“And me?” I ask, my voice barely audible.
Kelan looks at me like he’s seeing my soul and finds it beautiful. “Has magic served you? Has it made your life better?”
I close my eyes and think. My magic has saved me, but if it had never been there, maybe I wouldn’t have needed saving. I sit quietly for a long moment, fingers wrapped around my drink, the runes on my skin pulsing faintly under my sleeve.
“I’m trying not to hate what you’ve done,” I say slowly. “But I don’t want to be a tool. I don’t want to be locked away. And I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“You won’t need your magic, Aura,” Kelan says fiercely. “Now you're our mate, we will provide you with everything you need, including protection.”
“But you use magic all the time.”
“It isn’t magic, Aura. It’s our nature, and it is tightly bound by the Goddess.”
I shake my head, unwilling to hear their excuses. Don’t they understand that I’ve never known what it’s like to be protected and safe? How can they expect me to trust themto keep their promises when we are so new to each other? Letting go of my learned fear of betrayal won’t be easy. I’m uncertain about all of this, but I nod anyway.
And when Darial moves beside me, when he kisses my hand and rests it against his heart, I try tobelievehim.
Even so, I still plan to keep that small secret flame hidden.
21
AURA
In the great room after dinner, the fire crackles, and spits in the hearth. Wind skims across the mountain outside in a low, distant howl. The old wood of the cabin groans.
The meal has been cleared away, though the scent of seared meat lingers warmly in the air. My skin still hums from the bath, and my body seems to wake more fully each time one of my dragons is near.
I should be tired.
I should be sated.
Instead, something more than magic stirs inside me. It’s an ache that runs deep and restless. My desire is alive and hungry.
I curl my bare feet beneath me on the wide gray couch, a glass of something amber that Darial mixed for me cradled between my palms, and I watch my dragon mates around the room. Kelan stands near the windows, his arms crossed loosely over his broad chest, his gaze fixed on the horizon as if danger might rise from the snow itself. He hasn’t beenhimself since the restaurant. Ronyn leans against the bar, sharpening a knife that doesn’t need sharpening, his attention flicking toward me in brief, hungry glances he doesn’t bother to hide.
And Darial sits beside me, close enough that he warms me through the shirt that I’ve stolen for myself. Close enough that his thigh presses against mine.
Power seems to coil inside him, and his energy is so bright it makes my chest ache. I’m no longer afraid of how much I want my mates. It’s becoming natural now, like gravity or the pull of the tide. My body grows heavy and hypersensitive, every nerve awake and exposed. The runes along my hips and ribs flicker softly, responding to Darial’s nearness and the slow heat gathering low in my belly.
It’s as though he’s telling me everything he intends to do without speaking, the message traveling directly through the bond into my blood and skin. Perhaps this is another secret shared only between dragons and their mates; desire spoken in silence, understood without words.
I set my glass aside.
Darial notices immediately.
His gold eyes lift to mine, soft and knowing. “Do you need something, mate?”
“I can’t help it.” My voice comes out more breathlessly than I intend. “I’m never… it’s never… why can’t I get enough?”
His mouth curves faintly, but there’s no mockery in it. Only warmth. “Dragons do that to their mates.”
“I don’t understand,” I admit. “This… need. It’s like starvation.”
Ronyn huffs quietly from across the room. “The hunger in you always existed, Aura, but never felt free to expressit.”
His blunt words make me blush, but maybe he’s right. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t watch couples and wish for someone to share my life. I never felt fully at ease alone. Now, with three men devoted to me, it’s no wonder I want them so much.
I turn back to Darial, who watches me with quiet steadiness, as if he has all the time in the world and intends to spend it waiting for me.
