Aurelia’s head flops back onto Lyle’s shoulder, and her bluest eyes find mine, a sleepy, satisfied smile gracing her shiny lips. There are few things in life more satisfying, more healing, than watching my regina’s eyes flutter shut, her heart full of satisfaction and her body full of our pack’s cum.
Chapter 40
Lyle
It’s just after dawn that I wake, my first night in an actual bed in weeks. My regina is curled around me, with Savage curled like a sloth around her newer leg, and Scythe at an angle so he’s by her head.
A long-fingered hand rests on my chest, and I marvel at it. I marvel at her, and the deep breaths of sleep she takes. The long, dark lashes that brush her cheek, the soft, pink lips. She makes a small contented noise and snuggles further into me, setting my heart alight and making everything feel like it’s all in the right place. Like the universe has been set straight once again.
It hits me then how much I love her. How much my heart had ached when we were apart and how healing last night had been. The Collector’s spell had felt like being buried in cursed mud, and none of us were to understand the effects of it until after it had been removed.
Feeling my rabid lion take possession of me once again feels like an old wound being torn open anew. We’d lost control and let others take control of us. This is something that will take me a while to process, but being together with my conscious brothers and my fierce regina is surely healing.
Small lights from over my shoulder let me know that Xander is watching. As he’d watched over us every night at The Collector’s property. I don’t remember specifics, but I remember those lights and how constant they were. How aware. It must be a habit of his now.
For the first time since he severed his bond to us, I broach his mental communications.“Did you sleep at all?”
I feel his attention on me. And his hesitation.“A little. And no, I don’t wish to be counselled on this matter or any other.”
“I wouldn’t dare try.”
“I would like your counselling, Lyle,”comes a sleepy, wolfish voice.“I have a lot to say.”
“We all knowthat,”Xander drawls.
“I don’t think anyone can help you,” Savage replies, but it’s so faint, I don’t even think he’s fully awake. Xander rolls out of bed with a huff and storms into the bathroom. I half expect to hear the door slam shut, but instead, he’s so careful that there’s only a softsnick.
There is something about this that deeply affects me. I look down at my regina and am pleased to see her still fast asleep. This is perhaps the first moment of peace we’ve had in averylong time. I hold her close to me and enjoy it while I can.
In the living room of the apartment, Aurelia narrows her perfect blue eyes at me, looking my body over as if searching for signs of illness or disease. Her demeanour is sharp, determined and…if I didn’t know any better, anxious. I’ve heard of a treasure haze before, but dragons are private and so few and far between that I doubt any other orders have witnessed one first hand. The mental health clinician in me is fascinated, while the rabidanimus prowling in my mind is snarling at the injustice of our role being stolen from us.
I put my arms out to the side, opening myself up to her inspection. “Do I scrub up okay?” The aware part of her makes her eyes bright, and she smiles coyly at me, sauntering forward. She reaches up and cups my face. Reverently, I lean down and accept her lips on my mouth. Her mouth and body might be soft, but under her skin, her power vibrates like a live wire. It reminds me of the electric currents that run along the prison wall of Blackwater Penitentiary. She’s made to tame beasts. Made to make powerful creatures bow.
It’s so uniquely her that I can’t help but gather her into my arms and pick her up. She chuckles against my lips, and I fall in love with her just a little more.
Setting her down, she promptly turns away from me, inspecting Savage in the same eagle-eyed way. I shove down the urge to keep her for myself and instead find amusement in Savage’s beaming smile and the little dance he performs for her inspection.
Our regina kisses him too, before moving on to Xander. The dragon is tense this morning. There’s a stiffness to his shoulders that now seems permanent. I was hoping the pack sex would have bonded us together, but he still holds himself apart. Forgiveness is something that takes time, and I don’t know whether I will fully forgive him for his transgressions. But I don’t exactly hate him anymore.
How can I after what I suspect he did for us? Unlike the rest of us, he’d been aware the entire time. Watched over us, guardian of our memories and…I glance at Scythe, who also bears the tenseness borne of old trauma. The Collector had not achieved what she wanted to with Scythe. That much is clear in the angry wounds he bore when we’d all ‘woken up.’ I have a raw feeling that Xander played a part in preventing that too. Hecould have simply left us in The Collector’s compound at any time. But he’d chosen to protect us. For some reason, this stings.
Savage, the most adaptable and forgiving of all of us, seems to have come to terms with having his autonomy removed for a time. Or, at theveryleast, Aurelia’s current presence takes precedence over any historical difficulty. Aurelia gently takes Scythe’s hand in hers and guides him to the kitchen bench where she’s prepared breakfast.
There’s toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon piled on plates. A fried fare that we watched her cook, growling at us when we’d try to help. Luckily, the freezer was stocked with some salmon and she’d baked it to perfection. This she carefully plates for Scythe, a slight crease between her brows as she slides the spatula out from under the fillet. Scythe obediently sits down on the barstool opposite her. Aurelia picks up the silverware and cuts a small piece, offering it to him. His lips twitch, and he opens his mouth to allow his regina to feed him.
She watches him carefully as he chews. “Is it okay?”
Scythe gets off his chair, rounds the bench, and reaches for her, delicately kissing her mating mark. “It’s perfect,” he says quietly. “Just like my regina.”
Aurelia seems mesmerised for a moment, her lower jaw loosening, those cheeks flushing. I take an involuntary step forward as her arousal perfumes the air.
“Me next, me next!” Savage demands, excitedly skipping behind the counter and picking up a plate.
Once breakfast is done—during which Savage makes Aurelia wipe his face—and we’ve washed the dishes together, Aurelia goes to the apartment window, peering out suspiciously. “We can leave after sunset,” she declares after a moment. “I must secure the building.”
I exchange a glance with Scythe. “How do you plan on doing that?” I ask.
She glowers at the view of the ocean. “That’s for me to know.”
