They clink softly — an army of insects.
I swallow.
Now I understand how intimidating it would be to face an entire Eternal army like this led by a savage King riding a giant, demonic lion.
I shiver, as a cool breeze ripples over the sand dunes. They are devoid of life, apart from shrines, which light our path with wavering flames and curling smoke.
The air shimmers with the sweet resinous scent of the shrine lamps, which is turned bitter by the tang of the sand.
I nuzzle my nose into Daire’s feathers, taking deep breaths of his familiar sunshine aroma.
“Keep doing that…” Daire leans forward, tightening his hold on the demonic lion’s majestic mane, “and you’re going to make me come in my pants…again.”
The sergeant, a grizzled Shadow Vampire with only one fang, who has been marching alongside us, shoots Daire a disgusted look and falls back.
I chuckle, licking Daire’s wing in reward.
I know that he wanted to gain us some privacy to talk.
Of course, I have already made him come once on the journey by…innocently…nuzzling his feathers relentlessly for an hour.
A bored Omega is a dangerous Omega.
“Why do you get to ride up front and stroke the pretty mane?” I kiss the back of Daire’s head to enjoy the way that his wings tremor.
The lion, who I now know is called Shadow, snarls and tosses her head, as if she can understand me.
She gives off Alpha vibes but maybe she’s an Omega and enjoys being praised…?
“You mean, why do I get to hang on for dear life and risk being eaten?” Daire replies. “Because the most experienced rider should always go at the front. On the holy fae, is this our romantic riding on one horse moment, except we’re on one demonic lion?”
I frown. “Experienced? How many demonic lions have you ridden before?”
Daire tilts his head like he needs to think hard. “Zero, but Sin said that I’d charmed Shadow.” He preens, ruffling his feathers. “And he said that Shadow has never been charmed by anyone. In fact, she has never let anyone even touch her before. To be fair, I didn’t love being pinned to the floor and sniffed first though.”
I pull a face. “I thought that you were a lion snack, until she licked you…and I realized that she was being friendly and not testing whether to eat you.”
“I am lickable.”
I lick the back of Daire’s ear to prove him right, and he moans. “Lanlin seemed shocked. It’s hard to tell with how inscrutable he is, but I’m going for shocked that we had this type of bond to his animals and maybe happy too.”
“Aye, these bloody gorgeous monsters are special to him. It felt like his family giving their blessing to his wedding.”
My chest is tight.
Why does that feel like a stab to the heart?
Because this isn’t a real wedding.
It isn’t a true bond, right?
Or can I make it into one, somehow?
Yet does every moment that I become close to a vampire dishonor my massacred parents? Every moment that I choose my new fated mate over avenging them?
I snuggle closer to my soulmate, needing the safety of his wintry oak and sunshine scent, which is familiar even if his hair and wing color aren’t.
All week, while I trained in the Spy Guild, I needed this. At night, while I was separated from my Raven King, I stroked and kissed over the snowflake bond mark. I sensed his mounting desire and pleasure, as I teased my own clit, until I could feel in the bond that we both came with the same explosive ecstasy.
