Savage is cuddled up behind me, and Scythe is behind him. Xander is on Lyle’s other side, eating sweet potato fries with aknife and fork, because of course he is. Lyle periodically feeds me a chip, which I try to evade, but he grabs my cheeks and tucks the food into my mouth with a grin. My urge to feedthemis so strong. I love watching them eat. I loved washing them and taking care of them. It’s soothing a crucial part of the wound that was left when they were taken.
I smooth down Lyle’s hair with a smile, and he wipes his fingers on a serviette before setting his empty plate down. “Come here,” he demands.
And I have to listen to their demands now because I have to take care of their every single need. Xanderespeciallyknows this, and I watch his glowing eyes perceive me with the sharpness of the greedy dragon that he is. “What do you need?” I ask, sliding to my lion’s lap.
Lyle runs his hands down my arms, then down my thighs, my bare skin enjoying the feel of him enough that I have to close my eyes. He gives a little puff of satisfaction, leaning forward to scent me. “I need you,” he whispers against my lips. He smells like food, and I’m happy he’s eaten his fill. Gentle lips brush against my mating mark before he slides the loose black T-shirt up my body. I raise my arms as he tugs it entirely off. “I need to feel your skin against mine so I know you’ll never be away from me ever again.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I sigh, cupping his face. He needs to shave, but we haven’t gotten around to that yet. I’ll have to do it tomorrow after I brush his teeth in the morning. My lion buries his face in the crook of my neck and inhales, wrapping his arms around me and holding me close. It makes me turn towards Xander, who’s looking down at his empty plate. “Do you need more?” I ask loudly. Lyle growls into my neck, and Savage takes up my discarded brush and starts running it through my own tangled hair.
“No, I’ve had enough,” Xander says, not taking his eyes off me.
“How much did you eat exactly?” I ask suspiciously.
He fiddles with his earphones. “Six burgers, two pizzas, and that bag of chips.”
“Where does it all go?” I ask, staring pointedly at his flat stomach.
“Good question.” He smiles at me, and I’m stunned for a moment.
“P-Pass me that brush, Savage. I have to detangle Xander’s hair.” It’s gotten even longer, now the same length as Lyle’s, brushing his shoulder blades.
“It’s fine,” Xander says quietly. “I’m just going to braid it.” He gets to his feet.
“No!” I growl, looping my power around him and bringing his body back to the floor.
Xander falls to the floor with a heavy thump, his brows shooting up in surprise. “I forgot how strong you are.”
“I’m the regina,” I snarl. “I’m doing your hair.”
He grumbles about it, but I don’t care, carefully getting on to my knees behind him and plaiting the long black strands so they lie prettily down his back. Xander turns around, and the look he gives me makes me ache. He feels like he doesn’t belong. Like his pain isn’t worthy. My vision turns blurry as I feel the weight of his emotions. The weight of the black mark he carries.
“No,” he whispers, touching my face. “Aurelia, no.”
“What did she make you do?” I whisper. “If I could take it away, I would.”
“I know,” he says, the corners of his mouth turning down. “I…I don’t want to talk about it.” Those words fromhismouth make me crumble. I fling my arms around his neck and press myself into his body, sliding my legs around his waist as if I can squeeze myself into him and push all the other evils of the worldaway. “She’s gone now,” Xander says into my hair. “You made her go away.”
“Call me regina,” I sob. “Say it right now.”
I feel him struggle with it—the word, the implication, our other mates hearing it. But eventually, I get a quiet “Regina,” in my head.
“Out loud,” I sniff, pulling away to look at him in the eyes. I slap him on the shoulders. “Out loud, damn it.”
Pain flashes across his features. “Regina,” he breathes.
I sob again before I crush my lips to his. Xander slides his hand behind my neck, the other hand banding around my waist as he kisses me back. Our mouths open to each other, and it’s so different from being in astral form. He is real, under me, his breath hot on mine, his touch demanding but gentle. I can actually feel his assaulting darkness as his tongue seeks out mine, feel the undercurrent of the rage his animus always carries in the groan that rumbles through his chest.
Savage snarls in annoyance behind me, burying his fingers in my hair and forcing my head back around. The burn of his hunger feelsright.I am met with the eyes of a furious wolf. “I did not wait all this time just to see a fucking dragon hog my regina.”
I’m about to say that there’s enough of me to go around, but he slams his mouth against mine, impatient, hot, teeth and tongue consuming and demanding my attention. His frantic hands pull me from Xander’s lap and dump me onto the soft pillows strewn around us. I try to roll off my back, but Savage’s hips pin me to the pillows, his pants kicked off, his massive erection hard against my stomach.
“Don’t deny me now, regina.” His voice is rough with need as he pulls the loose shorts off my hips. “Don’t say I can’t have you.”
“I’m always yours!” I say as Lyle pulls the fabric off my feet.
Savage presses his forehead against mine. “Then spread your legs like a good little regina and let me fuck you like I need to.”
I think I’d forgotten who he is. Who they all are. But then they’re all towering over me, with need and devotion saturating their gazes, and I melt into the pillows and gush all over Savage’s fat cock as he enters me.
