“We rarely fight here on Belmair,” Cinnia told him. “We are a peaceful folk.”

“Peace is the better route,” he agreed, “but sometimes you must fight to protect what you hold dear else it be taken from you. I prefer the use of magic to solve problems, but I have also been trained to be a warrior by the same Shadow Prince who trained my mother before me. If I must fight, I can.”

“Have you ever fought?” she asked, curious.

He nodded. “Once, my oldest sister could not discourage a persistent suitor. I was forced to do battle with him.”

“Did you kill him?” she wanted to know.

Dillon nodded. “He refused to be satisfied otherwise. It made me sad to do it, but there was no other way. He threatened to kill Anoush if she would not wed him.”

“Did she marry another?” Cinnia inquired.

“She is not ready to wed,” Dillon said, and he walked toward the bed, and reaching it, climbed into it. “Now, however, is not the time for stories, Cinnia. We must complete a mating cycle tonight so that the three dukes can accept the dragon’s choice more easily.” Reaching out, he drew her gently toward him. “You have never known a man, I am told. But have you played lover’s games with any young men?”

Cinnia shook her head wordlessly.

“Have you been kissed upon your lips by any other than a family member?” he asked her. But he knew the answer before she even gave it. She was a total innocent for all the books she had read, for all the dragon’s teachings. “Then we must begin with the kissing,” he said in a firm tone. His lips brushed over hers, and the touch of his mouth caused Cinnia to gasp softly. He pressed his lips harder against hers, and Cinnia tried to push him away. In doing so the silk coverlet that had covered her breasts fell away, and her breasts pressed against him.

“Ohhhh!” Cinnia cried out, surprised.

Dillon’s head was spinning at the touch of her body against his broad, smooth chest, but her startled cry caused him to ask, “What is it? Are you all right?”

Suddenly Cinnia was no longer in his arms, and a small black-and-white bird fluttered to the top of the headboard.

Dillon didn’t know whether to laugh. “We must be joined tonight, Cinnia. You cannot use magic when we make love.” He reached his hand out to the bird but it scampered down to the end of the headboard. Cat! Be that! Dillon thought, and a large golden feline jumped up quickly from where he had been to snatch the bird from its perch, and hold it gently between its paws. They were quickly themselves again, and she lay naked in his arms.

“That wasn’t fair,” Cinnia said petulantly.

“I know you are afraid,” he said to her, and his hand stroked her silky black hair. “That is all right, my young queen. I mean to take my time and to be gentle with you. My blood runs hot, Cinnia, but I have been taught by the masters of passion how to give pleasure to a woman. Even a frightened little virgin. You need do nothing but follow my lead tonight. In time I will teach you to give pleasure, as well as receive it. But tonight we have a small duty to perform, and I would have you enjoy it, not be terrified by it.”

“There are no witnesses,” Cinnia said weakly.

“Show yourselves,” Dillon said, and both Kaliq and Nidhug appeared.

“Oh!”

“I thought you would be more comfortable if you could not see them,” he said.

“Yes, I would,” she admitted, and their witnesses disappeared once again.

“Now, where were we?” he pretended to ask himself. “Oh, yes! I was trying to teach you to kiss decently.” He swooped down again to take her lips with his.

Indignant, Cinnia wanted to protest the insult, but when his mouth found hers she discovered she wanted nothing more than to prolong the kiss, and they did. One kiss melted into another, and another and another until she was dizzy with the distinct feeling of something pleasurable happening to her. But when she felt his hand upon her breast she stiffened nervously.

“It’s all right,” he murmured in her ear. “A woman’s breasts, while meant to nourish her young, are also meant to be admired, and caressed, Cinnia. And you, my queen, have beautiful little breasts.” Bending his head, he kissed a nipple while his supple fingers traced the small globe gently. Then opening his mouth, he took the nipple into it and sucked it.

Cinnia shuddered as the sensation of his tug upon her breast traveled all the way down her torso into her belly and beyond into the sacred place. This couldn’t be right, she thought nervously. Something that felt so wonderful…better than anything she had ever experienced…should not feel so incredible. “You must stop, my lord,” she managed to say to him, her fingers winding into his thick dark hair and pulling at it.

He lifted his head. “Why?” His blue eyes were dark with his rising desire.

Her breast felt suddenly bereft, Cinnia thought, and the nipple puckered with the sensation of the cool night air. “Because this cannot be right,” Cinnia said to him.

Dillon laughed low. “Nay, my young queen, it is very right. It is almost perfect.”

“But the joining is, I am told, when our bodies become one,” Cinnia protested. “How can they become one when you do naught but kiss and caress me?”

“A proper joining requires that your body be prepared to receive me. If I forced myself upon you with no care for your comfort I should be little better than an animal. Kissing and caressing are but a small part of the preparation, Cinnia. You must trust me for I have loved many women, and never yet had a complaint,” he told her.

“I do not want to hear about your other women!” Cinnia said angrily.

“And you shall not. I have mentioned it only to reassure you that I know what I am doing, my queen. But you, my little virgin, seem to have a great many opinions for a girl who has yet to know a man.”

“I have done much studying on this subject. Ohhh!” He was nibbling her fingertips, and now his lips traveled up her slender arm to her rounded shoulder. Cinnia felt absolutely weak. “Ohhh!” His tongue was licking up the side of her neck, and now as he lay her flat, his tongue caressed her throat, his lips pressing a kiss into the hollow of it where he paused to enjoy the sensation of the blood pulsing beneath her skin. Her flesh was smooth, soft and sweet to the taste. “Ohhh!” His tongue moved quickly down, sliding between her breasts to lick at her belly. Cinnia shivered. “It is too much,” she told him softly.

“It is but a beginning,” he murmured as low. He lay his dark head upon her belly, and let his fingers play with her now. The tips trailed over her shapely silken thighs, coaxing them open for him as they pushed between the flesh and twined themselves in the thick black curls at their junction.

Cinnia stiffened defensively.

“It’s all right,” he soothed her, and he pressed a finger against her slit, which was already showing signs of moisture.

“Ohhh!” she exclaimed as the finger slipped past her nether lips.

Dillon sought for her pleasure point, and finding it he began to tease at it.

He was her husband, Cinnia had to keep reminding herself. Whatever he was doing was certainly proper, but oh! The ball of that wicked finger was arousing in her feelings such as she had never imagined existed. She was tingling all over right down to the soles of her feet, and it all seemed to emanate from that finger. “Ohh! Ohh! Ohhhh!”

Cinnia gasped as a feeling of sweet release seemed to pour over her. “Oh, that was so nice,” she told him. “Is it always like that?”

“You will have to tell me,” he said, smiling down into her face.

“Do you think I am ready for the joining yet?” she asked.

“Let us see,” he replied, and he carefully pushed a single finger into her sacred place, all the while watching her face as he moved the finger gently back and forth. When she made no protest or complaint, he withdrew the single finger, and then pressed two fingers within her. Her green eyes widened slightly as he moved the twin digits back and forth at a more rapid pace. She was tight, but she was very wet now. “Aye, you are ready,” he told her as he again withdrew his fingers, putting them in his mouth to suck upon them. “You taste sweet and salty all at the same time,” he told her as he covered her body with his, pushing her legs up as he did.

“The book says it hurts the first time,” she told him, her eyes now showing a small bit of fear.

“Only for a moment, my queen,” he said as he positioned himself. He had initiated virgins before. Some were eager, but others like Cinnia were hesitant. With virgins like Cinnia there was only one way to handle the matter once she was ready. Pinioning her arms above her head he filled her, tearing through her maiden’s shield with a single hard thrust, as she cried out with shock. “There, my queen,” he said, brushing away the surprised tears that had appeared upon her cheeks, “the deed is done, and the worst is over.” Then releasing her arms he began to ride her with slow, deep thrusts at first that became deeper and quicker as she began to respond to him.

It had hurt, but the pain was as quickly gone as it had come. She concentrated upon the sensation of the manhood now plundering her. He was big. Of that she was certain despite her inexperience. He filled her full with his great length. Cinnia was filled with fierce emotions. Her hands clutched at his shoulders, her fingers digging into his muscled flesh. Then unable to help herself she began to claw at his back, whimpering as she sought for something she couldn’t even understand.

Dillon laughed aloud as he felt her nails raking at him. She was feeling passion! He had aroused her to passion! A virgin, well, no more a virgin. He drove harder into her, sensing her desperate need for satisfaction. Hers and his own. Her legs, with some primitive instinct, wrapped about his torso, giving him deeper access. She was tight, and she was so wet and sweet for him.

“I want!” Cinnia cried out. “I want it!” she sobbed. She could put no name to what it was she wanted, but she suspected that he would know.

“And you shall have it, my queen,” he promised her. His length flashed faster and faster within her. And then he felt her crisis building, building, coming, coming.

Cinnia screamed as pleasure such as she had never known rose up to enfold her. She was drowning in it. She could scarcely draw a breath for it consumed her, raising her up, up, up, and then flinging her down. She vaguely heard the sound of her cries that were mingled with another sound. His cries.

The room was suddenly filled with a golden light. The air crackled loudly with their passion. There was even a thunderclap. Kaliq and Nidhug, revealed by the brightness, looked at each other, startled. And then the dimness came once more, and the sounds of the couple’s heavy breathing as they returned to reality. Dillon and Cinnia lay sprawled next to one another. She seemed to be caught in the throes of a half-conscious state, her breathing rapid, but calming slowly.

Father! What has just happened? Dillon asked Kaliq in their silent language. Never before have I had such a reaction to and with a woman.

She is magic as you are, my son, the prince told him. All the women you have known before were mortal, and while she is mortal technically, she is also a sorceress.

Will it be like this all the time with her? Dillon wanted to know.

I do not know, the prince responded honestly. But now it is time for sleep. Kaliq waved his hand over the bed, and it disappeared with its occupants. Then he and the dragon exited the chamber, and it folded in upon itself.

“I put them in her bedchamber,” Kaliq told Nidhug.

“Let us go and have some wine,” the dragon replied. “And perhaps we can decide what happened to cause such a reaction between them. Come, I have a small privy chamber here in the royal castle.” She led him to it, and conjuring up two goblets of wine the prince and the dragon sat companionably. “I have seen many joinings between the king and his bride in my lifetime, but never have I seen happen what happened tonight,” Nidhug said. “Your experience in the amatory arts is, of course, greater than mine, Kaliq. Have you ever seen such a mating as took place between your son and Cinnia?”

“Nay, I have not,” the prince admitted. “It is obvious to me, however, that if they use their powers together they can accomplish much good for Belmair.”

The dragon nodded. “I hope,” she said, “that they will fall in love.”

Kaliq chuckled. “I did not know you were such a romantic, Nidhug,” he remarked. “Have you ever been in love?”