by Elle Boon
Shit, what if the dragon in her—rejected them?
“You have questions, I can see them written all over your face, but right now, I just want to...be. My wolf is raking at me for freedom. There’s this other being inside me. It’s a part of me, yet I don’t recognize it. Does that even make sense? My world feels like a fucking roller coaster I didn’t agree to go on, and right now, I just want to slow down,” she sighed. “Can I have another drink, please?” She held her hand out, a slight tremor made the glass shake.
“She’s breaking my fucking heart, Rye. I can’t deny her anything, but I want to demand she let us in. I want to hold her and protect her, and promise everything is going to be okay, but fuck, I don’t know that everything will be.” He spoke to his twin through their link, keeping his expression neutral, ensuring Sky wouldn’t be aware. The last thing he wanted to do was make her think they were keeping anything from her.
“You need to just chill. Let’s go sit down and get to know her on a regular level.” Raydon sat his glass down. “Want a refill, or would you prefer something else?” he asked Sky.
Their little mate narrowed her eyes. “I want you both to use your outside voices, and don’t do that man speak or whatever twin thing you got going on. I know it’s probably instinctual to talk to one another inside your heads, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t do it...all the time.” Sky reached for the bottle of Patron and filled her glass. “Sorry if I’m being bitchy, but I feel as if the world has sort of picked me up, spun me around, and dropped me on my head. For you two, it’s been two weeks. For me, it’s been a little longer, like a month, and things aren’t the same as when I left.” She slammed her second drink back, closing her eyes while they watched her throat swallow.
River grimaced, thinking she was definitely going to feel the affects of the alcohol if she kept it up. They were shifters, so alcohol didn’t usually do to them what it did to humans, which was why he froze the good stuff. While it diluted it for humans, for their kind, it was like doubling the alcohol content for them. Maybe he should’ve mentioned that to Sky.
“You’ve nothing to apologize for, hellmouth. Come on, let’s go relax and drink more of my brother’s finest tequila. Time has no meaning for us, tonight.” Raydon lifted Sky into his arms, making her squeal.
“Um, I can walk, you know?” Sky wrapped one arm around his shoulders but didn’t protest any more.
Raydon grunted. “Yep,” he agreed.
River grabbed his bottle of five hundred dollar tequila and the three glasses, following in the footsteps of the two people who meant the most to him in the world. Tonight, he’d drink, talk, and hopefully learn more about Sky. Tomorrow, they’d make plans for their future.
Chapter Three
Raydon could see his twin was nervous. Hell, he was too, but having Sky in his arms as he carried her into their large great room was a dream come to reality. She was so slight in his embrace, almost too small for them, but the goddess had created her just for them. Fuck, he wasn’t sure what the woman who had made them who they were, had planned for them, but taking their mate away, only to return her and tossing in a dragon wolf, wasn’t something he’d counted on.
“Yep, you know I can walk, but you’re still going to carry me? If you keep this up, I’ll forget how to walk all together.” Sky nuzzled into his neck.
He tilted his own head down and brushed his nose along the side of her face down to her neck, inhaling the sweet smell of Sky. She still had the syrupy scent of cotton candy, but he also detected what he thought was spiced apples. The combination made his mouth water and his wolf whine for a taste. “Well, if you forget to walk, then it’ll be our duty to carry you around, or better yet, keep you in bed until...well, we’ll figure it out as we go on.” He gave a mock growl as images of what he and his brother could do with their mate if they were in bed together, day in and day out. Fuck, they’d all forget how to walk.
Sky ran her fingers through the back of his hair, giving a slight tug. “I don’t think so, mister. I like walking and driving. Besides, have you seen that movie WALL-E where humans didn’t walk because, well whatever reason, and subsequently they lost all their muscle mass and ended up being big blobs? Err, not happening.”
He stopped in front of the sectional with the lounge section piled high with pillows, staring down at Sky. “Alright, I give. What the hell is WALL-E, and why the fuck did humans stop walking? Do I even want to know how they got around?”
River came up behind them laughing. “Dude, it’s a cartoon about a robot named WALL-E. The humans all fled Earth and were in space for like, ever. They motored around on floating wheelchair like things.”
Raydon turned and settled himself on the chaise part of the couch with Sky on his lap. Nobody could ever claim he wasn’t a good multitasker. “And you know this, why?” he asked.
“Nolan has a great collection of kids shows, and that one has an excellent message. Take care of Earth, and it will take care of you.” River shrugged, before sitting down with the remote in his hand. “Any requests?” He pulled up their lists of movies for Sky to see, placing her legs on his lap.
Once River started scrolling, Sky settled against his chest, making his wolf rumble inside him. Her heart steadily pounding as his own echoed the same tempo, was something he’d wanted, yet didn’t think they’d find.
“I like chick flicks and action movies. How about you guys? Please tell me you don’t like horror movies.” She held her hand up, fingers crossed.
While River debated the wonders of a good horror film with Sky, he allowed his senses to flare, spreading wider until he was sure there wasn’t a threat to them or their little wolf. When he was pulling back, a sense of another being, one that was familiar, yet not quite, tugged at him. The presence, closer than he liked, but then it was gone as if he’d been mistaken.
“What is it?” Sky asked.
Raydon closed his eyes, trying to place exactly what he’d felt and put into words something that would make sense without scaring Sky. He opened his mouth, then closed it, knowing nothing he thought would come out the way it would have felt in his mind. “I was just double checking the perimeter around here, making sure all was clear.”
River grunted, drawing Sky’s attention. “You’ll find there are distinct differences in us. I’m the fun one, while he’s the worrier.”
Raydon tipped his lips up in a grin, opening his mind to River even as he kept a shield around their thoughts. “I felt a familiar presence just outside the southside of the cabin. It felt like...Sky, but not Sky. I don’t know; it makes no sense, but it was there one minute and then gone. However, you and I both know she hasn’t left our laps.” He ran his hand down Sky’s arm, his gesture both physical and mental. No way in hell had their female been anywhere other than right where she was. With them.
“Maybe you’re feeling a residual presence from when she’d been here from before?” River rubbed one of Sky’s insteps, making her sigh.
Neither of them believed that, but they both fell silent.
“No matter what the hell it was, she’s not to be out of our sights. Agreed?” Raydon gathered Sky closer, needing to feel her heat, to know she was safe.
“You know when you guys do your twin speak, I told you I can feel it. It’s like this current is passing between you, but there’s a wall that’s almost visible. It’s rude, ya know,” she said, not taking her eyes away from the big screen television.
River growled, pulling her from Raydon. “You can feel it when we speak to one another?”
A slight lift of her shoulder was his answer.
Raydon wanted to take Sky back from his twin, her words and the hurt radiating from her made him and his wolf edgy. “We’re sorry, Sky. We’ve always spoke between one another in the same way, without thought.”
Sky nodded, looking from River to Raydon. “I get that, but I have a feeling I was the topic of conversation, which makes it rude. If you two are going to talk about me, I’d appreciat
e it if you’d do so out loud or include me in the conversation link.”
Her words made him feel like an asshole. He couldn’t promise to always include her, not if her safety was in question, or that of the pack’s security. Fuck, how did other males handle situations like this?
“How about a compromise? We promise to include you, unless it’s detrimental to the safety of you or others?”
Their little female’s eyes narrowed, warning them she was thinking. Her chest rose and fell while she took deep breaths in and out. “Fine, but just so you both are aware, that goes three ways. If I feel shit needs to be kept from the both of you, then I guess I’ll do it.”
River’s eyes flashed, a clear sign he was close to losing his temper.
“Hellmouth, you can’t expect two alpha males to accept those terms,” Raydon muttered, getting up from the couch. When he was angry, he tended to pace while River tended to lash out.
Sky scrambled up from her perch on River’s lap. “I’m gonna need you both to listen and listen very carefully. This is all new to me. Having gone from an... asshole alpha like Keith, to what I just went through, to becoming whatever the hell I am now. I need to know that I’m an equal, not some little female you tuck away until you deem it’s acceptable to do whatever the fuck you think is okay.”
Raydon moved in front of her, putting his hands on her shoulders. Electricity sparked from her to him. “We’d never think to do that to you. Sky, for a true male of worth, it’s second nature to want to protect their female. What you were brought up around, that bastard who called himself your alpha, was nothing like what a real alpha is like. For us, for all the males in our pack, it’s written in our DNA to shield those who are,” he paused at the heated glare in Sky’s eyes. “Fuck, I don’t want to sound condescending, but dammit, most females are more than happy to be protected. I know you’re fearsome and shit, what with having part of a dragon in you. That’s a learning curve we all need to come to terms with. For us, we’ve been taught that women are to be protected above all others. Mates are to be placed above all others. For us, that makes you our top priority as not only our mate, but our female.”
Sky could see Raydon and River both felt immense longing to soothe her. On one side, her wolf wanted to let them both in, but the other side, the one with the dragon wanted to prove she could protect herself and their young. Whoa, slow your roll dragon chick. No way was she ready to have young with the two sexy twins. Her heart and body may be ready, but her mind wasn’t.
“I know what you’re saying is true. I do. It’s just hard to break a lifetime of teaching in a few short months. Toss in this.” She circled her face, knowing they’d understand her own big change didn’t just encompass the fact she now sported purple eyes, but everything. At least she hoped they would. “The truth is, I don’t have a clue what’s going to happen tomorrow, and neither do you. When I was in the Fey Realm, I would’ve happily stayed there. Don’t growl. There was no pain, no pressure, nothing. I was free of everything. There was so much peace. Now, I have all these feelings and insecurities. I need to know I can trust you both to be honest with me and trust that I can handle whatever comes our way. If you’re going to treat me like the little female who needs to be tucked away while the big bad men take care of shit, then we are going to have major problems.”
River turned her to face him. “Sky, we can promise to try our best, but we will be breaking a lifetime of conditioning. Can you give us a chance for all of us to work through this together?”
Looking from one man to the other, she could tell they truly meant it. For her, they’d both try to be what she needed. Could she do the same? “I think time is something we all have in spades,” she agreed.
Raydon’s breath feathered over her shoulder, his warmth at her back reminded her of what else these two men would expect from her. “We move at your pace, Sky.”
“So, if I tell you that I’m not ready to be with you both?” She bit her lip, waiting without opening her senses.
River’s thumb pressed against her mouth, removing her lip from between her teeth. “You need time, you got it. You need space, although it would gut us, you got it.”
Raydon wrapped his arms around her from behind. “We can all share a bed and not do anything other than hold you, love.”
Sky snorted, looking over her shoulder at Raydon. “Do you really believe that?” She wasn’t a virgin, yet she was far from a whore. However, laying in a bed with the two men would be nearly impossible for her not to want to do more than just sleep. A yawn escaped her, sending a shiver down her spine.
“Come on, hellmouth. I’ll show you where you’ll sleep. River and I’ll sleep in the guest rooms.” Raydon swung her up in his arms, not giving her a chance to agree or protest. Of course, she enjoyed being in both of the twins arms a little too much, which was something she’d keep to herself.
Inside the bedroom he took her to, she swore they’d read her mind, or had somehow gotten a hold of her fantasy dream bedroom. The super-sized bed was larger than any she’d ever seen, yet if it was going to be a bed made for three grown adults, it was perfect. The elegant room was something she’d not expected either man to have designed. “This is beautiful,” she breathed.
The four-poster bed in a dark wood piled high with soft grey fabric and more white pillows than she could count beckoned to her. She wiggled to get down, wanting to touch it to make sure it was real. As soon as her feet touched the cool hardwood, she quickly crossed the room, her feet delighting in the mixture of textures as they stepped onto the huge rug at the end of the bed. “Who picked all this out?” She gestured toward the dark grey rug she stood on, then at the blush colored accents around the room.
River cleared his throat. “Well, it was kind of a combined effort.”
She dug her toes into the faux fur beneath her, then walked around to the side of the bed, her hand trailing over the fabric. “I know I should ask more questions, but right now, I can’t think of one.” Her jaw cracked as another yawn escaped her.
Raydon came back into the room from a door near the side table, the sound of water running drew her attention. “I started you a bath. It’ll help you relax and make you sleep better.”
Again, she pulled her bottom lip into her mouth, indecision warring within her. “I think a quick shower will suffice.”
“River and I’ll wait out here for you. Take a bath and relax. If you need anything, holler, hellmouth. You’re safer here, right this minute, than anywhere on Earth.”
Her body ached to be touched, but her mind said no way hussy. She took a step away from the comfy looking bed, then another, until she was in the doorway where the water was louder. She knew the bathroom was going to be just as opulent as the bedroom, with all the touches she’d have put in it. How she knew, she didn’t know, but for a second, she closed her eyes before turning to face her dream bath. A small gasp escaped as she saw for the first time the spa like bathroom with the huge clawfoot tub in the center of the space. It was done in a color scheme that matched the bedroom. Towels that looked large enough to cover both men were perfectly rolled and placed on the counter where candles were burning. However, there was already one set out for her. “This is beautiful and perfect, and I think I’m going to cry,” she whispered, knowing both men would hear her.
“Everything you need is right there,” River said, pointing toward the bath tub that was filling up. The shelf had all her favorites, from body wash, shampoo, and conditioner to the lotion she preferred. “If you need any assistance, let us know.” The heat that flared from him let Sky know he was more than up for the challenge.
“I’ll be fine, thanks.” She smiled, then gave a small wave of her hand waiting until they left before she quickly stripped and eased into the warm water. “Damn. Perfect,” she swore.
Even through the door she could feel their pleasure in her own. Her wolf was ready to let the twins claim her, but Sky needed more than a day, or rather night, to accept all the changes.
It didn’t matter that she’d been away in a different realm for over a month, or in a coma like state here for over two weeks while they watched over her. No, she needed to...be here and present for a while. Time to get to truly know them, and her new self. A damn dragon was inside her, taking up space with her wolf. Although, to be truthful, Sky didn’t feel the dragon bit, neither did her wolf. “Let it go,” she whispered out loud, hoping the words would resonate inside her mind as well.
After she washed and rinsed her hair several times, she finally got out, drying off quickly. A scan of the area showed no sign of pajamas, not that she was a fan of anything formal. She was a shorts and a tank top girl, and she was good to go, but a girl needed something on around Raydon and River, or she was sure to find herself in a compromising position, or ten. The image of a couple of those positions were enough to make her body go liquid, which was so not what she needed. Not when the men in question were right outside the door and would be able to smell her need. To get her mind out of the gutter, she thought of her old life, which didn’t hold many happy memories.
“Hellmouth, you okay in there?” Raydon asked.
The deep timber had her pulling back from the memories. “I’m fine. Do you...ah, do you have something I can wear?”
A growl followed by another sent a shiver of awareness down her spine. “Stop it, you hussy,” she told herself.
One loud knock was her warning before the door was pushed open, then entered River with a black T-shirt in his right fist. “You can wear one of my shirts. It’ll be big enough to be more like a dress, then tomorrow we can swing by the cabin and grab some of your things.”
She raised her right brow, wondering why they assumed she’d be moving in with them. Of course, it was what she wanted and planned...eventually. Her wolf rolled onto her back, all four legs in the air, damn hussy. Sky ignored her, focusing on the black material. “Thanks.” When her fingers touched his, a spark flew between them, making her jump. “Oh,” she exclaimed. “Did you feel that?”