We sit in silence for an uncomfortably long time. Then he knocks his head back against the stone so hard I fear for his skull.
“I’m grateful for you,” he says, his voice deep but quiet.
I turn toward him. “You don’t mind? About us?” I nod toward Rosomon.
“Sure, I mind.” He meets my gaze. “I wish she was mine and only mine, but my wife loves you.”
My heart expands, hearing him confirm Rosomon’s love for me. While she’s come close to saying it aloud, she still hasn’t. In time, I feel sure that she’ll tell me.
“I’m glad she has you.” Zogar sighs, deeply. “She could never love me like that.”
I tip my head to the side. “Why do you say that?”
He shakes his head. “Can we leave it there?”
“Sure.”
Zogar turns away from me, trying to hide his pain. Rosomon sighs in her sleep and shifts in my arms.
“Sorry, mate. I can’t leave it there.” I don’t want to force him to explain their relationship, but I need to know how their relationship impacts mine. “Rosomon fears you don’t want me and Tynan in her life, anymore.” I tell Zogar some of the fear she shared with me by that pool. “She thinks you want her to stay faithful to you—sexually.”
His eyes narrow. “Tynan the traitor won’t live long enough to fuck her again.” He offers me a half grin. “But I’ll find a way to tolerate you.”
Relief floods my body so strongly I fear I might melt. “We should talk.”
“About what?” Zogar shakes his head as he leans back against the rock.
“How the future might look.” I look down to the beautiful woman sleeping in my arms. “Of course, we should discuss it with her, but it might help if you and I have an understanding.”
“You can fuck my wife. What else do you need to understand?” Zogar rakes back his hair and bends up one knee. “My wife is happy right now. Formalizing the future will scare her. She fears being controlled by men.”
“We wouldn’tcontrolher.” I certainly wouldn’t, and I take note of how he keeps calling her his wife to make a point. “No matter what you and I discuss right now, all the final decisions are hers, right?”
Zogar nods. Then he switches which leg is bent and which is straight and brushes back his hair again. He’s clearly uncomfortable with this conversation.
I pause, trying to figure out what Zogar is so worried about. Everything that Rosomon has said or done tells me she has deep feelings for Zogar. But I have no way of knowing what went on between them while we were separated.
“I believe that she’d very much like a future that includes us both.” I say this, with less certainty than I feel. “But she’s your wife.”
“Yes, she is.” Zogar’s expression firms for a moment, then he looks down at her. “Before we wed, Rosomon made it clear that she didn’t want to be bound toanyman, never mindtwo.”
“Or three,” I add. I’ll need more evidence before I believe that Tynan’s a traitor, and I feel certain she loves him, too.
Her eyes flutter open. “Did I fall asleep?”
“You did, ma chérie.” I smile down at her beautiful sleepy face. “You got quite a workout.”
Her hand reaches up to stroke my beard and brush my lips, and then she sits. Zogar’s head is turned away from us. Shifting on my lap, she rises enough to draw his face around. She kisses him, but he doesn’t seem to kiss her back. Perhaps dragons don’t enjoy kissing? His legs flex, almost as if her kiss is causing him pain.
“That was amazing,” she says, holding his face and looking into his eyes. “Every time feels better than the last.”
His face flushes. A sight I never expected to see. But still, he doesn’t look comfortable or happy.
“I’m glad my cock gave you pleasure, while—” His gaze flicks toward me. “I’m glad you could extend your love making time with Saxon, even though it was me inside you.”
Rosomon shifts off my lap to straddle his outstretched leg, and she holds his face in her hands as she looks into his eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“Your happiness is the only thing that matters, my queen.” His words are stiff—but more sad than angry.
