Dragon Prince

She huddled in the corner of the room on the only sitting place there was besides the bed-she refused to sit on the bed-in the little window alcove. She could not believe that this had happened. Her guardian had actually sold her to Dragon Prince—as his wife. Her life had pretty much gone to hell the moment she had been taken from her parents as a bartering chip for the kingdom; she was one of the few females that was guaranteed to be fertile and so was a very great commodity in this world. She had not wanted to go, but had they not taken her they would have taken her sister and she was barely old enough to know anything of the world let alone be sold off in marriage to the highest bidder. She smiled bitterly at that thought—at least her guardian had gotten nothing more than a temporary peace treaty out of her sale instead of the riches he had hoped for.

She had been fifteen when she had been taken and it had been deemed that she would be worth more once her body had been given a chance to mature enough to immediately bear the children her husband would want from her. Now though, as she had reached a score of years she had finally been given to the man who posed the greatest threat to her captors, the Prince of the Dragons. He was actually more like a king but the word in their old language had sounded closer to Prince and so that was how the word wound up being translated.

She glanced over at one of the only pieces of furniture in the room, a full-length mirror, and looked in wonder at the way she had been dressed. The dress emphasized the swells of her hips and breasts as well as the dip of her waist and the subtle strength of her whole body. This was a dress designed to flaunt the attributes which gave evidence to her fertility -- that which had gotten her into so much trouble throughout her life. When it was discovered that she was not an only child but had several siblings -- attesting to her family's ability to bear many children -- and her family lines had been researched, her blood had been tested for the hormones which would show her to be a highly fertile female; thus the trail of her life had led her here.

She had been presented earlier in the day to the Dragon Prince and in the ceremony she had been given to him as his wife and likewise he was given to her as husband. He had not been old or ugly as she had been anxious about, but he was obviously a warrior and soldier in his mind and actions as well as certain coldness in his icy eyes attesting to the cruelties he had been rumored to have committed.

She had noticed that in the back of the room there had been two people she could have sworn were her parents, but she had not seen them in nearly five years and so would be unable to truly decipher whether or not it had been them in truth. After the ceremony she had been led by her guard up to this chamber to await the blessings of the bridal chamber. Soon she would be led there to await the arrival of her new husband who would ceremonially carry her into the chamber and they would remain there for at least three days (as was customary). In that time they would consummate the union and do their best to conceive an heir for the Dragon Prince. She knew what she must do, had been advised since her capture in how to make the best of her most valuable asset -- her fertility.

There came a knock at the door and a maid popped her head into the doorway. "Princess, it is time for you to go to your true chamber." The woman was obviously of the Dragons as she had the lilting accent that came from speaking the rolling language all the Dragons spoke. It startled her at first to be referred to as 'Princess' but the term was actually quite correct. "I understand. I am as ready as I ever shall be." She walked as regally as she could, trying her best to live up to her title, but she knew what was needed of her. She need do nothing except be the breeder the Prince needed and then be a decent mother to the children she brought into the world.

As she stepped out of the holding chamber and into the hallway she saw that several of the guests had lined the walk between the two chambers. They seemed to be the highest in rank and as she went up the small set of steps to get to the part of the hall leading to the chamber she spotted her new husband waiting outside the door. Next to him stood an older man who shared many of his features and a woman who appeared to be about the same age as the older man and she saw that the woman had eyes the same hue as her husband's; these must be his parents.

Then she saw the two people next to his parents and realized that these were her mother and father that she had not seen for five years. Tears sprung into her eyes and she nearly tripped. She regained her footing and her face broke into the biggest smile she had ever felt. She walked quickly to them and realized that her mother was about to cry and so was she. "Mother? Father?" They each hugged her and she had enough time to look questioningly between them before the music signaling the ceremony must continue began.

Her father turned her toward her husband whose eyes had lost a bit of their frost as he turned to her as well. He took her hands and led her to the door, then picked her up in his arms. It was actually quite a ways up for her, being a sturdy person she had never really gotten picked up, but he was a tall, strong man and could easily hold her. He shifted his weight and kicked in the door. She was more than a bit startled by it and instinctively clung tighter to him. He took the necessary steps into the room and pushed his foot behind him to close the door, then walked over and set her down on the bed so that he could bolt them in.

She looked around the room trying to distract herself from what was to come. "This room is really pretty. I like the tapestries."

He turned to her from where he was trying to set a bar into place across the door. "My mother decorated it. She tried to figure out what you would like." He paused, as if unsure of his words. "She will be... glad to hear that you approve." The bar fell into place and he leaned back against the wall, just looking at her for a time.

Uncomfortable with his scrutiny as she just sat there, she stood and walked about the room, searching for something to talk about. A very pertinent topic came to mind. "How was it that my parents were able to be here today?"

He noticed the nervous way her fingers twisted together and thought to go along with the conversation for a bit to ease her nerves. "When Xanth offered me a bride in the efforts of peace I could not imagine him doing so with a daughter of his own so I looked into the circumstances. My mother found out about the details of your status and she sent out a search for your family. She said that no bride should marry without her parents in attendance if at all possible. I agree." Once again he paused. "They will be here for several weeks; I have arranged for them to stay here so that you can catch up." He also hoped that her mother would be helping her prepare for their first child.

She turned back to him, surprise and delight shining in her eyes. He was not far from her and her joy at being able to see her parents temporarily overcame her shyness and she hugged him, pressing herself to him and squeezing in her happiness. "Thank you so much for that. I haven't seen or heard from them in almost five years—I had thought never to see them again!" She turned her face up to his. "Thank you." She stretched up and placed a kiss on his cheek.

He seemed surprised at the gesture and she blushed and tried to move away, but he put his arms around her and kept her as she was. Her body was very womanly and he had not ever felt such a lush, feminine body pressed to his like this. He was loath to let her go and lose the very warm feeling she seemed to raise in him. "I rather like your manner of thanks. I wonder what you will do when I tell you that your siblings, your brother and his wife as well, will be arriving within the sennight."

She looked back up to his face (her head reached the middle of his chest), her eyes wide in shock and a beaming smile returning. "Are you serious, my entire family will be here?" He nodded and waited to see how she would react. As he had silently hoped her arms returned around him in the hug and she went to kiss his cheek again, but this time he caught her mouth with his own. Her lips were soft and lush as he predicted the rest of her body would be. His hands rested on her hips and he could not stop the urge to squeeze his hands to feel those well-formed curves. He gave a fleeting thought to how much he liked kissing this woman who was closer to his height. In the past most of the women he had dealt with were significantly shorter than the lass here and he liked the idea that kissing her would not give him a cramp in his neck.

She pulled back and settled back on her heels. Neither had realized that she had stretched up and he had pulled her closer to him but now that small distance remained between them. "I've never been kissed before." She brought her hand up to her lips and tried to understand the tingle his had left there. Her eyes rose to meet his and she could see that there was none of the iciness that had been there earlier; now they seemed to almost glow.

"Well, it seems we need to make up for lost time." Her brow puckered in slight confusion and her mouth opened to ask him something, but he took the opportunity to capture her lips once more. Her admission had brought out a primal part of him that made him want to brand her as his; she was as innocent as physically possible it seemed, and that was a good thing because at that moment he felt like he would have willingly killed any other man who had touched her.

Her arms slid up to his shoulders to hold on and he pressed her against him with one arm while the other came up to cradle the back of her head to hold her to his kiss. She could feel how his body responded to hers and she felt the heat that he stirred in her spreading through her body. She pressed herself to him and her breasts pressed into his chest. He was invading her mouth, plundering it as his own and she could feel the sense of possessiveness he was trying to impress upon her. She could do nothing but surrender, and she did so happily. She could tell by the way he had been talking with her that he truly did want a companion, not just the breeder she had been promised to be for him. She knew deep down that, if given the proper time, she could come to really love this man and he could come to love her.

He raised his head for a moment and she realized they were both breathing heavily. He said something in the rolling tones of the Dragons' language and she croaked out "what?" He smiled as his gaze caught on her lips which were starting to appear a bit kiss-swollen. "I said 'I claim you as my own'." He seemed unable to resist the temptation any further and bent once more to her lips. It seemed to her like he was determined to count her teeth, though it was actually quite enjoyable and she decided to do it back to him. At the first foray of her tongue in his mouth an electric jolt seemed to go through his body and he pulled her so tight against him that her back popped in a couple places and her feet left the ground. Then it felt like he was rubbing her entire body with his and the heat in her body spread and grew until it felt like even her toes were burning. She felt the mattress behind her legs and realized that he had moved them back to the bed. Slowly, and distracting her with his kiss, he settled them back on the bed. So as not to scare her, he rolled them so that she rested next to him. He released his hold on her, letting one hand rest on her hip and the other gently cup her cheek and support him by his elbow. Reluctantly, he broke the kiss. She looked up at him questioningly.

He smoothed some hair out of her face. "You are so beautiful," he said in his native tongue. Her eyebrows drew together and he realized with a bit of humor that he was going to have to teach her the language. He translated for her and she blushed shyly. She looked up into his eyes and her hand moved into his hair at the nape of his neck. She played with the tendrils that were darker than ebony.

She had a vision then: of two children, a boy and a girl and they looked at her with glittering blue eyes and ebony hair in curls identical to her own and the girl had a smile that was a match to her own. The shock of realizing that she had seen her children swept over her and she could tell by the look on his face that he had seen the same thing that she had and it had moved him in the same way it had her. She wanted to make sure though. "Did you see...?"

"Yes. Sometimes when a monumental event is about to occur my people will receive visions of the event or the signs. I think you saw it too because we were touching when it came to me."

"Were those... our children?"

He was silent for a moment. "I... I believe so."

She replayed the vision in her mind. "Twins, wow."

"I think it is a sign that we are a good match. For the last three generations of my father's family there has only been one child in each union. To have twins would be..." He seemed unable to come up with an accurate word to describe the true repercussions of the miracle.

"I think I understand what you mean." She thought of the rest of what he had said. "You mean you didn't have any siblings or cousins or anything?" Her own family was actually quite large and had been part of the reason for her abduction. At the time of her abduction she had been the oldest unwed female of the family and with the way her family had many children to each union it had been enough cause to have her blood tested for fertility.

"Not on my father's side and my mother's family is human and did not approve of the union, despite his rank. It is part of why it was so important for me to marry an extremely fertile woman—to ensure that my family's reproductive abilities improve and my children will not be alone." His hand began lightly stroking the side of her body from hip to ribs, then slowly over the side of her breast. She closed her eyes and he saw the heat flush her cheeks. When she got hold of herself and looked at him again he leaned in and kissed her. She held onto him and he splayed his hand along her side, bringing it up to stroke the side of her breast.

When he had her sufficiently breathless he moved his mouth from the temptation of her lips to the soft line of her jaw back to her ear and the soft, sensitive place behind it. She gasped when he gave her a little love bite and the nails of one hand scraped his scalp, making him shiver in pleasure. In response he nibbled his way down her neck to the place where her shoulder met her neck and bit her gently there before swirling his tongue over the spot to lessen the sting. She jumped slightly at the surprise of it and her legs moved restlessly against his. He had moved over her slightly, leaning over her and caressing whatever he could.

She started trying to pull up his tunic to be able to touch him herself and he lifted up off of her long enough to remove the tunic and toss it in the general direction of the table and chairs set out for them, he did not really care where it landed as long as it no longer hindered his wife's innocent yet eager touch. Her hands reached up and she ran them over the hard muscle and sinew and the skin that covered them. She seemed fascinated by his shoulders until she got to the muscles of his stomach. There she stroked again and again and her soft touch made him yearn to feel those fingers stroking all over his body. His hands trembled a bit when she reached the waist of his trousers and he had to concentrate to find the seam with all the hooks-and-eyes that closed the back of her dress.

When she took her cue from his earlier ministrations and nibbled along his neck as well as running her hands over his back and pressing their bodies close, he broke two of the hooks. "How good are you at sewing?"

She stopped nibbling his neck and looked at him, confused. "What?"

He took a deep breath. "How well do you sew?"

She raised an eyebrow but answered. "I do pretty well actually. Why?"

Before she had finished speaking he had formed a claw and cut down the back of the dress. She gasped as he peeled the split dress off of her in a swift motion and tossed it in the same general direction his tunic had flown a few moments before. "Because you are going to have to repair the back of that dress—then make sure you never wear anything so complicated again." He took a breath to subdue the urge to transform completely after he made his hand return to human form.

His eyes blazed as he finally looked at her after flinging the dress. Her chemise was nearly transparent and he could make out the shadows of her nipples and the darkness at the apex of her thighs. At some point he had divested himself of his boots and her hastily-made and ill-fitting shoes had been lost when he picked her up off the floor. Now the only clothing between them consisted of his trousers and her chemise and hose.

His hand went to the hem of her strapless chemise which met the tops of her white hose at mid-thigh. Gently he pressed her onto her back and knelt at her feet. His fingers stroked her soft flesh for a few moments before he hooked his fingers into the top of her hose and gently tugged it down to her knee. There he leaned in and kissed the flesh he had uncovered and so continued: tug down the hose a couple inches, stroke the flesh with the tips of his fingers, then flutter little kisses. He did this down to the ankle then swept the hose away and went through the same procedure for the other leg.

She put her hands in his hair as long as she could reach, which was not for very long, but served to let her feel that connection for a bit longer. Once he was out of reach though, she would lay back and just absorb the feelings his attentions evoked. After removing the second leg of hose, he looked down the length of her body to where she sat up on her elbows watching him with a gaze so heated it seemed to sear his soul. He grinned at her and slowly but determinedly moved back up her body, kissing her through her chemise as he did and leaving one leg settled between hers.

When he reached her chest, he could not tear his gaze from her lush breasts. They moved with her choppy breathing and the movement fascinated him. Her hand came up to caress and cup his cheek and he looked up to meet her gaze. He could see that she wanted desperately whatever he would do, yet she was still so innocent as to be naïve about what he was about to do.

That mischievous grin returned and he whispered into her neck, "Do not worry, my Dragoness, you will much enjoy this and all else we will do." Her breath kicked up another notch and he brought his hand to the small bow which held the top of her chemise up, untying it one motion at a time until it loosened to the point that he could peel it down. He bent his head down to the upper portion of her chest which was already exposed and started kissing and nipping and licking the sweet flesh. She had moved her hand to his hair and her other stroked his shoulder.

As he peeled down the garment he would expand his kisses to cover that area. When he gently tugged the material past her taut nipples he pulled the chemise down to just below her ribs. He looked into her eyes and slowly ran the back of his fingers along one of her nipples and watched as her pupils dilated farther in pleasure and desire. He bent his head and softly kissed all around the aureole before doing the same to her other breast. Then he went back to the first and ran his tongue around and around the nipple without actually touching it with more than his breath. He repeated this to the other side then sat back and, once again watching her face for her reaction, he blew a stream of cool air across the now-wet flesh.