Page 68 of The Wrath of Ashes
“No. You’ve been everything I needed, Jeron. Your history just happens to aggravate something reptilian in me.” Asha snarled the last part through teeth that sharpened and receded, his body shifting parts to accommodate his needs and flowing emotions.
“Believe me, it was a duty, not my heart.” Jeron held his hands up apologetically.
“And the fact you did so unwillingly makes me angrier—Jeron!” Asha threw his head back and hissed, breathing through pain that subsided quickly.
“I didn’t saythat.” Jeron pursed his lips and glanced away. “It was no hardship.”
“I think you need to move on from this, Asha. The dragons have the whole thing set up right. Everything’s compensated, negotiated, and everyone’s happy.” Lyss huffed, slouching in one of their decorative chairs. “Did he let you get off?”
Jeron’s face turned beet red. “Yes. Every time.”
Rath pointedly looked anywhere but at Jeron or Asha.
“See? ’E’s no earl. And Jeron’s already said you can tell him to fuck off.” Lyss blew a strand of hair from her face, the mousy-brown curl flipping over her forehead. “But I’d keep him. ’E’d rat out our king in a heartbeat if he tried something.”
“I would.”
“Your loyalty astounds me.” Rath sighed and earned a glare from Asha.
“Rub.” Asha leaned into Rath’s touch and sighed. “I don’t blame you. I blame myself for being so petty.”
“I think it has something to do with the trauma.” Lyss stared at her nails idly, as if she weren’t a textbook case for trauma from sexual servitude. “Speaking of trauma, how’s your arse, Asha?”
Asha breathed through Rath’s gentle massage and fought off half a laugh. “Lyss, if I loved you any less, I’d throw something at you.”
“Least I ain’t the one stitching you up this time.” She chewed on the edge of her nail.
“The whole goal is tonotrequire stitching.” Graylan withdrew his hand and dipped his cloth in the hot water, swishing it around with a flash of his fire. The gold bands he wore over his fingers flared and dulled—to Rath’s great approval. When he applied the cloth once more, Asha hissed and relaxed.
“Nothing’s coming out just yet. I don’t understand why you’re hanging around back there.” Asha hung his head and accepted Rath’s gentle massage.
“Because if it stays warm, moist, and relaxed—it’s better.” Graylan didn’t seem to be enjoying his work at Asha’s back end—Rath might enjoy it better, but something didn’t seem right about witnessing what was going on. Still, he lifted the blanket edge and peeked. Aside from some blood tinging the rag, all seemed relatively normal.
Some time later, when silence fell and Asha ceased his mild bickering with Lyss, a strained whimper broke into harsh pants as Asha shifted his hips.
Graylan handed off the warm rag to Rath, instructing him to keep rubbing while also holding the compress to his backside. As Rath did so, Graylan rummaged in his sack and procured a salve, swapping back with Rath to coat Asha’s backside and rim his hole, brows furrowed. “Things are going smoothly back here. You’re relaxing well, Asha.”
Asha, for his part, only gave a bare nod, resuming a gentle wiggle of his hips as if trying to ward off a foreign sensation.
“Rath, move your hands a little lower onto his tailbase and rub there.” Graylan moved Rath’s hand and gestured for him to continue as Asha hissed and bunched his hands into the blankets. “Okay, Asha. Bear down when you can.”
Rath glanced over as Graylan lifted Asha’s tail, watching as his entrance spread, opening up for something pressing back against it. A dribble of clear fluid trailed his thighs and dripped into the nest.
“Can you see anything interesting?” Asha huffed between a fierce groan and a whimper.
“You’ve certainly a lovely tail, but nothing that we should celebrate or fear.” Graylan returned with a compress and let Asha breathe through the pain.
Rath did his best with the massage, hiding his frustration at Graylan’s touch, growing more by the minute until Asha’s scream broke his focus.
A flurry of motion on Graylan’s end followed Asha’s harsh movements. His hips shook and body quaked as every muscle went taut. He swore through a broken sob and snarled a pained cry through wounded breaths until Graylan pulled back, arms cradling something large, slick, and ovoid. A shell the color of Asha’s scales lay in his arms, drawing Jeron’s and Lyss’s interest.Rath laid a hand on the egg, sensing the life within.Bessam.It had that feeling.
Asha glanced over his shoulder and gasped softly, his whimper more of a sob. The relief didn’t last long and Graylan was prepared. Asha screamed the next time, his body shaking, each breath coming out with wracking sobs.
“It’ll be okay, Ashen one. You’re whole and the egg is healthy.” Graylan nestled the egg in a gathering of blankets as he went back to Asha’s backside. Only a few coaxing pushes later, and Graylan pulled back with a second egg, smaller than the first. He sat it next to the first and Rath laid his hand upon that one, too.Naxima.
Asha wheezed through the sensations, swaying on his hands and knees until Graylan declared him healthy and whole. Two new dragons had been born. Two eggs glistened, and Rath couldn’t help but smile as Graylan tucked them into Asha’s side. The start of a new generation—his mate and two new princes. Or princesses.
Graylan and Jeron took their roles seriously as they cleaned. Asha, for his part, near instantly drifted off to sleep. Dawn seeped through their curtains and the gentle snooze let Rath know he could let company in.
