He wilted.
I fought back the same smile that Zuko and Slater wore.
I hated the way Hawk had been looking at her ever since she wouldn’t leave him behind during that final. It was like he worshipped her.
Rune walked between Slater and Zuko as we spilled across the bridge. They laughed at something she had said.
Envy flared in me, but I tried to swallow it down.
Dimitri fell in step on my other side. We didn’t look at each other. We didn’t have to. I could see the jealous little twist in his aura that matched mine.
“Annoying, isn’t it?” he murmured.
“Deeply,” I admitted.
Something soft, red, and lacy smacked Zuko in the face.
We stopped walking.
Zuko blinked, tilted his head, and plucked a thong off his nose with two fingers. “What the fuck is this?”
Darian strolled up wearing a smirk. “A gift for the two idiots that think she’s into you,” Darian drawled. “You should really give up. Rune and I already fucked.”
Rune laughed. She laughed so hard, she bent over, holding her stomach. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and Slater joined her.
Zuko lifted the thong to his nose, inhaled, and made a face like disappointment. “Dry,” he announced. “Not hers. No midnight orchid scent with that undeniable sweetness. No…anything.” He flicked it back at Darian’s chest. “Congrats on owning laundry.”
“Not to mention that she doesn’t even own red panties,” Slater chuckled, as he wiped a tear from Rune’s cheek as she caught her breath.
A red flush climbed Darian’s neck. “She’ll be begging for my dick,” he gestured between his legs, “because I’m a drake, so you know it’s huge.”
Rune’s eyebrows shot up in genuine shock. She couldn’t stop laughing again. “Uh, you’ve never actually gotten me wet. I mean, yeah, it’s big. Big enough to hurt since you couldn’t get me turned on.” She tilted her head toward Zuko. “His is big, too. Pierced eight times, and my name’s on it.”
Zuko’s grin turned positively feral. “You hear that?” he sing-songed. “She soaks my tongue and my?—”
“Language,” Dimitri said dryly.
“I mean, Ididfake it throughout our entire relationship. So, I can see why you’d think you had something.” She bit her lip to hide a laugh.
Slater threw an arm over Rune’s shoulders and stage-whispered, “Venom baby, that’s a damncrime. You deserve endless orgasms for putting up with that jackass. Let’s do that for you tonight.”
“You don’t even have to ask.” She smiled up at him.
Darian took a step as if he was going to grab Rune, and I lost it. I moved without thinking, planting myself in front of Rune.
Heat rose up my spine as my phoenix flames licked over my body.
Jesper appeared from nowhere, grabbed Darian by the biceps, and yanked him back.
“What the hell happened?” Jesper snapped at him.
Darian started laughing, something without humor. His eyes shot to Rune, and he pointed. “She’s a fucking slut! She’s a tease and a liar, and she?—”
Jesper said nothing. He just punched him in the face.
Once.
Darian fell back, knocked out cold on the grass.
