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Dragon's Wish
by
Mae Powers 

Chapter One 

Laora dreamed of a large man, other than her husband. She also dreamt of dragons.

One, in particular, shifted from man-beast to full glorious dragon. Oddly enough, the dragon reminded her of the precious statue her husband, Kragus, had given to her on the day they became engaged to be married. In her dreams, she watched him change from a small statuette to a man-dragon and then into a huge dragon beast.

The dreams hadn’t started right away. Occasionally, the thoughts entered her mind, but those first ones were foggy. Then she’d seen a face. Handsome with hard jaw lines and slightly weathered by wind and time, she’d assumed. As the dreams got more vivid, a man, slightly taller and bigger than her husband, appeared in her nightly imaginations. Where her warrior husband stood dark and tall, the dragon-man had glorious golden hair, spreading thick and long around his broad shoulders, giving him a wickedly enchanting appearance that appealed to her feminine senses.

Her senses overloaded during her visions. His teal-colored eyes seemed to vibrate with knowledge, and she wanted to melt into their mysterious depths—eyes that promised her freedom, salvation and oh so much more. Just as his body offered a salvation of freedom to her distraught emotional and physical senses.

Her last dream of him, a few days ago, filtered through her mind. In it, he’d promised to cherish her, to give her all the passion she’d always longed for, in any way she wanted. His man body was hulking, towering over her average height, yet part of her was not afraid of him.

However, her shaky loyalty to her husband, Kragus, made her afraid of where her mind wanted to escape to—into the arms of her dreamy man-beast. In the beginning, before the dragon lord invaded her dreams, she’d been happy with Kragus. At least, she thought she had.

Barely a month after they wed, his attitude toward her changed drastically. He took her more roughly in their bed, no longer caring if her own desires were fulfilled. He left the castle more often. And, each time he thrust into her without care, she’d felt a little more drained. That had been nearly a year ago. She did not know how much more she could endure.

She’d been a priestess of the Sherenzade religion, but a princess to this very kingdom as well. Her father sent her to be raised at the monastery when her mother died during Laora’s eleventh year. Then she’d learned that, upon his deathbed, her inconsiderate father had given her hand in marriage to his favorite warlord, Kragus.

Still, in the beginning, he’d wooed her gently. He’d even been considerate and loving as he taught her earthly delights. Then the changes started. Kragus told her it was her fault. When she dared to back-talk him, he’d slapped her. Laora no longer had anyone to turn to. Kragus seeped insidiously into her people’s hearts, making them think he could do no wrong. What was she then, but a figurehead he married for the power she brought him?

There was much she still didn’t understand about Kragus, or herself, for that matter. Her mother had been a sorceress princess for Sherenzade, too, but retained powers on the day her father married her. Laora’s mother told her the powers did not come to their line always, and that, sometimes, it skipped a generation. Some females of their birth-heritage had only small amounts of magic. Mostly they did not come into them until they mated, which was another reason she’d married Kragus, if she was truthful.

The other reasons being duty and the law said she must marry.

Kragus frightened her at first, but she had found him handsome and, when he went out of his way to woo her, she thought herself in love with him. Now she was uncertain where her loyalties, or her heart, lay anymore. Perhaps her naivety did her in. She was at a loss as to what to do now. She wanted to stand up to Kragus, to tell him he could not rule her kingdom or her body and mind like he had of late.

Ox-Heart
By
Mae Powers  

When Zareth saw the astonishing woman enter the large, crowded room, his heart accelerated to an almost impossible rate. His eyes widened, his breathing halted, and his groins ached heatedly. Then his big hands shook nervously, tingling with alarm that soon spread throughout his body.

His sixth senses told him to beware. Then an elated awareness, both mentally and physically, shot through his entire system, telling him that this woman would influence his life in many ways.

He put a hand to his chest, feeling a sudden warmth in the middle of it. Beneath his tunic he felt the warming of the Okshart, his family’s symbol medallion passed down to each son of the king, its center imprinted with the great Okshen Beast, the icon of royalty on his home-world. He kept it hidden as was necessary amongst strangers, but still it heightened his extra senses, making him know that it too agreed with his previous thoughts – that the uniquely beautiful alien woman would indeed play havoc with his destiny.

He had to be careful. No matter that no other but he could understand or use the guidance of his own Okshart medallion, its rare metal properties would be worth a small fortune on the dark-market, or worse, Princess Orla would covet the ornate necklace. He couldn't have his intended, Princess Orla, find out he had it in his possession. Nor that he wanted some woman other than her. The princess was a selfish bitch who wielded some power that could crush his life and his world.

Still, the strange woman's sensual magnetism, drew him to find out what he could about her. With almost no caution, his eyes never left the alien beauty’s form as she intermingled with the crowds of people amassed into the small reception room.

He kept properly one-step behind his future bride-mistress, Princess Orla, hoping she had not seen his reaction to the unusual woman across the room, who presently intermingled with other world dignitaries. He took a quick glance at the dainty, golden haired royal princess, noting she was doing her usual norm of letting other men and women ogle and compliment her. Thankfully, she looked too engrossed in her own whims to pay much attention to him. He hoped she kept up her daily fixation of needing attention.

He snuck another look at the woman, who’d nearly taken his breath away; and shot his libido aching to release long suppressed desires. From his stance, he could tell she stood tall, perhaps coming to his eyebrows if they were in close proximity. He couldn’t help wishing that she stood naked next to him.

She wore a tight evening gown of sapphire, which sparkled whenever she moved those lusciously rounded hips and long legs. It split up the left side, showing her dark, lovely limbs when she moved. Her auburn hair looked lovely piled up in wavy circlets on top of her head, complimenting the toasty brown coloring of her skin. She was exotic to look at, with her powerful charisma and full-figured curves. Looking at her strong and oval face, he could make out her softly contoured nose, and a determined chin.

She bore an aura of confidence that emanated to him from amongst those surrounding her. When she tilted her head up and glanced, what seemed to be in his direction, he quickly stifled an automatically induced, sharp intake of air. By the stars, he thought of her as the most gorgeous woman he ever beheld, and definitely, the sexiest he ever came across. She filled out that one-strapped gown as if she were melted into the outfit. Her eyes remained mesmerizing, like a grayish mist upon the purple seas of his homeworld.

Then the princess moved. He did his expected duty and turned as Orla did, still keeping the proper step behind and beside her. Orla laughed at some anecdote someone in her throng of admirers said, and Zareth did all he could not to look back at the woman he admired. If Orla knew, she would be highly piqued.

No, she would be furiously ticked. She did not like any of her chosen intendeds to admire other women or men. He hoped when the time came, she would not make him one of her final choices of being one of her two husbands.

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