But before I could face what was meant for us, I had to burn off the pressure coiling inside my chest. The dragon inside me needed release, and there was only one way to silence the storm brewing under my skin.
I shifted and flew high through the clouds above Carnivalland, until the ache behind my ribs dulled and my thoughts began to clear.
Until I saw her…
The way her silky legs were wrapped around Xavier’s shoulders, her head tilted back, lips slightly parted. She resembled a vision torn from the spheres of my deepest desires. And her eyes… they weren’t on him.
They were on me.
Xavier hadn’t noticed me at first, too lost in the rhythm of his mouth worshipping her, too consumed by the raw need between them. I couldn’t blame him. If it had been me between her thighs, tasting her pleasure, I wouldn’t have looked up, either. I wouldn’t have cared who was watching.
Unfortunately, the sight of her didn’t really help with my stress relief, so I needed the coldest shower of my life, before I asked Sparrow for help.
As soon as I knocked at his door, weird noises erupted from inside the room.
Xavier’s brother opened the door, his hair a tangled mess,the clothes half-hanging off his body. He looked completely disheveled… obviouslyfucked.
I sighed, dragging a hand through my hair.
It looked like everyone was having sex in this castle… except for me.
“Hey, Damien,” he said, leaning against the doorframe, a slow, knowing grin pulling at his lips as he crossed his arms over his bare chest.
I glared at him, feeling the last shreds of my patience fading.
“I need to talk with you...”
“Really? You look like youneedto get laid,” Sparrow replied. He stepped aside, gesturing to me to come in.
I stayed rooted to the doorway, my jaw clenching. I hated that he never seemed to be serious when it was important. “I need to talk. I don’t care about who you had your cock buried in.”
He snorted, completely unbothered by the urgency in my voice, as he adjusted his earring.
“Yeah, well,” he shrugged, “maybe if you stopped walking in on people mid-orgasm, you’d be less uptight.”
I growled under my breath. Behind him, I caught a flash of movement. Sparrow noticed my stare and grinned even wider. Xavier’s brother was absolutely shameless.
“Jealous?” he asked.
It wasn’t the first time Xavier’s brother used his siren powers to flirt, and due to my connections to sirens, it was even inevitable for Sparrow to crave the dragon powers within me.
“Of you?” I hissed, annoyed at his arrogance. “I’d rather carve my own fucking heart out before I’d give you a second glance.”
Sparrow just chuckled, clapping a hand on my shoulder like nothing had happened before.
“Relax,” he said. “You’ll get your turn with Gwendolyn eventually. If she keeps screaming the way she does for Xavier…” His eyes gleamed wickedly as he put on his clothes. He wasteasing me. “It won’t be long before you lose your fucking mind and snap in your dragon form.”
He wasn’t wrong. I could still hear her moans echoing inside my skull, could still see the way her body squirmed against Xavier’s mouth. My blood pounded hot and violent through my veins.
I needed to focus on finding him and not imagining how she’d taste on my tongue. As I went past Sparrow into the room, my eyes were overwhelmed with decorations and sea foam green silks and fabrics. Almost like he wanted to create an underwater cave for himself and…
My eyes drifted to the side, taking in Nathaniel. His state was nearly as disheveled as Sparrow’s. I had no idea they were even a couple… until I burst into the coffee shop last night, with the goal of drinking myself to sleep.
I’d left Aetrum a long time ago… and I’d never looked back, not even to the people who had nothing to do with my father’s wrath.
“Damien,” Nathaniel said warmly, “it is good to see you well today.” And I knew he meant it. Nathaniel couldn’t lie. No one was more generous or truthful than he. Even his powers couldn’t be transformed into something evil. One of the reasons my father wanted him as the prince… he would be no danger to the realm.
“So, how can I help you?” Sparrow said, leaning against the wall.
