The Selection: Bride Of The Dark Dragon
Chapter 78

MIRA

He relieves me of my dress and I stay almost bare for his touch. And this time we are not in any kind of hurry, his eyes are not flashing with dark magic anymore and we don’t need to go anywhere, no one can replace us here… Inside the portal, we have all the time in the world. Days here would be just seconds in reality. I know this and so does he.

“So, you didn’t lie about wearing the locket I gave you,” he smirks when he sees his gift attached to the belt that is holding my silk stockings on, “Inventive!”

He carefully gets it and places it back on my neck, not forgetting to “accidentally” brush over my breasts. Then he slowly rolls off one of the stockings, and then another… not breaking the eye contact with me even once. Then he lowers himself in between my thighs and rips off the belt with his teeth… and my underwear follows the same path. The only thing I feel now in my core is his hot breath. And then a butterfly touch of his tongue, light and soft… and then, again and again, getting stronger every time, awakening the tension deep inside of me and bringing it back to the surface. His fingers go deeper into my flesh as he brings me closer to his face burying himself in me. And in a matter of minutes, I have my first release in his hands, shaking wildly and moaning his name.

I am trying to catch my breath when he sits up on the bed. Not losing any time, I kneel next to him and start unbuttoning his shirt with trembling fingers, biting my l*p at the same time. Derrien is just watching me do it, no extra emotions on his face except for that tiny smile in the corner of his lips. I raise slightly to help the shirt slide off his torso and feel his breath on my breasts, his hands caressing my back, bottom, and thighs, gently and slowly. He explores my body, inch after inch, paying attention to every part of it, replaceing my core at the same time… And I explore him… His muscles look as if they were carved from a stone, a perfect sculpture of a perfect man. There is his tattoo on the back, the one that helped me realize once that my dreams are not just dreams… And the face that has to belong to some kind of deity – immaculate, masculine, beautiful. And those brown eyes with a reddish tint that always look right inside my soul. Gods, I love this man so much. And I want him. Only him.

He lifts me up by my thighs and I slowly slide onto him all the way down, feeling his hardness and heat at the same time. I start moving, supported by his strong arms. Arching my back and moaning as I do. With him I can forget about everything. There is nothing else at the moment – no Selection, no murders, no Crown princes, just me and him. Perfectly happy together.

I pick up the pace and arch my back even harder as I c****x in his hands, not being able to control the sounds that I make anymore. “Rien, Rien, Rien…” is all I say in agony and only hear pleased growls in response. My movements become sloppy and uncoordinated as I lose myself to the pleasure he gives me.

“Mine,” he g****s as he buries his face in my chest and I feel some kind of burn right where the Dark mark is, grasping his back with one hand and tugging onto his hair with another. He places me on my back and starts pounding into me as if he has lost any type of control, bringing in new waves of pleasure to me. I dig my nails into his back, not being able to hold back anymore. We c****x together and he stills, pressing his body tight against mine as he fills me with his seed, covering me with k****s at the same time.

I look at him, covered with crystals of sweat, breathing heavily on top of me, and smile. “I love you, Rien,” I repeat and he covers my lips with his.

“It’s good, Mira, because I love you too. And now you are wearing my personal mark,” he says trying to restore his breath.

“What?” I look at where his eyes do and see that the Dark mark has changed its shape. It now looks exactly like the tattoo on Derrien’s back – a dragon flying in a circle with only its wings protruding out of the circular shape. But it’s significantly smaller and shines with the colour of the magic that I so often see in his eyes.

“Do you like it?” he asks, hesitantly.

“I do,” I admit to him and it makes him smile and k**s me again. Which I accept gladly. “But what does it mean? The mark?”

“That means that you are mine, Mira. I have accepted you and so have my magic and my dragon. For us, there wouldn’t be anyone else. This is the most sacred thing for gerdians. By doing this I promise that there wouldn’t be anyone else for me. Just you.”

“Rien,” I feel tears building up in my eyes, “I wish I could give you something like this as well…”

“Everything has its time, little mage,” he gives me a soft k**s on my forehead, “Don’t think about it now.”

“But I want to know more!” I cuddle under his arm as he lies next to me, “And what about the Dark Mark? Is it forever gone?”

“For you, yes. I told you – the Selection for you is over. The Dark mark could only be changed by a personal mark. When it happens, the girl is chosen and the couple leaves the Selection. This is what we are going to do.”

“But what about Dargen?” I ask and feel him flinch under me.

“What about him?” Derrien asks darkly.

“He is still the Crown Prince and…”

“I’ll deal with him,” he interjects, “I promised you I would and I will. After the ball today you will pack your bags and I will take you to my real bedroom. And we are not going to leave it for months!”

“Oh my!” I chuckle and hide my face in his broad chest, “I wouldn’t mind that!”

“Your mark is the same as your tattoo,” I say after a while, “Is that…”

“That’s my symbol. And it’s not just a tattoo, it’s a sign of my dragon. It appeared on me when I first shifted. And since then I made it my mark and the emblem of my house.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, Mira, my father wasn’t a gerdian. I hated my stepfather. So, I chose to have my own emblem and I am the first of my name, the first of my new lineage which our children would continue. We’ll be blessed with many.”

“You say as if you already know that,” I smile.

“I do. How do you think the brides are selected? Most women, including our own, cannot tolerate the dark magic that lives in us. Thus, we can’t have children with them. But some of the human women can. Not everyone, just about one in a hundred. And you are one of those. Genetically, you are perfect for a gerdian. But sometimes even with the brides problems may occur and she wouldn’t be able to tolerate the magic of a specific gerdian. But again, this is not our case, as you accepted my mark. It’s shining on your chest and it was easy to place it. We are perfect for each other, Mira.”

“Somehow I knew that for a while”, I admit and close my eyes, drifting off to sleep.

***

Maybe it’s been days, maybe just hours, but we have spent the whole time enjoying each other in the depth of the portal. But all good things come to an end and we both realize that it’s time for us to go back.

I sit at the dressing table next to the bed, which, apparently, Derrien prepared specially for me back at the castle, and try to recreate my hair for the ball. The mark shines brightly on my chest. Nothing would help me hide what we were doing here.

“We don’t need to hide anymore,” Rien k****s the tip of my head as if he was just reading my mind, “Let’s go. The sooner we do it, the sooner you are in my real castle.”

“All right,” I smile at him and take the hand he is offering me. He opens the door of the bedroom and we take a step and replace ourselves on the glade before the mountain hut.

In the nearby forest, I see some dull blue light – the portal. We walk to it, holding hands and enter together.

But I get out of it alone and I am slightly shocked with that.

“What took you so long?!” Dargen growls and grabs me by my wrist.