Sapphamire (The Dragons of Dragonose Book One) Read online

  King Thoran’s voice broke through her thoughts. “Okay, Natasha, open your eyes.” When she did, she was surprised to see a perfectly formed ball of fire in the palm of her hand. “Now, I want you to concentrate on that tree. That is what you will be aiming for.”

  Natasha looked at the tree that was a good football field length away from her. “Do you mean I can throw it that far?” she asked incredulously.

  “Well, we are about to see.” The king chuckled.

  Natasha looked at the fireball in her hand, amazed that her hand was not burning. Then she looked at the tree, concentrated on it for a moment, and as she pulled her arm back to take a swing, she pictured in her mind’s eye hitting the tree and having it burst into flames. Then she released the fireball at the exact same time she opened her eyes.

  Her eyes widened in surprise a few seconds later when the rather small fireball that had been in her hand hit the tree, immediately engulfing it in flames. Blain immediately shook his head and pulled his pants back off. “I’ll be right back.” He immediately shifted over to Sapphamire, and took off high in the sky.

  Natasha looked over at the burning tree. “Was I not supposed to do that?”

  “What? Oh, you did exactly what you were supposed to do. He is just going to have Sapphamire go fill up with water and come dump in on the tree to put the fire out,” the king replied.

  A moment later, Sapphamire returned and flew above the tree. He poured a generous amount of water from his mouth onto the tree until the fire was out. Then, landing back next to his king and Natasha, he changed back over to human and pulled his pants back on. “Okay, it’s safe to say she has fire abilities.”

  “Yes, but there is plenty more. Blain, I want you to walk down to where the tree is we were just working with. I am going to have Natasha come at you as fast as she can.”

  Natasha shook her head. “I don’t want to attack Blain!”

  The king chuckled but took it all in stride. “You aren’t going to attack, you are just going to act like you are. Running toward him at that distance gives you plenty of time to build up speed. I want to see if your line of sight teleportation has been unlocked yet.”

  Blain had jogged down to the tree and was now waiting for her. “Come on, babe,” he taunted. “Come and get me. Show me what you’ve got.”

  Natasha narrowed her eyes at him and took off at a dead run. And then, nothing. It was like she was floating on air. She could look down and see him as if she were above him. Deciding she was going to see exactly what she could do, she brought herself down behind him. Her back was to him when she landed, but other than that, he never knew she was there. She quickly turned around and goosed him in the ribs yelling, “Gotcha!”

  “How the hell did you do that? Where did you go? I lost sight of you within five seconds of you starting toward me!”

  Natasha turned and watched as King Thoran walked up to them. “It’s called line of sight teleportation or time-jumping. She can only do this on things she can see, thus the name, line of sight.”

  The king told them that he needed to get back to the castle, and instructed Blain to continue working with both Natasha and Naquadus, teaching Naquadus to protect the human at all costs, and that Natasha was always in charge. He also explained to Blain what powers he thought Naquadus would have, and urged him to work with the young dragon on these. “Blain, I know Natasha and Naquadus are both new to all of this, but their powers could prove to be invaluable in the event of an attack.”

  Blain waited until his king was well on his way. Turning to his mate, he snaked his arm around her waist and pulled, bringing her body up tight against his own. “What do you say to ditching this place until tomorrow morning? It’s getting late, and I would like nothing better than to be curled up next to my mate.” He stopped and leaned forward, his lips touching hers, slowly at first, just sipping. That only lasted until she moaned and opened her mouth inviting him in a short moment later.

  He plunged his tongue into her mouth, exploring her warm, wet cavern. She always had a slight lemon flavor that he enjoyed. Her own tongue came out to play and chased his a moment later when he pulled back a bit. They dueled another moment, and then he stopped altogether. “Baby, I missed you this afternoon. But to get me all worked up right now when we have to return on horseback is torture. How about we get going, and we will continue this at home?”

  “Blain, we only have one horse. Can’t we shift and travel that way?” Naquadus lifted her head up the moment she had spoken the words. 'Oh, yes, let me out…let me out!' Her dragon jumped up and down with glee.

  Blain glanced down to his mate who suddenly seemed to be in pain. He sighed, “Is Naquadus giving you a hard time, love?”

  Natasha grimaced. “I don’t think she means to, Blain. It’s just…she gets so excited when she wants something. Her enthusiasm is sometimes quite painful.”

  Blain continued looking at her for a moment. “You know what, I think your idea of shifting is a good idea. I think it’s time for Sapphamire to have a chat with his mate.”

  Naquadus was quite literally clawing her way to the surface. Blain quickly stripped and allowed Sapphamire full lead in not only the shift, but decided to let the dragon deal with his wayward mate. Gifting Natasha with a dragon had been Sapphamire’s idea to begin with. A wonderful present, Blain agreed, but now that dragon needed to be shown where her boundaries were.

  “Sure, sure, blame this all on me!' Sapphamire grumbled as he quickly took over as Blain’s human form took a step back, allowing the changeover.

  'Um, might it have something to do with the fact that IT IS?' Blain growled right back. Even though he was allowing Sapphamire to take charge of the situation, the dragon would never take charge of the man. That hierarchy had been established a long time ago. And then, just as Sapphamire fully surfaced, Blain added, 'Just take Naquadus in hand, and quickly. I do not like to watch my mate in pain!'

  I will handle this. Remember, she is my mate also!'

  “Hello, Natasha, dear.” Sapphamire stated softly to his human mate. “Go ahead and let Naquadus to the surface, love, I need to have a word with her.”

  Chapter Ten

  As Natasha rode her horse home with Sapphamire flying above her, she went through the past hour. While she had let Naquadus to the surface, she had also kept a tight leash around her dragon’s neck as King Thoran had taught her. He called it a “love collar”, because the human loved their dragon, but knew the best way for the two to coexist was for the human to remain in charge at all times.

  She watched from behind the scenes as Sapphamire quickly took Naquadus in hand. She had wondered if Sapphamire was being too rough with his mate as he quickly and succulently informed her that not only was Natasha in charge of her, but as her mate, he was also in command of her. He then informed her that, as his mate, her actions were a direct reflection of him, and that he did not ever want to hear or see Natasha in pain because Naquadus wasn’t respecting Natasha’s human form. It was her duty to protect it, not abuse it.

  Natasha was getting ready to try to break through Naquadus or somehow try to reach Blain, when she was shocked to find his voice inside her head. 'Natasha, calm down, love. Trust me, Sapphamire knows what he is doing. Naquadus needs to learn authority; there will be plenty of time for love later. She is Sapphamire’s mate, so there is no chance of him hurting her. He is going to get through to her that it is unacceptable to cause you even a moment’s pain.'

  She replied with the first thing that popped through her head. 'Have you been able to read my mind all this time?' she cringed as she thought of that possibility.

  He chuckled. 'No, love. Evidently it is another gift that comes along with Naquadus. You began to project your thoughts over to me, probably without even realizing you were doing so. I just followed the golden thread that led from Sapphamire back to Naquadus. It is what is allowing me to communicate with you now.'

  She wondered how far that string could go, and if it was just Bla
in that she could do this with, or anyone? Her answer was given to her a moment later when she heard King Thoran’s voice in her head. 'Natasha, I am back at the castle, and you are coming in loud and clear, dear. But I seem to be the only one here that is hearing you. I have telepathic abilities also, so this is probably why you can reach me at such a great distance.'

  Natasha went back to watching from behind the scene, and noticed that yes, Sapphamire was being strict, but then when Naquadus did what he told her to do, he was quick to heap on the praise also. When she thought about it, he reminded her of a dominant male, subduing his female. Another chuckle in her head confirmed that Blain was still present within her mind.

  By the end of the session, Sapphamire had his mate firmly in hand. She had been quiet, but happy; a big grin on her face as she took a step back and allowed Natasha’s human form to resurface. As Natasha rose to the forefront as the change took place, she heard Naquadus say to her, 'I am sorry if I hurt you, Tashe. I will attempt to withhold my exuberance so I don’t injure you. I love Sapphamire, and I want him to be proud of his mate, not ashamed.'

  Natasha inwardly gave her dragon a smile of reassurance. 'I know, Naquadus. We will work things out together, okay?' She hoped there would be no more of these sessions where Sapphamire had to come down hard on his own mate. She hoped she and Naquadus could learn to work together and become friends at the same time.

  And as soon as Natasha was fully in her human skin, Naquadus curled up and took a nap; whereas Blain had evidently decided to leave Sapphamire in charge of getting them home. They neared the majestic mountain she and Blain had ridden past earlier that morning, still full of dragons sitting high upon their perches.

  “Natasha, love, continue riding, I need to speak with one of my brethren for just a moment. You are perfectly safe, my dear, I’ll still be able to see you, and won’t be long.” Sapphamire flew straight up, veering to the left once he was high enough to reach the other dragons. Natasha watched as he gently touched down on an empty perch.

  After a couple of minutes riding, she felt very alone. Naquadus was sleeping, and her connection to Blain had disappeared as soon as she had changed out with her dragon and taken over as human. A sudden shadow caused her to look over her shoulder and then up, spotting Sapphamire coming up on her fast. “Love, I was only gone a few minutes. I promise you, there was no danger.” The dragon lightly scolded her.

  She wondered how he knew she was starting to feel the loneliness when Naquadus opened one eye to state sleepily, 'It is my duty to protect and take care of you, Natasha. Asleep or awake, you are my primary responsibility. If I hadn’t alerted Sapphamire, he would have been upset at me.'

  'Oh, okay, well, thank you, Naquadus,' she inwardly replied to her dragon. She shook her head, what a change from earlier that day, when she couldn’t even talk her into waiting a few minutes.

  “Sapphamire, can you explain to me why all those dragons sit up there on the perches? Do they live in the mountain or something?” Natasha asked, curious. She still couldn’t get over the sight of many different colored dragons perched all up and down the mountain side.

  “Certainly. They are our country’s first line of defense. If the Raptorians attack, they will spot them coming in first. There is a protocol set in place that a few are to leave their post and alert the king and his council. From there, the country is alerted, call to arms announced, and fighting ensues. Those dragons that sit up there do so because it is their job, and they are well aware of how important their role is in keeping our country safe. They have spent many years training, and are the best of the best this country has to offer. And they don’t live in the mountain, although if you were to ever see the inside of that mountain, you would question why not.”

  Seeing her confused expression, he continued, “King Thoran spared no expense when that mountain was set up years ago. The inside has been cleared and provides comfort and a home-like environment for the dragons that choose to stay on the mountain for long periods of time. Blain is telling me to inform you it is to be compared with an extremely wealthy hotel or resort on Earth.”

  Natasha smiled up at Sapphamire. “Okay, thanks for explaining.”

  “My pleasure, sweets.”

  As soon as they reached home, Blain quickly took back over as human. Remaining naked, he walked over and grabbed Natasha up, throwing her over his shoulder as he stalked into the house. And once he reached inside, he never stopped until he was in the master bedroom, and had dumped her onto the bed.

  “You, my love, have way too many clothes on,” he growled as he grabbed her clothes, not even bothering to unbutton or unzip anything as he yanked them off her body.

  “Hey, He-man! Stop being so rough with my clothes, or you are going to owe me a whole new wardrobe!”

  The grin he gave her was predatory. “Gladly,” he replied as he continued his work.

  When he had her stripped bare and lying across the bed, he took a step back to enjoy what he knew was his. He caged her in as he was suddenly on top of her, the fire in his eyes telling her he was hanging on only by a thread. “Baby, I don’t know if I can do ‘nice and easy’ right now. If I don’t get into that hot, sweet pussy of yours in about two minutes, I think my dick is going to explode.”

  She grinned, but wrapped her legs around his waist, hooking them at his lower back. Tilting her hips, she offered herself to him. “Then what are you waiting for, big guy?”

  “You are going to be the death of me,” he groaned as her scent hit him fully.

  She lightly nipped his ear, and he reached up and lightly tweaked a nipple. “Baby, you are playing with fire.”

  “Hmmm,” she hummed from deep in her throat. “Well, you know I have some demon blood in me, so fire seems to be my middle name.”

  “Woman,” he warned, knowing he was close to losing what little control he had. It was bad enough he wanted Natasha with an intensity that sent his mind reeling, but he was also dealing with Sapphamire. His dragon was also wanting his mate, and hadn’t yet had a chance to mate properly with Naquadus. He now seemed to be feeding off Blain’s emotions and energies, probably in the hopes of alleviating his own frustrations. Blain chuckled as he remembered Sapphamire constantly urging him to hurry up and mate with Natasha. Now, his dragon was in the same predicament he was in. He was holding off the claiming until Naquadus had time to develop fully and learn her surroundings. She needed time to get to know her mate before he took her.

  'Yeah, yeah, you’ve made your point. Hmph, humans, they think they know it all!' Sapphamire grumbled in his head.

  Blain looked down into the face of the woman that was his. “I love you, Natasha. I think I have since the first day you showed up at my castle.”

  His mate smiled up at him, her face radiant with joy. “I love you, too, Blain. Now, will you please make love to me?” she asked softly.

  He knew he would never be able to deny her anything. He grinned. “My pleasure, mate.”

  He reached between them, checking to make sure she was ready, happy to find her wet and waiting. He lined his engorged cock up to her hole and plunged in, not stopping until he was fully seated and his balls slapped up against her. She let out a moan as he leaned down and sucked a nipple into his mouth.

  Cradling his head to her breast, she tilted her hips upwards a bit, allowing him to sink even deeper inside her. He could feel the head of his dick up against her cervix. A sudden picture of her swollen with their child came to his mind. He reached down and ran his hand across her now flat abdomen.

  'She will look beautiful swollen with our child,' Sapphamire stated.

  'Is she?'

  'Not yet, but she is fast reaching her fertile time,' his dragon informed him.

  He found just the thought of Natasha pregnant with his child excited him in ways he never thought possible. He picked up the pace, and soon was pounding in and out of her. When he felt himself getting close, he reached between their bodies and pinched her clit, while at the same time
directed her, “Come now, mate!”

  She exploded immediately, her hot, wet pussy squeezing him until he too followed her over, spewing his hot cum up into her waiting channel.

  Chapter Eleven

  King Thoran sounded the alarm first thing in the morning, after an early morning call from a diplomat of a neighboring country. The Dragonose enemy had been spotted heading directly in the direction of Dragonose.

  They had known all along that it was only a matter of time before the repulsive half-human, half-reptilian creatures came at them once again. A last-minute decision had been made to change tactics in the hopes of throwing the Raptorians off their game. They would be expecting the dragons to be sitting high on their perches on the side of the mountain, waiting for them. King Thoran decided that since they already had been warned of their arrival, to remove the dragons down from the mountain and have them ready to fight alongside the king’s inner circle as well as other countrymen. The women and children were to stay away from the open countryside in the confines of the village, in hopes that they would remain unharmed.

  Natasha sat up in a tree, shielded from sight by the leaves, biting her nails as she looked out into the horizon. She was nervous out here, waiting for the Raptorians to make their move and show their faces. Blain had led the men out into the open lands, far enough away from all civilization that no innocents would be in harm’s way. They had been waiting all day for the stinking bastards to show up. The longer she sat there, the more nervous she became. This was her first big battle, her previous combat situations had been one-on-one, or against just a few others. Now, surrounded by dragon men and still getting accustomed to her own dragon, she began to doubt just how useful she was going to be to these mighty warriors. Sighing heavily, she rubbed her temple.