"I'm yours," she murmured sleepily. "And you're mine."
CHAPTER FIVE
One night, within the first week of our union , Anabelle and I lay in bed together; we were simply sharing stories of our lives and enjoying each other's company. I had taken her for another flight after we'd supped; now that she knew how it felt to fly, she was insatiable. I had to laugh at her charming, child-like enthusiasm. It amazed me that someone so innocent and sweet could also be so womanly and passionate.
And so I had indulged her, and we had taken to the sky together. This time there was no fear, no hysterical cries from my bride. Her face shone with joy and excitement. I tried to see the experience as I knew she did. And I could, in fact. When I looked down and saw how thrilled she was at the feeling of freedom – even though she was, in fact, clutched to my chest – I could remember the nearly mindless joy I felt when I first shifted.
I remembered how my father had laughed at me as I swooped and dove and spun and banked. I was trying out my wings, as he put it, and he allowed me to do just that. The first flight was magic; at that time I had not yet begun to fear the many complex and foreign feelings that my shifting brought up. I was too busy feeling the rush of excitement my first flight had brought me to understand the deeper, more complex shift in my thoughts and instincts.
We reached a clearing, and I set her down gently on a bed of grass. I looked at her there, all pale and fiery at once. The moon's faint light reflected itself in the water of the lake at which we sat, and in the green of Anabelle's eyes.
Suddenly an impish gleam filled those eyes, and my very dignified Queen jumped up and ran to the water. She was wearing a thin shift and a robe; she removed the robe before plunging into the water.
I changed back to my human form and doubled over in laughter when she emerged, dripping and shouting from the unexpectedly cold water.
"You shouldn't be so reckless!" I called, and laughed again. "I could have told you the water would be icy to you. It's perfectly comfortable to me, though."
"Then join me!" she shouted. "Warm me, please!"
I did as I was requested, wading into the water and meeting her where she stood. The dark water was up to her chest, and I could see through the soaked fabric of her shift that her breasts bobbed as if weightless.
I stood behind her and pressed myself close to her. Within moments she stopped shivering.
"You are so warm," she sighed happily. "I never have to feel cold when I'm close to you."
I placed my cheek against the top of her precious head. "And I will always be close to you, my love."
We stood there for a while, until Anabelle became more accustomed to the temperature of the water. Then we played like children; diving, splashing, dunking each other. Our laughter rang out against the trees that surrounded the clearing.
I gathered her in my arms and held her there, still laughing at her playful antics. She wrapped her arms around me and rested her head on my chest.
"I love you," she murmured.
"And I you," I replied.
She looked up at me then, tilting her head back so the moon shone off her white skin. Her full lips invited mine closer, and I could not keep my mouth from hers. We kissed, long and deeply, locked in each other's arms.
I felt myself growing against her, a fact that she also noticed. In one swift movement she jumped slightly, then wrapped her legs around my waist and continued to kiss me.
My hands traveled down to her firm ass, kneading and stroking as I worked her shift over her legs and up to her waist. Once the garment was out of the way, I guided myself into her.
"Oh!" she cried out softly. "This is different!" I couldn't contain my laughter and her genuine surprise.
"Don't you want to?" I asked, nuzzling her neck. She merely rolled her hips by way of reply, pulling a deep groan from my throat. As always my consciousness drained away and became solely focused on that connection between us. The place where our bodies joined was all that mattered in the world to me in that moment.
She began to move up and down, slowly. Achingly slowly. She tantalized us both, the water making her movements more languid and deliberate. I wanted to feel her skin against mine, and so I held onto her waist while she lifted the soaking went garment over her head and dropped it onto the surface of the water. Her hard nipples pressed against my chest as she held me so close.
I had never felt so intimately connected to another person. I stroked her back, her head, and her legs as we moved together in our slow, steady rhythm. We took our time, kissing each other, gently biting and laughing, exploring and delighting in what we discovered.
She laced her fingers behind my back and leaned back, giving me full access to her beautiful breasts. They bobbed on the water, the delicious nipples begging to be suckled. I did just that, her skin tasting like the water of the loch. Her hair fanned out around her, floating on the water. She never stopped moving slowly up and down the length of my shaft.
I flicked my tongue over one sensitive nipple, then the other. I knew this drove her wild, and was rewarded with a long cry. The motion below the water line quickened, and my hands went below the water to grasp her hips. I began driving her down onto me, swiftly and powerfully. She gasped, and a long, low moan began to build and build until I knew her climax was moments away.
I bent my head once again and took one of her nipples between my teeth, biting gently. She screamed my name, once, her head thrown back and her eyes closed, before she shuddered and cried out, again and again, as the release of her climax swept over her. As for myself, I thrust only a few times more before I, too, was overcome.
"Tell me about the dragons," she requested later, as we lay in bed. We had flown back to the castle soon after we'd finished making love; first we had to locate her missing shift, which had floated away while we pleasured ourselves. Now it was hanging by the fire and we were wrapped up in each other's arms.
"What do you want to know?" I asked.
"Where did you come from?"
"No one knows," I answered truthfully. "Some say from hell, of course. There will always be those who fear what they cannot understand, just as they fear the fae and the wizards and gypsies and magic. Others say the first dragon was actually sent from the heavens to shape the world using fire."
"How many of you have there been?"
"Oh, thousands, I'm sure," I told her. "There are the Celtic dragons, who reach back untold generations to Kellen, the first and greatest of us all. But there were dragons around the known world as well. No one knows for certain how many are left; I am sure that as the world becomes less dependent on magic, it will find less room for the dragons."
She sensed the sadness in my voice; she was innately in-tune with my emotions, so early into our union . "There is room for you," she told me. "And there is room for our children, and Morgan, and his children. The world needs more dragons, I think. We need that power, and that magic."
I held her close to me. "I hope you are right," I murmured against her hair.
*
Those early days of our union were like something out of a dream. It was almost too much to concentrate on the day-to-day concerns of the kingdom; I had never much cared for council meetings and briefings by my advisors, far preferring to take action. Sitting still and hearing about problems, which I was expected to rule on but never have a hand in the solving of nearly drove me to distraction.
Now, however, the knowledge of the wanton bliss waiting for me in my free moments left me even more irritable than usual with my advisors when they'd take too long to get to the point. I wanted to fly through this tiresome work so I could roll escape to the arms, lips and warmth of my mate.
One day I slammed my fist onto the table in frustration at what I saw as the womanish inability to come to a decision on a question the council had been debating for days. I had even forgotten the original source of the discussion, so long had the point been deliberated.
"You know, brother," Morgan commented with a wry smile after that particular meeting had concluded, "I had thought you'd be much more relaxed and easy to get along with now that you're being bedded so thoroughly. Imagine my disappointment," he sighed. I was torn between laughing in spite of myself and swiping at him with my claws.
Anabelle was like an addiction. Sometimes I wondered to myself whether my mother had been completely off her mark when she remarked that my queen was like an enchantress. Whatever the cause of her enchanting nature, I was thoroughly enthralled. I couldn't get enough of her. Whenever we were apart, I could only go over our latest moments together and fantasize about the ways in which I wanted to take her.