Without all the tense madness and rage she had when interacting in her Dragon’s world.
But then she was running out of breath and had to surface. Exploding off the bottom of the pool, Layla thrust up through the water, breaking the surface with a gasp. Swimming to the shallows, her shoulders and chest came out of the water as she palmed her wet curls back from her face, flicking water from her eyes. Blinking her eyes open, she saw all her men still seated at the table.
Watching her with the most disastrously aroused stares she’d ever seen.
Fire was in her drakes’ eyes as they all stared at her after her passionate outburst. A deeply aroused heat flushed Layla, her heart hammering to have so many ridiculously gorgeous men looking at her like that at once – even as she shivered from a strange fear of all those hungry looks. Deep inside, she felt a sudden roar. Blinking in astonishment, Layla set a palm to her heart as her drakaina flashed up hard in her veins, wanting her Royal drakes after having told them the truth of how she was feeling.
And then it was gone – back to coiling up in useless self-torture.
“Layla, did your Dragon just…?” Adrian had risen from the table, his vibrant aqua gaze pinned to her as if he’d felt it.
“She moved!” Layla blinked as Adrian came to the edge of the pool and hunkered, watching her intently. “When I got angry just now and spoke how I was truly feeling to you all… my drakaina moved inside me.”
Suddenly, Rake André’s words about Layla needing to speak her heart to her men came to her. Her chest gripped as she realized how much she had been holding back from her lovers; not trusting them with her heart when they trusted her so much with theirs. Adrian saw it – her stiff tension and the too-bright shine in her eyes. In half a moment, he had kicked off his sandals and plunged into the pool fully clothed. Moving to her, he slid his arms around her just as she began to shudder. Cradling her close, he breathed his soothing winds around her, stroking her skin.
Reaching up, Layla gripped her fists into his sodden shirt. “Adrian, I’m so sorry! I’ve been lying to you…”
“Lying? What do you mean?” Adrian murmured, kissing her temple. “Layla, what’s going on?”
“I’ve been so calm…” She spoke, trying to hold herself together in her drunken wretchedness and failing. “I’ve been trying to face all this with a stiff upper lip! But inside, I’m just churning. I’ve told you all that I’d do whatever it takes to get my Dragon back – but what if I actually don’t want to be a Dragon anymore? What if I really am just a weapon and the further I go, the darker it gets – like my father, this Ice Dragon warlord? Maybe it’s better if I just live as human, rather than create a future of death and heartbreak for all of us. Hunter would lose interest in me, in us. What if that’s the only way to be free of him and all his awful bullshit?”
“Layla…” Adrian’s loving murmur was the sweetest thing Layla had ever heard as he lifted her chin, gazing into her eyes. “Your Bind is such a gift, to all of us. You can’t feel it because you’re strangling your power right now, but we feel it. The emotions we’re sharing, the intimacy… You’ve brought us together in a way we never thought possible – and it’sbeautiful, Layla. I may still hate Reginald, but I love him now, too. I haven’t felt this close to Dusk in years. Rhennic and I understand each other without hardly a blink passing between us. Please don’t kill your Bind because you’re afraid. Be with us. Let us love you. Let us understand what you’re feeling. Trust us… with your heart. Because we sure as hell trust you with ours. And that’s the way true mates should be.”
Adrian’s words were so beautiful as he watched her, that Layla suddenly broke. Throwing her arms up around his neck, she sobbed from the heat and booze and her confusion. Cradling her close, Adrian kissed her with his soft lips. Suddenly, Layla felt others move around her in the water, cuddling her as many hands and bodies touched her at once. It was sweet and not at all pressuring as her men held her as one. Even Fury was in the pool, his hands gentle as he rubbed her back before Dusk moved in behind her. Taking deep breaths, Layla felt herself spiral back out to the universe as her men all held her. And as she found that quiet place, opening her heart to them at last, she sank into their loving support.
Allowing them to hold her in the late afternoon sunlight as she broke.
CHAPTER 9 – REST
As Layla came back to herself, wiping her nose on Adrian’s shirt, she suddenly looked up and saw the patio had been cleared of guests while she had her breakdown in the pool. With a blink, she realized she’d had a very significant moment of emotion right in the most visible part of the human side of the Antigua Hotel; but though she spotted Florian standing quietly over by the gate, he only gave her a gentle smile. Something in Layla breathed in relief, understanding the Merman Hotel Head had cleared the patio before things had gotten ugly. She gave him a grateful smile and he nodded, before turning and speaking something low to their bartender.
Taking a deep breath, Layla gathered herself at last. As she did, her knot of men came unwound, Dusk and Adrian cradling her as the others slipped away. As Layla wiped her eyes, she allowed Adrian to lead her out of the pool. As they exited, Florian stepped towards them with Layla’s sunhat, sunglasses, sandals, and silk dress in his hands, apology in his kind dark gaze as he spoke.
“Dear friends, my sincerest regrets. But in light of how…intensethings are with your Dragon-group at the moment, my wife and I have discreetly transferred all of your overnight lodgings to the Twilight side of the Hotel. You will find them in the same spot as before, and your things have been gently moved. We do this only because—”
“We understand completely.” Adrian cut in with a nod, receiving Layla’s things from Florian. “Magics and emotions are unpredictable in our group at the moment, and the Twilight side of your establishment has better magical barriers to keep things contained.”
“Again, my deepest apologies, but we have many human guests—” Florian spoke.
“There is no need.” Reginald interrupted him this time. “Safety concerns at any Hotel must be addressed. Adrian, Layla, and Dusk are happy to change rooms, as long as the linens are clean and appropriate.”
“They have been seen to.” Florian spoke with a brisk nod.
“Come.” Reginald turned and spoke to the group now, though he let Adrian corral Layla close. “We have had too much tense conversation and sun this afternoon. Let us retire to our lodgings for a siesta so we may rest and regroup. At least we will all be on the same side of the Hotel now, which is as it should be.”
It was Reginald’s way of saying they should probably get the fuck out of the human-world common area, and Layla couldn’t agree more. Though she desperately wanted a normal human vacation, her situation with her men just wasn’t normal, and there was no way around it. As Florian gestured through a different wrought-iron arch than the one they’d come down by, Layla donned her sandals and Reginald led the way.
As they passed beneath the arch, Layla felt the familiar disorientation and flash of light that meant they were passing back into the Twilight Realm. But rather than feel angry at returning to a place magic was welcome, Layla instead felt something inside her exhale in relief. Deep within, she felt her drakaina pause for a moment, like she had when Layla had admitted one of her deepest truths to her men at the pool. A feeling of ease filled her now that she had trusted them, and Layla moved up the path quietly after Adrian and Reginald with the rest following. Moving back up through the forest, they came to the place the Parrot’s Nest was located.
Though it was startlingly transformed now.
Their sprawling treehouse compound in the Twilight Realm was not made of wood and thatch anymore, but a soaring, gossamer silvery-white material that reminded Layla of an elven abode made from spider’s silk. Swirling up in beautiful twists that writhed up the trees, then expanded into lofty structures like birds’ wings or fish fins, the entire elevated compound was laced with enormous colorful feathers, long strings of pearls, and beautiful twists of the gossamer filaments, shimmering in the dappled Caribbean sunlight.
Layla saw Reginald’s distinct smile of pleasure as they mounted the silvery steps up to this new abode, as if it was far more to his standards. As they came to the heights of the silver-white platform, Layla blinked in astonishment, the sprawling patio between the six abodes now complete with not only a beautiful fire-pit of pearls, but also a wide bower of blossoming vines filled with pillows like the world’s most opulent hammock.
A waterfall bubbled up along one side of the platform, cascading down into a cold soaking pool and an enormous steaming hot pool made of pearls. Lounging-chaises in bright Caribbean silks surrounded the fire pit, ornate silver tables already burdened with decanters of rum, bourbon, wines, small plates, and more. Between the abodes, twists of silver-white filaments stretched high above with twinkling firefly-lights as the sun dipped below the mountains to the west. Reginald was openly smiling now as he moved to the wines and uncorked a bottle of chardonnay, inhaling before setting it aside to breathe.
“Wow!” Layla spoke as everyone gained the top of the structure and Adrian set her things aside on a chaise. “Why is it so different from the human side?”
