Show him what, exactly? I form the thought before I roll us over and straddle him. He grabs my hips. I move over him slowly, the link from the Blood Magick ritual spurring me on. The most powerful of spells, amped up by our Dragon and Demon lineage, performed correctly with good intent has invariably bound us together forever. Not just in the way that Lance had his Romani perform it, full of malice and bad intentions. This is more. More than just if one of us dies, the other will too. It is if one of us dies, the other won’t be able to live, won’t want to carry on living without the other. We are two perfect halves, needing the other to be whole.
“Oh, Liv,” he groans as I speed up my movements, needing another release.
My mind sharpens and my focus becomes clearer. I grab him by the throat and pull him up to me. He stares into my eyes in rapture as I see mine reflected back as my Dragon eyes, only red, not green. I feel my hair getting longer as it falls into my eyes like a heavy black curtain. It tickles me down my back and my Dragon flutters in delight, the motion of Her wings causing my hair to fly up in the sudden wind.
I hiss at him in a husky, sexy voice, “I am Xerxei of the House of Dracul. I am Mistress of this Domain. I claim you as my own.”
He groans as I kiss him, his hands coming up to pull roughly on my hair. “I accept your claim on me and I choose you,” he murmurs. I feel myself Shift back to Liv, as I throb around him again and he spurts inside me, mingling our cum together. I have the presence of mind, probably just a fraction too late, to quickly chant the curse in my head, sounding it out like he said. Who knows if it is accurate, but this is going to be bad enough to explain without me being overwhelmed with a batch of baby Dragons and-or Demons. Oh, fuck, Linc, I think with horror. What if? No, I tell myself, it can’t be possible. My body just isn’t going to change to suddenly be able to reproduce. It’s ridiculous.
We fall back to the bed in a heap, breathing heavily.
“Xerxei of the House of Dracul, eh?” he asks in half-wonder, half-amusement. “My father will be pleased.”
I push the hair out of my eyes, somewhat embarrassed, as I have no idea where that came from. “Why?”
“He always wanted a daughter named after him. My mother would never let him. It’s clear why now. It wasn’t meant to be, as she was saving it for you.”
“Daughter?” I ask, a bit worried.
“Well, not a daughter by blood, but by other means,” he says with a wicked glint and I remember what he said: “I choose you.”
“Oh, Xane. No. No. This is…”
“Don’t say a mistake,” he interrupts me quietly. “It isn’t. We belong together.”
“I belong to others,” I say, shaking my head. Get in line indeed, I think without a hint of modesty.
“For now,” he says.
I climb off him and get dressed, slipping my shoes on, when there is a knock at the door. Xanthe opens it without waiting for an answer and I thank the old gods that I am fully clothed now and not naked and straddling her son. He, however, is still naked on the very rumpled bed and I’m sure my hair is a tangled mess.
“Mother,” he snaps, pulling the covers over him. “Wait until you are bid,” he adds with authority, which has me raising my brows at him as his mother inclines her head in apology. Well, I suppose he is Overlord. Even a mother has to respect that.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty,” she says to me. “I don’t mean to intrude, but there is an unexpected guest and I wondered to the cause.” She looks between me and Xane and the messy bed and adds, “I see now why.” She tries to hide her pleased look but doesn’t succeed very well.
“Who is here?” Xane snaps at her.
She crosses to the windows and pulls the half-drawn curtains open. The windowpanes on e
ither side of the stained glass are clear and I can see out for the first time. The sky is the same orange as the Dragon Realms with rumbling black clouds overhead. I move closer, curious about the mystery guest. Xane, now also dressed, stands behind me and I turn to him. Oh, crap. We glance at each other. This is going from bad to worse.
“Tiamat,” Xane breathes and I heave a big sigh.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FORTY
We make haste down the stairs. Xane pulls open the heavy wooden door, while I adjust my clothing, straightening the cuffs of my jacket as I have seen Constantine do a thousand times when he is uncomfortable, and smoothing down the legs of my pants. I fluff out my hair and I think briefly if I should change but Xane hurries me outside with a hand under my elbow. He leads me through a very strange garden of black bushes the likes I have never seen before, but then I suppose I wouldn’t have, really. We go through a black rose garden, very pretty, and into an area that is enclosed by a small wall but is still big enough for a Dragon to land.
And She does. Swooping down in front of us, nearly knocking us back with the force of Her wing beat. She lumbers forward and drops Her head to glare at us standing there, Xane’s hand still on my elbow. He lets me go. She huffs gently and transforms into me, right down to my rings and the Hellfire necklace. I don’t know why She does this, but the last two times I have seen Her in human form, She has adopted the exact same look as me. Maybe to intimidate me, as it is very unnerving. She smooths down Her suit, much like I did, and adjusts Her jacket. She stands in front of us with far more poise and grace than I claim to have, and Her authority is clear. Empress of the Dragon Realms and Underworld. As close to a god as you can get.
“ValamAtrux,” She says.
I incline my head. “Mother,” I say. She insists I call Her that.
“Xane,” She glowers at him.
“Tiamat,” he bows low and She nods at him. “It’s good to see you again,” he says with a charming smile. She smiles slowly, seductively almost, as She replies, “And you.” She looks between the two of us. We shuffle uncomfortably under Her steely gaze.
“I am pleased that you have made acquaintance, finally,” She says, the last word clearly a reprimand at me. “But I am not altogether certain this is the best course of action,” She says and points to us both.