There really was nothing like waking up next to my mate. Her sweet smell laced the air, and the taste of her skin still lingered on my lips. Her body lay close enough to mine that its warmth traveled to me under the sheet.

My Princess of Flames was cuddled up next to Nate, who was lying opposite her. The glossy dark brown waves of her hair spilled over the brawny arm she was using as a pillow. Her head was tucked against the bear shifter’s broad chest.

Some distant part of my brain suggested that I should feel jealous, but the only emotion rising through me was a swell of affection.

She looked content. Peaceful. It had been days since she’d been able to really relax, and she needed it after all the challenges she’d tackled—and tackled so well. Thinking back on how she’d faced down the fae monarch still gave me a flush of pride. Our dragon shifter was coming into her own by leaps and bounds. I’d already admired her when she’d stood up to me, confused but defiant, before she’d even known what she was. Now… She was magnificent.

So I couldn’t resent Nate for giving her this comfort, even if my heart and the threads of the bond inside me throbbed with the longing for her to be just as much mine.

Really, it was pretty hard to resent anything at all with the memory of her mouth around my cock still fresh in my mind.

A couple days ago, I hadn’t been sure when I’d even get to kiss her again. Me and my mouth—my stupid, stupid mouth. But last night we’d moved together like we were meant to bring each other pleasure. Maybe we were building a sort of peace between us now.

With a grunt, our other companion in the bed sat up. West raked a hand through his hair and shot a disgruntled look Nate’s way. “Last time I sleep next to the bear shifter,” he grumbled. But as he pushed himself off the bed, I didn’t miss the way his gaze paused on Ren with a flare of desire.

Wolf boy’s self-denial was reaching ridiculous levels. He could blame it on the mate bond and try to put up all the walls he wanted, but it was obvious every other part of him wanted her too. Ah, well. As long as he was denying himself, our dragon shifter had more attention for the rest of us.

As West grabbed his clothes and stalked out of the room, I eased a little closer to Ren. A joint cuddle didn’t seem out of bounds. I pressed a kiss to the back of her neck and wrapped my arm around her waist.

Ren made a pleased sounding murmur and rested her arm over mine, squeezing my hand. “’Morning,” she mumbled, her eyes still closed.

I traced my thumb in a slow circle over her soft skin. The feel of her against me combined with last night’s memories had already gotten me hard. And that made me more daring. “Should we make it a particularly good one?” I asked.

“Mmm. You could try.”

Well, that was a challenge I wasn’t going to turn down. I trailed my hand up from her belly to the curve of her breasts. As I traced my fingers across the undersides of those soft peaks, she started to squirm. Her firm ass brushed my hard-on. I had to grit my teeth to clamp back a groan. But fuck, being with her like this was the most enjoyable torture I’d ever experienced.

I teased my fingers up, up the pert curves, and then flicked my thumb over one already hardened nipple. Ren gasped, her eyes popping open. I stilled my hand. She’d been half asleep. The last thing I wanted to do was overstep and lose what little trust I’d regained.

“Too much?” I said against her shoulder.

“Not enough,” she muttered back. “Don’t you dare stop.”

I chuckled with a wash of relief—and hunger. As I caressed her breast again, I nibbled along the slant of her shoulder to her neck. Ren sighed, arching back her head.

The bear shifter stirred at the movement. An eager sound thrummed from his chest. He dipped his head to kiss Ren on the mouth. His free hand swept over her hip and thigh to the mound between her legs.

Ren whimpered, rocking into his touch. I flicked my tongue along the crock of her jaw and drew out another gasp. Dear God, there wasn’t any joy in the world that could rival the sound and taste of our dragon shifter’s desire. I could live on it and nothing else for days.

I was about to ease her onto her back so I could attend to her breasts with both my mouth and my hands when the door to her chambers thumped open.

“Stop messing around and get out of bed,” West snapped. “Aaron’s back.”

* * *

I walked into Aaron’s suite with bedhead and a dress I’d picked up off the floor, but seeing my missing mate ASAP was a hell of a lot more important than prettying myself up. The other three alphas strode in behind me.

Aaron was sitting on the edge of his bed. The weariness on his face and in the set of his shoulders made my heart squeeze. I went straight to him, cupping his face with my hands. He gave me an exhausted smile and hugged me to him.

My fingers slid into his golden hair. I bent down to catch his lips with mine, needing that contact. As if his kiss were the only thing that could convince me he was really here, back where he belonged.

“I’m sorry,” he said when I eased back. His voice was weary too, its rasp thickened. “I meant to be back sooner. I know how worried you must have been.”

“It’s all right,” I said. “I’m just glad you’re back now. And okay. What happened?”

“He got himself stuck,” Alice said, her dry tone more solemn than usual. She was leaning against the wall across from the bed, her arms crossed over her chest, looking equally exhausted.

Aaron chuckled faintly. “That’s a fairly accurate description. I spotted some shifter movement below just before I would have planned to head back. They’ve set up a little camp, a few trailers and tents... I dipped down to confirm they were rogues, heard them talking, and found a perch I could listen from. But I stayed too long. Before I had a chance to leave, a couple of avian rogues shifted and took their posts around the camp, one of them close enough to me that he’d have noticed me leaving and raised the alarm.”

“Couldn’t out fly a couple of lesser birdies?” Marco said, mildly teasing.

“There was a falcon there, and a vulture,” Aaron said. “They could have done some damage. But I was more concerned that what I’d learned wouldn’t do us any good if they knew I’d overheard it. They’d have changed their plans.”

“So he just waited there until I turned up and distracted them,” Alice put in. “You’re lucky we’ve got our sibling bond, or Lord knows how long you’d have been waiting there.”

Aaron rolled his shoulders. “You can believe I’m glad you got there as soon as you did.” He raised his head to meet my eyes again. “Thank you for sending her. It was the right call.”

“Remember that the next time you want to go off alone,” I said. “So what did you learn? What were they talking about? How close are they? Do we have to start preparing?”

He raised his hand to slow me down. When I went quiet, he tugged my wrist to sit me on the bed next to him. I wrapped my arm around his, watching his face as he started to speak.

“It sounded as though we should be fine as long as we’re here,” he said. “Unless, I suppose, we stay longer than they’re expecting. They’re settled in about a three-hour eagle-flight from here. The plans I heard, they were talking about waiting until we were on the move again. It was clear they assumed that within the next few days we’ll be leaving here and heading toward the feline estate.”

“That is what would make the most sense,” Nate said.

Aaron nodded. “They want to catch us along the way. Make an attack with the advantage of surprise, on terrain they feel will skew the odds even more in their favor.” He glanced at me to add an explanation. “Normally we’d make it a road trip so we could stop and meet with a few of the more distant communities along the way. We save the jets for emergencies.”

“We could make an exception in a case like this, couldn’t we?” I said.

“But then we’d lose our chance of confronting them. As soon as we reach Marco’s estate, they’ll have to make different plans. They’ll move into a new position.”

“Well, where’s this prime terrain they’re hoping to catch us at?” West asked.

“I don’t know,” Aaron admitted. “Either they’d already decided and didn’t see the need to mention it to each other, or they haven’t decided yet and are waiting to see what actions we take first. I couldn’t tell from the way they talked about it.”

Marco brushed his hands together. “Well, it doesn’t matter, does it? Now we know where they are. We’ll go deal with them before they can set up their little surprise.”

“I agree,” Aaron said. “But the difficulty is how. They’re monitoring the area around the estate. They’ll know if we set off straight toward their camp and scatter before we get anywhere near them. I counted around forty of them there. From what the rogue prisoner said, that might be as much as half of their remaining number. If we strike, it needs to be in a way that ensures none of them escapes. Otherwise we’ll just have to deal with them again later.”

“I’ve definitely had enough of that,” West muttered. “Enough with the constant fleeing and regrouping. As long as enough rogues are out there to stir up trouble, none of our kin are truly safe.”

“Ren won’t be safe,” Nate said. He moved to stand beside me, putting his hand on my shoulder. “They’ve gotten away with too much already. It’s about time they faced some consequences.”

“An excellent sentiment,” Marco said. “It still doesn’t answer the question of how.”

Aaron rubbed his mouth. He looked so tired I wanted to tell the others to leave, to let him rest, but I knew from the determination in his stance that he wanted this settled. He’d waited out the rogues and spent the rest of the night flying back just so we could have this discussion. So we could come up with a plan of our own. I didn’t think he’d be willing to rest until he knew the information he’d brought back could be put to real use.

“We do have some advantage now,” Nate said. “We know they’ll be trying to spring something on us.”

“The trek from here to Florida is pretty long,” Marco said. “We can’t be on full alert constantly. I’d like a way to completely turn the tables on them.”

An idea tickled its way into my head. I straightened up next to Aaron. “You know what? I think we already have the answer right here.”