Retaliation - 3
Part of the Dragons, Deceit, and Desire collection
Hi Everyone! New subscribers, you can start reading Reclamation from Chapter 1. Retaliation is a short paranormal/fantasy story to keep you happy while I try to finish editing Reclamation... the previous WIP draft that has taken me way too long to write and edit. I’m blaming old age for the writer’s block, failure to meet deadlines, and downright dragging of my feet.
Trigger Warning: There is violence and some sexual content in Retaliation.
The following is a WIP story with a few chapters so far. I haven’t looked at it since 2024, and I never got around to finishing it. Three years ago, I began writing short Austenesque stories inspired by dragons and love of magic, but moved on to other things.
As always, your comments and likes will be appreciated! The likes really help. ;o)
Chapter 3
Elizabeth Darcy looked at her new husband. After performing a brief wedding service, obtaining the required signatures, and providing the requisite certificates, the vicar left the room with the staff and her father. She ached everywhere.
“What…what happens now,” asked Elizabeth through swollen lips.
Darcy gently took her bruised hand in his and kissed it tenderly. His sad, pained eyes locked with hers, “You sleep. Your dragon will join you. Zander1, Kira2, and I will take care of you, Elizabeth. Relax and sleep. Soon you’ll be well.”
“My dragon?”
“Yes, darling. Surely, you know that dragons live within hosts?” responded Darcy.
Elizabeth whispered, “You told me about them, but it seemed too fantastic to be real.”
Chuckling, Darcy squeezed her hand. “I told you the truth. I would never lie to you, sweetling. Kira is your dragon, and Zander is mine. We are theirs, but they love and care for us. You will learn all about dragons and hosts soon.”
Elizabeth’s eyes closed, and her breathing slowed.
Kira[1] entered Elizabeth and began healing the battered woman from the inside out while Zander worked on the visible bruising and lacerations. Hours later, Darcy carried Elizabeth down to their suite in the underground caverns. He laid her down on the enormous, raised stone bed that took pride of place in this section of the cavern that served as the master suite. Each sculpted rock bedpost portrayed a fanged dragon fiercely guarding the perimeter and spitting flames. The platform held six goose-down mattresses, stacked one on top of the other to ensure comfort, and silk curtains hung from the canopy.
The dragons kept her in a deep sleep for two days. During that time, Kira filled Lizzy’s dreams with images of dragons and stories of their history and heritage. Kira stressed the duties of a host.
Elizabeth opened her emerald eyes on the third day to find Darcy holding her close to him. She stared into Darcy’s vigilant gray eyes. She tried to speak, “Where?” It came out in a barely audible whisper.
“Darling, love. We are in one of our homes.” Darcy reached out, and a golden goblet appeared in his hand. He held it to her lips, and she drank. “The nectar will make you strong and cure your thirst. Drink it all.”
When the drink was gone, she felt stronger. Elizabeth slowly turned her head to look around. Fingers gently turned her head to gaze back into the eyes of her husband. Eyes that reflected concern and warmth. Eyes that had golden streaks flashing behind the gray. Eyes that held hers as tightly as his arms held her body in place.
Darcy lowered his head and gently kissed her cheek, her neck, her ear, and finally her lips. He whispered, “Sleep, my darling. I’ll be here when you wake.” Unable to resist his command, Elizabeth slept. Her dreams were of Darcy and a golden dragon.
“My sleeping beauty is awake,” whispered Darcy several hours later. He sat behind her on the bed, holding her upright… back to front between his powerful thighs. “Here is your nectar, my love. Drink it all. We have special treats for you to eat, too.”
Elizabeth groggily drank from the goblet Darcy held to her lips. She tried to move and realized her husband held her immobile. Then he popped a small pastry into her mouth when she opened it to speak. The flavor enveloped her taste buds. She moaned with pleasure. Her mouth opened slightly, and another pastry entered. Her back arched against her husband’s chest as his head bent to kiss her neck.
She consumed several more ambrosia-filled pastries before sleeping again. She woke up with a start on the fifth day… alone in the massive bed. Lizzy stretched languidly. Suddenly, she jerked to a sitting position and grasped the sheet to herself. Naked! Frantically, she looked around the room. Rock walls. Rock furniture. Murals painted on the walls. No clothes. She clutched the sheet tighter.
Kira: You have dreamt long enough. Your body is well. Your mind can cope with your fate. Go to your husband. He waits at the grotto. The path is to your left.
Elizabeth: I have no clothes! I can’t just walk up to him this way. I won’t do it. You’re just a voice in my mind. You can’t make me do anything against my wishes.
Kira: You’re wrong. You will obey me. Without me, this body of yours will die. Once I entered it, your body became my property. Your mind may rebel, but it won’t matter. Think of me as your better half. You have a lot to learn in the next few days, and you will learn it. Learn your place, and we will become friends. Fight the inevitable, and you will only injure yourself. Your father failed you by ignoring your education as a host.
Elizabeth: My father loves me. He taught me well.
Kira: He didn’t teach you about dragons or hosts. He is as lazy as his dragon, Hypnos3. If you had known about your heritage and learned your magical abilities, Wickham would never have been able to deceive or touch you. Go to your husband, now.
Elizabeth sat on the bed, refusing to move. She felt Kira take over. She tried to yell for help. No sound came from her mouth. Her body rose and began walking. She tried to stop walking, but she continued onward. She had no control. She walked towards the grotto. Darcy stood nude, facing a waterfall.
Kira: Quite a figure he has. Tall, dark curly hair, a handsome face, and a well-muscled body. He will consummate your marriage in the sacred waters and complete the binding ritual. He will give you love and pleasure beyond your wildest dreams. Will you be his willing, happy bride? Or must I do it for you? My mate and I will never let him suffer. He will never know that I am in control. Decide, child. Do what I command, or I will take control of your every action and word.
Elizabeth: Fine. I love him dearly. He is my heart. There is no need to force me to join him.
She ran to Darcy and wrapped her arms around his waist. He gently kissed her, then picked her up and carried her into the water. He walked her past the waterfall into a small cave where the sacred water filled an indenture in the rock floor to a depth of three feet. Along the sides were stone ledges for seating. At the center of the bottom, a jet of heated water sprang into the air, creating a beautiful fountain.
“Thank God you are completely well at last! I have prayed that this time would come.” Darcy held her against his torso and began gently kissing her. Elizabeth sighed and responded to each touch with such passion that Darcy lost all restraint. He used his mouth and hands to give her pleasure and released large quantities of venom to her pleasure centers. He plunged her depths until they both reached a shattering climax and finalized their union with fanged bites on the neck that released the claiming venom from each into the other.
Pain and pleasure marked them as their dragons, eternal soulmates, rejoiced at the consummation. The venom spread slowly, leaving a golden dragon flying across Elizabeth’s back and an iridescent white dragon flying across Darcy’s back. A physical change that marked them with a permanent rendering of their spouse’s dragon. Tattoos that could become living reminders of their joining, a conduit for the dragons to mind speak with the other’s spouse, and a physical warning to all that these hosts carried dragons. The couple screamed in tandem as the tattoos took shape.
Zander: The golden dragon who ignited the galaxy. The one who spun galaxies into spirals. The architect who provides the spark of life. The ruler of every world and creature he shapes, each one a jewel in his golden crown. The counterpart to Kira — she builds within worlds; he builds the worlds themselves.
Kira, known as: The white dragon who raised the first cities from the earth. The patron of architects, masons, sculptors, and engineers. The one who teaches sentients how to build walls, roads, aqueducts, or fortresses.
Hypnos: God of Sleep: The gentle, restorative, dream-laden state between life and death.
Really cool! So Wickham got to beat Elizabeth because her father didn’t teach her about her heritage? Color me surprised. Not. I’m glad she went to Darcy willingly so she didn’t miss her own marriage consummation. My favorite part was the dragon tattoos and each has the other’s dragon. And these are some very powerful dragons!
I am loving it! Well, except for the part with the fanged biting. Reminds me too much of vampires. Was it the dragons taking over and morphing their bodies to produce fangs?