Military Romance Collection: Contemporary Soldier Alpha Male Romance (81 page)

Chapter Five

Ezra had tossed and turned the entire night. Every time he looked over at the Margot’s bed, he saw that woman lying there still… Far too still. She didn’t sniffle in her sleep the way that Margot always did, nor did her delicate chest rise and fall with her every breath. Every doubt Ezra had had about her in the waking hours under the burn of the sun, they had all been amplified by the sight of this fake human pretending to be her. As the sun rose, he found that he couldn't stand it anymore. His insides ate at him at the thought that the real Margot could still be out there somewhere, suffering. He wondered if she so much as had a bed to sleep on while he lounged around, tossing and turning in his.

As the sun rose, he couldn’t wait anymore. Although it made absolutely no real sense how this woman could look and sound like Marge and, at the same time, not be her, he knew that he was right. He also knew that he had to find her. So he got out of bed, tiptoed into the front room, and began to pack his hiking pack. He figured, since he had no idea where she could be, he would start back at that cave. It was only as he threw his backpack on and bent over to hook in the front straps that he heard a noise behind him.

“Ezra?” It was Margot’s sleepy voice.

Ezra bit his lip as he stood up straight and turned to face her. His heart skipped a beat when, as she stood there before him, leaning on the edge of the opening that led to their room and rubbing her eyes, she actually looked like the real Margot. He nearly opened his mouth to say something he might say to her… but then she moved her hands away, exposing her brilliantly red eyes. He narrowed his eyes at the way her skin glistened in the sunlight.

“I’m going to find my friend,” he said, turning and making his way to the door. He had reached out to grab the door handle when he heard a hollow, scratching sound coming from behind him. He turned to find the woman with her head bent impossibly far back, her mouth stretched so wide that the skin that made up her lips were a dull, gray color.

“Wha—”

But before he could even finish that question, she snapped her head back into place, while, in the same motion, a breath of fire blazed through the archway.

Ezra darted to the right, narrowly escaping it. He shoved his hand into the pocket of his cargo pants for the knife he would never forget again and didn’t hesitate to throw it at her. She lifted her hand, catching it right out of the air. Her skin broke in contact of the blade, but she turned it around and threw it at him anyway.

Ezra turned, ducking out of the way and diving through the front door, but just as he made it over the threshold, the knife contacted with the back of his right shin. His jaw swung open, a grunt of pain slipping from between his lips and filling the morning air. He took in shallow breath after shallow breath, squeezing his thigh and trying to ignore the sharp pain that shot up his leg. He looked up to find Margot standing in the doorway with what looked like fangs peeking through her lips.

Ezra puffed his chest, readying himself for another attack, when he heard the sound of their next-door neighbor opening his door. There were far too many people around. Margot glowered at him, her sharp stare piercing a hole in him, but she could not go after him, not in this populated village.

As soon as Ezra realized this, he turned, running as fast as he could.

***

“She has been informed of the plan,” Anya explained as she watched their servants prepare the throne room for the ceremony.

The king gave a curt nod.

Anya approached him from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her head on his shoulder. “I’m so happy you agreed to this,” she whispered.

King Orion did not immediately respond, but instead turned his attention to the people working diligently in his throne room, laying down fur mat after fur matt, placing the velvet blankets just so, and lining the whole thing with feather-filled pillows. “I am glad that someone is happy about this.”

Anya laughed. “Don’t pretend you aren’t excited,” she said, planting a kiss on his cheek. “Sex with a human?”

He shrugged. “I’ll try not to break her in half.”

“I’ll make sure you don’t break her in half.” Anya replied, smiling at him and massive make-shift bed that had just come into existence in the throne room.

“She has been cleaned, yes?”

Anya let out a sharp sigh. “Yes dear. You can be assured that she will be as clean as a newborn when you finally see her.”

Orion cleared his throat. “And when will that be?”

Anyone who hadn’t known the king as long as Anya had would have missed the way his voice shook. “Soon, my love. Soon,” she replied as she rested her head on his shoulder.

Chapter Six

Ezra stopped, elevating his bad leg on the rock that jutted out of the steep hill he struggled to ascend. He pulled his water bottle out of his backpack, taking the last sips of it before putting the empty bottle back into his bag. With another huff of breath, he bent over, trying in vain to ignore the pain in his leg. As soon as the village had become no more than a shadow behind him, he had gritted his teeth and pulled the knife out of his leg. Just thinking about it at that moment brought on ions of phantom pain. So much so that he wondered if the pain he felt at that moment was actually no more than a memory of what he had felt when that knife came out of him.

He was more than exhausted, but the thought of what Margot could be going through, the very real possibility of never seeing her again, drove him forward.

***

“Come.”

The command slipped through the small opening of the nook where they kept Margot. She gasped, peering at the light streaming through it. Was this a trick? Would they burn her again? The wound on her ankle still tingled. It was raw to the touch, hurting whenever she would try to move her legs around.

“Come!”

Something told her that she didn’t really have the option of disobeying. So, she leaned over and crawled to the mouth of her nook. When she finally stuck her legs out in front of her, she couldn’t deny the fact that she was a little surprised that nothing had tried to burn her again.

With her bare feet planted firmly on the cold stone, she found herself bent over. Her back burned, and she clutched her thighs with both of her hands just to brace herself against the pain. Just the thought of standing straight sent shocks of unease up her spine. She sucked in deep breath after deep breath, her hands extended to either side of her. Her head felt heavy, her mind full of troubling thoughts. She felt the burn of her wound in every part of her, and the ache in her back had full control of her. The candle-light, which she would have welcomed mere hours before, was grating and nearly impossible to endure.

Her head swam and her fingers tingled. “Oh,” she muttered, before she felt herself falling forward.

“Not so fast.” The sound of a gurgling male voice preceded the sensation of strong hands breaking her fall.

“What are you?” she croaked, her throat scratching.

He tilted her back upright, but she still couldn’t make herself stand on her own.

“Water…” she whispered.

The man grabbed something off of what looked like a small table beside the opening and handed it to her. She grabbed the wooden cup with both hands, pressing her lips against it and gulping down all of its contents. As the water sloshed around her insides, she could not deny the fact that she finally felt human again with the electrolytes inside of her.

“You have to come with me. There isn’t much time.” The man’s harsh voice filled the small area of cave where they stood.

Margot’s stomach flipped. Was she being led to her execution? “Much time for what?” she demanded.

But he did not respond to her, and instead lifted the torch off of its stand and led her through the narrow hallways of the cave. She found that with each step, her soreness started to fade. Her back seemed to have eased a little, and the little knots she felt in her muscles were slowly smoothing out until she felt almost strong enough for whatever they had to throw at her. They travelled through the darkness of that cave, making twists and turns she could not even hope to remember until, finally, they reached an opening that branched off into three different corridors.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked, looking up at the man.

She saw his beard shift a little with the movement of his jaw, before he just shook his head and led her down the corridor at the far right.

Margot huffed out a deep breath, swiping her frizzy locks out of her eyes before following him. “Okay,” she thought. “You can take these guys,” It was a lie, of course. “Whatever they throw out at you, you will be able to deal with it.” She continued to bounce deluded words around her mind until he led her through a small archway and into what looked like a bedroom.

She raised an eyebrow. This didn’t exactly look like what would happen to a person right before they were executed. When she stepped inside, she noticed a woman standing in front of a tub. “Get in,” she ordered.

Margot’s eyes went wide. “I can bathe my—”

But the woman sneered at her, fangs dropping down.

Margot gulped. “Okay,” she whispered.

The man who had led her down there disappeared.

The woman waved the sponge over her head, gesturing at the water.

Margot pursed her lips as she shrugged out of her clothes, ignoring the ache of her muscles and the growling of her stomach. The water, which looked much hotter than it actually was, caressed her skin, engulfing her as she sank deeper and deeper into it. Her ankle burned, seeming to cry out in protest, but the rest of her found the bath soothing.

The woman lathered soap all over her body, scrubbing all of the dirt and debris off her. Margot couldn’t deny the fact that she actually enjoyed this. Maybe they weren’t going to kill her…

Maybe this would be nothing more than a unique cultural experience.

Chapter Seven

Margot found herself standing at the threshold of what looked like a massive throne room. A long night gown had been draped over her now clean body, her skin, which smelled of coal and rose, practically glowed in the candle-light. In front of her sat a massive bed of fur and velvet, with plump pillows lining the entire perimeter. Surrounding the pillows were poles with flames at the end of them, the fire casting dancing shadows on the cave walls.

Margot’s chest rose as she sucked in a deep breath, glancing at everything around her. Men lined the back walls, their tall bodies dressed in armor. The thrones themselves were the focal point of the room. There was one massive silver-plated chair, adorned in jewels and a fur drape. Next to it sat a significantly smaller one with less jewels. It looked somehow feminine with its white fur blanket. Her eyes followed the thrones to the steps in front of them, at the foot of which sat two women. They looked unremarkable in comparison to the men that filled the room, their dull skin falling flat under the warm candle-light. In their laps sat two large, black ceramic bowls. Their heads hung back, their eyes shut and their chins tilted up.

“Oh my God,” Margot whispered, at the sight of the Dragon King himself. It was Orion. She knew those sapphire eyes anywhere. The elders had story after story of the fabled ancient king’s son. It was during his reign that the dragons first receded into hiding. The native humans had turned their backs on the king, preferring instead to depend on each other for the elements: fire, water… weather. They didn’t want to worship anything.

Margot had always thought that this was them coming to their senses… but that was when the dragon king couldn’t have been anything more than a myth. But now she was staring right at him. His dark skin glistened in the candlelight, as if it were composed of tiny, almost microscopic black diamonds. His massive frame towered almost seven feet and was adorned with a red velvet cape and a thick leather belt across his waist. Aside from that, he was completely naked. Margot’s eyes widened at his manhood, dangling in between his legs.

Next to him stood his queen. She was a stark contrast, her pale skin the polar opposite of his dark hue. Her forest-green eyes, glimmering in the light, were a beautiful contrast with her stark blonde hair, which hung around her face and down her back, the locks fashioned into loose curls.

The king raised his massive arm, beckoning for her to approach him.

Margot gulped, slowly making her way across the room. Her feet sunk into the deep layers of fur that made up the bed, but as soon as she had reached the center of the structure, the king spread his fingers, gesturing for her to stop.

The queen moved first, entering the circle and extending a hand towards her. Margot took it, surprised at how warm her thin fingers were. She then led her back out of the circle and towards the king. At this short range, Margot tilted her head up, gazing right into his eyes. She could not deny that star-struck feeling that made her stomach roll and her heart flutter in her chest. He gazed down at her, the stoic expression on his face commanding respect and admiration, both of which Margot did not have a problem giving. Goosebumps rose on her skin as she found herself leaning into him, a little voice in the back of her mind wishing for him to just take her right then and there. One glance below her at his manhood told her that the feeling was at least a little mutual. His rod wavered in a state of half-arousal as he pierced her with his gaze.

The queen cleared her throat as the two of them turned to face the women with the bowls. Two men approached the king and queen from either side of them. For lack of any other option, Margot did not move, choosing instead to watch from the distance at which she stood. The men bore large daggers, which they handed to the royals.

The queen went first, ripping the blade across her wrist. Ruby red blood sprouted out of the break in her flawless skin. It flowed freely into the first woman’s bowl. As the liquid filled the bowl, the woman snapped her head back, her eyelids snapping open to reveal hollow holes where her eyes should have been.

Margot gasped, jumping back.

Everyone in the throne room glanced at her. The king and queen, although refraining from looking at her, froze in their tracks.

Margot gulped, tilting her head away from the woman to avoid looking into her vacant eye sockets.

The king went next, grabbing the dagger out of the man’s grip and ripping it across his own wrist. The same, eerily brilliant blood slipped from his skin and down into the bowl. The woman followed her counterpart, her neck snapping forward and her eyelids flashing back. It remained this way until the king and queen titled their arms up and stepped away from the bowls, each grabbing black cloths from the men that assisted them.

“Drink,” the king ordered as he wrapped his wound with the cloth.

Margot’s gaze shifted from the king to the queen to the two bowls of blood that sat in front of them. “What?” Her stomach lurched at the mere thought of it.

The queen rolled her eyes before stepping behind Margot. She placed her hands on either side of her hips, her soft touch oddly sensual in the light of everything that was happening. Margot saw the king’s cock harden in her peripheral vision. The queen pressed her lips against Margot’s neck, the touch lifting goosebumps to the surface of her skin. The hairs on the back of her neck rose, standing on end. “Kneel,” the queen demanded, her breath washing over Margot’s ear.

She obeyed, kneeling in front of the woman with no eyes who held the bowl full of the dragon-queen’s blood. The queen rubbed her hands across Margot’s chest. Her nipples hardened in spite of herself. She gulped as the queen dipped both of her hands into the bowl of her own blood and lifted it to Margot’s lips. “Drink.” The woman’s voice was soothing, yet authoritative. Margot had a feeling that her only choice was to obey.

So, she dipped her lips into the liquid in the queen’s hands and sucked it in. The metallic liquid had an oddly sweet tinge to it. She gulped it down, trying her best to ignore her gag reflex as the thick substance coated her mouth and throat. The queen spread the rest of it all over her clean body, dipping her hand into the neck of her dress. Margot bit her lip at the way the queen rolled her nipples between her thumb and finger. The king watched them, silently stroking his member.

By the time the queen coaxed her towards the bowl of the king’s blood, she was already starting to feel the effects of whatever it was that she had just consumed. Her cheeks flushed as blood rushed to her face, her muscles tingling with energy. Although she had been shoved in a hole for more time than she could possibly keep count, she oddly felt as if she had just had a full night of sleep.

The queen repeated this whole process, by the end of which, Margot felt impossibly aroused. She stood to her feet, her sex throbbing between her legs as the king took her hand and led her back into the center of the make-shift bed. He slipped the straps of her soiled dress off her shoulders. It slipped down her body, landing in a puddle of blood and cloth on the fur beneath her. He traced his hand across her collar bone, starting at the base of her neck, making it all the way down to her breasts and circling around her nipples.

Margot licked her lips as the queen stepped in behind her. The men who lined the room stomped their staffs on the ground. The queen placed her hands on either side of her hips. Margot’s heart beat in time with the slamming of the staffs.

King Orion coaxed her hand to his member, wrapping her fingers around the hard wood. Margot raised an eyebrow at the sensation of the throbbing organ in her hand. The queen gently pushed her down until her knees pressed into the fur. The king pressed his hand against her forehead, pulling her jaw open with his thumb.

She took his member into her mouth, the large cock bobbing in and out of her mouth. She clutched his thighs just as he dropped down on his own knees, the position much more favorable for the two of them given his tall stature.

The queen moved her knees backwards so that she was on all fours. Margot gasped as she felt the beautiful woman's hands press into that space between her legs, her toes curling at the erotic pressure deep in her gut. Her wetness dripped down her thighs. She kept her eyes shut, the sound of beating of her heart pounding in her ear drums, the beat of the thumping resonating in her bones. She heard no sounds, not even her own thoughts, as this all went on.

As the two of them lowered her onto her back, she felt at ease, her body practically vibrating with desire. When the queen split her knees, Margot opened her eyes just in time to watch her go down on her. She flexed her abdomen, moans of pleasure slipping out of her mouth, mixing the beating of the staffs, the beating of her heart. King Orion knelt down next to his queen and lifted her chin up towards him. He pressed his lips against hers, their moans and sighs of pleasure floating around in the air around them.

Finally, the king turned to face Margot. He crawled towards her, his manhood extending, taut and erect in front of him. Margot’s sex throbbed in anticipation. She bit her lips, waiting for this, needing this. He mounted her, thrusting himself inside of her.

In and out he went, each movement of his hips bringing her closer and closer to the most intense climax of her life. The queen mounted her throne, pleasuring herself as she watched them fuck.

Margot dug her nails into the king’s perfect skin, her body lifting off of the bed as he sat upright, tilting his head upright. The thrusts came harder and faster. Margot screamed out. It felt as if her entire body had collapsed into that small space in between her legs. Spasms started in her sex and radiated throughout her legs and abdomen.

The king let out a terrifying roar, smoke and fire erupting from his lips. Dense, dark fog surrounded Margot as she felt it, Orion’s seed inside of her. The hot liquid seeped through her womb as she collapsed onto the bed of fur, exhausted yet impossibly satisfied.

***

Ezra had soaked through his third bandage by the time he made it back to the sight of the ancient dragon king’s tomb. He heaved himself over the ledge of rock, panting as he glanced all around him, looking for a way in that didn’t involve going through the mouth of the cave and being captured.

Once he had caught his breath, he rounded the side of the brush, following the faded dirt path until he reached a patch of elevated land. His eyes went to the lush vegetation that covered the raised platform. He slipped his sunglass up out of his face, peering at the small form, draped in black velvet sitting on top of it. His heart started racing as he scurried up the stone steps. “Margot!” he called, his voice catching in his throat.

There was a pause.

Then, “Ezra?”

Her quivering voice barely reached him through the early afternoon wind, but it was her.

It was her.

As Ezra helped her back down to the village, he felt as if he had been reunited with a part of himself. It wasn’t until they were staring at their small lodgings that she spoke for the first time.

“What happened to your leg?” she asked, staring at his calve with a furrowed brow.

Ezra opened her mouth to tell her, but then caught sight of the open, abandoned house before them. That strange creature who looked like Margot was nowhere to be found. He figured it was best not to worry her, so he said, “It was an accident.”

She nodded. “This whole thing was an accident, a terrible, terrible accident.”

Ezra wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “Are you ever gonna tell me what happened to you?”

She shook her head. “I think I’ll have to figure that out myself first.”

Ezra nodded, then followed her inside, shutting the door behind him.

THE END