With a hard sigh, she pulled back, nodding. “I get it. I hate it, but I get it.”
“Our courtship doesn’t just go one-way, Layla.” Rhennic spoke sweetly as he nuzzled her nose, not letting her go just yet. “I need to get to know you as much as you need to get to know me. Your energy gets consumed by the Bind when we’re in crisis, and I still want to know who you are independent of all that. You intrigue me, I want you, but are we a match? I don’t know yet.”
“So you still want to date me. Just like normal people.” A smile curled Layla’s lips as the echoes of their kiss moved through her once more. Rhennic wasn’t refusing her outright, he was simply an advocate of waiting for the right time. It struck Layla that this was how he’d been with her all along – it was just the Bind that’d had a different agenda hauling him into it when they’d been in crisis at Yule.
“Just like normal people.” Rhennic chuckled, an answering smile taking his face. Reaching out, he took her pear from her hand and set it with his upon the table. “Come on. Let’s cool our heels and have a real bite to eat, and chat. Pretend you just met me on a dating app and we’re still in thatgetting to know youphase.”
With a laugh, Layla finally threw up her hands. Shaking her head at all the insanity today, she stepped back. Rhennic let her go, though with a growl as if he didn’t want to, that golden joy stretching between their bodies as they parted. Rhennic’s royal violet eyes flashed with heat as Layla stepped to the table. But he kept his distance now as they filled plates, as if he was serious about courting her despite their massive attraction. And love. Though Rhennic’s power was joy, there was love between them since their Bind.
A love Layla shared with Fury now, too – though she didn’t want that one just now.
Layla took only a modest second lunch, though Rhennic helped himself to a heroic amount of everything before lifting his cognac and gesturing back out to the balcony. The afternoon was still breezy, so Layla took her wool wrap from the bed, throwing it around her shoulders. They settled at a driftwood and pearl table near the balcony rail, overlooking the harbor once more. As they sat, Rhennic glanced at her, grinning – and Layla grinned also, despite everything. A sexy tension stretched between them as they ate, though Layla found she didn’t know what to say now.
Before the tension could get awkward, however, Rhennic cleared his throat. “So: let’s play twenty questions. My favorite color is purple. What’s yours?”
“Green.” Layla laughed, feeling her heart expand at the absurdity of it all.
“Cats or dogs?” Rhennic grinned as he sipped his cognac.
“Cats.” Layla answered at once.
“Trick question.” Rhennic chuckled with ribald wit. “The answer is Storm Dragons.”
Shaking her head, Layla rolled her eyes. “Are we really doing this?”
“I want to get to know you, Layla.” Rhennic grinned, his purple eyes sparkling beneath the spring sun. “You think you know me, but do you? Let’s get personal and find out.”
“Ok.” Layla sassed, sipping her drink as a smile curled her lips, feeling far more like herself than she had in days. She was enjoying their flirtation, a welcome reprieve from the far more sober topics on her mind. “Well, if we’re getting personal, then let’s talk about the nitty gritty. How are you not tremendously pissed that I’m flirting with you right now when I Bound Fury and fucked him as my Dragon just this morning?”
“That’s actually very little of my business, Layla.” Rhennic gave her a sexy eyebrow lift now, though he sobered also. “It affects the Bind, and I have to beware how I use my energy if Fury’s going to be involved in all of our lives. But as you might have noticed, I don’t mind more men on your roster. In fact, I get along with all of them, even Fury. Plus, I’m bisexual and non-monogamous, so I don’t feel threatened by your other beaus. You have a lot of bi drakes – myself, Dusk, Reginald, even Fury. Of the men you’ve chosen to Bind, only Adrian is truly hetero. I’d think you’re more worried right now about him… and how he’ll take everything with Fury.”
“You’re not wrong.” Layla sighed, once again noting how deeply observant Rhennic was. In a way, he was like Dusk – quietly observing everything about a situation or person until it was time to address it. “Do you think Adrian felt… everything with Fury this morning?”
“I can’t say, Layla.” Rhennic frowned now with a deeply tender look. “You and Reginald are guarding your emotions and magics like crazy right now. I don’t know if I would have felt everything with Fury had I not come here today. Do you let more of your emotions slip to Dusk and Adrian over long distance? Maybe.”
“Fuck.” Layla sighed, sipping her drink as that black pit threatened again. But a wave of bright energy from Rhennic banished it, and she breathed deep, smelling his good heather and lavender scent in the sea-air. “It’s like you can predict my every move.” She chuckled softly.
“I didn’t earn all those combat medals I wore at my mother’s funeral for no reason, Layla.” Rhennic sobered now, gazing into Layla deeply as they sat together. “Emotional combat is just as real as physical combat, and not dealing with the former can create significant problems with the latter. I was my mother’s right hand General, the lead of her Lightning Strikers for a few centuries, which included a number of skirmishes and outright battles against various Lineages. It’s my business to know people’s deepest motivations, to understand their emotional state, and predict their moves. There’s a reason I’ve not been bested yet for the position of Storm King – and it’s not just strength in the fight-ring.”
“How is that going, by the way?” Layla asked curiously, genuinely interested. “You haven’t said hardly anything about your impending Kingship over the phone, only about your duties as Regent – which mostly seem like wining and dining, and high-profile galas. You don’t talk at all about the battles you’re fighting. How many challenges have you had for the throne since Yule?”
“I’ve had seven dominance battles for the position of Storm King,” Rhennic spoke, watching her levelly as he swirled his cognac. “Which I’ve won, though a few were close. It seems my Bind to you came with power-ups much like it did for your other drakes. I was hoping being a part of your Bind would simply be intimidating to my opponents, because of the reputation you were gaining. Turns out, it’s far more than that. Cheers.”
As Rhennic saluted Layla with his drink, she gave a wry smile. “So I am getting a reputation in the Twilight Realm as being the Big Bad Bind.”
“Many Dragons see your power as deeply intimidating,” Rhennic nodded as he set his drink down. “You have the ability to call the most powerful Royal Dragons to you, of any Lineage. And from what we’ve seen, your power is also choosy. It selects younger Dragons with brains, talent, hunger, and heart – not just powerful magic. Those attributes in a group of fighters compounds their ability to succeed in a skirmish, Layla. I couldn’t have hand-picked a better cadre of Dragons to fuck up an enemy in a fight, as the ones your Bind chose for you. Including Fury, crazy as he is.”
“Crazy as I was, when I saw him.” Sipping her drink, Layla tried to cover a flaming blush that rushed up her cheeks. She’d never really thought about the Bind from a military General’s perspective, but Rhennic hadn’t missed it.
“You’re not crazy.” Rhennic sat forward now, digging into his meal, though his vibrant purple eyes were still on her. “Fury is powerful, Layla. He’s like King Markus Ambrose level of power, which is something none of your previous drakes can match, determined as we are. You’ve done something to Fury’s power – trapped it somehow – which is why I think I’ve not been feeling it inside the Bind. But my power got blazing strong after you leveled-up from holding so many Crystal Dragon spirits inside you in February. A few notable challengers of mine have even withdrawn their petitions because of how my power changed after that. If Fury’s in the Bind now… fuck, I don’t even know how much we’ll all level-up – if we can figure out how to get him under control.”
“And if we don’t all go insane from his darkness first.” Layla spoke quietly.
“I can help with that.” Reaching out, Rhennic took Layla’s hand upon the table and they shared a moment. As he stroked her with his thumb, she felt a sweet sunlight energy cascade through her again, and it made her breathe easier. But Layla was tired of talking about Fury, and needed a change of subjects.
“So what you were doing in Scotland?” She asked, pulling her hand away to eat also now. Rhennic took up his fork again, setting to once more, though he was still watching her. “Were you battling someone there, or was it another schmooze-cruise?”
“Battle, sort of.” Rhennic spoke around a bite of food, then swallowed. As he glanced to Layla, he actually blushed. “I was challenged by a Royal Storm drakaina there, Celina Campbell from the Scottish clan. She tried to fight-fuck me. She wanted to be my mate-Queen, not the actual Storm Queen, I found out after the battle got started.”
