by Eve Newton
They both lean over to kiss me, looking a bit shifty.
“What have you two been up to?” I ask.
“Gathering the Dragons,” Rex replies.
“Dracul is back,” Pres states.
“Oh, is he?” I brighten considerably, then my face falls. “Oh, did the notification alarm bring him home?”
“Yes. He is happy to be here, though,” Rex answers smoothly, giving Pres a hard look.
“I can see you, you know,” I drawl at him. “What’s going on.”
“It’s nothing,” Rex says. “Address your subjects, Your Highness.” He bows his head, hand placed over his heart, causing Pres and To’Kah to follow suit and fall back.
I spin to face the Dragons assembled in front of me, allowing them the sight of my body.
A hush falls over the crowd and then I hear a whisper, “The True Heir.”
It is repeated over and over until the entire gathering is on their knees, muttering these words.
Doesn’t seem like I have to say anything, but perhaps I should.
“As you can see, I am with child,” I say. “The future of the Empire is secure with my bloodline.”
“Who is the father?” a rather rude Dragon calls out.
I knew it was coming, but still, I’m affronted by it.
So are my husbands, it appears, as the bristling that is going on behind me is quite noticeable.
“She is mine,” I state with such finality that the entire Hall goes deathly quiet. I don’t get any backlash from my husbands for it, or at least none that I can sense. So as far as I’m concerned, that’s that.
It has shut up the mouthy Dragon and now this can be over. I close my robe, trying not grimace at the kicking and clawing going on inside me.
“Dismissed,” I say and then look down in horror. My hands are on fire. Literally. The flames are licking the air.
“Shit,” I mumbled as I try my best to extinguish the fire.
“Delinda,” Rex says, coming closer.
“No, stay back,” I tell him the same as I did To’Kah. This secret is going to come out, whether I want it to or not, it seems.
“You are losing control,” Pres mutters, stepping right up next to me and taking my hands in his.
“No!” I roar at him, trying to drag my hands back, but he keeps a firm hold on them.
I blink down at our joined hands. Not only is he not on fire, he has extinguished the flames as well.
He is staring down at our hands with a strange look on his face, which changes to a blank look when he meets my eyes.
“You know what this is?” he asks me.
I nod a bit sheepishly.
He lets my hands go and steps back. “Were you going to mention it?”
“How did you put it out?” I ask back, to regain the upper hand. How dare he question me and make me feel naughty for harboring this secret.
He doesn’t answer me, he just Astrals off without a word, leaving me alone with my two other husbands, a little bit confused and a whole Hell of a lot pissed off.
~Pres~
I’M SHAKING WITH BOTH fury and something else. I can’t quite place what it is.
How dare she know this information and keep it from us. From me.
The fact that her child bears a Dragon flame so fierce that it rivals that of the execution pit, is something I thought she would have mentioned straight away. Especially after what To’Kah went through. It’s downright dangerous for anyone to be around her if she can’t control the powers of the new True Heir.
Except me.
Somehow, I wasn’t afraid to step up and extinguish the flames. Does that mean I’m immune to them? Am I somehow way more powerful than I ever thought, just too young and naïve to know it? Or was it a fluke? Did Delinda really extinguish the fire, making me believe it was me? I wouldn’t put it past her. She is always trying to make me look better in front of the other two. I normally love her for it because I need all the help I can get, but today it just pisses me off.
I pace up and down in Rex’s old bedroom and then draw to a stop when Rex lands in front of me.
“What?” I snap at him.
“Our wife wants you,” he drawls. “I suggest you beat it back to her.”
I grimace at him. “What does she want?”
He raises his eyebrows at me. “That’s...bold,” he comments. “Perhaps you should go to her and find out.”
“Later,” I mutter and turn from him.
He grabs my arm and spins me back around to face him. “Now,” he states with finality.
“Since when do you do her bidding?” I snap at him.
“Since when do you not do as you’re told?”
I growl at him. “You don’t dictate to me.”
“No, Delinda does. I’m just the fucking messenger,” he growls back.
“Then tell her she can come down here to get me.” I drag my arm out of his grip and turn again to stride over to the window. I need time away from her to think. To reassess what I felt when I touched the fire. I need to figure out if it was real, or if it was somehow Delinda manipulating the situation.
“You seriously expect me to go up there and say that to her?” Rex snorts with laughter. “I enjoy my life with her. No way am I putting it on the line for you.”
“Of course,” I snap, facing him again. “Because why would you do anything for anyone else. It’s all about you, isn’t it, Rexus. You’re a controlling asshole and you still just want her for yourself. Well, you need to get the fuck over it.”
He is in front of me in a flash, snarling at me, Dragon teeth primed and ready to chomp down on me. It further ignites my anger. He’s showing me that he can do that, when he knows that I can’t.
“Say that again, you little prick,” he fumes. “You don’t get to stand there and tell me how I feel.”
We glare at each other for several long minutes.
He retracts his fangs with a vicious snap of his jaw that, to my shame, makes me flinch. But I’m not sorry. He deserves it.
I fold my arms over my chest. “I’m not wrong though, am I?” I say quietly.
“Yes, you are,” he says, now as angry as I am. “And if you ever say anything even remotely like that to Delinda, I will skin you alive.”
“Gee, how much you care about me,” I drawl, causing him to clench his fist.
I don’t see it coming, even though I should have. He smashes me in the face, breaking my nose and causing my head to hit the window, smashing it.
“I do care about you,” he snarls, leaning over me as I slump down to the floor. “But your little hissy fits don’t endear you to me.”
He holds his hand out to offer me a lift up.
After a pause, I take it.
He’s right. I’m acting like a child.
“We will forget this incident,” he says, letting go of my hand. “Now go to our wife, she is worried about you.”
I gulp. “Why didn’t you say that to start with?” I don’t want to cause her any worry, but of course she is. I left her abruptly, without a word.
“Didn’t I?” Rex asks innocently and then Astrals out before I repay the favor and flatten his nose.
I take a moment to clean myself up and fix my nose and the window.
Whatever it was that happened earlier, I need to trust my instincts. Delinda wouldn’t have made me think I’d put out the flames when I hadn’t. It’s too dangerous a game to play with me, in light of what they are. The rest...well, I guess my wife will do things her way, as it’s meant to be.
Chapter 5
~To’Kah~
“Where is he?” Delinda asks me for about the hundredth time.
“Rex has gone to find him...” I start but she gives me a baleful glare.
“I know that. I also know where he is, but why isn’t he coming back here. I ordered Rex to tell him.”
I shake my head at her. “He isn’t going to appreciate that in the slightest.”
She opens her mouth to s
peak again, but Rex lands in front of her with a smile and a soft kiss to her lips. His eyes light up in her presence and it makes me glad. He was so hard and cold for so long after Lianna and Trey betrayed him. It makes me glad that he has opened up to her, and not just for himself, but for her as well. If she’d married him and he’d remained an asshole, it would have made her life miserable.
“He’s coming,” Rex says. “He just needs to fix his face.”
“What?” Delinda splutters.
“He was a bit of a dick. I put him in his place.” Rex shrugs.
“What happened?” I ask with a sigh.
Delinda looks like she is about to blow a gasket and if those flaming hands make a comeback, I’m going to have to leave. I have never been afraid of her before, even knowing her power far out matches mine, but that earlier was terrifying. It hit me deep inside and I froze. Rex might be pissed off with Pres but I’m glad he at least had the capacity to extinguish the fire. I was completely useless. It is eating at me because I have no idea the root of the problem. Why now? Why with this?
“Hmm?” I murmur as Delinda elbows me in the side.
She and Rex are looking at me expectantly, but I have no idea what they’d said, so lost in my thoughts was I.
“You okay?” she asks, taking my hand.
I give her a bright smile. “Yes, of course.”
Fortunately, I’m let off the hook by the arrival of the Beta.
Delinda turns to him and gives him a ferocious glare that he, to his credit and her annoyance, doesn’t flinch from.
“I apologize,” he says quickly though, still afraid of her wrath. “I was...”
“It’s okay,” she also says quickly, her cheeks going a bit red.
I frown at her. What is she trying to cover up? Something that Pres knows obviously by the slight nod he gave her, but the hard look in his eyes tells me that whatever it is, isn’t over.
“I have something to say,” she adds, and pulls away from me to walk over to the fireplace.
Rex helps her to the floor, where she makes herself comfortable as he sits behind her with his legs open so she can lean against him.
Pres and I follow, sitting cross-legged so that we can see her.
“So, by my calculations, it’s coming up to December 25th on Earth,” she starts. “My mother always has a big gathering at Christmas time...”
Rex and I groan in unison and she sits up sharply, grimacing at us. “I’m not suggesting that we go. This year,” she is quick to point out. “However, I would like to make our own Christmas here. I know the Dragons won’t want to get involved, but it can be our little thing.”
“What’s Christmas?” Pres asks, stopping the conversation dead.
“Man, you really need to go to Earth, or at the very least, get a Dummies Guide,” Rex drawls, shaking his head.
“I can’t help it!” he snaps. “I have lived my whole life in the Dragon Realms, and not even the fancy part.”
That makes Delinda snort into her hand loudly.
He gives her a lofty look. “Perhaps if you would all be so kind as to fill me in?”
She gives him a kind smile and her eyes fill with excitement. “It is such a magickal time on Earth. You get a big tree and decorate it with all these sparkly, glittery ornaments and colored lights that flash. You give the people that you love presents, that you wrap up in this gorgeous paper. Everyone gathers on December 25th to celebrate, where you have a big dinner and drinks, a log fire and...and...”
Rex chuckles at her childlike excitement over the Earthly holiday and wraps his arms around her. “Yes, my love, we can do all of that.”
“Really?” she asks. “You don’t mind?”
“No, I love a good Christmas celebration,” he replies, dropping his hands to her bump and stroking her gently.
My eyes follow his movement, wishing that I was the one doing that. “I’m in,” I say. “It sounds perfect.”
We all look to Pres, who also has his eyes trained on Rex’s hands moving slowly over Delinda’s bump.
He nods. “I guess,” he says. “I will have to research this, make sure that I understand the magick.”
We all give him a curious look.
He blinks and clears his throat, looking at Delinda. “You said it was a magickal time. I will need to understand what kind before I can participate.”
I stifle my laugh, but Rex has no such qualms about embarrassing the poor kid further. He guffaws loudly, but shushes when Delinda smacks him in the chest and crawls over to Pres. She takes his hands and kisses them.
“I love you so much,” she murmurs to him. “I apologize, that was my fault. I didn’t mean magickal in the way that we mean it. It’s a word that humans use to describe something that is beautiful and exciting.”
“Oh,” he says, looking down briefly, but then his eyes shoot back to hers. “I want to go and see.”
“Oh no!” I jump up and say forcefully. “She isn’t going to Earth. It isn’t safe.”
“It can be,” Rex says slyly. “We have a way.”
Delinda leans over and puts her finger over his lips. “Not the time, my love. But yes, you can take Pres to Earth and show him the most Christmassy place you can think of.” She turns back to him. “You will love it.”
“Fine,” Rex grumbles, but then gives her a salacious look. “Sex first?”
She giggles. “You always want sex first.”
“Of course, I do,” he replies. “My dick is never satisfied around you. I think it is time to put spending time alone together, back on the table.”
He gives me a knowing look, which makes me think they’ve discussed this again recently. Alone.
“Agreed,” I say. It has been an age since I had her all to myself. I miss it. I miss her being herself with me instead of this wanton creature she thinks we expect of her now. I need to make love to her instead of this endless fucking that we seem to engage in. Not that I’m complaining about that, of course. I just need some intimacy from her, to be her only focus while we go slowly.
She is biting her lip and looking at Pres. He nods eagerly.
“Okay then,” she says carefully. “But this doesn’t mean, in any way, that I don’t love our time together.”
Rex takes her hand as I take the other. “We know,” I say. “You don’t ever have to be worried that we are getting jealous or concerned about how you feel about us. We all need this, Delly, you as well.”
She nods.
“It also doesn’t mean that we will break the rules because our individual relationships with you are evolving,” Rex points out sternly.
She breathes out in relief and gives him a smile. “Thank you,” she whispers.
I grit my teeth. Rex knew the cause of her hesitation and he nailed it. It pisses me off. I should have known that her worry was about us, her men, deciding to do whatever we wanted without her, if we set the precedent of splitting off into pairs.
“I love you all,” she says, but before we can answer, she lets out a loud groan of pain that has us all leaping into action to get her more comfortable and settled on the bed with a plate of food and some juice.
Chapter 6
~Delinda~
A few days later, I stare at the ceiling, very annoyed with sleeping half sitting up because of my bump. I’m not comfortable on my side anymore and sleeping on my back is impossible. The men have all gone off to do their jobs so I’m all alone, a bit horny and very restless. I adore having this baby growing inside me, but it is becoming a bit cumbersome. The wild sex that I want to engage in isn’t even an option now. I’m way too hefty. She is growing so big so quickly, I’m sure that she will make her arrival in the World sooner rather than later.
I sigh and heave myself out of bed, taking in the Christmas decorations that we put up yesterday. The twinkling lights and smell of pine from the tree that Rex dragged back here from Earth, fills my senses and I smile. It’s perfect.
Our own perfect little Christmas grotto to e
njoy with each other, this, our first Christmas together.
I Astral down to the fire pit and stare at it. Then, this feeling of utter frustration comes over me, completely out of the blue. I hold my hands out and blast two enormous streams of fire out of my palms and into the pit. It roars to life and I take a step back, even though I know it won’t hurt me. I mean, I’m fueling the damn thing with my hands, after all. I know now that the fire of the pit is hers. How and why, still remains a mystery. I’m able to control the fire, but I don’t create it. She does, and someone before her must be doing the same, or has done in the past. But who? Tiamat? Did it skip a generation, or do I hold this Power and just not realize it?
Even with all of these questions, I still feel a bit better. It’s the equivalent of flying to the highest cliff I can find, Shifting and then screaming as loudly as I can to vent my anger. I look around me, seeing the cliff tops everywhere but I daren’t Shift. I know that the baby will be okay, but it just seems too weird right now. I push my hands out further and with a shout of triumph, blast the pit even more.
I feel Powerful and lighter after this expulsion of a Power that isn’t even mine. Yes, it kind of pisses me off that it isn’t mine, but it is hers so I can’t stay mad for long. She is going to be the most amazing Empress when her time comes. I just hope that she doesn’t have to kill me to get the Power. Hopefully she will have just enough Fae in her to take it from me the way I did with Uncle D. Although my husbands won’t be best pleased with that. Except maybe Rex.
I shake my head at that as I drop my hands and glare into the fire.
“Hey,” Pres says, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around me, immediately stroking my bump.
“Hey,” I sigh and put my hands over his, lacing our fingers together.
“You okay?”
“Frustrated.”
“So, you come here?” he asks me cautiously.
I just shrug. Even if he thinks he knows about the fire, I’m not telling. Not yet.
He sighs and leans his chin on the top of my head. “I can’t wait to spend some alone time with you,” he murmurs. “Can we soon?”