32. Tez

32

Tez

I stared down at the homely beasts in the shelter below us and tried to think unsexy thoughts.

I wanted Bree so much that it hurt.

Not even the Poletuber juice had this kind of effect. And I had a hard time believing this was just about pheromones.

She had her hooks in my soul. And she was reeling me in.

Say please , she'd said, when I'd told her to put the shirt on, and it had evoked a barely remembered dream. How was that possible, that I had dreamed of her saying that? My denial, although automatic, did not speak true to my heart. Because the truth of it was terrifying—that if she'd asked again, I would have crumbled in an instant.

Whether I wanted to believe it or not, she owned me.

She wasn't human, but then, neither was I. This new world—or rather worlds—that I moved within had rules I struggled to understand. But from the first moment I had seen her, I'd started dreaming of her. If I was the type to believe in destiny, it was smacking me right between the eyes.

My grandmother's words came to me. My entire world changed when I met your grandfather. She'd believed her love to be fated. As if Fate cared who met and screwed who.

But just maybe, it did. Because every time I met Bree's gaze, it was cosmic .

With three sharp pecks to my neck, followed by a wing thwack to the back of my head, Nemi added her two cents' worth. As if I didn't already know where her vote lay. Then she took wing, flying up into the rafters.

Lost in thought, I startled as a hand lay flat against my back.

I spun to see Bree. How had she sneaked up on me? No one did that. But one look at her silvery eyes, and I couldn't breathe.

Her gaze dropped to the spring-loaded sheath along my forearm, and the more mundane ones beneath my bicep, strapped to both thighs, and at my waist. "How many of those do you have?"

I seriously doubted she was breathing my air to ask how well armed I was, but I answered her anyway. "Other than the ones you see, I also have two shoved into my boots.

She tilted her head. "You gave me two. That's a hell of a lot of blades you've got there." Her gaze moved from one knife strapped to my thigh to what bulged embarrassingly close to it. Her breath caught.

I struggled to keep my focus. "I need every one of those knives."

Her gaze rose to mine. "I need something more from you now."

I read what lay within her gaze, and the thing inside me pushed metallic feathers along my forearms. She couldn't be serious. "Riggs is coming." I could barely get the words out.

"The storm has grounded him. And he's the one who suggested this."

Her scent enveloped me, and I trembled with the power of it. "I am nobody's sex toy," I managed.

Her eyes were flaring silvery blue and then going dark again. The hand she raised to my chest had fingertips edged in tiny talons, and they danced across my skin, sending electric tingles straight to my already overeager cock.

"You are much more than that," she said huskily. "You have been in my dreams. Have I not been in yours?"

I cleared my throat, exhaling hard as I fought for a semblance of control.

"You belong to Riggs." My voice broke on his name. Dammit. If I thought for one minute that I could dance the horizontal Cha-Cha with her and have it remain a onetime thing, I'd be all in. But everything inside me insisted it was something far, far more.

Her eyes glimmered. "No. Riggs belongs to me ," she corrected. "And you didn't answer me. Have you dreamed of me?"

I swallowed, but I could only give her the truth, and said, "Yes."

She tilted her head. "Do you believe in Fate?"

Fuck. Did I? At one time, I would have said anyone who believed in such things was loco . But since my life had exploded, I now believed in many things I once hadn't.

Fate was on the line.

Suddenly, she seemed uncertain, and pulled her teasing fingers away, which was almost worse. "If you truly do not wish to have me, then…"

Didn't wish to have her? She was all I wanted. My body trembled with the power of it. But if I screwed her—would Fate bind me not only to her, but to that damned Dragon?

I wasn't born traveling the realms. I had no idea how matebonds worked.

"Tell me honestly," I said through clenched teeth. "Can you wait for Riggs?"

I saw the sheen of sweat on her cheeks and the feverish glint in her eyes. She'd been so weak, walking here. I'd almost carried her the last bit of the way. And I remembered what Caliel had said—that this heat cycle could kill her, if she didn't do the deed in time.

Her scent enveloped me as she looked away, and I risked a hand cupping her jaw to move her gaze to mine.

Her eyes were a pure icy blue. And I knew. Knew that with Riggs grounded, time was something we were out of.

And fuck, I wanted her. The time spent so close to her—with every touch, every word, the hooks had sunk deeper. Even if I walked away now, it was far, far too late.

It was enough to make me believe in Fate.

She lowered her gaze from mine. "I will only ask this once," she whispered. "I need you, Tez, but I want more than just your body. I want your heart. Please, tell me you want mine."

Her words reverberated clear through me. The thumb of the hand cupping her jaw stroked her cheek, encouraging her to raise her head once again. I met her silvery gaze. Unbidden and perhaps unwanted, the truth emerged.

" Mi vida , mi alma. " My voice shook.

Her brows dropped. "What does that mean?"

I couldn't quite believe I'd said it. But once out, the words resonated through both of us, and there was no going back. "It means my life, my soul ," I whispered, before I kissed her.

As our lips met, the Serpent within me surged wildly. It reached for what was inside her as scales erupted along her jaw beneath my fingers.

I pulled away with a gasp and a thundering heart. "If my Serpent gets involved, it will pull the Priests straight to us. We have to do this as humans."

Her Ice Drake fought hard to emerge, and the scales spread across her cheeks and brow. But she closed her eyes, and I felt it. A surge of raw power that put chains on the Drake, and hauled her, kicking and screaming, back down.

"Riggs has them both," she said. Her hands fastened around my waist and pulled me close. "And I have you."

Them both? But then her hands moved, sliding over my skin, and I lowered my head into her hair to breathe her in.

The powerful and highly erotic scent that came off her slammed through me like a freight train, igniting every nerve to near-painful awareness. The Serpent rose within me. I was ready for it, and struggled to embrace its lust without letting it do more than pop a few feathers.

Desire burned through me like a wildfire as I plundered her lips with teeth and tongue. She laughed, a wonderful, husky sound, and pulled back. With eyes sparkling mischief, she said, "Hands out to the sides, Sir. I don't want more than one thing poking at me."

I almost didn't do it. But then she leaned close, and breathed, "Please."

Dammit. I'd do anything for her, anything at all. I held my hands out to my sides as she undid the forearm sheath, so slowly, her fingers sliding across my arm, before she let the knife drop to the straw.

I'd never been disarmed as an erotic strategy, but I went hard as rock as she danced first her fingers, and then her tongue, across skin so hungry I couldn't squelch a gasp. One by one, she pulled off my knives. The one strapped to my thigh involved a long palm rub and toothy nibble over my cock thrusting desperately against my leather pants, and my breath hitched as I pushed helplessly against her mouth. She tongued me through the leather, leaving it wet inside and out. Then she undid the strap and pulled the knife away.

By the time she enticed me over to the thick pile of straw, I was quivering with the effort of keeping myself restrained. She lay beneath me with her coy smile flashing white in the darkness. And as I peeled my shirt off of her, I smelled an intoxicating blend of my Serpent and her Drake. Her skin was like silk, and as I traced fingers over the upper curve of her breasts, scales erupted, and then disappeared again.

She pushed me back long enough to peel her sports bra off, and the sight of those voluptuous, full mounds robbed me of breath. They were exquisite. And as her nipples pebbled in the cool air, I rubbed my palms over them, before closing fingers over the tips, and pulling ever so slightly.

She arched beneath me with a gasp, her hands seeking the prominent bulge between my thighs. I shuddered when she made contact, stroking me through the confining leather. Reaching down, I ripped at the laces, eager to feel her fingers on my skin. And then I groaned as they did so…

My cock kicked like a mule. Fuck, this was going way too fast. She squirmed beneath me, wrestling out of the few bits of clothes she managed to still wear. I helped her pull them off, trying to do it slowly, and then she was gloriously naked.

She reached for me?—

And I wrapped my hands around her wrists, and pulled them out to the sides, holding them near her hips.

Her eyes glowed icy blue in the darkness. "Your turn to hold still," I husked, and placed my knees between her legs. I pushed them wide, and slipped down her body, before lowering my lips to her belly button, the crease of her thighs—and finally, to her…

Her moan when I found her most sensitive spot almost undid me. I struggled to stop the surge that threatened. My cock kicked again, desperate to find home, but I persisted instead with my tongue. Licking, sucking, and then nibbling with careful teeth.

She writhed beneath me, pulling against my hold. When her moans deepened to a growl, I glanced up at a gaze that was an intensified icy blue, with scales rippling across her face and down her throat. This time, they didn't go away. Riggs was losing his hold on the creature within her.

I raised her hands above her head and slid my body up hers. The scales erupting along her thighs caught on the leather of my pants as she slid them off my hips.

I intended to ease myself into her, but she arched up to meet me, so I plunged into her with a gasp and a visceral groan. I'd never had this sensation—of true joining, of having someone become an extension of myself. As she ground onto me, rotating her hips, my lips pulled back from teeth that felt weird—and my tongue caught on something sharp.

Fangs. I had fucking fangs . Bree tightened around me, taking me to the very precipice as I swelled inside her. She moaned and writhed, her inner muscles gripping and releasing, and then holding, rubbing. So hot, so wet—everything was building, pushing every sensation to a brink that I craved with my heart and soul.

I couldn't have stopped it even if I'd wished to. Some weird instinct had me lowering my lips to the juncture of her neck and shoulder. I licked along the heat of her skin—and found the spot that called to me.

I opened my jaws wide—and bit her.

She screamed, and shattered around me, taking me effortlessly over the edge. I shuddered as wave after wave swept through us, and suddenly I was no longer just in my own body—I felt every nuance of her orgasm right along with her. It carried me higher than I could ever have thought possible…

Finally, as the waves subsided, it occurred to me that my teeth were still buried in her, and I tasted the salty sweetness of her blood. I pulled out, horrified at what I had done.

She looked up at me and smiled in the darkness. "Lick them," she told me. "It will stop the bleeding."

"I bit you."

"Yeah. It happens." And she laughed.

I didn't laugh with her. Now that she no longer needed me—where did that leave us?

For the moment, I decided to just lay still and hope it would all work out in my favor. But she turned toward me, half-lying across my chest, and eyed me. "What are you thinking?" she asked.

I swallowed. I knew what we'd just done meant so much to me. I needed to know what it meant to her.

"I'm glad you are better—" I began.

Her brows dropped. "This isn't just a onetime thing, Tez. You didn't think it was, did you?"

I answered truthfully. "I don't call women ‘my soul' just to get in their pants."

Her expression relaxed. "We are mates, forever."

Mates? Even as my heart soared at the reality of her being a part of me, my mind shied away from the word—because it wasn't about just her.

There was also the damned Dragon.

I stroked her hair, unable to believe she was mine. My gaze fell to her shoulder, which still bled.

Don't just gawk at her while she bleeds. Lick the damned wounds closed.

The bass rumble through my mind, although faint, could have only one possible source:

Riggs.

I stiffened. Had he been there throughout the entire thing?

What do you think, you tricky bastard? Now lick the wounds closed.

I gritted my teeth. Having Riggs in my head wasn't something I expected—or wanted. I don't answer to you. I will if she asks me.

Bree closed her eyes. Cut it out, you two . Riggs, give him a break. Tez, if you could lick them closed, I'd appreciate it.

Her voice sang through my mind. Can I do that? I really had no idea.

The Feathered Serpent in you likely can, she said . It seems to go along with the actual bite.

While having Riggs in my head was an instant aggravation, Bree was like a warm summer breeze, soothing and fulfilling all at once. I stroked her face and ran my fingers down to the bleeding pricks in her skin. While the human in me hesitated, the Serpent part knew what to do.

I lowered my head and began to trace her wounds with my tongue. The act put me into a trance of pure bliss, and I lost track of time. The air vibrated with a dull rumble, similar to what a giant cat would make.

To my shock, it was coming from me.

Bree uttered a small moan. Her hands reached for me… and her scent reached out and grabbed hold, ratcheting everything to excruciating awareness once again.

I'd been right. Poletuber juice had nothing on Bree.

An hour later, we lay panting on the straw. Night had fallen, and the shelter was filled with the sounds of snoring shaggy beasts. Snoring and farting, apparently.

One particularly loud example set Bree to giggling. It delighted me—such a pure sound of joy, and it lit me up from the inside.

I ran trembling fingers over the bite mark. The wounds were closed right over, not healed, but well on the way. My gaze fell on her other shoulder. And there, beneath some livid scars, I made out similar marks.

Made by Riggs when he'd mated her.

"How are you feeling?" I asked aloud.

She grinned at me. "Like I could take on the world."

"The fever?—"

"It's gone," she said. "I feel great."

My serpent mojo had snapped her out of her cycle. I hadn't been sure it would work, but Caliel had been right, and that was a relief.

Riggs was another matter. We were both mated to the same woman. How was I ever going to deal with that? He hated me, and for good reason.

We're back in the air, Riggs announced. He sounded royally pissed off. About two hours out.

The ex-shifter's anger satisfied something deep inside me, because he was miles away, and I—well—I was with her .

I rolled onto my back beside Bree and pulled her upper half onto me. Then I tugged at the straw until we were enveloped in a cocoon that reflected our body heat.

And more content than I could ever really remember, I held her while the rain and the wind beat against the roof above us, and a Dragon grumbled in our heads.