4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Cyrus

I squeeze the champagne glass so hard it shatters in my hand. Thankfully, most of the people here won't think anything of the show of strength, or concern themselves with the minor cuts.

When Jethro makes her laugh a second time, I dig my nails into my already bleeding hands and grind my teeth. Finding a server, I let them know about the glass on the floor, before making a straight path toward the person who has tormented my thoughts and dreams for six years.

"Jethro." My hand lands heavy on my friend's shoulder. Ex-friend if he doesn't stop flirting with my mate.

"Ah, Ra'i, just the man we were discussing." Jethro looks at me as if he's completely oblivious to the tension coiling every muscle in my body, but I know he isn't. He's one of my oldest friends. We grew up together, fought in the arctic war together. He knows exactly how tense I am right now.

"Have you met our Ra'ia?" Jethro says.

Finley gives him a pointed look. "I thought I told you, I don't do nicknames from strangers."

Nicknames? Has my brother really kept her in the dark all these years?

"Ah, apologies, Ra'ia." He grins, knowing exactly what he's doing.

Finley just rolls her eyes. "To answer your question, Jethro, yes. We met a few years ago."

"Six," I grit out. "Six years."

It's been six years, one month, and ten days since I first saw Finley.

"Ah, about the time you left us, yes?" Jethro's head swings from me to Finley and back again. "I trust your travels were…distracting." He raises his eyebrows.

"Where'd you go?" Finley asks, unable to hide the curiosity behind her feigned indifference.

A slow smile creeps up my cheek. Curiosity is something I can work with. The way she glared at me earlier and dismissed our previous encounter had me thinking she hates me. I wasn' t exactly charming in our first encounter. And I'm afraid I fucked up again when her sister brought her over to introduce us tonight.

For years, I dreamed about seeing her again, planned for every detail of how it would happen. I would fly to Prague on her birthday and pretend to run into her accidentally. Then invite her to dinner and take her on a picnic in Letna Park. The connection would be just as instantaneous as it had been for Midas and Jeslyn, and by the end of the night, she'd be in my bed.

Goddess knows what I'd planned to do to her next. Thinking of it now has blood rushing down to my groin.

This isn't how things were supposed to go. She's not supposed to be looking at me like she wants to stab me in the gut, and she's definitely not supposed to be flirting with my closest friend. My hand inadvertently clenches on Jethro's shoulder.

"You gonna answer the girl?" Jethro pushes off my grip.

"What?" I've completely forgotten the question.

"Are you bleeding?" Finley points to the red on Jethro's shoulder and then grabs my wrist and raises it to look at my palm, where the glass from my broken champagne flute cut into my skin. Her touch is a fire that burns all the way through me. Sweet torture. I want those hands all over me. Mine all over her .

She lets go too quickly, the brief contact not nearly enough. My chest aches as I fight to hold myself back. She's mine, but she doesn't know it, and I damn well can't act on it yet. If I did, it would mean banishment for me, and without a horde to welcome us into their temple, it would mean Finley could never transform into a dragon.

"It's nothing," I say, flexing my fist. "A bit of marinara sauce, probably."

"You don't strike me as the messy type." Her head tilts to the side, teal-streaked hair tumbling over one shoulder.

Those locks would wrap perfectly around my fist. I picture her on her hands and knees in front of me, hair leashed in my grip. As the image fills my mind, the woman in front of me flushes. Her pulse throbs at her neck, and I wonder if her thoughts have taken the same dangerous turn mine have.

"Does that appeal to you, Finley?" I move a step closer. "Do you like a man who is neat and tidy, or do you prefer a man who will make a mess of you?"

Unable to resist, I brush my knuckles down her arm, from her elbow to her wrist. She shivers as my touch plays over the back of her hand. Her breath hitches, pupils blown wide.

My lips lift in a smile that I've been told is irresistible. "I can be plenty messy if you want me to be, little flame. "

"What is it with all of you giving me nicknames?" She's trying for snark, but all she manages is a breathless quiet that pulls me even closer.

The party fades, replaced by the pull of the beautiful woman in front of me. The only woman who's ever completely captured my heart. The woman I've fantasied about for six years. Searched for since I first came of age. Longed for even before that.

My hand moves all the way up her arm, over her shoulder, around the back of her neck. Her eyes never leave mine. She licks her plush lips, and my grip tightens.

"There you are," Jeslyn says from somewhere to my left.

Finley jumps, and I instantly drop my hand. Shit! What was I thinking touching her like that right in public? I hadn't thought. I'd just acted. Touched her on impulse.

Jeslyn steps around Jethro with a wide smile. She must not have seen us. Thank the goddess!

I have to be more careful.

A thick awkwardness hangs in the air, but my oldest friend kindly eases it, turning to Jeslyn with a slight bow. "I was keeping your lovely sister hostage, my Ra'a."

Finley rips her attention away from me. "Seriously, what is with the nicknames?"

"Oh, pay no attention to him," Jeslyn waves away Jethro's comment. She turns her head and notices me for the first time. "Oh, Cyrus, good. Midas was just looking for you. I think he wants to go over everything before we leave tomorrow."

"Good idea." I move to excuse myself, stepping around Jeslyn, but she takes my hand, dropping her voice. "It's good to have you back, Cy. I know you needed time after everything, but… we're glad you're home. Thank you for doing this for us."

"It's my duty." I give her hand a quick squeeze. "And honor."

This—my role here while my brother is away—is what I need to focus on. Not Finley.

At least not for another two weeks.