“Come take a bath with me,” I said, immediately hopping off the bed and stripping off my T-shirt as I glanced around for the door to the bathroom. I caught Llyr’s tender look before disappearing through the door and paused, looking back at him.
“Thank you,” I said, taking a hesitant step toward him, then stopping. His gaze heated as it slipped down my body and my nipples tightened. His touch was one thing when all he sought to do was comfort. His desire remained an ever-present beast just beneath the surface, and I should’ve known better than to taunt him, even accidentally. I was such a fool.
“Sorry.” I backed up and turned, fleeing to the bathroom and closing the door behind me.
Flustered, I went to the tub, a plain, oval Jacuzzi in the corner of the room with mirrors on the walls behind it. The door clicked open then shut again behind me, Rohan’s burnt-citrus scent approaching along with his soft footsteps.
I finally relaxed with the warm press of his palm on my shoulder and sliding down my back. “Would it be so bad to give in?” he asked. “You’ve been dancing with that need for more than a week now.”
“Is it that obvious?” I asked, leaning into his touch. He settled on the wide ledge of the tub just behind me, enveloping me in his strong arms. I sank back, realizing he was naked as well.
“You forget we’re soul-bound,” he said, the rumble of his words vibrating through me. “Your desire for Llyr resonates through the rest of us like a plucked guitar string. The only thing keeping us from giving in is self-preservation.” His pitch lowered as he lifted his hands to cup my breasts and pressed his lips to my throat. “But I think we have a handle on your condition finally.”
“Bodhi . . . Is he all right?” I asked, remembering the wonderful morning and afternoon we’d spent together, alternating between playing music and singing, enjoying delicious food he cooked for me, and making love until we’d fallen asleep in each other’s arms.
“He’s fine. It’s my turn now. I’ll stay with you until the show tomorrow.”
His heavy exhale warmed my skin and I inhaled deeply of his magic, then turned to meet his lips and take in even more of his powerful breath. A lick of fire tingled across my tongue with his low moan, but he kept giving, exhaling until he had no more breath, then inhaling when I returned the gift.
When our mouths parted, he looked drunk, lips spreading into a languid smile. “You’re getting more powerful. That was . . . Wow.”
I laughed and let out a breath, commanding my magic to lift my hair and secure it in a coil on top of my head, then slipped into the water, enjoying the scalding heat that only Rohan could share with me without complaint. He followed, settling at one end and leaning against the contoured side of the tub. He beckoned and I obligingly slid between his legs, letting him cradle me against his chest.
He twisted slightly, keeping one arm hooked around my waist and reaching beyond my vision with the other. When he resumed his earlier position, his hand appeared in front of me, a chocolate-covered strawberry held carefully between his thumb and forefinger.
“Say ‘ah,’ ” he commanded.
“Where did you get that?”
“My new friend in the city is willing to do private catering, for the right price. She’s the dragon responsible for those chocolates. I have a special meal coming soon too, and I will keep paying her to feed you until this passes.”
“Ro, you don’t need to do that,” I said, looking up at him. “Your breath works just fine.”
“Not as well as hers does. Bodhi paid attention today. It’s the chocolate that works best, not the other food I infused. Calliope is a former unbound the Dragon Council returned magic to. She’s twice my age and a lot more powerful, and more than willing to help out.”
I narrowed my eyes, but took the strawberry and turned back around. “I hope her price wasn’t too high. I can’t imagine she’d want to serve an upstart like me, as old as she is.”
I took a bite of the fruit and moaned at the burst of sweetness mixed with chocolate, followed by the instant flood of magic that settled into my blood. She was good at this, I’d give her that.
“Well, that’s the thing . . . ” he said, pressing a kiss to my shoulder. “You’re going to help pay for it.”
The rush of euphoria from the gold dragon magic I’d just ingested already had me at a disadvantage. “Oh?” I asked, licking my fingers for every last bit of juicy goodness from the fruit. I’d have probably agreed to any price the woman asked in that moment, but didn’t expect what Rohan said next.
“Callie is bloodline like me. We’re going to find her a mate.”
I stared at my red-tinged fingers, my rational mind telling me I should argue, but my good will toward this dragon contradicting me. Protecting the bloodline was my idea, my entire purpose, and finding them all mates was the best way to protect them. It was the only way, really; if Rohan, Willem, Maddie, and Bodhi could have mates thanks to my hounds, it was high time I started working on finding mates for all the rest, and I had to start somewhere.
“I’ll do it,” I said, spinning around to face Rohan, my movement causing small waves to splash over the edge of the tub. “Under one condition . . . ” I re-situated myself, lifting each knee so that I straddled his hips.
“What . . . uh . . . what is it?” he asked, grunting softly and biting his lower lip as I sank down his rigid cock. He slipped both hands around and squeezed my ass as I took his entire length inside me.
“Sing with me,” I whispered as I began to move. I lifted my wet hands from his shoulders to his temples, raking my fingers through his damp curls and holding on, my grip forcing his head to tilt back.
Rohan’s golden gaze fixed on my face, his eyelids fluttering slightly and his breath coming quicker as I fucked him. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I want to try . . . ”
He gripped my hips with both hands and took a deep breath. His exhale became a long, plaintive note, his brows creasing with the tension of the first verse of a song to accompany our lovemaking.
The music was the perfect mix of hungry and sweet, and I clung to him as the notes settled inside me. I ached to join in when the tension of the pleasure coiled so tight I needed an outlet before I came too fast, but my voice betrayed me once again. When I tried to sing, the sound just came out as a pitiful croak, so I clamped my mouth shut, focusing on the pleasure to hold back the tears.
I buried my face in his neck, my moan half pleasure, half despair. Rohan stroked the back of my neck, halting mid-verse. “It’ll come back to you, baby. I promise. I’m proof you don’t need a turul soul to sing.”
“Just make love to me,” I whispered, pulling back to look into his eyes. He gazed intently back at me, brow creased and jaw clenched, betraying how my own hurt affected him just as acutely.
I took a deep breath and started rocking my hips again, focusing on the pleasure of our connection as he resumed the song. The music truly helped, even if I couldn’t join in without an instrument.
I let myself get lost in the rhythm he set and the deep notes that rose above the steam. I could draw the pleasure out with him, trusting that he’d let me know when he’d given too much. Rohan urged me on, holding tighter and shifting his hips into mine at a quicker tempo.
The lyrics to the song gave way to his cries of pleasure as we crested together, both of us finding our climax at the same second amid sloshing water and slippery, gasping kisses. Rohan’s strained expression fell into laughter as he relaxed, his skin glowing faintly with my iridescent magic and my own skin glimmering golden and wet.
I sank against him with a sigh, grateful for yet another reprieve from the ever-encroaching threat to my sanity and the added disappointment of losing my voice. Perhaps with enough time and their continued attention, that need would fade and my songs would return. For now, I would enjoy the lucidity when I had it and let them do the singing for me.
I slipped off Rohan’s lap, keeping hold of his hand for a moment longer before searchi
ng for some soap.
“I’m excited to meet this famous chocolatier. Is she coming here tonight?”
“In just a couple hours. She’ll eat with us too. It seems your reputation has preceded you, not just among the higher races, but with the bloodline in town. She isn’t the only one excited to meet you.”
My ears perked up as I soaped up a cloth and rubbed it over my neck and shoulders. “The bloodline in general? You’ve met others?”
He slouched deeper into the steamy heat, waving a hand through the water. His fingers glowed faintly with magic and the temperature increased a few degrees.
“Two today. I’m hoping this doesn’t mean that Blaze is following some other command than the one you intended. His nose led us to a night club that is apparently a favorite gathering spot for bloodline. That’s where the gig is tomorrow night, so expect a packed house, because they all know about the Vegas show. We’ll be playing our usual playlist too, which will be a nice break for you.”
“No,” I said, pausing my washing. “We can’t stray from the plan. I have to follow through on my promise to Chase. For that matter, finding this dragon a mate will have to wait until we’re done.” Not to mention our usual playlist would require me to sing.
“You need to not lose your mind,” he said, sitting up a little straighter. “I get that you’re worried Fate will throw more bullshit at us, and you want to be able to show Chase we’re honoring our end of the agreement so he keeps Fate off our backs, but you need a break. And this lets you follow through on the other promise you made—to the bloodline.”
“I’m just afraid of losing ground. I have no idea how long it’s going to take. I don’t even know what we’re looking for. The hounds don’t exactly project any kind of thoughts about their targets.”
He shifted toward me in the water and extracted the soapy cloth from my hands. I’d been holding it so tightly he had to pry my fingers off. I let my hands drop to my sides, giving him a pleading look as he slipped behind me and proceeded to wash my back.
“The hounds are designed to find people’s soul mates. It’s what you want for the bloodline. I don’t think Chaos will mind if you take time out to test them more and try to figure out how they work. This gig is a perfect chance to do that. If it means having a better understanding of how to find his soul mate, why would he complain?”
“You’re saying I need more practice,” I said, letting my head fall forward, several tendrils of my hair trailing through the water. Rohan pushed the wet hair clinging to my back aside and proceeded to dig fingers and thumbs into my shoulders. I groaned as my muscles melted like butter.
“Understanding the mechanics of your magic is one thing. You had resources to learn all the ins and outs of that before you had the power to apply it. These creatures are relative unknowns. We’re all making it up as we go. It’s one night, Deva, and if it gives you a chance to recalibrate, it’s worth it. Especially as long as Llyr is in the doghouse.”
I bristled at that. “He’s not . . . ” I huffed and shook my head, slipping back against Rohan’s chest. How the hell did I explain? “I’m not mad at Llyr. Not anymore. And I know I need him. I’m just scared.”
“Talk to me, baby,” he said, hugging me tight.
Even reaching for the words had my mind in a tumult, the darkening haze of mania creeping in from the sides. I twined my fingers through Rohan’s as if they could ground me, and a second later the sweet citrus and cedar scent of his breath hit my nose.
“It’s Ozzie,” I said. “I may not have a piece of his soul anymore, but he and Llyr are still blood-melded. I can still see Ozzie when I look at Llyr, like a piece of his aura is always wrapped around him. I don’t know why it still affects me. I know turul will accept a partner who is blood-linked to their One—that’s why Iszak and Lukas are so close to my dad, because he’s blood-linked to Belah. One of their sister’s mates is like that too—not her fated mate, but linked by blood to the dragon who is—and she loves them both as fiercely as if they were one.”
“And you lost that soul bond to Ozzie, so you think you should have lost that affinity along with it?” Rohan asked.
“Yeah, but when I look at Llyr, my memories of Ozzie sneak in and my mind goes hazy, and that . . . ” My voice broke. “That emptiness where his soul used to be just eats at me.”
“But Llyr could help fill that emptiness for you. Let him at least try, Deva. I hate seeing you like this. I hate this helplessness.”
The pain in his tone twisted around my heart. I didn’t mean to make him hurt too, but I had to make him understand.
“I’m afraid that mating him and accepting his soul-gift won’t help, that it’ll make it worse because it’ll just highlight what’s missing. It isn’t that I don’t want him, but he’s only half of what I need. Half of the whole they became when they blood-melded.”
“So it’s all or nothing,” he said.
“For now, I think it has to be. Unless there’s a way to break their meld, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look at Llyr without feeling what I feel for Ozzie.”
He remained eerily silent and still for a moment too long, and I turned. The grimace that met me was so unlike him I put both hands on his cheeks. “What’s wrong?”
“I think we need to wrap this up. There’s something we really need to talk about before this show tomorrow night, and I don’t think you’re going to like it.”
10
Llyr
My skin prickled with awareness a few seconds before the bedroom door opened. I’d been sitting on the suite’s sofa, staring blankly at a television show, trying to decide how to broach the topic of our unexpected obligations for the show tomorrow night. My unexpected obligations. But the look on Deva’s face combined with Rohan’s apologetic shrug made my shoulders drop in resignation.
She knew.
“Show me,” she said, taking a few determined steps around the sofa to stand in front of me, the enormous terrycloth robe nearly swallowing her whole.
“You know that’s a bad idea, Deva,” I said, leaning my elbows on my knees and peering up at her.
“Were you just going to spring it on me tomorrow night?” she asked, her voice a little shrill. “Hope I didn’t freak the fuck out? I need to see now.”
My jaw clenched and I shook my head. “I intended to minimize your need to look. I’ll be playing drums, you’ll be singing. You never have to turn around. You’ll never see if you don’t want to.”
“You think it’s that easy? Knowing I can just see him if I turn around? I can’t do that. I need to see now. I need to know how bad it can be in a place where we can manage the fallout.”
I slowly got to my feet, realizing she would never back down. I was still in the conjured clothes Rohan had given me, which adjusted to fit whatever body I presented to the world. Part of me was tempted to just shed them—dissolve them with my magic and give her the full view Rohan had gotten earlier—but I dismissed the temptation. It would be cruel and get us nowhere.
Taking a deep breath, I focused my magic as I had at the club and let my features flow into a new shape, my body shrinking and my face sharpening with Ozzie’s more angular lines. Stubble made my cheeks itch and my hair shortened, a few more curls springing up on my chest beneath my shirt.
I kept my gaze fixed on Deva’s face, watching for signs of a breakdown and steeling myself against any resulting need to comfort her. She had her lower lip latched between her teeth, but she didn’t waver an inch when I completed the transformation.
She blinked once, her eyes glassy, then released her lip and took a ragged breath.
“Sweet Mother,” she whispered, taking a step toward me and reaching out. I resisted the urge to retreat, to preserve both her sanity and my own when she reached out to me.
“I am not him,” I said, grasping her hand in mine to keep her from closing the distance.
“But you are almost.” Her variegated irises gave way to the darkness of her pupils, the only warning t
hat she’d lost control to that primal fever she suffered. A moment later, she launched herself at me with a guttural cry.
“Hold her!” I snapped at Rohan, who grabbed her around the waist just as she began to claw at my clothing, managing to tangle her fingers in the shirt collar and rip it down the center.
He spun her around fast, one arm hooked around her while the other clamped at the back of her head as he pressed his lips to hers. The robe slipped off her shoulders, baring both her breasts as she struggled against him. Golden smoke seeped from between their joined mouths. Deva still fought, refusing to inhale the calming magic. I could’ve used some of it myself, for that matter.
She twisted in his arms, reaching for me. Her expression was less wild, less fevered, more desperate.
“Please,” she managed as she slumped back against Rohan’s chest, panting. “Please just let me touch him. Let me have a taste. I know it won’t last. I know it’s just temporary, but I need something . . . just let me believe for a few minutes he’s here.”
I stared at her, a war raging inside me between my desire to fulfill that wish of hers and my own self-preservation. She still would not have me, but she would take a facsimile of him, and that understanding cut through my heart like a sword.
“Dude, you’ve either gotta turn that shit off or give her what she’s asking for. We can’t wait for the others.”
“I can’t make love to you, Deva. You know that won’t work. I can’t give you his soul back, only mine, and you’ve said a dozen times you’re not ready for that yet.”
“I know,” she said, her supple body straining against Rohan’s strong embrace. Only the thick tie of the robe covered her midsection, the sleeves bunched around her elbows. Her nipples were hard, her bare sex shining with wetness. The potent aroma had me hard as a rock, and the quick look she shot to my crotch as she licked her lips didn’t help any.
I groaned at the idea that struck me then, certain it was a terrible one even though it could help. But she needed something, so I shored up my willpower to give her just enough to calm her wild nymph nature and still not drive me to do something that might push her back toward despising me.
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