Tariana lifted the spy by the neck and threw him. He landed hard on the ground, a good thirty feet away, his cry of pain echoing in the silence. “Have him put in chains,” she ordered Commander Rommar, who was pale with shock. “I want every soldier on this base strip-searched, starting with these men here.” She turned back to the recruits. “Now!” she barked.
The soldiers hastily removed their clothing, placing it in a pile at their feet as instructed. One made it halfway through before he tried to bolt, but Alistair caught him by the throat and slammed him to the ground. Gritting his teeth, he held the soldier down, and after a quick search found the ring on his left pinky that held the illusion spell. Ara discovered a third, and they were all sent off to the dungeon to await trial and execution.
“It’s a good thing they were merely spies, and not warlocks themselves,” Alistair said to Tariana afterward. “They could have done quite a bit of damage if they wielded any real magic.”
Tariana snorted. “The warlocks never send one of their own as a spy,” she said. “They train humans as operatives and give them magical devices. Fortunately, none of these three had anything that could do real damage.”
The soldiers left behind were muttering to themselves, angry and shocked that their fellow comrades had been killed and replaced with spies.
“Well?” Tariana demanded, drawing their attention again. “Are you just going to stand around and complain about what the warlocks are doing to us? Or will you join me, and hit them hard where it matters most?”
“We will fight!” a soldier toward the back roared, his voice filled with anger and passion. He snapped to attention, heedless of his nudity, and saluted Tariana. “We will follow you into the depths of Hell itself if that’s what it takes to beat back these warlock scum!”
The other soldiers followed suit, saluting their general. “To war!” they cried in unison. Tariana grinned fiercely, and Alistair’s chest swelled with pride. Their numbers might have been halved, but the Dragon Force was still the fiercest military in Terragaard. And Shadowhaven was about to find out just how big a mistake they had made.
5
Dareena woke the next morning to find Alistair long gone. He’d joined her and Drystan the previous night, not long after Lucyan had left, and she’d enjoyed a nice snuggle with the two of them before drifting off to sleep. Alistair had already told her he’d be leaving early to go to Glastar with Tariana, so she’d half expected this. And yet, she felt an ache in her chest when she sat up and looked around at all the empty space in their big bed.
“Mmm.” Drystan curled his arm around her waist and lifted his head. His sleepy eyes opened fully as he searched her face. “Are you all right, darling? You look out of sorts.”
Dareena sighed. “I’m just missing your brothers,” she admitted, running her fingers through Drystan’s dark hair, which was so like her own. “It would be nice if the four of us could spend more than one night together before rushing off to war again.”
Drystan pushed himself upright so he could pull Dareena into his arms. “I know it seems like there is nothing but strife and trouble in our lives right now, pulling us all in different directions,” he said as she leaned her head against his strong chest, “but this is merely a chapter in our lives. Things have not always been this way, and we will not be at war forever. Once we defeat the warlocks, we will be at peace again, and the next thing you know you’ll be clawing at the castle walls to get away from us.”
Dareena laughed. “Never that,” she said, lifting her head to plant a soft kiss on Drystan’s lips. He tightened his arms around her and kissed her back, slow and languorous, running his hands up and down her bare back. The tension and worry bled out of her, replaced by the warm ripple of arousal that tightened her stomach and made her core pulse with need. “I would never tire of having the three of you around me. After all, I’ll need someone to look after all our babes.”
Drystan chuckled. “Is that what we’re to be, then?” he asked, lifting her onto his lap. His cock pressed insistently against her core, and she moaned as it slid against her clit. “Your governesses, while you pop out babes and run the country?”
“It sounds like a good idea to me,” Dareena said breathlessly as Drystan cupped her bottom with both hands. He squeezed, kneading the globes of her arse, then lifted her up and impaled her on his cock. Dareena moaned as his thick shaft filled her, bracing her hands against his broad shoulders as pleasure speared her. Drystan’s fingers dug into her flesh as he lifted her again, sliding her up and down his cock. His eyelids were at half-mast as he gazed up at her, those amber irises glowing, and he leaned in to nip at her neck, finding the sensitive spot that drove her wild.
“Harder,” she gasped, clutching at Drystan as she rode him. He drove his hips up, pushing his cock even deeper inside her, and she came, crying out his name as a wild rush of pleasure filled her.
“I love it when you say my name like that,” Drystan panted, his eyes gleaming as he worked her up and down his cock. “Do it again.”
“Drystan,” she moaned again. She pushed her weight into her legs and bounced up and down, working him hard and fast, pushing him closer to the edge. “Come for me, my love,” she breathed, squeezing him with her inner walls.
“Yes.” He buried his face in her neck as his cock pulsed. Dareena held him fast as he jetted his hot seed into her, loving the way his big, muscular body shuddered beneath her. Never in her life did she envision having such power over a man like this…and she had not only Drystan, but his brothers, too.
Her heart had never been so full.
“I can’t wait to meet our son,” Drystan said afterward, stroking her belly as they spooned. One of his arms was wrapped around her side, and his broad chest pressed against her back. “Do you think he’ll have our hair? Or will he be a redhead, like Lucyan?”
“I’m not sure, but I do know he’ll have your eyes,” Dareena said, smiling gently. She giggled as Drystan traced a circle around her belly button, the motion tickling her, then winced when her stomach let out a loud rumble. “Either way, I think the babe is hungry. It’s high time we got up and broke our fast.”
Drystan heartily agreed. He called for breakfast, and the two of them cleaned up and donned dressing gowns while they waited. Soon enough, servants came into the suite bearing rashers of bacon, poached eggs, potatoes, and fresh rolls with butter. Dareena’s mouth watered at the sight of all the food laid out on the table, and though she felt a pang knowing that Lucyan and Alistair weren’t there to enjoy it with them, her need to eat ultimately won out over her melancholy.
“What are your plans for today?” she asked Drystan as they ate.
“My first order of business is to figure out what to do with all this blasted treasure,” he said. “We were only able to fit a third of it into the treasury. The rest is stored in an oubliette in the south tower and covered with heavy stones.”