Page 66 of The Wrath of Ashes
“He’s resting and taking his leisure until I birth. He needs to prepare, too, you know.” Asha huffed an amused sigh and earned a fierce kiss.
Rath grumbled, muttering something about Jeron needing to be at his side for every waking moment, cuddled Asha into the nest to surround Asha in his great grip. “Now you can either sleep and be a good little mate in our nest where you’re safe, or I can make you stay.”
“I think the latter is more appealing.” Asha laughed, earning a flurry of movement, hands pawing at his body until his flowing shirt and pants were tossed unceremoniously from their nest.
Rath’s wandering hands caressed his sides, fawned over the swell of his belly, and inevitably ended up at his groin with a firm grip, teasing his soft cock to aching hardness. “If you leave the nest, I can’t bring you off endlessly.”
Asha shuddered at the threat. Pleasure, slow and delicious, built in his groin, nestled safely at the base of his spine where it would grow and rise. His lips stung, a bare realization he was biting them. He’d gone from innocent virgin to slavering letch in only months at his mate’s touch. And soon, there’d be irrefutable proof that Asha was meant to be a child of flowers. He was meant to love men—for who could deny the love and union of two who created life?
As if reminded of their existence, Asha’s belly shuddered, a muscle spasming deep inside that made him tense and ease under Rath’s touch. He didn’t seem to notice, though.
Rath didn’t try to fuck him, only pleasured, stroking him with tight squeezes and a roaming thumb, massaging leaking fluid expertly into his glans. “You’re lying to me.”
Asha’s heart flipped in his chest, his pleasure faltering. “No. About?”
“Jeron isn’t sent away to rest, is he?” Rath continued stroking. “You’re getting territorial.”
Asha’s thighs trembled, scales rippling as his body urged himself more toward his draconic form. “M-maybe.”
“There is no maybe. There onlyis.” Rath chuckled and leaned in, nipping at Asha’s ear. “The closer our clutch comes—the closer you are to chasing others off. Imagine how I felt when Ghreiden had his hands all over you.”
Asha struggled in Rath’s grip, his insides clenching while his cock shot hard as steel. “Only you. I worship you. Please. No others.”
“Good boy.” Rath nipped Asha’s ear again and quickened his strokes before growling over his ear. “I’ll protect you. I’ll guard you and keep our clutch safe. You and I alone.”
Asha gasped softly and squirmed. “Make me come.”
Rath snarled and squeezed, grinding against Asha’s ass with gentle threat. Not three months before, that cock had buried itself deep in Asha, planted its seed. It’d touch him no more until their eggs were laid, but the reassurance of his own interest made Asha cry out, his moan a sob of pleasure.
Hot streaks of cum shot through Asha’s cock, coating Rath’s fingers. Something about the scent of his pleasure coating Rath made things right. Territory marked, so to speak.
In the throes of release, Asha closed his eyes, breath heavy—body heavier. Sleep took him, and in the warmth of Rath’s embrace, a soft swear petered out over his lips.
“Fuck. Sleep while you can, my love.”
Asha intended to do just that.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Rath
There Asha lay in his nest, naked and curled in warm blankets. The scent of his arousal faded, evidence of their little tryst still thick in the air—and on a few blankets that Rath made a point of removing.
The streak of blood-tinged fluid that stained Rath’s pants told him all he really needed to know. The moon was close and Asha would lay.
It wouldn’t be a quick thing—not for a first laying, anyway. Pryd, the youngest of them, had been born within an hour of his mother feeling the twinge of quickening. Asha would struggle with it, for certain, but future layings would be easier.
Rath rose from the nest and retrieved a cloth, wetting it in their bathing area before bringing it back. If he was gentle and slow enough, he’d be lucky not to wake Asha.
With slow strokes, he tended his mate, scented soap doing its best to cover what they’d been up to—a courtesy for Graylan—as he was sure to be there, soon. Asha barely stirred and yawned, rolling onto his back in a generous sprawl. He truly was a beautiful creature, all creamy ivory skin, his scales powdered and rainbow sheened. His tail curled, the blankets sliding around to pull away from his spent and plump cock. If it weren’t such an important moment for Asha’s well-being, Rath would be on his knees licking his mate to ecstasy again. “Mmm, Rath?”
“Shh, rest.” Rath scrounged around to find a pair of clean linen pants and strode into the hall, making his way toward Ghreid’s hall, his vision taking in the darkness as if light were never needed.
By the time he got to Ghreid’s hall, he didn’t have to knock before the heavy door swung open and curious eyes met his. “Graylan?”
Rath nodded. His scales bristled, but he kept himself tamed. Graylan was skilled enough at his craft and had been born with a very calming scent—enough that Rath never felt threatened by the male being around Asha.
“Fly out to get him, please?” Rath offered Ghreid a half smile but earned a snicker instead of compliance.
