Mia watched, laughing, as Nathan’s and Steffan’s huge beasts did a loop-de-loop high above her. They were visiting the Scottish clan, and the nights grew dark earlier now.
She glanced at Aiden next to her, who shivered and wrapped his arms around himself. She understood his shudders. Two days ago, they’d been in the deserts of Africa, and now they were in autumnal Scotland.
She’d been living with her two mates for a few months now, and it all still took some getting used to. They worked well together, and one of the reasons they did is that they all needed their own space at times for various reasons. Sometimes, Steffan would change into his dragon form and sleep alone outside. At others, Aiden would be off for long days on digs, or she might be holed up in her studio. They didn’t suffocate one another, but they always had each other’s backs if support seemed needed.
Steffan had realized as time went on how Aiden’s digs might reveal information about Rhyndor, and he had become quite interested in dragon history and archaeology himself. He doubted these days if Rhyndor even lived.
Before the most recent dig, they’d spent six weeks at her cottage and planned to return again in the spring. The winter, they’d decided to spend with the clan as their base, with a few trips to break up the long nights. She’d sensed lingering animosity from a few clan members as time went by and she sharpened her skills, but it didn’t bother her much.
It turned out she possessed strong magic… Like, really strong.
Wings flapped, and the two huge dragons flew right toward them, skimming over their heads and landing with thuds on the grass beyond.
Claire clapped her hands in glee. “I so wish I could fly with them.”
“At least you were with us in dragon form once. Even if it was beyond this realm.” Dominic kissed her on the forehead.
Claire had told Mia all about how she’d experienced her dragon form during the time she’d tried to bring Nathan back to the land of the living.
The dragons changed back into their human form, and Mia looked away as Nathan dressed. She peeked at her male, though. It never got old. Steffan was flat out the most breathtaking thing she’d seen, other than Aiden…and she’d seen a lot of awe-inspiring views these last few months.
Finally dressed, the two males approached their mates. Steffan stalked right up to her and Aiden and gave them both hard, demanding kisses. Her belly flip-flopped in anticipation. He always got horny after changing form.
Her two dragons were insatiable. Seriously insatiable. Which was good because she’d kind of become the same way. She couldn’t get enough of them. In some ways, it afflicted her like a curse, the constant need driving at her, but in so many others, it proved to be the best blessing. How the hell they’d only made love this morning and she found herself raring to go all over again, she had no clue. It drove her insane how badly she needed these two all the time.
Dragon lust, she supposed. And she thought of them as dragons now…as males. Not men, not human.
As she’d practiced her own magic, she’d begun to connect with her inner dragon. Sensed her other form as a part of herself, a part that understood things on a much baser level than her human side. If she turned off her human mind and let her dragon brain take over, the whole world changed. Scents and sounds became exquisitely powerful. Colors receded, but sensations like touch flared to dazzling brightness.
She also sensed what others were thinking and feeling with startling clarity. Anger gave off an acrid scent she easily identified. Lust threw off a much richer and deeper scent. Envy she always recognized in the gaze. And fear, fear she sensed by the increased heart rate and breathing.
But more than tuning in to people’s physiological responses, she also tuned in to their thoughts to a degree, and she discovered a gentle nudge made her human acquaintances do what she wanted. She swore never to try it again once she’d found out she could do so. It seemed utterly wrong to take away someone’s free will.
As for her fire, she controlled it brilliantly. She also had the ability to move objects. Nathan said she might have magic as strong as his if they taught her thoroughly. Somehow, though, she wasn’t sure she wanted to learn to such a degree.
The only niggling doubt making her wonder if she should hone her power was the fear that one day Rhyndor would reappear from wherever he hid, if he wasn’t already dead. Then her mate would want to avenge his lost loved ones, and if she had powerful magic, she’d be able to help him. No way would she sit back and let Steffan fight that battle alone.
They headed back to Claire’s impressive home. The place amazed her. They had manservants, which struck her as so nineteenth century it always made her a tad uncomfortable. But other than the whole servant thing, she loved visiting with her sister.
Because they didn’t have any servants themselves, it had been an ongoing battle to make her males understand she wanted to do things for herself. Yes, she let them cook; she liked their food, particularly Steffan’s. She also had no issue with the way Aiden always washed the pots after a meal, but she’d always quite liked cleaning. So when, for about the fifth time, they’d tried to stop her from doing something or other, she’d put her foot down.
Aiden left a mess trailing after him wherever he went, but he owned little, so picking up after him proved easy enough. He’d decided to get rid of his house and pass it on to another young male in the village. So now, they split their time between Steffan’s cave, her home, and wherever their travels took them. So far, as life went, it certainly didn’t suck. At all.
“I’m going to fuck you so hard when we get back,” Steffan whispered the words so low into her ear, she had to strain to catch them. A delightful tremor ran through her. “I’ve been thinking about it all day. And while I’m inside you, I want to watch you suck Aiden.”
Oh, she liked the sound of both of those things. She almost licked her lips, but she caught Dom looking their way with a smirk across his handsome face.
They reached the house, and Steffan said something about needing a shower and a nap after flying. Nathan nodded, and Dom smirked all over again. Claire winked at her as they headed for the guest room they’d been assigned.
The bed alone gave her envy. Huge, it dominated the luxurious room and fit five people easily.
They reached the door, and Aiden, who’d been unusually quiet, opened it. She gave a gasp.
On the bed lay one of her paintings framed in the most stunning silver frame. The painting was of Steffan midflight, and she’d drawn it from memory.
Steffan looked at Aiden, jaw dropped. “When…? How…? I mean…”
“I ordered it a long while ago. It’s real silver. Antique. I had to get it couriered up to town and send one of the manservants to collect it this morning. Do you like it?” Aiden’s gaze flitted between them both.
“I love it.” She pressed her hand over her heart.
“It’s the three of us in that painting. I bought the frame, you painted it, and Steffan’s in the picture. There were others, but I love this one so much.”
She had to admit to liking it herself. It captured the essence of Steffan—the power and grace of his dragon, but also his beauty. Fancifully, he liked to think something about the fierce dragon face gave way in the eyes to show the gentler side of Steffan. Because he was. Gentle. Surprisingly so, at times.
Aiden proved to continue to be more like the proverbial bull in the china shop. Bulldozing his way through life, and still at times stomping on feelings, but he always said sorry.
For all his power, Steffan lived life in a laid-back manner. If he had them nearby and plenty of physical contact, not just of the sexual variety, Steffan didn’t care too much what they did. Because of that, she and Aiden tended to run their day-to-day lives. But if Steffan ever did put his foot down, damn, he proved to be immovable.
Aiden had wanted to go do a dig in Afghanistan, and Steffan had flat out refused. He didn’t want her exposed to danger, he’d said, and couldn’t bear the thought of Aiden going alone. There’d been a few days of rows, and some sulking from Aiden, but in the end, Steffan had his way. He didn’t ask for anything much from them, so the odd times he did, they both felt like giving it to him.
With great care, Steffan lifted the framed painting from the bed and leaned it against the wall. “Come here.” He crooked his finger at Aiden, who walked over to be given a soft kiss on the lips. “Thank you. It’s a wonderful present.”
Aiden flushed, and she loved how he still responded to praise from either of them by getting all flustered. It made her sad, too, a little, as if he hadn’t had much praise in his life. She’d grown to realize how much Aiden cared about what others thought of him deep down. He might try to cover it up with his brash nature, but he gave a damn. He gave a lot of a damn.
The two males turned to her, and a predatory smile stretched across Steffan’s face.
She turned her back to them and pulled her top over her head. She wore only her bra under the loose fleece. She kicked off her boots and undid her jeans, letting them slide down her legs.
Aiden’s snort of amusement made her smile. She’d worn the Wonder Woman panties her friend Helen, the gallery owner, had bought her as a joke the previous year. Boy shorts that cut high on her butt cheeks, they were silly but kind of hot.
“Wonder Woman, eh?” Steffan asked. “You know…” He broke off, and two big, strong arms snaked around her from behind, his palms splaying across her tummy possessively. “I’ve always had a bit of a thing for Wonder Woman, and you look a bit like her. We ought to get you a costume.”
Then he nipped at her earlobe, and she gave a soft gasp.
“I think you owe our Aiden here something, don’t you? I mean, he spent this morning between your legs and you came twice, so why don’t you return the favor…on your knees.”
She fucking loved it when Steffan got all domineering.
“Aiden, come here and unzip your pants.”
Not needing telling twice, Aiden stood in front of her, undoing his pants while she knelt.
“Take yourself out.”
She wasn’t surprised to see him already hard when he did as requested. A hand tangled in her hair, and Steffan knotted her long strands around his big fist and pulled with enough firmness to give her a delicious thrill. “Take him in your mouth, and don’t tease him.”
She nodded and took Aiden’s swollen erection into her mouth. His taste hit her and made her ache between her legs. Honestly, if anyone had told her how supernova-hot sex could be, she’d have laughed. But add in some sort of supernatural, magical matching-scent shit, and wowsers. Sometimes, she worried it had become a bit of an addiction. But then, why worry? It didn’t do any harm, did it?
She sucked at Aiden with wanton abandon, loving the way he pushed into her mouth. His hands came to rest on either side of her head, and Steffan still held her hair in his fist.
“Good girl. You can rest your mouth for a moment.” Steffan’s arms went under hers and pulled her up.
In one smooth move, he picked her up in his arms and carried her to the bed, dropping her on the sumptuous silk sheets. The feel of the raw silk of the throw against her back gave her goose bumps. Steffan clambered on after her, his knees planted on either side of her. He looked at her, all golden eyes, sharp lines, and full lips. Her very own vagabond lover, about to ravish her senseless. She smiled at the thought, and his lips twitched in reply. She anticipated a kiss, but instead, he bent his head to her breasts and sucked one hard nipple into his mouth.
Arching her back, she gave herself over to the sensation as his teeth rasped over her sensitive flesh and his warm tongue swirled immediately after, soothing and tantalizing in turn.
After spending long moments on one breast, he moved his dark head to the other, his palm soothing the wet flesh he’d abandoned.
Aiden kissed her stomach and down her body to her right hip, where he gave a small bite and laved it with his tongue. She squirmed under their touch, that heady fire already lit within her.
Those sparks of electricity swarming around her body would build and build until she combusted, and when she came, she’d burn with the glory of it. But those wicked hands and mouths left her, and she moaned for a moment. So near, but left dangling on the precipice of release.
“Kneel up for me, baby.” Steffan smoothed a strand of hair from her face.
She did as asked and rose on her knees, only for a big hand to plant itself between her shoulder blades and gently push her onto all fours. Aiden positioned himself in front of her so she could reach him once more, and Steffan’s warmth covered her back.
Two thick fingers parted her folds, and another dipped inside her, testing her readiness. Oh, she was ready, all right. More than ready.
She waited for Steffan to take her; the guy’s size still intimidated her at times, and she didn’t want Aiden in her mouth when Steffan pushed in. Just in case.
The initial tiny burn she still experienced when Steffan entered her gave way to a glorious stretch and then fullness as he pushed his way slowly inside. His balls hit her ass as he seated himself to the root. One long withdrawal and another smooth glide in, and she gasped as he once more hit her deep inside.
Aiden wiggled his hips, making his dick bob comically in front of her face. She rolled her eyes at him, and he waggled his eyebrows with a smirk.
“I’m feeling all left out and lonely.”
“Sure you are,” Steffan grunted from behind. “Must be terrible being you.”
“No one asked you, oh, great leader.”
Steffan gave a low growl in his throat. “Keep it up, and I’ll tan your behind.”
“Or I will,” she said and laughed at Aiden’s outraged expression. “What? You two got to spank me last week. Why should it always be the girl who gets it?”
At that moment, Steffan gave a particularly forceful thrust, and she couldn’t speak anymore. Her mind went offline at the sensations once more burning in her. A pulse of precome leaked from Aiden’s cock, and she reached out with one hand to take him in her mouth.
From then on, the joking stopped, the pace increasing as the air in the room gained the humid, heated feel it always took on when they came together.
Her orgasm built as Steffan plowed into her in a steady but deep rhythm, one hand slipping around to her front to play with her clit as he fucked her.
Aiden groaned and swore and came down her throat a moment later.
She sucked every last drop out of him, and closed her eyes as he slipped from her lips and gave in to the sensation of Steffan fucking her with those aggressive strokes.
A hand smoothed across her cheek, and she looked to see Aiden watching her. His gorgeous green eyes drinking her in sent her tipping over the edge, suddenly and unexpectedly. She gave a cry and convulsed around Steffan.
He kept moving as she rode it out, and with one more thrust, he pulled out of her. She frowned, wondering what happened, until wet warmth covered her butt cheeks. She turned to him with an open mouth.
“Did you…did you pull out to come all over my behind?”
“Yep.” He looked pleased with himself, and those big hands of his ran over her flesh, rubbing in what he’d deposited there a moment ago.
“God, utter filth.” She tried to sound dismayed, but her sated, lazy tone gave her away.
“You both are,” Aiden said. “You’ve corrupted me.”
Steffan gave a harsh laugh, which was fair enough because Aiden undoubtedly owned the filthiest mind of them all. The male possessed a limitless imagination.
Steffan dropped to the bed by her side and pulled her into him, one warm palm caressing down her back. Another hot-as-sin body melded to her back, and she found herself enveloped in two pairs of big, strong arms. Two hearts either side of hers, beating in sync. Three sets of lungs found a familiar and soothing rhythm, and her mates’ dragons settled happily, the ghost of their spirits within her soul.
Her eyes drifted shut, and she pondered Claire’s invitation to hold their mating ceremony here, with the Scottish clan and Welsh clan coming together and reigniting their bond.
Steffan had loved the idea, and even Aiden agreed. She’d thought he might want to do something off-the-wall like run away to the desert to be mated.
She’d need a dress and some jewelry. Apparently, all dragon brides wore gold. Sometimes, the males wore ceremonial robes, but Steffan and Aiden had both put their foot down at any suggestion from Nathan they might want to go such a route. Aiden would probably wear jeans. And she wouldn’t care. The guy could wear a sack, and she’d be proud to be by his side. She quite liked the idea of a winter wedding…or mating, as she should think of it. She loved medieval-style dresses, and she’d already sneaked a peek at a few long-sleeved gowns online. She’d never thought of herself as a girly girl who got excited about weddings and whatnot, but she found herself daydreaming about the three of them making things official.
As for Steffan, she’d caught him looking at charcoal gray suits online the other day, and ever since, she’d been fantasizing about how good he’d look in one. He’d be hot. Dangerous, and powerful, and hot.
As their time together went on, she truly began to understand how powerful he was. When he got angry—which was a rare occurrence and mostly connected to Aiden, who still managed to push his buttons at times—the air crackled with heat and danger around them. When he was relaxed and happy, both she and Aiden fell into his rhythm of breathing.
One day, she’d been walking along a coastal path in Italy, Steffan behind her, and Aiden off at a dig. Steffan had dropped back to look at something, and she’d turned the corner. A man had approached her and taken hold of her wrist, scaring her. She realized a split second later he’d been pulling her away from a jagged piece of metal sticking out of the ground, but she’d already let out a small squeal of surprise. Steffan came barreling around the corner, put his hand out, and flung the guy back a good few feet. She’d stared at her mate in horror for a moment and then given him what for.
Steffan went up to the guy, pulled him to his feet, checked him for any serious injury, and apologized. Then he passed his hand over the guy’s face and said something she didn’t catch, and the man smiled at them as if nothing happened and went on his way.
That day, she’d learned Steffan possessed a lot of magic as well as physical power and that he’d protect her from anything and anyone. She only wished she could return the favor with regards to his wound. He said it hurt much less these days with them in his life, but it hadn’t healed fully. And it worried her, niggled away at her in the dead of night. What if one day the poison rose within him and claimed him? Made him sick, or worse, took him from them? The thought terrified her so much, she would shove it down, back deep where it couldn’t keep her awake. But she was always aware of it lurking, a bit like the poison itself.
She guessed she and Steffan could be a bit deep at times. They both tended to ruminate on things, but Aiden kept them balanced. He still possessed that flippant air about him and still bounced around like an overactive child some days, mind going off on tangents as he made crazy plans for their future. In fact, ever since their talk, he’d been positively joyful. He told her one day, in a rare moment of introspection, that he felt as if he’d found his base, but not one that anchored him, rather, one that allowed him to fly free but always have somewhere to come home to.
She wiggled between them both, not wanting to dwell on sad thoughts, and her body heated once more.
“No more today, babe. I’m worn out.” Aiden’s breath tickled her neck as he spoke.
“I’m not,” Steffan added helpfully.
She giggled, but she needed a break too. Keep at it like this, and she’d end up not walking right. The image popping into her mind made her giggle again, and she opened her eyes to see Steffan watching her. A beautiful, heartbreaking smile covered his face, and his eyes were warm with affection. He kissed her softly, sucking her bottom lip into his mouth for a moment before letting her go.
“I love you,” he told her.
“You too, to the moon and back,” she answered.
“Me three, to the stars and back,” Aiden piped up, which made no sense, but she knew what he meant.
She turned and kissed him too, then burrowed into their arms as her eyes drifted closed. She sensed the exact moment they both dropped off, one after the other. The echoes of their dragons inside her let her know.
These moments were even better than the mind-blowing sex. Because right now, here in this room, with her mates either side of her, she felt something she’d never truly experienced before. Contentment. And contentment was the measure of true happiness, not fleeting joy or amazing orgasms. But this. This golden moment when everything stilled and she had every single thing she needed right here with her.
Mia had found her peace at last.
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For a sneak peek of the next installment in the Dragon Clan series, keep reading. This is a snippet of Lilly’s story, and Rhyndor makes his appearance! Please note, this is unedited, and there may be changes in the final published story.
Lilly Dragon Clan
Lilly tried to care what her sister said, she really did. But, honestly? She didn’t. She hadn’t asked to be brought here, and she missed her life. Not really much of her life, only the part that involved hearing all the latest news about Zach, her on-again, off-again, long-term boyfriend. The man she hoped would be her husband one day. She didn’t miss her family, shockingly, or her friends much. The social whirl of life in New York always seemed so false and brittle to her. They didn’t call the place a concrete jungle for nothing. Life in New York made you hard, and despite the shell she wore, Lilly feared that deep down inside she was as soft as mush. And she needed Zach’s protection, always had.
“You can even ride on one of them. Don’t you think that’ll be fun?” Claire’s gorgeous eyes shone at her, full of hope.
The idea of riding a dragon was kind of cool, but Lilly didn’t want to show too much enthusiasm, or she’d give her sister false hope. Despite how amazing this place was, she could never make her home here because her home would always be with Zach. Once he came to his senses and dumped the girl he’d left her for.
Claire’s bright smile lit up her face as she watched for a reaction.
Her sister was a looker. Maybe even hotter than Lilly, and call her bigheaded, but Lilly knew she had it going on. The endless string of young, eligible bachelors wanting to date her said as much. Of course, Daddy had plenty of money too, and that always helped. Not that she cared about any of those bachelors; they weren’t Zach.
Then these guys had turned her life upside down with crazy stories and scary proof involving fire, and they’d dragged her back here.
She’d known she was adopted because her first adoptive mother had died when she was only nine, and she’d hit the lottery and got taken in by the Franklins from the foster home she’d wound up in. How come some wealthy American couple wound up on her doorstep in rain-sodden Lancashire, she had no idea, but she thanked God they had. From then on, her life had been golden. Twenty-room house, pool, staff. Yes, the good life had come knocking, and now her sister wanted her to give it all up to stay here for months on end, learning the ways of her people.
They seemed to expect her to be impressed by the fact that dragons were real. But she hadn’t been—more scared and perturbed to being with—then it grew old kind of fast. She missed her days volunteering at the dog shelter and her best friend. She missed her clothes and her books and writing her blog. Maybe she’d become jaded due to her gilded life, but once she’d gotten over the initial shock and excitement, boredom quickly set in. These people didn’t do anything. They puttered around this forlorn, endlessly green hillside, doing God knew what. And every now and again, they changed form. After a few nights of it all, it held no excitement.
Nathan and Dom walked into the room and smiled at Claire, and the air changed. Lilly picked up on the current flowing between the three of them and bit back a smile. About the only thing to really impress her in all this was the setup the women had going on here. Two men for every female, and the guys did everything for their women. She could dig it, if only any of the endless parade of men she’d met had done anything for her. None of them had.
A few had been handsome. Two pairs in particular had been downright gorgeous, but she hadn’t felt anything for them. Partly because she still pined for Zach, despite the fact that the piece of shit had dumped her for Casey Evans.
She always kind of wanted what she couldn’t have, so guys fawning all over her? Major turn-off. And these dragon men fawned if they liked you.
“What’s the plan for this evening?” Dominic turned to her and gave a bright smile.
Nathan merely shot her a glance and looked away. He clearly was growing increasingly tired of her attitude, and she waited for the moment he’d tell her to get lost. Any day now, she reckoned.
Dom kept trying, and Claire too. And bless her, her sister did try. And Lilly appreciated it, truly. She wasn’t some heartless bitch, but she wanted back to her life. And this magic they talked about. The power to start fires and other shit, she’d never experienced it in her life. If it weren’t for the fact she was the spitting image of Claire, she wouldn’t believe a word they said. Well, that, and the fact that she’d seen real live dragons stomping around all over the place.
Her parents believed her to be on a European trip, visiting arty sites and getting over Zach, but the lie wouldn’t hold up forever. She needed to put an end to this soon. Claire would be disappointed, but Lilly couldn’t live her life for her sister.
A man scuttled into the room, one of the servants, and his flustered face caught her attention. Normally, things ran like clockwork around here.
“Drago-Anrha-Nathaniel. There’s a visitor. I told him he couldn’t come in, but he—”
“He ignored your manservant.” A huge guy walked into the room, and she sucked in a breath. Holy crapola, he was absolutely drop-dead…well, not gorgeous. No, his features were too harsh, too domineering for such a mild description His high forehead and patrician nose were made rugged by a strong jaw, heavy scruff, diamond-sharp cheekbones, and the deepest blue eyes she’d ever seen without contacts.
Thick, dark brows sliced across his forehead, and his scowl had her shrinking back against the cupboards behind her. His long, almost black hair hung in thick curtains on either side of his astonishing face and extended past his shoulders. He wore a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and God help her, a vest, which only showed off those broad shoulders and his narrow waist. His shirt lay open at his neck, but he had an old-fashioned gold watch in the pocket of his vest on a chain. He looked like a steampunk cowboy come to life or something.
The guy strode into the center of the room and placed huge fists on the granite work surface running the length of the middle of the kitchen.
Nathan gave an odd sound, and she whipped around to look at him. The color drained from his face, leaving normally healthy tan skin a sickly, wan yellow.
The air in the room heated and snapped and crackled at her skin. All the hairs on her wrist stood on end, and her heart hammered so hard she heard it. Pressed up against the unyielding wood behind her, she watched the scene unfold.
“Surprise, old friend.” The visitor spoke, and his raspy voice caressed her skin as surely as if he touched her with his fingers. His lips were beautiful, seriously gorgeous, but his deep blue eyes got to her the most. They were so full of sorrow it made her want to run over to him and comfort him, which was insane—the dude was huge. Even taller than Nathan and built like a truck.
“Get the fuck out of my home. Now!” Nathan bellowed the last word, and she automatically cowered.
For the first time, the stranger looked her way, and the moment his eyes landed on her, something lit within his gaze. A smoldering flame of heady lust, and she knew in an instant it would consume her if she let it.
His nostrils flared, and he took a deep breath in.
He moved forward, an inch closer to the counter his braced arms rested on, and the movement made his forearms bulge with thick muscle. She swallowed. Dear God. Her whole life she’d been playing with boys and didn’t even know it until this moment.
“One more fucking step, and I’ll end you.” Nathan swept his arms out and pushed Claire and Dom behind him, leaving only himself and her exposed to the man looking like he wanted to rip the marble countertop to shreds with his bare hands for shits and giggles.
“I come to you in peace. We have had our differences, but I mean you no harm. I’m here for something of mine.” The man said the words calmly, but his body language screamed something else. Some barely controlled need to move and to act, and he kept darting his gaze her way as if unable not to look.
Nathan inhaled, long and slow, and blinked. He looked from the visitor to her and back again, and his eyes widened. “No.”
He raised one hand and pushed forward. A huge ball of fire shot from his palm, heading straight for the stranger. For some unknown and probably insane reason, she cried out in dismay. But the ball didn’t hit the guy. Instead, it hovered in the air in front of his face. A second man strolled into the room, one arm straight out, palm up in front of his face.
He glanced from the ball of fire to Nathan. This second man sighed and gave a roll of whiskey-colored eyes. He grinned a shit-eating grin and tsked against his teeth. “Rhyndor, Rhyndor, Rhyndor. Always getting into trouble. And I’m surprised at you, Nathan. He said he came in peace. A dragon’s word is his bond, after all.”
The guy kept smiling as he dropped the ball of fire to the floor, and it fizzled out.
“I…” Nathan dragged a hand through his hair, and his fingers trembled. Her fear ratcheted up another notch as she swallowed past a dry throat, wishing the cupboard doors would open and let her hide inside.
Her arousal didn’t dim, though, despite her terror. In fact, the second stranger only added to the strange heat filling her. Just as beautiful as dude number one, dude number two owned more conventional good looks, the sort of handsome features women everywhere responded to. But his full lips, dimpled chin, and those eyes made him almost too good to be true.
“I thought you were dead.” Nathan’s voice shook as he addressed dude number two.
The second intruder shrugged, still holding one palm up. “Nope. Just tired of it all. The wars, the endless shit, the whole thing. Sorry to disappear on you, cousin. But you see, I can’t let you hurt him, because he’s my male now.”
“Will someone here explain what the fuck is going on?” Claire pushed her way past Nathan, who tried to pull her back behind him. But she squirmed out of his grasp and shot him a glare, one perfect brow arched.
“Who the hell are you? And what makes you think you can walk into our home uninvited?” She pointed to the long-haired man.
He sighed. “It’s a pleasure to meet you finally, Claire. I am Rhyndor, and you could say your mate and I here were sworn enemies. And this is Callum, my bonded male, and Nathan’s cousin.”
Rhyndor pressed his fists harder onto the counter, and his arms once more bulged. God above, the two of them were insanely hot. Was it Lilly’s imagination, or was the air in the room getting humid? She pulled her T-shirt from her body and fanned her face. Callum followed the movement with those hooded, whiskey eyes of his, and she saw something of Nathan in him then. A shadow of familiarity in the way he moved. But whereas Nathan was all dark eyes and seriousness, this guy’s eyes could light a fire if you ran out of kindling, and his lips twitched at the sides with something akin to amusement.
Dangerous. These two men were dangerous to know.
“As to your second question,” Callum drawled. “We’re here for the female.”
Rhyndor turned those blue, blue eyes on her, and the air in the room went blistering with heat. Her head spun and her vision swam…
“Here you go. Don’t try to get up yet.” Claire stood over her, concern etching her features and a glass in her hand. “Take the water and take a small drink. Don’t try to get up.”
She looked around in shock. How had she ended up on the floor?
Angry, low male voices reached her. Oh, shit! The men, they’d said they’d come for her. They might be hot, but no way would she be going with them. They scared the crap out of her.
“Don’t let them take me. I’m sorry I’ve been a pain, but don’t let them take me.”
Claire shook her head vigorously. “No way. You’re not going anywhere with them, don’t you worry. I’ve heard of this Rhyndor before. He did crazy bad things a long time ago in some war or other, and he and Nathan were sworn enemies. You know our other sister?”
Lilly sipped at the blessedly cool water and nodded. “Her mate, Steffan, many years ago, he lost his previous mates. That bastard took their lives. Killed them for the fucking humans he worked with—him and this witch he hung with. Nathan took his bonded male in retaliation, and we all thought the fucker dead, to be honest. One thing’s for certain. He’s not coming within ten yards of you.”
About to state that technically the man had already been within ten yards of her, Lilly bit back her cocky response. If she pissed off Claire and her mates, they might get sick of her and let these beasts take her.
For a moment, a sick thrill ran through her and her blood heated at the thought, but she swallowed it down with more cool water. She’d lost her mind. It provided the only explanation for how she could possibly be sitting on the floor, half wanting to run far away from those two big scary men, and half wanting to run toward them as fast as her legs would carry her, telling them to do wicked and terrible things to her as they carried her off.
“Come. Let’s leave the men to their talk. You need to sit down and get yourself together.” Claire led her out of the room and toward the large glass conservatory.
Not sure what else to do, Lilly let herself be dragged meekly away from the two visitors, but she couldn’t resist turning back for one last glance. Rhyndor turned to her as she paused by the door and ran his tongue over firm, harsh lips, and her legs nearly buckled. Shit, she was in trouble.