CHAPTER 34

The audience chamber of the Amber Aerie Archon had not changed from Lis' first visit, except, perhaps that even more books lined the walls. There was now a shelf stacked with tombs blocking the light from the first of the windows that lined the wall on her right that hadn't been there before, she was sure. The plush carpet liner sunk beneath her boots, the only aspect of fashion she had been unwilling to give up control of. If those women wanted to trade her boots for those flimsy sandals, they would have to pry them off her dead feet.

The rest of her, however, she had much less success insisting upon. She wore, much to her consternation, a high collared vest. It was long enough to reach her hips, but that was about its only good point. Black in color with amber leaves embroidered upon the hem and collar, the material split in the middle of her chest, held together with only a few toggles and showing a great deal of the side of her breasts.

Who in the names of the Six designed these things? She had no idea, either, how it had found its way into her wardrobe. She certainly didn't remember buying it. The skirt, at least, was more practical, a simple silk creation, black to match the vest.

The entire trip up the carpet to the dais, Lis worried that if she shifted wrong, one of her breasts would pop out from the center and be exposed to everyone…everyone being the Archon and his advisers, once more. Only one extra Lord was present at this gathering from the last, a middle aged man, handsome with his dark hair and firm jaw, and broadly muscled. He stood positioned slightly close to Dynarys, but Lis couldn't tell if it was because there was a pile of books crowding him that direction, or if it was a show of alliances.

“Lord Archon,” Cillumn greeted at the foot of the dais before ascending.

“Lord Bloodbriar...Lady Bloodbriar,” the Archon smiled genuinely at Lis.

She did not receive the same greeting all around. Dynarys and his friend were expressionless, but since she had saved his mate, Lis assumed that he held no violent urges toward her. The others watched her with narrowed eyes, and expressions that set her skin to crawling.

“Lord Archon, we called this meeting so that my mate might explain what she has discovered about the Glyphs.”

“I assumed as much, since I heard that the Onyx pack's re-entry to the Aerie was a success.”

The other men shifted now, their discontent practically leaping across the dais to her. Nonetheless, she began explaining her discoveries immediately, specifically, the empty and full crystals and the tapestry depicting eight of the things in total.

There was silence when she finished, even the shifty older Lords looked to be mulling their thoughts.

“Thank you, Lady Bloodbriar, your insight is, I am finding, incredible...if a bit alarming,” the Archon spoke at last. “But now I think it is time to turn your mind to more pleasant matters for a bit.”

“It is?” What is this? What matters?

“You have not been properly welcomed to the Aerie,” he turned to Dynarys, who nodded. “And I am told it is an event for celebrating when a member is inducted into a Shifter pack.”

Inducted, what pack would want her now? But even as she thought it, she knew. Dynarys was giving her a new family, a new pack, despite being mated to a Lord.

“But...”

“You have done enough, dear woman, your actions, though rash, have aided this Aerie more than some others have done in their lifetime.” Lis didn't have to look around to feel the jibe was for some of the Lords in the chamber. “It is alright, now, to let others shoulder the obligations... I do believe the banquet starts in one hour.”

She blinked, unsure whether to be angry or relieved that she was being forced from the task of acting against the Quatori and whatever became of the glyphs. It would be nice, for once, to allow another to lead and make the decisions, to trust someone else to do so...and to obey, if only because of that trust.

Cillumn patted her hand, warming her skin and tugging slightly, reminding her that they had essentially been dismissed. They took the steps down the dais together. He, Lis noticed, had no difficulty allowing others to lead. Perhaps it was time she did the same.

For the first time in a long time, Lis felt a little lighter.

“Lady Bloodbriar?” the Archon called. She turned to face him. “You owe me some poisons. I expect them tomorrow night, at the latest...I have a feeling we are going to need them.”

***

A banquet.

Lis could almost laugh at the idea. The celebration, or banquet, as the Lords and Ladies called it, was nothing but a milling mass of sexually excited Dragon Lords.

Lis stood at the side of the crowd, hiding as best as she could around one of the pillars. One of the carved vines was poking her in the back, digging into the vast stretch of skin that lay open there. She also wanted to keep away from the fountains. Great Six had she ever witnessed such debauchery? She would never be able to look at some of those Lords again.

She kept debating how rude it might seem to disappear from such a celebration thrown in one's honor. Cillumn had left momentarily to obtain some food; apparently, there actually were things to eat at this 'banquet', not that she was hungry. It would be an opportune time to leave. When he found her gone, he would come find her and she would convince him not to return.

“There you are,” Gayriel's voice reached her and she was expelled from a cluster of nearly naked people, many with wings spread out. Cillumn had been correct in his fear training, the presence of wings hardly bothered her any longer. A full dragon was a different matter, but he was working on that, as well.

“Are you enjoying your first banquet?” the woman asked when she neared. She was trailed closely by her mate, Lis' new Alpha. His wings, too, were out and spread slightly, forcing others to give them a bit of distance. He rubbed his hands along the woman's naked arms and hovered over her protectively. He carefully avoided, Lis noticed, the healing wound at her shoulder. It was covered by her dress, but both he and Lis knew it was there.

“It's...”

“A little intense isn't it? Or at least I found it so my first time,” she smiled. A golden wrap of fabric covered her, twisting and swirling over her breasts and waist and then down past her hips. It was perhaps the first time Lis had seen her in a dress. “But try to get the Lords to celebrate any other way...,” she grinned. “They like their banquets.”

Oh that much was quite obvious. Only moments before, a couple had tipped from one of the fountains and simply continued rutting on the floor. His dragon must have chosen the woman in the end, for the crowd seemed extra pleased with the event.

Even the reserved Dynarys was not immune, his fingers moved from rubbing Gayriel's arms to her waist, slipping a little beneath the fabric and making her squirm. He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, raising a becoming blush along her neck.

“I...uhm...well it seems we will be leaving soon, but I needed to come and thank you again for what you did,” she paused and her eyes held Lis' in a moment of sincerity. “It was more than one life you saved that day.” A delicate hand sunk lower, cupping her flat stomach. Lis caught her meaning immediately and smiled at her, happy for the couple...and hiding her worry. Such an event as the poisoning was likely not good for the growing child. The toxin had spread far before Lis reversed it, there was a possibility that it might have caused damage to the baby. She did not say anything, however, no need to trouble them at this juncture.

“Dynarys, Lady Gayriel,” Cillumn pressed in behind them, greeting and then coming to Lis' side possessively. He placed himself slightly between her and the other Dragon Lord.

Hardly a necessary precaution, since Dynarys was growing more and more enthralled with his mate.

“Where are Morkuth and his mate? You two are nearly inseparable lately,” Cillumn questioned.

“Oh,” Gayriel smiled. “They didn't make it past the first fountain.”

Cillumn snorted, but his hand snuck around her waist. The sensation of his fingers resting there, along with all the external stimuli, nearly undid her. Her center burned so that she could hardly manage to think of anything else. Maybe that was the secret to such an event, intense focus on one's partner led to an artificial privacy. It was as though his touch placed them in their own little space, where just the two of them were aware of what his fingers were doing.

It didn't help that the restraints of travel and dark discoveries had prevented them from coming together again since their first mating. That, and her own stubborn pride. But she was not prideful now, now she was nearly in pain from the wanting of him, and every moan and gasp, every soft murmur in the room, was driving her mad.

Encouraged by her lack of protest Cillumn's fingers drifted back and lower, until he lightly stroked the spot on her lower back just above the curve of her buttocks. Unbidden, a sound escaped her lips. A desperate sound. An embarrassing sound.

The fingers froze.

Sheepishly, Lis forced herself back to awareness of her surroundings. Gayriel's lips twitched at the corner, an amused gleam in her eye.

Lis' ears felt hot. She hoped that her blush was not as furious as she imagined it was.

“If you'll pardon us, general, Lady, I think we will be going,” Cillumn's voice was hoarse. He moved before they could acknowledge his words, propelling Lis away from the wall and into the massive crowd.

With little patience, he pushed and prodded, slipping them past happy greetings and questions. He smiled tightly and nodded, but none tempted him to stop.

The crowd parted before them, Lord's snickering. Lis was too helpless to her need to be much embarrassed, though she was certain it would be quite some time before she could face the Lords again. And it would definitely be her last banquet, they were far too public for her liking. There was only one who she wanted to share her desire with.

It was a great relief to burst into the night air from the bosom of the crowd, almost like escaping certain suffocation. Lis was not built for the press of society.

“I have contained the beast too long, do not fight me now, Lis. I don't want to hurt you with my eagerness.”

Cillumn's warning surprised her. The Shifter wolf was not hard to contain, it was simply themselves, in a different shape. The dragon, however, was a symbiont, and thus had its own needs and urges. Lis understood this, technically, yet she hadn't seriously thought about how Cillumn might be struggling with the beast as a separate entity. The primality of it sparked something inside her, an acknowledgment to her deepest urges, her most instinctual desire to mate.

That, she realized was the draw of the banquet. A place of primal urges and desires, recognized for what they were and accepted...celebrated even.

No, she wouldn't fight him. She was ready to accept the mating...ready to accept this man who had accepted her, just as she was, from the very start.

“I want you, Cillumn, quite desperat...”

She did not finish her sentence before he pounced. Strong arms wrapped around her, coupled with the sound of fabric tearing, his wings breaking free. She gasped a small protest. She had meant that she wanted him once they returned to his room, or somewhere private, not in the middle of the street. Perhaps it would be wise, in the future, to keep such confessions to herself until they reached such areas. His lips crushed to hers, demanding she yield, teeth scraping along her bottom lip.

At first, she pulled away, hoping to amend her statement, but his grip was firm as the branches of the mighty forest trees. He bound her to him, cradling her head as his mouth worked against hers. There was no use fighting and, besides, he was stirring up that deep pull of longing that felt so good.

He growled when she kissed him back, triumphant, and a little desperate, the sound sending a corresponding wave of wetness down her thighs.

“Oh, uhm...excuse me...”

Lis tore herself from Cillumn just long enough to catch a glimpse of a slender, fragile looking woman. Delicate might be the word a man would use, to Lis, she looked weak, like a child. Long brunette hair dangled in curls down her back and pale blue eyes blinked at their tangle of limbs and mouths—Cillumn had moved to her neck and now suckled and nipped there, as well.

She meant to pardon their display, and how they somehow took up the majority of the street between buildings, but at that moment Cillumn nipped at just the right spot. A deep moan escaped, instead, and her head tilted back.

“I'll just...go around,” she managed. Lis opened her eyes to see the woman retreating hastily along a nearby alley.

“Tell me again Lis,” Cillumn muttered, his words slurred, drunk with passion.

She forgot immediately about the intrusion, he, it seemed, hadn't even noticed. Lis knew what he wanted, he longed for her words of desire, for no reason that she could see except that he was slightly insecure that she would want him. Silly man.

“Take me somewhere private, my Dragon Lord. I need you with every pulse of my heart...please Cillumn...”

The please ignited his eyes with a flare of wild passion. Snarling, he tackled her and changed. For the first time that she could remember, a dragon did not set a wave of panic or fear within her. The beast’s great wings beat once, twice lifting them from the street and deftly setting them on a flattened rooftop nearby. Then he was Cillumn again, and he was upon her, hands roving and lips seeking any stretch of bare skin. With great care, he lowered her to the smooth stones, but then he was above her, ready.

She reached her hand to him, admiring his thick erection with her eyes and fingertips. A bead of moisture grew on the tip, and it twitched at her touch. She stroked him, once, twice, playing with the ridges along his shaft.

She had enjoyed his mouth when they had mated before, and she wanted to return the favor. Would he enjoy it as much as she had? Her experience was too limited to tell.

He was braced above her, one thick muscled arm on either side of her chest, his hips still to her left, calf brushing against her hip. She looked at his face for permission, or guidance maybe, but his head was tipped back and his eyes were closed. Muscles jumped along his jaw and throat. Even still, he fought to contain himself for her benefit.

A dark, and a little surprising, part of her wondered if she could break that control. He looked to be just on the edge of it, and there was something incredibly arousing about the fact that it was her that had driven him there. Decision made, she moved quickly, not wanting him to have time to stop her little experiment. She slid between his arms and, without hesitation, licked the bead off the tip of his cock.

The stillness that followed would have been disconcerting, if not for the eager twitch of his member beneath her ministrations. He did enjoy it. Encouraged, she went one step further and wrapped her lips around the engorged head, running her tongue beneath the swollen protrusion. He tasted clean, and slightly salty. She suckled him, taking him farther into her mouth, letting the bulk of his member fill her. She had nearly reached the first ridge before she retreated to lap at his tip once more.

She made it no farther. The half strangled roar was nothing short of that break of control she had wondered about. He tore himself from her mouth and raised above her, using a knee to spread her thighs.

She watched him in awe. He was magnificent. Scales protruded from his neck, highlighting the muscle that jumped along his jaw. The amber of his eyes was so intense they seemed as small points of fire themselves.

And then he was inside, sliding into her wet core, stretching, filling her. This was not the slow and careful entrance he had made in the forest. He pushed forward, almost violently, an incoherent groan on his lips. She closed her eyes, reveling in the sensation, and bucked upward, welcoming him, pushing herself along his shaft, taking him as far as she could.

She pulled back to thrust again but he caught her hips, fingers bruising, and ground against her, holding her right where he wanted, madly pumping, wild as the most basic parts of nature often were.

The primal desperation sparked retaliation in her body. She cracked her eyes open, watching him take his pleasure within her. The sight, combined with the exquisite sensations he was producing, stirred the tightening feeling, and she teetered on the edge for a moment.

His cry, the roar of both man and beast pushed her over. Waves crashed into her, each stronger than the last, the head of his cock pressing so deep it should have been painful, but the pressure was driving her spasms.

“More,” she demanded. And he complied, groaning and spilling into her. A second set of waves peaked as he did and she was left mewling. His grip on her hips loosened and he looked down upon her, watching her as she had him. She twisted with the pleasure, running herself up and down his shaft, taking what she needed until at last the orgasm faded.

They collapsed together then, and he cradled her, pulling her on top of him so that she rested with her head in the crook of his neck. He chuckled softly.

“More responsive than I could have imagined,” he murmured, running the backs of his fingers along her back and the curve of her waist.

A haze of pleasure surrounded her and the incredible knowledge that this man loved her. It was enough to arouse her own primal instinct, something she had avoided, but now she wanted it more than anything else. Turning her face downward, she nuzzled his neck. He was soft and relaxed from their exertions, so she took the opportunity. She nipped him. Hard. It had to be enough to draw blood.

“Ow!”

He tried to lift his head, but she held him there, and then she kissed the wound, licking it slightly. The taste of his blood on her tongue and her saliva in his wound energized all her senses. It was almost an orgasmic release when the mating bond snapped into place.

*Did you just mate me*?

Lis smiled against his neck, even in her head he sounded pleased.

*Yes*.

She could feel him swallow.

*Does that mean*... Lis could feel the wave of nervousness wash over him, of longing.* I love you, Lis*.

Her Cillumn. So strong, so capable, yet uncertain of her love. She was convinced now that she had never loved anyone more, nor would she ever love again.

She allowed the feeling to travel the link.

*Yes, Dragon Lord. This Rogue loves you, too*.