Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
Briannis woke to the mouth-watering smell of roasting meat.
Sleeping on a rocky cavern floor next to a dragon should not have been comfortable, yet she felt strangely refreshed as she yawned and stretched her limbs.
Blinking awake, she spied a hulking figure beyond the burning branches a few feet away.
Her body locked up, then relaxed as memories of the night before flooded back.
Zain blinked his golden eyes at her. “Good morning, Briannis.”
He’d clearly been up and busy long before her, though he’d somehow managed not to rouse her. How a dragon as big as him could move around without sounding like a thunderstorm, she had no idea.
Slowly, she tore her gaze away from him and to the fire. A few sizable branches lay in a haphazard heap. Directly on top of them was the source of the smell. “Is that…”
“Mountain goat.”
She sighed in relief.
“They are quite tasty.” He crossed his forelegs in front of him. “You would prefer something else?”
“No.” She’d never tried mountain goat, but it smelled decent. The sight, however… Blackened and charred, it was unrecognizable, except—yep, that was a hoof at one end.
“Apologies. I am not used to cooking.”
Briannis shoved to her feet and approached the fire. “Oh no, it’s fine. This is very sweet actually.” It was. He’d made a fire and tried to cook meat for her, when it was clear he was unused to doing so. She had a feeling he probably preferred his meat rare. “I appreciate you thinking of me.”
Something that sounded more like a purr than a grumble rumbled from his chest. Zain adjusted his hind legs, shifting his posture but not rising.
Briannis tried to wall off her thoughts as she edged closer to the meat and used the cool end of a large branch to knock the charred leg from the fire.
She was hungry. Her stomach rumbled at the savory smell despite the charred tinge in the air.
And he’d done this for her—the fire, the fresh kill.
It would be rude to ignore the offering.
Heavy silence hung in the air as Briannis tended to her full bladder and waited for the meat to cool.
Her underthings were in worse shape that she realized, and she couldn’t stomach putting the stained and dirty material back on, so she left those off.
It might be improper in the city, but she couldn’t fathom a dragon caring.
When the meat no longer threatened to burn her fingers, she started to pick past the char looking for something edible.
Zain shifted a few more times, almost like he sat on an uncomfortable rock, yet decided not to move.
Whatever thoughts floated through his mind were shielded from her.
Though she tried to keep hers to herself, she may have failed.
What happened next? How could she go home without the city panicking? How would they find Zain’s mate?
Briannis tore free a chunk of meat in a most unladylike way that would have had her aunt scolding her manners and plopped it into her mouth.
A moan slipped past her lips. She closed her eyes at the smokey, meaty goodness.
Maybe dragon fire added extra flavoring, because it was surprisingly delicious.
When she opened her eyes once more, Zain stared at her intently. Something, not quite a thought, but more a feeling, rushed into her mind.
Pain. Need.
She swallowed the bite and lowered the next one she was about to plunk into her mouth. “Are you…are you hurt?” Guilt swarmed in her belly. If he’d gotten hurt hunting for food for her…
“Not hurt.” The short phrase came across like it was bitten out between clenched teeth.
Briannis took a few more bites. Zain kept shifting. He didn’t speak, only stared at her as she ate.
“Something is wrong.” She laid down the rest of the goat leg.
This time, he did not answer.
She stood, frowned at her greasy fingers, shrugged, and then wiped them on her dress. The thing was already dirty and ruined anyway. Briannis approached Zain slowly, like she might a wounded animal.
“Is this about taking me away?” She held out her hand as she approached. “Because I’ve thought about it, and I don’t want you to.” She laid her palm on the hard flat plane that would be the bridge of a human’s nose. A shudder ran through his form as he closed his eyes.
He lids flew open. “I won’t let them hurt you.”
“Well, I’d prefer they didn’t too, but you can’t carry on like this.
” She dropped her hand and squared her shoulders.
“And sacrificing our women? The lengths that we’re restricted and controlled all to be a pure offering?
It’s not right!” Her voice rose, echoing back through the cave.
“It’s not even helpful. It can’t continue. ”
“I agree.”
She blinked, taken aback.
“And it won’t.”
“What?” Her brow furrowed.
Again, he shifted his back legs.
Briannis narrowed her eyes and stalked down his length. He was hiding something.
Zain snapped his wing down to cover himself.
Briannis placed her hands on her hips and twisted back toward his head. She projected her thoughts as loud as she could. Something is wrong. Stop hiding.
A deep grumble was his only reply.
“Don’t you grumble at me.” She waved a finger at him, much like she did her cows when they were testy. “You’ll find I’m nothing if not stubborn, and I’m not letting this go, so what is it?”
When he merely blinked at her, a thought struck so hard that she gasped. “Are you—are you dying?” Oh, blessed Fates, was that why he said it would not continue?
A sound floated down their bond and when she wrapped her head about it, her concern faded into a frown. He’d laughed at her. Laughed!
She crossed her arms and tapped her foot while she scowled at him.
Zain’s humor dwindled and finally he said, “I fear that if I tell you, it may make you…uncomfortable.”
“Because letting me think you may be dying and then laughing at me is so much better.”
He laid his head on the ground in a sign of submission. “Know that if I tell you, you are under no obligation to help me. I can take you somewhere you will be safe and cared for.”
“I’m not running away. I want to—”
His loud grumbling growl cut her off. Her scowl deepened but she stayed quiet.
“I ask for nothing but your safety and happiness.”
She shifted from one foot to the other. The way he said that, the emotion…it felt so deep for someone he’d only just met. Briannis sighed and loosened her crossed arms. “I think it’s best if you just tell me what’s wrong and we’ll go from there.”
Zain dipped his head and then let out a deep huff that was definitely a sigh. “I think it may be easiest to show you.”
He slid his wing back, revealing his lower half. The he moved, rolling onto his side, lifting one hind leg.
It took a minute for Briannis to comprehend what she saw—the thick pink lengths sprouted from a slit in the scales between his hind legs. Her eyes widened. Heat rushed to her cheeks. More strangely, moisture flared at her core.
“You’re—” She licked her suddenly dry lips and forced her attention back to his face. “How have you, um, handled this before?”
“I haven’t.” He adjusted his posture, settling back fully onto his hind quarters and lowering himself until his erect cock—cocks, Blessed Fates, there were two of them!—were hidden from view. “In dragon form, we only grow aroused for our mate.”
His mate…
Briannis gasped. “Oh!” She clapped her hands over her mouth before lowering them.
Pure joy sparked in her heart for him. “That’s why the bride ceremonies don’t need to continue!
You found her! Oh. Oh my. I can help with this.
I can speak to her on your behalf. Let her know you’re waiting for her.
It may be hard to get her to convince her—” She shook her head.
“Actually, I’m nothing if not convincing.
If I can sell cheese to every shop in the city, surely I can talk a woman into falling for you, right? ”
He just stared at her, seemingly unaffected by her enthusiasm.
“Why are you not excited about this?” Briannis asked, truly confused. She stalked right up to him, barely an inch from his maw. “This is what you’ve been waiting for! Your curse can be broken!”
He nudged her gently with his head. “My mate has to want to break my curse.”
Her shoulders slumped. “And you worry she won’t. I mean, I’m sure the idea of the dragon being your mate might be surprising to someone. It’s certainly out of the ordinary. But I’m sure most women would be honored to be your mate.”
Briannis gasped and jolted as something touched her calf through the material of her dress. A quick glance and her panic subsided. His tail. The end of it slid down her leg again, almost like—
The heat in her face spread down her whole body. Almost like a caress.
“Briannis.” The richness of her name in his husky timber sent a shiver down her spine.
Her gaze snapped to his. “It’s me,” she said, barely a whisper. “I’m—” Your mate.
“Yes.”
Her legs wobbled and she nearly sat. If not for his tail wrapping further around her, almost holding her up, she would have.
His mate. I’m his mate.
Somewhere in her mind, she felt a door close. Almost like Zain was giving her privacy, making sure her thoughts stayed her own. His mate. He was giving his mate privacy. Just as he’d given her food. Comfort. Healing.
“Is that why you can talk to me?” Of all the questions tumbling through her mind, that was the easiest.
“I cannot be certain, but I believe so.” Another comforting stroke of his tail down her leg.
“How long have you known?”
“Since last night. When you could hear me, I wondered. It’s a trait some mated pairs possess. And then the more time I spent near you, the more my body echoed what my mind was already piecing together.”
So, recently. She tentatively reached out and cupped his cheek. The smooth, warmth of his scales under her palm was comforting. It gave stability through the shock slowly settling into her bones. His mate.
“Though, I’ll admit, things had felt strange the last few years.”
“Strange? How so?”
“I felt… a pull. An interest in the city that I had not felt since the early days. I think perhaps, deep inside, I knew my mate waited for me, though I did not realize that’s what it was.
Maybe I should have known, but after so long…
” He leaned into her touch. “Even last night, I was in denial. Until my body confirmed what my mind refused to.”
All night. He’d been like that. Even this morning, when he’d hunted for her. Made a fire. Cooked for her. She stroked his cheek. “No wonder you’re uncomfortable and in pain.” She knew it had to be something, though she’d never considered this…
Something knotted in her belly and she squeezed her thighs together. She could help him. Heal him. Break his curse!
“You found me, but you’re still a dragon.”
He dipped his head and closed his eyes. There was still something of a door between them, cracked enough to let his thoughts flow to her but perhaps not the reverse. She could feel the emotion churning in him. Hope and sorrow blended as one in a wave of feeling.
“Well. We’ll fix that. We’ll find a way. But first—” Her words grew thick and she had to swallow before continuing. “Let me help you.”
He reared his head back, jerking away from her touch. “Briannis.” His tone held astonishment. Desire. But also something too much like fear for her liking.
“You healed me. Did you really think I would leave you in pain?”
“But my suffering is—” He brought his wing down, tucking it against himself and blocking his hind section from view.
Briannis escaped the curl of his tail and stalked down his body. She clicked her tongue before stroking his wing. Like the last time, he shuddered. And now she understood. It hadn’t been pain the night before, but pleasure.
“Can you honestly say you don’t want me to touch you?” She tossed over one shoulder.
“No. I want—” His tail curled around her again, almost like he couldn’t help himself. “I want that more than anything.”
To her surprise, Briannis did also. Well, maybe not anything, but she was certainly eager to help him. And curious. And maybe more than a little aroused herself at the thought of what that would entail. She patted his side. “Then be a good boy, move your wing, and let me help you.”
His chest rumbled under her palm. “Careful, little mate.” He did as she asked, and this time, when she caught sight of the lengths between his legs, she didn’t look away despite the burning ache in her chest or the way her core practically throbbed at the sight. This time, she let herself study him.
She’d seen human males a few times, but those cocks were mostly flaccid and uninteresting, glimpsed during a dip in the river in summer or when she’d helped with the infirm during a particularly bad bout of illness.
Only once had she seen a man in his pleasure—through a crack in the door by accident when delivering cheese.
A woman had been on her knees before the man.
She stroked his cock with her hand, then her tongue, then both.
Briannis had been so transfixed at the sight, so captivated by something that was supposed to be forbidden to her until after her final Choosing, that she watched through that crack far, far longer than any decent person should.
But Zain’s cocks were nothing like that man’s.
Each was a dark pink, bordering on red. A far cry from the pale green of his scales.
Both protruded from a slit between scales, one on top of the other.
The top cock was a little more narrow and slightly shorter than the bottom one which was almost as thick as her forearm.
Along the lengths of each were ringed ridges leading to the flared tip where moisture sparkled.
Did dragons take their mates in their dragon form? Would something like that even fit in a human? The thought aroused and terrified in equal measure.
If Zain listened in to her questions, he said nothing, just left himself open to her perusal.
When his voice came through their bond again, he began, “If you do not wish to—”
Briannis nearly laughed. “Stop being a gentleman and read my thoughts again.”
The door between them opened. And through it, she shoved the thought of her on her knees beside him, licking one cock and then the other.
Zain bucked, his tail nearly sweeping her off her feet. “Briannis.” Her name was a choked sound.
“What was it you told me last night?” she asked with a little smirk. “Sit. And be still.”