The crowd cheered. It was a huge prize indeed. The Pixies crafted amazing pieces of jewelry, accouterments, and weaponry from precious metals and jewels. Pieces that Arach sold for a high price. My dragon happened to be a fine businessman.
“How do we find this ruby egg?” King Fionn of Air asked, his monarch butterfly wings shivering with excitement.
“You must deduce who its bearer is,” Arach said simply. “I have enlisted the help of several people from each court to play roles in this game. Each one will hold a piece of the puzzle; lines of a riddle. After you collect all the lines, you'll be able to figure out who is holding the ruby. Now, you cannot just go about to every person here and ask if they have a line of the riddle. You must hunt for them as well. They will each have something on their person that identifies them as a riddle bearer; something relating to the prize. You must locate these items and secretly notify the individual of your guess. If you have guessed correctly, they will provide you with their portion of the riddle.”
“Devious!” Lugh declared. “I love it!”
“Be as thorough in your search as you like, but stay away from my wife; she's not a bearer and I will not put up with any searching of her person,” Arach advised them with a wicked grin.
The faeries laughed, some groaning in feigned disappointment.
“The game begins; good luck to you all!” Arach declared.
The game lasted long into the night, overlapping other activities. The Twins' were lavished with presents, had their birthday feast, and blew out the candles on their cake all before the ruby was found. It wasn't until late that evening, after the children had exhausted themselves by playing with the Twin's new toys and were tucked into their beds, and the adults were dancing beneath dim faerie lights in our ballroom beside the lava flow, that a shout of triumph pierced the soft music.
Everyone stopped their slow dancing and languid conversations to look over at Teharon. He hadn't been the one to shout; that had been Finn, who was pounding Teharon's back in congratulations. Teharon took the accolades with quiet delight as he held a crimson jewel aloft triumphantly. He turned and grandly presented it to his girlfriend, Karni Mata. The Hindu Goddess beamed at her lover, took the jewel, and then kissed him soundly for his generous gift. Everyone cheered for both the triumph and the kiss. It was spectacular theater, and the Fey loved drama.
“Well done, Dragon,” I said to my husband as I pressed closer to him.
American music played through the speakers Arach had installed in the ceiling; Hozier singing about worshiping his lover. The sound seemed surreal and anachronistic when danced to with the Dragon King in a faerie castle with a lava flow view. But I'd gotten used to such things a long time ago. Now, it just felt like home. Or maybe that was simply my dragon.
“Thank you,” Arach murmured. “I'm glad this day has gone so well.”
“And even more glad that it's night?” I leered at him.
Arach chuckled. “Does that mean it's time for us to take our leave?”
I looked around the room. Odin had managed to steal Isleen away from Lugh for a dance and was whisking her around the floor, but my other men socialized in groups around the edges of the ballroom; talking to faeries and drinking the strong, sweet fey wine. They looked content and comfortable enough for me to leave them to their own devices.
“After this song,” I said. “I love this song.”
“It's very poetic,” he agreed. “But a little sad. I'd prefer to worship you with abandon; no sadness involved.”
“I love you so damn much,” I whispered.
“I would do anything for you, A Thaisce,” Arach said as he nuzzled his cheek against mine. “And Icando anything. Remember that next time you need help in the God Realm.”
I let him have that last jab because I figured I deserved it. And Arach was right; I did need to remember that. I'd been thinking that I was protecting him when all along, he could have saved me.
“Maybe you shoulddrillit into me again,” I purred in his ear. “Nice andhard.”
Arach groaned and swept me up in his arms. I guess I wouldn't hear the end of “Take Me to Church.” But that may have been my fault too.
I was totally at peace with that.
Chapter Forty-Nine
I nibbled Arach's neck and nuzzled his face all the way up to our bedroom. Nothing too scandalous, but he acted as if I'd been rubbing his erection the entire time. The cords in his neck stood out tightly, his breathing came in rough pants, and his dragon eyes glowed with passion. As soon as Arach kicked our door shut behind us, he was on me.
In a flurry of fabric, we rapidly divested each other of our clothing. Then Arach swept me up and settled me on our bed. I only had time for the briefest glance to the side to make sure that Dexter and his daughter, Deidre, weren't in the room. Dex was fine with us getting wild beside his bed, but Deidre could spook easily, and I had a feeling that things were about to get hot in there.
“I put their beds in the boys' room,” Arach said to my look as he joined me.
Dexter had brought his daughter to live with us when she'd gone through her first Winter shift and had needed some sanctuary. I'm not sure what had happened to her—if the other nurials had ostracized her or if she had just gotten scared—but I was happy to have Dexter's family with us. He had shared his bed with her, but they were both large nurials, and they didn't fit so well. I thought we'd get them a bigger bed, but Arach had given them each one of their own instead.
I was glad I didn't have to worry about them at the moment. My dragon husband looked as if he were ready to start an inferno. The first time I'd been with him, I was still learning to use my dragon magic, and I'd burned our bed to ashes. Arach had said that after I learned to control it, we wouldn't have to worry about burning the bed ever again. But he hadn't counted on how very passionately we would love each other. Control often went out the window when I was in his arms.
Arach crawled up my body, the muscles in his arms bunching and bulging in ways that drew my stare. But then the breadth of his shoulders and the sleek expanse of his chest beckoned my gaze down the horizontal line of his body to the hard shaft that strained for me. Arach's thighs shifted mine apart as he settled over me, and then he held my face within his hands.
