Prologue

In some worlds, unions and bonds are formed for a variety of reasons and some are worth it.

Dragons. An ancient species. Strong and powerful, magical and immortal, discover the love of their hearts and make a decision to form a unique bond. Such sacrifices their immortality and weakens their massive strength, but enhances something they cannot afford to lose for it is the weaker race that made them all they are through dreams and imagination.

Humans. A young species. Mortal and determined, filled with wonder and hope, defy death on a daily basis while they strive for a chance on the horizon. Millenniums led to a unique life shared by two species who find hope with each other.

Black dragons served as monarchs who ruled while opal dragons became part of a stationary figurine that served as the oracles who foretold. For centuries, the word passed between the monarchs and oracles of prophesy that the mating of black and opal meant several factors.

It was said female offspring would resemble the opal while male, the black. The first pairing, unwanted by either dragon, predicted the downfall of ancient ways. The second coupling, wanted by both humans, foretold of the rise of new beginnings. The third union, a bond of love and respect, in both forms, prophesied a final healing as the two greatest bloods united.

In the first pairing, the black dragon will sire and rear the children, but the opal is destined to become the oracle. In the second coupling, both dragons will die tragic deaths. There stand no predictions to the third union.

 Chapter One

Never did Leith foresee such an event possible in his lifetime, but here in his presence stood a pale creature more beautiful than ever imagined. Stunned, he rose from his throne, his bow deep with respect for the elegant woman who graced his presence. “My lady.”

Minetta nodded. “My liege. I am here against my better judgment and against my will.”

The lack of any forces noted, he stepped down from the dais. Certain this woman would never come to him of her own accord, he understood her meaning. “The prophesy.”

She looked out the window. “Yes.”

Leith sensed her want of this entanglement no more than his, but fate’s hand set everything in motion long ago. “The lake is rather spectacular this time of year.”

Minetta raised her chin and refused to meet his gaze. “Yes, it is. Well aware I must surrender the child, I avow to do so within the first week.” She raised her hand for silence. “There will be no debate. Destiny depicts either my death or that of an oracle and both inhibit my raising of a child. Attachment will only hurt us both. Meet me at the lake at the height of the moon. Mind you, I won’t wait long. A messenger is expected to serve between us. Choose one well.” She pivoted and exited the castle.

His gaze tracked her shift from the slender form of a human woman into a small, but magnificent beast. Her leap into the night pulled his gaze across the sky until the moon’s position garnered his attention. “Damn opal wasted little time on formalities. Messenger.”

Cedwyn, a lad in his eighth year, stepped forward. “Yes, sire?”

“The Lady Minetta requested a capable messenger and you are now her aid. Pack your things and I’ll see you’re escorted to her dwelling later.” Leith strode out the door. “May destiny be right.”

Shifted into his black dragon form, since this mating stood between their dragon blood and not their human, Tiernan pursued and caught her in mere minutes. Her much smaller size meant she might out maneuver him if she practiced flight, but his strength assured his ability to overpower and coerce the mating, if the need arose. “I am Tiernan. Tell me your name before we join.”

Siana, the opal dragon, circled and swept back past the dark beast. “This is not of my choice.”

“Nor is it mine. Your name, female.” His dodge skillful, he swept under the small female and turned on his back. “It is a duty we must perform, but I see no reason this cannot be pleasurable.”

“I need no pleasure nor do I welcome your touch.” She spun and aimed a wing buffet at his chest.

Tiernan matched her maneuver and directed them into the reverse of their current position. His swift capture of her pale wings expertly pinned the delicate flight limbs against her sides. He locked her rear paws with his. “It’s nice to have a playful beauty.”

“I do not play.” Siana snaked her head for his throat.

His head butt of her jaw compelled him to wait until her headshake ended. “I have no desire to knock sense into you, my lady, but if you do not behave as your title dictates then I see no reason to treat you as such.”

“Spoken like a true beast.” She grabbed his chest with her front paws.

The downward thrust of his wings pushed them higher into the sky as Tiernan pressed his forehead against hers. “Know this, opal lady, if your teeth or talons taste my blood, I will render your wings worthless the instant I release you.” He pressed his head forward and forced her neck into a tighter arch. “Have I made myself clear?”

Siana withdrew any threat from her talons. “I have no say in fate’s choice for me.”

Wary of the female in his grip, he growled. “You forget this is forced on me as well. I mean to fulfill the prophecy, but rest assured, if there were another like you I could have, it would not be you.”

She closed her eyes. “Make this what you will.”

Tiernan sighed. His previous words far from the truth, her hurt expression softened his tone. “I wish to treat this like an invited pleasure and not a tedious task, but promise once finished, will forget it ever happened. I prefer not to mar your perfect beauty and so withdraw to allow you to position yourself for our… courtship.”

Siana met his gaze. “If that is what you wish.”

He released her and fanned his wings to hold his position. The delightful beauty corrected her position and soared lower. “Very good, my lady.” With his wings tucked against his sides, he dove for the troublesome delight.

The dark beast swept past and she scowled at his success in coaxing her into the mating procedures ingrained in her mind and body. She shuddered when his scales glided against hers on his second pass.

Tiernan flew in close, his tone soft, “Give me your name and let me pleasure you.”

“Never.” Siana thrust her wings downward and soared high into the air.

“Very well.” He ascended, seized her paws with his and embraced her body with his wings. “Your wings and strength can neither carry the both of us nor free you, but I will not release you until I have your name.”

She twisted and gasped at their spiraled plummet. Panicked, she struggled in vain. “Siana. Release me!”

Tiernan tightened his hold, spread his massive wings and maneuvered them high into the air. “It’s a beautiful name.” As her jaws snapped shut near his throat, he released her, twisted and came back around before she righted herself. “It’s a well known fact opal dragons seldom fly, hence, I can toy with you if you don’t cease this petty resistance.”

“Beast!” Siana growled.

“I can be many things. Care to discover how much of a beast I can be?” He seized her in their first hold and softened his actions at her shudder. “Siana, neither of us have a choice, but I can make it a task or a pleasure. Tell me your decision.”

She writhed in his hold. “It shall never be more than a task.”

“So be it declared you forced my hand when I offered an alternative. Prepare yourself for an onslaught of flight lessons, my lady.” Tiernan released her, soared into the night and spun. He honed in on his fleeing prize. Undeterred, he lunged. From the ground, the courtship mating ritual consisted of maneuvers much like a graceful dance of magnificent splendor as black wove shadows in the midst of opalescent glints of moonbeams while dark cavorted among light.

The flap of his powerful wings reached her ears before Siana managed a bearing on his position. His barreling body drove her to the ground and knocked the wind from her lungs. She scrambled to her feet, but the tuck of her wings, now pinned between her back and his belly, inhibited her escape.

He held her with his strength and swept her front legs with his tail. His weight coerced her chest against the ground. When he locked her back legs with his, his tail directed aside her tail. Honor bound to the prophesy, he detested the scent of her fear and wished their session more meaningful.

“No!” Pinned on the ground, she shivered. “Not like this!”

Tiernan halted. He never intended her to beg or plead, but simply desired to fulfill the task as pleasurably as possible for them both. His cheek pressed against her smaller one. “If you unfold your wings, I’ll have you in every way I can devise in both forms, which could take months, even years. Consider yourself warned.” Expectant, he stepped back.

Siana straightened. “I am relying solely on instinct and that says fight.”

Wary, he expected her attempted escape. “Such makes for pain, blood and even death. None of which I wish for either of us.”

A play of shadow and dark danced along the water as the full moon reached the height of the night. She shivered. “I don’t want this, but what do I do?”

“Stand for me and I’ll do the rest.” Tiernan stood behind her trembling body. “Like this.” He eased forward, his every careful step deliberate to avoid spooking the trembling beauty. Gentle in both word and action, he guided her into a position designed more for her comfort and pleasure.

Siana shivered. “I dislike pain.”

“I intend none.” He cherished the fact the first mating between dragons lacked the pain humans endured. Her neck cradled by his, he held her tight. “Trust me, my lady.” His body slid forward then back so the glide of his scales against hers generated a subtle resistance designed to incite a female dragon’s mating impulse.

The caress of his scales mingled with his heat stirred an erotic sensation within her blood. Her senses shaken, she arched. She needed more, wanted more and pushed against him. “What are you doing to me?”

Tiernan rubbed her soft under throat with his neck, his whisper a gentle persuasion, “The hunger of your lust burns until sated.” He pressed his cheek against hers. His every move a caress of her body, he whispered, “Tell me what you want, my lady.”

Breathless, Siana lowered her chest and straightened her hind legs on impulse. “I don’t know what I want, but…” She growled then locked her jaw on his throat.

He snarled. “Release me. Now.”

She complied, a whimper in her voice, “Forgive. I don’t… please.”

Tiernan lowered his head and licked her throat. “You are forgiven for I expected such.”

Siana pushed against his body. “Expected?”

He shuddered when her hips rose even higher.  “The mating drive is very alive in you.”

She raised her head high in the air. “Hold me.”

Her plea drove into his very soul. Tiernan entwined their necks. “As long as you wish, my lady.”

“Fill this hollowness before it devours me!” Siana pushed her backside even higher.

“Yes, sweet opal beauty, offer yourself and let me take you to heights you never dreamed of.” With her pinned in position, he sheathed his rigid erection in her velvet passage with a steady push. Fixed on the caress of her inner satin walls along his veined shaft, he shuddered. Buried deep inside her for a long lingered moment, he unwound their necks and fought the urge to withdraw and plunge deep. He retracted with the same slow motion.

Her forward jerk broke their intimate physical bond, but she remained captive. “Tiernan—”

“Relax, Siana.” His snaked neck tucked her back against him while he buried his cock in her receptive sheath.

The intimate invasion of her body a second time elicited her gasp. Heat seared her to the very core. “It’s…”

“A soul searing fire.” He treasured the smooth caress of her silken pussy as his thick hungry length nestled deep in warmth none ever savored before, nor would again. “You feel so good.” And the small dragoness did, far better than any female, dragon or woman, he ever pleasured. His retraction slow, his plunge dynamic, he stroked until his seed planted within her promised life.

Siana shivered as his depleted erection slipped free of her body. “Are we finished?”

Tiernan smiled at the idea of their union, but refused to lie. “Just once more and I promise us a draconic pregnancy.”

She shifted, but didn’t attempt escape. “Do I need to return another day?” The deep rumble of his amused chuckle vibrated her body. “What?”

Pleased with her suggestion, he rubbed her neck with his chin. “I would never stop you if you chose to visit me again, Siana, but I assure you, dragon males are virile. Do not concern yourself with… my ability.” He eased forward and took great care with her delicate wings while he settled over her again. His neck embraced her chest as he lowered himself and penetrated her velvet sheath. This would be their last intimate session, but he intended gentleness in his taking.

 Chapter Two

Nineteen years later.

The sky darkened with evil and the flickering fire danced in a struggle to remain alight. Aileas, the midwife, shuddered. “We must deliver this babe now, my lady. Push and I’ll not only grant her the chance to live, but you the right to name her.”

Cradled by her supportive husband’s legs, Shayla screamed into the night. She collapsed into his embrace as the storm stilled. “Her name is a white wave for she will save this realm.”

A tiny whimper broke the hushed silence.

“And she will. The world thanks you, my lady. I regret my inability to grant you a precious cuddle, but both boys near the portals.” The midwife bundled the babe in a warm blanket and grabbed a charcoaled stick from the dying fire. She snatched a large leaf as it tumbled past and etched a name on the foliage.

“Deliver our hope into the hands of love.” Aileas placed the leaf into the infant’s blanket and tucked the babe in her embrace. “If you wish your lady to live, Lord Kelvyn, don’t wait for me.” She wrapped the medallion cord around her wrist and touched the left Menhir. The surface of the stone melted into liquid blackness and she entered the doorway to another realm.

Her quick glance assured little difference in the surrounding terrain while Aileas rushed to the nearest tree and set the babe at the trunk. The sounds of clanking armor garnered her attention. “Forgive me, little one, but he must find you or all is lost.” A swift pinch of the babe’s toe earned her smile as the infant’s scream of objection rent the air.” She slipped back into the shadows.

The young squire rushed over and dropped down on one knee. “What’s this?” Ever so careful, he scooped the newborn into his arms and stood. “Where is the mother of this child?” Displeased by the silence, the young knight scowled. “If no one steps forward and claims this infant, the throne does forever more.” He looked down and brushed his finger across the tiny chin. “You’re not alone any more.”

The midwife rested her cheek against the smooth tree trunk as the lad left. “Take her home, young man.” With the boy out of sight, she returned to the portal and activated it. She entered and froze at the horrid sight on the other side.

A heavily armored warrior stood over the slain aristocrats and kicked the dead man’s side. “Not much fight in noble blood, eh?” He poked at the lifeless woman’s slit throat. “Here lays a sample of nobility if you’re curious about what the nobles hide behind those fancy clothes.”

Aileas knew what fate awaited her emergence. The laughter of the men sickened her and the sight of the lady and lord’s slit throats ripped her heart. With her only choices of either the death that awaited her or the portal’s void, she nodded. “The white wave will right this injustice, Dark One.” She released the medallion and welcomed the liquid blackness as it engulfed her without a sound.