Treasure Ch. 10

"I'm not interested," Shax moaned, flailing against the dark-haired man, who was playing with a strand of his hair. He shrugged and took a long draught of his wine.

Sher's pace had quickened, and the fairy man crushed her yearningly against him as she succumbed to another violent wave of pleasure. She trembled in his arms, gasping out wordless cries, and he slammed her hips over him one last time before exhaling jerkily against her mouth.

"Thank you," she panted, and then she broke off to kiss him desperately. The golden-haired man moaned against her lips. Catherine, red-faced and determined, marched towards her with a bundle of dark fabric clutched in her arms.

"I found your dress," she murmured, tugging at her bare arm. Sher smiled apologetically and clambered off of the man's lap, and he grazed the flesh of her stomach longingly with his fingertips as she teetered towards them.

"Your friends need you," the fairy woman sighed, disappointment tainting her lovely features. Sher closed her eyes as she nipped her neck. "Return to us soon, my darling."

"Yes," Sher whispered.

"Please," Catherine begged, pulling insistently at Sher's wrist, and she nodded unsteadily as Catherine pressed her dress into her arms. The pixies took flight and tittered into her ear before fluttering away.

"Our apologies," Adeon said, and the golden-haired man grinned.

"No need. I rather enjoyed the audience."

Catherine stood by Adeon's side as Sher gathered up her cloak from the table, and as he met her gaze, his eyes widened. Her pupils were growing dark and wide, and, as he touched her shoulder worriedly, her lips parted and her arms rose to cling to his sleeve.

"Adeon," she whispered, a soft slur to her voice. "I feel very strange all of the sudden." The dark-haired man was watching them closely, and Adeon flinched with realization when he noticed the faint stain of wine on Catherine's lip.

"You," he hissed, and the fairy raised his hands defensively. The concern in that gesture didn't spread to his expression, which remained composed. "If it weren't for the truce--" he began, but the fairy dismissed him with a flick of his wrist.

"We won't touch her," he said. "You have my word. Consider it a parting gift; I'm sure you'll enjoy yourselves." He swirled the contents of his goblet invitingly. "Would you care for some? I offer it freely."

"No," Adeon snapped irritably, and he smiled.

"As you wish."

Catherine was pulling desperately at Adeon's wrist, and he groaned before hoisting into his arms. She huddled in a small, warm lump against his chest, and his lips twitched into a charmed smile as she kissed an exposed section of his lower neck. Her hands tangled in his hair, and she heaved a satisfied sigh before dissolving into a limp puddle of bliss.

"How are you?" he murmured into her hair, and she shivered at the closeness of his lips.

"Wonderful," she said against his skin.

"Good." He gestured to the rest of their companions. "We don't have long," he called, and they hurried behind him as he began to stride out from the clearing.

"Can I be carried, too?" Sher giggled from behind them, clad in only her lavender cloak, and Shax rolled his eyes before lifting her up into his arms. Jiro was waiting for them several feet back, and he regarded Sher's scantily-clad figure with bafflement before turning and following them forward.

"Are you even fit to fly?" he asked dully.

"Oh, flying," she sighed. "It will be glorious."

"I could carry her," Cael offered, and Shax lifted his lip in a snarl. Cael looked heavenwards, as if praying for patience.

Once they exited the clearing, the brilliant light faded to dusk. Adeon stared up at the retreating sunlight, his fingers idly stroking Catherine's hair. She writhed against his hands. She was growing hot against his skin, practically shaking at his touch, and she let out a hoarse little moan as he caressed her cheek.

"Damn those infernal creatures," she whispered, and that forced a bark of laughter out from his chest.

"Damn them," he agreed gently.

"This always happens."

"It does."

"I don't like the fairies very much, Adeon. I don't like them at all."

"I don't much care for them either." She peered out from her mass of hair and fixed him with a single blue eye.

"Could you kiss me?" she asked softly, and he swallowed.

"...No. Not right now."

"Oh, Adeon," she sighed, stroking the skin of his throat, "I'd really like you to..."

"Both of our females are incapacitated, we're hours from our destination, there isn't any food around us that we're allowed to eat, and I do believe that I see storm clouds on the horizon," Cael said bitterly. "What a rewarding trip that was. What happened with you three, anyway? What did the queen say?" Shax glowered at the forest floor, and in his arms, Sher burst out laughing.

"She said no!" she cackled. Shax gave them all a forlorn look.

"It's true. She thanked us for our information, but graciously declined. Said she didn't want any part in it," he sighed. At his side, Roane nodded thoughtfully. "What about the king?"

"He didn't necessarily agree," Adeon muttered. Shax stared at him.

"Didn't necessarily?"

"Nor did he decline." Adeon's lips thinned with annoyance. "I suppose we'll just have to wait."

"He was scary," Catherine whispered to him, and Adeon looked down at her. Her cheeks were stung a hectic pink, and her hands were clammy against his skin.

"Yes, he was," he agreed hopelessly. "Down you go," he said, and Catherine nodded as he tipped her onto the forest floor and began to pull off his shirt. The other dragons followed suit, even Sher, who may have taken a little longer to remove her cloak. Once he was undressed, he glanced down at Catherine, who was looking determinedly away from him. Her face was a spectacular shade of maroon. He chuckled as his spine lengthened and his limbs grew long and broad, and once he had completed the transformation, he deposited his bundle of clothes into Catherine's arms and plucked her gingerly from the ground. "Should I carry you?" he inquired, cradling her in his palms, and when she replied with a weak nod, he pressed her to his chest and sprang into the air. Behind him, he heard the rest follow. Sher's wings fluttered unsteadily, but miraculously, she stayed airborne.

They reached the edge of the forest, and Adeon blinked as he felt something soft and impossibly hot rub against his chest. When he glanced down, his lips parted in surprise. Catherine was writhing urgently against his skin, clutching one of his fingers, her dress hiked haphazardly up to her knees from the roaring wind. When she opened her eyes, the hazy heat behind them elicited a pang of want from the base of his stomach. He ran a massive thumb slowly up the expanse of one of her pale legs, relishing her shiver, and when he slipped it beneath the skirt of her dress, her eyelids fluttered with an intoxicating sort of need. She gripped his wrist gently and tugged his hand closer, so his thumb was pressed up against her sex through the soft fabric of her undergarments. He rubbed the pad of his finger over that deliciously hot spot between her thighs, his mouth watering as her wetness made the material glide against her skin. She lifted a trembling hand to cover her lips. Her blue eyes were glittering pools of hopelessness, bright with lust.

"Go," he shouted suddenly, and Catherine only gazed up at him blankly. "I'll return shortly." His words were met with a volley of protests, but he had already swiveled in the opposite direction and was diving towards the trees.

Once he had stumbled back onto the forest floor, he tipped Catherine down onto a mound of grass. She teetered backwards and flopped into a sitting position. Her head tilted curiously as he stalked forward, coming to a stop just in front of her and crouching down so his head was level with hers.

"Why aren't we flying?" she asked. He smiled and, with a nudge of his talons, shoved her backwards so she was sprawled out in front of him. His claws unfastened the clasps of her cloak with a little difficulty.

"You're being very distracting," he told her.

"I'm sorry," she said. She shifted, her fingers knotting in the grass above her head, and her quivering intake of breath made her bosom swell and strain against her dress.

"Take off your dress," he ordered unsteadily, and he watched her lazily as she wriggled out from her garments. Her thighs jiggled tantalizingly with each of her movements as the hem of the dress rose to her hips, and then the slow curve of her hip was exposed, then the creamy panes of her stomach. He knelt forward and plucked the fabric away when it had bunched up enough to trap her head inside, freeing her arms from her sleeves and inhaling shakily when it left her gloriously exposed in front of him. Her hair was fanned out around her face, a wide halo of spiraling tendrils, and she quickly brought her hands up to hug her chest. She wasn't wearing a bodice, and that filled him with an inordinate amount of glee. He didn't think he would have the patience to remove it.

"I'm cold," she said softly.

"I'm going to keep you so warm, my love," he purred, and she stared up at him as he began to dwindle down, his scales receding into his flesh, and when his hands shrank down enough that he could insert a finger beneath the hem of her panties, he did so and gave it a tug. "Take them off," he whispered, and she slid them down her legs and kicked them to the ground. Her eyes slitted with anticipation as he grazed his mouth over the skin of her belly, up and up until he was wrenching her arms away from her chest and trailing kisses over the swell of each breast, like silk under his tongue. One of his hands rose to pinch the flushed nub of one of her nipples, and she writhed as he brought his lips to her neck.

"You're not still angry?" she breathed, and then she broke off with a yelp when he teeth caught the skin in a brief nip. She was caged in between his arms, her body only inches from his. He could feel the heat radiating from her skin, but he hovered above her, careful to keep their bodies separate. He could tell it was bothering her. Her hips were making desperate little circles for him, praying for him to fill her up.

"A little angry," he said delicately against her flesh. He flicked at her nipple with his forefinger and thumb, and she yelped at the sharpness of the sensation. "But this certainly helps."

"Then why won't you touch me?" she moaned, shivering when his tongue grazed her earlobe.

"Because," he sighed, "I still love hearing you beg." He kissed the area just below her chin and worked down from her throat to her bosom, pausing between kisses to deliver punishing bites. She was jerking underneath him, hot and oversensitized from the wine and his relentless teasing. He shifted onto his knees and grazed the tips of her breasts with his thumbs, framing her bosom with his fingertips, and then watched with delight as she bit down hard on her lower lip. Beneath the pads of his thumbs, her nipples were stiffening into soft peaks. Then he was crawling down to her stomach, his lips moving hungrily over the soft skin, and just when she had dissolved into relaxation, he delivered a rough bite to the area just above her right hipbone.

"Adeon!" she yelped, bringing her hands up to fight him away, but he wrestled her wrists down to the ground. He kissed the abused skin, pink and tender, and let his eyes flit up to her face.

"Aren't you mine?" he mouthed against her belly.

"Mmmnnnnnnn," she whimpered as he released one of her hands and raised his fingers to skim her inner thigh. He shivered as he felt the burn of her flesh, but, when his question was left unanswered, landed a fresh, sharp pinch to her thigh. She cried out, a tiny noise that was muffled by the enormity of the woods around them.

"Answer me," he crooned, dipping down to kiss the newly reddened spot. Her legs parted weakly for him as he descended, but she let out a disappointed moan when his lips only brushed the skin.

"Yes," she cried.

"Good." He caressed her thigh and then rose back up to her chest. He released her other wrist and brought his arm up so he was crouched over over, and his thumb stroked the line of her jaw. She tilted her head back obediently, allowing him to lengthen his caresses, and then he was dragging reassuring fingertips in long strokes up the expanse of her neck. Her eyelids quivered shut. "And do you remember what I told you? How I often entertained the idea of locking you away from harm forever?"

"Yes," she breathed. She sucked in a frantic little breath as he knotted a hand in her hair and tugged fiercely. His body crushed against hers, pinning her down. His cock was stiff where it was pressed up on her upper thigh, and when he gave a slow thrust to feel her skin glide against him, she trembled.

"Then why do you keep tempting me?" he murmured, each word a ghost of a kiss as his lips flitted over her mouth.

"I'm so sorry--I don't mean to," Catherine babbled, and he loosened his grip on her hair. Guilt pricked at his insides. He was tormenting an enchanted girl. In this state, Catherine probably didn't even know what he was talking about.

Her lips rose up about a fraction of an inch to touch his, tentatively at first, but then she was kissing him slowly, her mouth sliding open under his. He let out a lost sort of moan and knelt down to kiss her deeper, harder, delving his tongue eagerly into her warm mouth. A soft noise left her lips. Her tongue flitted out to trace the ridges of his teeth. And then, without warning, she tilted her head and nipped sharply at his lower lip, then sucked it between her lips. Adeon smiled over her mouth as she released his lip and moved his hand in a slow ascent up her thigh.

"Please, Adeon," she begged. His fingers slipped in between her legs and crawled up to trace the inside of her thigh. He lifted his head to gaze down at her, watching her lips part and quiver as he finally teased his fingertips across the wet, hot length of her slit. "Adeon," she moaned. He dipped down and drew one of her nipples into the heat of his mouth, and her back arched with satisfaction as he suckled it gently.

When two of his fingers finally plunged into her, she let out a shaky little cry of relief.

He explored her slowly, looking for that tender spot inside of her that made her quiver and jump, and then he was rubbing his fingers over and over it, delighting in the new tension in her body, in the way her legs began to shake. He began to curl his fingers against the silkiness of her passage--beckoning her, urging her--and knelt down to steal her shivery moan into his throat. She was so wet; melting like chocolate all over his fingers. It took every ounce of self-restraint in his body to resist the urge to wrench her thighs open and fuck her right then. But her body was already tightening around him, coiling in anticipation.

"Oh, you sweet thing," he whispered against her lips. "I can feel how close you are..."

"Please--just a little more, a little more," she chanted feverishly, reaching up to frame his face with her fingers. Her legs were squeezing themselves shut.

"A little more," he agreed soothingly, smiling and brushing his nose against hers as he worked his fingers. "A little more," he breathed, quickening his strokes savagely. Her hands clutched at his hair in desperation. Her eyes were screwing shut, her lips were shaping themselves into a little "o" of release, and he waited with baited breath for the waves to break.

Her fingers knotted into his hair, her breath came in soft, quivering gasps, and he exhaled shakily in appreciation as he felt those familiar pulses clench against his knuckles. He gave three last, slow curls of his fingers, eking out the dregs of her orgasm as she twitched underneath him. When her eyes opened again, he had already removed his hand and shoved his hips in between her thighs. He sucked at his fingertips, tasting the tang of her, and she watched him drowsily as he pressed his cock against the slickness between her thighs.

"Yes, please," she said, closing her eyes and suckling briefly at the pad of his thumb as he dragged it over her soft lower lip.

He entered her with a single fluid thrust, and his eyelids fluttered shut with relief as she enveloped him tightly. Her legs rose to wrap around his hips, pulling him in deeper, and he groaned against her neck. He moved in slow strokes at first, relishing every hot, velvety inch, but her hands came up to clutch frantically at his shoulders in a silent plea. So he deepened his thrusts, with an increasing need, until he was plunging eagerly into her. Her fingernails raked his back. Her body was jerking beneath him rhythmically with every heavy shove of his hips.

They were both descending into a wild, hungry tangle of limbs and grasping fingers. Her hands reached up to knot themselves in his hair, but he quickly seized her wrists in the palm of his hand and pinned them high over her head, so she could only writhe and plead and take him...

He took in a shaky breath through his teeth and quickened his pace urgently as she wound up and then dissolved in a series of delicious little pulses. Her eyes opened in bright slits to fix him with a lost, helpless look that only intensified with each thrust, her body gripping him with a near vice-like insistency. Her open lips quivered. She looked close to tears.

Finally, his thrusts slowed as he found his release. He poured into her with a series of gasps, his mouth hovering over her throat, his hand releasing her wrists and descending to slowly fondle one of her breasts. Catherine lay beneath him in a spent pile of limbs, but after a moment, she nuzzled into his neck.

"My love," she whispered breathlessly.

"Mmm." With some effort, he pulled himself off of her and flopped down onto his back next to her, grateful for the cool air that was gushing over his body. Catherine wobbled onto her knees and crawled over him to lay with her back on his chest; a tiny blot of heat against his skin. He caged her in with one of his arms, raising the other to stroke her neck. "You're still burning up," he said against her hair. He shifted so his knees were bent in between her legs, then parted them so her thighs were spread wide.

"I don't feel warm," she sighed.

"Poor girl." He trailed his hands down the soft lines of her torso, covering her in intangible little strokes and delighting in her shivers. "Perhaps I should keep you here, delirious and naked, until the battle ends," he whispered with a smile.

"Noooooo," she protested in a tiny moan.

"It wouldn't be so bad," he teased into her ear, lashing her earlobe with his tongue as he spoke. "We would have each other for amusement."

"You aren't playing fair," she reprimanded him in a slur. She bit her lip as he engulfed her breasts with his hands, rolling them lazily in his palms. Her back arched, pressing her buttocks against his hips.

"No." He was pinching and tugging at her nipples, smiling as they tightened against the pads of his fingers. When her eyes squinted shut, he gave her breasts another playful squeeze before running his fingers down to her hips. He pulled her down and held her fast as he thrust forward, slipping his cock between her thighs and running the length of it all over her in leisurely strokes. He was already stiff again. "And you want me still," he sighed.

Catherine watched him from the corner of her eye, and her lips twitched into a weak little smile. "I'll always want you."

He nosed against her neck, covering it with soothing kisses as he continued to tease himself against her, but then she was rising slowly onto her knees. Her hips tilted suggestively as she leaned against his legs, her hands clutching his knees, and she gave him a hazy look from over her shoulder.