She looks him dead in the eye and replies, “Ice.”
A ridiculous giggle escapes my mouth.
“You can’t put ice in wine!” Lyra and Orion exclaim at the same time.
Both of them pause, turning to look at each other in surprise.
“Why not?” I ask.
“It ruins the texture,” Orion declares at the same time as Lyra says, “It dilutes the alcohol.”
We all laugh while they give each other an incredulous look.
“Regardless,” Isera picks up, and gives us all a long look. “We expect you all the day before winter solstice.”
“We’ll be there,” I promise.
The others nod as well.
For a few seconds, we all just look from face to face.
Then Lyra flashes us all a wide grin and lifts two fingers to her brow in a salute. “New adventures.”
“New adventures!” we all echo.
Warmth pulses through my soul as I give my friends one last smile before Draven and I stroll back towards our home here on the Western Isles.
But we don’t make it more than a few steps before he suddenly scoops me up into his arms. I let out a yelp while his wings appear in a cloud of black smoke. My stomach lurches,and I tighten my arms around his neck as he launches into the air.
“You really are doing that on purpose,” I murmur into his chest.
And I can hear the smirk in his voice when he replies, “Always.”
Opening my eyes, I watch the moon glitter in the water around the island as Draven flies us up to the balcony of our bedroom.
It has been over a month since the final battle against the Iceheart Dynasty, and since I haven’t had to use my magic to create emotions from nothing since then, that constant craving has been fading more and more every day. It’s still there, so Draven is still taking half of it to help me. But with time, I think it’s going to drop back to a fully manageable level.
Though if it doesn’t, Draven has said that it really doesn’t bother him to keep taking half of the urge for the rest of our lives. Especially since it just makes him crave my touch even more than he already does. And I can’t exactly complain about that either. Our nights this past month have been…wild.
“Careful now, little rebel,” Draven says as he lands on the balcony and gently sets me down. “If you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to handcuff you to my bed again.”
I flash him a smirk over my shoulder while I saunter over to the balcony doors and pull them open. “And what if that’s exactly what I want?”
“Then I’d say you have thirty seconds to take your clothes off.”
“Or what?”
“Or I’m going to make you beg for it.”
Heat sears through me at the wicked promises in his dark voice. Turning around, I walk backwards into our bedroom while I begin pulling my shirt off. Draven runs his tongue along his bottom lip, his hungry eyes drinking in my body as he follows me inside.
His own clothes hit the floor at the same time as mine. I rake my gaze over his firm chest and down his sharp abs. His wings flare slightly as my gaze drops to his cock.
“Now, you’ve done it,” he says.
With a flap of his wings, he flies across the room, grabbing me in the process. I let out a squeak as he simply lifts me off the floor while flying straight to the bed and then tossing me down on the mattress. My heart pounds as I look up at him where he now straddles me on the bed.
“Bossy and domineering,” I say, smirking up at him.
