Chapter 1
So that’s Harena.
Katryn tried to dredge up some excitement. It was her first visit to her home world, after all. Even if she hadn’t been there since she was a small child, she should feel some connection to it, shouldn’t she? But no. She had no desire to be here. Now that her ambassador father was dead, her family intended to marry her off as a member of some man’s harim. Would that make her his third wife or his fifth? She had no idea. She only knew his name was Lord Nadir. The rest was a complete mystery. What she knew about her own kind could fit onto the tip of her smallest finger, with room left to spare. Weredragons weren’t known to give away the secrets of their society, and Katryn hadn’t grown up among them, so she felt the keen lack of knowledge more now than ever before.
Gods. She’d traveled for six standard months just to get to this sunburnt rock in the back end of space. The thought didn’t please her. As low as her expectations were, the planet below was worse than she’d imagined. No blue of ocean broke the landscape of endless red sand. If it looked this bad from here, she wasn’t certain she wanted to get much closer. As if she had a choice now. She sighed and rested her head against the curved window of the observation lounge.
Katryn wrinkled her nose at her wavy reflection in the glass, noticing the thin layer of purple scaling that reached from the middle of her hands to her biceps. The barest touch against her scales could elicit an intense sexual reaction. Dragons were very proud of their markings, or so her father had once mentioned to her. It was one of the few things he’d ever told her about her race before he’d died. She only knew she was entirely different from the weretigers she’d grown up with on Vesperi.
She was concentrating on the window so hard she didn’t notice her best friend, Mahlia, walk up behind her until she spoke. “Look, Katryn! Isn’t it amazing?”
“Yes, Mahlia, that is exactly what I was thinking.” Katryn made a derisive noise in the back of her throat, but it erupted as a reptilian hiss. She’d spent too many Turns picking up the conversational habits of tigers.
Mahlia raised her eyebrows and lifted her baby, Crown Prince Razak, against her shoulder to pat his back. “Such enthusiasm. This is an important trade relationship to maintain between our planets…and in order to trade, we’re finally getting off this spaceship. Thank the Gods. Besides, it could be fun.”
“Says the happily mated woman with new twin cubs.” She smiled to take the bite out of her words. If anyone deserved the joy they’d found, it was Mahlia and Varad. The two weretiger monarchs had lost their first child to a rare genetic defect, and the agonizing loss had nearly dissolved their mating. Katryn longed for that kind of mating, a bond that could survive anything, no matter how tragic. But being raised among those unlike her, and returning to a planet where she knew nothing of the culture, she was unlikely to find that kind of acceptance, the sense of belonging she had always craved. Always apart. That was her fate. She sighed and leaned against the window.
“Now, now, Katryn, you just can’t judge a tiger by its stripes.” Katryn groaned as Mahlia fluffed her cream-and-bronze-striped hair. “And they are throwing us a welcoming party when we get to the landing site.”
“Yes, so the men can club us and drag us back to their sand pits.” Katryn arched an innocent brow.
“Well, I guess that makes us the cat’s meow.”
“Mah-lia, the cat jokes are so trite.”
“Here, kitty, kitty, kitty,” Mahlia singsonged.
Katryn laughed so hard she had to wrap her arms around her belly. Trust Mahlia to make this easier for her, to make her laugh about it. Her friend knew how upset she was about the arranged mating, about the lack of a single mate. Tigers might have many mates throughout their lives, but only one at a time. That she was now to be just another woman in a dragon’s harim made her stomach churn in disquiet. “Just wait until you see the dragon-skinned boys down there. Then we’ll see how funny it is.”
Mahlia straightened at the reference to ancient Earthans’ practice of gene-splicing humans with sea dragons to make shape-shifting dragons. Unlike the three other shape-shifting races—werebears, weretigers, and merpeople—weredragons were the only ones that had been created from a non-Earthan animal. The desert climate created by the binary suns of Harena called for a wereanimal that could withstand a harsh, drought-prone environment. When, for unknown reasons, gene-splicing with Earthan reptiles had failed to take, scientists had turned to the sea dragons found on the water world of Aquatilis, home planet of the merpeople. Mahlia tilted her head. “I’ve never been with a weredragon, only tigers. Are our hosts really scaled all over?”
“Not all over, but I’ll let you guess exactly which parts are.” Katryn leered, but she didn’t know the true answer. She’d never had sex with a dragon either. The only other weredragon on Vesperi had been her father. She shuddered. No, she’d definitely never been with another dragon.
Mahlia gasped, her eyes rounding with horrified fascination. The slitted cat’s pupils in her crystal-blue snow tiger eyes expanded. “Really? Down there?”
Katryn chortled, flicking imaginary dust specks off her purple scales. “You don’t want to play snake charmer, Amira?”
“It might be interesting to find out what that feels like. You shouldn’t limit yourself, Katryn.”
“Yes, and she’s the only one of you who might find that out.” A low growl sounded from the doorway. Varad padded in with his daughter cradled to his chest. He bent to press a gentle kiss on his mate’s lips. The twins reached for each other, patting their hands together and gurgling. The tiny girl, Princess Varana, had her father’s golden eyes and auburn-and-black-striped hair, whereas Razak had his mother’s paler snow tiger coloring. They were both the most beautiful babies Katryn had ever seen. She sighed, allowing herself a moment of pure, self-indulgent envy. She wished her future looked half as bright as Mahlia’s, but it did not. Her heart twisted. She’d never have love, never know the sweet, hot lust for a mate that she saw so often in her friend’s gaze. No, Katryn’s life would be the same one she’d always known, no matter which planet she lived on. She never belonged anywhere or to anyone.
Everything will change soon.
The telepathic voice of Nadir’s mate filled his head. A harsh, desperate edge colored Tarkesh’s tone. Nadir slipped his fingers over the band of silver scales that formed a rough crown on his mate’s forehead and then buried them in the other man’s long hair before he answered.
Then we must take advantage of the time we have now.
Tarkesh ran his hands down the wide, muscled planes of Nadir’s chest. His breath hissed out as Tarkesh’s fingers danced over the black scales that trailed down the centerline of his torso. His hips jerked forward at even the light contact. Nothing felt better than his mate’s hands on him.
“Don’t tease me, Tark. I’m in no mood for it.” His hand snapped out and caught the slimmer man around the waist to draw him forward. Their cocks stroked against each other, and they both groaned at the contact.
“Nor am I. I need…” Tarkesh chuckled at Nadir’s usual rough impatience, so Nadir scraped his nails down the silver scales on Tarkesh’s arm. A draconic shriek ripped from his throat. Goddess, but he loved that reaction in his mate.
“I know. Bend for me, my mate.”
A cheeky grin spread over Tarkesh’s sculpted features. Leaning sideways, he hooked a finger around a bottle of spiced oil from the bedside table. He handed it to Nadir. His dark eyes flashed with heat and anticipation. “I live to please you, my mate.”
“Now.” Nadir could tell his mate needed it rough and fast this night. No niceties, no subtlety, no playing. Just hard, deep fucking. The silver dragon wanted to forget the changes they faced as a mated pair. And he would give that to him. Gladly.
Nadir fisted his fingers in his mate’s long hair, jerking his head back to nip at his throat. He felt Tarkesh’s breath brush against his temple, felt his pulse pounding beneath his lips. Lust clenched in his gut. No more. He couldn’t wait. Using his free hand, he shoved Tarkesh backward onto the wide bed. Smooth, black saltwater silk sheets from Aquatilis felt slick under his knees as he climbed up. He flicked the cork from the blue glass bottle and poured oil into his palm.
“Open for me.” He didn’t wait and shoved his mate’s legs high and wide. Working his fingers against the tight hole of Tarkesh’s anus, he eased the oil into his mate’s ass. Tarkesh groaned, his hips arching off the bed. Ah, yes. This oil had spices designed to elevate passion, to burn. He wrapped his other hand around Tarkesh’s cock to slip up and down the long, hard shaft. Tarkesh swallowed audibly, his eyes pinching closed as he arched into Nadir’s stroking fingers. Nadir rubbed his thumb over the tiny opening at the crest, smearing the glistening drop of cum around the tip. He let a wicked smile curve his lips. You want this, don’t you, Tarkesh?
Tarkesh’s dark eyes flashed open, clashed with Nadir’s. They blazed with anger and uncertainty. Yes, fuck me now.
I’ll fuck you hard. I know how you like it. Nadir knew Tarkesh needed to forget, to be pushed past the worry that consumed him. That he would enjoy the pushing was an additional boon. He did what he must to please his mate. A harsh laugh rumbled his chest. A man’s duty was never done. He smiled and firmed his hold on Tarkesh’s thick cock. After I’ve made you come, I’ll slide my cock inside your ass and ride you hard. You love that, don’t you?
“Yes. Nadir.”
He watched a muscle tick in Tarkesh’s jaw and his breath choke out. A hiss erupted from the silver dragon’s throat. His eyes glazed, unfocused. His cock slid faster and faster through the tight grip of Nadir’s fingers. Tarkesh’s hips jerked, slamming upward as Nadir’s hands worked downward. Nadir smiled as he watched his mate’s face flush with hot lust, watched as orgasm dragged him under. He froze, and his pelvis lifted. As he came, his juices erupted over Nadir and the bed. “Nadir.”
Leaning forward, Nadir braced his hands on either side of his mate’s shoulders. Tarkesh wrapped his fingers over the back of his neck, pulling him down for a kiss. Their lips fused, and he thrust his tongue into Tarkesh’s mouth. He shuddered as his mate’s hands ran over his scales. Lust clouded his mind, his control ripping loose. He thrust his cock between Tarkesh’s legs. He didn’t pause—he needed more and needed it now. Dragging his mate’s legs up to wrap around his waist, he slid into the oiled pucker of his anus. Tarkesh groaned, lifting his hips into the thrust. Nadir worked the full length of his cock inside the other man, his strokes building in speed and force. His breath hissed out at the hot, tight fit of his mate closing around his dick.
Orgasm fisted in his gut, building higher, pushing him past the edge of his endurance. His heart slammed in his chest, his head bent back, and he roared out. His cum jetted inside his mate. “Tarkesh.”
Intense carnal feeling, twisting with hot emotion, banded his chest. Goddess, but he craved this man. More than his next breath. Nothing could compare to what he felt when Tarkesh was near. Slamming his eyes closed, Nadir let the feeling take him. Only with Tarkesh had he ever let go of the control he held onto so tightly. Only the silver dragon could match him for ferocity, for passion. Never would he let him go—he would do whatever it took to keep his mate.
Sliding from Tarkesh’s anus made them both groan at the drag of flesh on flesh. Nadir collapsed beside his mate, panting. He kissed the silver scales that trailed down the slimmer man’s shoulder, curving an arm around his waist. Tarkesh remained quiet, still, a sure sign that he was thinking deeply. Nadir sighed and shifted to settle against the pile of pillows, hugging Tarkesh to him. Long experience told him he would have no peace until his mate talked through whatever troubled him. “You are worried.”
“When will she be here?”
Ah. So that was the way of it. He blew out a breath and waited for the same discussion they’d had a hundred times before. “Soon. A few days. This upsets you?”
“Do you truly believe that adding her to our bond won’t change things between us?” Impatience rang from Tarkesh’s voice. It seemed as if they’d both had more than their share of this subject.
Nadir stroked his hand down the sensitive silver scales covering his mate’s spine, eliciting a small shudder. “We have no choice. You know this. Mating with her will cement our position in the matriarchies. We have to be a breeding partnership.”
“I know.” Tarkesh relaxed against him, sighing. “It is simply that…”
Nadir forced his voice to remain calm, soothing. “You fear change. A harim is not a bad change, Tarkesh. You don’t know that we won’t love her, and she, us.”
The saltwater silk rustled as Tarkesh flopped over with a low growl. “You don’t know that we will. She could make things difficult with us, with her foreign weretiger ways.”
“She is a dragon in the most powerful matriarchy on Harena, regardless of where she was raised. We agreed her lack of experience with dragons would only be for the good. Mating with her will benefit all our families and will give us the legitimacy that both of us desire.” Nadir shrugged as he stated what he saw as obvious.
Tarkesh sucked in a breath through his teeth. “I understand all this. Goddess knows we’ve discussed it a thousand times. That doesn’t change the situation.”
“I can’t give you any guarantees.” Frustration clawed at Nadir’s gut. This was the only option open to Harenan pairs of the same gender. Matings that could not produce the rare dragon child were compelled to take a third mate of the opposite sex, to form a harim. Most saw it as a convenient arrangement, but he knew Tarkesh wanted more than that from any mate.
“And I’m not asking for any.”
Nadir shrugged again, at a loss about how to make this better, easier for his mate. “What would you have me do?”
Tarkesh tensed beside him, and he heard him drag in a deep breath. “Allow me to meet her at the shuttle landing and accompany her to the capital myself. Alone.”
Nadir chuckled, propping his hands behind his head. This was a request he hadn’t anticipated. “Afraid I’ll scare her, Tark?”
Tarkesh propped himself up on an elbow to look down at him, his forehead furrowing with worry. A sudden, sly grin spread across his features, and he shoved his long hair out of his face. “No woman has been man enough to satisfy you before. I was the one who happily switched back and forth before mating with you.”
Nadir laughed outright at that, wrapping an arm around his own belly. He stroked his fingers down his short goatee to try to hide a grin. “It isn’t that women aren’t appealing. It’s simply that my tastes are too rough for most of them. Delicate little desert blossoms.”
And it was the truth. Women were attractive, arousing, but many shied away from his rougher tastes. He knew himself, his preferences. Only Tarkesh had ever matched him for his demanding pleasure.
“Don’t let a matriarch hear you say that.”
“I wouldn’t.” Nadir reached out to slide his fingers through his mate’s hair, cupping the back of his head. “Would it ease your fears to meet her before the binding ceremony?”
“Yes.” Tarkesh leaned into him.
“Then go, with my blessing.” He let a grin tug his lips up. “And be certain to test her skills at bed play. I wouldn’t want to terrify the blossom. Break her in gently.”
Tarkesh chuckled, his fingers wrapping around Nadir’s cock to stroke him back to full arousal. Nadir groaned through gritted teeth. Tark mused aloud, “Perhaps. For now, my mate, I have no desire for gentle.”
Nadir rolled Tarkesh onto his belly, pulling his hips up. He slid his hands down to cup his mate’s ass and parted the globes to rub the tip of his cock against the tight anus. “I live to please you. My mate.”