by A. K. Koonce
He grounds me the moment his palms grip my hips.
“You sure you want to stay till the end of the Joining of the Two Kingdom’s Ceremony?” he whispers, his lips skimming mine in a delicious promise.
I nod.
I’m proud of Linden. I won’t ditch the biggest accomplishment this kingdom’s ever had because a sexy shifter keeps eye-fucking me in public.
Behind that sexy shifter, up on the highest balcony of the Minden castle, a shining gold crown with a perfect sapphire jewel in the center rests against Linden’s golden curls. Another man, a man I’ve never seen before but who I’m told is…Linden’s Uncle Chalem, stands at his side. The two of them wave and smile for the people of Minden.
“You sure you’re sure?” Chaos melds his chest to my back, and his lips press fully to the side of my neck, his tongue flicking across my skin in a tingling sensation that I feel right between my thighs.
“Mmhmm.” I nod and try my best to look around Kain to see… Where the hell did Linden go?
Maybe the ceremony is over…maybe they canceled the villager’s feast…maybe I should call it a day…maybe I should just go home now…
Right now.
Sinister pulls my hand. He doesn’t even ask or wait for me to second-guess my poor train of thought. I stumble to get past Rime and Chaos. The demon leads me through the mass of chanting people, and I feel their energy building in my chest. The sound of their cheers is complete joy. I feel that joy just like they do and I feel it even more as I’m surrounded by the only men who have ever looked at me and seen more than the mess of a woman I used to be.
I race after Sinister’s quick steps, but we halt before we ever get to the remodeled gate that surrounds the beautiful castle. My chest collides into Sins back, and I stumble just slightly.
A smile tilts one side of Sinister’s mouth, and he extends his hand to the man in front of us. “Congratulations on the Alliance Peace Treaty,” Sinister says to Linden.
Watching the new King of Minden shake hands with my demon boyfriend might go down as my favorite moment in all of political history.
“My father’s…very proud.”
Is he? Is he, Linden?
People say the pneumonia Barron caught during the Attikan War still lingers in him. They say handing off the crown early is a sign of good faith but also of fear.
Is the former king afraid of the karma he is due?
Or is he simply thinking of what is best for his people? And this, Linden, he is definitely best for the people of Minden. He’s best for the allies we now have to the north. And he’s definitely best for the mages who now live peacefully throughout this kingdom.
He really is a good man.
“Thank you for coming.” Linden glances from Sinister to the men behind me before settling his gaze slowly on me.
“I wouldn’t miss it.” My smile is genuine. It’s so different from the forced smiles and the conniving words I used to say to him.
Everything is different now.
Including the beautiful blonde who slinks in behind Linden. Her gown is a rich red color that makes her flawless skin seems smoother. “It’s almost time for your Uncle Chalem’s speech,” Marg whispers, her hand skimming lightly along Linden’s navy jacket.
I barely recognize the maid who showed us around the castle all that time ago. She’s beautiful and refined now.
I note the way Linden’s fingers toy with hers, and he smiles to her, seeing her fully. Seeing her the way she always deserved to be seen.
He really is good through and through. He sees people for who they are. And that’s everything that this kingdom needs.
“I’ll see you all tonight at the dinner?” Linden looks to Kain, and he shakes his head at him.
“We have our own little celebration tonight.” Kain pushes his hand down to the small of my back, and I lean into his dominating warmth.
“We do?” I arch a brow at him, and he just mimics the look until we’re both smiling like idiots.
“We do,” he whispers.
And then Sinister’s pulling me away again.
The little cottage with the small garden in front has a companion now that was not there this morning. When we stride down the dirt path to Agatha’s house, a matching, slightly larger house rests at its side. It’s identical in structure, a replica, except it’s completely perfect. The wooden siding is freshly painted white, the windows shine with the reflection of the setting sun, and the door in the center is a bright yellow, matching the tiny daisies that line the smooth brick sidewalk to the front door.
It’s like happiness threw up all over this beautiful little cottage.
“Who in the hell made that?”
“Well, again, never been to Hell, but I’ll take credit.” Sinister peers at me, his dark lashes lining his shining crimson eyes. The pink scar that slices the edge of his face makes him seem more rugged now than boyish. He’s not that boy I fell in love with all those years ago.
He’s different but the same.
“Hey, asshole, I painted.” Chaos shoves Sin’s shoulder, pushing him even closer into my side.
“You painted for an hour until Rime took his shirt off, and then I never saw you two again for the rest of the morning.” Sinister turns, and there’s a small moment where the two men are just staring each other down, both refusing to smirk first.
Until a big smile pulls across the shifter’s lips.
Strong hands push down my hips from behind, bringing me flush against him as I turn in his arms. Kain’s gaze holds so much in the depths of his eyes, and I feel all that emotion as he looks down on me, his lips so close to mine.
“We wanted to make our mate a home,” he says.
Their mate.
Something in me flutters to life, and all those feelings build within me until I can barely even breathe. They’ve all done so much for me. Given up so much.
Kain knows that more than any of them. His horns, his status, his dragon. It’s all so much. And the protective man doesn’t even pause to consider the things he’s given up for a single moment. None of that was something he ever cared about.
He’s a protector, a provider, a beautiful fucking man who I don’t deserve.
I fist my fingers into his white shirt and pull him to me, pressing my lips slowly to his.
“I love you.” My voice trembles, and then I’m looking around at all these men who I never realized I needed until they came crashing into my already messy life. “I love you,” I say again, my gaze sweeping from Sinister, to Rime, to Chaos.
Chaos comes closer, his chest brushing Kain’s shoulder until his lips meet mine. He kisses me so briefly and then says the strangest thing. “Prove it.”
My brows lower, and I’m still leaning into him but I’m no longer chasing his kiss but more his confusing words.
“Prove it? Prove that I love you?”
He nods. Rime passes a knowing look to Sinister, and Sin brings out a small glass jar. It’s tinted a dark gray, but there’s some sort of herbs at the bottom of it.
“What’s that?”
“The supplies needed to perform a mating ceremony.” Sin’s gaze holds on me, and I study the deep-green plant that seems to be dried and bundled together into a small pile in the bottom of the smoke-colored jar.
“You gathered the supplies and didn’t think to ask if I’d changed my mind?” The challenging words don’t match the smirk on my lips.
Kain takes a step closer, pulling me back until our chests are firmly against one another.
“Arlow Winters, will you be our biggest pain in the ass for the rest of our beautiful lives?”
Oh, be still my snarky heart.
I nod slowly, rubbing my fingers back and forth over the ring they gave me. It feels like a lifetime has passed since then.
And now we’re doing exactly what they asked me to do all that time ago.
“That’s good, because I’m not getting any younger,” Agatha calls out.
My neigh
bor lingers at the road, her own mate watching us intently at her side. Behind her, my mother and father stand. My mother’s deep-blue eyes shine with tears. She’s always crying when I see her.
But this time it’s not from sadness.
My father brings her closer to his chest, and the four of them watch in an odd but calming silence when I take a step back and look fully at the jar Sinister is holding out to me.
I consider the little container with its odd herbs for several seconds.
“How does it work?”
“It’s a sort of shifter magic. It’s an ancient tradition.” Rime’s voice is that of a true story teller, and I hang on his every word. “When a dragon shifter finds a mate who he loves, someone he’d give his life for, the shifter has to find a rare plant called amarely. It’s said to be a plant of love. The shifter gathers the plant, gathers the mate.” He pauses long enough to enjoy my glare before continuing. “Then the two share a promise. A secret promise that they’ll never share with another living soul. And then…something magical happens.”
A promise that we’ll never tell another living soul. That’s intimidating.
What if I freeze up and say something stupid?
That does sound slightly like something that could happen to me.
“Ready?” Chaos asks, a gleam of excitement shining in his two-tone eyes.
I shift, peering back at the little crowd before looking around at the waiting men in front of me. I nod slowly.
What if I do it wrong? What if I screw up this ancient tradition? Will my men ask for a refund? What’s the protocol on damaged mates?
Because I’m it. I’m the discounted stock, boys. But I guess they’ll never see me that way.
“You’ll be fine,” Chaos whispers.
The herbs in the jar shift along the glass as Chaos grabs it in one hand and then takes my wrist in the other and leads me toward the door. We’re a few feet away from the others, and the three men watch us closely.
I feel even more nervous now.
Chaos holds the container with both hands, but his attention never leaves my big eyes.
He leans in, bringing the glass close to his lips before he speaks so quietly I barely hear him. “I promise to always take care of you, to know what you need. Even if you never do.”
The smile he gives me makes warmth flare through my soul.
With steady hands, I skim my fingertips over his, holding the container with him and letting my lips come just as close as his to speak into the glass. “I promise to love every pure part of you exactly the way you’ve always deserved to be loved, Chaos.” I can’t take it anymore. I kiss him from over the jar, his beard scraping my skin before his soft lips press tenderly to mine.
Heat burns across my neck. I pull back hard, and when I look down, a tiny ember of fire dances within the dry herbs.
Magic.
I part my lips, but no words come out.
“That ember of fire will burn within this glass for as long as we both shall live.” The bright firelight shimmers in his gaze.
I hate that it’s so hard for me to breathe, to form any kind of words to say to this beautiful man right now.
“I love you, Low.” Then he kisses me all over again.
Our hands linger, the heat warming my skin as the sun sets on us. I want to remember him just like this forever.
“Okay, Prince Charming.” Rime slips his hand below ours, taking the jar and glancing slowly from me to Chaos.
Chaos’ fingers brush along Rimes and then he quietly slips away.
Silence settles in his place.
Rime looks up at me with a hesitant gaze. His attention drifts from the burning ember to me and then back again.
He’s…nervous.
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen this fearless man nervous a single time since we met.
“What if my ember doesn’t light?” he finally says.
He shifts, but my fingers skim over his, halting his movements in an instant. I lean into the glass, feeling its warmth and holding his gaze the entire time.
“I promise to always remind you that you are wanted. Loved and completely fucking perfect,” I whisper into the space between us.
His lips lift at one corner, but he bites back the smile, pushing out a slow exhale before coming closer, letting his breath fan across my lips.
“I promise to love all the terrible parts of you.” My brows lift at that strange—slightly insulting— promise, but he keeps going, “I promise to love all the bad as much as the good because your bad parts are just like mine. We’re the same,” he says in the quietest voice.
My throat tightens, and before I can even speak again, the smallest ember ignites. It’s separate from the first, but both burn equally as bright.
Rime pulls the jar away from me entirely. His lips slam to mine so hard I gasp against his mouth. His tongue slides, demanding my kiss and consuming every piece of me. He pulls back, his lips still brushing mine over and over again.
“It lit up.” His eyes close, a smile on his lips that’s only growing by the second.
“Of course it did.” I bring his mouth back to mine, and his fingers dig into my hip as he kisses me once more.
The way he looks at me when he steps back, the way he holds his gaze on me, it’s like he’s seeing me differently now, but I don’t know why. He takes another step back. Another and another until he passes the container over to Kain.
Kain’s feet never move. He stands there holding the burning jar, letting it light up his crimson hair and the depths of his green eyes. He passes his attention over every part of me. I can’t help but wonder if I look as confident and ready as he does right now.
Incredibly fucking doubtful.
Kain seems like he knows exactly what he wants to promise me. Whereas, I don’t have a clue what words even are right now.
I can’t seem to think tonight. All of this is happening so fast, and my heart’s hammering a mile a minute, and I can’t breathe or think or speak.
Shit, he’s coming over here.
I force myself to take a semi-steady breath.
“You look like you’re about to make a run for it, Arlow.”
“No.” That simple word cracks, and I roll my eyes at myself. When I peer up at him, at the calmness in his gaze, all that anxiety washes away. “I’m done running.”
A smile tugs at my lips, and when he takes my hands and wraps them around the warmth of the container, I feel grounded by the strength of his hands.
Everything will always be all right as long as he’s here.
Always.
“I promise to take care of you. To give you everything you deserve in life. This house, this house is nothing compared to all the things I want to give you, Arlow.” His fingers stroke slowly back and forth against mine.
What he doesn’t realize is, he’s already given me more than I deserve.
“I promise to try to be as much as you seem to always think I’m worth.” And more.
I’m about to give him more right now.
I focus hard on the magic Aggie and I’ve practiced for the past several months. I cling to that powerful energy, wrapping it up and holding it tightly in my hands before releasing every bit of it into his.
Tingling pain stings along my skin, and I know he feels the exact same thing. He flinches but never pulls away. He accepts it. He doesn’t understand it but he trusts me entirely. So he holds still. The cutting energy turns harsh, and my hands shake as something slices from him to me.
It’s over in a matter of seconds, both of us breathing heavy and painful breaths.
“…did you…did you just give me my dragon back?”
I swallow down the pride I feel at how happy he looks right now.
“Your dragon was always there, Kain. A divide was just cut between you and him. I took the blockade away.”
Neither of us notice the third ember flickering between our palms. He stares at me like I created the stars that shine down on us r
ight now. No one’s ever looked at me like I’m as special as Kain does.
He sees something more in me. I feel like I’m something more because of him.
A single chaste kiss presses to my jaw, and then the corner of my mouth, and then my lips with the slowest, wanting kiss I’ve ever experienced. I feel that want deep inside myself.
But he steps back before my lips ever part.
He leaves the burning jar in my hands and walks slowly back to the other three men.
And then there’s just one more, standing with his arms folded, seeming happy but…distant.
“Come here, Sin.”
Crimson eyes narrow on me, and he shakes his head ever back and forth.
“If a demon so much as whispers a thank you into that little dragon jar, it’ll implode, love.”
“You don’t know that.” I don’t take my gaze off of him.
We challenge each other. Seconds pass, his arms held in place against his chest.
Then he comes to me.
Just like I asked.
His tattooed hand slips over mine. His other palm is hesitant, but he covers my small hands completely, attention locked on me.
“This is a bad fucking idea, love,” he whispers over the jar.
“You love bad ideas,” I throw back at him.
He smiles like sex and sin, and it’s then that I wonder if maybe this is a bad idea.
But I’ll do it anyway.
Because Sinister Savoy is mine. And I’m his.
“I promise to never keep any part of myself from you. I spent a long time not saying and doing so many things. I’m done with that.”
This is a therapeutic process as much as a heartwarming ceremony. I feel the weight of their love as well as the weight of my promises enter this tiny jar.
And the way that Sinister’s crimson gaze sobers, I know he feels it, too.
He takes a single step forward, lining his lips up with the edge of the jar to whisper into it just right before he speaks slowly and clearly into it with that delicious accent of his.
“I promise to always wait for you, Arrie. I promise to make up for the time I missed with you. I promise to make up for all that time I couldn’t love you. I promise to always be your friend. Your lover. Your mate.”