34. Bree

34

Bree

We emerged out onto the cliff.

The wind immediately hammered at us. As I pushed my hair out of my face, the Dragons standing guard on each side of the gate saluted.

Tyrez nodded at them, but Riggs just looked uncomfortable. I should be trading shifts with them, not salutes.

You have better things to be doing, I told him.

He wrapped his arm around me. I agree. What radiated from him suddenly had little to do with guarding gates, and my inner scaled ladies purred.

The Dragon had a slightly different feel from the Drake. Both seemed to be getting stronger, but the two were no longer entirely distinct—they now seemed more intertwined.

As they stirred within me, I sensed an interest in Riggs…

Time to ourselves, however, was not on the agenda. Cara hustled us along the causeway, into the Talon Complex, and to the meeting room.

The place was jam-packed full of Dragon shifters. At the heart of it all, was Lady Eriana. She presided over the table, which held a collection of devices.

Everyone looked up as we entered, and their expressions reflected a variety of emotions, but hope was prevalent. Then the Matriarch glided to me and folded me in her arms.

"Welcome home, my girl," she said.

My mind spun as I hugged her back. I hadn't been too sure of her reaction to me mating her son, but the warmth of her voice, and her arms, told me the truth of it.

It filled the void inside me. To finally belong, when for so long I'd struggled to do so. My eyes flooded with the tears I'd been suppressing since we'd left Tez behind.

To her, you are now family, Riggs affirmed . And nothing matters more than family.

As Lady Eriana squeezed her arms around me, something hard rolled over my cheek, and then fell to bounce off my hand. With a lightning move, Riggs snatched it out of the air. As his mother stood back, he held it up for me to examine.

It looked like a tiny, round crystal. Kind of sparkly.

"Dragon tears," Eriana whispered, and then her face lit up with a smile. It was so much like Riggs's that my heart constricted, and another offering bounced off my cheek. I watched as an answering tear rolled from the corner of her eye, and I saw it harden, just as mine had.

She hugged me again, and then stood back to gesture to the table. "We are spreading the word of Daize's betrayal."

I scanned the table. Along with several Polaroid cameras, there was a collection of boxy devices.

Printers, Tez stated as I caught an impression of the boat and swirling water. They are from the human realm.

I picked up the sheets of paper they were spitting out—and saw that each offered a collection of six images. The printers were generating photos as fast as people were pushing buttons.

The images froze my heart. Riggs picked up a paper, and stiffened.

Mykal. Bound, lying at Victor's feet.

I could only hold his hand, and share his pain, as volunteers bundled the photos and rolled the papers, before placing them into packs.

The Matriarch blinked back more tears. "We will get him back," she promised.

"He shouldn't have been out there," Riggs snarled.

"He is exactly like his father," Lady Eriana said.

"Got a point, Michelangelo," Tyrez chimed in from over near the corner, where Dani was helping to stuff packs. "You would have done that, too. You used to give me heart attacks as a youngling."

Riggs glared at him. "From what I can remember, Leonardo, that is kind of like the pot calling the kettle names."

"I think the saying is calling the kettle black," his brother corrected.

Riggs's response was interrupted when, with a poof of golden light, the Jumper appeared.

Riley looked around. "Who's next?"

Five Dragon shifters picked up packs and walked to place their hands on her. There was another golden flash, and…

Snap!

"She's Jumping them to the lake resort site," Lady Eriana said. "From there, they are distributing the photos, and the word." She gestured to the row of perches against the far wall. "We also have Phoenixes carrying photos to key Dragon families. The word will spread like wildfire."

My eyes widened. "Will we get more defectors?"

The Matriarch nodded. "Daize is guarding the gateways, but we are setting it up with Riley. She can Jump them directly here, but we have to be careful not to overextend her." She glanced at Cara. "A lot of Empire residents will be too afraid to act until the council decides its stance on things."

"We have a meeting set for the morning," Cara said. "Until then, we need more photos produced, bundled, and distributed."

The Matriarch lifted the pack in the center of the table. "Do you think that's too heavy for a Phoenix?"

Cara took it. "Sparkle's pretty strong. We'll be sending more than one to Jacques, anyway. He'll be using his contacts to spread the word beyond the Empire's realm, so he'll need lots of them."

"We could take them to him," I offered, glancing at Riggs.

"No, you can't," Cara stated. "I have to get your collar removed. And then you two must get some rest. We're going to need you for the council meeting, and afterward. You won't even have time to breathe, then."

Riggs folded his long arm around my shoulders and steered me toward the door in Cara's wake.

She took us to a room that had no furniture at all, and had me sit on the stones.

"I usually recruit help," she explained. "But with the sword's energy, I should manage this on my own." She laid her hand on my shoulder. "It isn't a pleasant process. But it will be quick."

Twenty minutes later, I lay sprawled in Riggs's lap. Not pleasant was an understatement, but Cara's healing presence soothed away the pain.

"Okay, kids. Get some rest. We have busy times ahead." And she left.

Riggs helped me to stand. I dragged my feet as he led me out into the hall, worried that we should be helping.

A warrior always knows when to work, and when to rest, he told me .

I stared at him suspiciously. Did you remember that, or did you just make it up?

He lowered his face to my hair, and inhaled. Does it matter? You smell delicious, but although eau du swamp adds a certain flair, we could lose the stench of arrogant bastard. He pulled me tight against his side. I'm going to rub myself over every square inch of you until all I smell is me.

Heat pooled in my core, and I suddenly couldn't breathe. Is that a Dragon thing? I asked.

It's a frustrated mate thing, he answered.

Or we could just go for a shower.

Both are possible, he conceded. There's only one problem.

What?

He looked around the hall he'd steered me into. I have no idea where they are. We are in the hands of Centaur planners.

I laughed, as Centaurs didn't put their bathing pools near their cesspits. A moment later, I flagged down one who was dragging a wagon filled with lumber.

I'll ask him, I said. Centaurs know all.

Riggs held me tightly against him as we descended to the lowest levels of the complex.

This place was not only huge, but hard to navigate. Instead of cooling, the air warmed as we dropped, but it also grew more humid. It took us a little longer than ideal to find our way, despite directions from two different tradesmen. Finally, we took a promising turn and found a Centaur working on framing the entrance.

We paused near him, and I glanced into the closest room. Patches of phosphorescent moss grew on the walls, casting the steaming water in a soft green glow. I counted six smaller pools, each roughly framed in wood with their own entrance, and one Dragon-beast-sized version at the end of a central hall.

"Is there something else you could work on for a while?" Riggs asked the carpenter in a curiously strangled tone.

The older male Centaur looked up from his hammer and nails, and his gaze darted between us. Then he put both down. His lips twitched.

"Could go for a second breakfast," he stated. Then he winked at me. "I chew slowly."

My face reddened as he clopped away.

"Which one—" I began, but then Riggs pulled me straight down the aisle to the Dragon pool. By the time we stood upon the rocks lining it, his wings had sprung again from his shoulders.

He was getting faster at both setting them free and packaging them up again. Now he stretched them out, arching them over us, before reaching for me.

Strength. Passion. Fierce, undying loyalty. It was all there in the way his lips claimed my own. After a few moments, I pulled away from him and stated, rather breathlessly, "Took us a bit to find the pools. Aren't we going to get wet?"

"No issues with that," he rumbled. His metallic Dragon eyes were glowing. "But first, I have something I want to try." He stripped off the sword and pulled it from the scabbard, before laying it on the rocks at our feet. Its brilliant light bathed the surrounding stone, and its power surged through both of us without us even touching it.

"That's not the sword I was expecting." The scaled forms within me didn't insist on surfacing, but I sensed their intense interest in Riggs. Did they no longer wish to challenge Excalibur? Or were they content to let me lead?

The questions fled as Riggs removed his shirt. I had only a moment to admire the broad expanse of smooth skin—before scales erupted. Slowly at first, and I saw him frown. Then, they expanded, spreading across the tattoos until they covered him from wrists to throat, and down to his abs…

He stripped off his sweatpants, and the scales hugged his lower contours with delicious precision.

Barely.

With a final flourish, he removed his cap, revealing a thick new growth of half-inch, dark hair. I reached up, running my fingers over it and tracing the scar.

"Leave the ear cuffs," I purred. "They make you look dangerous."

"I am dangerous," he growled.

I looked up at what arched over us. "Wings are sexy, too."

"You bet," he affirmed. Before he leaned close to whisper, "The next time I fly, I want it to be with my own wings."

He remembered, now, what he had lost. And I couldn't blame him for wanting it all back.

He slid his hand up along my face and cupped my cheek. "When your Dragona emerges, I will fly you to the stars."

Heat flushed through me, and my knees threatened to buckle. I traced his lips with my fingers. "You already do," I whispered. And then, I kissed him.

His answer had a desperation to it, as if he wished to erase everything that I had endured during my capture. But it was more than that, and I knew it. After what had happened with Tez, he needed to claim me all over again.

I let him plunder my lips for a few breathless moments, and then I pushed away. "Get in the water, Michelangelo," I growled.

"Venus is bossy. I like it."

"You called me that before. Who is Venus?"

His mouth quirked. "I think she was a turtle."

My brows rose. "You are comparing me to a small round creature with a shell that likes to bite?

"Not that kind of turtle," he said with a heart-stopping grin. "Although we'll have to see about the biting thing."

"Was she one of those mutant giant thingies?"

His grin widened. "I think so, yes."

My gaze narrowed.

"But sexy, she was oh so sexy." His eyes gleamed metallic Dragon.

I gave him a little push. "Go," I repeated.

He dropped himself off the rock. The steaming water at the edge was up to his knees, and he backed deeper. As he did so, he released his scales. Teasingly, he removed them just before the lapping water concealed his smooth skin. The scales reflected the soft glow of the moss as they floated free, but I was captivated by what thrust up between them, just before the water rose past his waist.

Well. Two could play at that game. I removed my cloak, but slowly, running my hands over my midriff as I inched it upward, and eventually, off. Then my fingers hooked the band on my sports bra, and pulled it down, until my breasts popped out the top.

His eyes were incandescent, riveted on them. I played with my nipples until they formed aching peaks, and the waist-high water was not enough to disguise its effect on him.

I pulled the bra off over my head and turned my back to him. Bent over, presenting my Junoesque hindquarters, I heard his breath catch. Then I eased my leggings down an inch at a time, wiggling my hips back and forth. Once I kicked them off, I spread my legs and ran my fingers between them. Slowly, so slowly.

If you don't get that butt over here, like, right now , he rumbled through my mind, I cannot be held responsible for the consequences.

I turned back around to see that he'd gone deeper, and was now submerged to his chest. Both hands were below the surface. The little rhythmic ripples revealed much as to what was going on beneath.

I slipped into the water. Before I could wade farther than my waist, he closed his wings around him, and dove.

I froze when he disappeared, but the next moment, he surfaced directly in front of me, his wings rising above us in a shower of droplets. The water cascaded off his shoulders and ran in rivulets along the incredible contours of his now-naked pecs. When they traced their way along his washboard abs, I followed them with my fingers.

He shuddered, and his breath caught. Big hands rose to cup my breasts, the thumbs flicking over my nipples.

"I didn't know you were such a tease," he whispered hoarsely.

"I'm full of surprises," I said, as my fingers reached their goal. He groaned as I stroked him, his head falling back as my other hand cupped what hung low between his thighs.

A burst of static through the link rewarded my efforts. He eagerly plundered my lips again, before sinking his face into my hair.

You still smell like him, he said.

I didn't need to ask who he was talking about. But suddenly, he was grabbing me by the waist and pulling me until my feet could no longer touch the ground. I leaned back, and he dipped me below the surface. Then he raised me, and I playfully fountained water at him. Undeterred, he held me above the surface as he smoothed my hair back, and then nibbled and licked along my ear and the side of my neck, sending little electric tingles straight to my core.

He inhaled and exhaled, his breath hot against my skin. Better, he conceded. Then he rubbed his face alongside mine. But not perfect. He kissed me again, his tongue seeking my own.

You'll just have to deal, I said, and reached for what I knew would drive him wild. I ran my fingers, feather light, along his wing bones.

He broke the kiss with a gasp, his pupils blowing wide. I danced fingertips to the flexible skin between the bones, and then, I grabbed one wing, and pulled it to my lips. I licked along the bone, and the link between us dissolved in delicious white static. He writhed beneath my touch. Damn, my little icey girl, he gasped through it . I am going to erupt like that blasted volcano…

I threw my legs up around his waist. Then I lowered myself until I poised directly above what thrust so desperately toward me. Rubbed back and forth over the burgeoning head, while his hands tightened on my hips, urging me down.

I pushed myself onto him, and he rose to meet me. Sank himself in as I stretched around his girth. And then, once he was home, I began to move, until we were both making very incoherent noises.

We created waves that splashed against the stone, adding sound to our rhythmic motions as he swelled within me and my inner muscles drew tighter and tighter…

Then I once again ran fingers along his wing…

He cried out, and shattered, carrying me effortlessly over the edge. Wave after wave of pure ecstasy coursed through him and into me. And from me to him.

As we clung to each other, the sword, lying on the rocks, became so bright I could barely see, bathing us in a wash of pure power. Just for a moment, I felt the muscles beneath my hands expand, as if it called to Riggs's Dragon.

Then it subsided, and it was his human body that cradled me. He brought us back to the shore, but before he let me go, he buried his face into my neck and inhaled.

Much better, he confirmed.

You are going to have to learn to deal, I cautioned him again. Tez is part of us now.

I'll deal, he promised. I'll just be damned grumpy about it. He set me on the rock ledge around the pool and cupped his hand over my cheek. I am yours, he whispered through my mind. I will do anything for you, my ice princess.

Just live through this. I was suddenly panicked. Considering what stretched ahead for all of us—I could lose one or all of them. The possibility terrified me, and I didn't know if it was a half-remembered vision, or just normal angst.

His hands slid over my skin, soothing me. Fate did not bring us together, to tear us apart, he said .

I traced his features with trembling fingers. If you've read the stories on that damned sword, there is one thing they have in common that no one talks about. Even the bearers that complete their missions come to a bad end.

He smiled gently. You have to have faith, he stated. They didn't have what I do.

I frowned up at him. Dragon wings?

He snorted a laugh. No, icey girl. He pulled himself in tight between my knees. They didn't have you.