ICE DRAGON’S HOLIDAYS

BY AVA WARD

A Royal Dragon Shifters of Morocco CHRISTMAS NOVELLA

CHAPTER FOUR – STORM

A cacophony of laughter and giggles devoured everyone as they tromped outside in their holiday finery, dressed in coats and boots with their drinks in hand. Dusk had brought out no less than three plates of sweets as he grinned in a ribald way, waggling his eyebrows. His excitement was infectious as everyone thumped down the back porch to the wide lawn behind the house with a plunging drop to the winter ocean.

Layla’s heart brightened like her smile at the thought of having snow for the holidays.

“Alright. Time to make some sleigh bells ring.” Dusk clapped his hands, taking the organizational reins in his eagerness. 

“Ring-a-ding-ding!” Celia’d had far too many sips of Rake’s potent drink, still in her hand.

“Adrian, Reginald, Rhennic. Do your thing.” Dusk nodded at Layla’s three drakes now. “I’ll offer my strength for you all to draw on, since we don’t have Fury here and I can’t really do anything about snow.”

“What element do we manifest first?” Adrian looked to Rhennic, the drake most able to produce weather manifestations.

Rhennic frowned as he gazed up at the bright blue sky. It made Layla’s tall, handsome Viking distractingly sexy with his short blonde-red beard for the winter. Layla realized she was having too many sips of her drink also, getting lost in Rhennic’s allure. She set her beverage aside on a patio table, trying to pay better attention despite the pleasant fuzz filling her head. 

And the distinctly sexual buzz roaring throughout her body like a bonfire now from Rake’s drink. 

As Layla corralled her Drakaina’s roaring libido, Rhennic began moving his hands in complex patterns. A full-body dance, it was like Tai Chi as he gathered the energy of the earth, throwing it up towards the sky. Layla saw wisps of white cloud mass fill the blue above, then thicken. But it wasn’t just above the house; true to his discussion with Luke at dinner, Rhennic wasn’t creating a storm just above their location, but over the entire city of Seattle. 

Massive lengths of cloud heaved out over the water now, stretching as far as the eye could see. As Layla watched, her human friends fell into a breathless silence, staring at the sky with their drinks forgotten in their hands. Shivers of lightning sparked off Rhennic’s body; as he breathed through it, he controlled that immense power Layla could feel hurtling up into the sky.

Clouds thickening everywhere she looked.

“Reginald. I could use some water from the ocean now.” Rhennic’s deep basso tones rang as he moved, glancing quickly at the Golden Siren. Understanding time was of the essence, Reginald shucked his jacket in the growing storm, the wind whipping his long, golden hair out of its braid. As Reginald stepped in beside Rhennic, he fixed his focus on the sea. His body moving in a dance similar to Rhennic’s, he harnessed the flow of the water rather than the air.

Whitecaps formed on the ocean, waves beginning to crash against the cliffs below Layla’s house. Water hurled up into the sky, waterspouts whisked up into the clouds by Adrian now as he flung his power up to join Reginald and Rhennic’s works. 

As Adrian whirled, he created wind-funnels to pull the heat out of the sky and cool the air. The temperature dropping, the clouds above churned heavy and black. Perspiration stood out upon all Layla’s mates now as they worked this massive storm into being. Across the Puget Sound, the sky darkened ominously, the sea frothing as if an actual storm had moved in. 

As Dusk spread his hands, rumbling a basso growl through them all to control the magic they were working, Layla felt their power spike. Rhennic blitzed with lightning now as he worked his mighty storm, water surging around Reginald in halos as he commanded the ocean. Adrian seethed with mirages as he drew all the heat out of the sky and condensed it around him, his body forge-hot.

Unable to contain so much heat now without bursting into a conflagration, Adrian suddenly ripped off his shirt. As Dusk rumbled another surge of power through them all, Rhennic blitzed with lightning, making everyone stumble and gasp as the Bind between them truly took effect now.

All of it, just waiting for Layla.

“Layla! Time to join us.” Dusk spoke with urgency now, as the other drakes focused as hard as Layla had ever seen them, controlling this massive storm.

“If you don’t come into this soon, we might just unleash a typhoon over all of Seattle,” Rhennic growled now with the ultra-bass notes of his Dragon. “Ten of my Storm Wielders usually control this kind of storm. If we lose control, there’s no one to corral it. We’d have to heave all this power out to sea… which could seriously harm Seattle’s harbors and islands. Time to get your Ice Dragon on.”

“I’ll try.” As Layla stepped into their midst, her friends staring in amazement, she could feel the storm careen between her four men. Dusk, Reginald, Rhennic, and Adrian were building a storm for the ages; they were right, if she didn’t harness all this power soon and change it into snow somehow, it was going to unleash hell over the city. It might even be a hundred-year storm if they couldn’t control it. 

And if that happened, they were definitely going to have the Intercessoria come knocking.

But something was still missing to truly bind their powers and finish this magic. As Layla’s drakaina rushed through her with a jubilant surge, hot and roaring, she felt the missing element like a hole inside her. 

Passion.

They needed passion to seal this storm today. Passion bound them all together and made their magics sing inside Layla’s veins; moving to Rhennic first, since he was producing the vast majority of the storm, his power let her come inside his blazing lightning cocoon. 

Layla reached up, corralling him behind the head. On her tiptoes, she kissed him hard—and felt the power moving through him and her blaze. Startled, Rhennic dove into their kiss as he seized her around the waist, leaving one hand up to channel lightning into the roaring sky from his blitzing aura. Heat careened between them, and Layla felt electricity make every hair stand on end as Rhennic devoured her and she enjoyed him right back. He was hard as she pulled away.

Sex and lightning flashing in his dark lavender eyes as his power raged.

“Later.” Layla mouthed to him as she stepped back, outside of his workings now.

“You better mean it.” Rhennic growled with a forceful sexiness as he fought to contain the sky.

“I mean it.” Layla grinned as she moved away, her drakaina rioting with heat inside her to truly bind her drakes into this magic now.

As she went to Reginald next, stepping inside his water-barrier, she let him seize her; it was rough with dominance as he pressed his lips to hers. As he opened her mouth with his tongue, he tasted of oysters and sweet brine. Bending like a willow to his power, Layla’s heat careened inside her, mirages moving in a dance around her now as Reginald took her with his kiss.

She was breathless as she broke away. Dusk was next, and he watched her come with heat in his summer-blue eyes, so vibrant they shone crystal in the dark day as the earth around him rumbled. Dusk was kind and rough all at once as he devoured her, gripping her hair. As he palmed her ass, he wasn’t shy about grinding their bodies together with a ribald grin and a laugh, making Layla’s spirits soar. She went with a slap on the butt from him.

So very Dusk.

Last came Adrian, and as Layla moved to him, a roaring conflagration broke out around his body as his turquoise gaze went a pure, fiery gold. But his fire didn’t harm Layla as spiced winds devoured them, the Royal Desert Dragon and his mate, their lips meeting and their bodies twining together. Heat met heat as Layla tasted anise and cinnamon, clove and desert sand on his breath. A growl escaped Adrian’s lips as Layla drew back, panting their bodies had twined together so hard.

Power erupting between them—and joining the Bind, completely.

Layla’s body burned now from their Bound group, even as it seethed with storms and moved with the dark currents of the ocean. She was ready to join her magic to the storm now. But as she raised her hands, the cloud mass churning black as the day darkened like night, she found she didn’t know what to do. 

She tried focusing on thoughts like cold, ice, and snow; but nothing was triggering her drakaina to change over from the boiling heat of excitement searing through her from the power of her drakes. Her drakaina could only think blister, scorch, and burn; snow made little sense to her. It was visceral—her inner Desert Dragon didn’t understand even the concept of snow, much less what it actually was or how to make it.

As Layla moved her hands to make a gale, all she did was add to Rhennic’s winds and Adrian’s heat rushing through her. The wind whipped harder; the temperature rose rather than fell. As Layla growled in frustration, she saw all her drakes shimmer with a pre-shift aura now. 

Losing control.

“Layla! Do something else!” Gold and opal scales blossomed out over Reginald’s cheekbones and temples now, shimmering into his hair. The same cascaded over his hands as his fingers lengthened into fierce Dragon-talons; as Layla watched, he ripped his shirt off, baring his lean chest as magnificent opal-gold scales careened all over the hard planes of his body.

Adrian flooded with the same pre-shift changes, his scales fire-red and gold as black and gold spines shot from his shoulders. With gritted teeth, he controlled his shift. His massive chest rushing with white, red, and storm-blue fractal scales, his violet eyes careened with vicious white lightning. Rhennic was sparking with electricity as he stopped his shift also, trying to keep things from going further out-of-hand. Dusk was handling it best as he rumbled a soothing harmony like crystal wind chimes into the group.

Stalling their shifts so they could keep control of the storm.

“If we shift, we lose this!” The wind devoured Rhennic’s words, the temperature nearly back to where it had been before they started. “The passions of our beasts will run riot, and their powers with it!”

“Layla, quit amplifying my heat!” Adrian cut in now as his hot turquoise eyes pinned her, his body and hands still flowing through their movements. “You need to think about cold and ice, not fire!”

“I’m trying!” Layla said as her drakaina gave a blistering wail inside her. The air temperature rose higher as a shimmer of gold scales rushed over her own body now, prickling her like fire-ants. “My drakaina doesn’t understand ice, cold, or snow!”

“It’s too late! We’re losing it.” Reginald spoke up suddenly, his voice tight as he glanced at Rhennic. “Send the entire storm out over the water, Rhen! I’ll shift and dive out into the ocean, and control the storm from harming any houses or boats at the waterline.”

“I’ll just—!” But it was Rhennic who broke first, as a sonic boom suddenly exploded from him. In a wave of lightning and thunder, storm clouds surrounded Rhennic as he shifted. He towered above his own storm now, the tremendous Royal Storm Dragon roaring to the skies as he sent sheet-lightning through the heaving clouds in a maelstrom. Lightning blitzed through each one of his scales.

Lighting him up in a devastating halo, as lightning blazed above all of Seattle.

“Shit! Adrian—!” But the impeccable Reginald was the second to lose control; Reginald, who prided himself on having the best control of all of them, was suddenly exploding in a wash of seawater up into his massive Golden Siren. As if a Dragon could be a monster of the deeps, his opal-gold fins and filaments waved in his massive flows of water as he roared.

Producing a shockwave through the Puget Sound. 

Dusk was next, as a rumble poured from his body so hard it made the ground shake in an earthquake. As he shot up into his truly gigantic Crystal drake, bigger than Layla’s house, his shimmering diamond and sky blue scales reflected rainbows beneath the storm. Serrated and vicious, his scales shone in the storm they were losing control of as he whipped his spiked tail and stomped one massive foreleg. 

Roaring an earthquake through the ground.

“Layla!” Adrian was last, as he shot up into his small but impressive Royal Desert drake, white fire engulfing his red, gold, and black scales. Falling to her knees, scorch from Layla’s heat burned the grass black as rain pelted her. As all her drakes roared, Layla became lost.

One last moment from shooting up into her dragon like them and sending everything into disaster. 

Her human friends cowered by the house, protected by a swirling black barrier from Rake, guarding them. Rikyava and Luke were in their own Dragon-forms, black geodesic tattooing lancing over Rikyava’s blood-red scales, while Luke’s Storm Dragon shone pale in the day like a ghost. Layla knew their protection was warranted; with a keen through gritted teeth, she gave one last shudder.

And was suddenly saved by the softest, ocean-smooth voice flowing through her mind.

Layla. I’m here. I’ve come.

As Layla glanced to the cliffs, she saw Fury Durant stride in over the crest of a wave, depositing him on her lawn. As haunting as his twin Reginald was stunning, Fury was a vision of silver starlight as his waves washed him up from the waterline and set him lightly on the grass. 

Naked, he was all tight planes and beautiful ridges; like a moonlight Fae, his long silver hair blew around him in the whipping wind. As his dark blue eyes pinned Layla, Fury seethed with power, his Silver Siren-drake a thing of elder might. As he shot up into his monstrous silver and white drake with unsurpassed control, Fury felt like the moon heaving all the tides.

As he towered protectively over Layla.

But chagrin took his eyes then. Layla could feel his heart through their Bind as Fury hesitated—wanting to come to her but not daring to. He chastised himself for taking off around the world these the past six months when the group needed him.

Wanting to see the wonders denied to him for so many years thanks to his uncontrollable Dragon.

But he was here now; he had arrived just in time. And as Layla felt his magnificent power flood the group like a silver tide, she felt all her men relax.

Their human minds returning as they regained control of the storm. 

“Fury. I’m not mad at you for seeing the world.” Layla said, as she gave one last shudder. “I love you, and you deserve to have everything you want. I just want you to be happy.”

As Layla rushed up into her own fire-gold drakaina now, Fury caught her in his haunting, ghostlike tendrils. He crushed her close to his cut, perfect body, his Siren-drake cradling her as if she were the most precious thing in the world. His dark blue eyes glowed with the passion of the sea as his sadness cleared to joy. Like the moon coming out from behind clouds and shining over the water, Fury’s entire being shone with love as his Dragon smiled.

And then dove down—kissing Layla for all he was worth.

He stabilized the storm as he kissed her. Fury was a force of the ages as his power took all that energy, channeling it into himself as he drank down every drop of Layla’s dragon-fire, harnessing it.

He took all their magic now, pulling them into the Bind and stabilizing that massive rush of clouds, lightning, and waves until the storm was ready up above them. Heavy like a breath before something incredible, it was waiting now rather than unhinged. As Layla and Fury kissed as their Dragons, she felt him pour power through her.

And give her command of it all.

Fury poured the feel of slick ice through their kiss as he slid his scales over Layla’s. The sensation of dark water poured through her sinews as he pulled her to him with his talons, sliding their bodies together. A cold, shivering ecstasy thrust through her as his drake reveled in the sensations of a far-north ocean. He shaped her into a thousand sculptures of sea and ice, heaving and flowing with the waves just like he once created around his ice island.

As he licked the most beautiful flavor into her mouth—the taste of a fresh snowfall—Layla stared up at the storm. The ecstasy of winter suddenly made sense to her drakaina as she breathed out a gout of steam. And in that moment, something deep inside Layla opened wide.

Shooting up into the sky and making magic happen.

Copyright 2023 Dragonlight Publishing LLC. No portion of this text may be copied or distributed without written permission of the author.

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