awfully fast when he’d taughther.
