“Dove,” Gideon’s husky voice pokes through my fixation. I notice how his lips sit in a straight line, his fists clenched by his sides. “Something is wrong.”
My face contorts, my eyebrows raising. I feel the need to growl back at him. Instead, I reply, “What do you mean?”
An exasperated puff of air leaves his lips. He moves closer, only to flinch when he sniffs the air around us. “Don’t you find it odd that you are grinding all over Rivern all of a sudden?”
No, I almost say, then think better of it as amber eyes cleave me in two.
The bond strums happily in my chest, letting me know Rivern is happy in our connection as he trails licking kisses up the side of my neck.He wasn’t joking about the dessert comment, then.“Rivern?” I try to get his attention by pulling on his arm.
All I get in response is a muffled, “Quit it, I’m having my dessert,” followed by a rumbling laugh that moves our bodies up and down.
“Very funny,” I harrumph. The smooth glide of his lips as he whispers over my skin, nibbling and sucking, is making me delirious.Damn it all to the Gods if I’m going to stop my bonded from making me feel like a sweet piece of melting taffy.
“Dove.” This time, Gideon sounds angry. My eyes fly to flickering amber orbs. “I need you to ask Fury what is going on.”
Oh, right. My other bonded male—the one who is a God.The one who aggravates me. Ialmostforgot about him in the haze of whatever is happening to our bodies. “Okay, just give me a sec.”
Focusing on sending words in my head right now seems like the most difficult task in the world. I shout Fury’s name into the fogginess of my brain, getting nothing back—just a strange type of static. I try a couple of times, however, I’m greeted with the same response. I can still feel his bond strongly linked with mine, which leaves any worrybehind. If anything, the feelings I’m getting down the bond are ones of amusement mixed with a slight edge of concern.
“Hmmm, ooooh.” My musing turns into tingling, body-rushing excitement. Rivern’s hands begin to wander up and down the inseam of my thighs.Come to think of it, even the beast that is housed in the cavity of my chest is unmoving. Completely still.
Gideon swears beside us. I meet his glare, hands lingering up and down my thighs, my lips quivering at the arousing sensation. “I don’t know much about the children of Osear”—he points around the tent—“but from what I’ve heard, they covet some ancient snake poison.”
The wordpoisonlights up my senses. My back goes straight. Feeling the strain in my body, Rivern whispers, “Shhh, love, I’ve got you,” into my skin.
Catching my distress, Gideon continues, “I don’t know what it does, but I know the people here drink it daily, add it to their foods. Maybe we are just experiencing the side effects. I don’t think it will cause us any major harm.”
“You don’t think!?” I shriek in alarm, a sudden clarity worming its way back into my mind. “Are you sure? Fury won’t answer me.”
Gideon rubs scarred, thick fingers over his scruffy beard, making me almost drool at the sight.Goddess, what is happening to me?My eyes dart downwards. I observe a very noticeable bulge in his pants.Seriously, with all that is holy,what is going on?
Feeling Rivern lapping at the soft skin of my wrist isn’t helping right now, either. My heart pounding wildly, amber eyes meet mine. Gideon’s tongue darts out to lick his lips. I can’t help but imagine that tongue darting out to lick other throbbing parts of my body.
His tongue moves languidly past one of his pointed incisors. My heart stops. Only one thought is on my mind—bite. I want Gideon to bite me. I want my blood flowing through his veins. I want his mark on my skin for everyone to see. I want everyone to know he’s…
Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.
I divert my gaze from that frustratingly pussy-clenching incisor and grasp Rivern’s hands. “Rivern, we can’t do this here.”
As much as it pains me to say those words, I feel the excruciating pull down the bond. Rivern stops his feasting of my flesh, resting his head against mine, saying, “We had too much. I’ve never felt so out of control within my own skin. It’s like every need I have is heightened tenfold. I can’t think straight.” He goes to nip at me. I push away, spinning in his arms.
Grasping his gold-lined face in both of my palms, I sigh, “Hi.”
“Hi, love,” he replies, going in for a kiss. I place a finger on his lips, making his puckered mouth turn down.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a twinkling of illuminated scales.When did the silvers come back into the room?I turn only to come up speechless with a naked Moyrie, who is now lingering by the doorway, my eyes gazing at her undressed form from my lowered position on the cushions with Rivern.
The clear, logical part of my brain says it’s weird, but the fully delirious, happy, foggy part of my brain is still itching to touch her skin again—especially the strange pearlescent skin of her nipples. As I continue my perusal downward, every part of her is taut and hairless. She’s just a shimmering crisscross of scales. My hand compulsorily reaches out to her. Rivern grabs it back.
“I’m not sharing you right now, love, so don’t get any ideas.” Truthfully, the thought never occurred to me. She just looked so shimmery and perfect, and touching felt like a need, not a want.
“Come with me,” Moyrie says, gesturing at us to leave the tent with her. Hoping she will give us private quarters to ride out this strange poison’s effect, I encourage Rivern to follow along.
She seems to understand Rivern will not be sharing a bar of me because she gives us a wide berth as we walk through the tented flap and out into the hot night air. Rivern grips my hand tightly as we follow the Silver Sands princess.
Gideon moves behind us, somehow managing to keep himself together despite the raging hard-on I can still see outlined in his pants.Crap, I have to stop looking at his pants.How many times have I had his naked body rub up against mine? At least twice now? And now that he’s…Now it’s covered, I can’t seem to keep my eyes off of it.Make it make sense.
Moving past the dais—also carved from the same sandstone the walls, floors and furniture are created from—we skirt the outer area of the spiralled circle receiving area where Saff was.Saff.Thoughts of her linger only for a moment before they fly away on a loud squawk from above. Rivern tilts his head towards the darkening sky. I follow suit to see a large, majestic white bird circling us—Solen, Rivern’s intimate.
