Page 84 of Tears of Gold

“Wild, huh?” I mutter. He covers me with forceful kisses.

Something Skye told me awhile ago flits through my memory. Dragons fight and fuck to sort out their issues, which sounds like a dominance thing. Rather than an initiation, this might be a matter of pecking order.

Whatever it is, Skye would never hurt Ava, and Erritt’s in kind of bad shape currently. There’s no one to challenge Skye. A reckless grin twists my lips. If it’s a fight he wants, I’m happy to comply.

I reach around Skye’s neck, dragging him closer, then bite down hard on his neck where the puffy lines of his injury haven’t quite healed. He yelps and I furl my knee up and kick him off me.

A chair crashes to the ground as I roll onto the table, getting my feet under me. Skye pushes the broken chair aside, a steady rumble pulsing in his chest. If he wasn’t so friggin’ solid, he might have hit the wall.

A savage grin splits his face as he stalks around the table. I turn, keeping my eyes on his torso, watching for his next attack. He’s not as fast as his dragon body is. When he pounces, I leap from the table, right over Ava, barrel rolling over the back of the couch. Adrenaline races through my veins. He launches over one-handed, and I dash for the door.

Skye catches me before I make it and hurls me down on the floor. Although he’s rough, he pillows my head with qi, so at least I know he’s still sane. Mostly. He wraps a hand around my throat, and I grunt.

Instead of giving in, I do something I never thought I’d ever do in a million lifetimes. I reach up and tickle his nipple. He loosens his grip in shock, and I surge upward and over, rolling him beneath me. I trap his hands against the floor and sit on his belly. From the tensile strength in his arms, I know he can easily throw me, but his body pulses with a chuckle instead.

I snort. “So, under all that cheerful exterior, there lies a pervert who likes to play rough, huh?”

His legs buck, and I fly over his head, landing awkwardly against the couch with a shocked grunt. Skye’s on me before I can take a breath, squeezing my hands to my sides with his thighs. I don’t want to think about what else of his bare body is planted on my torso.

“As if you didn’t already know,” he breathes into my face as he rips my shirt down the middle, sparking thrills running across my skin.

“Hey!” I protest the ripped fabric. I don’t have many clothes. “At least you smell less like rabbit carcass now,” I mutter.

He laughs and kisses me hard again. I squirm, not minding the kiss but still trying to free my hands.

A fraction more weight squeezes me down as Ava drapes herself over the back of Skye’s neck.

“You’ll scare him away, Skye.” She kisses his hair and runs her hands down his chest. She looks at me, biting that traitorous lip.

Skye growls. In a single fluid move, he leaps up and turns, catching Ava. He strides away with her in his arms, and a moment later, I hear a thump and her giggle as he deposits her on the bed.

Taking a deep breath, I dust myself off. Erritt offers me a hand up and I mock frown at him. “Some help you were.”

“S-sorry.”

“Sure you are!”

He grins, unrepentant. I turn to look and find Skye has Ava on the bed, stripping her clothes off. My breath catches. The hard on I didn’t know I had lurches, ready for action.

“Um . . . may I hold you?” Erritt asks softly.

I look at him quizzically, not sure what he has in mind. He wriggles his toes, one of his few tells for nervousness. “Ah, I guess so?”

Erritt slips behind me and wraps his hands around me, clasping his fingers together under my shirt fragments. He leans against the arm of the couch, pulling me back a step. I tense, not sure if he wants something; kissing and sharing secrets is one thing, but I don’t think I’m ready to take things further with a guy.

He presses his fingers into my skin but otherwise doesn’t attempt anything sensual. Right. Erritt’s always looking for skin contact with Ava and Skye—if there’s no one watching.

A tickle of warmth spreads through me. He really has accepted me. We both watch as Skye nibbles his way down Ava’s body. She moans, and the sound floods me with heat.

A familiar buzz vibrates in my mind. “I’m alright, if that’s what you’re wondering,” I reassure Erritt.

Erritt squeezes me once in answer. “I’m g-glad.”

“I kinda guessed it’s a dragon dominance thing. Besides, we’ve sparred often enough.”

“You’ve got it half right.”

I tilt my head to look at him. His blue eyes fix on the two writhing forms on the bed and I feel the prince’s hardness against my leg but I try not to think about it, or I might get weirded out.