He was dangerously approachable.
"And what kind of dragon are you, Levi?" I asked politely, clearing my throat.
"Earth," he replied, his smile spreading. The green dragon.
“The lame kind,” the male sitting opposite interjected with an arrogant smile. He sat sprawled out on one end of the opposing couch, legs spread wide and one arm tossed lazily along the back. He was devastatingly handsome. His dark brown hair was just long enough on top to be messy, and his unusual dark gray eyes contrasted with his suntanned skin. He oozed smug masculinity.
"Which would make you what kind?" I asked warily. I didn't like the way he was lounging so comfortably opposite me. It gave me a strange urge to crawl into his lap. Gods, the years alone had made me embarrassingly eager for affection.
"Air. I'm Hiram," he replied, his lips slowly curling as he took me in. Despite how gross I felt and undoubtedly looked in my tattered dress with my filthy, matted hair, he looked at me like I was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. It was unnerving.
“And you are fire,” I said, turning my attention to the last male, leaning against the wall by the archway into the hallway, the one who had carried me here.
“That’s right, gorgeous,” he replied with a wide smile. “I’m Seff.”
Seff had smooth brown skin and bright bronze eyes. He was clean-shaven, and his black hair was buzzed close to his skull. He looked a little younger than the others, though it may have just been his baby face.
"What do you need, mate?" Ezra asked, or rather demanded in his forceful Alpha voice.
"Need?" I repeated, confused.
"Food? Water?"
"Oh. Water?" I asked hesitantly. It had been so long since I'd had those things on demand, I'd forgotten that was a normal way to live.
"I'll get it," Seff volunteered immediately, pushing off the wall. "Food, too." Ezra gave him an approving nod that made me feel strangely irritable. He was so pushy.
"How long were you held at the Castell Estate?" Ezra asked, his tone brooking no room for argument.
“Since I was sixteen.”
“How old are you now?”
“Older than sixteen.” I shrugged. I really had no idea.
“At least eighteen, since we felt your dragon emerge a few months ago,” Levi said softly. I nodded, that made sense. Though I was sure my mother told me her dragon hadn’t emerged until she was twenty-one and she’d despaired that it never would.
"Tell us how you came to be imprisoned by the fae scum," Ezra commanded.
Gods, he really knew how to get on my nerves.
"No."
"No?" he repeated incredulously, raising his eyebrows at me.
"No. I don't know you. I don't owe you any explanations."
"We're your mates," Hiram interjected, all traces of arrogance gone from his face as he stared at me, looking a combination of confused and a little upset.
I huffed a frustrated sigh. "I'm very thankful you broke me out of there, and some water and food would be much appreciated, but after that, I'm afraid I have to go."
Chapter 4
"Go?" Ezra echoed, looking stunned.
"Yes, go."
“Where?” Levi asked gently, leaning forward to gaze at my face.
“I have an important task I need to do. I swore, if I ever got free, I would do it. So, I must get going—”
“You’re not leaving,” Ezra cut me off, standing abruptly and pacing in front of me. Oren observed him from the spot where he was leaning next to the fireplace. He still had said nothing. It made me like him more.
Seff returned with a goblet of water and an enormous platter of fruit, bread, and cured meat. I accepted it hesitantly. "This isn't all for me, is it?"
"Of course it is," he replied instantly. "You need your strength."
For what, I almost asked, then thought better of it. It had been many years since I'd been around dragons, but I knew what females were supposed to do. Something behind closed doors that sounded immensely painful.
Then a few months later, childbirth, which looked immensely painful.
Then caring for the children, which seemed like it could be immensely painful, at least some of the time.
Over and over again, until the babies stopped coming.
If they thought that’s what they were building my strength up for, they were very much mistaken.
I finished the goblet of water in one go, setting it aside and greedily starting on the cured meat. Gods. Meat had been such a rare treat living in Glendower’s cave. I’d been surviving on fae food — flatbread with a side of fruit, usually.
The five males watched me eat in silence, and I was too ravenous to care. As my stomach filled, I became more self-conscious about their stares. There was an emotion that bordered on rage in their eyes, but it looked like they were trying to suppress it.
“It distresses us that you were so hungry,” Ezra growled as my eating slowed.
“Are you expecting an apology?” I asked, lifting my eyebrows. Perhaps he’d been locked up too. He wasn’t good at talking to others either.
“Of course not,” he bit back.
“Perhaps a bath and some rest?” Levi smoothly interjected.
“Oh, a bath sounds wonderful,” I replied excitedly. Was I smiling? I touched my cheeks, my brow furrowing in confusion. I think I was smiling. I glanced up at Levi, who was watching me with a warm smile of his own on his handsome face.
“I’ll bathe, then we can discuss my plans,” I said decisively. If there was ever a good reason to delay leaving, it was my first bath in years.
Ezra looked like he would argue, but Levi beat him to it.
“Come,” he said, standing and holding out a hand towards me. I glanced at it, filled with uncertainty. Did he want me to take it? I wasn’t sure touching them was a good idea — it might make it harder for me to leave — but I really wanted the pull to them in my limbs to go away.
It didn’t seem like he wanted to hurt me. I don’t think any of them could physically hurt me, but the fear was still there.
I wiped my hands nervously over my tattered dress before accepting Levi’s, some of the heaviness seeping away again the moment our skin touched. He hid his surprise quickly, giving me a small smile before leading me down the hallway, through the master bedroom into the attached bathroom. His enormous hand engulfed my smaller one. It felt warm. Nice. I hadn’t held anyone’s hand since my little sister’s. I was so overwhelmed by the sensation and the amount of space in the den, I barely saw anything in it.
While I’d lived in Glendower’s cave, the shackles had limited me to five small steps. All this walking was making my legs feel strange.
“Sit,” Levi instructed, gesturing at a ledge carved into the wall next to the basin. The bath was built into the floor and I looked at it longingly as I perched on the bench. There had been many nights when the only thing I had longed for was a hot bath and a full belly.
Levi busied himself manually pumping the hot water into the bath, like I’d had to do so many times a day when Flight Milain had demanded it. My childhood den wasn’t wealthy enough to pump the water directly from the hot springs. My mother used to take us down into the depths of the mountain to bathe.