A Welcome Distraction

"I understand," he said quietly.

He honestly shared her sentiment, but at that moment he would have agreed to nearly anything if it meant having her. She leaned forward and kissed him hard, biting his lip and then her own. As their blood mingled he felt the first bond snap painfully into place, and the pain made him even more desperate to have her. As he grabbed her hips, she was already lowering her body, forcing him into her deep and fast. She rode him hard, taking what she wanted until she came screaming. He wanted to taste her one more time before he gave in and took what he wanted.

Nik easily lifted her onto the desk. She tried to force his hand between her legs to move against it, but he pulled his hand away to get rid of her clothes. He tasted his way down her body, teasing the skin of her slender neck, and when he tightened his grip on her hair she responded loudly. She was trying to force his head between her legs, but he resisted the pressure and purposely took his time getting there.

When he finally buried his face between her legs, she gripped the edge of the desk tightly so that she wouldn't slide away from his tongue roughly moving between her legs. This time it was even easier to make her come screaming against his mouth, her legs tightening on either side of his face.

Mimir was silent, but Nik could feel him seething on the other side of the door as he listened to her pleasure. She got even louder each of the next two times she came, and he could feel the god getting even angrier. After the third time she came, Nik let her pull his face up to kiss her lips. She already had her hand wrapped around his hardness, guiding him between her legs. Then she grabbed his hips and pulled him into her hard. It took every bit of his willpower to hold back from moving while he spoke.

"We should finish this elsewhere," he said, barely holding back.

"First time has to be in the circle," she said, shaking her head. "And I want him to hear you come inside me."

"First?"

"Yes, we can take our time after this, but now... I need you. Right. Now. Fast and hard."

She was still holding his hips and started to move against him. He stopped holding back and moved with her. The force of it violently rocked the desk, scattering pens, pictures, and papers around on the onto the floor, and her eyes rolled back with pleasure. She kept holding his hips so tightly her nails dug into his skin, guiding him to keep pounding her hard and deep.

When she came the spell forced him to explode along with her, pulling them together much more painfully than the blood oath. When the searing pain faded he was holding her tightly against his chest, and she looked up at him with glazed eyes. Even stoned, she was still focused on business as they pulled their clothes back on.

"How soon could you get your kings together? I would like to seal their allegiance as soon as possible."

"If that is acceptable to you, we could adjourn to my home tonight and you could meet them tomorrow. Just remember—our social expectations are very different than yours. Be careful about accepting any invitations."

She smiled. "I won't accept any invitations unless I plan on getting to know someone very intimately. I assume your guards can keep me safe without bringing Mimir?"

"Of course. There is nowhere you would be safer—no one enters or leaves my kingdom without my permission, including my people. You will be one of only a handful of beings without dragon blood to enter my kingdom in centuries."

"I'm flattered," she told Nik. "And we're going to want a quick exit so that he can't follow."

Nik nodded and made a portal to his bedroom while Chloe yelled to Mimir through the door.

"Don't wait up! Nik and his guards will keep me safe and I'll be back in a few days."

Mimir burst into the room. "I will accompany you," he said firmly.

"No, you will not. I'm ordering you to stay here until I fetch you. This trip would be extremely awkward for both you and me, and Nik is already bound to protect me—I'll likely be even safer there than I would be here. See you in a couple days."

They just left Mimir standing there, his face was red with fury as they stepped through the portal and closed it behind them.

Considering his recent rejection, Nik was starting to feel guilty about torturing the man. The difference, of course, was that Nik would have done anything to be with Sylvia, while Mimir had made his own bed by refusing to be with a woman who loved and wanted him.

"Why do I feel like I just kidnapped you?" Nik asked.

"You can't kidnap the willing," she said firmly. "Look, I can read his fucking mind. I know he's in love with me, but no matter what I do, he just keeps push me away—then getting angry like this if I'm with someone else. Maybe playing poke the bear will shock some sense into him."

She licked her full bottom lip as she looked Nik up and down. "And while we could both wallow in our misery, I would much rather enjoy myself."

"My misery?" Nik asked mildly. "Why do you think that I'm miserable?"

"I could feel your pain the moment you walked in my door. It's too similar to my own for me to not recognize it. So, you're clearly craving someone—I would guess that beautiful succubus you were so taken with the night you and I met. But you're also not hesitating to bring me home. Putting that all together, I surmise that we're in the same boat," Chloe said. "Am I correct?"

"Indeed, correct on all points," he said. "But discussion or anything else will have to wait a moment."

He had been counting backwards in his head since they had stepped into the room. Six, five, four, three, two, one... His door flew open and half a dozen guards rushed in. They looked at him, then at Chloe, then back at him. The older guards were unfazed, but he could almost hear the wheels turning in the minds of the younger guards. They had started on his detail after he and Asta separated, and had never seen him with a woman other than the occasional maid, and even that was rare for the last couple hundred years or so.

"Nothing is amiss, I have just returned unannounced. See that I'm not disturbed until morning."

The captain of Nik's personal guard had been ribbing him just a couple weeks ago about finding a woman, and was apparently amused to see his advice being taken. He smiled at Nik, then focused on herding his guards out the door. After that kind of request, they had a very short amount of time to remove themselves before Nik removed them himself.

"You have your orders. Out," The captain barked.

All the guards but one was out of the room before Nik could blink. The newest and youngest guard was too busy undressing Chloe with his eyes to even register the order, much less follow it. Before Nik could even react, his captain hit the guard on the back of the head, causing the man to pitch forward onto his knees.

"You will beg for the king's pardon, and that of his lady friend," he said.

The man proceeded to gush a genuine apology before his captain dragged him out of the room, muttering about how a few days in a cell would teach him some manners.

"I take it you don't bring women home often?" Chloe asked with an amused smile.

"There are very few women that interest me these days," Nik said.

"I'm flattered," Chloe said.

As Nik walked towards her, she unzipped her skirt and let it fall to the floor, then pulled her sweater over her head as well. Her long blonde hair smooth as silk and nearly as pale as her skin. Her beautiful blue green eyes, black bra, and shiny black heels were a sharp contrast to the pale canvas of her skin.

"You can leave those on," he said as she moved to step out of the heels. "Do you have any objection to me using a little bit of magic?"

"Are there any unpleasant side effects?"

He shook his head. "None other than setting an impossibly high bar for any man who comes after me."

She laughed. "I'll take that risk."

He let her pull his lips to hers as he ran his hands up her body, pausing to pinch her nipples. The tiniest bit of a spell on his touch and he saw her eyes open wide in surprise before the pleasure took over and they involuntarily closed. Her head fell back as she arched her back against his hand. She was so beautifully responsive, and this time he was going to savor every moment of it.

He took his time teasing her nipples with his mouth until she was begging him to move on, and he kissed and tasted his way down her flat stomach.

By the time he thrust his tongue between her legs, he could feel every inch of her body humming for release. If he made her wait too long the humming would become a painful burning, but for the moment he was safe. Her moans were getting louder, and she was gripping his hair more and more tightly. She was moving so violently that no human man would have been able to keep her against his mouth so that she could climax over and over.

"Sweet Jesus," she whispered he finally released her hips and moved onto the bed next to her.

"Oh, he has nothing to do with it. I assure you, you aren't at all his type."

"Very funny," she said.

"Shall I assume my lady is pleased?"

"I this lady has been very pleased, and looks forward to more," she said with a wicked smile.

He ran his hand over her stomach, and she moaned softly. After his hand was slick from moving between her legs she caught it and pulled it up to her face, sucking on one of his fingers for a moment before releasing it.

"Now take it all off. I still haven't been able to taste you," she said.

He stood and dropped his clothes to the floor one piece at a time. Once he had shed it all and returned to the bed on his knees, she dropped down onto all fours in front of him. Her eyes held his as she teased him with her mouth, then quickly forced him all the way to the back of her throat. Every muscle in his body tightened in response, and he heard his bedding tear as he clenched his hands into fists. She slid her mouth back to his tip, then forced him all the way to the back of her throat hard and fast, over and over, faster and harder.

He tried to hold her still before he came down her throat, but she resisted so fiercely that he stopped resisting and let himself revel in the pleasure. She moved faster and harder until he came, holding the back of her head tightly until he was done exploding down her throat. When he released his grip on her head she started again, slowly until she decided he was ready and abruptly pulled him down on top of her.

This time he slid into her slowly, and the anticipation on her face was perfection as she tried to urge him faster and deeper. She wasn't strong enough to force him, and eventually she gave up trying and closed her eyes, pure pleasure written all over her face. He had thought she was loud before, but once he found the right spot she got even louder. She was definitely a woman who enjoyed him moving inside her even more than she enjoyed his tongue.

She came once beneath him, then he let her push him onto his back. He had made her go slowly when he was on top, and now she was focused on taking her pleasure exactly the way she wanted to. She forced his hands to her breasts, and started moving against him. She didn't stop moving on top of him when she came, and he watched wave after wave of pleasure roll through her body. She was coming over and over again, her body squeezing his tightly with each wave. Once she had hit her peak she ordered him to come along with her, moving against him until both of their bodies had reached their limits. Then she slid down next to him, curled up against his side, and fell asleep with her head on his chest.

He couldn't sleep, just let himself enjoy the feeling of holding someone in his arms, her soft skin against his, the rhythmic sound of her breathing. Chloe couldn't be any more perfect, but she wasn't his. Even if she had wanted that, even if he had, she had her own people to rule. Even all of that aside, having her body close to his just made him crave Sylvia even more. Chloe stretched out, then put her head back on his chest.

"I know," she said without even opening her eyes. "I'm not her—and you're not him. But I'll be damned if I feel guilty for enjoying myself after he rejected me, and you shouldn't either. They're the ones who need to figure their shit out—we don't deserve to be punished for it."

He nodded against the top of her head and she drifted off to sleep again. At least Chloe would see her man again soon, and he had no doubt even that blockhead would come around eventually. Even if he didn't, though, Chloe was young and would find another. Unfortunately for Nik, things didn't work that way for Nik and Sylvia.

The moment a dragon saw their intended mate they were drawn to them, but it was subtle enough that they usually didn't realize what was happening until they touched, and became deeper with the sharing of blood, and completed when they made love. Nik hadn't been able to resist tying her to him completely, and now he was paying the price. For the rest of their lives they would physically crave each other, a craving that would become progressively more painful the longer they were apart.

He had briefly considered forcing her to be his. No one in this world was powerful enough to stop him if he claimed her as his own, but he wasn't his father. He would never violate any woman that way. If she would rather endure these painful cravings than be his he would have to live with the pain, just as she would.

The next morning Nik was half asleep when he realized Chloe was going home to dress for the day. He jolted fully awake when he heard the opening volley of her argument with Mimir before the portal closed behind her. Welcome back to real life, he thought, then headed to the shower.

It was an official occasion, so his clothing was dictated by tradition. The perfectly fitted black shirt and pants were traditional for a warrior. His thick belt had been designed to hold his personal daggers and the sword, Inferno's Claw, that had been wielded by every dragon king. It had the horrific ability to absorb the souls of those who were killed by it. Every time the sword was in someone's hand they clamored for battle and attempted to control the wielder. Unlike his father, Nik was not only strong enough to hold the souls in check, he could force them to become corporeal, several legions of soldiers who could be summoned to fight at his side and would come back to life over and over again. They could not be killed because they were already dead. Last was the jewel encrusted robe that had been created for the first king and passed down to every king since. Magic kept the fabric new and the jewels sparkling like they had the first time it had been worn.

When she returned, Chloe was dressed perfectly to be his queen if he had one. She was wearing a flowing violet gown and her blonde hair was pulled up in a complicated twist. Her teardrop diamond earrings were so many carats that they pulled at her earlobes, and perfectly matched her heavy diamond necklace. The oversized emerald ring she wore was a symbol of her position as a directoress of the Green Circle. The only imperfection was that her eyes, the same violet as her dress, were slightly pink and puffy. Her argument with Mimir had gone far enough to draw tears.

"Look at her eyes," he said sharply to Mimir. "Do you wish to heal your damage, or should I?"

Chloe answered before Mimir could. "Please do it yourself. I would rather he not touch me right now. But there will be no other disruptions today. He has been given orders to appear and behave perfectly the entire time we are here."

Nik touched her eyes, leaving his hand on her face longer than he needed to for the healing. When Nik finally removed his hand, he had restored Chloe's eyes to their usual beauty. She carried herself like royalty, and her power was obvious in spite of her delicate appearance.

"Your visage and power alone will sell you to my nobles," he said reaching for her arm. "Do I have your word that you are not planning to take my throne as well?"

Chloe laughed as she took Nik's arm. "Even if they would have me, no thanks. I already have enough on my plate to last a lifetime."

Lightening her mood was exactly the reaction Nik was looking for, and it was a bonus that Mimir looked like he wanted to slit his throat.

"You will not even consider laying a hand on him," Chloe said sharply to Mimir. "And you will not let your personal emotions show or interfere with this day. Not a hint." Her voice softened a bit. "Please. We can't let our personal problems interfere with something this important."

Mimir swallowed hard and nodded, all evidence of their personal conflict instantly pushed beneath the surface. They made their way to Nik's throne room, and as he had hoped, the clan leaders offered their allegiance without hesitation. As they chatted afterward, each one hinted that they would be happy to confirm their allegiance in the traditional manner. Chloe was clearly intrigued by the invitations, but politely deflected them for the time being. When he dismissed the nobles, Chloe dismissed Mimir as well, and after she flatly refused his request to stay, he had no choice other than to leave as she ordered.

"That went perfectly. Shall we meet with your head alchemist now?" She sighed. "Or we could put it off until tomorrow. For some reason I am in no rush to return home."

"My head alchemist it is," Nik said.

He took her arm to lead her through the labyrinth of passages to Frida's quarters. They were so difficult to find because they were in a purposely unoccupied wing of the castle as far away from any occupied room as was possible. They were also protected by magical barriers that only allowed only a handful of people near her lab: Nik, Rafe, Frida and Rafe's young daughter Juliette, Frida's assistant Stormy. The ravens Huginn and Muninn were also allowed. They had been trapped on earth when the barriers went up, and for some reason had taken enough of a liking to Frida that they called her lab their home base. Anyone else would never make it through the layers of shields and barriers erected around the lab unless they were accompanied by someone permitted to be there.

"Damn, maybe I should have studied magic with your people instead of mine," Chloe said as they passed through the final barrier. "Why does she need this much protection?"

"Frida doesn't need any protection from anything. The rest of us, however, sometimes need protection from Frida when her spells go awry. The barriers also prevent anyone from accidentally getting lost and accidentally wandering into the line of fire. Before the barriers there were... incidents."

Nik quickly walked past the rooms filled with magical items and caged animals. As distasteful as it was to use animals for her experiments, it was preferable that she accidentally kill a pigeon or a goat than a humanoid. The last rooms were large and mostly empty.

"She generally does experiments in those. Then she doesn't risk hurting anyone or anything that is outside of whatever room she is using if the spell dangerously fails."

"Who else lives down here?" Chloe asked.

Nik stopped abruptly and opened a heavy door. They entered a room that would have been any magic user's dream laboratory—if it hadn't been insanely messy, at least. The look on Chloe's face was one of a child in a candy store. She looked positively gleeful when Nik introduced her to Stormy, Frida's pixie assistant. He was a small flying elf, about the size of a newborn human child with wings. He looked her up and down with a hungry look in his eyes, but it wasn't a sexual hunger. "Never going to happen," Nik told the pixie. "Where's your mistress?"

"In one of the experiment rooms, but you don't wanna go in there," Stormy said. "The last time I interrupted that one-" As if on cue, they all heard a muffled explosion. "I told her my interruption wasn't the problem with that spell," he finished with a smug smile.