Page 56 of The Wrath of Ashes
All at once they cried out,Rejoice.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Asha
Asha paced the bedchambers he’d only recently co-opted. They’d been Rath’s chambers until something in his mind clicked and they’d becometheirs. There were plenty worse things a bedroom could have been. Thetheirspart was the problem, though. He yearned for Rath, craved him and couldn’t think of a thing he wanted more.
Lyss had been a nightmare, goading him with the prospect of cock in places. He’d beaten her senseless with a throw pillow on more than one occasion as they lounged about. Jeron and Nadi had included themselves, all joining in the group effort of desensitizing him to the prospect. In its own way, it helped.
So, when Pryd had to go out and run some errands to prepare things and Kensing made himself comfortable—the real party started.
From out of nowhere, the male produced a glass vial of pills, several kinds of herbs rolled into hard, brown spherical pellets, labeled only with three dark and foreboding Xs. Asha stared at it. “Is this poison?”
“To the wrong person, probably? If I were to take this, I’d have to trust Pryd to keep me hydrated.” Jeron rolled the bottle in his hands.
“Did you?” Jeron raised a brow.
“Trust him?” Kensing stared at the bottle. It wasn’t full, but Asha wasn’t certain if it was by design or he’d taken some.
“Yeah.” Asha stared at the bottle, not wanting to analyze the somewhat private expression Kensing wore. It was filled with uncertainty, shame, and a little longing.
“I trust him. He may be a little silly at times, but he cares.” Kensing rolled the bottle in his palm before handing it to Asha. “Take four of them.”
“Four?” Jeron’s eyes flew wide open.
“If he were human, I’d be preparing his funeral. He’s a dragon, though.” Kensing gestured at Asha from head to tail.
“What does it do, exactly?” Lyss, asking the real questions, raised a brow.
“For us, it just makes us slavering messes. For you, it’ll make you slick and ache for it. You’ll want for nothing less. Your dragon will purr and it will very likely increase the chances of you conceiving,” Nadi said. “I wouldn’t take it lightly.”
Asha stared at the bottle. “I swallow them?”
“I don’t think that’s how one makes a babe, but you can try.” Lyss picked at her teeth and earned a glare from Nadi.
Asha snorted, and Kensing gave Jeron a knowing glance. Graduates of the samefinishing schoolas it were, they understood much of dragon biology. And apparently, from the herbal nature of those pills,botany.
While the rest of them bickered about the effects of the pills, Asha fumbled the bottle and dumped the tablets in his palm. His warm tea sat beside him as he contemplated. “On the one hand, I’m not sure if I’m ready for the wholeeggthing. On the other? I need something to make me brave enough to do this. If it means I can finally be with him…”
“Maybe you shouldn’t do it just ye—” Jeron reached a hand out just as Asha downed the four pills, chasing them with the hot tea. “Well… Um…”
Nadi and Kensing blinked in surprise and glanced at one another before she spoke. “That should make things much easier.”
“Easy isn’t half of it. I want to be comfortable with it.” Asha chased the pills with more tea and sighed. “But I will be soon.”
“You’ll be something, soon.” Jeron coughed as Kensing stared. Either from shame or anxiety, or maybe even the pills, blood flushed into Asha’s cheeks, burning like the very fire he’d breathe.
“Ready to finally take your place at his side?” Nadi stood and extended her hand to Lyss, a sign they should all proceed. The two made a strange couple, but it felt right. Asha never knew a woman could love a woman that way—the lack of penis and all that—but the details of which were something Asha was far too smart to ask Lyss about for fear of getting a play-by-play.
“So, who should I aim for when I throw the bouquet?” Asha grinned and Nadi looked away, cheeks pinkening. There’d be no bouquet, as it was not a part of dragon ceremonies.
Kensing’s lips twisted as he worked to stifle a fleeting expression away. “Aim for me. I’m ready to find my forever.”
And Asha hoped he did.
***
It was a blur from the moment Rath approached him, their eyes locking. His heart overflowed and the shame of what they were about to do faded away.
