Immortal Dragons: The First Four: Prequel + Books 1-3 Read online

  “Why are there three?” she asked, certain she knew what two of them were for, but confused about the third, smaller hoop.

  “Mmm… for my three favorite parts of you,” Nikhil rumbled, and dipped his head to capture her stiff nipple between his teeth while his fingers drifted to the other, plucking and squeezing it until Belah gasped when he hit just the right level of pain. Belah shifted on his lap, arching her chest closer to his mouth and enjoying the hard press of his erection into her backside.

  “The third?” she asked breathlessly, though she knew from the tugging of his fingers at her waist where he was going. The closure of her belt came open finally and the panels of her gown parted across her hips, giving him access. He pressed his fingertips between her thighs, teasing lightly over the slick hood of her clit.

  “I want to see you adorned with gold and jewels like the goddess you are. We’ll have to improvise somehow.”

  “No, Nikhil. Show me what you were going to do before I ruined your surprise. Please.” Her words came out as a plea that was contrary to her normal commanding tone, but he did this to her. He made her want to grovel at his feet for pleasure. To be used however he saw fit. “Just pretend I never told you.”

  “Very well, ‘Iilahatan,” he said and urged her off his lap. He brushed past her with a proprietary squeeze of her behind that sent a thrill through her. Whenever they were alone together, he was every bit her master.

  “Come,” he commanded, standing in the opening to her balcony with several lengths of rope draped over his palms. Reaching up, he threaded them through the steel loops embedded in the doorframe above him and let the lengths hang down. There was more length than was necessary to bind her arms above her head. Belah’s mind whirled with curiosity about how elaborate his plan must have been. She hadn’t intended to tell him the secret of piercing her skin tonight, but now she wasn’t so certain she could keep it to herself.

  She went to him and turned with her back to him. He raised her arms one by one and wrapped her wrists in the ropes. Instead of spreading her legs and tethering her ankles to the lower eyelets, he did something new. With a gentle touch, he lifted one leg and wrapped it several times in the rope just above her knee, tightening the wrap with an elaborate knot that was just snug enough to keep the ropes from shifting, but not so tight as to restrict her circulation. She watched in fascination as he looped the rope through another eyelet above her, raising her leg so it hung parallel to the floor with her knee bent and her toes pointed to the ground. He tugged gently at the end of the rope, pulling until her leg swung wide, then secured the end of the rope with a knot.

  When he lifted her other leg, she found herself suspended in air and had the strangest urge to let her wings extend to maintain her balance. The itch subsided when Nikhil completed the binding and reached back around her, letting his hand slide from the ropes up the inside of her thigh to brush his fingertips over her spread folds.

  He whispered in her ear while he stroked her clit. “I imagined how lovely your pretty cunt would be with a jewel permanently attached. You are already the picture of perfection, ‘Iilahatan. You deserve to be adorned in gold. My most prized little beast, so pliant and eager to please. Would you have liked to have a jewel attached to you right here?” He squeezed her clit gently between thumb and forefinger, to emphasize exactly what part of her anatomy he referred to.

  Belah loved jewelry of any kind, but it had never occurred to her to attach any to the parts of her Nikhil seemed so keen on decorating. That he prized these most sensitive parts of her so highly made it all the clearer to her how perfect a mate he was. If only marking him wouldn’t destroy the things she loved so much about him, she would do it in a heartbeat.

  “What do you think, Belah?” he asked again. Her name breathed against the back of her neck made her shiver. He rarely used her name, preferring to address her with any number of terms of endearment. She loved all of them, but the way he said her name made blood rush to her head swiftly enough that she grew lightheaded.

  “That sounds… nice,” she whispered, too aroused to speak any louder.

  Nikhil moved back around her and dropped to his knees, hands cupping her bottom to pull her to his mouth like a ripe piece of melon. He tongued her cleft with abandon, occasionally drifting his mouth to her outer lips and nipping hard to add delicious spikes of pain to her pleasure. Belah was powerless against the onslaught and let her head fall back as he commanded her climax to rise from deep within. He coaxed her more and more urgently with his tongue until she wanted nothing more than to give in to him and let the pent-up magic rush through her like a torrent. Her cry echoed above them, his slow lapping between her thighs continuing for a moment until the quivering of her thighs subsided.

  Nikhil stood and wiped her juices from his lips and chin, smiling at her. He stepped between her thighs as though preparing to spear her with his cock.

  “Wait,” she said. “I want you to do what you were going to do. There is a way. It is a secret you mustn’t share with anyone. But I want it, so I will tell you. I want it so much.”

  Nikhil paused with his hands resting on her knees, his gaze already feverish with his need to fuck her again and his aura pulsing wildly. Yet he pulled back with a slow nod.

  Very deliberately, he walked to where the box rested on the table and picked it up. From within, he pulled a small, thin, slightly curved object that glinted silvery in the light of her chamber.

  “Tell me what to do.”

  “Hold it in front of my mouth,” she said.

  When he came close and held it up, she could see it was a hooked needle similar to the ones Meri used to stitch up wounds. Her stomach flipped with excitement over this new experience. Both her nipples and her cunt tingled in anticipation of what was about to happen.

  Nikhil’s eyebrows rose expectantly and Belah took a deep breath. She closed her eyes, summoning the magic to her lungs and conjuring the fire she so rarely used. With lips opened into a tight “O,” she expelled her breath. Bright blue flame licked out in a liquid stream, curling around the needle and Nikhil’s fingers where he held it. He bared his teeth and hissed from pain, but held on tight until the needle glowed with heat.

  “Sorry,” Belah said, drawing the fire back into her and immediately blowing a cooling blue breath onto his scorched fingertips.

  “If this works, then there is no need for apologies, my love,” he said as he bent to kiss her.

  With his free hand he cupped one breast, kneading it roughly and pinching her nipple hard enough to drive her wild with need again. Just as he was about to press the needle to her flesh, she cried out.

  “Wait. Make sure you’re ready with the ring before you start. I heal quickly, remember?”

  “Don’t worry, I am ready.” He swirled his tongue around his mouth and produced one of the pieces of jewelry held tightly between his teeth.

  Pulling her nipple taut, he leaned close, pressed the sharp point of the needle to the pink flesh, and pushed. Belah watched, too hypnotized by the sight of the metal sliding through her skin to look away. When the harsh fire of agony flowed through her body, she cried out, throwing her head back and arching toward the source of the pain. It was every bit as acute and delicious as the pleasure of an orgasm, and it left her gasping for air.

  Before she could recover from the first wave of intense fire, another one hit when he pierced her second nipple, and she bucked against her bindings.

  With the flood of pain pulsing from both breasts through the ends of her limbs, her eyes flew open and met Nikhil’s gaze. The wild creature she’d bound in this very spot their first night together looked back at her, crazed with hunger and his aura pulsing just as savagely as the pain that shot through her breasts. He wasn’t finished yet.

  Dropping to his knees again, he paused with a groan before her open pussy, already flooded again with her desire. Closing his eyes, he tu
rned his head and sank his teeth into her inner thigh so hard he would have taken a bite out of her, if his teeth were capable of penetrating her skin. Gathering command of himself again, he turned back to her glistening folds and squeezed the hood of her clit tightly between thumb and forefinger. With careful precision, he shoved the needle through. More prepared for the hot flash of pain this time, Belah mustered the presence of mind to watch while he deftly followed the needle with the loop of gold and bent to squeeze the tiny ring closed with his teeth.

  He let his mouth linger against her flesh for just a moment longer, his tongue testing the tiny ornament with maddening flicks. When Belah was ready to beg for more, he sat back on his heels, panting and staring up at her.

  “’Iilahatan, you are so beautiful. A creature worthy of worship. You did not even bleed.” He rose slowly and stepped back from her, surveying his handiwork. One large hand drifted down to grip his hard cock, and he stood stroking himself while staring at her, eyes flitting between the sparkling jeweled scarabs on the tips of her breasts and the third one resting coolly over her clit.

  Belah squirmed against her bindings, the ache of fresh need overwhelming her more than the pain of the piercings.

  “Please, Nikhil,” she begged, watching him continue pleasuring himself and aching for just a glimmer of the power that swelled in him.

  His lips spread in a wicked smile and he slowed his strokes. “You are so wet for the things I do, such a hungry little beast. Knowing I command your pleasure, that it is mine to give or take, makes me hard for you. I like to see you squirm, to know how much hotter that sweet, tight quim of yours will be once I let you have my cock. Let me hear you beg some more, little beast.”

  He stepped close again, but paused just at arm’s length and continued stroking himself with one hand. With his other, he reached out and tugged at one of the rings that now dangled from her nipples, and a pleasant buzz of pain burned into her again.

  “Think of all the fun we can have with these. And with this.” He lowered his hand between her thighs and flicked lightly at the scarab resting there. His touch made it vibrate straight through her clit, and the intensity of the competing sensations caused her to cry out once more.

  “Please! Before I heal, fuck me. Fuck me while I can still feel everything!”

  Nikhil’s smile faded into a look of raw desire and he released himself. With both hands, he gripped her hips while he aimed his cock between her thighs. Her hot, sodden flesh parted when his thick tip pressed into her. As he slid deeper, the underside of her new bauble rubbed harder against her clit, pulling at its piercing just enough to remind her how fresh the pain was. Nothing but pleasure remained once he’d sunk to the hilt inside her.

  “More,” she whispered. “Please, I need more.”

  He bent his head to her breast as he pulled out, capturing one gold ring and the nipple it pierced, biting down on the damaged flesh until she yelped. Then he slammed back into her, swift and hard, his pelvis pressing and grinding until she gasped and begged again for more, more, more.

  Soon, Belah lost herself in the pulsing cadence of sensations—the rising pleasure accompanied by staccato beats of pain until she had no sense of anything else. He seemed to know exactly how to drive her higher and higher, closer to the brink of madness. She was nearly lost when he slowed. He still fucked her, but with tortuous deliberation, staring down at her intently.

  “No, please don’t stop. I need more,” she whimpered.

  “Show me some of what you are. I want to see the beast in you, my love, to watch the creature I have broken come apart while I fuck her. Just a piece of the truth. Those glorious horns you couldn’t help but release that first night. Or your wings. Show me, and I will let you fly.”

  “Yes,” she said, and immediately gave up bits of the tenuous control she had over her shape. Her magic could hold her form indefinitely with little effort, but during sex with Nikhil, she often had the urge to let go of her true shape after he’d pleased her so well that night with just his fingers. Her horns came first, protruding slowly from her temples and coiling back over her head like thick, twisting vines. Then her wings erupted from her shoulder blades, stretching and flexing in the evening breeze.

  Nikhil fucked her again in earnest, his eyes sparkling with excitement as she continued to let elements of her true shape emerge from beneath her skin. She maintained her human shape just enough to avoid interfering with her bindings, but let the texture of her skin become the blue scales and let her long tongue flick out to tease at the line of his jaw.

  He groaned as he slammed into her over and over, his hips pounding out a rhythm that sank deep into her bones with each press against the jewelry attached to her clit.

  “Yes, ‘Iilahatan, you are my little beast. Mine. And I will fuck you until you scream my name, begging me for more, begging me to hurt you again. Someday, ‘Iilahatan, I will make you bleed for me.”

  The very suggestion of shedding blood just for his pleasure sent Belah over the edge. Her voice rose up to the heavens, resonating enough to make the entire river valley grow silent in its wake.

  Chapter Ten

  “I have neglected my pets for far too long,” Belah said. “You distract me from my duties. I’ve become a poor mistress to them.” She ignored Nikhil’s scowl from the bed behind her as she dressed before her mirror.

  It had been months since her last visit to her harem. Ever since Nikhil had joined her, she’d needed only him to satisfy her need for magical sustenance. A recent visit from a very concerned Meri had spurred her into action. Her pets were restless, bored, and more prone to bickering and acting out with the rest of her staff lately. They needed a regular outlet for their pent-up energy and could only entertain each other for so long.

  She shouldn’t go in there feeling like it was a chore, though. Dropping one sandal to the floor, she sighed and looked up at Nikhil apologetically. Regarding him for a moment, she tilted her head.

  “What is it, love?” he asked. “Tell me you changed your mind and decided to come back to bed with me.” He patted the edge of the bed beside one naked, tan thigh.

  “No. I can’t avoid my duties, but maybe you can help.”

  His scowl deepened. “I have no use for your pets. They’re too soft.”

  “I mean help me get in the mood to go to them, and be here afterward when I return.” She frowned, realizing that she’d been away from her harem long enough that today she should avoid withholding her Nirvana from them. It meant she’d need to be even more in the mood than if she were just orchestrating their pleasure for her sustenance. But the idea of simple, mindless fucking didn’t have the same allure as it used to.

  She turned back to the mirror, irritated. Nikhil’s large, naked form slipped up behind her, his hands sliding down her bare arms until his fingers clasped around her wrists. He tugged her arms behind her back, forcing her to arch her breasts toward the mirror. With one hand holding her wrists together, he used the other to unfasten the clasp of the robe over her sternum and pushed it open. The pair of scarabs at her breasts caught the sunlight and gleamed with deep blue light. Belah smiled, thrilled anew at the image and the memory it incited of that glorious night when he’d given them to her.

  “What will your pets think when they see you like this, pierced with rings befitting a slave? A slave to a rich master, of course, but a slave nonetheless.” His hand spanned her chest, thumb and forefinger teasing simultaneously at both sparkling scarabs.

  “I… I admit I hadn’t considered that,” she said. It truly would be an awkward explanation if any of her pets asked why she was pierced as she was. They likely wouldn’t ask outright, but she would sense their confusion and uncertainty, and it could very well add to their unrest.

  Nikhil’s dark eyes studied her in the mirror as his fingers continued to tease her breasts before sliding in a ticklish trail down her stomach and dipping betwe
en her thighs to find the third scarab. Belah inhaled sharply at the sudden burst of pleasure that shot through her when he slipped his finger deeper between her moist folds.

  “How well can you disguise your identity?” he asked.

  Belah gazed back at him, perplexed. “I can change my human appearance at will, but there are limits. I can’t fake my gender, but everything else is superficial.”

  He moved away for a moment, and when he returned, he slipped a band of tooled leather around her neck. Belah recognized the pretty little collar he’d presented her with a few weeks earlier as an introduction to a new, private game of his.

  Like all his games, she’d loved this one. Loved being ordered to kneel at his side while he ate his meals, letting him feed her small morsels from the palm of his hand. Loved when he’d bared his hard cock to her and ordered her to suck it, then left her naked and kneeling with her cheek to the floor and her bare ass in the air, waiting interminably for him to do as he wished with her.

  All it took was the buckle sliding closed for her knees to bend and she was kneeling on the floor in front of him, still facing the mirror.

  “Show me,” he said. “Make yourself look like a slave.”

  His tone wasn’t even commanding, but she didn’t need to be ordered to carry out his request when she wore the collar.

  With the power of a thought, Belah shifted her appearance, watching her reflection as she transformed. Her upswept black braids disappeared, leaving behind a bare, shorn scalp. Her skin darkened from the honey-bronze she preferred to a more sun-darkened shade, befitting one of the women who worked the barley fields. The fine trimmed nails at the ends of her fingers grew ragged, and she turned her eyes from their deep, vivid blue to a dark, earthy brown. The shape of her face grew more angular and just slightly gaunt and her body slimmed, her breasts becoming smaller, tipped with dark brown nipples.