If anything, I’d relish them trying to come for me, only to be incinerated by my dragon mates.
Darial drapes a large fur around my shoulders and binds it at my waist with the cloth from around his hips. Kelan shifts first, his form erupting into a behemoth of black and silver obsidian, wings extending wide enough to blot out thesun.
Then Darial shifts into a blazing flare of gold beside him.
Ronyn grips me around the waist as he shifts,lifting me against his body. His talons curve carefully around my body, and the vibration of his power makes me shudder.
We swoop in a roar of wind and magic, cutting through clouds, soaring above distant city lights, the wind wailing past us. Ronyn’s wings beat in a slow rhythm, casting no shadow on the earth below.
This time, I'm relaxed, but the experience of flying is still unreal. By the time we land on the rooftop of a tower so tall, it seems to slice through the sky, I’m breathless with awe.
The building gleams with mirrored glass and steel, crowned with a glowing spire. The rooftop itself is wide and flat, perfect for dragon landings, and their claws scrape softly over the stone as they descend.
They shift before my eyes. One by one, dragon becomes man again. Kelan first, tall, commanding, every inch the onyx alpha, his silver eyes molten with hunger and protection as they scan for my safety, his muscular form naked and spectacular. Ronyn next is scarlet heat and muscle, his body still coursing with restrained energy, clasping me to him as we drop to the roof. Darial is last, a gleaming god in gold, tousled hair catching the wind.
Ronyn carries me down the rooftop stairwell, each step reverberating, until we reach a wide, glass-paneled door. Kelan uses his thumbprint to enter, and inside… is another world.
The penthouse is impossibly huge, styled with marble floors and velvet drapes. Walls of glass overlook the expansive city beneath. Furniture that appears hand-carved and ancient is contrasted by modern, sleek pieces. Thefragrance of polished leather and citrus drifts in the air.
“This is… yours?” I whisper.
“Yes,” Darial says softly. “And that means it’syours.”
I gulp, pressing my hand to my mouth, stunned at the kind of luxury I have never seen in person. They show me everything: A state-of-the-art kitchen and open-plan living and dining area so spacious I could get lost, a bedroom so large it defies reason, the bed bigger than anything I’ve ever seen, a walk-in closet, a bathroom with a sunken tub carved from black stone that’s deep enough to swim in.
Darial and Kelan drop the furs onto the bed, spreading them out into a formation like the nest in the cave. Ronyn says, “You’ll sleep here, where it’s safe. This is your den now.”
Kelan disappears while I stare out the window. I’ve never been to a city this large, and it’s as scary as it is freeing to understand how much bigger the world is than the small place I grew up in. Kelan returns carrying a velvet box. When he flips it open, I gasp. Inside are chains of gold, a collar of delicate rubies, rings and gems the size of swollen raindrops, the color of blood. “Every queen needs treasure,” he says with a crooked smile. “Let us spoil you.”
“I don’t… I’ve never…” I trail off, overwhelmed.
Ronyn steps behind me, nuzzling my neck. “There are a lot of things that will be new. You must understand that you deserve everything that we will give you.”
Overwhelmed, I finger the jewels, admiring the coolness of the metal and the warmth of the stones. “It’s too much,” I say.
“It isn’t enough,” Kelan replies.
He lifts a chain from the box, but I shake my head. “I’m filthy.”
“You smell like us,” Ronyn smiles.
“I smell like sweat.”
He licks my throat, as if to say,I don’t care, but Darial laughs.
“It’s okay, Aura. We’ll prepare a bath. Our assistant will return with clothes to fill your closet, until you can go out to choose for yourself.”
Assistant? Clothes? It finally registers that these dragon men are wealthy in a way that’s unreal. I’ve spent so long surviving on scraps and second-hand everything that the idea of a closet waiting to be filled for me alone seems impossible. A strange, almost guilty warmth spreads through my chest. I don’t know what to do with it yet. I don’t know how to be a woman who relishes being spoiled. But for the first time in a long time, the future isn’t something I have to outrun.
The next thing I know is that I’m stepping into the sunken tub, hot water enveloping my sore limbs, steam drifting into the air. Kelan slips in behind me, cradling my back against his broad chest. Ronyn slides in next, soap in hand. Darial dips a golden cup and carefully pours water over my hair.
They wash me like I’m both helpless and sacred, shampooing my hair and sponging my shoulders and the soft inside of my thighs. I tilt my head back, eyes shutting, and let myself drift into their tender touch.
This is my life now.
This is my life now.
Can I let myself believe that all the hurt and pain in my life is now relegated to my past?
