Chapter 46 Hemlocke #2
There’s a disturbance in the water—ripples that don’t match the gentle lapping of waves.
I watch the small wave coming from the other side of the small island in the middle, creating a V-shaped pattern.
Soon, hands rest on my upper thighs, gripping them with familiar strength.
I look down, and Raven is looking up at me from underwater, her sapphire eyes bright even in the dim light.
Her black hair floats around her face like seaweed.
She rises slowly, water streaming from her body, and I smile at her.
“That’s twice you’ve entered the water even though you hate it.” Her eyes flicker between human and dragon for a moment, the pupils contracting and expanding.
“I know you feel safe in the water and in the darkness.” Cupping her cheek, I feel the smoothness of her skin, and pull her to me. I kiss her lips—soft, tasting like mineral water and Raven. The bond pulses between us, warm and reassuring.
“You’re a good male, Hemlocke. I’m a very lucky female.” Raven wraps her arms around my neck, her wet skin sliding against mine, then hops up, wrapping her legs around my waist. Her weight settles against me, and I automatically support her, my hands under her thighs.
The water laps around us, creating gentle sounds that echo off the cliff walls. Her heartbeat is steady against my chest now, no longer racing with adrenaline and rage. This is what she needed—the water, the darkness, the safety of knowing her mates are here.
“I would do anything for you,” I murmur against her temple, tasting the salt and minerals on her skin. “Even face my fear of water.”
She laughs softly; the sound vibrates through both our bodies. “My brave unicorn.” She nuzzles my cheek several times while moving her hips, trying to line us up. I grip her hips harder and adjust the angle of her hips and then slip her down my length.
Raven flexes her wings as her head rolls back.
Carefully, I lie her back in the water, letting her upper body float.
Each slow roll of my hips makes her moan softly.
It’s music to my ears watching her muscles flex as she rolls her hips to meet my strokes.
Moving to wrap an arm under her hips, my free hand moves to use the pad of my thumb against her clit.
The reaction is instant; the gentle pulse of her core around my length tells me all I need to know.
“More Hemlocke, don’t hold back.” Raven purrs, and my stallion obeys immediately.
I thrust harder into my mate, sloshing water in every direction to the point I scoop her up in my arms. I slide my arms under hers, holding onto her shoulders, pulling her down hard to meet every thrust. She shatters around me, crying out and wrapping us up in her wings.
I crash over the edge shortly after basking in the glow of my mate.
Raven kisses me as if I am the very air she breathes, her lips desperate and hungry against mine.
Every beat of my heart is for my mate—thundering in my chest, racing with need and love.
Carefully, once my length falls free, I walk us out of the water and to the patch of grass on the island.
The soft green blades are warm from the sun.
I set Raven down gently and lay beside her, watching the wind blowing through the leaves above us.
Dappled sunlight plays across her skin, highlighting the scales that pattern her shoulders and arms.
“I can’t believe Mom pushed me that hard today.” Raven’s voice is soft, almost tentative, carrying a vulnerability I rarely hear from her.
“She has a good reason.” Keir says from behind us, and I smell him before I see him—hot chocolate and marshmallows mixed with charred meat. The scent of the different foods he brought with him fills my senses, making my mouth water. Steak, ribs, something sweet.
“I know. But she has to realize black dragonesses are dangerous. I am the progeny of two great wyrms and a basilisk. I’m not like the others.” I follow her gaze as she stares out over the land below the oasis—the forest stretching for miles, the distant mountains purple against the horizon.
“To be the dominant dragoness on the continent, you know one day you two are going to battle as your dragons. It’s going to become more difficult for the two of you to be in the same territory soon.
” Keir mentions his tone matter-of-fact as he unwraps foil packages.
“Your dad filled me in while I was getting the food. He said one of you will eventually have to yield to the other.” Keir passes Raven a bloody steak and ribs, the meat still steaming.
Raven nods slowly as she stares at her food, not eating yet. I can feel the tension through the bond—tight, anxious, building. “I never asked for this.” She says softly before picking up a rib and taking a bite. Juice runs down her chin.
“In a way, I’m glad I have so many brothers older than me. I’ll never have to fight my dad for control of the herd.” I cut a piece of steak with my knife, the blade slicing through the tender meat easily, and pop it in my mouth, savoring the flavors—salt, char, blood.
“I had no choice if I wanted to become Alpha or not. It’s passed down through the bloodline.” Keir mentions, waving a rib bone around like he’s conducting an orchestra. Bits of meat still cling to the bone.
“If Allister wasn’t such a menace, I wouldn’t be facing a double whammy.
Flight mother? That comes naturally to me.
Queen? Ugh, I hope Mom lives forever. That’s one title I am not looking forward to.
” Raven almost violently stabs her steak before cutting a chunk off, the motion aggressive enough to make me flinch.
“You have us, Corvis, and eventually Solaris with us.” Keir says before kissing Raven’s cheek, leaving a small grease mark from the food.
“And a mysterious mate number five. I felt him the day I went to the cursed egg chamber.” She bites her bottom lip and furrows her brow, thinking hard.
“Well, now that I know what a tether feels like, I felt the tether. I was drawn deeper into the halls of Malivore. Then nothing.” She turns and looks at me as if searching my face for the answer, her sapphire eyes intense.
“I can locate a list of everyone who was in that hallway for the drawing?” Keir offers, and I arch a brow looking at him. How would he even do that?
“Finlay keeps meticulous records of everything he’s a part of. Phoenixes are mysterious and the most powerful shifter on the planet.” Keir says, and that makes Raven turn to face him fully, her entire body going still.
“Mom said phoenixes are secretive creatures.” Raven bites her bottom lip and narrows her eyes, looking at Keir with sudden intensity. “Leave him alone. I don’t need you roasted on the spot.”
There’s a tick in the corner of Raven’s eye—the tell that means something’s happening—and I can tell something is up.
The way she’s staring blankly at Keir, her eyes seem distant, unfocused.
It’s like she’s looking through him rather than at him.
“Hmm...” She looks away suddenly, breaking whatever connection she had.
“Let’s finish dinner, then head back.” Raven bites her bottom lip again.
Something is on her mind, and I don’t think she’s ready to discuss it. I’ll wait for now. But just in case, I fire off a text to Corvis with one hand while eating with the other, warning him about what’s happening while he’s teaching. The phone screen glows in the fading light.
His response comes back quickly: I’ll talk to Balor, then Thauglor about what’s happening. Not close enough to Klauth for that conversation yet.
That makes sense. He’s building those relationships, but they take time. Worst case, we bust out both sets of big guns and involve both great wyrm dragons. But something tells me Raven already knows who mate number five is.
She just isn’t ready to tell us yet.