Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
RAGNAKOR
It is deeply inappropriate how full and erect I am under my clothes right now. It’s pressing hard at the inside of my armor, and I’m grateful for the ceremonial plating covering me.
Watching my king take Princess Nissia—no, Queen Nissia now—was perhaps the most erotic scene I’ve ever witnessed.
He had been so focused on her, on shoving his cock into her, that I wished I could touch myself right then and there.
The rippling muscle in his body, the concentrated ferocity on his face, the way he claimed her in front of all of us with such passion and intensity...
It gives me a bittersweet hope for the future.
Maybe they can be happy. Perhaps now that he’s filled her up with his seed, it will take root.
Perhaps after the scent that filled the room, my king will want her again, and again, until he finds that he has a dragonling in his arms and he’s happy and satisfied with the choice that was thrust upon him.
I hope this for everyone’s sake.
Unfortunately, Vizarios did not linger in the room after coitus. Something had startled him like an animal, so he made a run for it and I quickly followed after.
I want to tell him he ought to turn back around, to present his queen in a more regal manner than storming out of the room, but I know how that would fare. King Vizarios despises my advice now more than anyone’s.
“I will present her later today,” he says as we stride down the hall toward his rooms. “I know what you’re thinking. I always do, Rag.”
I say nothing as we stride into his sitting room, and I whisper to a servant to get us some tea. While the servant scurries away, King Vizarios undresses once more, shedding his ceremonial outfit.
“I have to wash the stink of human off me,” he says as he makes his way into the washroom.
That isn’t a good sign, but it is in character, and I probably shouldn’t have expected better.
In fact, I should leave now, but then Vizarios beckons me to follow him, so I grit my teeth as I enter the grand bathing room.
Vizarios shivers as he climbs into the tub, which is still full from this morning. The very first thing he does is soap up his cock and rinse it thoroughly.
“I hope I don’t have to do that again,” he grouses.
But I don’t understand these words at all after what I just saw.
He could have finished right at the beginning.
I know that expression on his face, when he’s holding back his climax by gritting his teeth.
No, he was chasing Queen Nissia’s screams like he was mad, driven to some kind of wildness by her cries.
He had roared as he filled her, like he was staking his ownership of her.
Not to mention that he covered her in his scent—absolutely drenched her in it when he released his glands.
“You did not enjoy it?” I know I am poking an angry bear, but I also want to know what he’s thinking.
Vizarios lets out a hiss. “Of course I didn’t.” He sounds wounded by the question. “I did my duty, that’s all.”
I stroke one of the stubby horns on my chin. “Even when she screamed that way?”
His eyes narrow dangerously. “What are you getting at?”
“I think that you did enjoy it, and you don’t want to admit it.”
Have I ever been this bold before? I don’t think so. But now that Vizarios has found Queen Nissia, his future mate for life, it’s time to sever that last thread between us. Even if it hurts, even if it’s harsh, it’s the right thing to do.
The king gapes at me, clearly incensed. “You think I would lie to you?”
“Yes. I do.” I know he would if he thought he was protecting me. But I don’t need protection, and I don’t need coddling.
His searing gaze grows meaner. “What do you want me to say, then? That I did? Is that what you want? You want me to confess to how fucking good she felt?” He rises from the tub, water sluicing down his sleek body.
“You want me to tell you all about her tight cunt, and how it squeezed me like a fucking vise when she came all over my cock?”
He’s trying to attack, to wound, but all it does is make me get thick again between my legs. Luckily, he can’t tell.
“If that’s the truth, then yes,” I say, stone-faced. I need him to believe I feel nothing, that I harbor no ill will toward Queen Nissia, so perhaps he’ll drop this act.
Vizarios bunches his shoulders, and his hands curl into fists as he steps out of the tub. When he advances toward me across the tile floor, water drips everywhere.
“She was hot and wet, and her little cries”—his tongue lashes out, swiping across his fangs—“they were so good, Rag. Each time she screamed, she milked me. Sucked all the seed right out of me.”
That heat in my groin is growing and spreading the longer he talks. He thinks he’s aiming daggers at me with each word, but now all I want is to see them again, his cock glistening with their juices as it glides in and out of her slick body.
“That’s good.” I don’t flinch as Vizarios advances another step, so we’re mere inches apart. “Then you’ll have no qualms with doing it again.”
Another hiss, and the king appears ready to tear something to shreds.
“I will not be doing it again,” he snaps, now fully in my face, though he’s a good foot shorter than I am.
“Why?” I don’t think he’ll lash out at me, but I am pushing him to his limit. “If you enjoyed it so much.”
If looks could kill, I wouldn’t just be dead. I would be murdered by a thousand sword points, my neck slashed open. Vizarios’s throat rumbles with a threatening growl, but I don’t move to defend myself.
Then, all at once, the king backs away from me, his shoulders sagging, until he’s up against the side of the tub. He grips it harshly and turns his head away.
“Why are you doing this, Rag? Why are you...” He trails off, unable to even finish a sentence because he’s starting to crack.
I sigh, realizing that I’ve been too callous. Vizarios may put up a strong wall, but behind it, I know he’s vulnerable. He has always had so much emotion stored up inside him, to his benefit and detriment.
“I want you to be happy,” I say. His eyes dart up to mine. “If you want her, then you should have her. You should live that life. Have dragonlings with her, and raise them together, and—”
“Shut up!” Vizarios slams a fist into the side of the tub. His gaze is pleading when he turns it on me. “Don’t say that. Don’t you ever suggest that...”
“What?” Now I’m the one advancing on him, making him lean back. “You don’t want me to suggest that you live your life? Why is that so wrong, Your Majesty?”
“Don’t call me that!” He’s panting, all his muscles coiled tight. “You know why.”
I pause where I am and let out a sigh that could sweep the whole world.
“You need to let go,” I say in my gentlest voice.
Vizarios scowls. “No.”
I don’t know why he has to be so stubborn, but I suppose he wouldn’t be who he is if he weren’t. He wouldn’t be the dragon who means so much to me.
I shake my head, realizing that this has gone much too far as I’ve chased after an inch he’ll never give.
“Then be miserable.” Even I don’t expect the bite in my tone. “It will never be like it was, not ever again, so instead you are choosing a life of pain and heartache when you could have one full of happiness instead.”
Vizarios stares at me, his expression hurt. “That’s not true, Rag—”
I don’t listen to the rest. I turn around and leave the bathing room, slamming the door shut behind me.
VIZARIOS
I slide down the side of the tub to the floor, shivering. I don’t know if it’s because of the cold water evaporating off my scales, or something deeper and meaner than that, but my arms won’t stop shaking.
Ragnakor’s face was as hard as stone and impossible to read. He’s closed himself off from me intentionally, trying to convince me I’d be better off if I just went down the road laid out in front of me.
But I will never accept it. I am not that sort of dragon. I will fight for what I want most until I have nothing left with which to fight.
Eventually, when I’m almost dry, I grab a towel and run it over my body, hoping to stop my trembling and clear the cobwebs out of my head.
Fucking my new queen rattled my brains, that’s all.
I would be thinking much more clearly if I hadn’t just been inside her, watching as her head fell back and her tits rose into the air, that magnificently soft cunt welcoming me and pulsing around me—
No. Just because she made a sweet hole for my cock doesn’t mean anything. I have no connection with her whatsoever.
I walk out of the bathing room, flinging my towel away as I rifle through my clothes.
I ought to dress up for the wardens, many of whom came a long way for this.
We will be officially presented as the king and queen of the dragons, and I need to show strength and power.
There was never any question that I would take over after my mother passed away, but this is the first major event of my reign, and I will make sure that the wardens see a united front.
Right. King and queen. We must be on the same page to keep the peace in the kingdom.
I lean out my door, looking for one of the servants. He arrives only a moment later with a pot of hot tea, which isn’t exactly what I wanted, but it’s not unwelcome, either. He deposits it on the table before I send him away again to fetch Queen Nissia.
I won’t give in to Ragnakor. I won’t give up on what I want most in this forsaken world. But I will do what needs to be done in order to rule.
It’s only a few minutes later that there comes a knock at the door, and I call out, “Come in.”
The servant opens it. “Queen Nissia is here, as you requested.”
I rise from my chair, dressed in only my undergarments, and wave at him to let her in.
The first thing I notice the moment she enters is the smell of me. She clearly has not bathed since our event in the throne room, and my scent is all over her. I still can’t believe my scent glands released, betraying me that way. Scent glands are meant for life mates, not... whatever this is.
But then I wonder if my seed is still dripping from between her thighs, and my blood races downwards at an astonishing speed.
“You ought to take a bath,” I snap as Nissia steps into the room, which clearly startles her. She stares at me.
“It’s only been thirty minutes since you left me there!” She props her hands on her hips. “Which was very unkind, I might add. I was there naked, and you just ran out.”
“We were finished.” I close my nostrils, trying to shake off the obvious scent of our intercourse, but the air is full of it.
“So?” She points at me. “You still shouldn’t have just run out like that. It looked bad. Everyone was standing around wondering what was going on, and Zephala had to come and rescue me.”
I roll my eyes. “You won’t last long as queen if you can’t handle a little face time with the wardens.”
Her lips screw up in an irritated frown. “See? I didn’t even know that’s who they were. I might have known, though, if you’d told me.”
It’s so hard to stay angry at her right now with that smell in the air, that reminder of what we did, how I took her and claimed her. But I endeavor to stay stern anyway, because I need her to see her place in the world.
“Now you know,” I grind out. “Out there are all twelve wardens of the kingdom, as well as some of the highest-ranking members of the city elite, not to mention the city council. Dinner will begin in two hours, and we must appear united.”
Nissia gives me a funny look. “United? Us?” she says, sarcastic.
I bark out a laugh, purely by accident. Her lip turns up in a smile.
“Appearances are very important here,” I say, clearing my throat. “I need to know what colors are in your wardrobe so we can coordinate them.”
Her lips part. “What? You want to know what I’m wearing?”
I scowl. “Did you not hear me the first time?”
She stares at me a moment longer, then shakes her head. “All right. I have dresses I brought with me from home—”
“No.” I curl my lip to show my fangs. “You will dress like the queen of the dragons and wear a robe befitting royalty.”
She studies me, then lets out a weary sigh. “There was a green and white outfit in my closet when I arrived that looked rather nice. I also found a magenta one, and a deep blue one.”
Hmm. Blue is a good color on me.
“How about that?” she asks at my expression. “Do you have any blue?”
I pull open my own closet and sift through it until I find the blues. I have more than enough items to find something appropriate.
“Dark blue, you said?” I ask, pulling one out.
She shakes her head at the robe in my hand. “That’s too turquoise, it will clash.”
Eventually we find something that will match, and Nissia agrees to wear the outfit she has in the same color. Mine is white with blue embellishments, while hers is all blue with gold, and they should mesh well.
“It was nice coordinating with you,” Nissia says as she heads to the door, and she flashes me a smile.
I snarl in response. With a shrug, she turns and leaves, gently closing the door behind her.
But the combined scent of us remains, now ever present in the room—a reminder.
As I stand there with a cup of tea in my hand, not even the spices from the leaves can overwhelm it.
I curse to myself as I put the cup back down and sit on the edge of my bed, pushing aside my robe to find my cock already swollen. It’s thinking about her again, how delicious she felt around me, and I stroke myself roughly before I empty everything on the floor.
I glare down at it. Traitor.