STORY EXCERPT

Isei Hironaka rubbed the back of his neck as he stared out the window into the black night beyond. The clouds had gathered, obscuring the moon and blanketing the entire world in shadows.

The ominous darkness reminded him of the hole he could feel himself sinking further into with each passing moment. It didn’t just come from the lack of sleep he had experienced the night before as he tossed and turned, unable to catch a wink of sleep, but from the nightmare his life had become.

He had been sick to his stomach ever since receiving the order from his older brother—and the leader of his clan—to pose as him for the coronation of the new king. Isei just knew someone was going to see him and know he wasn’t the daimyo. When he had tried to explain this to his brother, his ardent protests had fallen on deaf ears, or ears that simply didn’t want to hear what he had to say.

Since he arrived for the royal coronation, and for every social event he had been required to attend, Isei tried to hide in the shadows as he anxiously waited for someone to recognize him, to out him in front of the whole party of guests gathered to celebrate the crowning of a new king. He was going to be a basket case by the time the actual coronation arrived.

Luckily, Isei was saved from any embarrassment when he was finally able to excuse himself. He had rushed to the rooms he had been assigned as fast as was humanly possible and locked the doors behind him. He had to stay a few more days, attend a few more functions, but then he hoped to hurry home just as fast as he had hurried to his guest quarters.

Isei leaned his head against the cooling glass, staring out the window in the direction of his homeland. His heart panged with longing. He wanted to go home. Life might not be perfect back home, but it was a life he was used to. He knew how to behave to insure he stayed out from under his brother’s iron fist and watchful eye. On most days, sometimes even weeks on end, his brother didn’t even acknowledge he existed.

And then there were days like last week when he had been summoned to his brother’s chambers and informed of Yoshisada’s grand scheme to send Isei to the capital city instead of going himself. Yoshisada, apparently, had better things to do than attend the royal coronation of their new king.

Isei wanted to tell Yoshisada that his plan was a very bad idea, but after being warned of the consequences, he knew he wouldn’t breathe a single word to his clan leader. Daimyo Yoshisada Hironaka was not a forgiving man, even with his younger brother—especially with his younger brother. If Isei defied Yoshisada, he would be punished, most likely publicly whipped so others would know not to defy the powerful daimyo.

Still, Isei knew deep in the depths of his soul that lying to the king—even if he was a newly crowned king—was a very bad idea. If anyone ever found out, there would be hell to pay that not even Yoshisada could conceive of.

A loud knock at the door sent Isei’s already nervous body into a full-fledged tremble. Forcing himself to stand, Isei smoothed a hand down his colorful robes and walked toward the door. His tongue felt too thick for his mouth as he tried to lick his dry lips.

Opening the door, Isei stared at two extremely large royal guards. Oh no! They figured it out.

 “Can I help you?” he asked, his voice a tiny squeak. Isei knew instantly that he had made a mistake when one of the guards raised a questioning brow. Standing straight, he squared his shoulders and cleared his throat, taking on his older brother’s regal air. “What can I do for you, gentlemen?”

“Daimyo Hironaka, the king has requested your presence in the throne room.”

Isei swallowed down his panic and kept his facial features carefully blank. Maybe they didn’t know exactly who he was after all. “Now?”

“Yes, we’re here to escort you.”

“Of course.” Isei waved a dismissive hand in the air, mimicking an action he’d seen his brother perform many times over the years. “Lead the way.”

Isei wasn’t sure why the king wanted an audience with him, but he assumed, since the guards referred to him as Daimyo Hironaka, it was a good sign.

As he closed the door behind him, the guards took up positions on either side of him, and they started walking down the long stone corridor. He felt small compared to the giant dragon guards, but tried not to appear intimidated. He wasn’t Isei Hironaka at this moment. Instead, he was the leader of his people and he needed to remember that fact while in the presence of the king. It was important that he didn’t bring shame to his family. If anyone found out the truth, he could be banished, or worse.

With each step he took toward the throne room, Isei became increasingly paranoid and anxious. His stomach was one big knot. His eyes darted around the palace, looking at each face and hoping no one recognized him. His palms were moist, and sweat trickled down his neck and his heart beat rapidly, making him slightly dizzy.

When the large double doors that led into the throne room came into view, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to proceed. Should he turn on his heel and run? Was it possible to escape the royal guards?

Isei tried to keep his outward appearance calm as he fell apart on the inside. The doors opened, and he was ushered inside. There were two men inside the room—the king was sitting in his large golden throne atop a long dais. A man in long, flowing purple robes—Isei recognized him as the king’s advisor—stood to one side of the throne. Two heavily armed guards on either side of the dais.

Another man stood on the floor before the dais, his back to Isei.

Squaring his shoulders and drawing in a deep breath to stop his stuttering heart, Isei walked down the white marble-tiled floor toward the king. He kept his eyes focused on the floor, even though he felt the man’s eyes on him. A strange sensation passed over him, and Isei wondered if the hoax was up. Would the king punish him? Was this his end?

ADULT EXCERPT

“I’ve done this before,” Isei said, and quickly looked away as if embarrassed by his own words.

“With a dragon?” Akihiro found it slightly interesting how much that thought unsettled him, but only slightly. Mostly, he felt an overwhelming need to put his mark on the little human so that others would know he was taken.

He almost wished that Isei was a dragon so that he could fill the man with his seed and watch his egg grow inside of him. The three dots that would appear on Isei’s face if he was pregnant would tell the whole world of his claim.

“No,” Isei murmured.

“Then technically you are a virgin.” He snorted before opening the jar of lube. No human was up to the standards of a dragon when it came to intimate matters. They had no concept of what it meant to be claimed by a dragon.

Slicking up his fingers, Akihiro planted a large dollop onto Isei’s exposed hole before closing the jar. Using one finger, he circled the tightly clenched rosette, massaging the skin, until Isei relaxed his muscles. Applying pressure, Akihiro slowly sank one finger inside Isei’s body and paused, waiting for the man to allow him entrance. When the muscles around his finger relaxed, Akihiro moved his hand, pumping the digit slowly.

“Mmmm.” Isei let out a moan as he closed his eyes and started moving his hips, impaling his ass on Akihiro’s finger. It was the most beautiful thing Akihiro had ever seen—real and raw. “More…more,” Isei panted out, and the dragon obliged, adding another digit. “Oh, yeah.”

Akihiro stared at Isei in amazement as he mentally recorded the human’s facial features and sounds. Gone was the timid, quiet mouse, and in his place was a demanding nymph. It was incredible to listen to, and he hoped that he’d get to hear a lot more when his cock slid into the man’s tight little body.

He quickly added a third finger and then a fourth, scissoring them wide. Dragons were well-endowed, much more so than any human Isei might have encountered in the past, and the last thing Akihiro wanted to do was cause his mate any pain.

The beautiful man should only feel pleasure.

“Getting close…” Isei panted out, his cinnamon-brown eyes going a little wild.

Akihiro pulled his fingers free. He climbed off the bed for a moment and started removing his clothing, never once taking his eyes off of Isei’s face. He needed to see Isei’s reaction to what he was revealing.

As expected, the human’s mouth dropped open, his eyes flaring in surprise as he stared at the hard dick jutting out from Akihiro’s groin. His cock was different from the humans, not only in length and girth, but also because of the ridges, veins, and nubs that ran the length of his shaft. Akihiro himself was around ten inches in length and two in diameter. That was why he’d taken time to prepare Isei’s body to accept him.

With a thick coat of lubricant deep inside of the human’s ass and the added lube nature provided by Akihiro’s cumtube, he knew Isei would be feeling nothing but pleasure. The cumtube would inject his mate with added lubricant that would not only ease Akihiro’s way but would make Isei more sensitive to the small nubs that lined the length of his cock and the frills along the ridged tip.

Climbing back onto the bed, Akihiro leaned forward and placed a kiss on Isei’s lips. It started off gentle and exploratory as he moved his hands up and down the man’s chest, but soon the kiss turned into something wild with full tongue and teeth. They both were lost, touching and tasting, and Akihiro knew the man’s fear was slowly dissipating.

Lifting Isei’s thighs over his arms, Akihiro lined his cock up to Isei’s clenching entrance. He paused for a moment to catch his breath and rein in his excitement. Isei’s free hand automatically moved off him, wrapping around the headboard as his body tightened.

“Okay, I want you to push out as I push in, okay?”

Isei nodded as he tightened his hold, his knuckles turning white. Akihiro hated to see the fearful look in the human’s eyes, but he didn’t have any choice. They both needed to follow the king’s orders. There was no time to wine and dine, but later, Akihiro promised he would.

Slowly pushing forward, Akihiro breached him, the studded head of his cock pushing past the tight ring of muscles. Akihiro paused for a moment to give his mate time to adjust to his massive size then pushed forward.

“Oh,” Isei moaned. “It feels good.”