Save a Horse, Ride a Dragon Page 7

  Smiling at her, J.D. winked. “I most assuredly will, Granddad.”

  Next to stand before them was Owen, dressed just like J.D. and sporting a smile so bright Dax wondered if his cheeks hurt. Nodding to them both, he looked out at their families and began, “For the Dragons, these ceremonies are usually only open to the Elders of the Clan and the Guardsmen of the Male’s Force. In this case, I’m most certainly overjoyed to have family and friends witnessing this blessed event.”

  “Long ago, when Knights and Dragons fought side by side for King and Country, it became apparent that Dragon kin was no longer safe from those who would expose, exploit, and destroy them. Seeking to remain hidden but also continue the mission of the Universe to preserve not only their species but human kind, they sought to join with the Knights who had so valiantly fought by their sides for so very many years. Thus, through magic and the will of both Dragon and Knight, the Dragon Shifters were born.”

  “In the infinite wisdom of the Universe and our Founding Elders, Clans were set up, one for each color of the Dragon Kings whose soul we carry within our own. Each was assigned a region in which to make their home and to protect their families. Over time, some have flourished, some have ceased to exist, and others have been born from the joining of many. As the Leader of the MacAllen Clan of the Bronze Dragons, it is an incredible honor to stand here today among family and friends, on the land my ancestors settled and have maintained for centuries. We have always lived our lives on a simple principle – Keep Creator/Universe, Family, and Love at the center of our world and we can never fail.”

  “Gathered in the place so sacred to my family, I can feel the Universe’s unconditional acceptance of the Daughter of the Mighty Fire Horse, Johnathan Sparks. He and his lovely mate, Kristen, Priestess and Carrier of the Crois Lasrach have raised in her the ways of their kin and loved her as only a parent can.”

  “The Great Creator and the Universe continue to astound one and all as they bless the Dragons with extraordinary mates for the best among us. Every Dragon who finds the Light of his Soul knows how very sacred she is. It is an honor to witness the power of what the Universe and our Elders put into place at our inception. We acknowledge and bless the mating of Jacob Daniel MacAllen to the One the Universe made for him, Dakota Jane Sparks. Will those seeking to witness this union please step forward?”

  Taking a step forward, Gage smiled from ear-to-ear as he began, “We, the Dragons of the MacAllen Clan, brothers to Jacob Daniel one and all, wish to witness and offer our blessing to one born of our blood and the mate of his heart. May their lives now and forever be a testament to all we hold dear…love, honor, and loyalty.” Turning to face only his brother, he continued, “As you are one, let your combined strength see you through many years and the children of your children’s children smile upon you.” Chuckling, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes, he added, “We’re all ready to be uncles, so, get this show on the road. Whatcha say, J.D.?”

  Laughing one and all, Dax had to cough into her free hand as J.D.’s smooth baritone tiptoed through her mind. “I can’t wait to start practicing.”

  Much to her surprise, Bryn came walking from the side of the garden and stopped beside Owen. Watching closely, Dax almost laughed out loud when her mouthed, “Think wedding night,” before smiling brightly. “Dakota, you are the sister I never had and the best friend a girl could ever hope for. May this blessing and all the others ensure that you and J.D. have the best forever possible.” Taking a breath and looking out at the others, Bryn began, “May the Loving protection of the Lord embrace you. May the Light of the Lady shine upon you. May the memories of this day forever touch you…”

  “Because Love is the Light to guide you. Love is the Blanket to warm you. And Love is the Wonder given to you to Cherish and Hold forever, my dear, dear friends.”

  Dax could only smile as she watched her best friend return to her seat. She and Brynn had always been inseparable, and even though she had found her mate, Dax would never be able to live without talking to her bestie at least every other day.

  Clearing his throat as loudly as possible, Owen waited until the laughter had quieted before beginning again, “The witness and blessing of each and every one of you gathered here today has been acknowledged, not only by myself, but by the Great Creator, the Universe, the Goddess of all and the Ancients for whom we owe our very existence. It is truly a blessed event to have witnessed and officiated the Mating Ceremony of my son and now, daughter.”

  Looking at J.D. and then at her, before raising his eyes to the others for just a moment, Owen continued, “The Bronze Dragons were born of the flawless combination of Earth and Sea. They possess a charitable nature and are larger and stronger than any of the other Metallic Dragons. Their impenetrable scales protect them in battle and their ability to take the form of the Timber Wolf makes them nearly unbeatable. Truth and honor lie at the heart of a Bronze Dragon and will always be the guiding light in his effort to be that his mate ever needs. To mate a Bronze Dragon is to accept all that they are and honor the power shared between mates.”

  “As a Fire Horse and Daughter of the Bearer of the Flaming Cross of the Celtic Earthen Witches, do you Dakota take this man and his Dragon as not only your mate but that of your Fire Horse?” Owen asked, authority and reverence in his tone.

  “With all that I was, all that I am, all I will ever be, and all that we are together, I accept J.D. and Pwyll into my heart and my soul. I will share everything that I am with both of these spectacular males every day of our lives together, both here and in the Heavens.”

  Turning to J.D., Owen asked, “As a Bronze Dragon and my son, do you Jacob take this woman and her Fire horse as not only your mate but that of your Dragon?”

  “For every day, rain or shine, fire or snow, day or night, with all that I am or all that I will ever be, I pledge to love, honor, and cherish Dakota and her Fire horse with all that I am. They will always come first, be the center of my focus, and the love of my heart.”

  “Now is the time of the marking and I believe my son has something special planned for his mate. At this time, the rest of us get to eat, drink, and toast to their happiness in the big house.”

  As everyone left the garden, Dax narrowed her eyes and tried to read her mate’s mind that was suspiciously closed to her at that moment, before whispering, “What are you up to, Mr. MacAllen?”

  “Making you the happiest mate there ever was, Mrs. MacAllen.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Racing to his house with Dax in his arms, the ranch was all but a blur. Many times over the years, he’d bitched about being the farthest from the big house, but now that he had a mate and wanted untold days and weeks of privacy, he couldn’t be happier.

  Up on the porch, through the front door and finally alone with Dax, J.D. could barely contain himself. There hadn’t been a time since he first laid eyes on her that he hadn’t wanted to have her all to himself.

  Letting her body slide down his, he pulled her tighter still the second her feet hit the floor. Running his fingers through her silken hair, grinning as she sighed with a seductive smile curving her tempting lips, he rubbed and kneaded down her neck and onto her shoulders.

  Pushing her gown off her shoulder, he couldn’t help but put his lips to her body, kissing across her shoulder to her neck. Paying special attention to the spot he knew would very soon wear his Mating mark, he waited until Dax was breathless before he whispered, “Tha mo chridhe taobh a-staigh thu a-nis agus gu bràth,” into her mind.

  Allowing his canines to extend and pierce her delicate skin, he held tight as she gasped at the same moment the identical spot on his neck stung. Saying the words that had been written on his heart from the moment of his birth, J.D. felt the missing piece of his soul click into place. “Bho a-nis gu deireadh an ama bheir mi gràdh dhut le mo chridhe uile.”

  It felt as if his heart had grown wings when Dax repeated the words in English, her voice breathy and heavy with adoration. From now
until the end of time, I will love you with all my heart.”

  Pulling his fangs from her skin, J.D. reached around her back as he continued to kiss and taste her neck and shoulders. Needing to feel her body pressed to his, he made quick work of at least a hundred tiny pearl buttons lining her spine.

  Capturing her lips as he pushed the soft fabric off her shoulders and down her arms, smiling into their kiss as it floated to the ground. Sliding his hands up her ribs, tracing the band of her bra, his nimble fingers unclasped the hooks, swiftly removing the troublesome garment and throwing it behind him.

  Breaking their kiss, loving when Dax moaned at the loss, before opening her lust-soaked eyes and giving me a lazy smile. “Am I marked as yours, Dragon Man?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He looked at the magnificent glowing glyph, a fiery Dragon Scale with wings decorating the lovely column of her neck. “You are mine now and forever.”

  “Good,” she sighed. “I love it when a plan comes together.”

  Dax’s mind was only one of the million things he already loved about her. She was not only intelligent, but quick-witted with an amazing heart and body and curves in all the right places.

  Lifting her into his arms, he sped up the stairs and into his room, closing the door with a satisfying click, before setting her feet on the floor. Reaching for the last scrap of material covering her body, her silky white panties, Pwyll purred and rolled onto his back within the confines of J.D.’s mind, pushing him to finish claiming their mate.

  Sassy as ever, just the way he loved, Dax put her hand on her hip and with her free hand extended her index finger and while outlining his frame in the air between them teased, “Now, it’s your turn, Mr. MacAllen.”

  Standing completely still as she sighed, making a show of rolling her eyes and tsking, she closed the distance between them and slipped her hands underneath the soft cotton of his black turtleneck he wore under his surcoat. Lifting both garments over his head and dropping them to the floor, she ran her hands over his shoulders and across his chest.

  Currents of pure white-hot electricity raced through his veins, filled every fiber if his being, setting both man and Dragon alight with the need to be one with their mate. Slowly shaking her head, whispering, “Slow down, Cowboy,” she ran the tips of her fingers along each ridge of his six-pack, before laying her hand on the waistband of his pants.

  Unbuttoning the brass button while demurely looking up at him through her thick, dark lashes, she winked before cooing, “Do you know how very much I want you, J.D. MacAllen.”

  As if her words had somehow released her succulent scent into the room, he inhaled all that he could of the smoky aroma of cade wood and pink pepper. Not only was it intoxicating, but the perfect complement to everything that she was. Shivering at the sensation as the backs of her fingers moved closer to his erection and she pushed his zipper down, J.D. held his breath in an effort to not pick up his mate and ravish her where they stood.

  There was no hiding anything from one another. She wore his mark, and he hers. He’d heard her thoughts, knew that she wanted to take the lead, so no matter how hard it was for him, he would give her what she wanted – always and forever.

  Sliding his pants over his hips, her hand bumped his throbbing erection, thrusting J.D. over the edge of reason, straight into the fiery passion of their combined desire. Unable to hold back, all the resolutions he’d just made fading in the fire of his need, he slid his hands under her arms and held her to his chest.

  Using the speed given to him by the Universe, J.D. spun around and within a single heartbeat had Dax on her back in the middle of his bed. One more quick move and her legs were over his shoulders, her center right in front of his face. Smiling as he rubbed his nose against the wet silk of her panties, he inhaled his mate’s intoxicating scent, sure he would lose his mind if he didn’t make love to her right then and right now.

  Slipping his fingers under the silk at her hip, he tore the offending material from her body and threw it over his head, growling as the scent of warm, sexy Dax filled his senses even stronger than just moments before. No longer able to stand the torture of not being joined with her in every way possible, the tip of his tongue slowly licked up the glistening seam of her pussy.

  Groaning low in his throat, his Dragon roaring in his head as Dax’s taste burst upon his tongue, J.D. knew he’d found Heaven. Placing his hands under the wonderfully round globes of her behind, he lifted her pussy closer to his face, feasting as if for the first time. Driving his tongue into her excited body as far as he could go, licking every inch of his mate, he curled the end of his tongue to tease the sensitive bundle of nerves at the top of her channel.

  Dax’s hands dove into his hair, fisting the strands and pulling with such force J.D. was sure he’d be bald as she moaned his name over and over. Smiling against her silken skin, loving the way she reacted to his touch, he used the flat of his tongue to lick her outer lips from bottom to top, teasing her aroused clit on every pass.

  Tightening her legs around his head, her heels digging into his back, Dax’s screams of surrender rattled the windows as he sucked her swollen nub between his lips. Flicking it up and down with his tongue, teasing and taunting, his heart filled to nearly bursting as Dax shouted her release to the Heavens above.

  Lapping at her essence as it flowed from her body, J.D. nuzzled and nipped her puffy lips until she released his hair and her breathing slowed to nearly normal. Slowly sliding her legs from his shoulders, massaging the tired muscles of her thighs, he looked up at Dax, his body shaking with the love he felt for this very special woman. There had never been a more glorious sight than his Fire Horse, the one the Universe had made for him, completely satisfied, looking like a Queen laid out before him.

  Kissing her hip then her belly button, where he paid extra attention with the tip of his tongue until Dax giggled under her breath, he nipped his way up her stomach, kissing the sweet spot between her breasts, loving the feel of her heart beating in sync with his. Palming both her breasts, he gently kneaded, the already raised peaks growing harder against his palms. Kissing up her neck, he smiled against her heated skin as she let her head fall to the side, allowing him all the access he wanted.

  True to all he knew of her, his sassy, fiery mate grabbed his head, pulled his lips to hers and kissed him with the same wild abandon she did everything. Opening immediately, J.D. made it clear with his actions that she owned him completely…body, heart and soul. Just as passionate in bed and in love as she was everywhere, Dax was absolute perfection.

  With her hands in his hair and her tongue sliding in and out of his mouth, dancing alongside his, J.D. held back his climax by the thinnest of unraveling threads. Losing the battle, he shifted his hips and thrust his cock into the haven of his Dax. Pushing until he could go no farther, Dax ripped her lips from his and screamed, “J.D.!... Yes!... Oh, my Goddess, yes!... I love you!”

  Wanting to go slow the first time in his mate’s body, but unable to keep control as the feel of her muscles contracted around him. Massaging, tempting, teasing, she made it absolutely impossible for him to hold still. Pulling out until only the tip of his rock-hard cock rested within her body, his control shattering with every heartbeat, J.D. growled through gritted teeth, “Look at me, mo ghra’. See the man who loves you more than life itself. You are my everything, Dakota MacAllen – absolutely the best part of who I am.”

  Her eyes snapping to his, the love he saw overflowing from Dax’s heart and soul was nothing short of humbling. Thrusting into her then pulling right back out, he started a rhythm that she met stroke for stroke with an explosive passion that fed his own. Together in all things, always, that was the gift he’d been given from the Great Creator and the Universe.

  Staring into one another’s eyes, their hearts beating as one, Dax’s Fire Horse reached for J.D.’s Dragon a split-second before their passion exploded, rocking both of them to the very bottom of their souls. Pushing her knees toward her chest, he lifted he
r ass, going deeper and filling her completely.

  Rolling his hips, the head of his cock caressed the sensitive bundle of nerves that made the walls of her vagina close tighter and tighter around him. Wanting to shout to the Heavens when her eyes rolled back in her head from the pleasure only he could give her, J.D.’s chest puffed with pride as Dax struggled to catch her breath.

  Reaching between their bodies, his fingers had barely closed around her clit when her orgasm propelled them both over the edge of ecstasy. Her mouth opened in a silent scream and her bright eyes held the miraculous promise of all the love in her heart. What was he to do, but follow her into the blissful cloud of adoration only they, as one, could create? There was no doubt, and would never be, that J.D. would follow Dax absolutely anywhere, even to the ends of the Earth.

  Hours later, they laid together, completely satiated, her head on his chest, their legs intertwined, and their bodies cooling from several incredible hours of lovemaking. Smiling like a giddy little kid from the love he shared with his mate, J.D. reached into the drawer of the nightstand next to his bed.

  Pulling a small black velvet box into the light, he turned to Dax and laid it in her open hand. Looking up with a shocked look in her eyes, she asked, “What’s this? You said no presents.”

  “No, to be exact, I said, you could not buy any presents. I was careful not to include myself in that statement so you couldn’t beat me up when I gave you this.” His eyes shifted to the box for a half-second then returned to hers. “Open it.”

  Opening the lid, Dax gasped as the ring his Grandfather, Owen’s dad, had given to him centuries ago. “This is stunning.” Her words were little more than the tiniest puff of air. “This is gorgeous.” She looked up at him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “But it’s too much...too beautiful. It has to be a family heirloom.” She snapped back to her old self as her brow furrowed. “Besides. Isn’t Gage the oldest. Shouldn’t this be his?”