It was there Dillon found her wiping away the tears of her hilarity. “Are you all right?” he wanted to know, for he was not certain she wasn’t weeping at first.

“I am fine,” Cinnia told him. And then she related her visit with Nidhug.

“I can only hope our lustful magical natures will not corrupt you,” Dillon said to her with a chuckle. “I realize that your Belmairan nature is more conservative than those found in the world of Hetar. My uncle seems to have found a perfect match in Nidhug. As for my father, he has always appreciated beautiful creatures although I have never before known him to sample the charms of a dragon.”

“Does he not love your mother?” Cinnia asked.

“Aye, although he conceals his love behind the masque of friendship,” Dillon explained. “My mother was born of Ilona, queen of the Forest Faeries, and the Hetarian, John Swiftsword, because such a child of those two people was needed to fulfill a specific destiny. Kaliq has been part of her life from the beginning although she never met him until she left Hetar and fled the Forest Lords. He has struggled with his own love for her to keep her on the path she must travel. He has seen her go to other men, and known it was part of her fate. But even he has admitted to me that he does not know her end. It is, he says, behind a veil that even he cannot pierce.”

“When will I meet her?” Cinnia asked him. “We have been wed now several months. I would have thought she would have come before now.”

“I think she wanted you to get used to having me for a husband before she made her appearance. Although she has worked hard not to play favorites, my siblings tell me, and I know it for truth, that I have always been her favorite,” Dillon said. “We seemed to have this link right from the moment of my birth. I think it was Kaliq’s way of keeping her close while not intruding upon her life as she must live it. When I first went to live at Shunnar it was months before she visited me. She told me when she finally came that she wanted me to get used to living there, to living away from her, to come to love the wonders of the desert kingdom as she once had. And of course she was right, and I did.”

“There is so much about you that I do not know,” Cinnia said. “I wonder if I ever will, Dillon.” She reached out to take his hand, and turning her face to him, she kissed him sweetly. “But I have come to love you.”

He drew her into his embrace, his mouth kissing her slowly, his hunger for her blazing up and catching her in a scorching hold. His hand reached up to fondle her breasts, and he whispered against her lips, “So perfect, Cinnia. Your breasts are so perfect!” He could feel himself growing hard quickly. His manhood beneath his robe began to throb. Dillon stood, drawing Cinnia up with him. His hands about her buttocks, he drew her against him so she might know that his desire was hot. Then he whispered against her ripe mouth, “Remember, Cinnia, anytime, anywhere.”

She almost swooned with the heated words, and then she followed his directions, straddling the marble bench upon which they had been sitting; leaning low and forward as she braced herself with her hands, her buttocks elevated. Her heart beat wildly with her excitement as she felt him behind her. Slowly, oh so slowly, he raised her skirts up, up, up until they rested in the curve of the small of her back. The palms of his hands smoothed over the plump cheeks of her bottom. He squeezed the soft flesh. She felt his fingers slipping beneath her, finding her pleasure jewel and teasing at it. She could feel her own wetness, and whimpered with her need.

And then the fingers were withdrawn. She felt his belly starting to press against her as his manhood began to enter her in a single smooth motion that had her gasping. Once sheathed he remained still, and she felt every inch of him, thick and throbbing within her fevered body. About them the birds sang, and the air was heavy with the fragrance of summer flowers. When she could bear it no longer she cried out softly, “Please, Dillon! Please! I can bear no more!”

His hands tightened just imperceptibly about her hips. “Tell me what you feel, Cinnia, my queen. And tell me what you want.”

“I feel you, and you are so hard and so deep. You pulse with your need for me, but you will not satisfy your desires. Why?” she asked of him.

“Because just the sensation of being joined with you gives me pleasure,” he said. “And the thoughts of greater pleasure to come make my lusts burgeon. You must learn to enjoy every bit of our intimacy, my queen, not just race to fulfill your needs. When those needs are satisfied so quickly you have lost much of that which you might have gained simply by exercising a little patience.” Leaning forward he placed a hot kiss on the small of her back.

Cinnia shuddered, and felt her release. “Oh!” she cried, distressed. “I have lost it!”

He laughed softly. “Nay, my queen, we have only just begun to exercise our passions for each other.” He thrust gently within her with several long, smooth strokes.

“Oh!” Her voice was suddenly joyful. “It is still there!”

“Aye, it is. Now let us begin your lesson in patience, my queen,” Dillon said as he began to move himself within Cinnia’s ripe, young body. When she began to evince signs of pleasure he drew back, remaining still within her silken sheath. Reaching out and forward with one hand he found one of her breasts and eased it from the neckline of her gown. He fondled the tender flesh, pulling and then pinching the nipple until she was trembling with her excitement. Then knowing his own patience was slowly waning Dillon sought for and found her pleasure center and began to use it. His manhood moved back and forth, thrusting hard and fast until Cinnia was sobbing with her desperate need to find release, but he wanted her to have as much pleasure as he could give her. And then she cried out, and her body shook as they reached perfection together in an explosion of passion that would leave them both weak for several minutes to come.

Gazing down on them from a window overlooking the gardens, Kaliq of the Shadows smiled to himself. He had taught his son well. The girl was lost in a swirl of ecstasy such as she would have never known with another man. And Dillon had the perfect partner and the perfect wife in Cinnia. “They are an excellent match,” he told his companion.

“Agreed,” Nidhug said. “I was not certain you just wished a kingdom for your son, Kaliq, when you first came to me. I ask your pardon for doubting you, great prince. Dillon is very much the equal to my own darling Cinnia. And they have already begun to decipher the mystery, but I will leave it to them to tell you what they have discovered.”

“Then they have actually found something of worth,” Kaliq replied.

The dragon nodded. Then she turned back to the window. “Oh, how sweet he is. He has taken her in his arms, and is comforting her. He did ride her hard, and in the gardens, too, the naughty boy,” she tittered.

“Let them have their moments together,” Kaliq said. “Cirillo is as always late. He is either arguing with his mother about coming, or some pretty creature has caught his fancy and is keeping him from us.”

A small puff of dark smoke tinged with scarlet came from the dragon’s nostrils, but she said nothing in response.

Kaliq, however, had seen it. Why, Nidhug is jealous, he thought, surprised. Then he wondered if the dragon actually cared for the faerie prince. He hoped not for she would be doomed to disappointment. “You do remember that faeries have hard hearts,” he murmured. “They rarely, if ever, give them to another.”

The dragon sighed. “I know,” she replied. “But he is such an incredible lover in whatever form he takes. I cannot help myself. It has been at least a thousand years since I took a lover I actually liked. He amuses me with his irreverent faerie ways, and he is so young, Kaliq. His energy is as boundless as his charm. I know better than to fall in love with him even though I will admit that I am a little in love with him. But just a little, Kaliq. Enough to make the whole experience a tiny bit more piquant,” Nidhug said.

“Take care, my dear,” he advised her. “Your magic is nowhere near as strong as his is. And it is a kinder magic that you possess that fills this world with beauty and peace. Cirillo is like most of his race. Beautiful, charming and totally selfish, with an inborn ability to cause trouble even without meaning to do so.”

At that very moment the subject of their conversation appeared. “Hallo,” Cirillo said brightly. “Have I missed anything?”

“Only Dillon and Cinnia in delightful and energetic conjunction in the gardens below,” the Shadow Prince said.

Cirillo flew to the windows. “Where are they?” he asked. “There is no one down there at all. Just flowers, birds and butterflies.”

“Ah, then,” Nidhug said, “they are probably on their way into the castle now. Britto!” she called to the castle’s steward, and he hurried into the chamber from the corridor where he had been awaiting their summons.

“Yes, my lady dragon? How may I serve you?” the steward asked.

“Tell the king and queen that we are here awaiting them,” Nidhug said.

“At once!” Britto replied, and bustled away.

“You have not greeted me,” Cirillo pouted to Nidhug.

“You did not greet me, and you should have,” the dragon said. “This is my world, Cirillo of the Forest Faeries, not yours. Where are your manners?”

“I said hallo,” Cirillo replied.

“Hallo?” The dragon looked sharply at the faerie. “Hallo? There are two of us in the chamber, my dear boy. And I do not answer to a general hallo. However if you would like to greet me nicely now, I will forgive you.”

Kaliq looked amused. Perhaps he need not worry about the dragon’s liaison with the young faerie prince.