"Ripening?" The word snagged in her memory. The ancient voice in her dream had used it.
“Your ripening is here.”
"It is. . .a phase," Korin said carefully. "When a female dragon comes into her full power. Her body prepares itself for. . ."
Korin stopped and exchanged a glance with his brother.
Sol looked at him and then at Pyrran. "For what?"
Pyrran's smile was slow and wicked. "For her mates."
Heat flooded Sol's face.
The dream hadn't been random. It had been apreview. Her dragon self showing her what was coming. What her body was preparing for. What would happen when the ripening was complete and she was ready to. . .
"Not yet," Korin said gently, as if reading her spiraling thoughts. "The ripening takes time. Days. Perhaps weeks. We will not rush you."
"We have waited centuries," Pyrran added. "We can wait a little longer."
But the way he said it—the dark promise lurking beneath the patience—made Sol's core clench.
They're going to claim me. For real this time. Not in a dream, but here. Maybe even in this bed. With their hands and their mouths and their. . .love swords. . .
"Rest," Korin pulled the silk sheet up over her body, covering her nakedness with a tenderness that made her chest ache. "We will be here when you wake. We will always be here."
"Tomorrow, we begin your training," Pyrran snuggled closer to her. "Flying. Hunting. Hoarding. And when you are strong enough. . .swallowing the moon."
Sol nodded, not trusting her voice.
They settled against her—Korin's warmth at her left, Pyrran's cool presence at her right. Their arms draped across her, not possessive this time, but protective.
Lovingly sheltering.
She closed her eyes.
But sleep didn't come.
Instead, she lay there in the candlelit darkness, feeling them breathe against her, feeling the heat of them seeping through thesilk, feeling her body thrum with an anticipation she couldn't name.
The dream played behind her eyelids on an endless loop.
Korin's ridged cock stretching her open. Pyrran's cool thickness claiming her from behind. Both of them thrusting in perfect unison, filling her completely, their seed flooding her with fire and frost until she shattered with pleasure.
Will it feel like that in real life?
The question burned through her like dragon fire.
Will it feel that good when they finally claim me? Will it feel even better?
And beneath that question, another one stirred.
Deeper.
Vaster.
What will it feel like to swallow the moon? What will it feel like to become a goddess? What will it feel like to hold that much power while they hold me between them?
Her dragon heart purred at the thought.
