“Several witches with several secrets—” Benedict grunted.
“Technically,” Ronan said, “we didn’t survive her yet. She’s still on the island.”
I grabbed a pillow and threw it at his face.
He caught it, laughing. “Fair enough.”
“Come out into the hammock then, if you don’t want to languish on the cushions.” Kieran reached for me and tugged me outside onto our platform, and gently helped me down into the hammock. The wind felt good as I lounged on my side, the breeze refreshing. His fingers dug into my shoulders, steady and relieving muscles I hadn’t even realized were tense. For the first time all day, my body remembered how to breathe.
Benedict crouched in front of me, resting a hand on my knee. “You pushed too hard today,” he said quietly.
“So did you.”
He smiled, just a ghost of one. “That’s different.”
“It’s not.”
His hand slid from my knee to my belly, protective as ever. “You’re carrying the future of our people. I’m just carrying old ghosts.”
Ronan pretended to be busy with getting food, but I saw the flicker of pain in his expression. The wind shifted through the canopy again, the leaves rustling together. Somewhere below, a nightbird called.
Kieran pressed a kiss to my shoulder. “Let’s just be quiet for a while.”
That sounded amazing.
For a long time, no one spoke. The island hummed softly beneath us, alive and rebuilding. The steady rhythm of Kieran’s heartbeat was a soothing thud against my ear, along with the gentle creak of the wood, and the rustle of Benedict’s wings as he finally sat beside me.
Ronan hummed an old draken song under his breath as he sat beside Kieran, offering me some cheese. It was quiet. It was perfect.
Sleep tugged at me as I watched Benedict’s profile against the starlight, and beyond him, the volcano’s dark silhouette, silent and still.
Even the volcano was calm these days.
My iridescent white scales caught the soft glow from the lanterns as Benedict stroked my rounded belly. His clawed hands slid over the curve of my abdomen, firm and worshipful. He bent low, his tongue darting out to lap at the salt on my neck.
A bolt of arousal went through me, all thoughts of sleep abandoned. I arched toward him, breath catching as his lips found my breasts, fuller and more tender now. He latched onto one nipple, sucking with force, teeth nipping the tightbud while his fingers delved between my legs. My core ached with need, slick folds yielding to his touch as he circled my clit in lazy spirals.
“I don’t want to hurt the baby,” Benedict grumbled, pulling away. “I should not have?—”
“Well, I shall,” Kieran boomed eagerly, pushing his mate aside. “Besides, Domik said sex won’t hurt her or the baby. Best to keep her happy, eh?”
I laughed at their antics.
Benedict rumbled at being pushed aside, the sound vibrating straight into my core. Kieran shifted over me, his thick cock nudging my entrance.
“I know you aren’t trying to buck the mating order.” Benedict’s voice was dangerous.
Kieran waggled his eyebrows at me, then with a dramatic sigh, he rolled to the side. Benedict had me in his arms a second later, flipping me onto my belly as my wings spread wide in front of him. One powerful thrust sank him deep inside of me, my walls stretching to grip his length. I moaned, claws raking the blankets as he drove into me, each plunge measured and intense, his hips colliding with mine. My wings twitched.
Next to me Kieran was kissing Ronan, Ronan’s hand on Kieran’s cock rubbing up and down. Kieran reached a hand out and stroked down one of my wing joints, nearly causing me to come undone right then and there.
“Not yet,” Benedict ordered, and Kieran’s hand fell away, his red scales flashing like spilled blood, hand going instead to Ronan’s wings. I stared at Kieran’s rigid cock.
Benedict ramped up his rhythm, tilting to strike that sensitive spot deep inside, drawing sharp cries from my throat. Ronan’s cries filled my ears, raising my arousal until it soaked Benedict, trickling onto the floor my ass with every thrust. My body quivered, the changes frompregnancy heightening every nerve until the grunts and moans from my mates made it unbearable.
“Please, Benedict,” I begged, arching my back off the floor and into him.
“What was that, Queen?” he growled into my ear.
