Chapter Ten
Ghreid
He lost track of when he managed to slip his cock free of Varis that night, or the time after…
He wasn’t certain of anything when it came to the slender male that rode him and cried out in a tongue like birdsong.
Ghreid had always loved Kalish, the sensual flow of it.
His hands traversed weathered skin, fingers brushing a naked ass.
One day, they’d bear his scales. And as Ghreid’s hand traced the slope of Varis’s belly, he knew one day that would bear his young.
“I barely know you, but I can almost guarantee I know what you’re thinking.” Varis yawned and wiggled into Ghreid’s touch.
“Perhaps not, my precious jewel.” Ghreid circled his fingers.
“You’re thinking, at the moment, about what I will say.
You think I will say that you wish to fuck me again, but your mind is filled with breeding me.
” Varis shuddered, and Ghreid clenched his fingers, his mind snapping more fiercely toward the prospect of his womb.
Their many sessions the night before, had they been in heat, would have no doubt been full of potential.
“Clever creature.” Ghreid leaned over his shoulder and pressed a soft kiss to his ear, the soft, round thing which would sharpen upon his change, his bare scalp unadorned by horns that lay within his untapped magic. “What a fine dragon you will make.”
“And when you look at me, do you see me? Or do you see this dragon I supposedly will become?” Varis writhed beneath Ghreid’s touch, his movements sensual and incomplete.
Ghreid wanted his tail, wanted his wings, horns he could rub against. “I’m not even sure why I believe you, but my heart knows you. ”
“I’ve known to look for you since the moment I first drew breath. We are kindred.” Ghreid rested his chin over Varis’s shoulder and took the deepest breath he’d ever drawn, exhaling with such satisfaction he wasn’t certain part of his burdened soul didn’t seep out with it, replaced only by joy.
“I wasn’t certain what to look for. Since I was little, I’ve known my fate was to die. I’ve lived like every day was my last.” Varis stretched out. “Never wanted for anything because I never knew if I could keep it. I was a little spoiled, too.”
“I can make you want for things. I can make you desire.” Ghreid turned Varis to face him.
“You, Lord Dragon, are something I cannot keep. I crave experience. I crave memories, things that cannot be taken away, things that will go with me.” Varis leaned in and brushed his lips over Ghreid’s.
Once. Twice. Each brush like a whisper, soaking in the sensation of him before they joined with the softest of kisses.
The way Varis moved his tongue was like silk, a butterfly’s touch, a whisper of something more to come.
Every breath against Ghreid’s lips was a promise for more.
Every brush of their lips cemented something between them.
Every breath a new memory. Ghreid would never forget a single moment of it, each second a treasure, a coin for the hoard of his mind. Something new for my hoard!
Ghreid would amass every memory possible. “What a wonderful idea. Anything you desire, my avarice and treasure. Anything at all. Any experience you crave, I will deign to give.”
“But you are a busy dragon, are you not? When one finds a personal attendant necessary, they do not live boring or slow lives. What is it on your schedule today?” Varis sat up in their bed, his body a field of warm flesh, pale markings, an unrealized ashen.
“There’s work to do to clean the bay. There’s unionization, new workforces, construction, meetings to attend with nobility.” Ghreid sat up and stretched, his inner dragon purring with delight at the fawnlike beauty in his bed, the skin and spotting, the way he lay there so boneless.
“Then it is settled, I will watch you. I will come to know what it is that you do. I will inevitably be at your side, no?” Varis yawned and sat up, his every motion a picture of grace and fragility. “But you did not answer me, Lord Dragon. Do you desire me, or the thing you think I will turn into?”
Ghreid frowned, taking his time to answer the question.
This moment would be a memory, and only if it shined, would it be worth it.
No time for tarnished treasure. “As you treasured the experience, so do I. I treasure this thing you are. I found you, and I treasure you, and the journey of you. I do find you attractive now and I will find you attractive then.”
“Eloquent. Acceptable answer.” Varis stretched and slid from bed, head swiveling toward the bathing chambers. “Give me a moment to prepare for you, my dragon, and you may join me.”
Ghreid watched, his fangs aching in his mouth to morph into his greater form. His dragon roared in his mind as he stared at his fawn-like beauty’s soft ass, still marked and slick from their night of pleasure.
Easy dragon, I have taken him. He is ours. Ghreid hissed beneath his breath and halted, cheeks heating as Varis glanced over his shoulder with a coy glance and bite of his lower lip.
Ghreid was very glad he wasn’t wearing undergarments, because he was certain he’d have ripped a seam with the erection springing to life beneath his blanket.
Want. Ravage. Fornicate. Breed. Copulate. Ghreid’s dragon had a lovely collection of synonyms that all amounted to wanting to get his randy little lizard peen buried knot deep in his mate.
Patience. You will have your moment. Ghreid’s dragon so very much wanted to breed, to mate as a dragon.
He was certain that Rath and Asha had their own preferences, but Ghreid’s dragon was particularly selfish about the things he wanted—the least of which was for him to modify the cellar into some sort of little vaulted hidey hole where he could snuffle around in some treasure and gild his scales.
Hurry and give him his horns. His flesh prison weeps in want of scales. That was a new one. Ghreid thought better of analyzing it and stood, making his way to the bathroom as the splash of water in the deep stone basin rang out, a siren’s song inviting him in.
Ghreid sauntered in and glanced about the dated space. He’d held vague ideas of what to do to upgrade the place, but by the way Varis eyed everything so critically, he had ideas of his own.
“I see it in your face. Speak.” Ghreid gestured about. “This will be your space as much as mine.”
“This old stone… Did they have wall hangings or something gathering mold?” Varis gestured about as Ghreid nodded. He’d personally tugged down a few of the rotted remnants.
“I wish to redecorate. I’m thinking fresco, a cool tone, mosaic work… Do we know any artisans that could—” Varis gestured about.
“Slath and Asha.” Ghreid chuckled. “Slathir would know more about it, but Asha has a keen eye and talent for artwork. Anything you like, they could do.”
“That would be lovely. My family’s seaside estate growing up had many things done to prevent moldering, and I see some improvements that could be made as far as décor in this place to merge style and function.
” Varis slid into the half-filled tub and sank into the water with a sigh.
The estate’s boiler got the water warm, but when Ghreid slid in, he cast magic over the surface of the water, drawing the temperature higher to suit the tastes of dragons.
Varis sighed in delight, his cheeks pinkening through the fawn color he wore so well.
“Whatever you desire.” Ghreid pulled Varis against him, nuzzling from cheek to cheek as the water lapped their sides. “Anything you wish.”
Varis frowned and leaned his head against Ghreid’s chest. “I have everything I want and need. I wish only for our surroundings to match the creature you are. There’s not enough ostentation. As long as I’m fed and entertained, I am happy.”
“I can entertain you once more this morning, if you like.” Ghreid offered a wide grin that Varis gave a cursory glance before huffing. “Twice more?”
“I’m still sore from last night, Lord Dragon.” Varis stretched and rolled off of Ghreid, resting a hand over his belly before closing his eyes. “My ass aches, my insides clench, and everything is raw.”
“I never wished to hurt you.” Ghreid brought magic over his fingers, letting heat and fire spread through his mate in invisible waves, coursing through his thin body to knit together all the mortal things that had come undone. “But this will not be so in time. You will cease to hurt.”
“I will grow accustomed to this. It has been far too long. I rather not speak of the mess you filled me with, for it would lead to questions of where you stored that much.” Varis scoffed and reached for a bar of soap and a neatly folded hemp scrubber on the tub’s edge.
Already familiar with it, he gave his body a cursory cleanup and gestured for Ghreid to turn, where he wordlessly scrubbed at his back.
“But in time, you will be dragon, and it will not hurt.” Ghreid hummed as Varis finished and took the scrubber to reciprocate, scrubbing the male’s back, his raw bottom, gentle fingers spreading magic between his pert cheeks and even into his tight sac.
“Your magic… I know so few who can wield it, but dragons are so adept, it appears, or is my mate a talented mage?” Varis bit his lower lip, and the way he moved so salaciously in response to it made Ghreid purr.
“My brothers and I are particularly skilled. Somewhere in the realm of good blood and excellent training.” Ghreid kept his touch perfunctory and did not linger where he’d not been given consent.
“Will I have this talent?” Varis glanced up, those coppery eyes full of sordid, unspoken thoughts. Ghreid could practically see the carnal thoughts in him, or perhaps it was wishful thinking.
“No doubt you will. Slathir is more suited to water, too, so he might be a good fit to teach you. He is a bearer.” Ghreid pulled away from Varis and rinsed his hair, daubing the soap at his temples and working it very carefully along his scalp to preserve the most of his natural oils.
“He is one who will get pregnant?” Varis asked, his tone lilting with that curious tone.
“If he ever submits to a sire, I’m certain. He’s rejected every male that’s shown him interest.” Ghreid waved his hand dismissively.
“Is he of the uninterested persuasion?” Varis raised a brow as he dipped his head into the water.
“Perhaps? Asexuality has been proposed, but I think he’s had some conquests… We don’t speculate.” Ghreid rinsed his scalp and stood, letting magic flush his skin to dry him as quickly as he left the water. The steam rolling off had a soothing feel to it.
“If I had been named my father’s heir, I would have been expected to have a wife. As long as I gave her a son, I’d be free to seek my male preferences.” Varis frowned. “I think I could do it, but I’d rather not have to.”
Ghreid nodded. “I do like males and females, myself. I’ve always preferred sausage to cake.”
Varis chuckled. “I really feel as if you’re feeding me fantasies when you speak of breeding me, Lord Dragon.”
“Fantasies do come true.” Ghreid chuckled and offered a towel to Varis as he rose from the tub, the drain running as he did so. “But there are many steps to take before I breed you properly. Put an egg or so in you, make your belly swell.”
“You nearly did that last night. I felt stuffed.” Varis chuckled and dried himself off the boring way for a moment until Ghreid lent his magic. “So, what steps are these?”
“Well, we’ll keep your clothing comfortable until such time as I can make good on that promise. But first, we must make a dragon of you. I must wed you. I will have nobody doubt that I have taken you as my own.”
“That part makes me slightly nervous, Lord Dragon, as my people will surely demand my return. I—I do not wish for that to cause a skirmish.” Varis glanced away and strode into their bedroom to rifle through the clothing laid out for him.
He dressed so daintily, sliding things on over slender arms and buttoning linen over his defined chest.
“They can make any number of demands, but I will only give them my word and your promise. My word is that you will not leave my possession. My word is that I will fill your belly as many times as it takes to give you our child, and I will show you to the world as my finest possession.” Ghreid took Varis’s hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss, sealing it with magic.
The glimmer in Varis’s eyes showed he must have known something had changed.
“And this promise binds my soul to my word. I cannot break it.”
Varis smiled, the curve of his lips a beautiful thing hiding secrets Ghreid may never learn. It drove him mad with joy for all the things to come, every moment another opportunity to learn to love him more.
“Well, steps require stairs and we’re on ground level.
Let us get to business, and the dragon inside me you swear to be there can come out to play once I speak to your other ashen.
” Varis straightened his collar and tightened his pants before glancing over himself.
“But I would love the embroidered satin tunics I was accustomed to in my youth.”
“You need only ask. I want to give you the world, and I’ll do it one tunic at a time.” Ghreid tucked his clothes into place and strode out of his bedroom, ready for Rydel to suck the joy out of life.