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“What do you think Uvem meant?” Inez sat cross legged on Varyk’s bed. He’d scouted out a tray of food for them from the kitchen. Instead of eating, he stretched out beside her, the tray between them as Inez satisfied her hunger.
Sex with Varyk burned off a lot of her energy. The more she ate the more she wanted. Popping a chunk of bread and cheese in her mouth, she dodged his attempt to touch her bare breasts as he’d refused to let her dress.
“Varyk!”
He rolled his gaze skyward and flipped to his back. “I’m unsure. I’ll have to share what he said with the other Kings, but I’d hoped to understand or decipher its meaning. Of course, my Dracol also struggled with his death and I wasn’t fit for diplomatic conversation.”
Inez almost choked on a piece of fruit. Diplomacy wasn’t exactly what came to mind when she thought of Varyk.
He caught her humor and his lips twitched. “I’ve been known to be the voice of wisdom occasionally.”
At the bold lie, Inez fell sprawled back on the bed and let her laughter take her, giving full vent to her mirth until Varyk shoved the tray to the side. It crashed to the floor, causing Inez to sit straight up.
“You doubt me?” Varyk trapped her with his upper body over her chest and one leg slung over her hips.
“Mmm.” The moan slipped free and she bit her lip as she tipped her head back. If she wasn’t sore, Inez would be up for the challenge of another robust session. Varyk rubbed his body against hers, his thick cock teasing her inner leg and Inez winced in anticipation of the tenderness to come.
Varyk frowned and pulled back. “Inez?”
She rolled to her side, facing him and ran a hand down his broad shoulder to squeeze the upper portion of his arm. “I’m fine.”
He stared into her eyes as if he could read the truth of her words there. A kiss landed on her nose right before the world spun and Inez found herself flipped, Varyk on the bottom and his hands firmly planted on her ass as she settled on top of him.
“I don’t think so.”
Instead of lying, Inez slumped forward and enjoyed being cuddled by the King of the Green.
“Do you think Rylin will believe me?” Varyk asked, toying with the ends of her hair.
To everyone save Varyk and Milana, Uvem died when the mantle passed to Varyk. Questions would arise if it became known the former king had lived.
Inez thought of her cousin’s reaction. “Rylin will believe you and he won’t tell anyone unless the other Kings need to know. You can trust him, Varyk.”
He humphed and pulled on her hair, probably picking up on her chiding tone at the end. “Funny.”
Which was said with much disgust. In return, Inez sank her teeth into the thick muscle of his right chest. His twitch made her smile as she kissed the slight impressions from her bite.
“I trust you though and will communicate Uvem’s last message,” Varyk continued, his hand now soft and stroking in her hair.
Inez lifted her head to ensure he understood the feelings behind what she said. “Thank you for that, Varyk.”
He arched a brow and leaned up, neck taut to kiss her chin. “Not King Varyk?”
“Absolutely not.” Inez couldn’t maintain her stern visage and laughed at his feigned disappointment.
***
Laughing in bed with a lover was a novel experience for Varyk. Laughing in general was so far from his norm he had to wonder what magic she wielded. Inez lay her head back on his chest and fondled his forearm with the tips of her fingers as she stretched and slipped between the v of his legs. Varyk widened his thighs and cradled her close, one hand buried in her hair and the other palming her round ass cheek.
He couldn’t touch her enough. It soothed him and the grief his Dracol struggled with finally abated to a more manageable level. The pain in his heart lingered, but it was not at the forefront of his mind. For the first time since losing his mentor he felt calm and in control. Because of Inez.
“I want to hold the mating ceremony right away. Will you renounce the Black and become Green?”
Tradition dictated that matings involving two sects required they unite under one. Typically, it was the female who joined the male, but Varyk didn’t want to assume anything with Inez.
“Yes.”
He stiffened and tipped his head down, trying to see her face. Black waves blocked his view and Varyk brushed her hair back. His heart thundered. “Inez?”
She continued to play with his arm. “Not because you’d try and make it a demand, but I want you as my lira too, you know.”
Inez pushed up and despite his wishes, Varyk let her sidle next to him as she folded her legs and sat by his hip. “I’m going to go out on a limb and say it—I love you. I can’t pinpoint when,” she glared, “or why, but I definitely am in love with your arrogant self.”
Air trapped in his throat, fear blasting through his mind and Varyk forced himself to sit up. Carefully. He placed a hand on Inez’s thigh, absently taking note of the love marks he’d left behind. “I have never told another female this. You have my heart, Inez.”
True pleasure burst across her face, eyes brightened and her smile widened. “Say it.”
Varyk reached forward and pulled Inez onto his lap. “I don’t need to.”
A blunt finger jabbed him in the side, causing Varyk to laugh as he caught her hand. Drawing it to his mouth, Varyk nipped the tips, then soothed with a lick from his tongue. “I love you, Inez. I didn’t expect it, didn’t plan for it, but I’m grateful to have it.”
She softened in his embrace and swiveled to face him, her legs curving around his waist as she draped her arms over his shoulders. “That was a pretty speech. That means you have to treat Rylin as family now.”
Varyk kissed her pouting lips. “Not likely.”
Inez smacked his shoulder but didn’t break from the kiss. Varyk rolled them over, grip steady as he devoured her lips. He slid a hand to her thigh and kept it high on his hip as he nestled between her legs and notched his cock against her wet center. When he broke from the kiss, Varyk murmured, “I love you.”
She grinned. “And you’ll work with Rylin and the other Kings on what Uvem wanted you to know about the madness?”
His lips parted but Inez got louder. “It’s important to me they see how magnificent you are.”
Varyk closed his mouth. How could he combat her generous spirit? “I do owe you an unclaimed favor. Fine, I’ll work with them. The spread of the madness must be stopped.”
Her gaze grew serious. “Good.”
And it was. Life was very good now that he had Inez in it.
Author’s Note
Thank you, thank you to all the readers who wrote email after email sharing your joy of Rylin’s Fire and asking for the next book. I always planned to do all four Kings but it was nice to know that YOU the readers wanted the stories as well. It didn’t hurt that my bestie wanted to do another dragon book as well. LOL. Next up in the Dracol novels will be Faris and Kon will close out the series. Swipe, turn or scroll to get a glimpse of his story.
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Happy Reading,
Michelle
Coming Soon
Frost Fire
A Novel of the Dracol Book 3
Excerpt
Continuous spasms in his hand caused Faris to drop the pen and ink he’d been using to send a missive to Rylin of the Black. He staggered to his feet as a familiar refrain began. Low whispers. Pleas to commit violence.
Kill. Maim. Destroy.
Not his thoughts.
“Not my thoughts,” Faris said aloud to ground him.
He listed heavily to the side, dragging his hand on the wall as he made his way through his suites to his bedroom. Voices hammered inside his head every step of the way. Brutal visions of women and men savaged by teeth and claws played in a seamless sequence. Abhorrent acts in vivid detail ran in a non-stop loop through his mind.
The mantle trembled under this new onslaught and Faris worked hard to still the evil urges. He understood at his core that these were not his thoughts or wishes. The madness only wanted him to believe that. All consuming, it wanted to drown Faris with the unnatural desires until he gave in or broke.
It happened to the Black sending one of their own on a murderous rampage. Recently the Green had one of their own attack an unborn child. It didn’t take much to realize the disease was spreading through the sects.
And spreading within him.
The last meeting of the four Kings had been eye opening. Faris confessed what he’d been battling for the last several months. Madness. It had a firm hold on his mind and what had once been sporadic became daily. Not even Simeon, his advisor, knew the truth.
Only his fellow Kings. And Faris had only touched on the surface of what he tackled each rise of morning and fall of night. Containing it was becoming an endless fight. One he no longer was sure to win.
Agony exploded from his temple and worked its way down his spine. Faris bit his tongue to hold in the scream of pain and fell onto his bed. Muscles locked in place as he lay there bombarded by false images of death, cries and pleas for mercy.
The mantle struggled to provide balance, to aid Faris in a swell of power. Instead he became bloated with power, the brilliance setting him on fire from the inside.
The madness gorged on the surfeit of energy. In his efforts to resist, Faris unwittingly fed the hungry beast. What started as a tiny nugget grew into a dark vortex of negative space housed within his core.
His inner Dracol screeched and scales of silver tinted with hints of black lined his arms from shoulder to wrists. Faris twisted to his back on the sheets, panting as he slammed up a mental partition between the mantle and blocked his people from the danger attempting to drag him under.
In the past, these spells of horror lasted for brief moments. Moments he hid from everyone as he convulsed wherever he fell and then over as if they had never occurred. This episode was different.
Very different.
It turned into a spiraling cycle he couldn’t escape. A maniacal chuckle slipped past his lips, the deep bass sound scaring him as nothing else ever had. More than when he’d been chosen by the mantle and ravaged by bone numbing pain. More than when he’d forced himself to turn his back on the possibility of a future with a lira.
Faris bit down hard on his tongue, the jolt of pain barely helped. Darkness encroached, his ability to think rationally fading. Disoriented, he swiveled his head to the side, staring at the wall across from his bed. His vision of the room tilted, streaks of red coloring his vision. Rumbled growls broke free, interlaced with snarls of rage.
With mounting fear, Faris realized if he didn’t do something drastic right now, he’d doom the Silver. He needed something strong enough to shield him from succumbing. One tangible thing to hold on to.
“Please,” he mumbled, fingers clenching on the sheets beneath him as he arched up and a low whimper escaped.
The goddess of fate must have been listening. Her help came in a way he didn’t expect. An image of Rena appeared from the last night they’d shared together. Surrounded by the brown and white fur on his bed she teased him as he knelt between her legs and kissed her inner thigh.
‘What are you about?’
He arched a brow, gaze dipping to the glistening folds at her center then glancing back up. It seemed pretty obvious to him. ‘What do you think?’
Rena chuckled, swiping at the tangle of dark hair hanging over succulent pale pink nipples. She tucked strands behind her ear then propped up on her elbows to stare, head tipped at a sassy angle. Her lips pursed in humor. ‘I think you should come up here and let me hold you.’
Faris ducked his head to hide his smile and placed another kiss higher up, closer to his end goal. ‘I have not finished what I came down here to do, amans.’
Lover. His sweet lover. The only he knew.
‘Are you sure you don’t want to kiss me?” she asked, lids lowered to give him a seductive look.
Faris slid up further, face only inches away from her puffy outer lips. ‘Oh, I’ll be kissing you, don’t worry.”
Then he buried his face in her wet core and sucked her swollen clit. Rena’s hands dove into his hair, yanking on the loosened black length. Faris licked, sucked and teased, passion’s moisture trickling into his mouth.
It didn’t matter. Faris consumed every drop, the scent and taste of Rena filling him. Her release hit hard and she screamed his name. He clamped his hands on her rocking thighs about his head and rode the wave with her only slowing down when her cries changed to broken gasps and half-whispered promises of eternal love.
Love. For that moment, that frozen place in time, Faris held Rena’s love and it was that love that broke his mind free.
Faris sat up with a jerk, chest heaving. He braced his hands beside his trembling legs and exhaled in shaky breaths. The scales on his arms faded but the horror lingered. Faris checked the mantle, a quick reassuring touch to confirm none of his people had been touched by what he’d suffered.
Gliding over the minds and skimming the surface thoughts, he sensed calm. They were at ease. But for how long. How long before Faris couldn’t pull himself from the abyss and turned on them in a killing rampage?