Divine Dragons 2: A Bride for the Mountain God

The Mountain Palace was a sight to behold. It was a sprawling structure of wood and stone, cascading down the mountainside in a series of tiers. The palace was adorned with balconies and tall glass windows, nestled among towering trees.

Warm lights illuminated the wooden walls and thick stone columns, reflecting off the glass and casting a glow into the surrounding forest, dispelling the fog and darkness of the cool night. The palace seemed to have sprung directly from the mountain itself. It wound its way through the ancient trees, reaching up from the summit as if forming a bridge between the forest and the sky.

The entire structure was grand, wild, and elegant in a rustic way. It was a sight that left me feeling out of place, a structure so natural yet luxurious, and five times larger than the castle I’d grown up in. The God’s palace was beyond human construction; it was utterly primordial and enchanting in a way that called to me—comforted me.

“Take a breath, princess,” a voice said, a finger tapping my chin to close my gaping mouth. “Can’t have you gawping like that all night. You’ll catch a fly. Come inside and get warm.”

I followed the Mountain God, my gaze still fixed on the palace above us. From somewhere in the distance, I thought I heard the sound of rushing water, likely a waterfall, which only intrigued me more.

The interior of the palace was as impressive as the exterior. Wooden and stone walls formed halls and rooms that were almost cavernous. Massive windows looked out over the forest from the top of the mountain, providing an astounding view.

From the first window, I saw the moon, larger and brighter than I’d ever seen it. I looked out over the treetops rustling in the night breeze, reaching for the twinkling stars in the dark sky. The palace was quiet, save for the gentle crackling of fires in the large stone hearths.

There were no servants bustling about, no soldiers shouting orders, no consorts arguing over who would spend the night with the king, or princes and princesses squabbling over trinkets. Instead of constant noise and gaudy gold décor, his palace on the mountain was warm and inviting. It felt like home.

That thought unsettled me more than it reassured me. It shouldn’t feel safe and comforting to be in the home of a dangerous dragon god. I shouldn’t feel protected just because he was by my side as we toured his labyrinthine home.

I barely heard his explanations of the rooms and various magical items as I lost myself in the views and my own thoughts. “—and this is the main suite of the palace,” he said, opening a set of double doors.

The Mountain God stepped aside, holding the door open for me to enter. I stepped into a large room bathed in warm, buttery light from enchanted sconces. The room had a cabin-like feel, with wood and stone walls, carved wooden furniture, and animal hide textures.

The first room was a welcoming sitting room. There were wooden and animal hide couches around a large hearth, larger than my bed back home. Books were scattered on every table and sideboard, briefly catching my attention.

A wall of windows led to a balcony that wrapped around out of view. Another set of double doors near the fireplace led to a massive bedroom with the largest four-poster bed I’d ever seen. I knew the dragon god was huge, but the size of the bed was ridiculous.

Still, I couldn’t help but imagine rolling around in the green blankets and sinking into the mattress. My aching muscles almost cried for it. As if sensing my tired gaze on the bed, the god cleared his throat and pointed to another set of doors.

“There’s a washroom through there. I imagine you’ll want to freshen up.”

“Freshen up?” I echoed, too tired to think of anything but collapsing onto the bed.

“You’ve had quite the experience. I imagine you’ll need something to eat to maintain your energy.”

“Eat? In the middle of the night?” I frowned, my lips thinning into a grimace. “That’s improper.”

He scoffed, a sound that caught me off guard. “I can say with certainty that it doesn’t matter. I’ve been alive since the first green thing sprouted in the world and I didn’t stop to think about what time of day I ate, drank, or fucked.”

The crude word made my skin prickle and a heat swoop in my belly. It didn’t matter that I’d shouted that very word as a curse several times in the past few hours. It was different, given the current setting.

A charged tension wrapped around me, pulling me toward the god, and I firmly ignored it. “I suppose you have a point. Time means little when you’re immortal, I suppose.”

“You’ll learn soon enough,” he added.

With a twitch of my lips and a prickling of nerves, I entered the adjoining washroom, finding amenities finer than what I’d had at the castle. My jaw dropped, and again, the dragon god popped it closed with one firm finger to my chin.

“Wash up. I’ll have new clothes left on the bed. Then you’ll join me for dinner.”

His command left no room for argument. He was so sure that I’d comply with his wishes. It didn’t occur to him that I might disagree.

“I will not,” I said, crossing my arms, seconds away from stomping my foot on the floor.

A sudden heat flared in his eyes. His brows snapped together, and his lips curled into something like a sneer. His confident, elegant movement became assertive and domineering as he stepped closer.

In an instant, he towered over me, imposing his latent power over me. Hm. The dragon didn’t get told no often, if at all.

“You will take off your dress, get in the bath, and wash up,” he said through gritted teeth. The tension between us went taut as he closed the gap until I felt his body heat radiating into my skin.

“You can’t tell me what to do,” I retorted. Though we both knew he very well could as an impressively sized dragon, and a god at that.

“If you don’t behave like the good girl I believe you’re capable of being, there will be consequences.”

His threat had a strange effect on me. An odd twirling sensation took over the heat in my belly, dripping lower with each word from his wicked mouth.

I tilted my head back, my chin jutting out defiantly. My gaze locked with his, a pair of mesmerizing, dark eyes, as I gauged just how far I could push him. Despite the initial terror of our chase through the forbidden forest, he hadn’t harmed me.

In fact, he’d been surprisingly gentle, at least by dragon standards. The fact that I was his mate—or something—offered me a certain level of protection, and that knowledge boosted my confidence.

During our argument in the woods, he’d been a bit rough, but I couldn’t say I entirely disliked it. There was a part of me, a part I barely recognized, that almost purred at the thought of him grabbing me with those massive, clawed hands and tossing me around as he pleased.

“What if I’m not a good girl?” I barely recognized the husky tone of my own voice. My eyelashes fluttered, and I swayed slightly, as if intoxicated by the palpable energy swirling between us.

His nostrils flared, a grunt escaping his lips, and his pupils dilated. He took another step closer, a fire igniting in the small space separating our bodies.

I was sure he could hear my heart pounding in my chest. A rough, green-scaled hand cupped my chin. He tilted my head back until I gasped, rising onto my tiptoes.

A low growl rumbled in his throat as he studied my face. “Naughty little princesses get punished, Nia.” His calloused thumb traced my bottom lip until my mouth parted.

A soft whimper slipped out, almost pleading for him to push his thumb in and let me taste him.

“Good girls get rewards.”

It was probably wrong, definitely twisted, that I was curious to see what punishment looked like in his eyes. Almost more than I wanted to know what a reward might be.

Something about his raw, powerful energy tugged at something deep within me, whispering that he could give me everything I ever wanted if I just crossed the line we were teetering on.

“Maybe I like being bad.”

I darted my tongue out, licking the pad of his thumb. He sucked in a sharp breath, his pupils flaring as a shudder rolled through him.

I took his thick digit into my mouth, careful of his claw as I swirled my tongue around his knuckle. His muscles tensed visibly, as if he was holding himself back from some hidden frenzy lurking beneath the surface.

A dangerous spark ignited in his eyes, serving as the only warning that I’d pushed too far. He yanked his thumb from my mouth.

I cried out as his hand tangled in my hair, pulling my head back until my neck strained. His other hand gripped the tattered remnants of my golden dress.

A vicious snarl escaped him, sending a shiver of desire coursing through me. “If you’re going to insist on being a naughty, disobedient little whore, then I’m going to treat you like one, wife.”

In one swift motion, he tore the rest of my dress from my body. His glowing green eyes greedily roamed over my nearly naked form, lingering on my ample breasts and the curve of my hips.

He licked his lips at the sight of the lace covering my mound. Before I could even catch my breath, he carried me to a vanity stool in the corner of the room and tossed me over his thighs, my ass in the air.