“Hey, handsome boy.”
Mac blinks slowly, and as he exhales a tendril of smoke swirls around us.
“You’re really staying?”
He nods. “I’m really staying. I’ve made a lot of dumb decisions in my life, and for once, I’m gonna make a good one. I can have a purpose with Auri. A job.” He barks out a laugh and his eyes go wide with surprise. “Holy shit, I just realized, that’sexactly what Auri promised me when I made this deal. I guess he didn’t lie.”
Is that the only reason he wants to stay?
“And the guys are kind of like friends for me. I’ve never really had friends.”
“That makes no sense. You’re such a wonderful person.”
“I never stayed long enough in one place, always chasing my dragon’s whims.” Mac smiles. “But he likes it here too. With you.”
“With me?”
Mac nods, tugging me closer by the hem of my shirt. “He likes you a lot.”
I drape my arms around Mac’s shoulders. “Just your dragon?”
“No.” He shakes his head, searching my eyes. “I have something I want to show you. You’ve seen it before, but this time it’ll be a little different.”
“Okay. What is it?”
“My hoard room. It’s not much, especially for someone as amazing as you, but maybe now I can focus on building a true hoard. One that impresses you.”
My brow creases as I tilt my head in confusion. He really has no idea, does he?
“How do you choose the items in your hoard?”
He shrugs. “You’d have to ask the dragon that. He guides my choices, and for some reason he’s really into demon artifacts.”
I start to speak, but Cassius interrupts by handing us another round of shots. “Drink up, friends. The night is young.”
“How about we hang out for a couple of hours and then we’ll go see your hoard? Sound like a plan?”
Mac nods happily. “Sounds great.”
TWENTY-FIVE
MAC
I only hada couple of drinks over several hours—nowhere near enough to get a dragon drunk or even tipsy—but I feel giddy and lightheaded as we materialize inside my hoard. Drax’s arms are wrapped tightly around me, holding me against his chest, and our skin is sweaty from grinding together on the dance floor to dozens of songs in a row. I laugh and sway into him, groping his bare chest greedily and grinning at my demon.
Drax feels just as drunk as I do, and he drank even less. I can sense the dizzying swirl of joy pulsing between us, making everything else feel foggy and distant. If I didn’t know any better, I might worry someone spiked our drinks or put some kind of spell on us, but I don’t think there’s anything magical going on here. I think I’m just fucking happy.
“Don’t judge me, okay?” I murmur playfully, my lips only an inch from his.
“Why would I judge you, mate?” Drax cards his fingers through my hair, and I can feel the heat of his swelling cock against mine through our clothes. Santorini wasn’t quite as horny as the sex den, but the pheromones are still clinging to my skin and clogging up my nose. All I want to do is replace themwith the scent of my mate all over me, filling me up, drowning me until I can’t smell anyone or anything else.
I shrug and my heart beats a little faster. I know he can feel it, not only through our bond but against his chest.
“Because I’ve stolen a lot of things from demons over the centuries. It’s a bad habit of mine. My dragon is obsessed. He has been for as long as I can remember. Maybe it’s the thrill of coveting something so dangerous? Maybe it’s the demon magic on everything that my dragon craves? I don’t know. All I know is that demon artifacts are my drug.”
“Maybe your dragon was preparing for me,” he murmurs in a throaty voice, brushing his lips teasingly over mine.
My scales ripple and a hot shiver runs through me.
