by Skye Jones
“Yep.” He looked pleased with himself, and those big hands of his ran over her flesh, rubbing in what he’d deposited there a moment ago.
“God, utter filth.” She tried to sound dismayed, but her sated, lazy tone gave her away.
“You both are,” Aiden said. “You’ve corrupted me.”
Steffan gave a harsh laugh, which was fair enough because Aiden undoubtedly owned the filthiest mind of them all. The male possessed a limitless imagination.
Steffan dropped to the bed by her side and pulled her into him, one warm palm caressing down her back. Another hot-as-sin body melded to her back, and she found herself enveloped in two pairs of big, strong arms. Two hearts either side of hers, beating in sync. Three sets of lungs found a familiar and soothing rhythm, and her mates’ dragons settled happily, the ghost of their spirits within her soul.
Her eyes drifted shut, and she pondered Claire’s invitation to hold their mating ceremony here, with the Scottish clan and Welsh clan coming together and reigniting their bond.
Steffan had loved the idea, and even Aiden agreed. She’d thought he might want to do something off-the-wall like run away to the desert to be mated.
She’d need a dress and some jewelry. Apparently, all dragon brides wore gold. Sometimes, the males wore ceremonial robes, but Steffan and Aiden had both put their foot down at any suggestion from Nathan they might want to go such a route. Aiden would probably wear jeans. And she wouldn’t care. The guy could wear a sack, and she’d be proud to be by his side. She quite liked the idea of a winter wedding…or mating, as she should think of it. She loved medieval-style dresses, and she’d already sneaked a peek at a few long-sleeved gowns online. She’d never thought of herself as a girly girl who got excited about weddings and whatnot, but she found herself daydreaming about the three of them making things official.
As for Steffan, she’d caught him looking at charcoal gray suits online the other day, and ever since, she’d been fantasizing about how good he’d look in one. He’d be hot. Dangerous, and powerful, and hot.
As their time together went on, she truly began to understand how powerful he was. When he got angry—which was a rare occurrence and mostly connected to Aiden, who still managed to push his buttons at times—the air crackled with heat and danger around them. When he was relaxed and happy, both she and Aiden fell into his rhythm of breathing.
One day, she’d been walking along a coastal path in Italy, Steffan behind her, and Aiden off at a dig. Steffan had dropped back to look at something, and she’d turned the corner. A man had approached her and taken hold of her wrist, scaring her. She realized a split second later he’d been pulling her away from a jagged piece of metal sticking out of the ground, but she’d already let out a small squeal of surprise. Steffan came barreling around the corner, put his hand out, and flung the guy back a good few feet. She’d stared at her mate in horror for a moment and then given him what for.
Steffan went up to the guy, pulled him to his feet, checked him for any serious injury, and apologized. Then he passed his hand over the guy’s face and said something she didn’t catch, and the man smiled at them as if nothing happened and went on his way.
That day, she’d learned Steffan possessed a lot of magic as well as physical power and that he’d protect her from anything and anyone. She only wished she could return the favor with regards to his wound. He said it hurt much less these days with them in his life, but it hadn’t healed fully. And it worried her, niggled away at her in the dead of night. What if one day the poison rose within him and claimed him? Made him sick, or worse, took him from them? The thought terrified her so much, she would shove it down, back deep where it couldn’t keep her awake. But she was always aware of it lurking, a bit like the poison itself.
She guessed she and Steffan could be a bit deep at times. They both tended to ruminate on things, but Aiden kept them balanced. He still possessed that flippant air about him and still bounced around like an overactive child some days, mind going off on tangents as he made crazy plans for their future. In fact, ever since their talk, he’d been positively joyful. He told her one day, in a rare moment of introspection, that he felt as if he’d found his base, but not one that anchored him, rather, one that allowed him to fly free but always have somewhere to come home to.
She wiggled between them both, not wanting to dwell on sad thoughts, and her body heated once more.
“No more today, babe. I’m worn out.” Aiden’s breath tickled her neck as he spoke.
“I’m not,” Steffan added helpfully.
She giggled, but she needed a break too. Keep at it like this, and she’d end up not walking right. The image popping into her mind made her giggle again, and she opened her eyes to see Steffan watching her. A beautiful, heartbreaking smile covered his face, and his eyes were warm with affection. He kissed her softly, sucking her bottom lip into his mouth for a moment before letting her go.
“I love you,” he told her.
“You too, to the moon and back,” she answered.
“Me three, to the stars and back,” Aiden piped up, which made no sense, but she knew what he meant.
She turned and kissed him too, then burrowed into their arms as her eyes drifted closed. She sensed the exact moment they both dropped off, one after the other. The echoes of their dragons inside her let her know.
These moments were even better than the mind-blowing sex. Because right now, here in this room, with her mates either side of her, she felt something she’d never truly experienced before. Contentment. And contentment was the measure of true happiness, not fleeting joy or amazing orgasms. But this. This golden moment when everything stilled and she had every single thing she needed right here with her.
Mia had found her peace at last.
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For a sneak peek of the next installment in the Dragon Clan series, keep reading. This is a snippet of Lilly’s story, and Rhyndor makes his appearance! Please note, this is unedited, and there may be changes in the final published story.
Lilly Dragon Clan
Lilly tried to care what her sister said, she really did. But, honestly? She didn’t. She hadn’t asked to be brought here, and she missed her life. Not really much of her life, only the part that involved hearing all the latest news about Zach, her on-again, off-again, long-term boyfriend. The man she hoped would be her husband one day. She didn’t miss her family, shockingly, or her friends much. The social whirl of life in New York always seemed so false and brittle to her. They didn’t call the place a concrete jungle for nothing. Life in New York made you hard, and despite the shell she wore, Lilly feared that deep down inside she was as soft as mush. And she needed Zach’s protection, always had.
“You can even ride on one of them. Don’t you think that’ll be fun?” Claire’s gorgeous eyes shone at her, full of hope.
The idea of riding a dragon was kind of cool, but Lilly didn’t want to show too much enthusiasm, or she’d give her sister false hope. Despite how amazing this place was, she could never make her home here because her home would always be with Zach. Once he came to his senses and dumped the girl he’d left her for.
Claire’s bright smile lit up her face as she watched for a reaction.
Her sister was a looker. Maybe even hotter than Lilly, and call her bigheaded, but Lilly knew she had it going on. The endless string of young, eligible bachelors wanting to date her said as much. Of course, Daddy had plenty of money too, and that always helped. Not that she cared about any of those bachelors; they weren’t Zach.
Then these guys had turned her life upside down with crazy stories and scary proof involving fire, and they’d dragged her back here.
She’d known she was adopted because her first adoptive mother had died when she was only nine, and she’d hit the lottery and got taken in by the Franklins from the foster home
she’d wound up in. How come some wealthy American couple wound up on her doorstep in rain-sodden Lancashire, she had no idea, but she thanked God they had. From then on, her life had been golden. Twenty-room house, pool, staff. Yes, the good life had come knocking, and now her sister wanted her to give it all up to stay here for months on end, learning the ways of her people.
They seemed to expect her to be impressed by the fact that dragons were real. But she hadn’t been—more scared and perturbed to being with—then it grew old kind of fast. She missed her days volunteering at the dog shelter and her best friend. She missed her clothes and her books and writing her blog. Maybe she’d become jaded due to her gilded life, but once she’d gotten over the initial shock and excitement, boredom quickly set in. These people didn’t do anything. They puttered around this forlorn, endlessly green hillside, doing God knew what. And every now and again, they changed form. After a few nights of it all, it held no excitement.
Nathan and Dom walked into the room and smiled at Claire, and the air changed. Lilly picked up on the current flowing between the three of them and bit back a smile. About the only thing to really impress her in all this was the setup the women had going on here. Two men for every female, and the guys did everything for their women. She could dig it, if only any of the endless parade of men she’d met had done anything for her. None of them had.
A few had been handsome. Two pairs in particular had been downright gorgeous, but she hadn’t felt anything for them. Partly because she still pined for Zach, despite the fact that the piece of shit had dumped her for Casey Evans.
She always kind of wanted what she couldn’t have, so guys fawning all over her? Major turn-off. And these dragon men fawned if they liked you.
“What’s the plan for this evening?” Dominic turned to her and gave a bright smile.
Nathan merely shot her a glance and looked away. He clearly was growing increasingly tired of her attitude, and she waited for the moment he’d tell her to get lost. Any day now, she reckoned.
Dom kept trying, and Claire too. And bless her, her sister did try. And Lilly appreciated it, truly. She wasn’t some heartless bitch, but she wanted back to her life. And this magic they talked about. The power to start fires and other shit, she’d never experienced it in her life. If it weren’t for the fact she was the spitting image of Claire, she wouldn’t believe a word they said. Well, that, and the fact that she’d seen real live dragons stomping around all over the place.
Her parents believed her to be on a European trip, visiting arty sites and getting over Zach, but the lie wouldn’t hold up forever. She needed to put an end to this soon. Claire would be disappointed, but Lilly couldn’t live her life for her sister.
A man scuttled into the room, one of the servants, and his flustered face caught her attention. Normally, things ran like clockwork around here.
“Drago-Anrha-Nathaniel. There’s a visitor. I told him he couldn’t come in, but he—”
“He ignored your manservant.” A huge guy walked into the room, and she sucked in a breath. Holy crapola, he was absolutely drop-dead…well, not gorgeous. No, his features were too harsh, too domineering for such a mild description His high forehead and patrician nose were made rugged by a strong jaw, heavy scruff, diamond-sharp cheekbones, and the deepest blue eyes she’d ever seen without contacts.
Thick, dark brows sliced across his forehead, and his scowl had her shrinking back against the cupboards behind her. His long, almost black hair hung in thick curtains on either side of his astonishing face and extended past his shoulders. He wore a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and God help her, a vest, which only showed off those broad shoulders and his narrow waist. His shirt lay open at his neck, but he had an old-fashioned gold watch in the pocket of his vest on a chain. He looked like a steampunk cowboy come to life or something.
The guy strode into the center of the room and placed huge fists on the granite work surface running the length of the middle of the kitchen.
Nathan gave an odd sound, and she whipped around to look at him. The color drained from his face, leaving normally healthy tan skin a sickly, wan yellow.
The air in the room heated and snapped and crackled at her skin. All the hairs on her wrist stood on end, and her heart hammered so hard she heard it. Pressed up against the unyielding wood behind her, she watched the scene unfold.
“Surprise, old friend.” The visitor spoke, and his raspy voice caressed her skin as surely as if he touched her with his fingers. His lips were beautiful, seriously gorgeous, but his deep blue eyes got to her the most. They were so full of sorrow it made her want to run over to him and comfort him, which was insane—the dude was huge. Even taller than Nathan and built like a truck.
“Get the fuck out of my home. Now!” Nathan bellowed the last word, and she automatically cowered.
For the first time, the stranger looked her way, and the moment his eyes landed on her, something lit within his gaze. A smoldering flame of heady lust, and she knew in an instant it would consume her if she let it.
His nostrils flared, and he took a deep breath in.
He moved forward, an inch closer to the counter his braced arms rested on, and the movement made his forearms bulge with thick muscle. She swallowed. Dear God. Her whole life she’d been playing with boys and didn’t even know it until this moment.
“One more fucking step, and I’ll end you.” Nathan swept his arms out and pushed Claire and Dom behind him, leaving only himself and her exposed to the man looking like he wanted to rip the marble countertop to shreds with his bare hands for shits and giggles.
“I come to you in peace. We have had our differences, but I mean you no harm. I’m here for something of mine.” The man said the words calmly, but his body language screamed something else. Some barely controlled need to move and to act, and he kept darting his gaze her way as if unable not to look.
Nathan inhaled, long and slow, and blinked. He looked from the visitor to her and back again, and his eyes widened. “No.”
He raised one hand and pushed forward. A huge ball of fire shot from his palm, heading straight for the stranger. For some unknown and probably insane reason, she cried out in dismay. But the ball didn’t hit the guy. Instead, it hovered in the air in front of his face. A second man strolled into the room, one arm straight out, palm up in front of his face.
He glanced from the ball of fire to Nathan. This second man sighed and gave a roll of whiskey-colored eyes. He grinned a shit-eating grin and tsked against his teeth. “Rhyndor, Rhyndor, Rhyndor. Always getting into trouble. And I’m surprised at you, Nathan. He said he came in peace. A dragon’s word is his bond, after all.”
The guy kept smiling as he dropped the ball of fire to the floor, and it fizzled out.
“I…” Nathan dragged a hand through his hair, and his fingers trembled. Her fear ratcheted up another notch as she swallowed past a dry throat, wishing the cupboard doors would open and let her hide inside.
Her arousal didn’t dim, though, despite her terror. In fact, the second stranger only added to the strange heat filling her. Just as beautiful as dude number one, dude number two owned more conventional good looks, the sort of handsome features women everywhere responded to. But his full lips, dimpled chin, and those eyes made him almost too good to be true.
“I thought you were dead.” Nathan’s voice shook as he addressed dude number two.
The second intruder shrugged, still holding one palm up. “Nope. Just tired of it all. The wars, the endless shit, the whole thing. Sorry to disappear on you, cousin. But you see, I can’t let you hurt him, because he’s my male now.”
“Will someone here explain what the fuck is going on?” Claire pushed her way past Nathan, who tried to pull her back behind him. But she squirmed out of his grasp and shot him a glare, one perfect brow arched.
“Who the hell are you? And what makes you think you can walk into our home uninvited?” She pointed to the long-haired man.
He sighed. “It�
��s a pleasure to meet you finally, Claire. I am Rhyndor, and you could say your mate and I here were sworn enemies. And this is Callum, my bonded male, and Nathan’s cousin.”
Rhyndor pressed his fists harder onto the counter, and his arms once more bulged. God above, the two of them were insanely hot. Was it Lilly’s imagination, or was the air in the room getting humid? She pulled her T-shirt from her body and fanned her face. Callum followed the movement with those hooded, whiskey eyes of his, and she saw something of Nathan in him then. A shadow of familiarity in the way he moved. But whereas Nathan was all dark eyes and seriousness, this guy’s eyes could light a fire if you ran out of kindling, and his lips twitched at the sides with something akin to amusement.
Dangerous. These two men were dangerous to know.
“As to your second question,” Callum drawled. “We’re here for the female.”
Rhyndor turned those blue, blue eyes on her, and the air in the room went blistering with heat. Her head spun and her vision swam…
“Here you go. Don’t try to get up yet.” Claire stood over her, concern etching her features and a glass in her hand. “Take the water and take a small drink. Don’t try to get up.”
She looked around in shock. How had she ended up on the floor?
Angry, low male voices reached her. Oh, shit! The men, they’d said they’d come for her. They might be hot, but no way would she be going with them. They scared the crap out of her.
“Don’t let them take me. I’m sorry I’ve been a pain, but don’t let them take me.”
Claire shook her head vigorously. “No way. You’re not going anywhere with them, don’t you worry. I’ve heard of this Rhyndor before. He did crazy bad things a long time ago in some war or other, and he and Nathan were sworn enemies. You know our other sister?”
Lilly sipped at the blessedly cool water and nodded. “Her mate, Steffan, many years ago, he lost his previous mates. That bastard took their lives. Killed them for the fucking humans he worked with—him and this witch he hung with. Nathan took his bonded male in retaliation, and we all thought the fucker dead, to be honest. One thing’s for certain. He’s not coming within ten yards of you.”