Chapter 31
Amara
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“Maybe Kodi should stayin the car with Amara,” Stone suggests, twisting in the passenger seat to face the two of us with concern yet again.
Five times in as many hours. I’m starting to miss being lonely.
Raiden chuckles, pulling off the highway. “Yes, let’s leave those two alone in the backseat and expect Kodiaknotto get distracted.”
My lip twitches. “Are you calling me easy?”
Thank goodness for seatbelts, or I’d have been the first dragon to fly without wings.
The SUV comes to a screeching halt, and I send up a silent thanks that the off ramp is deserted. Raiden whirls around, eyes wide with horror. “No! Not at all, I only meant-”
Saving him from an aneurysm, I cut him off with a laugh. “Calm down, I was teasing. Five hours in the car after the rough start this morning has me even more restless and irritable, so I need to dosomethingto combat it. I don’t want to be in a bitchy mood all day. Sorry if the joke missed the mark.”
He sags in relief, and my smile only grows. “Besides, you’re absolutely right. I don’t think leaving Stone behind to chaperone will do much good, though. I might try to corrupt him too. Then you’re down another man in hostile territory,andmissing out on an awkwardly cramped car orgy.”
All traces of horrified regret are burned away as his gaze heats. “Pretty sure that would classify as a gangbang, not an orgy.”
Hopefully this place has WIFI, because you can sure as hell guess what I’ll be looking up to pass the time while he’s gone.
Kodiak groans, adjusting himself. “You’re both right. Whichever dragon’s staying behind to guard our princess should waitoutsidethe vehicle.”
“Not like I’m proficient in battle plans or anything, but I think Stone is right. Kodi’s mark is too obvious, especially if you’re supposed to be shaking hands and kissing babies, or whatever the hell it is you do. It’s offering your enemies your Achilles’ heel on a silver platter.”
Raiden holds my stare for another moment before easing back on the gas. “Regardless, Kodiak will be wearing gloves.” Rummaging around in the center console without looking, he pulls something out and tosses it onto Kodi’s lap. “You’re not our dirty little secret, Amara.”
I mean, I could be if you just worked with me a little here.
Unaware of my mental muttering, he continues, “You’re our mate, and we’ll show you off with pride. The marks, on the other hand, we’ll keep to ourselves for safety reasons.”
Kodi tugs on the first glove, grinning ear to ear. The black leather is embroidered with a silver dragon’s head that closely resembles our marks, the fingerless design allowing him easy access to his abilities.
“These are fucking perfect, bossman,” he praises, looking like a kid on Christmas morning.
I catch Raiden’s soft expression in the rearview mirror and subtly try to convey my question with a flick of my gaze to Kodi and back, but all I get from Raiden is a wink. “I stumbled across them the other day by a fluke and they were too perfect to pass up. But,” he emphasizes sternly, “if any of us so much as suspects that you’re in danger, all bets are off, consequences be damned. No matter how much we may want to help people,you’reour priority, Amara. Always.”
My earlier panic after realizing they worked with the man that drugged me and catapulted me into a whole new mess of paranoia to contend with is embarrassing to think about now. These men have been nothing but kind since the moment I’ve met them, treating me with respect and offering me the sort of life that I never dared dream to hope for.
Maybe that’s why I reacted so severely to the first hint that they weren’t what they appeared to be; I’m looking for a reason to walk away before I let myself get sucked in any deeper. Right now, it would hurt, and I’d be kicking my own ass for years to come for being stupid enough to fall into their trap, but I’d find a way to survive. Stone and Raiden especially have the patience necessary to pull off a long con. If I let myself love them, and later discovered they were the same as everyone else, just wore their masks better? It’d be a blow I don’t think I could ever recover from.
A girl can only take so many hits before she accepts that she doesn’t want to live in a world that punishes her at every turn simply for existing.
