I prefer riding him in human form, her siren purred.
Her thought must have been projected to her mates, because their laughter resonated in her head.
I thought you were leaving, Serah grumbled. She was glad they’d been so understanding about her horny siren. Ever since the bonding ritual, after which they could finally communicate through thought, her siren was constantly flirting with her mates.
She looked over her shoulder at his dragon family, who stayed on shore. Aren’t they coming?
Nope, he said and took to the air.
She thought she heard the beginning of a thought, but then he held back. He wanted to say more, and her intuition told her it was something about needing to spend their last night together alone in case any of them perished tomorrow. That troubled her.
Her stomach pitched like a ship in a storm when they flew not toward the cliffs but across the blue-green water, in the direction of the Fae camp.
Don’t start any trouble, she warned.
Who, me? Draque laughed, his brothers joining in.
I mean it! The last thing they needed was a war on two fronts, especially not with the Fae, whose queen carried the amethyst scepter, a tool more powerful than any wand.
We just want to see what their campground looks like, Draque said.
Liar, she spat, then sucked in a sharp breath when the clouds parted and their campsite came into view. She felt a stab of jealousy when they flew over the Fae’s encampment with golden tents pitched on silver-lined clouds. She spotted many tall, lithe Fae gathered around a buffet of food and wine in a garden full of colorful flowers. Even when preparing for battle, they lived in luxury.
Draque circled above them.
What are you doing? She asked, fear icing her limbs.
He didn’t answer. His brothers followed them.
She gasped when yellow liquid splashed down on the buffet. Waving their fists at them, the Fae shrieked and swore, their shimmering hair plastered to their faces in sodden waves, their fine silken robes dripping with dragon piss.
“Sorry,” Draque called down. “Bladder problem.”
Two more streams of urine fell on the Fae, and the clouds erupted with horrified cries of anguish, as if they’d been struck down in a bloody battle.
“Oops! Sorry!” Ladon boomed.
“Bladder issues are hereditary.” Teju chuckled.
Thelix giggled and squealed. They get extra dick suckings tonight.
Horror twisted her insides when she saw that two of the piss-drenched Fae were her uncles. They glowered up at them with murderous looks in their eyes.
Burying her face in her hands, she groaned. You guys are awful.
She had no doubt the Fae would retaliate. These little acts of aggression could lead to a war between shifters and Fae, so why couldn’t she stop smiling?
* * *
Serah’s mates were still laughing when they landed at a nearby cave and went inside. It was high enough that wingless predators couldn’t reach them yet wedged in a narrow crevice; hopefully the Fae wouldn’t see them from their winged chariots.
“Perfect, Draque,” Teju said as they explored the large cavern in dragon form.
She bopped one of Draque’s scales, not that it hurt him. “What if the Fae come after us?”
Ladon sat on his haunches and tucked back his wings. “They’re not coming after us.”
“Fae carry grudges,” she reminded them.
Craning his neck, Draque lifted her off his back. “So do dragons.”
Planting hands on hips, she said, “Their queen can turn you into a toad.”
“Abuse of the scepter is forbidden,” Teju said matter-of-factly.
She threw up her hands. “Who’s stopping her?”
“She signed a blood oath when she took the throne.”
Serah had no idea what the blood oath said or how binding it was, and any oath could be broken. Though she suffered extreme agony, Violet had broken a blood oath to save Thaddeus.
“Relax, Serah.” Draque snorted. “Fae are cowards.”
“Besides,” Ladon added, “Queen Rhia wasn’t among them. She’s meeting with Goblingout and our fathers. Even we know better than to piss on her.”
“They won’t get past my sentry.” Teju walked to the mouth of the cave and blew out a puff of billowy smoke. He then shifted into human form and waved a wand at the smoke until it morphed into a golden dragon. The dragon looked real as smoke continued to pour from its snout.
Teju turned to her with a wink and then aimed his wand at the center of a cavern. A tiny bubble sprang from his wand and grew as it floated away. By the time it reached the center of the cavern, it was as large as a chariot.
He bowed to her. “Your palace awaits.”
Oh, Thelix shrieked, a fuck palace!
Draque and Ladon shifted into humans and tugged her toward the bubble.
“You’re too sure of yourselves,” she grumbled.
Draque gave her a stern look. “And you’re not sure enough of us.”
Teju jumped inside. It molded to his backside as he spun around, holding a hand down to her. “Your lack of confidence is insulting.”
I believe in you, Thelix cried.
Shut up, she said to her siren. You just want to get laid.
Draque wrapped an arm around her waist and nuzzled her neck. “Are we going to spend what might be our last night together bickering?”
His warm breath on her ear sent a trill down her spine. He was trying to distract her with sex, and damn him, it was working. She melted into him until the meaning of his words rattled like a gong in her head. “What do you mean our last night?” She turned in his arms, looking up at him. “Do you think my grandfather will destroy us?”
There was glint of worry in his eyes before he covered it with a smile. “No.”
“Then why’d you say that?”
Who cares! Thelix yelled. Just let him fuck us!
“Serah, we’ve been flying two days straight. I’m exhausted.”
What if it was their last night together? Did she want to spend it squabbling with her mates? Pushing negative thoughts out of her mind, she leaned into him, loving his warmth. Her dragon mates were always warm, their human bodies a reminder of the flames they breathed. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
Thelix groaned when he stroked her hair.
“Shall we go inside?” he whispered.
“Of course.” She took Teju’s hand, and they entered the bubble.
It looked like the others, a Tiki bar on one end with a kitchenette behind it and a round sofa made of crimson velvet in the sunk-in center of the living room. A massive flat screen hogged one wall, and a door beside it led to a private bathroom. It was the perfect love bubble.
“You hungry?” he asked.
“Famished.” She placed a hand on her hollow belly. “But I need a shower first.”
He gave her a shove toward the bathroom. “I’ll have supper ready when you get out.”
“Thanks.” She kissed him on the cheek and quickly shut the door, even though he looked ready to say something else. She stank to high heaven and felt anything but sexy covered in grime with breath as stale as dried seaweed.
Don’t fuck this up for us, Serah, her siren huffed.
Will you chill? We’re getting laid, she said as she turned on the shower and stripped out of her old clothes. I’d rather I didn’t smell like Satan’s sweaty armpit. Can you do me a favor and leave me alone with my thoughts for five minutes? That’s all I ask. She stepped under the water, breathing in the soothing steam.