“I was going to but then I got tagged for bed duty.” Ezra shrugged and gave him a sheepish grin. “I forgot everything else.”
:Xin—:Rik started to order but the wolf replied immediately.
:Already on it.:
“I mean, it’s probably nothing, right?” Ezra shrugged again. “Why would humans be out this far from town anyway?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Daire rolled his eyes. “Maybe the Dauphine’s human servants are doing reconnaissance during the day for a master thrall?”
Ezra gaped at him. “They didn’t smell like trouble.”
“But you were curious,” Daire replied, waiting for his nod. “You always have a nose for shit happening behind closed doors, or people being where they shouldn’t be.”
Ezra’s jaws worked and his shoulders slumped, his gaze dropping to the floor. “Fucking hell. Want me to go back out and make sure? Alpha?”
“Don’t ask me,” Rik growled. “Ask our queen.”
“Shara?” Ezra gulped at the even more furious glare our alpha shot at him. “Your Majesty?”
She stepped out of her panties and dropped the bra to the floor before responding. “You’re here now, Ezra, and you’ve passed the alert on to other Blood who are imminently capable of also checking out a threat. Your only mistake was in not immediately notifying Rik, which I can understand.” She laid a consolatory hand on Rik’s chest, instantly melting his ire. “The whole reason I asked for you and Daire is because I know how much you miss and need each other. Of course you forgot in the heat of the moment.”
Ezra’s cheeks flushed and he fought the urge to look at Daire. “I think it’s mostly one sided, my queen. But I appreciate the gesture.”
I waited for the sassy warcat to flirt or mouth off. He was always up for a good time. We all knew that. I’d certainly enjoyed the hell out of him in the past. He was the purr machine. A cuddler who loved a puppy pile. A tad too needy and mouthy but never too serious. Nothing a good rough manhandling couldn’t fix.
Except now, evidently. Because without a single snotty comment, he walked over to Ezra, wrapped his arms around his waist, and pressed his mouth to his. A shudder rocked Ezra’s shoulders. He clamped his arms around the other Blood, nearly squeezing the life out of him. Drinking his mouth down like he would die of thirst if he came up for air.
Which only made me thirsty. But not for him or Daire or even the motherfucker. Only Shara would do.
I surged up out of the water, bracing my palms on the tiled edge. “I miss and need too, my queen.”
Her gaze snapped to mine, and I wasn’t prepared for the tenderness gleaming in her eyes. Maybe for Rik or Daire, her first two Blood. Or even the knight. But not for me. Not the asshole who broke her arm. Who’d fully intended to kill her to escape my prison.
Only to realize she held the key in her pretty little hand the entire time.
Yeah, I’d been trapped for over a thousand years but still. I would’ve killed her, if she wasn’t Shara fucking Isador. And I’d still be fucking trapped and helpless without her, while denying the world this light. This love that burned in her heart that I didn’t fucking deserve.
She came to me and cupped my face in her palms. Her fingers lightly stroked my cheek. Her thumb rubbed across my bottom lip. While that unbearable softness shone in her eyes. “Me too, my dragon.”
And she pressed her mouth to mine.
SHARA
All the lustfor destruction and hatred burning in his heart melted at the first touch of my lips to his. His hunger would never be satisfied. His dragon heart burned for all time, flashing from ire to desire in a heartbeat. He locked an arm around me and fell back toward the water, dragging me over the edge and on top of him. Without ever lifting his lips from mine.
His tongue snaked into my mouth and stroked the roof ofmy mouth, tracing the tip around my fangs. Nicking himself so I’d taste his blood on our kiss.
Stirring my hunger to a fevered pitch. Exactly as he intended.
I lifted my head enough to turn toward Ezra and Daire. “If you want some alone time, I understand.”
That brought Ezra’s shaggy head up, his narrowed gaze searching my face. Looking for the trap. “Really?”
“I don’t mind. You could go in the other room to my bed, or even take the night off, with Rik’s approval of course.”
He looked back at Daire, his gaze dropping to his full, pouty lips. “What do you think, fur ball?”
“You know I love you too, Griz, but we both love our queen just as much.”
