No, not my girl.
“I don’t think the tree is preparing for siege warfare,” I said, forcing a tease into my voice. “Maybe this is a male tree, and those are his . . . testicles.” I said the last word as if it were an important secret.
A laugh burst from Finley, her smile stretching across her face in a way that made me want to thump my chest in victory. I’d done that. I’d made her laugh after Everly had made her feel small.
“That’s a lot of testicles for one male tree,” Finley said.
I dropped an arm companionably across Finley’s taut shoulders, drawing her away from my closest friends. If this mission were to work, I’d have to speak to them. While I appreciated the effort Elias made with Finley, it wasn’t enough. Not after he’d used her when we raided human compounds and then cast her to the side when he no longer needed her.
But no, that wasn’t the entire reason why Elias hadn’t used her aside for the missions to find the orb that kept her away from Somnio. He’d done it for me, to protect me in the many ways I wouldn’t guard myself from Finley.
Still, I needed them to treat her with the respect she deserved. They didn’t have to be her friend, but at the very least, treat her as they would any other warrior.
“Oh, sweet, innocent, Finley, don’t you know a real male can never have too many testicles?” I asked.
She snickered, and when she poked my chest, I told my heart to settle down.
“Exactly how many testicles do you have?” A cute blush spread across her face, making the soft pink of her cheeks brighten.
I pinched her nose, wanting to graze the tips of my fingers across her cheeks and lips again. Somehow, I restrained myself from doing so. “A male never tells.” I waggled my brows up and down. “But know my testicles are quite impressive.”
She tipped her head down, her hair blanketing across her face. “You’re ridiculous.” She knocked her hip against mine before she looked back at me. “I’ve missed your ridiculousness.”
Those four words shouldn’t hurt, but they did. She missed the way I made her laugh, the way I made a fool of myself to bring her joy.
“Actually, I missed more than that.” She chewed her bottom lip while I tried to calm my thundering heart. But I wanted to hear whatever she had to say, needed to know what else she missed about me. “I’ve missed you, Brent.”
Unable to stop myself, I pulled her to my chest. This sense of wholeness spread inside me when she wrapped her arms around my waist. Cupping the back of her head, I held her close to me and buried my nose in her hair. Her breath caressed my ear while the steady thump of her heart beat against my chest.
“I’ve missed you too.”
I didn’t know how to let her go. Not when this single embrace held every part of who I was, and letting her go meant shattering me.
“She’ll do a lot more than miss you if I eat you,”Hoshiko said.
Grateful for his distraction, I forced myself to edge away from Finley. The small act felt unnatural when all I wanted was her closeness. It hurt, but I made a show of huffing and rolling my eyes at my overprotective dragon.
“I was in no danger of falling off your back,”I argued, knowing exactly what he meant.
A deep, guttural growl rumbled from his throat as white smoke puffed from his nostrils. I faced my dragon, looking over his towering body to his enormous face.
There wasn’t any real anger or frustration behind his reptilian eyes, but they prompted me to engage with him rather than continue to lose myself to my mate.
“I can make smoke too.” I opened my palms, grinning at the smoke magic entrusted to me. With Hoshiko’s magic joining mine, the smoke remained controlled and twirled atop my hand like a tiny storm. “Impressive, huh?”
More smoke blew from him.
“Did I do something to upset Hoshiko again?” Finley asked, playing with the jewelry on her wrist. She cast a worried gaze at Hoshiko.
I couldn’t say why, but every time I saw her fidget, I wanted to pull up her long sleeve and see what she kept hidden. As if it might serve as some clue to the female I wanted with every thrashing beat of my heart.
“Nah,” I told her, keeping a watchful eye on my dragon. “He’s being dramatic.”
“Why?” She peered up at Hoshiko, at his golden eyes that shone as brightly as the sun. She knitted her brows together. “He’s angry with you because of me. Is that right?”
“Do you fancy yourself a mind reader now?”
“Brent, please tell me what I did wrong.”
