40. Chapter 40
forty
T he hot, milky liquid flows around me as the spelled walls restore my strength, rebuilding my dragon spirit.
Sunfire Fang is the only clan with these kinds of baths as one of their previous Dominions was mated to a witch.
My body heats, sweat dripping from my skin as all the tears and breaks slowly heal, leaving sliver-thin scars on my form.
“What are you doing?” Ethan groans, and my head whips to the side, watching how he glares at me, his lids half closed, his cheeks blushed. “Are you using your call? Is this how it feels? Fuck.” He groans again, his back arching as I watch in awe.
Blood rushes through my veins as my cock wakes. This familiar sense rises, one I pushed down after our slip up years ago .
I have no idea how to start this, but watching Ethan writhe in the bath as my dragon calls him to complete the marking, my hand trails under the milky fluid, my fingers gliding over my cock as I slowly pump.
I want to blame the mate bond we created, or better said, I created by marking him, but I’m not fighting it. I’m letting it take me to wherever it goes, flowing with the ripples like the water around me.
“What do you want, Ares?” Ethan asks as my eyes won’t leave his.
I release a breathy moan as my cock throbs in my fist. “I want you to touch me.”
The milky white water gushes over its confinement as Ethan climbs from his tub, crawling over to mine and pausing at the edge.
Our eyes meet. A moment passes before he softly, carefully lowers himself in my bath, gliding beside me and brushing his hands over my chest without ever breaking eye contact.
I lean in closer until his breath tickles on my lips, his hand gliding lower, and I slowly release my grip on my cock just before his fingers wrap around the thick shaft.
His grip is tight, yet soft, different but good, really good as he starts moving up and down, twisting slightly as he reaches the tip.
My breath is shaky, uneven as he picks up his pace, tightening his grip as he moves up and relaxes his fingers as he glides down.
“Can I taste you?” he whispers, and my cock twitches in his hand.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he teases as he moves his body, the water splashing over the side of the tub. He looks at me one last time before he sinks under the water.
I grip the side of the tub as his mouth wraps around my cock. My hips jerk up, moving with him as he works his tongue and lips around me.
“Fuck,” I mumble under my moans as my head falls back .
He alternates his movements, going fast and shallow or slow and deeper as I’m coming closer to a release.
My hips twitch, as does my cock, his lips tight around my shaft, my free hand gripping the back of his head, pushing him down as my cum drowns him.
Fire crackles under my skin, and I breathe rapidly as my hold slackens and Ethan emerges from the water.
The milky fluid cascades down his skin as he swallows.
Catching our breath in this moment, we watch each other, taking each other in as if everything between us has changed.
He crawls over my body, his hard cock gliding over my legs as he moves between them, his hands trailing over my chest.
“Can I mark you now?” he moans. His cheeks slightly blush as his swollen lips part. Without missing a beat, my thumb grazes over his bottom lip, leading him closer.
His eyes morph into his dragon’s, his pupils changing into slits, and his teeth alter quickly. Tilting my head, I give him more room as my fingers trail from his lips over the stubble on his jaw to the back of his neck. His quick breaths stroke over my skin, goosebumps rising over my body as he trails his lips over my skin, flicking his tongue, teasing and tasting until he finds the right spot.
My body trembles slightly as he flicks his tongue over the same place again. His sharp fangs pierce my skin, pushing through until the fabric of our beings intertwine as one. The bond forges, and a rush of electricity crawls under my skin.
My grip tightens, keeping him close as a stray tear rolls over my cheek. His fangs fade, and his warm tongue heals the wound he created.
A moan resonates from me, and he takes my hand, bringing it down to his hard cock. I gulp, unsure of what to do, as he takes the lead. His lips slide up to mine, molding together as I push him up, my hands leaving his cock and gripping his hips tighter as I don’t let my thoughts keep me back.
I crawl over his body as the white water splashes around us, my fingers digging into his form until I break my lips from his and turn him around sharply, pushing his back down, curling his body over the edge of the big tub.
Lust ripples through me, but it crumbles as thoughts of Rodi fill my mind, luring me back, and I slump against Ethan’s warm body.
“We shouldn’t,” he breathes. “I feel it too… I can’t… knowing…”
“Knowing she isn’t safe,” I finish his thought, and he turns in my hold. Our bodies cling together as his mark burns on my skin.
“It will mean we’re…”
“Our healing will remain slow, I know, but we have to find her first.”
I nod, my hand snaking around his neck as I lean closer. My lips gently press against his forehead as I bask in his heat.
“Let’s find our little rider,” I whisper against his skin.
She’s here. She’s within our grasp, and now we only have to wait for our moment to grab her and run because Ethan and I still can’t shift. We hoped after we completed the marking that we would, but we haven’t fully mated.
I wanted to. I really did. I wanted to give in to it all, but I couldn’t. Not when I know Rodi isn’t safe .
Not when I know what Hephaestus is doing to her, hurting her to show his power.
We’ve been patiently waiting for her to get back from her trip to Valorcrest and had Fangar almost forcing Hephaestus to stay a night.
I’ve heard the whispers, how Dominion Fangar wants to add Slatebane to his territory, and it seems Hephaestus is playing his part as Aetherion.
As if he has no intention to go back and all the intent to stay here and live his life among the dragons.
It doesn’t truly surprise me because he has more power here than he would ever have in the Godlands. He can rise to the top among all others, hidden behind a face that’s not truly his. A familiar face to many around here that other dragons trust.
It’s the perfect disguise. This world is his playground in which to inflict pain and gain power.
But we don’t belong here. We need to get back home. But where is home when Ethan can’t come?
However, the path leading back isn’t simple. It’s shrouded in darkness and danger, and there are no guarantees. I’ll fight like hell to save Rodi and get us all home, but it won’t be easy.
This is the fight for our lives. Our happiness. Our overall bond.
So, I wait. I stay in my room, tearing my mind away from past memories to focus on the future and the moments that I want to happen. I can no longer help what happened in the past, but I can have some sort of control over my future.
“Ares!”
My eyes snap up as Ethan enters the room, breathing heavily like he was moving fast. I step away from the window I was looking out of, my heart pounding as he approaches me. “What is it?”
“It’s time,” Ethan confirms with a determined glint in his eyes .
The heavy thud of my heartbeats fills my head as I stare at him, trying to wrap my mind around what comes next. I’ll get to see her again with my own two eyes. We’ve been planning for what happens when she comes back for days now, and it’s finally time to take action.
“I’ll get dressed. Then, we’ll go,” I tell him.
Ethan takes a deep breath and nods, waiting for me by the door until I’m done getting ready. We walk side-by-side out of the room, down the hallway, using the same passages we came in until we’re outside. .
My jaw tightens as I sweep my eyes around the outdoors. I’m dying to see her! It doesn’t help that the morning sun burns my skin as the armor I wear clings to my body a bit too tightly.
“Stop squirming,” Ethan whisper shouts.
Fangar did his part, luring Hephaestus away and letting his daughter, Isadora, meet up with Rodi, giving us the right opportunity to snatch her away and make a run for it before anyone notices.
I straighten as Grayson heads our way, Isadora at his side. A yellowish golden dress drapes over her body, the sunlight filtering through, showing how flimsy the fabric is.
Her eyes almost seem cerulean, a color I’ve seen before—many years ago, when this was my home.
My brows pinch together as my throat dries. Memories surface of the day I left. No matter how much I try, it’s impossible to fully escape the past.
“Aetherion,” she says, bowing her head, and I blink away the fog. I know Fangar’s lineage but can’t remember his wife’s. I know she died during childbirth and nothing more. There are so many fragments of my old lives that it’s hard to piece them together at times.
“Who are you?” I ask as I can’t come up with any other words.
Her lips press together as she swallows. “Isadora, the daughter of Dominion Fangar. ”
I shake my head. “I know. Who was your mother?”
A slight twitch in her jaw makes me squirm, but whatever she says can’t be true.
“Seraphina,” she says, and my heart skips a beat. I only know of the name Seraphina, a name I chose… if I ever had a daughter.
I gulp. “How old was she when she died?” I ask as I try to do the math. We dragon shifters and riders, when mated, can live hundreds of years. It all depends on your lineage.
Most unclaimed Netherlings don’t pass the hundred, while mated ones reach one hundred and fifty. But Wardens and Sentinels can easily pass the two hundred and thirty years mark, and their riders as well.
Dominions have a shorter lifespan, but that’s because of wars, deceit, and politics. They get caught up in all the conflict without the years of wisdom and experience of the others. They pay the price.
“One hundred and seventy-eight,” she says with a sigh. “She died during childbirth.”
My heart stammers. My body shakes as I know my instincts are right. “Eleanor?”
She glances away as she shifts slightly on her feet.
Oh, she knows. This is why Fangar looked at me differently, why his mask cracked. One of the women I’d spent some time with, Eleanor, left me without a word. I couldn’t find her. It didn’t matter how hard I tried. We were friends, and sometimes more, but I’d never claim her as my rider. I couldn’t do that, not as my heart belonged to Rodi. And suddenly, Eleanor left without a trace.
But she wasn’t pregnant. She would’ve told me…
Years after she left, I left Sunfire Fang and headed back to Valorcrest and let myself turn to ashes .
Then it was time to let myself be reborn, and my life with Ethan began. A life that led me to Rodi.
Time passes as the silence crawls up my skin, unsure of what to say as I know who this is, what she is to me.
I never thought about building a family, not without Rodi…
She doesn’t answer my question, and as Ethan nudges my side, I turn toward Fangar’s estate, watching from a distance as Rodi strolls into the gardens with a guard by her side.
My heart races. This is it, and I won’t let the knowledge of who Isadora is stop me.
The woman I love is so close, and I refuse to miss this opportunity to get her back in my arms.
The lake is all that stands between us. My hands turn sweaty, my breath shortening as fear moves inside me, tightening around my lungs when Rodi stops walking, her guard shielding her from our sight. My legs move on my own as I can’t wait any longer.
“Don’t!” Ethan grabs me, tugging me back. “We need her to come here. If we snatch her there, her guard can signal the two next to the entrance with ease, and we aren’t strong enough.”
I want to scream as my strength slips through my fingers. Grayson’s hands grip my shoulders, pushing me back as I stumble on the grass beneath me. Every muscle in my body tenses and is ready to propel me into action.
Grayson hovers over me with a firm look on his face. He holds me down.
“If you go… you won’t make it.” His jaw grits, his grip even as he waits for my next move.
With my nod, he releases me. I know he’ll speak the truth, as he knows what would’ve happened if I had run to her .
“What are they doing?” Ethan asks, drawing me back as I notice the same. The guard tosses his cloak to Rodi, as he does with his boots.
“He’s going to shift,” I mumble and glare at Grayson for confirmation.
Confusion is edged on his features as he struggles with his words. “I can’t see what he’s going to do. That’s impossible…”
The limits of his powers have never been reached with a simple prediction, and it makes me wonder what kind of dragon this one is.
I lurch forward, Ethan and Grayson behind me, as the guard starts his shift. Scales appear, and his body changes.
And as his true form shows, my heart stops in fright.