11. Lux

CHAPTER ELEVEN

LUX

I wanted to say I spent the last few hours getting to know Og, but the warlock had passed back out. His healing magic was the most draining thing I’d ever seen.

Alone with my thoughts, I toyed with the currents in the air and brooded. Jay might appreciate that. Brooding was a well-known pastime of giant moody reptiles… except, I didn’t really know if Jay would appreciate that.

Since I discarded my priestess robes, Jay and I had either been unconscious or separated. Now that we were back together, one of her other mates was always around. I didn’t mind their presence in concept; in fact, I welcomed it, but they’d all had days of alone time with her. All I’d managed was a few hours before the EM.

I made a little tornado on my palm and let it drift along the fate line creasing my skin.

Younger me hid from the world. Initially, it was to stay out of Leberecht’s wrath. Once I freed myself, I ended up donning the robes of a priestess, which added a physical layer of hiding to the emotional barrier I existed under. Instead of indulging in life, I’d run right back to the familiar. Hiding. Being who others wanted me to be.

But I wasn’t hiding anymore.

Jay accepted me. Mate or curse, it didn’t matter. Having her in my arms, embracing every little quirk, was a dream come true. Og and Lux’s support warmed my heart. Even Tyson, despite the shitty things he put in our group chat, had propped me up this morning.

I didn’t need to hide anymore. I didn’t want to. If I wanted to accentuate my features with make-up, I would. If I wanted to piss off Tyson and get into a fistfight, I would. No matter how many times he broke my nose.

Nothing would hold me back.

I wanted to experience everything.

My little tornado tried to jump to my lifeline, running along the meatiest part of my palm, but collapsed in on itself and vanished.

My shoulders fell and my head slumped forward. All their support felt superficial. They’d all seen me at my worst, while I’d only seen them at their best.

The door opened, and a group of water dragons came in with trays of dinner. Jay, Tyson, and Rehan followed on their heels. Soon enough, it was just the five of us seated on one side of the big EM table, like the painting of the Last Supper, but with fewer windows. An uneasy chill ran up my spine. Jay wasn’t saving our sin-filled souls from an afterlife of torment… or at least I hoped it didn’t come to that.

Jay gave us a rundown of the meeting. Her paraphrasing was to the point and neatly worded as if she gave reports like this on a regular basis.

“There was no air representation at all?” I asked once she finished. My first concern was for my people, not my abusive dad, whom I’d emotionally divorced before I knew what that word meant.

Jay shook her head.

I bit back a frown and rubbed my chin. “It just seems wrong that no one from air was present.”

“Tukaqu’s thrown your father into his own jail,” Rehan explained. “He says it will take a lot of digging to find out who else has strayed from their dragon instincts.” Rehan glanced at Jay, who seemed painfully defeated. “But it’s one of our policies not to interfere with other elements.”

“Except fire who, apparently, interferes with air on a regular basis,” Tyson added. “Your words, Bladder Fish, not mine.”

Rehan grunted.

“Everything will go back to exactly what it was.” Jay thunked the table. “I’ve seen it over and over and over. Bad shit happens, bad shit is brushed under the rug, no one learns or changes.”

“You called out my sire,” Tyson popped a dumpling into his mouth. “Did you see the color he turned? Feck, that was funny.”

Although Tyson's words were boisterous, a hit of fear darkened his eyes, and his hand trembled. I met his gaze and gave him a sharp nod, which he returned after a heartbeat. We both knew what having a shit parent felt like. He wasn’t alone in this.

Ogden choked on his water. “You did what?”

“I left them with a few thoughts,” Jay wrinkled her nose. “And now they can be someone else's thoughts. I’m not sticking my nose where it’s not wanted. Whatever’s happening on this island isn’t my business. We find the traitor, free my magic, and move forward.”

“What, my beautiful, enchanting, and too smart for her own good mate, do you believe moving forward looks like?” Ogden asked, batting his long black eyelashes.

Jay let out a little humph and pursed her lips.

The table devolved into side chats, and I didn’t quite know how to jump into either of them. Rehan and Tyson talked about fire’s ‘special forces.’ I knew a little about them.My dad called on King Ryker’s mysterious troops often to help him with his projects involving multiple elemental magics. Still, I was under the same impression Rehan and Tyson had… help meant technology. But there was nothing technological about the quartz stars stealing our magic.

On my other side, Jay and Ogden discussed the finer points of a curse and the morality behind any loss of free will. I wasn’t sure I cared. After a lifetime of hiding, my bond with Jay gave me more freedom than I’d ever hoped for. Even if it was a curse, and Jay suddenly wasn’t my mate anymore, I’d be her loyal friend until my dying breath. I knew it deep in my heart.

Topics changed, and I managed to find a bit of footing. It grew late. The tone of our discussion changed from exchanges of information and banter to something completely different. An undercurrent of competition, the same one I’d felt at our board game night, laced our words. My posture grew more confident.

I leaned forward, making my words to Jay more important than my simple observation. “They didn’t give us anything other than water to drink.”

Jay sighed. “This island is like two steps away from being dry, I swear.”

Rehan brushed her arm, taking her attention away from me. My dragon paced, not liking that at all. Instead of indulging it, I studied Jay’s other mates. I’d spent so much of my life watching a world I couldn’t participate in, and my year teaching kids only honed my observation skills.

Ogden desperately wanted Jay to want him, but not because of the curse.

Tyson wanted Jay because he didn’t know if he liked himself.

Rehan wanted to help Jay. His attraction to her was apparent, but unlike the other two, he took the situation in stride.

And what did I want?

The sound of their voices became a light breeze in the background. Jay groaned and flipped the paper she was holding so it hit her forehead. Ogden laughed. My dragon stirred, and I focused everything I had on pushing him and my rut down. Jay might have shocked it out of me temporarily, but it wasn’t gone, far from it.

“Fecking Sea Slug!” Tyson roared.

“Get your head out of your ass!” Rehan roared back.

Their yelling pulled me out of my thoughts. With me still between them, Tyson and Rehan charged. At the last moment, I managed to scramble out of the way… though why? I could hold my own, right?

Rehan faked a high punch and dropped to the floor, taking Tyson out at the ankles before rolling back to his feet.

He changed his trajectory to Jay and pulled her into his arms. Jay squeaked like she had when I first met her and disappeared under Rehan’s bulk on his small cot. With a rush of cool moisture, his wings grew out of his back. He draped them over the bed while purrs ripped out of his chest like a cat.

“They can’t do anything,” Ogden said, trying to soothe Tyson.

“That’s not the point,” Tyson snapped. “If they’re going to bed, we’re all going to bed. I don’t want to see this shite.” He stomped to the lights and flicked them off. Leaving the windowless room in the pitch dark, not even my dragon sight helped, and I was grateful I had already moved to my cot.

Jay’s giggles filled the darkness, destroying Tyson’s attempt to ‘not see shite.’ Too soon, they turned into something more sensual. The rut I’d prayed wouldn’t take me rushed forward. Heat and need clouded my mind, making my skin pinch as my body partially shifted. My imagination went wild.

He can’t touch her. He can’t touch her. He can’t touch her. I silently repeated over and over, desperately trying to keep ahold of my rational mind. A fantasy of kicking Rehan’s ass morphed into pushing them off the cot and straddling both on the floor. I wanted. No. I needed.

The darkness rimmed with red.

Something hard poked my shoulder.

“You still with us?” Ogden asked.

I snarled, and Ogden jumped onto the bed, pinning me down with magic and brute strength. His green eyes bore into me. Two dark green runes glowed under his ears. The room went deathly silent. Jay and Rehan’s giggles vanished.

“She should be with all of us because she wants it,” Ogden said. “Not because of some curse.”

I wasn’t in the right mind to soothe his fears. My dragon teeth filled my mouth, and my dick pressed into Ogden’s thigh. I needed to fight or fuck, now. Ogden shifted his hips, and pleasurable pressure bent my erection into my stomach. My rut slid to the fuck side. Ogden crawled down my body. I jerked, ready to throw him off me, but whatever magic kept me pinned, even against my dragon strength, held.

Cold fingers pulled at my belt, and my dick sprang free, only to be enveloped by warm moist heat. The unmistakable feeling of a tongue swirled down my shaft before hitting the back of a throat. Pleasure and pressure became my world. I moaned, my rut finally finding an outlet, and I fisted the air.

The mouth on me pulled up, rougher and harder than I’d ever felt, before sliding down again, this time deeper with more force. I moaned and jerked my hips so hard the entire cot rose with my actions.

“Mmm,” Ogden purred. “Berries and marshmallows, Jay was right.” He paused.

I let out a whimper of need.

“You like this,” Og purred again.

He pushed my thighs apart, settling between them, before plunging again and again. This wasn’t the soft exploring of a woman but the efficient knowledge of a man who knew what he liked. I grunted with the force of his lips, squeezing and sucking with confidence which drove me mindless with pleasure. I strained to hear each slurp and gasping breath as his hands pressed into my thighs hard enough to bruise. Too soon, my body tensed, and I came hard, my limbs lifting off the bed despite Ogden’s magic holding me down. A year’s worth of pent-up need and jizz slid down Ogden’s throat. I panted, no longer straining against the bonds while my dick twitched and emptied.

The red around my vision eased but didn’t vanish. “More,” I demanded, my dick already hardening again.

“There’s the prince in you.” Ogden kissed my flat stomach and fisted my cock. “Let’s see if we can get you through tonight. We need to have control around Jay, and you, my exceptionally beautiful brother, are rutting.”

My dragon roared, hearing Jay’s name, and I turned my head in the direction in which I knew she slept. But only darkness filled my vision and silence my ears. Og ran his tongue from the base of my dick to the tip, and hot lust once again became my world.

I woke to the lights of the room springing to life. The click of the light switch echoed after the unnatural silence that accompanied most of my night. I felt somehow refreshed and satisfied at the same time. My dragon slumbered, barely aware of my human mind.

Slowly, I sat up. My balls ached, and my dick flinched from even the slightest friction against it. The night hadn’t been a dream.

I glanced at Ogden, whose gaze rested on the door. A quick examination of the room showed my mate missing, though I felt her nearby. She must have been the one who turned on the lights before heading to the bathroom.

The door swung open, and platters of breakfast food filled the table. My stomach growled. I was starving.

I pushed to my feet and took two steps toward the table before freezing in place. Sky stood by Jay’s cot. My father’s loyal assistant. The same dragon who’d done nothing while my father tortured me but cleaned me up and made sure I shifted to heal the damage.

Sky inclined her head like we were old friends and finished dropping a pack with a bright red piece of roll-up paper on the top. Without a word, she exited.

Everything that happened hit me hard. My dad tried to lock me away again, but he hadn’t been successful. I had friends to thank for that.

Oh fuck.

Ogden.

My dick twitched, feeling his efficient lips working me through my rut… which was not controlling me, though I could still feel it, like a storm in the distance. I should still be rutting. Ruts lasted days. My stomach twisted unhappily. I’d lost track of how many times Og blew me. And it shouldn’t matter. One night wasn’t enough—especially one night with a tattoo-covered warlock experimenting with his sexuality.

My heart stopped. Og wasn’t my mate. Jay was.

A high-pitched ring filled my ears.

What had I done?

“Either get food or get out the way.” Tyson kicked my calf.

I sucked in a breath and forced myself to move. I filled my plate without seeing it and took it back to my cot. Grunts and footsteps filled the room as the rest of the guys woke. Ogden and Tyson joined me, filling their plates with piles of scrambled eggs and chorizo sausage. Rehan poured a coffee and the smell of roasted beans filled the air.

My initial shock eased, and the ringing in my ears vanished. Most importantly I was currently in control of my instincts. No crazy dragon hormones controlled my actions, though the storm still built, it didn’t feel like it had before last night. A rut was mindless need, not something I slipped in and out of. My heart thumped in my ears. I had slipped out of it.

How?

I felt Jay come back into the room through our bond. Her slight weight landed on my cot, making it squeak and groan.

“Jesus, you got the shit cot,” Jay ran her hand up my arm. “Did you sleep okay?”

I grunted, my cock twitching, only to instantly still at the sore feeling between my legs. The cot had been fine before I ‘slept’ in it.

I repeated her question in my mind: Did I sleep okay? I glanced toward Ogden’s now empty cot. He’d hidden us from the room. No one knew what happened but us. I didn’t know if that was good or bad.

“I did,” I finally answered, setting my full plate on the floor.

Jay squeezed my shoulder. “I know you’re not Sister Abby anymore. But we can still be girlfriends with benefits.”

“You’re my mate,” I said automatically.

Jay froze, but I didn’t let her back away. Instead, I tugged her elbow, and she slid closer. Her body heat sunk into my side. I wanted more, so I wrapped my arm around her. She molded to me, giving me the love I craved. Rehan watched us while Tyson turned away.

Ogden could blow me in private, but I had an audience for something this simple. I wasn’t an angry dragon. Bad things happened, and you could either burn yourself focusing on them, or you could let them blow past you and focus on the good.

But my usual ability to focus on the good slipped through my fingers. My dad used me to punish the world for everything negative in his life. Saying it sucked was an understatement, but I understood my role. Living as an air priestess had been challenging but rewarding at the same time. Good or bad, I understood what I needed to do and took every step with confidence.

However, this situation with Jay was different. I didn’t understand how I fit into her world. It felt wrong to hide last night. But I’d been rutting. I hadn’t been in control, and now I was, which wasn’t normal. Opening up to Jay would out Og, who had been in control. He’d wanted my dick because he liked men too – liked me.

How would the other two react? How would Jay? Had I cheated on her like Tyson had his ex? Or were we a part of a unit? I rubbed my stump, doubting everything.

My thoughts came back to Og. The first of Jay’s mates to accept me. The quirky warlock who always came to my defense and wanted the five of us to work out as much as I did. I needed to talk to Og before I did anything. Indecision clicked into will. I couldn’t break his trust, and I wasn’t ready to give Jay more tools to push us away. I was the last to find her, and we needed time.

“I don’t really remember my family,” Jay admitted her thoughts, thankfully far from my own. “Time flows differently for me, and I was literally born in a different world, but.” She kissed my bare chest. “Like we said yesterday, we can talk about anything.”

Jay was still stuck on my dad, understandably. I pulled her close. “I’ve lived with his actions day in and day out most of my life,” I said quietly, though with dragon ears, everyone heard it anyway. “I’m not okay with everything that happened to me, but I’ve come to terms with it.” I cupped her cheek, knowing I was about to lie but unable to stop myself. “I promise, if I need to talk, I will.”

Jay kissed my palm before standing. Trust filled her eyes, and guilt ate at my stomach. Instead of indulging it, I gave an appraising once-over of her outfit. Camouflage combat pants were belted low on her waist, with a black tank top tucked into them. Straps of a silver sports bra peeked out of the tank top. Her hair was up in its usual high ponytail, though gathered into a thick braid this time.

Despite my aching sensitive nerves, blood hardened my cock. Jay looked hot, like she could kick my ass twice over, and I wanted her to. I grabbed her hand, pulling her back to my side and into my arms. Instead of fighting me, she let me hold her close. I didn’t just love the feeling. I needed it.

My gaze drifted to Og. We needed to figure this out.