Chapter 7

MADELINE

Singing a little song and slaying monsters is a piece of cake compared to what I am about to do. But I am determined to give it a shot.

Here goes nothing. I am about to embrace my submissive side.

Honestly, I am terrified. But let’s see how this goes.

LOCHNESS

I come back with a bloody leg and shoulder, unable to find a local healer to bandage me up. I manage to buy a roll of bandages from a local weaver, though.

Now, I am sitting on the edge of the guest bed at the Little Rock Inn, with the little spitfire still in the room. Madeline has undressed for a bath and is about to step in when I walk back in.

I have to tend to my wounds before anything else. As I unroll the white gauze, I wonder why Hael has left her with me.

I had thought he would just take her. I had left before to test him, but Hael surprises me by leaving shortly after he arrives. Madeline has a unique way of dealing with him.

“Where’s Hael, Maddie?” I ask, examining the cut from my elbow to shoulder. In my mortal form, it isn’t as deep, and my Sky powers will speed up the healing process compared to a human.

But it will still take a day, so I need to cover the wounds my brother has inflicted. I had let my guard down, expecting a friendly spar with Hael. But he nearly took my head off.

I managed to deflect him with my tail, realizing too late that he was protecting our mate by attacking so fiercely. He cares more about her and the babies than me. I understand, though, so I forgive him.

I am so focused on figuring out how to start with the bandage that I barely notice Madeline tiptoeing closer to the bed, ignoring her warm bath. I pause to look at her.

“Um… Hael went back to the Horde,” Madeline says, taking the gauze from my hand and kneeling in front of me. She looks at the wound on my arm with concern, touching my wrist so I can twist my arm to show her the full extent of the injury. “He… uh… he suggested… we should return by tomorrow night… This looks bad, I’ll help, okay?”

“Suggested? He ordered,” I correct her, knowing that’s what she means. But the little minx is trying not to hurt my ego.

Madeline simply nods and meets my gaze, whispering, “I’m not a healer like Summer, but can I wrap your arm and leg for you?”

I look her over, blinking slowly. She is sincere, but…

“There’s no need,” I murmur, hoping to reassure her. I don’t want her to exert herself unnecessarily when I can do it myself. She needs to rest and take care of herself.

Out of curiosity, I try to read Maddie’s mind, expecting the mental block she developed during pregnancy to be fully in place. But it isn’t. She has torn it down. She is letting me in.

I pause in surprise when I realize she has never lowered her shields this much before. They are non-existant. I don’t hesitate. I dive right in, no longer looking at her but looking within her.

Madeline is worried about the wound getting infected if she doesn’t clean it. I don’t want to interrupt my exploration of her thoughts, so I just open my hand and let her take the gauze.

A moment later, I feel it start to wrap around my arm while I stay in her mind. She probably thinks I am just staring into her eyes, but I can’t see anything around me anymore as I gently explore her inner workings.

She has trusted me enough to let me take full control if I want. And to see whatever I want. I try not to touch anything, just observing her soul, how it burns and why it burns so passionately.

I discover her favorite daydreams. She loves to imagine escaping from Hael and me, only to be caught and hugged lovingly while we tell her she isn’t allowed to run. Then we would carry her back to bed, usually over one of our shoulders.

She also loves to imagine us flying high and swooping low, from mountain top to mountain base, the thrill of speed rushing through her. Sometimes she imagines being a dragon, but not as much as she imagines watching from a distance as she proudly observes Hael when he is kind and leading the Horde in Deep Cavern.

Or imagining me bathing with my eyes closed, slowly opening them to find her peeking at me being alone, only for her to join me in the private pool. Every single daydream is filled with a warm, pulsing love.

So I move on to her fears. Daydreams soaked in terror.

I am shocked to find that her greatest fears are all about me. I swallow hard with guilt when I see that she is scared of my temper around others, although fascinated by how I control it around her.

Her greatest fear is that I will be cruel to her. Especially that I might laugh if she is being openly vulnerable with me. I teased her relentlessly at the beginning, hating how I was instantly attracted to every part of her soul and body. I played it off.

Now I see that I haven’t helped with her own temper. And she can’t fully submit because she has to be on guard. But she has let me in now. For the first time. Without me even asking.

I feel the gauze now wrapped around my entire arm, and she is starting on my leg after securing the first wound. I slowly withdraw from her mind, knowing she wouldn’t have felt a thing.

I now focus on her hands wrapping the smaller but deeper gash on the outer side of my thigh. She is focused on being as gentle as possible as she wraps it tight, her fingers trembling.

I don’t say a word, just watching her now. Her long red curls are getting in the way of her worried eyes, so I brush the hair back behind her ear, observing the crease in the corner of her mouth as she concentrates.

I have to bring this little mouse home. She is much more delicate and fragile than I have ever realized. Or even known.

I am quietly embarrassed. I know she is the most stubborn and the bravest woman I have ever met, fit for Twin Leading Breeds… but she is also this little worried mouse… this is the side Hael wants to nurture in her now.

“Madeline. Do you enjoy being a slave?” I ask suddenly, already captivated by her impending answer.

Madeline stops wrapping my wound to give me a frustrated glare, her lip trembling. She is angry. But not too angry.

I don’t press her for a response. The spark in her eyes, that inner flame, it’s starting to make sense to me. She relishes in being our slave… but only ours.

And the thing she despises the most? Admitting it.

MADELINE

I asked to wrap his wounds. His response? No need. Then, he starts to gaze at me so intensely that it makes me blush. I don’t understand what he is doing until he lets go of the bandages, indicating he has changed his mind.

I try to decipher his thoughts through his emerald eyes, but Nessy seems lost in his own world. He’s probably communicating with Hael. Once I realize this, I continue to bandage his arm.

I think they heal faster as mortals—these wounds aren’t ~too~ severe. As I start on his leg, Lochness reaches out. As I am figuring out how to apply pressure without hurting him, he brushes my hair out of my eyes and tucks it behind my ear.

It is the softest touch I’ve ever received from Lochness. I pause, just for a moment. Remembering to breathe, I finish bandaging him.

“Madeline, do you enjoy being a slave?” Lochness asks me, his voice low and devoid of mockery—he genuinely wants to know my answer.

His question triggers memories of Hael and the slave bracelet, the games he played with me—the way he made me ~love~ those games. Master and Slave. It was thrilling and humiliating in equal measures.

I can’t help but glare at Lochness, still kneeling in front of him. I try to focus on my initial plan. To bare my soul to him, to be completely vulnerable.

I prepare to answer truthfully, but my lip quivers and no words come out. Lochness notices and his gaze shifts from my lips to my defiant eyes. Just say it, I urge myself.

Just—just say it. Out loud. Answer the question. Do I enjoy…being a slave?

In a whisper, barely audible, I say, “Yes.” I maintain eye contact as I force the words out, my heart pounding. My greatest fear is that he’ll laugh at my admission. He could use this moment against me, for the rest of my life.

He could bring it up—anytime, anywhere. Thinking I’m a naïve fool for submitting so completely to a Master with such sadistic ways of loving me.

“Why are you scared?” Lochness isn’t amused, though he is surprised. His eyes mirror my stubbornness as he says, “When you say that beautiful answer. It’s like the sweetest honey.” But that’s not all it is.

I can see Lochness’s arousal and I am still kneeling, so I am inches from it. Pleasuring a beast like him is always a challenge, but it is also rewarding.

I blink as I stare at his cock for a moment, before looking back up at him and responding with my tongue. Without uttering a word—and without being asked—I lick the head of his shaft. Then I lick all the way down the side of his shaft and back to the top, sucking on the head of his dick before my eyes roll back and I close them to suck harder.

He always tastes so good, I could suck on him all day. As I show enthusiasm, Lochness runs both hands through my hair, holding onto the back of my head, but only lightly at first. I pause at the head of his cock to glance up and see if he is enjoying this.

He is leaning back, his mouth curling down the moment I stop. I purse my lips, waiting for an answer.

~Did I say you had permission, rat?~ Lochness’s question is a growl in my mind, laced with venom, ~to stop?~

I ponder how to respond to that for a moment.

Sometimes—I need to show some fire too. “Maybe you should say ~thank you~ and show some ~manners~,” I retort, almost smirking. I deliberately provoke the darkness.

I wait. And? I’ve done it. I’ve provoked him just enough.

Lochness grips my hair and pulls it back, until I gasp from the pain—and he uses my open mouth to guide me back down over his shaft, inch by inch, until I am taking him deep in my throat. He casually deep-throats me at his desired pace. I take him in eagerly, accustomed to this kind of rough treatment.

Nessy enjoys nothing more than to climax while I choke around him. It is something I’ve grown to love—mostly because I trust him with every move. He is always aware of my limits.

He just has this way about him. He knows. He just knows—just like Hael.

“How about you say thank you right now, rat?” Lochness asks while he pushes my head down to his balls. “I can’t hear you, ~Madeline~.”

I gag instead, and he releases me so I can pull away and catch my breath, gasping in air. “N-not fair. Can’t talk with you filling my whole throat.”

Lochness smiles unexpectedly, but it is a dragon’s knowing smile—he is the master, I am the slave. “Nothing’s fair between us,” Lochness scolds me, now bringing his right hand over my face, caressing my lips and pushing his thumb into the corner of my mouth to keep my lips parted. ~Now get back on or I’ll tie you up and fuck your ass all night. Play nice or naughty, rat, I’m going to fill you either way.~

I choose to get back on, sticking out my tongue and taking him back into my throat, moving up and down his shaft a little more at my pace, while his hand stops pulling my hair.

~Little slut… I’m taking you home tonight.~

Wait. What? Tonight?! Ah. Well—this plan worked a lot better than I had anticipated.

~Thank you, Nessy,~ I whisper in his mind.

~Thank you,~ Lochness echoes me, before saying even quieter…with a hint of mercy, ~my~ ~pregnant~ ~little princess.~

P—~Princess~. What in the ~realms?~ Did I just get promoted? All because… Because I stopped being a brat!

I don’t know I have a secret power inside me this whole time. It is called—~walking into the Dragon’s den.~ Rather than running away. Huh. The more you know; give some, get some.