She had softened his behavior and the way he normally interacted with others. Not that it had altered around anyone else, but around her he was very different. I would have probably made fun of him for it if I didn’t know for certain that I acted much the same.
After all, Maya had called me ‘sweet.’
My dragon offered me a dark expression as I nearly rolled my eyes at his pride being hurt. I was thrilled Maya thought I was sweet. I would take that over any of the other descriptions that had been used for me throughout the years. I wasn’t in any capacity sweet, but if she thought so, I would believe it because her word was law in my mind. Plus, I was sweet… for her. Only her. Well, until I had her perfect ass bent over in bed, rutting into her far harder than I probably should.
She had to know how much she affected me, right?
I swear she did to some extent because sometimes my reactions would garner a glint of curiosity as she tried to push me, yielding a very different result than most would. I should probably tell her it wasn’t necessary for her to push. If she wanted to see me lose it, I could happily show her just how insane I was about her. Show her everything that I would do in her name. Show her everything I would do to claim her as ours completely in the eyes of everyone.
There was only one aspect of that which concerned me. My dragon. I knew he would want to come out to play at some point. Because of being an alpha and the type of flight we were, exhibiting all the different types throughout our bond and resulting in correlating strength, we had the ability to shift into a state of being where our dragons were far more in charge than we were despite looking human. It was fantastic for military aspects and planning, but it took a lot of control to keep it retained, and once it broke out, it usually took the others to help calm the person down.
Eventually my dragon would insist on being part of that moment when we claimed her, but right now I didn’t trust that he wouldn’t take her viciously, wanting to completely dominate her. I wasn’t positive I wanted Maya to see that side of me. Not yet. That side of me, the one connected to my dragon, was also the one that had garnered a not so ‘sweet’ reputation in the Dreki realm.
Eldur Academy, where we had been trained, only handled students that would be equipped to directly defend the castle in times of need. Which meant that you either had to be really fucking scary or have connections. Our flight happened to have both. While we had never specifically worked in the castle, spending most of our time in training and on missions, we had earned a reputation that preceded us throughout the Dreki realm. No one wanted to fuck with our flight, not because they liked us, but because of the consequences associated with such a dumb action.
The only time I had truly been thankful for our reputation was when no one risked challenging us when we decided to leave, something that had been a cause for frustration upon the royal court, and more so, our families. Although, now I was a bit more thankful for that fear if it meant keeping these fuckers away from Maya.
“Marco.” She sighed my name softly in her sleep, sinking further against me as her head slipped down onto my lap, my cock jerking as her cheek rested on my thigh. Fuck. I gently grabbed a pillow and lifted her head, making sure to rest her on it before smoothing my fingers through her hair. No need to have her waking up with my fucking cock right in her face. I mean… unless that was something she wanted.
Goddamn it. Now all I could think about was Maya kneeling between my legs and her perfect lips wrapped around my cock. This. This was why dragons and their mates usually took time away from everyone else after fucking mating. I wanted to spend every free moment of my time exploring her body, and unfortunately that wasn’t a goddamn option right now. It didn’t help that she was also so very clearly exhausted right now.
My fingers brushed over her cheekbone, glints of glitter still covering her skin from the event only hours ago. I scowled as another picture of her flashed up on the television screen, highlighting her attendance at such a ‘prestigious’ event that the national media circuit probably wouldn’t normally have cared about if not for her attendance. Well, to some extent. I mean, the reason it was prestigious was because of how easily dragon shifters had made our way into the upper echelons of human society despite trying to keep a somewhat low profile. It was difficult to do so because dragons collected things, from wealth to properties, and humans valued those things and the owners of those items. So of course they noticed us.
I was nearly positive that this previous event had been under the guise of a charity auction, and while I had no doubt that a donation would take place, I couldn’t even tell you what it had officially been for. I had been far too focused on making sure that none of the other fucking flights touched or looked at Maya in a way that I didn’t deem as okay. Luckily for them, it seemed most of them had the goddamn sense to be polite but to keep their distance, which just left me with the annoyance that was the council.
Honestly, the other council members were probably the only individuals that could convince flights to risk pissing us off, and even then there would be hesitancy. Not just because of how powerful we were, either. No, that was only part of the reputation we had developed back in the Dreki realm.
A realm where you were considered an adult long before you actually were ready, a place where you were trained to understand that your purpose was fighting first. There wasn’t a lot of room for emotional vulnerability or softness in such a militaristic culture, and we had, of course, been raised no different.
It was just one more reason why I was so uncomfortable with the notion of returning there. I didn’t want the hard, cold nature of the people there to affect Maya or her opinion of us. I wasn’t liked. I was feared. No one in my family would ever be liked, and that made it difficult to soften our reputation for our mate that was walking into a brand-new realm without fully understanding how drastically different the culture was to the Earth realm. It was something she would have to experience, and while I planned on warning her, I had no doubt that there would be people who encouraged her to not be our mate.
Not that she fully had an option anymore, if we were being honest. She was not only marked by the three of us but now showcased our flight’s mark on her arm. The rumble my dragon produced echoed through the room as I gently eased her arm out from under the blanket to examine it, her lashes fluttering as her lips pressed together and she fell back asleep, ignoring the disturbance.
The marking was gorgeous against her skin, and I found myself wanting even more reminders of our flight’s claim on her. I craved to hear it from her own lips, hear her admitting that she was ours and that she loved me. Pressing my lips against the pulse in her wrist, I inhaled the scent of her blood, the faint and intoxicating scent of sea salt, ashes, and rose drifting over my senses as her entire frame seemed to shimmer in an ethereal fashion. The woman was a vibrant flame, like the sun trapped inside the shape of the woman I was so clearly obsessed over.
It was one of the reasons I had such a hard time blaming others for their obsession over her. I mean, I had never understood humans’ fascination with those they considered ‘rich and famous,’ but Maya was admittedly and undeniably captivating. The woman was like a sun beam in every single piece of video and image that was taken of her, and tonight at the event had been no different. It was like she was glowing from within, and I couldn’t help but want copies of the pictures of her looking up at me as we walked into the venue. It was a notion that had me laughing because I had never felt sentimental about shit my entire life, but now I wanted nothing more than to have pictures of her on my desk at work. Not just there, either. I wanted pictures of her decorating every wall of our home. I feared she would probably realize how certifiable I was at that point.