Hidden Dragons (12 page)

Chapter Six

They relocated to the much more comfortable,
overstuffed chairs and couch arrangement out by the dragon’s sand
pit, which Isabelle had learned was called a wallow. Isabelle felt
the tensions of the day leaving her as she held her steaming mug of
tea and sipped at the fragrant brew. She discovered Bear was a
peaceful sort of person to be around. She was surprisingly
comfortable with him. And she liked the way he spoke of his dragon
partner.

“
The bond runs deep between a
knight and his dragon, doesn’t it?” she asked quietly, still very
curious about the relationship.

“
It is a joining of souls. When
Tilly spoke the words of Claim to me and I accepted, something deep
inside my being joined with her in a way that is hard to describe.
We became part of each other—just a little bit. And I suppose that
bond will last until I die, though the very nature of the bond has
extended my life beyond the normal number of years. Of course, a
dragon knight’s life is one of duty, service and occasional
violence, so only the Mother of All knows how long I may
live.”

Isabelle kept silent for a while as they both
contemplated his words. The mood was lazy, peaceful, almost
intimate. She hadn’t shared such moments with anyone before and she
found she was enjoying herself very much, even if the rigors of her
long day were catching up with her. She smothered another yawn as
they sat there, watching the dragon sleep. She truly was a
magnificent creature, even in repose.

“
You’re a lucky man to have Tildeth
in your life,” Isabelle whispered.

“
You’ll get no argument from me,”
he answered after a slight pause.

It was clear they were both tired, but she was
too comfortable to move. Isabelle rested her head against the soft
leather of the chair and the next thing she knew, she was being
lifted in Bear’s strong arms. She had fallen asleep.

“
I can walk,” she said softly,
still mostly asleep. Truth to tell, she was exhausted.

“
I like taking care of you,” Bear
admitted, his soft words touching her heart. “Let me.”

She rested her head on his shoulder as he
walked with her in his arms toward one of the rooms arrayed around
the sand pit. Her eyes closed and only opened again when he lowered
her to a soft bed. But she didn’t want to let him go.

Isabelle kept her hands around his neck as he
dipped lower, releasing her body but closing the gap between her
lips and his. And then he kissed her.

And she was lost.

She wasn’t sure exactly how it happened, but he
followed her down onto the bed and lay over her, like a warm,
living blanket. He kept most of his weight off her, propping
himself up on his forearms. That caused his biceps to flex in the
most intriguing way. She couldn’t resist running her hands down his
shoulders and over his arms. He was so strong. So masculine. So
caring on every level.

“
I want to make love with you,
Isabelle,” his voice rasped near her ear, sending delighted shivers
down her spine.

She had never been with a man before, but she
knew how things worked. One didn’t spend much time tending to the
health of farm animals without learning the mechanics of sex. She
hadn’t expected a man’s touch to bring such incredible sensations
though. She wanted to learn more. Truth be told, she wanted to know
it all. She was through with waiting for her life as a woman to
begin. There was no princely farmer to sweep her off her feet and
make her life one of ease. She had given up those dreams a long
time ago.

But here was a new dream. A knight—two of them,
if she truly believed what they had been saying, though she still
found it hard to imagine that they would both want her for keeps.
Still, she would never have a better chance to learn what it was to
make love, nor a better man to teach her. Although Robert would
have been equally as desirable—which was a thought that gave her
serious pause. Could she really be considering the triad
relationship they wanted? It still seemed preposterous that they
could actually want that…with her, of all people…but the more Bear
touched her, the less she could think.

All she knew was, she wanted to finally know
what it was to have a man take her body and make her feel more of
these incredible sensations. She lifted her hands back up to his
face, cupping his cheeks and looking deep into his lovely blue
eyes.

“
I want you too, Bernard. Show me
what it’s like. Make me yours,” she whispered, unsure where all the
courage was coming from, but willing to let it lead her. She liked
the direction it was taking her.

Her words seemed to spark something within his
gaze. She swore she could almost see flames licking at the blue
irises of his eyes. Magical, mystical heat, generated by the two of
them…together.

“
I will take care with you, my
heart. I promise you.” He lowered his lips to her mouth, but soon
followed a path of his own making down over her chin, to the
sensitive spots on her neck and lower…

Somehow her clothing came loose and then
disappeared. She was too overwhelmed by sensation to really know
how he did it. Perhaps some magic—or just skilled fingers with
well-worn laces. Either way, she was drunk on the feeling of skin
on skin. That’s when she realized his clothing was disappearing
too, until he lay over her, his body touching hers from head to
toe—and a lot of really interesting places in between.

His lips rubbed over her breasts, exciting them
into peaks which he laved with his tongue. She hadn’t known men did
that to women and she wanted more. The feeling was delicious and
caused a serious flutter in her midsection.

She heard a little moan and self-consciously
realized it came from her. Bear looked up at her and the grin on
his face made her even more self-conscious. She felt heat rise to
her cheeks, and his expression changed.

He rose above her, placing one hand on her
cheek as he balanced over her. “Do not worry. Nothing we do
together is wrong. If I do something you don’t like, all you need
to do is tell me and I’ll stop. If you make a sexy little sound
like the one that just escaped, I’ll take it as encouragement to do
more of the same. Do not censor your responses to my touch, little
one. I like to hear your approval of my efforts.” His grin
returned. “And in a little while, if I continue to be blessed by
your approval, you’ll hear my sounds of pleasure as
well.”

He caressed her cheek, then bent over her to
kiss her lips, lingering for a long time while she forgot exactly
what it was she’d been embarrassed about earlier. Bear had a way of
making her forget her own name when he kissed her. Or touched her.
Or played with her body in ways that should make her blush, but
only elicited more of those little sounds she had no idea she would
make at such a time.

Her breathing grew labored as his hands found
her most secret places. He rubbed a spot between her legs that made
her squirm and when his finger slipped inside her body, she
couldn’t help the squeak of surprise that came out of her
mouth.

It didn’t feel anything like she expected. It
was strange, and exciting. She realized he was watching her
reaction, gauging something only he knew to look for. Her breath
hitched as he touched some secret spot inside her, rubbing as he
moved his finger back and forth, in and out.

She gripped his arms as her body quaked and the
most incredible pleasure washed over her for the first time ever.
It was amazing.

“
There is more to come,” Bear said,
his face dipping close to hers to steal another kiss. “I promise
you. I will be gentle, but it may hurt at first, since you are new
to this.”

Isabelle nodded. She knew about the barrier
that proved a woman’s innocence. She also knew there was no gentler
or better man to rid her of it. Bear had already shown her more
care and compassion than any other man she had ever known…except
for Robert, of course. They were both so kind and so
handsome.

Thinking about Robert when she was naked in
Bear’s arms didn’t seem wrong, though her mind did ask the question
as to why it seemed so natural. Apparently something inside her saw
them as a pair. With one, came the other. They were a matched
set—matched by the mating of their dragon partners. This time alone
with Bear was the anomaly rather than the norm.

But all in all, it was probably better to deal
with only one of them while still carrying the burden of her
virginity. One was intoxicating enough. Both of them would have
been completely overwhelming.

Bear kissed her again, deeply. He made her
squirm with his kiss and with his hand, preparing the way for
another part of him that was much bigger than his finger. She
hadn’t yet seen him, she realized, but she could definitely feel
that part of him as it touched her entrance. He was wide, but her
body had provided enough lubrication for him to slip inside a short
way.

He paused and she felt stretched, but she
wasn’t in any pain. She was dying of anticipation. She wanted more.
Using her hands on his shoulders, she silently urged him to go
deeper.

And then he did.

Everything stood still for a moment as a
white-hot fire enveloped her lower body. Goddess, that hurt! But
Bear didn’t move, for which she was eminently thankful. His arms
trembled beneath her fierce grip as much as her body did as it
tried to assimilate the pain and pleasure, all mixed up in one
confusing ball of need.

She wanted…something. To ask him to go? To beg
him to stay? She wasn’t sure.

But then he took all thought from her mind by
moving. The fire of the pain was still there, but it was tempered
now with a wash of pleasure that stole her breath. Each small
movement of his body brought conflicting waves of agonizing
pleasure. She wasn’t sure she could survive whatever was coming,
but she felt something building. Something immense and
unfathomable.

She wanted to know. She wanted to feel whatever
it was. To experience all that Bear had to offer her that night.
Her pleasure was like a series of rippling waves lapping at the
riverbank, each one a tiny bit bigger than the last. The sensations
built and soon she was gasping as he moved over her, in her, with
her.

And then the wave broke and she cried out as an
even higher peak of pleasure rippled through her body, taking Bear
with it. She heard his groan meld with her higher pitched sounds as
he came within her. The warmth of his body over her, inside her,
drowned her in the pleasure of their closeness.

She breathed in his musky scent, memorizing
everything about him, loving this moment. As first times went, she
was certain this was one unlike any other. Bear had hurt her, yes.
That was unavoidable. But he’d more than made up for it with the
pleasure that followed.

He rolled away from her, taking his body from
hers, and she almost reached to pull him back, but she should have
known he wouldn’t dismiss her so easily. He rolled, pulling her
into his arms from behind, spooning with her and pulling the
blanket over them both. He placed a tender kiss on her temple and
within moments, the pleasure and the length of her day caught up
with her, pulling her into a satisfied sleep in the arms of her
lover.

Bear woke her the next day before dawn. He
kissed her awake and though she would have liked to make love to
him again, he put her gently away from him when she would have
taken the kiss deeper.

“
I’m sorry, my love. We must go out
on patrol. Tilly and I are about to leave, but I didn’t want to
part without saying goodbye. I’ll be back later today. Probably
after dark, unless I’m needed here before then. But Robert and
Growloranth will be along in a few hours. They’ll have reports to
make, of course, but you will see them today.”

“
I’ve warmed a bath for
you,”
Tildeth said into her mind.
“It will stay warm for a while, but you might
want to use it sooner rather than later. Or my mate can rewarm it
for you after he returns.”
Isabelle looked
past Bear’s shoulder to realize Tilly had craned her neck over to
look into the open archway of the bedchamber. Even as Isabelle
looked at her, the dragon winked one blue eye at her.
“I am happy you and Bear are getting along so
well. He is a good man, is he not?”

Isabelle could only nod as she realized the
dragon was well aware that Isabelle and Bear had had sex last
night. And the dragon apparently approved.

“
Thank you for preparing the bath,”
Isabelle said to both of them. She wasn’t going to acknowledge the
veiled reference to having sex. She wasn’t
that
comfortable with her newfound
sexuality yet. After all, only a few hours ago, she’d been a
virgin. This new state would take some getting used to.

“
It was our pleasure,” Bear said,
dipping low to kiss her again. “And now, we really must go. I’m
sorry. I wish it were otherwise, but we have our duty. We’ll be
with you again as soon as we may.”

“
I understand,” Isabelle said,
scrambling for her dignity. She wished he could stay too, but she
knew there were many more people counting on him. He and Tilly were
probably the only ones who could scout enemy skies without being
seen. Their information could save many lives. She smiled for him.
“Fly safe and be careful,” she said to both of them. “Good
hunting.”