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  It wasn’t even sunset.

  The servants helped clean Berengit up and placed her on her bed with her son nestled against her breast, having his first meal.

  “I will check on you two tomorrow. There are no more patients for me here, so I will be on my way out, but I will stop in.”

  “Don’t forget to ask him about Hospitality.” Berengit smiled, a blinding happiness on her face, her sharp teeth gleaming. “Nice trick with the purifying fire. I have rarely seen it done.”

  “You knew what it was?”

  “Of course.”

  Myka stroked the baby’s fuzzy blue head. “I am glad one of us did.” She smiled, bowed and left the new mother. Mashu rushed in as she exited and excitedly met his new son.

  It was nice to see a father in love with his new family, Myka thought as she returned to the hotel. The locals were eager to point the way and when she looked down, she saw why. The blood and mess of birthing was on her from breasts to knees. “Oh great.”

  She returned to the hotel, ordered a fast bath and asked for new clothing. “I am supposed to be having dinner with Elite D’hai. A cold bath will be fine.”

  Her words started a wild explosion of activity and the tub made it past her to the bathing room. Servants stood by to help her strip while new clothing was brought in. She peeled out of her robe and the servants tackled her tunic and skirt. Even her socks went flying as water splashed into the tub. She jumped in, scrubbing blood and amniotic fluid off her skin. The flowered soap foamed quickly, making quick work of the stains of her employment.

  A quick rinse by turning under the pitcher of water held by another servant sluiced her clean and towels swarmed her from every angle. The fresh tunic slid over her shoulders while she stepped into another split skirt. In moments, she was dry, presentable and hungry.

  A frantic servant skidded in and said the first sentence that she had yet to hear from one, “He is asking for you. He is growing impatient.”

  Myka straightened her shoulders, “Then let’s not keep him waiting.” She followed the woman to the room where Elite D’hai was waiting and it was a good thing she had. He had risen to his feet and was approaching the door when they slid it open.

  “Why are you late?”

  She bowed apologetically as the servant made a break for it. “I had to deliver a baby. A healthy boy.”

  “Truly? A healthy birth?”

  His tone was hopeful, admiring. She raised her head to peek at his features and was surprised at the delighted smile.

  “Yes. A healthy birth—mother and son are doing fine.” She gestured to her new clothing, “I had to change before dinner. Occupational hazard.”

  “I guess if I am to be your companion and escort while you are here, I must get used to your odd hours.” He bowed a small apology and gestured for her to be seated. “You must be hungry after your efforts.”

  “Yes. Very.” She sat and washed her hands, thinking back to the blue flame that had coated her hands but not burned them.

  “Who had the baby?” He seemed curious. A servant brought the first course, a noodle with chopsticks, for consumption.

  “Berengit.”

  “Ah, Mashu’s wife. The matchmaker. Did she give you any romantic advice?” He seemed mildly curious.

  Myka almost choked on her noodles. “Uh, I don’t know if it was romantic, but she did give me some advice.”

  “I can only imagine. Would you care to share her suggestion?”

  “I don’t think I am ready to. It was a little more than my prudish senses can cope with.”

  He looked disappointed. “A hint?”

  “It concerns the realms of Hospitality.” She kept her eyes down and slurped her noodles with intense focus.

  A tense silence fell between them. The one time during the meal that Myka got up the nerve to look at him, his silver eyes were alive with molten heat.

  A baked dessert using cream, fruit and served with spoons came through the door, just as she was getting up the nerve to ask for clarification.

  As soon as the door slid shut, D’hai asked, “What would you like to know about it?”

  “Berengit noticed I was a little, uncomfortable. She mentioned that as my host, you would not be able to refuse me the Hospitality of your body.”

  “That is true. It is a host’s duty to see to the needs of their guest. Whatever the need may be.” He leaned back on his elbow and watched her closely.

  That four-letter word cooled her ardour. Duty. “I would never impose.” She bowed formally.

  “It is no imposition. I believe it could be…my pleasure.”

  His eyes were molten, but she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t ask him to use his body to scratch her itch. His scent grew stronger while she watched him. She wanted him so badly she was shaking with it. “I can’t.”

  “You are a virgin?”

  “No.”

  “Then why can’t you?”

  “I…please excuse me.” She nodded and practically ran back to her private room. His scent was in her clothing, riding her skin. A servant tried to assist her, but she shooed her out. Alone was better.

  Mindless, Myka tugged on her clothing until she was naked. She turned down the lights and lay nude on the covers. Her hands skimmed her breasts, fingers tweaked her nipples and then she wove two fingers through the thatch of hair at the top of her thighs. The curls parted easily, the slick moisture that she was producing copiously easing her way.

  Myka dipped two fingers into her juices and made slow and then rapid circles around her clit. Mindful of the wooden walls, she bit her lip to stifle her moans and worked herself rapidly into an orgasm.

  * * * *

  Outside Myka’s room, D’hai made a tight fist against his thigh that echoed the hard press of flesh in his groin. Her scent had enticed him into a frenzy and she had refused to do anything about it. Her innocent questions fuelled his desire to have her under him and here she was, making tiny noises as she worked herself to climax.

  Her scent was maddening, a tease of heat, lust, compassion and magic that he found irresistible.

  Rules of etiquette meant that she had to come to him. He could not force himself on or seduce a guest of his house. He could persuade her to ask him and in the moment where she moaned and hissed her release, he vowed that she would.

  Chapter Five

  Berengit was up and running when a horny and frustrated Myka walked into her home. Baby Solru was in a sling on his mother’s chest and Mashu was being congratulated at every turn. Not for his son but for his wife’s survival.

  Accompanied by Elite D’hai, she visited a few more of her patients and then climbed aboard the horse and rode off into the noonday sun. D’hai was not speaking to her. He was not being rude—he simply did not begin any conversations.

  Myka now had saddlebags with bedrolls and a pleasant array of appropriate clothing. Her robe flared around her when she mounted, but her split skirt was perfect for the duty for which it was designed.

  Uncomfortable hours passed on the back of the unfamiliar animal until she could hold on no longer. “Elite D’hai. I need to eat and rest.”

  He immediately stopped his mount and leaped to the ground in a graceful move that made her glare at him.

  Her own dismount was far less coordinated, involving her butt on the ground. Cursing, she stood slowly under her own power while he removed the saddle from her mount and his own.

  “We will rest here for the night. The sun is almost down.” He gathered brush from nearby scrubs and with a gesture of his fingers, fire flared up.

  She wobbled near his fire and dropped to the ground with a groan.

  “Are you alright?” His lips were twitching and she knew that he was fighting a full-out grin.

  “No. Every muscle hurts. I hate horseback riding. I mean hate it.” She tried to move her legs and arms, but nothing wanted to cooperate.

  “There is a spring nearby. We can bathe while our food is cooking.”

 
“But…you started a fire here?” Her cognitive thought was fuzzy.

  “I will move camp. You just need to follow if you can.”

  “Okay.” That seemed like a fair plan. With a quick gesture, he put out the flames and grabbed the saddles and the reins of the beasts. He led and she and the horses followed. She fell twice, but didn’t call for help. It took her a lot of effort, but she got up again each time.

  The roar of the falls was a blessing to her ears. While D’hai made camp again, she stumbled to the edge of the pool and began to strip off her clothing. That water was calling her and she wanted to answer. She untied the breast band with no small relief and dropped it as the final piece of clothing to the rocky shore of the pool.

  She waded into the icy water until she was hip deep and turned to look back at the campsite. D’hai had a cheery fire going with some kind of meat nearby on a spit. The man himself was staring at her as if he had never seen a nude Terran wading in ice water before. Making eye contact with him, her nipples hardened to pebbles while her breasts grew full and heavy. Embarrassed at her body’s reaction, she simply let herself fall backward until her body was encased in ice.

  That cooled her libido as nothing else would have. It would have continued to if the water hadn’t suddenly warmed and begun to caress her flesh in places even her fingers had problems going. She stood up, only to find that she had floated out beyond her reach and she treaded water.

  D’hai stood nude at the edge of the water, the dragon on his chest writhing with power. The other dragon in question was not looking at her, but it held her attention as nothing else could. As he walked toward her, she merely waved her limbs idly in the now-hot water as he grew closer and closer.

  Floating was out of the question—she wouldn’t be able to watch him. When he ducked under the water and it began to foam and bubble, she became concerned. When a tail flicked between her thighs and rubbed her in a manner no fish would dare to, she knew that D’hai was using something else to drive her to him.

  Nothing prepared her for the head with glowing silver eyes breaking the water beside her. The dragon in the water might have had her panicking if not for the voice in her head.

  Ask me for the Hospitality of my body. There is no sense torturing both of us and it defies the laws of guests for me to seduce you. Well, seduce you in my human form—there are no rules against this one.

  “That is fascinating.” So was the stroking between her thighs being executed by his tail. “So, you thought if you shifted forms, you could get me to ask you for Hospitality?”

  Yes. I thought this form would make it easier for you.

  He was sliding his form around her naked limbs, supporting and stroking at the same time. Her body suddenly felt warmer than the water around her. When he stopped moving against her, he watched her closely, his silver eyes having translated the shift. It was definitely D’hai and now she could see why he was one of the Elite.

  Shapeshifters were not common in space, but they did occur. Usually not into something that Myka would recognize though. She had heard of the dragons of Drai, but most of that race could no longer shift. Something in this world had kept their abilities firing. The embrace she was in was living proof.

  “It makes it easier to scream and run like hell. You could have warned me.”

  He was supporting her in the water, so she reached up to stroke his head. She estimated him to be about twenty feet of undulating muscle with claws and fangs as large as her fingers.

  You do not find this form appealing? There was laughter in his voice as he ran the coils of his body over her.

  “I find your regular form very appealing, this one is just disturbing. Fun. But disturbing.”

  As I find your pale shape pleasing. It surprised me when you shed your clothing to bathe.

  “Bathing is important to me. Unfortunately, the first time we met, I made a bad impression.”

  He snorted, vapour jets appearing from his nostrils. You were starved and beaten. Do not think I cannot still see the bruises on you. Your condition was forgivable.

  “Thank you. Your generosity knows no bounds.” She inclined her head formally an instant before he raised his head and shot a flame into the sky. If he ever laughed really hard, the local flora might be in danger.

  I am still awaiting your answer. Will it be easier to ask me for Hospitality in this form?

  “I think it might be a little weird. It will have to be something asked of your other shape.”

  As soon as the words were out of her mouth, he began to shift. Floating naked in a warm pond with a man whose body she craved was out of her realm of experience. However, when in Rome…

  “Elite D’hai, I would like to request the Hospitality of your body.”

  She treaded water just out of his reach. As her words flowed over him, he tilted his head back, exposing the strong column of his throat. He shuddered, a sharp glow pulsed from his tattoo to cover his body. When he reopened his eyes, they were glowing as well.

  “Thank you. I am not the most patient of men and knowing you wanted me but would not ask was driving me to the edge of my control.” He surged forward in the water, letting Myka know for the first time that he could still touch the bottom.

  “Since you asked, I formally offer you the Hospitality of my body. Use it as you will.”

  He was close enough to touch now and with the buoyancy afforded her, she floated over to place her hands on his shoulders.

  “If you don’t want me, say so now and we can forget I ever spoke.”

  He said nothing, so she forestalled any other speech with a kiss. The taste of him drove her senses to the edge. The indescribably wonderful scent of him transferred into a taste that was more than she had bargained for. She tried to push away from him, but he held her tightly against him with a gentle but firm touch.

  He held her head still and took his own turn learning her flavour. She was shaking with heat by the time he finished. He leaned back, wonder in his eyes.

  “What? I haven’t changed anything.”

  “I beg to differ. You do not normally burn with a blue flame.” He held her at arm’s length and as she looked down her body, she saw what he was seeing, blue flame covering every inch of exposed skin, which meant her whole body.

  “Oh, I am sorry.”

  “Why? I am impervious to flame. It feels rather nice against me, in fact.” D’hai drew her close and kissed her again. This time, she knew as the heat in her body flared, it was exterior as well as interior.

  His hand began a slow wander down her spine, cupping her buttocks and pulling her against his arousal in a firm but definite way. She moaned into his mouth and rocked against him, using the ridge of his cock to apply pressure to her clit. She was getting hotter, wetter and louder until she came against him, screaming her release to the echoing rocks.

  He held her supported in the water until she looked into his eyes again, seeing the need that now rode his body.

  Silently, she raised her hips, fitting him to her sex and rubbing the head of his cock in her copious moisture. Sighing, she sank onto him, her weight and the position bearing her down.

  He groaned and cupped her hips, moving her on him in a hard and fast beat. Water sloshed and scattered around them as his movement got more violent.

  Myka hung onto his shoulders for dear life as her fire sprang to life once again. She could feel him inside her, each smooth, stroking inch of him while he moved with a steady and heady beat.

  A release was coming like she had never had before and when it hit her, she dug her nails into D’hai’s shoulders, opened her eyes and shrieked in surprise. They were flying. Literally flying about thirty feet above the ground. Her orgasm couldn’t be stopped and that shock had her scream filling the air for miles around.

  He came into her, slamming against her with a harsh rhythm while he emptied his seed into her.

  Idly, as they both calmed, he floated them to their campsite, a wave of his hand upgrading their bedro
lls and lean into a silken tent with pillows that begged to be touched for softness. They simply floated into it with no additional words spoken.

  Her skin still flared blue, his eyes still pulsed silver, afterglow had a whole different meaning on Dremarai.

  Chapter Six

  It was a good sleep. A restful sleep that brought dreams of being held in the arms of the man she loved. That thought alone was enough to send her bolt upright on the cushions that D’hai had so thoughtfully conjured.

  She rose, tended to nature and cleaned her body with water from the edge of the pool. Riding horseback while sticky was not high on her list of things to do today.

  He had not touched her again aside from curling her against him. So she assumed that Hospitality had been satisfied.

  It had been wonderful and certainly scratched the itch, but just breathing him in in the morning after was enough to make her want to crawl back into the sheets with him. He was in her blood and she wanted more.

  She pulled her clothing into position and shifted to make the breast band more comfortable.

  “Not that I didn’t enjoy last night, but usually my partners do not leave the bed before I do.” His voice was amused, possibly by watching her jumping jack performance to settle her boobs. He was awake and dressed with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked delightfully tousled, but his hair was still in its metal bindings. There were only four visible now. He must have removed the one nearest to his neck.

  “I assumed that we were leaving this morning. I wanted to get an early start. Plus, I don’t remember eating anything.”

  “You are correct. I will summon breakfast and we can continue our travel to the village of Daru.”

  “Summon? Is it roaming wild in the prairie?”

  He laughed, sat near the fire and restarted the flames with a gesture. “No. The Magus kitchens have a dedicated spot for food made this morning. They create it and place it in the selected spot so that magic users on the road with enough power may summon the food through space. We open a hole in space and reach through to take what we need.”