Chapter Thirty-Eight

The Turul were an odd race, happily living in an elaborate enclave near the peak of the mountain, like a troop of mountain climbers close to reaching the summit but deciding to just stay put a day’s hike shy.

The camp itself was set up in a huge clearing around a small lake. The only permanent structure in the area was what appeared to be an ancient, rambling, multi-story stone lodge, built into the slope of the hillside so long ago it appeared to be part of the mountain itself. Most of the members of the Enclave lived in tents in small family units scattered around the edge of the lake and used the lodge itself as a community center of sorts—taking occasional meals there, having daily meetings, and finding their entertainment when they congregated.

Melody felt like she’d walked into an anachronism. Anya and Viki were there, and no different than before. There were still plenty of signs of the modern world within the lodge itself—enough to remind her that the modern world still existed—including a heavy-duty generator and a satellite uplink, but electricity was only used for food preservation and only the highest ranking members took advantage of the satellite. She learned that the majority of their race lived among the humans, but they had a rotating schedule of members who stayed on-site to help govern and maintain their refuge during the seasons when they were here. For the winter months, all but a skeleton crew would fly or drive to a similar enclave near the Equator.

Spending time with them was refreshing. Melody’s mother was every bit in her element among them. Everyone collectively worked toward the entire group’s sustenance or entertainment, and the camp’s upkeep, depending on what was required at any given moment.

Garen and Skye were treated like kings, and she a queen. Even more so when the Turul learned the three of them were a mated trio and that Melody was pregnant. They were given a huge, comfortable apartment in one wing of the lodge, and catered to like honored guests until the three of them insisted on being given some kind of task in exchange for their sanctuary.

After the hike to the camp, the three of them were exhausted and fell asleep without even paying attention to where they lay. All Melody cared about was waking up with them both, their warm, naked bodies flanking hers, hands roaming languidly and lips pressing with rough urgency against her skin. She didn’t have time to worry about how Alec fared, in the midst of all the attention.

The unwavering need for her mates never ceased, only sinking to a slow burn in between. It was a week before she began to recognize the difference between her own need and the hunger of the tiny life growing inside her. The realization happened suddenly in an afternoon when she was helping Anya harvest apples from a nearby grove. Garen wandered by, stopping for a second to kiss her before moving on. The kiss was nothing notable in itself—he’d done the same thing countless times—but this time the sudden ache in her core was so pronounced it couldn’t have risen from her desire for him. Not that swiftly.

Anya gave her a quizzical look. “Need a break?” she asked.

“I need something …” Melody said, shaking her head at the ground. The craving hit her hard and fast. So hard she doubled over and nearly retched.

Anya’s hand rubbed at the center of her back. “Dragon babies are greedy little things. Don’t ignore it if it’s asking for something.”

The words struck home, and for the next few moments she moved in a daze, so hyperfocused on what she needed—what her baby needed—she was oblivious to where she was or who was watching when she found Garen.

She snagged the collar of his shirt and pulled him down into a kiss, his eyes wide with surprise. He may have been mid-sentence in a conversation with a Turul friend he’d made. She may not have given a shit when the friend let out a laugh and backed away while Melody insinuated herself between them.

Garen didn’t object, or push her away. He only pulled back slightly with a smile down at her. “We taking our time now, or going for broke?”

“I don’t care. Call Skye. I need you.”

The expression on his face transformed, and with it every feature shifted from sweet, lovable, gentle Garen to hungry, passionate, magnificent dragon Guardian. He didn’t even try to hold back the subtle transformation of his features that only seemed to happen when he was abandoning himself to his need for her.

He lifted her effortlessly and she wrapped her arms and legs around him, hips grinding reflexively, her need a steady, throbbing ache between her legs. His eyes shifted as he carried her, as though he were suddenly conscious of something outside their little bubble. Melody knew what it was, and loved that he called silently to Skye every time they had one of these trysts. Skye did the same thing, so there were very few moments where she was solely alone with one or the other.

Skye appeared when they reached their rooms, as though he’d only been a few steps away, and held the door open. He followed Garen in and closed the door behind them. Wordlessly the pair undressed first her, and then themselves. Their actions had a businesslike quality to them, but their body language spoke pure heat and lust, as did the subtle transformations she’d grown to love.

Garen pressed his fingers hard between her thighs while his tongue plunged into her mouth, taking her measure from both ends. Both ends needed a little more than he gave, but he paused, looking at her to gauge exactly what it was she might crave today.

All Melody knew was that she needed true affirmation of what they were and what the child she carried was. It was as though the tiny being growing in her womb was seeking validation of its true nature.

“Outside,” Melody said, grabbing their hands and urging them out the doors that opened onto a stone patio and a spacious, landscaped yard that overlooked the expanse of the autumn-tinged mountains and valleys beyond.

“Why here?” Skye asked, looking perplexed. His horned head turned back to look at the big, comfortable bed they’d left behind.

“I need true dragons today,” Melody said.

Skye raised an eyebrow, his eyes dropping to her abdomen. There wasn’t much to see yet—her stomach was still it’s usual semi-rounded bulge that she’d always wished was flatter. Except for once, she was finally looking forward to having a bigger stomach. There was no mistaking the presence that existed inside her now. It would transform her over the next few months into something entirely different. But what that presence wanted most at the moment was to absorb the energy its fathers had to give in their true forms.

Melody had no sense of the baby other than the subtle cravings it gave her. It wasn’t a coherent thought, but more of an instinct that suggested it knew she was not like it, and it sought comfort from more of its own kind.

Garen wasted no time shifting, and she watched in delight as he moved around the yard, pale tongue flicking out and broad, magnificent wings flexing. She had to restrain a laugh at how he pranced like a proud cock showing off for a hen. Skye made a huffing noise on the other side of her and the air contracted and then expanded, puffing through her hair as he changed shape, his beautiful, naked body shimmering for a second before morphing into a brilliant blue dragon, slightly smaller than Garen, but no less glorious.

She’d already seen Garen’s form once, when they took the flight across the valley to reach this peak, but she’d never seen Skye’s before—only the small hints of it from his scales and horns that, since she’d been marked, were ever-present when they made love.

They watched her, both sitting back on their haunches, long tails still aside from the very tips, which twitched impatiently.

But the truth was, she had no clue where to start. Both of them sported huge erections. Large, but not so large she couldn’t imagine what to do with one.

As though sensing her indecision, Skye slouched down onto his forelegs and slid around her, serpent-like, letting his hot breath brush over her skin, the tip of his tongue barely reaching her with each flick, his wings folded against his sides with their tips dragging along the grass.

“You don’t know what to do with us now, do you?” he asked, his tone playful and deeply resonant. “The child wants our power, which means you have to draw it from us. You’re a creative girl, Melody.” He made a half circuit around her and paused, his snout gently nudging the back of her shoulder, tongue tickling the side of her neck and making her skin tingle.

She looked at Garen, hoping he’d offer some idea, but all he did was reach out and hook a huge claw around her hip, drawing her closer to him. For all their razor sharp edges, he was exceedingly careful, and the touch was the sweetest caress because she sensed how easily he could tear her to shreds if he tried. She shuddered under his touch at the understanding, eyelids closing when he bent and flicked his tongue out over her bare breasts.

He tugged her a little closer, until she found herself between his huge thighs, the molten heat of his arousal mere inches from her skin.

“The trick is to want it enough,” he said in her ear, though his voice vibrated through her entire body. “Your enjoyment is all I need beyond your touch.”

With a sigh, she sank into him, pressing her hands against his chest and lifting her face to kiss him, only he couldn’t kiss her now. Instead, he exhaled a gust of pure white breath.

“No, don’t do that,” she said, alarmed. She didn’t want to fall asleep.

“My breath has multiple qualities. This time, it’s simply to relax you.”

And it did. After a second, her tension eased, replaced by sweet euphoria and longing for him, and she could focus on what she wanted. She reached out and gripped his long, thick shaft with both hands and stroked. He shuddered under her touch, his wings extending and fluttering like luminous white sails on either side of him.

A warm breath hit her back and she glanced over her shoulder to see Skye avidly watching. “Climb on and ride,” he said, as though the cock she held in her hand were some kind of carnival feature. But she did want to feel him.

Christ, she wanted him. It may have been the need of the life inside her that propelled her, but she was sure at least half of it was her own desire. With Garen’s large talons to guide her she climbed up, found purchase on his huge thighs, and pressed her body against his chest.

The tip of his cock twitched, the entire shaft brushing of its own accord along the crease of her wet slit. It lodged itself at her pelvis and she shifted, her heart pounding.

She wrapped her arms around his scaled neck, reveling in the new feel of him, but in her mind’s eye he was still Garen. No matter which form he took, he was still gentle and solicitous. Even the tiny nudge of the talon that slipped between her thighs to spread her wider was enough to let her know he was no different now than he had been every other day since she’d met him.

With that tiny shift, his cock spread her open and she slid down its thick length, a harsh moan escaping her lips at the heavy fullness of him stretching her even more than the pair of them together had the first time she’d taken them both at once.

The giant shape that held her trembled, his magnificent horned head bobbing slightly. He wanted to be deeper, so she repositioned her legs, feet planted solidly on his thighs, and pressed down harder, every new inch of depth sending her pulse racing harder.

When she tried to take him deeper, his taloned claw gripped her hip and stilled her.

“Just move.”

So she did. She gripped his shoulders for leverage, kept her feet on his thighs and moved. The first stroke was heaven, and every one after that exponentially better. His own large hips shifted up to meet her strokes.

On the third, a new sensation was added to the mix and she looked down to see a long blue tongue lashing out, wrapping itself around the base of Garen’s cock and stroking the part that Melody couldn’t accommodate.

A moment later Garen shuddered, his movements becoming erratic. Skye’s tongue became more determined, teasing at them both in succession.

And for all the control she attempted to assert, it felt way too good for her, too. She tried to hold it back, but his cock was rubbing too perfectly at the sensitive inside of her channel, and Skye’s tongue teased at her from behind.

None of it mattered when Garen convulsed, his wings extending wide as his hips shot up into her. She squealed at the invasion but it only served to make her own climax more intense.

His energy shot into her with a hard burn at first. Her back arched and the first thing that went through her mind was how fucking ~pure~ it was when he wasn’t hiding behind his human shape. There were no barriers here, least of all his hesitance to truly love her.

She felt all of it in that second, the heat and driving need of Garen’s love, the wish for the moment to never end, and the longing to share the same moment with Skye.

Garen didn’t give her the chance to worry about the last part. He pulled his thick cock out and she was bodily turned the other direction before she could object.

She spread her legs, ready for her other lover, and he didn’t hesitate. His cock penetrated her with a slow stroke, his big, dragon visage peering down at her with eyes too large and too human, but perfectly proportioned in a face graced with its heavy, jewel-colored brows and long snout. The tickle of his tongue was a caress at her neck and breasts, but all she could feel was his cock sliding into her, fucking her. And all she wanted was to feel him come. To feel that rush of energy when he did and have it twine with the tendrils of Garen’s energy that flowed through her now, settling deep in her womb.

Tomorrow, she would make it up to them. Because she truly did love to see their faces when she gave back. Now was not the time, though.

Now, she and their child needed everything.