“Oh,shut up, we know already.”Having this internal battle with the God makes me wonder for the first rhythm how this will work.Can I ignore our bond in favour of Rivern’s? Maybe in favour of a wolf? No, that’s crazy.I can’t have all of them.As much as Rivern was willing to share me this time, it doesn’t mean he’s open to always experiencing that.Right? Maybe Gideon leaving was a good thing?I was so close to—well, sucking his cock. I’d never done that before. My whole body lights up, wondering about the maybes of what could’ve happened—the possibilities.
It had to be the green elixir we were served. That has to explain it. I’ve never been so wanton before. I’ve also never wanted anyone like I’ve wanted Rivern and maybe Gideon…
As my mind wanders, Rivern inches back down my body, gently removing his cock from inside me.
“Fuuuuck,” we both groan at the same time.
He goes to restbeside me.
I suddenly feel an emptiness within my core.I wish he hadn’t pulled out.An unexpected thought, considering I’ve never wanted anyone inside me before. But Rivern… I could live with him nestled within me for all of eternity and never grow tired. Sure, it’s not practical, but that’s what this bond is doing to me—turning me into some lovesick fiend.
Moving to the side, I find two eyes watching my every move. Two eyes that look like they haven’t had their fill yet. I can relate. Running my hand over Rivern’s chest, I feel an electricity move through my body. A need, begging for more—need that I fear will never see me having enough of him.
“We could run. Hop on Mage and never look back. Solen can scout a safe route for us.” Rivern’s fingers trail over my cheekbones. I suck in his familiar, piny scent. I melt as he brushes his fingers into my hair.
That sounds nice. We could just run away from it all.
But then I’m reminded of a tug in my chest that will always find me, a ruby-red dragon who needs her baby and children starving on the steps of a broken kingdom.
“You know we can’t.”
“Goddess.” My fae prince flops on his back beside me, running his right hand through his hair, never taking his left hand off my body. I don’t even need to tell him why we can’t just up and run. He knows why—Rivern can feel what I feel, can sense where my thoughts lead. It’s not so much that we can read each other’s minds. It’s more of a knowing—a feeling.
Oddly, I don’t feel it as strongly with Fury. I don’t see his heart like I can see Rivern’s, even though we are fully bonded. Maybe that’s why it’s easier for me to keep pushing the God away.
Turning to Rivern, I ask, “Are we safe here?” My fae prince seems content to linger in bed, trailing his fingers over my flesh. I need to make sure we are okay. Rivern doesn’t look like a prisoner of this land, but now I am starting to feel somewhat normal again—less needy—I can think with a clear head.
Snuggling into my neck, trailing tickling kisses up towards my ear, he answers, “I’ll keep you safe, love.”
I groan loudly, mostly at his insinuation that I cannot take care of myself—and maybe a slight bit from the nibbles at my earlobe.
“Can we sleep, or are we going to be killed as we rest?”
Pulling back, he traces the line of my wrinkling brow. “We will be fine. Each night they have undertaken this nightly ritual, and each night I come to bed and no one bothers me.”
My eyes go wide. “Including your bride?”
Rivern chuckles.“She’s not my bride. You are.” His nose finds mine, his hands glide down my body to pull our naked forms together. My heart gives out at his words.I’m his.I can barely believe it. I’mhis. And I like it—no, Iloveit. The bond definitely likes it as it hums happily with my chest, creating its own special beat. “Sleep, my love. I will be right here when you wake up.”
Flashbacks of a horrible pain in my chest make me grasp my arms around Rivern, pulling him closer. “I’m never leaving you again,” he says, rubbing circles on my back. Slowly, my heart begins to calm, and I suddenly find myself with extremely heavy-lidded eyes.
seven
Gideon
Iwasamoment—onetouch—awayfrom snapping. My restraint only goes so far when a beautiful woman is placed before me, begging for my cock. If her hand had made contact with my length, I wouldn’t have been able to retreat. I would’ve been sucked into those green eyes for eternity.
When I left, my wolf was raging inside, wanting me to claim her.
Moving through the unfamiliar halls of the Silver Sands kingdom, I itch to find somewhere to shift. The need to pillage pliable flesh is my current obsession, but not just any pliable flesh—her flesh. Her soft, creamyskin.
Seeing her naked body, the way she writhed under Rivern was a hot poker to my soul, igniting me to dangerous fantasies. Fantasies that can never become reality, knowing Dove is bonded to both Rivern and Fury.
Wolves mate for life.
We do not share.
The image of the songbird is now permanently etched into my brain, and there is no going back. I will forever be destined to want someone I can never have.
