“Here.”
Rubbing her eyes with the heel of her hand, she slides to the edge of the mattress, not bothering to attempt to cover herself. “Fuck, what time is it?” A massive yawn splits her face, and I grab the pair of black yoga pants, kneeling at her feet to help her into them.
“Two in the afternoon on Tuesday, pretty girl. You didn’t need the extra beauty sleep, but I’m grateful you stuck around so Raiden had a chance to catch up.”
She grips my shoulder to steady herself as she rises to her feet with a chuckle. “Ah, yes, such a sacrifice.”
More awake now, she handles her bra and baggy t-shirt herself, and I have to bite my cheek to keep myself from shoving her right back on the bed. She’s sex incarnate and doesn’t even realize it. It’s an effortless quality that draws people in, and I can guaran-damn-tee it’ll cause us problems before long.
I want to give her the world, but I want to rid it of its inhabitants first.Thenshe’ll be safe to explore to her heart’s content, and I’ll be able to sleep at night knowing no one else is jacking off to thoughts of my gorgeous mate.
“Come on, let’s get something in you besides dick before you keel over.”
She snorts in amusement, but doesn’t argue. Slinging an arm around her waist, I shamelessly pull her into my side and guide her through the labyrinth to the kitchen. Fun fact, it’s actually awkward as fuck to walk while glued to someone’s side, but I’m not the reigning potato-sack race champion circa 1328 for nothing.
The walk to the kitchen is made in companionable silence, weaving through the halls of our obnoxiously massive new home and trying to pretend that it’s normal to bypass a suit of armor and a Monet on the way to lunch.
“How are you feeling?” We cross through the archway into the kitchen, and I take her straight to the center island, lifting her up onto the marble slab. It makes it all the easier to take my place between her legs, capturing her face in my hands. “Are you coming down with something? I can ask Stone to give you a check up. Might even give you something to lick afterward if you’re a good girl.”
She shakes me off with a snort and reclines back on her hands, and I do my damndest not to ‘accidentally’ trip and faceplant into her chest. Tilting her head, she mulls it over. “Maybe something I ate? My tongue was itchy off and on the other day, but I passed out with Raiden before I could ask Stone for an allergy pill. All good on that front now though, so I slept off whatever I got into.”
Itchy tongue?
“What was going on when it started bugging you?”
She scrunches up her face adorably and looks at me like I have three heads. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Humor me.”
She gets lost in thought, mentally retracing her steps. “No issues in the morning, first time was right after the lunch Avery brought me when I was at Carina’s store, and the other time was in Raiden’s office before I convinced him to take a break.”
Running my hands up her thighs, I grip her hips with a frown. “Okay, Carina’s. What was happening at the time?”
She presses her lips into a thin line before carefully stating, “Right before we had a serious conversation, and no, you don’t get to know what it was about.”
I nod, even if my curiosity is burning. “And Raiden’s office?”
Cringing, she says, “I was going for lighthearted, but the joke fell flat, and for a second I thought he was about to go set the city on fire and murder his sister.”
A massive grin splits my face. “Firefly, you’re not sick, you’re getting your wings!”
She blinks at me. “There isn’t enough caffeine in the world to keep up with this conversation, so I’m going to need you to spell it out for me.”
“Stone filled you in on the basics of how shifters are a result of too much demonic energy for the human body to contain, correct?” At her nod, I continue, “Dragons harbor elemental demons. As such, we’re attuned to anything out of balance; empaths, if you will. We taste spikes of emotion the same way a predator can taste their prey’s fear. Or maybe it’s better to use your omegaverse books as an example, when her alpha’s can scent their mate’s distress and get agitated. Carina’s usually upbeat and unflappable, so you picked up on her sudden somber turn. Raiden is typically level headed, so you caught his murderous spike.” I cock my head, brows furrowed in confusion. “Your parents seriously never taught you any of this?”
Eyes wide, she shakes off her surprise quickly and promptly scowls. “Nope, they weren’t exactly stellar parents.” Rolling her stiff shoulders, she aims for nonchalance as she says, “I’m not surprised, though. You said dragons are like empaths?” Waiting until I agree, she scoffs. “I have no empathy for people that treated me the way they did.”
Her expression darkens, eyes glazing over as she falls silent, but I know the look well, and snap her out of it by smashing my face against hers. I don’t even give a shit about the morning breath; not when I have the satisfaction of saving her from a memory threatening to suck her under its spell. Covering the back of her hand on the counter with mine, I mentally shake off the pang of missing my own parents before I can fall down the rabbit hole in her stead.
I’d sacrifice myself in a heartbeat if my death wouldn’t bring about her own, but I’m more than happy to carry us both out of the pit of despair. Dying is easy, it’s living that’s a bitch. Now that I have Amara in my life, though? Being relatively immortal is finally a blessing instead of a curse.
“And you shouldn’t,” I finally murmur against her lips. “Your parents sucked ass, and they deserved to be butchered in their beds. So consider me thrilled you count the original Garrisons in your inner circle and care enough to notice their mood swings.”
She sighs. “Well shit, now it looks like I’m playing favorites.”
Chuckling, I pick up an orange slice from the plate I’d prepared and slide it between her lips. “Not in the slightest, beautiful. You’ll be able to pick up on anyone’s sudden shift in mood the more you develop the ability. Even me, yourrealfavorite.”
She opens her mouth to protest, but I shove a piece of toast between her lips before she can utter a single word. “Don’t worry, love, no one is worried about you playing favorites. We’re just worried about doing everything within our power tobecomeyour favorite. A little competition between brothers is healthy to keep us from slacking.”
