Man Who Should be King (10 page)

Marcus opened Syranna’s bedroom door quietly, juggling the
tray with a bowl of food for her “babies” and a bottle of wine for them to
share. Immediately he realized that the noise had stopped when he entered the
room, closing the door behind him. Crossing to the bed, he was completely
awestruck by the beautiful vision of Syranna lying on the bed. Her silky robe
had become displaced and revealed almost half of each breast’s inner curve. If
she had not had a dragonet asleep on her stomach, he could have enjoyed a full
view of her breasts.

As he set the tray down on the bedside stand, he quickly
moved the bowl with the food to the wood chest at the foot of the bed. Without
a second’s pause, Fitzy, as he was starting to call him, and his namesake
scrambled toward the bowl. Their loud eating style stirred Syranna and she
opened her eyes.

“Oh, hello! I didn’t hear you come in.”

“I can be pretty quiet, when the need arises.” He watched as
Syranna came up on her elbows. While he couldn’t say with complete certainty,
he was pretty sure she was unaware that her new position pulled her robe back
and treated him to the sight of her naked breasts.

“Does that kind of need…uhm…come up very often?”

If Marcus didn’t know the woman in front of him was a
princess he would think she were one of the royal courtesans that proliferated
many of the castles and palaces throughout the worlds of Vikalla, Kallas and
Kalledane. Remarks like that would have been highly suggestive made by a
different sort of woman. Yet he couldn’t stop his response to her near-naked
beauty. Clearing his throat, he spoke.

“Perhaps you should wake up AnnaBelle.”

“You can pick her up and put her on the chest. Just gently
push her head to the food before it’s all gone.”

Marcus answered her smile by turning and picking up a second
bowl. “I thought of that.” He paused; seeing how peacefully the little dragon
was sleeping, he set the dish back down. Removing his shirt and boots, he
lowered himself to lie beside Syranna, across the bed. A moment later, she
settled back down as well.

“That was thoughtful of you,” Syranna murmured, and Marcus
heard the surprise in her voice.

“I can do that every now and then.”

He watched as Syranna eased her fingers beneath the little
dragon, lifting her gently and then setting her on his upper stomach. She then
rolled onto her side and looked at him. He noticed that she had not yet made
any effort to restore her robe to order and he was loath to say a word that
might break the casual yet intense intimacy he felt between them.

Slowly he became more aware of the light weight and warmth
seeping into his body through the small dragon resting on his stomach. He could
feel her tiny breathing meshing with his as she adjusted to her “new bed.” It
was a strange feeling, as he didn’t disturb the obviously deep slumber of the
infant dragon in favor of his own pleasure or need for sleep. Closing his eyes,
he recalled seeing one of his men playing with an infant of a camp follower
during the war. The man had lowered the child to lie on his chest, who had
promptly fallen asleep. Even when the woman brought him food, he had not moved
for fear of waking the child.

Now he knew why. Of course, he knew there was no comparison
between a child and an animal, but he recognized the protective needs being
aroused within him. Marcus was not used to feeling protective toward anyone but
his soldiers. And they were all men who had served proudly during the war. It
didn’t make much sense for him to have any feeling for a dragon, of all things!

Then it hit him like a rock—he cared because Syranna cared!

He must have tensed or jerked, because the little dragon was
suddenly moving and waking up. He could hear her making some kind of mewling
noises. Immediately Syranna was lifting her off of him and sliding off the bed.
She carried AnnaBelle to the water dish, which was now on the chest at the foot
of the bed. Sitting up, Marcus watched as she gently guided the little dragon’s
mouth to the water. He grabbed the extra bowl he’d brought and carried it
around to where Syranna stood quietly, watching AnnaBelle drink.

“Don’t set it down yet, or they might come back for more.”
Syranna gestured to where his namesake and Fitzwalter had settled down to
sleep, nestling into one another. When AnnaBelle lifted her head from the
water, Syranna took the bowl of food and set it down. The female dragon
immediately turned and began eating.

Marcus was surprised when he felt Syranna reach for his
hand, tugging him back toward the bed. Unable to believe that she was bringing
him willingly into her bed, he kept his mouth shut. He let Syranna pull him
down onto the mattress beside her. When she pushed him onto his back and began
caressing his naked chest, he said a silent prayer. Closing his eyes, he
savored the feel of her small, soft hand stroking over his skin. He jerked in
surprise when he felt her mouth close over his right nipple. While his mind was
still coping with that sweet sensuality, he felt her fingers plucking and
teasing his left nipple.

Lost in a haze of growing sensuality, Marcus lifted his
hand, threading his fingers through her hair. It felt like silk against his
flesh as he cupped the back of her head. He jerked once again in surprise as he
felt her hand move down his stomach and release the fastening of his trousers.
Her boldness shocked him in the best possible way when her small hand closed
around his hard cock a moment later. Maybe he had died and this was heaven.

Syranna lifted her mouth from his nipple and shifted in the bed.
Marcus opened his eyes and saw that she must have felt constrained by her robe
because a second later she shrugged her shoulders and let it fall to her waist.
Using both hands, she pulled his pants down, completely freeing his cock.
Stripping the rest of his clothes and tossing them to the floor, Syranna
discarded her robe as well. Straddling his lower legs, she caressed his thighs.

“God! Syranna!” Marcus groaned under the soft, tentative
stroking of her hands. “Go on, sweetheart, touch me like you did a moment ago,
please…”

Her hands curled around his cock a moment later. “Yes!”
Marcus sighed as he exhaled. It felt amazingly sweet and arousing to have her
hands stroking over his skin. Yet he sensed her lack of experience, which only
reinforced the physical evidence he’d had of her innocence.

“Just stroke your hands up and down, Syranna,” he told her
hoarsely, moaning when she quickly and deftly repeated the moves. He didn’t
instruct her movements, yet a few seconds later one hand slid down and cupped
his sac. As he gloried in her gentle caress, he was still unprepared for the
rush he experienced once she began massaging his scrotum. For a moment, he had
the conscious thought that if she was this good without prior knowledge, what
would she be like—

“God! Honey! Yes!” he cried out when he felt the unexpected
heat of her mouth enclose the head of his cock. Damn! This felt sweet and hot
and forbidden. Looking at her head with her mouth sucking on him was too much.
Reaching down he grabbed her upper arms. “Syranna, darling, I wish I could let
you go on…I need to be inside you. I can’t wait, my love,” he murmured as he
quickly switched their positions. “Dear God, woman, you make me so hot!”

Seconds later he loomed over her. Pressing his lips to hers,
he kissed her sweetly and gently for a moment. Then his fingers moved between
her upper thighs and inside her wet lips. It pleased him to feel that she was
already wet. His mouth opened and kissed her like she was the last drink of
water in the desert. From there his lips slid down her face and neck and onto
her chest before he worked his way back up the nearest mountain and captured
her nipple. Drawing the turgid flesh inside, his tongue teased around the tight
bud. Sucking her nipple felt like he had finally found his elixir to happiness.
It was just like when he’d been inside her and had the strange sense of being
home.

Carefully, he slid his finger forward and eased it past the
folds of flesh. He knew he’d found the perfect spot when Syranna cried out the
next second.

“Oh my God! Oh! Oh!”

Marcus began wiggling his finger around her clit, pressing
it. Slipping back out for more lubrication, his finger returned, wet and
slippery. Her hips were quickly writhing and jerking in response to his touch.
Two of his other fingers slipped into her heat, curving forward to find that
little fleshy spot. Without pausing, he stimulated her clit and g-spot
together. He watched her face closely and when her orgasm began, his fingers
deserted her cunt, replaced by his cock.

Thrusting into her tight, wet flesh, his thrusts quickly
took up the same pleasuring movements. Marcus watched Syranna’s face as he
moved in and out of her body. Her eyes were closed and her lips parted as she
gasped for air. His eyes lowered and he could see her breasts bouncing each
time their hips met or her hips jerked. The feel of her body squeezing and
milking his cock was too much to hold out against, and he thrust forward deeply
and shot his seed into her body. It seemed much too short as he emptied his balls
of their juice, wishing he could stay inside her sweet, tight heat forever.

Reluctantly he pulled from her body, liking the sucking
sound of his large cock leaving her tight cunt. Falling to his back on the bed,
he gasped quickly and repeatedly, pulling in huge gulps of air into his lungs.
He was dimly aware of Syranna pulling the covers up and over them before she
rested her head on his chest. Marcus knew he should say something, but words
seemed beyond his ability just then, and he thought it was better to say
nothing than to say the wrong thing and spoil this wonderful mood. He fell
asleep while caressing her silky hair.

“Holy Hell! If I catch you, you little fire-breathing demon,
I’ll make it so you can never blow flames at anyone ever again!”

Marcus sat straight up in bed. He’d heard the yelling coming
from outside the bedroom door. Beside him he felt the mattress shift as Syranna
got out of the bed. Obviously she’d been asleep as well.

“What the devil…? Uther! You old fool, stop chasing it!
You’re only making it worse!”

Marcus was sure the second voice was Darmand’s, especially
when he heard the same voice a moment later.

“Damn it all! The little bugger bit my toe! Come back here!”

Syranna already had her robe on and was flying out the door
by this time, three brightly colored harnesses trailing out of one clenched
fist. A few seconds later, he heard her voice added to the fray.

“Stop it, both of you! The more you keep yelling and
screaming and stomping around, the longer it will take me to settle them down
enough to catch them.”

Marcus dragged his trousers on and walked into the hallway
barefoot. He couldn’t see anyone yet, so he continued on down the wide, curving
steps to the main hall. Here were chaos and mayhem, which he was coming to
believe made better names for Fitzy and his namesake. They had obviously
mastered flight because they were flying wildly about the room letting out
little puffs of flame every once in a while.

Twisting around, he looked for little AnnaBelle and saw her cowering
in a corner. Walking over to Syranna, he took the pink harness from her hand.
When she looked up at him, he smiled.

“I’ll see if AnnaBelle will let me put this on her. That way
you can concentrate on those two.”

Marcus felt his heart literally climb into his throat a
second later when Syranna’s eyes lit with gratitude. He resisted taking the
time to caress her soft cheek with his fingers and instead began walking across
the floor to AnnaBelle. He tried to imitate the noise he’d heard her make, but when
that flopped, he just sweet-talked her.

Dropping down onto one knee a few feet away, he spoke
softly. “Come on, pretty girl, come to Daddy. He won’t hurt his sweet baby.
Come on, sweetie, that’s it. Yes…come to Daddy. There’s a good girl,” he said
quietly as he finally slipped the harness into place around her mouth and head.
Picking her up, he cradled her like an infant in his arms.

“Good job, Daddy,” William told him a moment later.

Marcus turned to his friend and shrugged. “It’s just like
I’ve always said.”

William looked confused and scratched his head. “What do you
mean?”

“A great leader does whatever it takes to please his
subjects!”

“Yeah, right,” William murmured, shaking his head, but still
not coming any closer. Marcus could see the doubt in his old friend’s eyes as
he continued to coddle and pet the green dragon in his arms.

“Don’t worry, William. I’ve not gone crazy, yet.”

“Uther! Stop trying to hit Marcus with that broom! You are
only making things worse. They won’t calm down until you stop.”

Both men had spun around at Syranna’s shout, but Uther was
across the room. It was surprising how spry the old wizard was when he wanted
to be, Marcus noted with a smile. There was a ragged edge along the bottom of
his purple robe and smoke was rising from the white beard, which definitely
looked about six inches shorter than it had last night.

“Darmand, stop laughing and please restrain Uther!” Syranna
pleaded with the dark-haired wizard.

“Very well, my pretty princess, just remember that you asked
me to do it.” Darmand shrugged nonchalantly.

Marcus turned and saw Darmand pull a silver wand from his
sleeve. With a flick of his hand, Uther disappeared a second later and the
broom fell with a loud clatter.

“What the hell?” William muttered beside him.

Marcus watched as one of the dragons flew down and landed on
the fallen broom. Immediately Syranna ran across the floor and picked the
dragonet up, cradling him gently while she slipped his harness on. She walked
over and set it down on the table. A few seconds later, its brother glided to a
perfect stop a few feet away.

“Come here, Marcus,” Syranna commanded softly. The little
dragonet walked the few feet across the tabletop, meekly allowing Syranna to
place the harness over his mouth and head. “There’s a good boy,” she added as
she gently rubbed the top of his head.

“Well, I’m glad we’ve got that all settled,” William spoke
as he pulled a chair from the table and sat down.

Marcus crossed to stand beside Syranna. Immediately,
AnnaBelle began scrambling to get to her. “Ow! Damn! That hurts!” he said as
her little claws dug into his skin.

Syranna took AnnaBelle quickly. “I’m sorry, milord. You’ll
learn to always put your shirt on when you hear this kind of commotion in the
future.”

Marcus watched as Syranna turned away toward the kitchen,
calling out for Moerana. He didn’t think she was even aware of how naturally
she’d sounded when she spoke, assuming that he was going to
be
around in
her future. As far as he was concerned, it was a great idea.

A wet squishy sound drew his attention toward the doorway a
moment later. There was Uther, dripping wet and madder than a wet hen, which in
this case was appropriate.

“That was not funny, Darmand! I could have drowned!” Uther
protested loudly. As he started walking across the room, each wet sandal made a
squelching noise with every step.

“It’s not deep enough, old man, for you to drown in the
reflecting pool,” Darmand point out, grinning shamelessly.

“Then I could have broken something in the fall. Besides,
you aren’t supposed to practice magic in another wizard’s home.”

“I know, but Syranna did ask me for help. And she knows me
well enough that I’d never deny a lady’s request.”

Uther stopped and planted his clenched fists on his hips.
“That is not what she meant, and you know it!”

Darmand shrugged and walked to the table. “I interpreted her
words into the most efficient way to enact them. And as you can see, you
cantankerous old wizard, once you were gone she immediately got the little
monsters under control. Obviously,” Darmand sat down and crossed his arms over
his chest, “you were the insurrectionist in this revolt.”

William chuckled. “He is right, you know. You two missed the
best part of the show.”

Syranna shook her head and walked to the far end of the
table. Sitting down, she put her arms on the table and then rested her forehead
on her arms. AnnaBelle moved from her lap onto the table. Marcus was forced to
readjust his thinking about dragons a moment later when AnnaBelle started
nudging Syranna’s arm with her muzzle. When Syranna turned her head, she rubbed
her face against Syranna’s cheek.

In the silence, they could hear the little sound the
dragonet made as she tried to soothe her “mother.” She’d only made the sound
for a few seconds when her two brothers scampered down the table and tried to
comfort Syranna as well. The dragon she called Marcus surprised him the most
when it extended its wing and partially covered Syranna’s head. He gasped when
the wing moved up and down as if it understood patting her might make her feel
better. The implications of what this meant suddenly hit him!

Syranna’s head came up off the table and met his eyes a
moment later. Marcus felt like he could hear her voice inside his mind as she
pleaded with him to say nothing about the dragons. Maybe this place was making
him crazy, but he nodded his head in acquiescence.

Moerana spoke from the doorway. “Are you ready for
breakfast, ma’am?”

Syranna nodded as she spoke. “Ten minutes should give Uther
enough time to get changed. And I’m going to take the dragonets out for a quick
drink in the pond.”

Marcus watched as she held out her arms for the dragons to
cling to before turning and walking out of the room. As he started to follow
her, he remembered that he was standing there in just his trousers. Running up
the stairs, he heard Uther following.

“What is it with all this dashing upstairs? I’ll be glad
when these people leave and I can get back to normal. Syranna should have
kicked them all out the minute they got here. We need peace and quiet to get
her ready for the test. I need more time…”

Marcus stopped just outside Syranna’s bedroom door, waiting
for Uther to catch up with him so he could hear the rest of his monosyllabic
tirade. But when he didn’t hear anything else, he continued into the room and
quickly pulled his clothes on. He was sitting on the bed, pulling his boots on
when the bedroom door opened. Looking up, he was surprised to see Syranna
standing there.

Syranna leaned back against the door and closed her eyes.
“What did I ever do to deserve this insanity?”

“Is that rhetorical or do you want me to answer?” Marcus
offered quietly.

Opening her eyes slowly, she saw him sitting on the side of
the bed. Despite a night filled with lovemaking, Lord Marcus looked as if he’d
slept for twenty hours and was ready to take on the world. She knew if she
looked in the mirror she would see the ravages of a sleepless night. Suddenly
she felt the need to speak her mind.

“You should be sitting on the throne of Vikalla, not in this
decrepit old castle with an insane group of people.”

Marcus laughed and shook his head. “I wouldn’t say that,
darling. I’ve rather enjoyed my stay here. I still am set on you returning with
me to Vikalla for our wedding, but I’m amenable to us splitting our time
between here and the palace. I’d feel perfectly at ease leaving William in
control while we returned here every now and then.”

“What makes you so sure I’ll go back with you? I would think
that if nothing else, you’ve learned that I won’t go anywhere I don’t want to.”

Marcus laughed, throwing his head back as he did. Syranna
let her eyes roam over the tanned skin of his neck, easily recalling how she
had kissed him there while she rode his body during the night. Straddling his
hips had proven to be quite an unexpected treat. She was tempted to go right
over there, push him backward onto the bed and make love to him. The
realization that she was falling in love with this man sent shivers through her
body. Could she turn her back on the dreams she had been instilled with since
she was eleven years old?

Almost from the very first day, her grandfather had taught
her about her natural inheritance. She had seen the disappointment in his eyes,
even though he’d never spoken the words out loud. Lord Mathayrus had felt that
Sylvia, her mother, had turned her back on her natural inheritance for love.
Syranna soon realized that her grandfather’s hopes for the future had come to
rest within her. She accepted it fully, or at least she had until she met this
man who would be the king once his coronation took place. Suddenly she spoke
her thoughts out loud.

“Why have you delayed the coronation ceremonies? It’s been
long enough since my father’s death.”

Marcus sighed heavily. “That wasn’t the only reason,
Syranna.”

Syranna shook her head. “There should be no other reason for
your delay. By all rights you deserve the title. You fought hard enough for it.
Good Lord! You preserved three worlds and their peoples and cultures. That is a
mighty feat and the ruler of those three worlds should be called ‘king’ by his
subjects.”

“Many people still feel it should be a ‘blood entitlement’
and not that I fought and worked for it. You are the rightful ruler, my sweet.
You must be queen.”

“And you should be king. Where does that get anyone?”

“Nowhere.”

Syranna wasn’t sure that she liked his answers. She’d
expected him to say again that they should get married. What upset her more was
that she’d wanted him to ask her again, or tell her, so she could bluster a bit
before giving in. God! She was losing her sanity! Syranna prided herself on her
straightforward and honest approach to life. What was happening to her?

“Where are the troublemakers?”

Syranna looked back at Marcus, realizing in surprise that
he’d spoken to her. “Oh! I left Darmand at the table and I assumed Uther came
up to change his clothes.”

She eased away from the door and began walking past the bed.
Marcus’ hand shot out and clasped around her wrist. He pulled her toward him
until she stood between his parted thighs, her knees pressing against the
mattress of her bed. His hands came to rest on her hips as he looked the slight
distance up into her eyes.

“I was talking about the dragons.”

Syranna smiled back at him. “I know. They are in the pool. I
let them have a little drink and then restored their harnesses. I wanted to
change into something more appropriate for breakfast.”

Marcus’ hands opened with his thumbs covering her stomach.
She felt his hands wiggling and his thumbs pulling, and soon her robe was
parting under his insistent fingers. Marcus’ eyes dropped down and Syranna felt
a flush moving up her neck and across her cheeks. The robe had parted revealing
her lower body, but it clung at her nipples because of the tie and only
partially displayed her breasts.

“Do you think anyone would notice if we skipped the morning
meal?” Marcus asked her softly. He shifted his hands to curve around her
hipbones, while his thumbs turned inward toward her belly button. They rested
on her warm flesh instead of the silky fabric. Slowly each one began gliding
over her skin and Syranna felt desire shoot through her body. It was so easy to
step closer to him. When he eased his head forward, instead of it resting on
her breastbone as she expected, he gently eased the fabric away from her right
nipple. She lifted her hand to cup the back of his head. The feel of his mouth
covering her nipple and lightly sucking it was almost too much.

“Yes, they would notice, but I don’t care. Marcus!”