Carnal Dreams Read online

  * * *

  Amber Quill Press

  www.amberquill.com

  Copyright ©2007 by April Reid

  * * *

  NOTICE: This work is copyrighted. It is licensed only for use by the original purchaser. Making copies of this work or distributing it to any unauthorized person by any means, including without limit email, floppy disk, file transfer, paper print out, or any other method constitutes a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines or imprisonment.

  * * *

  CONTENTS

  Also By April Reid

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  April Reid

  Amber Quill's Rewards Program

  * * * *

  CARNAL DREAMS

  By

  APRIL REID

  * * * *

  ISBN 978-1-60272-175-3

  Amber Quill Press, LLC

  www.amberquill.com

  Also By April Reid

  April's Aphrodisiac

  Beneath Traber Skies

  Dark Passion

  Deadly Desires

  Desert Passion

  The Dragon's Choice

  Sidhe Warrior

  The Sultan's Revenge

  Test Of Truth

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  CHAPTER 1

  The drums of Ostara—the great Festival of Fertility—throbbed in the pale light of the twin full moons and echoed in the heartbeat of every male and female dancer poised within the sacred circle of the Moon Goddess. Day and night were balanced—equal at this one point of the vernal equinox—and all life on Traber renewed itself.

  Tonight they would dance for the fertility of the land.

  Tonight they would dance for the blessings of the Goddess and consort.

  Tonight lovers would lay skin to skin—male planting and female receiving his seed into her body and nourishing the new life to be born in Avalonia, the land of shapeshifters and magic.

  Ashlyn Marie Toscano, eldest daughter of High Wizard Galatyn, stood as part of the circle. Unlike the other dancers, she had no magic or shifter ability. Only her father's status as a member of the Circle of Seven—advisors to the king—granted her a place in the ceremony.

  All her life, she'd suffered the disgrace of being ungifted. Instead of growing bitter, she'd bonded with her fairy-dragon, Pepper, at a time when the young dragon had needed special care, and had consequently become caring, thoughtful, and willing to fight for loved ones and friends.

  Tonight, Ashlyn's status didn't matter to her, only her place in the celebration of Ostara to honor the Great Goddess and Her chosen consort.

  Ashlyn brushed an errant strand of pale blond hair from her cheek and inhaled the erotic fragrance of the dreamflower lei around her neck. Already, the stirring beat of the drums had set the blood racing in her body, while the sweet-and-musk scent of the lei had made her thighs clench and her breasts swell.

  She watched in awe as the consort-surrogate—who'd defeated all other contenders for this position—strode to the center of the circle. Like all the male dancers, he wore a lei of green and silver dreamflower leaves and a white lava-lava wrapped around his strong thighs.

  He led his chosen mate to the white-and-gold bed placed over the golden moon in the middle of the pure white marble floor. There, by the ceremony's end, they'd perform a banquet of sex acts to honor the Great Goddess and consort.

  Turning in unison, the goddess-blessed pair magically set fire to the ring of white tapers rimming the sacred circle.

  The drums had invoked the energy and power of the land. Now they were joined by the passionate music of viola-guitars and the pure, sweet notes of flute, bells, and chimes.

  The time had come for the forceful, purifying, life-giving power of sexual energy to join with the land.

  Standing beside the bed of power, the man slowly unwrapped the woman's white-and-gold sarong and then stripped away his own garment, baring their bodies to the moonlight and to each other's gaze.

  That was the signal for all dancers to unwrap their own garments and allow them to fall to the ground.

  A moist ocean breeze caressed Ashlyn's skin and plucked at the seductive lei perfuming her sensitized breasts.

  On the clear, swelling sounds of harp and guitar—sacred instruments of fire—the consort-surrogate swept up his chosen mate and laid her on the bed. He joined her there—skin to skin—his great, full cock sliding deep into her slit as the dancers began their sensuous, erotic moves of praise and supplication to the Great Goddess.

  Would the Goddess on this sacred night grant Ashlyn her greatest desire—the hunger for a man who accepted and loved her for herself?

  * * * *

  Later that night, back home in the privacy of her bedroom, Ashlyn still trembled with unsatisfied sexual need. Stripping off the clothes she'd quickly donned after the ceremony, she shrugged into a light sleep shift and climbed into her lonely bed.

  She lay on her back in the cool dark and, eyes closed, played with her own nipples—squeezing and tugging them as she drew a mental picture of her mysterious lover touching them, drawing them into his hot mouth. Again and again she pulled and stroked through the exciting rasp of fine kut'n.

  Her heart raced. A tight sensation coiled behind her pussy.

  Bunching up the hem of her night tunic, she tucked it up to her waist, rolled onto her side, and curled up enough to finger her outer labia, slick with her warm juices. As she pictured her secret lover touching and stroking her swollen, sensitive vagina, she squeezed her upper thighs together; pressing and releasing—pressing and releasing her fingers against her slit while her breath came hard, and she turned her face into the pillow to muffle her moans of desire.

  Even as she lay panting afterward, it hadn't been enough to more than dampen her erotic hunger.

  Would her carnal dreams come to fill that hunger?

  * * * *

  She flew through the night of stars, wrapped in the warm embrace of her dream lover. The air surrounding them was cold, but heat from his great body warmed her.

  She couldn't see his face. His breath flowed over her, mingling with hers. Each breath she inhaled brought their union closer and each breath she exhaled became part of him. With each inhale-exhale, her skin grew more sensitive, her breasts swelled—the nipples pressing into his golden skin and the sense of fullness coiled low in her body between her thighs.

  As Qamar and Zurir rose above them, the stars grew pale, and the silver bands of moonlight intensified her sensual hunger for her lover.

  "Sweet Ashlyn,” he murmured in a voice filled with carnal delights, “are you ready to ride the moon-paths to the world turning far below?"

  "Yes.” She could barely form the words in her need to experience another level in making love.

  The next moment she lay on a silky cover spread over an incredibly soft sleeping pallet.

  Bracing his elbows on either side of her body, her lover cradled her face between his strong fingers and pressed a tender kiss to her lips.

  "More,” she said in a low voice as she reached down and cupped his thick, warm cock.

  "My pleasure,” he whispered on a ragged breath and pressed his bottom lip into her mouth.

  "Mmm.” Her lip vibrated against his. A flood of tender passion filled her heart. Boldly Ashlyn slipped her tongue along his lip, glorying in his low groan of arousal.

  His mouth shifted. He captured her upper lip between his teeth, then nibbled and sucked on it, while thrilling sensations flashed through her nerves from the top of her head to the tender flesh between her leg
s. Her clit throbbed and her woman's honey flowed.

  "Lady of my desire"—his lips moved from her mouth to her throat—"I can feel your heart racing."

  "Only for you,” she whispered.

  Her lover shifted. His tongue twined around her breasts—first one, then the other—dampening her full nipples to greater sensitivity. His nimble fingers played up and down her legs from knee to thigh—moving ever closer to her throbbing yoni.

  "Please.” She spread her legs apart, begging for his touch on her swollen, most sensitive feminine place...

  * * * *

  And a splash of cold water on her face brought her back to reality.

  "Get up, Ashy. Mom's awake and expecting breakfast.” Drusilla Fern Toscano, Ashlyn's younger half-sister, sat back on her heels and handed her older sister a small towel. “Jax has been teasing the fire salamander again and it's sulking. It refuses to kindle fire in the kitchen stove, and if I do its job, it'll lodge a complaint against our household with King Maldoc and the council of seven."

  As Ashlyn tucked away this latest dream to join the others in her memory waiting to be taken out and examined later, she pushed back the thin cover, sat up and dried her face. “I'll be glad when classes start and Jax will go back to his magic lessons on Apprentice Island."

  "You and me both,” Druzy said companionably. “I love our little brother, but he can be a pain when he's bored."

  "That's true, but does he have to start so early?"

  While Druzy chuckled, Ashlyn gazed out the open window at the first pale blush of dawn, savoring the last minutes of peace before a busy day. As she had the last few days, she looked toward the north and felt the growing connection to her dream lover, as if he lived in those unseen, forbidden lands.

  Hiding the momentary lapse of attention from Drusilla, Ashlyn said, “It's a good sign that Lady Evelina is hungry this early."

  "Yes. Sounds like her morning sickness is over.” Druzy gestured for the oil lamp to light. “I've left a basin of warm water for you and I'll carry another one to Mother. See you in a few minutes."

  Ashlyn's teenaged sister closed the sliding screen behind her, hurrying away to placate the dutifully pregnant second wife of High Wizard Galatyn Priam Toscano—Ashlyn and Drusilla's father.

  As she washed and dressed, Ashlyn gazed out the window at the kuku'i nut trees, palm trees, ferns, and sweet flowers blossoming in anticipation of the coming sun. But her thoughts replayed the lifelike dreams—for the last month—of the golden lover who'd held her so tenderly in his strength and pleasured her with a single-minded intensity that said she was the only woman in his world.

  Her lover didn't sigh and ask why the daughter of a high wizard and sorceress didn't have the ability to ride the winds or call lightning or shapeshift. Why did she—descended from generations of men and women imbued with high magic—have none? She couldn't even call fire—the most simple of spells.

  Even as she left her room to start the daily chores, thoughts of her dream lover and his touch lingered in her mind and in her sensitive, swollen breasts and beaded nipples.

  * * * *

  Basil Greenstorm d'Vortimer, dragon shapeshifter and king's warrior, stepped out onto the south balcony of his brother's home in the first rays of morning sunlight. His cock was heavy and halfway erect. His body still vibrated from the vivid dreams of the remarkable woman who had captured his heart before they'd even met.

  For the past month, including the last three nights while he'd visited here to celebrate the birth of Rion and Shimmara's first child, the dreams had grown progressively more sensual. Last night, the silent call from the south had become urgent.

  The sound of a footstep drew his attention to the door behind him. Automatically, he gripped the knife tucked in its belt sheath before he realized the sound was deliberate, as a courtesy to him.

  Still he had to tease his older brother. “What? Has soft-step Rion lost his ability to move more quietly than a summer breeze?"

  "Brat,” Rion said mildly. “You've been so distracted the last three mornings, I thought I'd better warn you before you knifed me in the gut and said, ‘Sorry,’ afterward."

  "Who said I'd apologize?” Basil grinned at his dragon-shifter brother.

  "Your sense of justice would compel you to confess.” The compassion in Rion's eyes invited Basil to share his problem.

  "Are you speaking as the king's advisor or head of the family?"

  Rion closed the short distance between them and gripped Basil's shoulder. “Family first. I'm inviting you, as your brother, to tell me what troubles you so I can offer help; not that I expect you to take it unless you agree. You may be my younger brother in years, but you're a man, fully grown in power and intelligence."

  "It's a woman."

  "Since when has any woman presented you with a problem?” Rion leaned against the balcony with a companionable smile. “Bless their hearts. They mean well, but it will take a truly special woman to hold your attention and affection—not that you'd mistreat any."

  "She is special.” Basil scrubbed his face with both hands. “I can't get her out of my mind. She's the most loving, giving, seductive woman I've ever made love with."

  "Sounds like you're smitten.” Rion frowned. “Don't take offense, but are you sure she hasn't be-spelled you?"

  "How could she?” Basil growled in frustration. The time of his must was growing near and he fought his primitive need to shift to dragon form and take a mate. “We've never met face to face, but only in dreams."

  * * * *

  Ashlyn hurried down the long corridor toward the kitchen. The servant staff had already opened the shutters to the day and the air smelled of sandalwood, frangipani blossoms, and damp soil.

  She looked out the north-side window, past the grove of coconut palms to the many shades of blue water in Caledon Bay. Already the fisher-folk skimmed across the swells in their light outrigger boats, hunting the daily catch. She made a mental note to tell Tanna, the cook, to add fresh-caught silversides to the evening menu.

  Instead of moving on, she was caught up in a vision of a foreign land that replaced the familiar scene. She stood on a wood and stone platform—no—a balcony made of wood, with a waist-high stone wall to guard the outer edges. The breeze lifting her hair had a coolness that spoke of snow-capped mountains—not the warm, flower-scented breezes of New Caledon. Grass, sprinkled with wild flowers and a few flame trees, rolled down a gentle slope to a valley set with tidy farms. A river flowed from a distant mountain range and meandered through the valley.

  Then the brush of wings snapped her back to her home.

  Pepper, Ashlyn's fairy-dragon, settled on her shoulder and lovingly rubbed the side of its gold and pale-blue muzzle on her cheek. ::You dream of distant lands and it makes you sad:: The fairy-dragon's mental voice held a gentle compassion.

  ::Not exactly sad—more like the land was as familiar to me as our home garden, but I sensed I might leave Avalonia and go there, perhaps never to return.::

  At that moment, a flash of bright color and motion caught her attention. Shaking off her sadness, Ashlyn watched a red fox with a white tip on its tail trot toward the open garden gate. ::Pepper, catch Jax and tell him to present himself at the kitchen door in five minutes—in human form and suitably clothed to show respect to Tanna. If he hesitates, remind him I know who sent a plague of rat-toads to High Wizard Zenos’ name day party for his grandson.::

  Pepper leaped into the air and hovered in front of Ashlyn's face. ::If your younger brother doesn't stop, I'll catch him by the tail.::

  Hiding her smile, she said out loud, “Do it gently."

  * * * *

  The sight that met Ashlyn's eyes when she entered the kitchen made her sigh in annoyance. Jax had to learn to curb his teasing before he did real damage.

  Tanna, her generous frame covered by a white apron over one of her many colorful muumuus, stood with her arms folded, glaring at the fire salamander. “That rapscallion, Jax, conjured up a rai
nstorm right over Sizzoff just as he was about to kindle the fire in the cook stove. Now our fire salamander refuses to do its job and High Mage Toscano has called for his breakfast."

  While Tanna explained what happened, Mary, the kitchen drudge, mopped up the last of the miniature shower Jax had raised in the kitchen.

  The fire salamander sulked in its insulated dome-roofed brick-and-tile sleep box. Only his muzzle and the front part of his flickering crest was visible. Not a good sign. Even his color was a muddy orange, not the bright red and fiery yellow he usually displayed.

  Mary gathered up her mop rags, wiggled her fingers in a small drying spell to complete the job, and smiled at Ashlyn. “All done, marama,” she said using “lady,” the term of respect.

  Ashlyn nodded her thanks and turned her attention to the problem.

  Crouching in front of the sleep box, she said coaxingly, “Fire Master Sizzoff, Jax was wrong to call rain indoors, but you could easily change that into a lovely steam bath. What great problem has made you choose to not perform your duties?"

  ::The young Jax Toscano hasss violated the sssupreme law of proper magical behavior—'harm none.':: The fire salamander stabbed one front claw in her direction to emphasize his words. ::He delayed me in ssserving the housssehold and harmed my reputation. I should report him to the king and the Ccccircle of Ssseven for high crimesss.::

  Not good, Ashlyn thought. Their father was a member of the Circle of Seven, advisors to the king. Charges against a member of his family would cause him to lose face unless he did something drastic, even strip away the person's magical abilities and condemn him to a lingering death bound to the rocks of Dragon Claw Point.

  Ashlyn dipped her head to Sizzoff in acknowledgement of his words while she scrambled for a way to soothe the fire salamander and save her brother. “Fire Master, please find the compassion in your heart to grant forgiveness to the foolish stripling. Only a few days remain of his vacation before he returns to Apprentice Island for more instruction in properly using his magical gifts."

  As if on cue, Jax appeared in the doorway fully clothed and looking chastened. Ashlyn doubted the sincerity of the expression because he'd used it other times to wiggle out of trouble.