The Dragon King (6 page)

He shook his head. “Not today. There was a large purge and the majority of Dragons died over a two week period. I’d like to save that conversation for another time, please.”

It was a long time ago, but I could see the pain in his face as well as hear it in his voice, and my heart broke for him. He’d likely lost his entire family and many friends. “Do dragons form packs, like wolves?”

“Dragons stay in close-knit family units.”

He was finished with the conversation, but would keep answering my questions if I kept asking them. I didn’t want to hurt him, though, so I said, “I’m sure I’ll eventually want a shower bad enough to brave the waterfall, but for now I think I’ll do fine without.”

He chuckled and pulled me into the warmth of his strong arms. “I’ve set it up so I can divert water into a bathtub sized depression in the rock. I can turn to dragon and blow on it, warm it up, and you’ll have a nice, toasty bath, Princess.”

I stepped out of his arms to glare at him, but his grin made me smile back, so I just rolled my eyes and turned back towards the tunnels. “Let’s see if I can get us back to the house. I’m thinking maybe we eat dinner and then cover some more lessons.”

Aaron

In the following days I taught Sophia a few hours, took her for a walk to various parts of the cave system, and then brought her back where I taught her some more.

We started with books, but then went to deportment, and how a Queen with a capital
Q
needed to conduct herself different than a queen with a little
q
. She’d been trained to be the King’s arm candy, but if she was going to stand on her own two feet and rule with confidence, she needed different lessons.

I also touched her more — her arm to guide her, or her back near her shoulder blades to get her attention, her cheek to show affection. I frequently kissed her forehead or the top of her head, but had only given her three romantic kisses, so far.

She’d had two baths, and I’d sat on the floor on the other side of a large boulder to give her privacy.

However, she’d have to be nude when I flogged her, so she needed to get accustomed to it before the winter solstice.

I didn’t want to push her, but necessity was driving us so I made plans for the following day. I’d start with lessons in how to keep from giving your enemy the upper hand, how to keep from giving them information to hurt you.

I was up hours after Sophia went to sleep, my mind full of the things she needed to learn before she faced off against her father, so I was a bit surprised when she woke me the next morning as she got out of bed. I looked at the clock and realized I’d slept until nearly seven, which pretty much never happened.

Perhaps the stress was getting to me.

I went to the kitchen as she went into the bathroom. I started the coffee and began preparing the dehydrated eggs and sausage while I waited for the water to boil for the oatmeal. By the time she was dressed and had brushed her teeth and hair, I had breakfast almost ready.

“We’ll need to arrange for more clothes for both of us soon, and possibly some makeup and hair products for you,” I told her as she joined me. “We’ll find some things online you like, things Brain should be able to find in nearby shops, so you can tell him exactly what to get.”

“My makeup is pretty specialized, I wouldn’t put it past my father to have some kind of watch out, so he’s alerted when anyone buys my signature colors.”

“Good thinking, Soph. I’m impressed. There are a few ways around that, but the easiest might be to have them buy a similar color in a different brand. The next option is for them to steal it instead of buying it.”

“We could just get them to buy one of each foundation of the lightest shades of another brand, I suppose. I can show them the basic color eye-shadow and blush I need, and explain how to choose the right eyeliner. Do you think the wolves will have patience for it? I don’t think makeup is quite their thing.”

“They’ll understand you need to pull off a certain look. They may give you a hard time, but they’ll do it.”

“I’m not used to people giving me a hard time. I’ve come to like it when you do, but I have a feeling it’ll take me a while to get used to it from others.”

I nodded. “Which is why they’ll begin spending time down here with us, soon.”

We carried the food to the table, and Sophia fixed her coffee. As we sat, I started the morning’s lesson.

“Tell me why it would be bad for your enemy to learn you become enraged if someone calls you chicken.”

“Because he’d know how to push your buttons, how to get you off your game.”

I nodded. “And if they discovered you were ultra-shy?”

“They’d find a way to use it against me.”

“One of your biggest weaknesses right now is your shyness and your naiveté. As much as I’d like to keep you sheltered and protected, I’m going to have to push you in those areas, get you over it. Do you understand?”

I watched her consider my words a moment as she chewed. Finally she said, “I’d like a bath this evening before bed. Perhaps we can take one together?”

I could smell her trepidation, her anxiety, but she gave none of it away in her eyes or face. We’d work on concealing pheromones later, but for now I praised her. “I’m so proud of you, Princess. Yes, I think a bath together this evening would be wonderful.”

What she didn’t know was that I intended to get her used to me a little more before we were completely naked around each other. We didn’t have time for baby steps, but we had enough time to ease into it a little, thankfully.

When our morning lessons finished I suggested, “Let’s go to your room and lie down a while, instead of going for a walk.”

She held my gaze, analyzing my expression as she considered my words. Finally, she said, “I’m not going to ask a zillion questions. You’re teaching me and I trust you, so…okay.”

I kissed her forehead, touched at the trust she was giving me. “Okay, Soph. Go into your room, strip down to your panties and bra, and get under the covers.”

Sophia

I had no idea what Aaron was up to, but my insides fluttered and my hands shook as I took my clothes off. The sheets felt cold as I slid into them, though with the heavy blankets I knew I’d be warm before long.

With his better-than-exceptional hearing, Aaron knew when I was in bed, but he still knocked.

“I’m ready,” I told him, but as he entered I muttered, “Or as ready as I’ll ever be.”

His smile calmed me, and he said, “Nothing to be afraid of, Sassy. Humans need touch, and shapeshifters need it even more. I’m wondering how you survived with no one touching you for most of your teen and adult years.”

“My hairdresser gave me scalp massages,” I told him, “and when my bodyguards were doubled up, Jonathan turned into his leopard form and leaned against me, rubbed against me, and laid with me and let me pet and rub him. I wasn’t allowed to touch him in human form, but I could pet and cuddle with him all I wanted when he was a leopard.” I rolled over and watched Aaron’s abs and chest come into view as he took his shirt off. “I miss him, and Angelo, and Sissy, but I’ve discovered I’m happy not to have to deal with anyone else in that house.”

“Jonathan and Angelo were on your security detail, who’s Sissy?”

“The cook. She made it a point to find out my favorite foods and make them for me, and keep the teas I liked stocked. She took care of me.”

He nodded, and I looked away as he unbuckled his belt, my heart in my throat as my cheeks flamed. “No, Soph, I have boxer shorts on so you won’t see anything. I’d like you to keep talking to me, please. Just a normal conversation. You’ve seen me in shorts and without a shirt. You won’t see anything else right now, okay?’

I nodded and remembered the morning’s conversation about not letting anyone take me off my game by finding my weaknesses. I went back over the conversation, figuring out how to keep it going. “Angelo was a sharpshooter, so he couldn’t
change
around me because he was there for his weapons abilities, but Jonathan was a fighter and said he could fight in either form, and could hear and see better as a cat, which was why he had permission to
change
around me when he was teamed with Angelo.”

Aaron draped his jeans over a chair and slid under the sheets with me, and I grew hyperconscious of the long, warm length of him beside me like a line of living fire.

“I don’t have a cuddly animal form,” he said as he gently pulled me to him, cradling my head to his chest, “so you’ll just have to make do with me in human form when you want to cuddle.”

He smelled of the earth, the woods, the trees, as if I were standing on a mountaintop in a primal forest, and I breathed him in. “You’re
so
warm. I miss the sunshine down here, but having you beside me almost takes the place of it.”

“I have a shopping list for the wolves. They’ll be bringing some grow lights and a few plants when they come in a few days. I’m trying to make you comfortable but there’s only so much I can do.”

He sounded apologetic and I rushed to say, “I’m not complaining, Aaron. I’m here for a short amount of time, until we can get me ready to do whatever it is we’re going to do, which I have a feeling will involve some kind of confrontation with my father. I appreciate all you’ve done to try to make me comfortable, but you don’t need to ask the wolves to lug plants down here. Some full spectrum light bulbs would be nice, but I don’t need plants for the short time I’ll be here.”

“The wolves will need plants if they’re to spend any amount of time without going topside. They aren’t just doing it for you, Sassy. The last thing we want is two grumpy wolves living with us in a cave.”

I chuckled and then stiffened as his hand stroked down my side, over my hip, and to the outside of my thigh. Every nerve ending in my body ignited, and I gasped in a ragged breath even as I chastised myself for my reaction. Part of me wanted him to touch me; the rest of me was terrified. I had no idea what I was doing and all of this was so new. I’d gone from not being allowed to be in a room alone with a man one day, to lying nearly naked with
Aaron Drake
in a bed a few days later.

“It’s okay. Relax and let me touch you.” He spoke soft, low, and I could almost hear the Dragon’s voice instead of the human vocal cords. It didn’t scare me, though. He’d startled me plenty, but he’d
never
scared me.

“If you don’t want my hand somewhere, tell me,” he said, his lips so close to my ear I could feel the warmth of his breath. “If you want my hand to return somewhere because it felt good? Tell me. This is about communication, Soph. Feel free to touch me, too. You have permission to touch any part of my body you want. Nothing’s off limits.”

Electricity shot through me, spiraling through my insides until it reached my lower abdomen and the spot between my legs.

“We’re being naughty. I can’t get used to the idea there’s no one to come rushing in and stop us.”

“This isn’t naughty, Soph. It’s what people who care about each other do when they want to get closer. If something doesn’t feel right, just tell me and I’ll do something else. I want to learn how to pleasure you, figure out what makes you tick. I already know how you like to be kissed, and — fair warning — I intend to kiss you in a few minutes.”

I didn’t want to wait a few minutes. I wanted a kiss
now
. Emboldened by him telling me I could touch him, I reached for his head and pulled him towards me, lifting my face towards his, my lips towards his as I let my body
feel
. For so long I’d had to bury all feelings, all
thoughts
of kissing or holding hands or anything else, for fear one of my keepers would smell my arousal and I’d be humiliated and chastised at best, or have to watch my whipping girl take my punishment, or find myself locked away in my room for a week or more with no books, pencil, or paper. But today I let my body feel, and I didn’t bury anything.

Kissing with one’s head against the bed, so you can’t move backwards, is completely different than when both people are vertical. I kept having to remember to breathe as Aaron hovered over me, his hands braced beside my head, and kissed me with a sensual passion that both alarmed and excited me.

His tongue invaded my mouth and I felt so powerless, but for the first time in my life I didn’t mind. Aaron wasn’t so much taking my power, as simply overwhelming me with more pleasure than I could process, and my hands stroked the back of his head, down his neck, and to his shoulders, where they gripped. My fingers dug into his flesh as I held on for dear life, as if I were on one of the roller coasters I’d only seen in pictures.

When he stopped kissing my lips, it was to move his mouth down my cheek, to my ear, and then trail down the side of my neck. My skin broke out in goose bumps and my leg wrapped around his, as if my body were trying to pull him as close to me as it could.

His hands roamed my body but didn’t come near any of my most private parts. Still, no one had ever touched the outside of my thighs or the flat of my stomach, and my mind reeled as I was greeted with a barrage of new sensations, and my entire body was a heartbeat pounding in time to the pulse between my legs.

When he started backing off, slowing down, my voice gave an involuntary whine and he kissed my forehead. “I need to slow us down or we’ll go faster than I intend, my Sassy girl.”

I was breathless, which was silly because I could swim miles in my Endless Pool and barely get winded. However, I sounded as if I’d flown three hundred miles when I asked, “What would happen if you didn’t slow us down? What happens next?”

He put his mouth to my ear, so his breath tickled as he said, “I’d use my finger and tongue to give you an orgasm.”

My heart rate sped and the pulse beating between my legs made me want to move my hips, but I didn’t. I had no idea what an orgasm was, but the mere thought of his finger and tongue on my private places made electricity course through my veins.

Aaron pulled me into a hug and said, “I love your response to me, Soph, it’s more than I dreamed of, but I’m thinking maybe it’s time for us to get dressed and go for a walk, cool both of us off a little. If you’re interesting in moving ahead, we can tonight, but I want you to make the decision when you’re level headed and not in the heat of passion, Princess.”

I took a breath to steady myself, and let it out with a nod. He’d called me Princess, reminding me I have responsibilities outside of myself, and some decisions needed to be made with an eye to my obligations and not just what feels good at the moment.

However, I wanted to try something first. I pushed him off me and rolled as he rolled, so he was on his back and I was on my side, looking down at him. “I can touch you, still?”

His eyes told me he very much wanted me to touch him, but I waited for his nod before I leaned forward and kissed the side of his throat as he’d kissed mine. I trailed my lips down, licked the line of his collarbone until I made it to the center of his chest, and then kissed my way farther down. I lifted my head to look at his pectorals, and traced them with my pointer finger, listening to his strong heartbeat and smelling his arousal spike even more.

I wanted to trace the lines of muscles in his stomach, but he gently grasped my wrist and said, “Soph, I think I’m just about at my limit right now. Maybe you can explore later?”

I relaxed my arm, letting him have control of it as I asked, “Your limit?”

“What do you know about how men’s sexuality works?”

I felt my face grow hot as I asked, “What do you mean?”

“What does it mean when you lose your virginity? I need to know what’s been explained to you, Soph. Think of me as your teacher, a science teacher. Break it down to the facts for me, please.”

“I know the boy has an outie and the girl has an innie, and the outie has to go in the innie. When it happens the first time, the girl isn’t a virgin anymore. Somehow, when this happens, the man’s seed goes in the woman and fertilizes the egg.” I couldn’t decipher the look on his face, so I added. “
Sometimes
. The woman doesn’t get pregnant
every
time, it takes a while for some people to get pregnant, while others do the first time.”

He pulled me to him, held my head to his chest. “Have you ever explored yourself? Pleasured yourself?”

Mortified, I answered honestly, but only because he’d smell my lie. “I’ve used a mirror and looked, if that’s what you mean. I did some stuff that felt good once, but my governess smelled it when she came into my room later and chastised me for it, so I never did again. I was tempted in the shower a few times, but I didn’t know how long the scent would last, and was worried I might get caught again.”

“Okay, Soph. I’m going to find something online you can read, because I think you’ll be less embarrassed reading it instead of my explaining. Let’s go for a walk, and when we get back you can read some more of Sun Tzu while I do some research and find something that’ll explain what you need to know.”

He lifted my head and looked at me. “There is no reason for you to be embarrassed. These are things you haven’t had an opportunity to learn. Your father kept you in ignorance so this is on him, not you. I’ll let you read to get the basics, and then we’ll talk about what you’ve read so I’m sure you have a grasp of how everything works, okay?”