4. Blake
BLAKE
Iroused to the scent of cooking meat—something dense and oily popping over the cooking fire.
I’d fallen asleep on the table, and somehow my legs had ended up bent and tucked under the cloak wrapped around me.
It wasn’t precisely comfortable, but right then, every muscle in my body felt like I’d taken to the training yard for the express purpose of letting all the squires beat me with war hammers, so I couldn’t imagine what position would be better.
I might’ve missed my bed, if it weren’t for the surety that if I ever slept in it again, I’d wake to someone cutting my throat.
The way my legs were folded meant my ass was perched right on the edge of the table, and from my sore, stretched rim and the come dripping from the inside of my asscheek to leave a sticky trail around the curve of it, I’d lost consciousness before Harri had finished.
Or maybe he’d gone again.
The three dragons were standing around the fire, talking seriously about—well, something or other.
I didn’t know a damn thing about cooking. Didn’t know a damn thing about food at all, except that I liked to eat it. Still, the scent of salted fish cooking over the fire had my stomach rumbling.
Even from beside the fire, Gareth heard it. He stared at me when I pushed up to watch them, then he poked at the fish.
“I think it’s done.”
The three of them set the enormous fish on a slab and carried it over to the table. My legs were like pudding as I slipped off of it so they could set it down between us.
They all sat, and Bran patted the top of his thigh in an invitation for me. I didn’t mind keeping my bare ass off the cold stone.
When I perched on his lap, he wrapped his arm around my hip and squeezed.
“I caught this,” he said.
I already knew that, but he was searching for praise, his sea-green eyes twinkling with a need that felt—well, it felt familiar to me.
I couldn’t say I was skilled in every princely pursuit, but even if I had been, my brother was king. It was easy to get lost in the shadows.
“Impressive.” I leaned in to inspect it, seared and a beautiful pinkish-white color. I glanced back at Bran through my lashes. “I’ve never seen such a large . . . ”
In the silence that hung, Bran didn’t breathe.
“Fish.”
He groaned, then wedged his knee between my legs and shifted me into the center of his lap.
I felt the nudge of his cock between my cheeks before he pulled me down.
The slide of his dick into my ass made my legs shake weakly, but he spread his legs to push mine apart and dug his heels into the dirt to shift the bench back from the table for the others to watch.
“You should eat,” Bran rumbled in my ear, even as he pressed one hand across my lower belly and drew my body down on him.
He lifted a chunk of meat to my lips and I ate from his hand, licking his fingers clean before he fed me another bite. That was good—buttery and earthy and dense. I wanted more. Wanted him to want to give it to me. So I used the leverage of my legs locked behind his calves to rock my hips.
He grunted roughly. The next morsel he pulled for me was big and juicy, and while I moved, we were both clumsy. He smeared oil across my lips, but I ate it all. I’d take anything they could give me.
Anything, but—
Bran reached between my legs. He wrapped his oily palm around my shaft, and I cried out. They’d fucked me for hours, and every nerve in my body was on fire. It was too much and not enough and—
Fuck, Bran was merciless about it. His hand was slick, but he squeezed tight, moved fast, twisted his palm just beneath the head until the edges of my vision went dark and stars sparkled across the whole field.
I cried out when my cock spasmed in his grip, but all that came from it was a pitiful dribble at the tip. That didn’t stop the pleasure from ripping through me, and Bran growled in my ear.
“That’s it. Squeeze me just like that—” He grunted roughly, jerked me down on his cock, and then went still.
Harri and Gareth were staring, but I couldn’t be bothered to do anything more than stretch my arms across the table to catch me as I slumped into it.
“I think he might be done,” Gareth said.
“Jus’ gimme a minute,” I slurred.
Harri’s sly snicker told me I may not have made as much sense as I’d hoped.
“Keep your strength up,” Bran mumbled against my sweaty shoulder. He brought another bite of food to my lips, and I opened up to allow him to feed it to me, but that was as good as he was getting. No way could I lift my head up for him.
I managed a few more bites and reached back to pet Bran’s thigh. “ ’S good,” I muttered. “Good Bran. Good fish. Swimmy fish.”
Harri choked out a laugh, and even Gareth snickered before he said, “It’s time to rest.”
He walked around the table and Bran relaxed his legs so that Gareth could slip his arm beneath my knees. He hefted me up and Bran’s cock slipped out of my ass. He hissed, and I keened, squirming against Gareth’s chest.
“Shh,” he whispered, “settle, little human.”
I snorted. I wasn’t all that small if you weren’t a dragon.
“Blake,” I said.
“What’s black?” Gareth frowned down at me, but I was pretty sure there were two of him kind of moving in and out of each other.
“No. Blake,” I said. “Blake Caah-vendish.”
I thought Gareth’s eyes widened for a moment, but the world had gone very still. I tipped my head against his chest and closed my eyes.
“No more talk tonight,” he muttered.
And I was too damn tired to shrug.
We’d not made it very far before falling asleep the night before. I woke on the ground next to the cooking fire. Harri’s arm was slipped beneath my head, and I must’ve spent most of the night with my nose buried in his armpit.
Embarrassing.
Bran had curled up behind me and slung his arm across us both.
When I sat up, Gareth was nowhere to be seen.
And that fourth dragon, the one with the cobalt glare, hadn’t come back.
My body was stiff from sleeping on the ground, sure, but also everything that preceded it. My arms ached. The small of my back popped when I stretched. The muscles in my thighs and calves protested with every movement.
What the hell did my calves have to do with anything?
Surely, I’d feel better after a bath. It’d wake me up, at least, and I smelled ripe.
I shook Harri’s arm. “Where do you bathe?”
He grumbled without opening his eyes. “Hot spring.”
“Where’s that?”
“Past the river delta where the rocks turn black.”
All right, that wasn’t much to go on, but it was something. I’d find where the river hit the ocean and go in from there until I saw black rocks.
I just wasn’t going to go hiking naked. It was cold, and the terrain past the campfire was uneven, so I slipped on my boots, but there was no sense getting dressed while I was covered in sweat and come.
Instead, I wrapped one of their cloaks tight around myself and bundled my trousers and shirt together in front of me.
My armor was missing. Sword too.
My signet ring, as well, seemed to be missing from my pocket.
That was a problem for—
For not now. Now was bathing, and a hot spring sounded like just the thing. I’d been prepared to splash off in a cold stream, and even that would have been a luxury.
Slowly, picking my way through the uneven terrain with every achy step, I made my way up from their camp, considering what I’d do next.
I couldn’t return to the Spires, and I didn’t know where else to go. With humans, I’d always be looking over my shoulder. Clearly, Evander had some vendetta to work out against me, and if I couldn’t have a proper brother, I had no intention of letting him kill me.
That was one thing I could say about the dragons—I didn’t think they’d hurt me, which was better than I could say for anyone back in Atheldinas.
Why bring me to their camp if they meant me harm? The sapphire-eyed dragon could’ve killed me with a little more motivation.
And last night, the others hadn’t seemed intent on causing me harm.
What if I stayed? I’d be leaving behind the luxury I was accustomed to, but my stomach was full, and I rather liked—
Well, they certainly hadn’t been cruel.
It didn’t take as long as I thought it would to find the spring, and I kicked my boots off on a nearby rock before laying out the cloak and piling my clothes on top of it.
I stepped into the water gingerly. The stones beneath were slippery, but the water was just the right amount of steamy against my sore calves.
If I stayed out here, at least long enough to let the worst of winter pass, it might not be so bad. The spring was nice. I’d developed a fondness for dragon cock. They didn’t seem to intend to let me starve.
I sank down into the water with a sigh.
Of course, the only evidence I had that they might want me there was that they’d brought me to their camp in the first place, and the one who’d done that obviously hated me.
But the others had liked one thing about me, at the very least, and I could work with that.
I was used to courtiers, and these dragons weren’t half so duplicitous.
Did I want to stay? For a while, maybe. Until I figured out what to do next.
Now that I’d seen them, there was no way I was bringing Evander a dragon’s head. Not even because I didn’t think I’d manage it before they burnt me to a crisp. They were just—
The sun shining off their scales. That rumble that preceded the gout of blue flame that’d come at me. Sapphire eyes sparking with anger.
Dragons were beautiful.
I didn’t want to kill them. Didn’t even want to try.
I scrubbed myself clean, careful with the bruised parts of me, but there was no rush. No one called for me that I heard, and Harri knew where I was. Perhaps they thought I’d just left and they didn’t care.
In any case, I had a few minutes to sink neck deep in the water and let my muscles relax.
A whip of air caught my attention, and I opened my eyes groggily to see a blue dragon flying over the tree line. My lips twitched upward.