by Lila Jean
He carried on as if nothing were happening behind his zipper. “It’s important to keep the blade turned slightly out from you as an extra security measure. You don’t want to accidentally stab yourself.”
Tina grinned, the roguish twist to her lips letting him know full well that she didn’t mind his teasing. She did not, however, rub against him like he had expected. She didn’t hook her finger through his belt loop and pull him closer like he had hoped, nor did she indulge him in any way.
Fine. He enjoyed the chase, and he would up the ante. In a fluid motion too quick for her to register, he twirled her around and pressed her against the nearest mirror. The knife fell from her hand and clattered along the floor, sliding a good five feet away.
Draven pinned her wrists over her head, pressing his body against hers until she was sandwiched between him and the mirror. Her lips parted in surprise, those pretty eyes widening as she stared up at him.
He leaned in close, nose trailing along her cheek. “Tell me, Tina, what would you do to escape this situation?”
Draven had expected her to wriggle under his grip, to squirm and further tease the bulge beneath his zipper. He had expected she would perhaps try to twist her wrists or hook his leg.
Instead, she reached up on her toes and kissed him, the peck warm and fleeting.
When she pulled away, that charming smirk on her face, he shrugged as if considering her answer. “An unorthodox choice, I’ll admit, but improvisation is good.”
She laughed. “Idiot.”
This was his chance.
He grinned and kissed her deeply, pinning both of her wrists with one hand so that his other could find its way up her shirt. She gasped at first, tensing under him as he explored her mouth, but her resistance lasted barely a second. She leaned into him, opening her mouth for him, letting him in.
Yes. Inwardly, his dragon growled in victory.
The seductive scent of her arousal called to him, daring him to run his hand over every inch of her. His fingers trailed down her pants, his fingertip dragging between her underpants and the soft skin near her pelvis.
Just as he was about to run his fingers between her thighs, she leaned away from his mouth and planted one last kiss on his nose. “I think we should resume our training, don’t you? I’m not going to learn how to use the knife if I’m on my back.”
“You can choose any position you want. Hands and knees. Against the wall. I’m good with whatever.”
A blush crept up her neck as she giggled, and he allowed her to slip out of his grip. She retrieved the knife and once more assumed a defensive position. “Teach me, sensei.”
“Tease.”
Tina shrugged, shamelessly accepting the jibe.
“Let’s resume our lesson, then.” Draven’s eyes wandered her body. One of these days, she would let him demonstrate what the time in his bed was like. Once he did, he would become a teacher of a different sort.
He could hardly wait.
15
Tina
At dinner the evening before their contest officially began, the sun cast red and blue light through the stained-glass windows of Epara’s dining hall as Tina leaned her elbows on the table beside her mostly empty plate. The temple chefs had prepared a feast for her and her five suitors, but no one spoke. The tense silence consisted mostly of the other men glaring at each other, sizing each other up around the small round table.
Frowning at no one in particular, Flynn reached for another roll.
Draven snorted. “You’ve eaten at least twenty rolls so far. Save some for the rest of us.”
The demigod rolled his eyes. “I’ve eaten three. You might be frail and wiry but having this much muscle means I need eat more than you, dragon.”
Tina’s eyes wandered the dragon’s powerful, sleek frame. He didn’t have Flynn’s bodybuilder bulk, true, but Draven was far from frail and wiry. The memory of his strong body pressing her against the mirror sent a wave of desire and need through her, and her body warmed at the memory of his hands around her wrists, of his mouth on hers. She blushed, smiling, and pretended to briefly look out the window so as not to let the dragon shifter know how much his sexy allure got to her. She was pretty sure he would find a way to lord it over her if he knew the truth.
Draven snatched the last roll from under Flynn’s hand and bit into it.
“Hey! I’m hungry, damn it.” Flynn snapped.
Draven shrugged. “I’m the pretty one, so I should get it. Tina, tell him.”
“Behave, kids,” she said with an eye roll.
“Draven, you don’t take a demigod’s food!” Flynn smacked the table with his fist, and the wooden surface shook. An empty glass toppled over, rolling a bit on the tablecloth.
She sighed in annoyance. “Flynn, honestly. We’ll get you more food. Chill out.”
The demigod faltered, his gaze briefly shifting to her before he nodded. “I’m sorry, Tina. Sometimes I forget my strength.”
“It’s fine,” she said before turning her eyes on the dragon shifter. “And Draven, honestly, what are you doing? Flynn’s right. Don’t take another man’s food. Go get him something else from the kitchen.”
The dragon shifter hesitated mid-bite, the last bit of his roll lifted to his mouth as he watched her, as if to figure out if she was serious.
“Go,” she said with a nod to the hallway.
Draven sighed and nodded, his chair scraping the floor as he stood. “Of course, Tina. Sorry.”
Beside her, Anthony took the final bite of pie off his plate and leaned back in his chair, one arm casually going around her shoulders. She caught his eye, and he grinned slightly as if daring her to brush him off. She didn’t.
The others knew she and Anthony had a connection, and she wasn’t about to push her protective wolf away. He cared too deeply for her, and she was growing fond of him as well in other ways.
Across from her, Killian and Zane quietly growled in unison, their eyes locked on Anthony’s hand on her shoulder. Killian’s jaw tensed with jealousy, while Zane’s calculating glare shifted to Anthony’s face.
Deep down, Tina had hoped the kickoff dinner would be amicable. It would set the tone for the contest and establish that even though they were competitors, they could still be peaceable with each other. She huffed, frustrated and convinced she should stop the group dinners. It would probably just make everything worse.
As they all scowled in a tense and awkward silence, Tina frowned and surveyed the five princes who had all done nothing but scream at each other the first time they had assembled in her throne room.
In their mind, they were at war. These five strong, sexy men were fighting for her, and she was fairly certain they would do whatever it took to win. It would take dedication and focus to keep them all in line.
After the awful kickoff dinner, Tina retreated to her room. Lounging on her bed, she stared at the canopy above her. With a deep sigh, she rubbed her eyes and wondered what kind of a mess she’d gotten herself into.
Someone knocked on the door, and inwardly, she groaned in annoyance. If the guys were going to continue their shenanigans from dinner, she was going to send someone home.
She ripped open the door, ready for battle, but found Zane in the hallway with one hand in his pocket and the other behind his back, all nerdy charm and tousled hair.
Arms crossed, she gave him the once over. “What’s up, professor?”
Zane chuckled at the nickname. “I know dinner was awful, so I wanted to make it better by giving you a present.”
Despite her annoyance and exhaustion from the long day, Tina laughed. “Smart move. Buy my love with gifts.”
“You said you wanted to learn more about Damara’s power, right?”
“Yeah,” she said, perking up with excitement. Did he possibly …? Could he have found something …?
He shot her a lighthearted grin and revealed what was in the hand hidden behind his back: a dark blue book with a golden spine. “I want you to hav
e everything you need, so I pulled a few strings to find this one.”
Curious, Tina lifted it into her hands and studied the cover. In ornate gold script were the words Discovering Damara.
Zane explained as she turned it over in her hands. “It is a complete history of your goddess, from her recorded abilities and powers to her habits and—” He cleared his throat, the barest hint of a blush creeping up his neck. “Sexual exploits.”
Tina grinned broadly. “I assume you read this already?”
“Erm, maybe.” He chuckled. “I’m a fast reader, though, so I gave this to you as quickly as I found it. Promise.”
“Thank you, Zane.” She ran her hand over the smooth cover. “I really appreciate this. I want to learn as much as I can about Damara.”
His shoulders relaxed, and he seemed happy with her reaction. “I’ll look for more. Do you read other languages besides English?”
“Afraid not.”
“Not a problem. A lot of the resources on gods and goddesses have been translated, so I should still be able to find more information.”
“Thank you.”
“My pleasure. Good night, Tina.” He bowed his head and turned down the hallway.
“Wait, that’s it?” Tina quirked a brow at him. She had expected he’s use this as another loophole to get another moment of her private time.
He hesitated, glancing awkwardly around the hallway for a second. “Did I do something wrong?”
“It’s just …” She let out a happy and relieved sigh. “You’re not trying to push your way into the room or break the rules. I was expecting … I don’t know. Nothing good.”
Zane smiled warmly. “I just want you to be happy, Tina. That’s all I’ll ever want. Now, if you want me to keep you company tonight …”
She laughed. “I’m set, thanks.”
He bowed his head again. “Well then, maybe I’ll bump into you again before our date, Tina. I have something fun planned for our day together. Good night.”
Smiling, Tina shut the door and leaned her head against the wood. She held the book to her chest, happy with the tiger who continued to prove to be both kind and compassionate. Honestly, his visit had been a pleasant surprise. Despite her threat, she was glad she wouldn’t have to send anyone home.
Her attention drifted to the blue and gold book, and she cracked it open in her hands. She had some time to herself, so she might as well learn a bit more about the goddess that was sharing her body. She reclined again on her bed and settled into her soft blankets as she began to read the first page.
She lost track of how long she flipped through the book. Now and again, she would pause and run her finger over one of the portraits, always wondering what life was like for the women Damara had chosen in the past.
“Fascinating,” Tina said as she turned another page toward the end of her book hours later. Her mind buzzed with everything she had learned.
Tina paused and flipped back a few chapters, settling on a hand-drawn sketch of Damara from six hundred years ago. At that time, she was a blonde, her bright blue eyes glimmering like the sea as she walked through a garden in London. Three men followed behind her, each carrying something different. The first had a glowing sword, the second a flame suspended in his palm, and the last bore a blistering orb that shone like a tiny sun.
Damara did indeed give powers to the people she slept with. The more often her partner shared her bed, the more powerful he became. When she no longer welcomed him between her sheets, however, the powers began to slowly fade.
Most interesting of all was the fact that not even Damara herself could predict what powers her partners would get. The gifts and abilities were unique, based solely on the genetics and personality of the men who shared her bed.
Tina flipped ahead to another picture that was far older than the first. Damara was in another body, her skin darker than before. This time, her dark eyes crackled with fire as she hovered in the air with a fearsome expression. An army of men were doubled over at her feet, holding their chests. Some lay on their backs, lifeless. When Damara had access to her full power, she could stop the hearts of an entire platoon. It seemed as though it took time, however, to fully access the magic.
Damara’s magic was based mostly on connection and intuition. Tina sighed. “We’ll figure this out, Damara.”
A happy swarm of joy swirled in Tina’s chest, and she took that as an agreement from the goddess within her.
Page after page held fascinating insights into the goddess’s abilities. The humans Damara merged with aged gracefully and were beautiful to their dying day. Damara was known for taking several partners, and she only became pregnant when she wanted to.
That piqued Tina’s interest more than beauty or longevity. Science could delay the whole pregnancy thing, sure, but Tina loved the idea of having built-in birth control. It was apparently her default state. If she wanted to get pregnant, she would have to actively go into intercourse with that intention. It would have to be on her mind during the orgasm.
Her body warmed at the realization, and something within her leaned toward the idea. Intrinsically, every fiber of her soul knew that, yes, this was how sex worked for her.
“Oh, this just got a million times more fun,” Tina said to herself, a devious little smile spreading across her face.
16
Tina
The next morning, Tina woke to a knock on her door. She lifted herself with her elbows and blinked rapidly, trying to clear the grogginess from her mind with a few shakes of her head. Still half asleep and rubbing the palm of her heel in one eye, she yawned as she headed for the door. She threw it open to find Anthony leaning on the door frame.
She almost squeaked with surprise and instinctively shut the door a bit, peeking around the edge to hide her barely clothed body. Now fully awake thanks to her sexy and alluring unexpected guest, she became suddenly aware of how little she was wearing. Upon returning to her room last night, the humid Indonesian air had inspired her to find pajamas with less fabric. She had opted for only a long shirt and a pair of underwear.
“Is it really ten in the morning already?” she asked, glancing around for a clock.
“Yes. Well, a little after actually.” Anthony chuckled, dark eyes looking her up and down. “Bedhead looks good on you.”
“Oh jeez.” She patted her untamed hair, trying to coerce it into something that wasn’t a tangled mess.
His eyes drifted to her chest and legs. “I also like the new outfit.”
Heat crept up her neck. “You are going to make me red turn as a tomato.”
“Well yeah, that’s kind of the point. You’re adorable when you blush.”
She laughed and smacked his shoulder. “Let me find some clothes.”
“Do you have to?” He groaned with disappointment.
She shook her head, barely able to bite back laughter as she ducked into the closet. He sighed heavily and leaned against the wall right outside the door, his elbow peeking around the doorframe as he politely waited in the hall.
“Many of the women Damara fused with in the past used to answer the door naked,” he said.
With a chuckle, she sifted through a few dresses to find a suitable one. “Liar.”
“Am I now?” Though she couldn’t see his face, his voice lowered suggestively. She could imagine that charming grin of his as he dared her to challenge his word.
“What should you and I do today?” Unashamed of the blatant change in subject, Tina chose an elegant blue gown with silver hems and tugged it on.
“Is there anything you want to do?”
“Not particularly. I’m still learning my way around.” Once dressed, she peeked around the doorframe to find him already smiling down at her.
He tilted his head, studying her. “My idea is a fun one, but we’d be leaving the temple grounds. Is that okay with you?”
Tina chuckled. “You’re breaking one of my rules on the first day?”
“I can’t help it
.” He shrugged.
“Since it’s you, fine.” She gave him an overly exaggerated huff of annoyance, “What’s the idea?”
“I was thinking about how we met, and I figured you may want to see me shift outside of a life-or-death situation for once.”
Her eyes lit up. “That sounds incredible. You don’t mind?”
“Of course not.”
“It’s just that Amy rarely ever shifted around me or talked much at all about being a shifter. She said it just felt weird and wrong.”
Anthony nodded. “Understandable. It’s a cultural thing, Tina, and nothing personal.”
“I know. I just never understood it.”
He offered her his arm, and she took it as he led her into the hallway. “Our greatest power lies in our inner animals, and we’re raised to protect them at all cost. Part of that means keeping our shifts private, even from the humans we’re close to.”
Tina looked up at his handsome face, and a shiver of desire ran through him at the reminder of the powerful wolf inside of him. “If it’s so private, why are you showing me?”
“You’ve already seen me.” He smiled. “Besides, you’re special.”
She chuckled. “I bet you say that to all the girls fused with goddesses.”
With a laugh, he held open a door to the gardens outside. A wicker basket sat on one of the steps, and he scooped it up with his free hand.
“Oh, a picnic, huh? Romantic.”
“I try,” he said with a grin.
Anthony led her down one of the garden paths she hadn’t seen before, headed for the expansive field behind the temple. Once they reached the palace wall, he held open a wrought iron gate and gestured for her to go through first. “It’s safe. I checked the entire route already.”
“When?”
“We don’t all sleep in until ten.” He winked.
She laughed. “You’re just jealous.”
“Maybe a little. Will you carry the basket?”
“Sure.” Tina grabbed it and took a few steps back, not entirely sure of how much space he would need.