Chapter One
The world could have ended and Bekim Rainsong wouldn’t have cared. If there was such a thing as ursa heaven, he’d found it. His entire body buzzed with the immense power that flowed through him, his ears ringing with the sonorous cry of the woman—the dragon—whose glorious orgasm had just shattered his entire concept of what it meant to be alive.
“Gaia fucking save me, I can’t hold back.” Theron’s brown eyes were wide with the same wonder, staring at him over the pale shoulder of the woman who was swiftly beginning to mean more to them than their own goddess.
Numa let out a breathy moan between them, her hips still pivoting just enough to drive Bekim mad. “I’m not done yet. If you two hold out a bit longer…” Her green eyes flashed wickedly at Bekim before she kissed him, leaving him even more breathless from the way she owned his mouth just long enough to make him want more. Then she pulled away and twisted, grasping behind her for a very willing Theron, who leaned in and surrendered his own lips to hers as her fingers raked through his short beard.
“How much longer?” Bekim asked, squeezing her hip with one hand while the other cupped the back of her head, urging her back to his mouth.
She laughed into the kiss, her breasts brushing against his chest. “I want to see how much power you two can hold and give back to me. The longer you hold off, the more it builds and builds and, oh …” Her eyes rolled back and her lashes fluttered as her mouth fell open. Inside the tight channel of her pussy Bekim currently shared with his partner, Theron’s rhythm had changed, his angle shifting in a way that made Bekim’s hold on reality even shakier than it already was.
“Fuck, I can’t… Theron, what the fuck?”
His friend grinned down at him as Numa moaned again and pressed her chest flat against Bekim’s, burying her face against his neck.
“Going for broke, man. I aim to take her with us when we come. I want another taste of her power, because I fucking swear I felt roots ready to grow under me that time.”
“Bullshit,” Bekim said, but grabbed both Numa’s hips and picked up his tempo to match Theron’s.
Numa bit into his shoulder, her fingers sliding up his scalp and pulling at his hair as she let out a sweet little mewl. His partner’s cock was a hot, hard piston sliding against his as they rammed into her in tandem.
He and Theron had serviced dozens of ursa females through their estrous since they’d become an official bachelor pair more than a decade ago. Never had the experience been as transformative as this. Numa’s skin heated beneath his hands and her entire body seemed to vibrate with a strange subliminal hum that he didn’t feel so much as experience from the inside out. It was as though their very souls were vibrating at the same frequency. Theron bent lower over her back, sliding his hands up her sides and clamping them around her shoulders. Bekim recognized the wild abandon in his lover’s eyes, the heavy breaths and lowered lids and flushed cheeks above his dark beard that signaled his imminent demise.
“Gaia save me, I fucking love you,” Theron blurted just as the hard length of him surged alongside Bekim’s cock, signaling his end. Bekim’s eyes widened at the outburst, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it. Numa’s core tightened around their cocks, her teeth released his shoulder, and she arched her back as she cried out her pleasure. The vibrating magic that had danced beneath her skin flooded into him, lighting his entire body up as though he’d been asleep and was only now waking. His orgasm tore through him like wildfire, drawn out with the squeezing pull of her tight sheathe and Theron’s cock still pulsing as he released his pent-up climax.
Theron leaned back, looking dazed, his big hands resting lightly on either side of Numa’s full, round ass. Numa’s face was buried in Bekim’s shoulder again and he raised his eyebrows at his partner, mouthing the word “Love?” and pointing his thumb at Numa’s back.
Theron gave him a helpless look and a half-shrug. He moved to pull away and Numa’s muscles clamped down on them both, eliciting from them a pair of startled gasps.
“Don’t go,” she said, turning her head to reveal her beautiful flushed face and wet eyes.
Theron patted her gently on the rump. “Not going anywhere but that bed right there beside you, honey. I need to be horizontal for about the next year after that.”
Bekim frowned at Numa’s green eyes looking up at him. Her eyelids fluttered, her gaze darting away. He hadn’t known her long, but in the two months since he and Theron had met her, she’d always seemed every bit the self-possessed immortal, just like all the ursa Shamans. More so, in fact. He’d even go so far as to describe her as regal, owing to her color. Gaia’s color was green, after all, and he knew that dragon queens were also green. Numa might only be one of the six dragons who ruled the ursa’s sister race, but something about her had always elevated her above her five siblings in his eyes.
Not even her red brother had stirred up his need so acutely, and he and Theron both agreed that Gavra had to but say the word and they’d have both happily bowed to his will. Even though their greatest desire was to be chosen by a strong and fertile ursa female, dragons like these weren’t likely to cross their paths again.
Numa’s sweet kisses, soft curves, and delicious magic put her brother to shame.
She remained flat atop Bekim’s chest, his cock still half-hard inside her. Theron flopped down onto the pillows beside them and turned onto his side, sliding his hand down her back, then up in a deliberate caress. It was as though he meant to comfort her, despite the fact that he couldn’t have seen the haunted look and the wet lashes Bekim had caught a glimpse of before she pressed her face back against his neck.
He closed his eyes, simply enjoying her warm weight atop him, idly stroking his fingertips up and down her spine with one hand while he sought out Theron with his other. His partner’s fingers twined with his amid the bedsheets and squeezed, the touch a signal that they were of one mind when it came to this woman.
“We can’t keep meeting like this,” Numa said, hoisting herself off Bekim as though her limbs weighed heavy and she’d love nothing more than to stay where she was. Bekim resisted the urge to wrap his arms around her and pull her back down, but his training made him resist. Ursa males took their lead from their females. If she didn’t articulate explicit desire for contact, they didn’t act, but Gaia help him, she looked like she needed to be held a lot longer than that.
“I have no complaints,” Theron said.
“No…” Numa shook her head and slid off of Bekim, retreating to the end of the bed. “It wasn’t fair of me to barge into your room like some entitled princess demanding you fuck me.”
“We’ve all had a shitty day,” Bekim said. “I think we earned an epic screw after pulling off the impossible.”
Numa exhaled a cloud of green smoke that gathered around her as she slipped off the bed and stood, looking down at them. “But we didn’t pull it off yet. All we did is confirm what we need to do and how to do it. We still have to actually get it done. We still have to find enough power to open a sky portal in the barrier so Nikhil’s army can join the war.”
“We’re ready and willing to do our part. Just say the word,” Bekim said. He sat up all the way and scooted to the end of the bed, looking up at her. The green smoke became a solid, sheer wrap that covered her from her breasts to her ankles. The gown was still translucent enough to reveal the lush curves beneath, and the dark pink of her erect nipples showed through. He itched to touch her again, but wouldn’t unless she asked.
She gave him a pained look while the smoke tendrils filtered through the messy strands of chestnut hair that fell around her shoulders, untangling and rearranging them into a tidy bun at the back of her head. “It’s more complicated than that. You two have been more than accommodating of my needs. But I can’t ask you to commit to this with me.”
“Why the hell not? We’re here, and I don’t see that you have a whole hell of a lot of options,” Theron said, hopping off the bed and standing beside it with his arms crossed.
“No, but you do. Or you will, once this is over and things are back to normal. You two don’t need me getting between you and your chance at a normal life with a normal ursa female.”
Bekim glanced at Theron, who just gaped at her, speechless. Had she even heard what he’d said?
“I heard your declaration,” she said to Theron as if she’d read their minds. “Bekim’s a very lucky man. I’d only get in the way of that. I’m already getting in the way of that. Please don’t feel obligated to join this ritual with me.”
“We’re not the ones, are we?” Bekim asked.
Numa stared at him for a beat, her expression guarded as though she was trying to decide how much to say.
Theron picked up the thread of Bekim’s question. “Gavra said you all had dreams of your mates. That’s why he never shared our bed … he only tagged along on our assignations to take advantage of the excess fertile magic. I take it you didn’t dream of us, and you don’t want to commit us to the ritual if we’re not supposed to be yours. How close am I to the truth?”
Her haunted look returned, and she shook her head and turned away. “Close enough,” she said, striding to the door.
“Let us help anyway,” Bekim called after her. “We can help you find him, or them, or whoever it is, if you give us a clue.”
Her shoulders stiffened when she reached the door, and she stood with clenched fists for a second before turning, a stricken look on her face.
“That’s the problem. I don’t have a damn clue myself. I wasn’t blessed with dreams the way my brothers and sisters were. It could be anyone. Or no one.”
“But it has to be someone … doesn’t it?” Theron asked. “Fate’s got to have some idea. You wouldn’t be fucking stuck in this situation without some way out.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Fate just doesn’t care. I’m the unremarkable daughter … the one who follows the rules, who keeps a level head. I’ve never sought out attention—never wanted it, really. I did my duty as a goddess from afar for the humans who worshiped me before we were forced to protect ourselves with barriers, portals, and hibernation temples. Maybe I did something wrong and Fate just … forgot.”
“Maybe that means you get to choose,” Bekim offered.
Numa gave him a sad look. “If that’s true … if the decision really is mine to make, then I have to consider what’s required of the ritual. Love has nothing to do with it. I need a mate with enough power to open a sky portal in the Sanctuary’s barrier. I’ve spent several wonderful afternoons with the two of you. You have more than enough to keep any dragon satisfied for ages. But nothing short of divine power will be enough for me, I’m afraid … or at least something close.” She speared them both with looks that drove straight to Bekim’s heart. “I love you too, but that just isn’t enough.”
The door shut soundly behind her and Bekim let his head drop forward. He inhaled sharply, gritting his teeth against the agonized yell threatening to burst from him. Theron closed the distance and squeezed his shoulder.
“Her hands are tied. If we want her to open that portal, we have to trust her to know how it needs to be done.”
Bekim just shook his head and stared blindly at his lover’s feet. After a moment, he narrowed his eyes, finally focusing and for the first time seeing something that made no logical sense.
“Theron … since when did you start sprouting leaves from your ankles?” He bent down, worried he might be hallucinating, perhaps still high on green dragon magic. His fingertip came into contact with the edge of a pale green leaf that gave slightly under his touch, the little limb it sprouted from solidly attached to Theron’s left ankle.
The foot in front of him tilted and turned.
“Holy shit.” Theron dropped to the floor, propping his foot up on his knee. He stared at the little sprout that gradually faded and sank back into his foot.
Bekim gave him a sad look. “I guess this means you might have a chance with her after all. If you have Gaia’s blessing, you might have enough power to satisfy her requirements for the ritual.”
“Dude, you’d better lose that fucking grim expression. We have a chance with her now. I might have had a dinky little leaf, but you’ve got a little more going on than that.”
He gestured to the floor at Bekim’s feet. Bekim looked down, and it took a moment before the image before him finally registered. It was as though the veins beneath his skin were filled with sunlight, and each one flowed up as far as his ankles, feeding a ring of blossoms that opened up before his eyes. The centers of the blossoms all glowed a vivid green and the aroma of jasmine filled the air.
“Gaia’s gift,” Bekim whispered. “But we know there’s a price … there always is. You remember what happened to Silas.”
“And Vrishti helped him find a way around that. But Sathmika unlocked that gift for him. How the hell did we get it?”
The early morning light warmed and grew dense with humidity. Both men tensed at the abrupt change and met each other’s eyes. Brilliant green light flashed beside them and they both stood, but Bekim found himself immobilized. When he glanced down at his feet, he saw they were rooted to the floor—quite literally—with dark, woody tendrils twisting into the planks.
The light in front of them coalesced into a blindingly beautiful female shape. She was naked, but seemed to be clothed in the long, curling tendrils of her own hair that flowed around her curvaceous body like thick vines. Flowers sprouted from the locks, beginning with a crown of them encircling her head.
Bekim’s eyes bulged and he nearly choked on his surprise.
“G-Gaia?” Theron stuttered.
The woman gave him a warm, maternal smile. “Yes, my child. You are correct that there is a price for my gift, but I imagine this is one you would not hesitate to pay.”
“What is it?” Bekim asked, finally finding his voice.
“There is to be a contest. A sort of wager between the gods. I have chosen the pair of you as my proxies. Win this wager for me, and you can keep your gift.”
He narrowed his eyes. Neither he nor Theron had ever been gambling men, but perhaps that was why they had yet to find a female willing to mate them. “What are the stakes of this wager?”
“The stakes are the same as the prize. Win the dragon Numa’s love. Secure yourselves as her mates, and my gift is yours to keep as well.”
With that, she disappeared in a cloud of green-gold mist, leaving behind the scent of fresh summer blooms.
Bekim swallowed. “Well, all right then. I don’t suppose we have a choice in this, do we?”
“Why would we ever say no to this?” Theron asked. “We have a chance now. A really fucking stellar chance, considering we already know how she feels about us and there aren’t exactly any other blokes beating down her door. Tell me you feel the same way I do.”
“Yeah… you know I do. I love her too, but I can’t help but feel like there’s a catch.”
“Mates, man. We’ll be her mates if we do this. Does anything else even fucking matter?”
Theron had a point, and if this was a chance for them to drive away Numa’s sad looks, whatever catch would no doubt be worth it.