Dragon's Mercy
13.

"Come on, kids! Follow me!" She turns toward the flight house gate, but the human hunters swarm the area.

"Burn it all to the ground!" Nestor leads the human hunters.

"Nestor, you damn coward! When your flight hears how you've been working with the humans, they'll execute you."

"My flight will never replace out because no one will believe you liars." Nestor hangs back, protecting himself, while the hunters run for the children.

"We must fight! Remember what I just taught you!"

The children pull out their bows and arrows and begin to fire at the humans. Aelon shifts into his dragon and shoots fire at a group of hunters on her left.

"Kill the dragon!" Nestor shouts. Maria takes out her bow and arrow and shoots down three hunters. Other dragons from her flight shift and fly into the air. The hunters turn their focus from the children to the dragons in the sky. "Now use the special weapons!" The hunters shoot a large gun into the air. It spreads into a net and captures one of their dragons. The dragon falls to the ground and is quickly killed by the hunters.

Suddenly, she hears Ryker's voice in her head. "Maria, what's wrong? I feel your fear."

"Ryker, how can I hear you?"

"It's our dragon mate bond. We can mindlink with each other and speak when we're not close."

"You need to get to the flight house now! We're being attacked by human dragon hunters and they're being led by Nestor."

"I'm coming now. You'll need to direct our fighters until I get there."

The mindlink goes blank. She takes a deep breath and in her deep dragon voice, she shouts to her dragons in the sky. "Dragons of the Demon flight! Return to me." Her flight members shift and run toward her. She leads them toward the trees, so they have better cover.

"What the hell? Why did you pull us back?"

"This could all be a trap. We need to fight smart. They have special weapons to trap us as dragons. We need to fight dirty like they are."

"No, we need to shift and burn the hell out of all these human hunters!"

"Hey, you don't know what the hell you're talking about. I'm the dragoness and I'm in charge. I've fought in many battles and I know how to win."

"What about Ryker?"

"Ryker told me to lead in the event that he's not here. You just offered me your loyalty. Now, you need to trust me. Who is the eldest dragon here?"

"That's me, Dragoness. I'm here to serve you."

"As the eldest, I presume you know a hiding place for the children."

"I do, Dragoness. There's an underground cave that's been vacant for a century."

"Take them, now."

"No! I want to stay with you!" Gretchen cries.

"Gretchen, I need you to be strong. Follow your elder. You are the future of our flight. Your lives are more valuable than ours."

"I'll take care of them, Dragoness. I swear I won't let you down." The old man leads the children into the thick forest as she turns to the dragon fighters.

"So, if we can't shift into our dragons, what's the plan?"

"The hunters are merely human. We can beat them without shifting. We're strong fighters and we're on our own land. Aelon, I want you to take half our troops and climb into the trees."

"You want us to use guns?"

"I'd prefer you use bows and arrows since they're silent. Guns will only draw attention to ourselves. I'll keep the rest of the troops here and lead the hunters into the woods, where you will shoot them from above."

"Yes, Dragoness. Great plan." Aelon takes half of the flight and runs off into the woods.

"Hey, over here!"

"Get her!" The hunters swarm her. She pulls out her gun and shoots the three closest to her down. One hunter hits her from the side, knocking her to the ground.

"Hey! Get off me!" She elbows the dragon hunter in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. Quickly popping up, she turns as the second hunter runs at her. She looks down at the dragon hunter on the ground and stomps on his head, knocking him out. Then turns to the hunter running toward her. Waiting until he's almost upon her, she trips him, then slams his head into the ground. He suddenly goes limp. "Now, Aelon!" She runs into the woods with the herd of hunters following her.

"Get down, Maria!" She dodges to the ground as Aelon shoots a hunter behind her from in the trees. The rest of her troops from above shoot arrows down at the hunters. Nestor sees the hunters losing and runs away. It's a slaughter as most of the hunters die. Aelon and the rest of the troops come down from the trees as the remaining hunters run away. "They're retreating! Maria led us to victory."

"Yes, we did it! But the fight isn't over."

"What do you mean? They're retreating."

"Retreating isn't good enough for me. And it shouldn't be good enough for you either." Aelon nods his head as the rest of the flight listens closely. "I've only been here for a week and in that time, I've been attacked by Nestor twice, once with his dragons and now with the hunters. We've also had a hunter sneak into our house and try to murder Ryker and myself. Lexi turned on us and I was poisoned."

"So what do you suggest?"

"We're the Demon flight. The most feared flight in our land. When someone attacks, we don't retreat. We punish them so they don't come back."

"This is why you're the right dragoness for us. You understand our flight."

"We've been letting our enemies off far too easily. Aelon, I want you to take the flight and go after the rest of the hunters."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to track Nestor and replace out exactly how the hell he got onto our land." She snarls.

"Alone? Dragoness, I cannot let you-"

"I'll have Ryker meet me. Now, go. Kill as many hunters as you can." She sneaks off into the woods as she mindlinks Ryker. "Where are you? I'm going after Nestor."

"Mason and I got attacked by hunters and we had to defend our food supply. And don't you dare go after Nestor alone!"

"I need to replace out how he's sneaking onto our land."

"Damn it, Maria. Just once, would you fucking listen to me?"

"I'm in the south territory, by the secret passage."

"Don't do anything until I get there." Ryker ends the mindlink as she picks up Nestor's scent.

She moves behind a tree as Nestor steps toward the secret passage Ryker showed her before. He leans down to open the hatch, then stops and turns toward her. "You can come out, Maria. I know you're there." She steps out as Nestor stands to face her. "You're fucking stupid for choosing Ryker over me."

"I was stupid for ever considering you as a husband. You were never good enough for me. Only a coward would work with human dragon hunters. You thought they would fight for you while you snuck off."

"Me? You're fucking your enemy! You're the coward!" Nestor steps toward her and she tackles him.

Ryker runs through the forest as Nestor kicks her off him. "Maria!"

The enemy dragon runs down the secret passage as Ryker helps Maria to her feet. "We can't let him get away!"

They run toward the secret passage but are blown back by an explosion. The ground crumbles, blocking off access to the secret passage and to Nestor. "Damn it! We almost had him."

"He's getting scared.... and reckless."

Ryker grabs her and kisses her hard. "Don't you ever disobey me again."

"It's what was best for my flight."

"He could've killed you!"

"At least we know how they've been sneaking onto our land."

"Which means someone told Nestor about the passage."

"Who else knows?"

"My brother, my mother and Aelon."

"Ryker-" she starts.

"We'll talk about it later. We need to get back to the house and check the casualties." They walk back to the flight house.

When they get there, Aelon and the other fighters come back from the forest. "Maria, we killed the rest of the hunters. And you fought bravely today. It was your strategic thinking that led us to victory. I'll fight with you any day."

"Thank you, Aelon. That means a lot coming from you." She smiles at Aelon, wondering if he's the one working with Nestor. As if hearing her thoughts, Ryker leaves to check the security.

~W~

Two hours later, Ryker returns to their bedroom and walks onto the balcony. Maria follows him outside. Anger radiates off him as he stares out over the horizon.

She comes up behind Ryker, wrapping her arms around his waist, then rests her head against his sculpted back. His tenses eases as soon as she touches him. "I can feel your anger."

"That passage is sacred. As much as I want to place blame on Aelon, I can't rule my mother or brother out." Then he turns so they're facing each other, wrapping his arms around her lower back. "I..... I shouldn't have left you alone." His eyes glow with annoyance and his jaw twitches. "I knew I wasn't going to be gone long, but it was wrong of me to leave you."

"Ryker, it's not your fault. You couldn't have known Nestor would attack and I was in the training area with the children. I should've been safe. Besides, it was good that you were close to the food supply so you could save it."

Ryker's eyes flicker with vulnerability as they roam over her face, before looking away. "I forced you to come here."

"Ryker, you didn't force me."

"Yes, I did. But I don't regret it at all. I don't regret making you my dragoness and I don't regret sharing my bed with you. My flight needs your strength."

"And I need yours."

"After being here with you, I wouldn't choose anyone else to be my dragon mate. You have every quality I need. If you had to choose again, would you still come here with me?"

Her eyes sparkle with mischief as she playfully responds to him. "Why would I choose to be mated to my greatest enemy? Even if you are the hottest dragon in all the territories."

He chuckles, then leans in and kisses her neck, eliciting a moan from her. "Because you know you crave my touch." His hand moves up and down her sides, cupping her ass to bring her closer to him. Ryker lifts his head as his eyes lock with hers, waiting for her true answer.

"Yes, I would still choose to be mated to you. Wherever you are is home for me."

"In a way, I always knew you were mine. As soon as you cut your eye on that rock in the river, I knew you were my mate. Your scent was undeniable."

"It was the same for me when you were shot, it was like a drug to me."

"You're like a drug to me." He takes her in his arms and kisses her breathless. She leans up and kisses a path from Ryker's neck to his ear. He angles his head to give her more space as she nibbles on his ear. With a moan, he lifts her in his arms, carrying her into the bedroom and laying her on the bed. She moans with pleasure when his thumbs move over her pussy. "Yes, Maria. My cock gets harder with every moan you make." He lays on top of her and grinds his hard cock into her as his thumbs move to her clit. His digits expertly move over her clit again and heat shoots throughout her entire body. His subtle smirk tells her he loves having her hot and ready.

She pushes him back, then leans over him and kisses his neck while her right hand grasps his cock through his pants. His hips immediately lift into her hands. "I want you so bad. I've been thinking about fucking you all day long."

"Then don't make me wait." He kisses her as he takes off her clothes. She is just as excited to get him naked. "I want you now."

"Actually, I'd rather sit on your face."

Ryker gives her a look of shock mixed with lust. "I would fucking love that, Maria." His hands bring her up to straddle his face. "Put your knees around my face and sit right on top of my mouth." His hands guide her where he wants her. She quivers as she feels his hot breath on her bare flesh. Suddenly, his velvet tongue licks her slick opening.

Every nerve in her body dances with pleasure. "Oh, my God!" Ryker's wicked tongue runs slowly up to her clit. He circles it a few times, then sucks hard. "Oh.....yes......Ryker!"

"Yes, Maria. Let me hear much you like this." His tongue moves back to her opening and probes inside, pushing in and out. Her hips begin to move with his rhythm. Heat builds in her core.

Each swipe of Ryker's tongue brings her closer to the edge. "I'm going to fuck your tongue faster."

"Move as fast as you'd like, Maria."

She circles her hips faster, moving them against his hot tongue. Her legs begin to shake as her orgasm shatters her into a million pieces. "Ryker! Ryker!" In her pleasure fog, she hears someone screaming his name, realizing that it's her. She rolls off of him and slowly catches her breath. He looks over at her with a smug smile. "That was amazing."

"I know." He pulls her into his arms. Her breath catches when his erection rubs up against her stomach. "Giving you pleasure is a huge turn-on for me." He grinds his cock into her as his eyes darken with need. "I want to fuck your mouth, Maria."

She reaches her hand out to tickle his chiseled abs, then moves it lower to grasp his throbbing dick. As soon as she touches him, he presses harder into her hand. "Since you tasted me, I think I should get to taste you too."

Ryker gets out of bed and stands. She follows and drops to her knees in front of him. His hand grasps the back of her head as he pulls her toward his cock. She wraps her hands around his hips and eagerly takes him into her mouth. "Yes....." he moans as she slowly licks him from the base of his dick to the tip. Then she swirls her tongue around the tip before sliding down him again. She moves one hand to the base of his cock, stroking up and down while her mouth works the tip. Her other hand reaches up and lightly squeezes his left nipple. He moans and pushes deeper into her mouth. "Oh, fuck. I like that." Keeping her mouth sucking hard, she gently tugs on his mouth, before reaching over and twisting his other nipple. Opening her mouth wider, she takes him deeper down her throat. His hands tighten on her hair as he thrusts into her mouth over and over again. "I've never felt anything better than this." His legs tense and his cock tightens even more. She moves her hands back to grip his hips so she can take him deeper. Then his hips convulse uncontrollably as he pushes his cock deeper and comes down her throat. "Maria!" She continues to suck him gently, making sure she gets every last bit of his orgasm from him, before standing back up. He pulls her into his arms, hugging her close. "Only my mate could make me feel that good."

"You tasted amazing."

Ryker lifts her in his arms and puts her back into bed, then gets in next to her and cuddles her close. He kisses her temple as she burrows into his warm strength. A few moments later, they're both asleep.

~W~

The following morning, she surprised to wake up alone. She gets dressed and walks into the dining room.

Her blood turns cold when she sees Vanessa cuddled up against Ryker. "What the hell is going on here?"

Ryker turns to her with a dazed look in his eyes and she knows something isn't right.

"I've finally gotten Ryker to realize that you're not worthy of him. He's going to leave you and marry me instead."