He brushed his hand down her back.The move was so gentle she wouldn’t have noticed had she not been so hyperaware of his every move.
“Anima Mia, we can do whatever you want to do, wherever you want to do it.I can take us there by car, or if you want, I can have us there in moments, if you trust me.”
She sucked in a breath.“I’m not sure if I am ready to break apart the way I’ve seen you do.”While she’s traveled with Lula and Jenna, their way of traveling is seamless.“If you want me to flash the two of us back, I can accomplish that.”
Her sister’s indrawn breath drew her gaze toward her and Savage.“You forget, sis.I have had extensive training with the Fey Queen and two dragons who are queens themselves.You would benefit greatly if you spent a day or so there yourself.”
“Not gonna fucking happen,” Savage nearly roared.
Scepter chuckled.“That’s a battle I fear neither of you will win, Stellina.Trust me, that’s one alphahole neither of you wants to try and rattle.Come, show me how you can flash us back to Castle Sanguinus.”
“You good with this, Aurora?”She looked at her sister for a second.Aurora nodded, smiling slightly.
Scepter stood at the same time as Savage.The air felt thick with their dominance.Starla tried to center herself with memories of times she’d practiced on Fey.
“You got this, Stellina.”
His easy acquiescence seemed out of character, but she wasn’t going to show him she didn’t value his trust.She hoped she didn’t fuck this up.Placing her arms around his neck, she pictured the two of them back inside the room her sister designated as hers.
From one moment to the next, they left the opulent, almost suffocating atmosphere of Saks.They returned to the large space her sister had designed for her.Like on Fey, the room had been what she’d have chosen as a teen.Now, she looked around with fresh eyes.The bed was big, but the linen was more in line with a younger woman's tastes.Even the desk with the computer sat ready as if she might need to do homework.Not that she blamed Aurora.They hadn’t told her about the aging for a reason.
“You can put me down now.”Her voice came out a lot huskier than she’d intended.
“I could, but I don’t want to.While you were gone, I felt as though a part of me died,” he admitted.
Starla looked away.“You rejected me.”
He strode over to the seating area under the bay window, settling onto the overstuffed sofa with her in his arms.
“You realize you can’t just carry me around forever, Scepter.By the way, is that your name, like first and last?”She asked, crossing her arms over her chest to keep from wrapping them around him like a lovesick fool.
Scepter took a deep breath.“I had a familial name many centuries ago.My brother and I were both designated as Savage’s seconds.He was always chosen to lead us.Our father thought we should take that title from Savage.I wasn’t so inclined.When we came here, I shed my last name and the ties that bound me to House Dragan.Our name is spelled differently from the fire-breathing kind, but the power within our clan was great.”
She blinked, wondering if his family claimed some sort of connection to actual dragons.“Where is your family now?”
“I don’t know.We severed the bond.They are unable to come to America as long as I’m here.I can, of course, return to my homeland if I choose.”Scepter closed his eyes.
She ran her hand between his brows.“It pains you to talk of them?”
“Not as much as losing you did,” he admitted.
She cleared her throat.“You wanted to look inside my mind for the breach and to help me protect myself from that happening again.”
“Good deflection.I’ll allow it for the moment.We’ll circle back, though.Close your eyes.Think about your wall and when you created it.”
Starla followed his instructions, imagining the day she’d sat out in the field with Lula surrounded by pink and purple flowers.Darkness crept in, decimating the carefully constructed wall she’d built brick by brick.She watched in dawning horror as a large spider scaled the top of her wall, scraping away the grout between several parts.The beady eyes looked around as the hairy thing replaced the brick with another, sealing the wall it had destroyed.If she hadn’t watched the thing dismantle it, she’d never have known her wall wasn’t of her own creation.
She opened her eyes, horror filling every part of her.“Can he come in here?”She tried to scramble away from Scepter.
His arms contracted around her.“He cannot get to you when I’m with you.Calm down, Anima Mia.I will help you destroy that parasite from your mind, and then we will fix your ability to keep others out.Even me if you so wish it.”
Starla nodded, willing to do what was necessary.Hell, she’d return to Fey if that’s what it took to protect her sister from the malevolent fucker.“Let’s do it.”
“Fuck, I would love to hear those words come from your lips for an entirely different reason, Anima Mia.”His eyes heated with a need she couldn’t deny either.
“One thing at a time, Scepter.Right now, I don’t feel like myself.That whole achy head thing is still a persistent ringing between my ears.”She really hated admitting weakness, especially to the male she wanted to see her as strong—but fuck it.If he could work his magic or whatever, she’d take it.
“Shit, you should’ve told me you were hurting.”He kissed her forehead.
