Drui Claiming

By Jory Strong

Supernatural Bonds #4:

Dragons.They huff and puff and burn the house down when they don’t get their own way. They’re possessive, dominating, and don’t know the meaning of carefree because they’re weighed down by all the treasure they feel compelled to guard. They’re TROUBLE—in all caps—but it doesn’t change the fact that Marika has it bad for a certain silver-blond male named Xanthus whose dark, dark eyes have a lethal effect on her libido.

She wants him, but she can’t have him. Dragons don’t share and she comes from a long line of tree-hugging, multi-partnered Drui. There are threesomes, foursomes—and more. But there are no twosomes and she’s already got one permanent man in her life, Tallis—a shapeshifting Sjen who is every bit as dominant and possessive as a dragon. It’s a hopeless situation, or so it seems, until Fate intervenes and Marika decides to go for what she wants—both Xanthus and Tallis in her bed. And if the men want to do each other? She’s all for it.

Reader Advisory: While every effort has been made to enable DRUI CLAIMING to be read as a stand-alone story, it is set concurrent to SOPHIE’S DRAGON in the Supernatural Bonds series, and some story elements mentioned in DRUI CLAIMING are explained in more depth in SOPHIE’S DRAGON. As a result, it might be more fully enjoyed if SOPHIE’S DRAGON has been read previously.

Please note: A previous edition of this story was published by Ellora’s Cave.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jory Strong
• Release date: Dec 5, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370577118

Jory Strong

Jory Strong has been writing since childhood and has never outgrown being a daydreamer. When she's not hunched over her computer, lost in the muse and conjuring up new heroes and heroines, she can usually be found reading, riding horses, or walking dogs. Her stories have won numerous awards, as well as been national best sellers. She lives in California with her husband and a menagerie of pets. She loves hearing from readers. Visit her website at jorystrong.com or contact her at [e-mail].

Book preview

Drui Claiming

Supernatural Bonds

Jory Strong

Copyright 2008 by Jory Strong

Smashwords Edition

Cover design by Syneca Featherstone

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Thank You!

About the Author

* * * * *

Chapter 1

Dragons! Marika thought. They are TROUBLE. In all caps. They huff and they puff and they burn the house down when they don't get their own way. They're possessive, dominating, and they don't know the meaning of carefree because they're weighed down by all the treasure they feel compelled to guard.

So why did she have it so bad for a certain silver-blond male named Xanthus whose dark, dark eyes had a lethal effect on her libido? Why had she continued to play with fire, to go out with him—though she insisted on meeting him at the site of their date and returning home alone afterward—when she knew it was only going to end one way? Badly.

Dragons! This time she picked up one of the pillows on her bed and threw it at the wall in frustration. It struck with a soft thud and dropped to the floor to rest next to an oak seedling in a rune-inscribed ceramic pot.

She refused to keep doing this to herself. The next time she saw Xanthus she was going to tell him she couldn't see him anymore. She'd started to before leaving him at the restaurant earlier, but—

A shiver of erotic fear slid through her as she remembered his expression when she'd once again failed to invite him home with her. It was possessive, dominant, filled with ruthless resolve.

She wasn't delusional enough to convince herself Xanthus would walk away—especially if she came right out and told him there was another man in her life. Competition only made the acquisition of treasure better for a dragon.

A low moan escaped as she imagined what telling him about Tallis would mean. It was easy to picture Xanthus sexually feral, putting her on her hands and knees and fucking her in front of a rival male.

Marika unbuttoned her shirt and tossed it aside, then unclasped her bra and did the same. She couldn't stand the confinement any longer. Her breasts were swollen and achy, her lower lips flushed and slick with need.

She took her nipples between her fingers. Squeezed and tugged. Imagined Xanthus and Tallis suckling her at the same time, their bodies holding her to the mattress, their hard cocks pressed against her thighs while their fingers played in her wet slit.

With a whimper her hands left her breasts to slide underneath the waistband of her skirt and panties. Her fingers went to her stiffened clit. Exquisite sensation spiked through her as she stroked herself, seeking comfort and relief, an escape from indecision and worry.

What was she going to do? She loved Florida.

She loved working for Aislinn Windbourne Dilessio, the half-elf owner of Inner Magick. She treasured their deepening friendship and was close to revealing her own connection to the supernatural world. And there was her blossoming friendship with Detective Storm O'Malley, who Marika thought might have finally figured out—or been told—her new husbands were faeries—of the Sidhe kind and not the gay kind. And her friendship with Aislinn's best friend, Sophie, who didn't yet know she was about to become a dragon's mate.

It was as close as Marika had come in a long time to feeling as if she was at home, surrounded by people who actually saw the supernatural world, or at least what was left of it after the elves, dragons and most of the fey fled to their own realms. It tore her up to think about leaving Florida, not now, when she was settling in, the wanderlust she'd experienced for most of her life fading away as it did for her kind.

And that was the trouble with falling in a big way for Xanthus. If he knew she was Drui and she could see him for what he was, then he wouldn't hesitate to take her as his mate. Perhaps he'd even return to the dragon realm with her, imprisoning her there as dragons had a reputation of doing with any of the Drui they discovered—well, those they didn't kill outright, though in all honesty, as far as Marika knew, the desire by humans and supernaturals to slaughter her kind belonged in the ancient past.

The Drui started out as a nomadic people who traveled with human tribes known as the Galatai or later, druids, though the humans who called themselves Druid didn't realize true Drui ability came by birthright as well as learning. Her kind were valued for their ability to draw poison and disease from human bodies, and though supernatural beings were rarely afflicted by such things, the Drui could also use their abilities to restore them to health.

They'd been viewed as great healers before the dawn of religions and priests who felt threatened by their abilities, labeling them evil and urging those in power to round them up and kill them. And perhaps because the Drui were in a fight for survival, some of them used their ability to heal supernaturals, not to draw away poison and disease but to draw power—the magical lifeblood—of those beings who weren't human.

As soon as the supernaturals realized what the Drui were capable of, they began hunting them as well. Enslaving some, killing others, and mating with a few in the hope of gaining control over such a powerful ability, until finally those who remained alive and free went into hiding, remaining so even after the strongest of the supernaturals fled this world for realms they created from their own magic.

Marika shivered. She didn't fear Xanthus would hurt her. Being Drui would make her a greater prize to him, especially given the wizard's curse tying dragon fertility to the Chalice of Enos.

She knew Xanthus would protect and guard her. She thought he might even be willing to remain in this realm, but despite wanting Xanthus with a desperation bordering on painful, she couldn't risk letting him claim her as his mate. Dragons didn't share and she came from a long line of tree-hugging, multi-partnered Drui.

There were threesomes, foursomes, fivesomes. Her great uncle and his brother shared four wives, and enjoyed it immensely when their wives went at it with one another!

There were no twosomes. And while the thought of seven husbands, one for each day of the week, was an amusing fantasy, Marika had always known that when push came to shove and the need to settle and nest overwhelmed her, she'd take two husbands.

If the two men in her life and bed wanted to do each other, she was all for it. But one of those men was already a given.

As if on cue, a sleek, golden cat slid through the opening between door and jamb. His collar gleamed with rune-etched gems as he prowled across the room. With lithe grace he jumped up on the bed, morphing into a panther-size version of himself before becoming human in appearance, honey-blond with eyes as dark as hers, the jeweled collar braided from the black strands of her hair still around his neck.

He purred, lips parting slightly to inhale and taste the scent of her arousal. His eyes glinted. You smell of dragon and mistress and heat. You need me, but I don't intend to play the part of dragon lover or allow you to confuse me for him.

Tallis, Marika said, her body growing heavier with need. She might have saved his life years ago and accidentally enslaved him in the process, but he was the sexual master in their relationship.

A moan escaped when Tallis reached over, jerking her skirt and panties down to reveal arousal-slick fingers caressing an erect clit.

He did this to you? Tallis asked, his voice a menacing purr though Marika knew he looked forward to the day she brought another male home to share their bed.

Yes, she answered.

Tallis leaned down, laved her fingers with a cat-rough tongue and made her channel clench. Arousal gushed from her slit at his nearness to her needy clit and parted lower lips.

He's wrong for us, Tallis said. He's dangerous. Find a shapeshifter who calls this world home, or take one of the fey who don't claim allegiance to the Sidhe as a mate.

Marika started to pull her hand away from her swollen folds. Tallis' hiss stopped her.

I already decided to tell him I wouldn't see him again, she said, canting her hips, begging silently for Tallis' caress.

Tallis rubbed his tongue over the backs of her fingers and hand, sent heated breath over fevered flesh. Finish it.

A shudder went through her. Sometimes she fought him, but this time she didn't have the will to, not when she ached so badly and knew he'd reward her with even greater pleasure if she yielded.

Marika pressed her fingers into her slit. Coated them with arousal before returning to her clit, stroking the underside before swirling over the tiny naked head.

Icy shards of sensation shot through her, curling her toes and making her hips jerk upward. Liquid heat slid downward, over the rosette of her anus.

Marika panted. Imagined what it would be like to have both Tallis and Xanthus inside her at the same time, their cocks rubbing against each other as they fucked her.

Need defined her, a savage emptiness that felt soul deep. She rubbed and stroked her clit, desperate to come so Tallis would touch her.

Her eyes never wavered from his as she watched the hunger build in him, as she thrilled at the way his nostrils flared and his purr deepened. She whimpered when Tallis rose to his knees, positioned himself between her thighs, his thick cock hard against his abdomen, the heavy globes of his testicles hanging beneath it in a display of masculinity.

Say his name when you come, Tallis ordered and her breathing grew ragged, her movements rough, nearly violent until finally the hot fury of lust broke over her and she cried out Xanthus' name.

Better? Tallis purred.

Yes, Marika said, though she knew the languid satisfaction wouldn't last for long.

Good. Now there won't be any confusion about who's attending to your needs.

As if I could ever confuse anyone else for you.

Firm masculine fingers clamped around her wrists. She shivered when he took her hands to his mouth, cleaned the evidence of her orgasm away with his cat-rough tongue.

Tallis, she whispered, trembling in anticipation of having him lean down and do the same to her pussy.

I should make you wait, Tallis said, but he knew he wouldn't. Her warm scent and honeyed wetness were driving him crazy. The sight of her splayed thighs and parted, dusky slit had him only a few thrusts away from coming.

Still, he didn't immediately do her bidding. She needed to be reminded that the choice of a second mate wasn't hers alone. She needed to be reminded that his fate and hers were intertwined, and he knew best how to keep both her heart and her body safe.

A dragon was out of the question. In his long lifetime he'd never heard of one sharing a mate. They were notorious for hoarding their treasure. Marika would be a prize on par with the Chalice of Enos that the dragons and fey were frantically searching for.

It was good she'd decided on her own to stop seeing Xanthus, though Tallis well understood why she was drawn to the dragon. Xanthus might not be powerful enough to remain in this realm unless tied in liege service to Severn Damek, but he was still a heady mix of dominant masculinity.

A shudder went through Tallis as Xanthus' image came to mind. He'd seen him from afar—and closer, through cat eyes. It was all too easy to imagine him and Xanthus wrestling, testing their strength against one another, fighting to see which one would mount Marika first.

It was the way of his kind, the Sjen, to protect, to ensure fertility—and to grow more powerful when those they guarded took mates and had children. He'd thought the wanderlust of a young Drui would never leave Marika, but finally, finally she was settling, and he would ensure she took the right mate—for both of them.

Tallis cupped his testicles, weighing and fondling them as the fingers of his other hand encircled his cock, measuring it with a stroke upward, remeasuring it with a stroke downward.

Marika's breath caught. Her scent intensified as she watched him touching himself. Her hands went to her breasts, delicate fingers finding dark nipples and making fire streak through his penis.

Don't, Tallis growled, knowing she'd soon be arching her back, pleading with him to suck her and the power between them would shift. He'd be helpless against her.

Tallis freed his cock and testicles in favor of pinning her open thighs to the mattress. He leaned down, rubbed his cheek over her bare mound and tiny clit.

He loved her smoothness, her heat, the softness of her skin and the way she was always wet for him. Hers was the smell and taste, the feel of home. It had been so from the very first.

Please, she whimpered and he lashed her with his tongue, its cat-rough texture adding to her pleasure, making her hips lift from the mattress and her lower lips grow more swollen.

Honeyed arousal slid from her opening. He lapped it up, piercing her with just the tip of his tongue before stroking over her clit.

It was paradise. She was a paradise he never got enough of.

Not a day passed when he didn't claim her with his cock. Not an hour passed when he didn't think about her.

From the very first Marika had been his world, his focus. He had never resented the accidental bond forged between them when she'd saved his life.

At the time she'd thought she was saving an alley cat. Instead she'd bound herself to a Sjen.

Usually his kind presided over a house or place, but from the very moment he'd felt her touch and looked through her eyes to her soul, he'd presided over her, moving from place to place as the wanderlust of the Drui young ordained.

He could share her with other males. For his kind it heightened the passion and strengthened them. But he was glad she wanted only two men in their bed. Now he would see to the task of ensuring the second one was suitable.

A soft rumbling purr escaped as she whimpered, begged prettily for him to fuck her with his tongue. Tallis thrust into her, felt molten lust surge through his cock in waves as her inner muscles clamped down on him, held his tongue inside her.

She moaned when his tongue retreated. He rewarded her needy