Page 69 of Maleen

I can’t even find the strength to correct the name they used as my hand flicks slowly in their general direction. “I don’t think I got enough sleep last night.”

Ember slowly turns me towards her. “Rav… you don’t think this is,” her eyes dart nervously towards Sir Geoffrey and Madam Windwhisper. “The mating thing?” she whispers barely loud enough for me to hear.

My gaze widens and my heart races with nerves as I push against her mental barriers enough to speak to her privately. “I don’t know. Can you manage things with them? I think I’m going to go to the infirmary.”

She nods. “We have things covered. Just call one of your mates to escort you. You shouldn’t be walking around alone.”

“I have Nero.”

Nero puffs out his chest and struts in front of me on the table. “I will feast on anyone who dares even to think about harming you,” he declares.

Ember levels me with a glare that tells me she will tackle me if I try to leave right now, so I sigh and reach out to Aemon. “Can you come get me and take me to the infirmary…” I instantly feel him worry and so I add, “I think it’s time. Sorry Nero, you should probably stay with Ember during this…”

If ravens could pout, he definitely would be, but he lands on Ember’s shoulder, who in turn looks shocked that he would do such a thing.

Nero glowers haughtily at her expression. “It is an honor to be my perch.”

Aemon’s voice enters my mind with a sense of urgency. “On my way,” he states seconds before I sense the shadows of the room ripple and he appears, looking ravishing.

My core tightens and the bond or my vagina—I’m not sure which—urges me toward my mate.

His lavender gaze widens and his nostrils flare as he pulls me towards him. Is he affected like I am? “I’m escorting the princess to the infirmary. You will have to carry on without her,” his voice is raspy with worry? Need? I’m not sure, but I need him to keep speaking like that.

They don’t even have a moment to respond before his power envelopes the room and we vanish into the shadows, reappearing in the infirmary, right in front of Tabitha.

She jumps, nearly dropping a vial of orange liquid. “Fates, so sorry. Is everything okay?” she asks, her gaze peering over us as if she’s expecting blood or broken limbs. Which to be fair, there have been a few training incidents lately with how hard Killian has been pushing everyone.

“I need a tonic to prevent pregnancy,” I blurt, clutching Aemon’s arm like he’s the only thing holding me up, and at this point he might be.

His warm, calloused hands glide across my shoulders onto my bare arms and I arch into him, not caring if it’s unroyal-like.

Tabitha averts her gaze and scurries off in a direction to hopefully retrieve what I asked for. It was something Ember mentioned this morning, and I was planning to come grab it after the meeting, but clearly the Fates had other plans.

“Ravina, we need to get you to the room. The scents coming off you are maddening,” Aemon purrs in my ear, sending goosebumps down my spine, and my thighs clench together.

“You all might want to drop what you’re doing and head to our room,” I gasp through the bond to my mates as a wave of want swamps me.

Tabitha nearly throws the vial at me and Aemon rips us through the shadows. The next moment we appear on my bed. I quickly uncork the vial and down the contents before tossing it aside.

Aemon is on me in the next breath—his nose strokes along my collarbone while the rest of him is predatorily still, like he’s holding back.

A low grumble sounds at the base of his throat, eliciting a soft gasp from me. The noise breaks him and his hand grasps the front of my tunic—corset and fabric ripping echoes through the room like a prologue to what’s about to happen.

“You didn’t ask permission,” I tease, my breath raspy as I lean into his touch. “That was my favorite corset.”

His lavender eyes twinkle with feralness. “I’ll have a better one made for you. Although I thought we agreed that as long as you’re in bed, you’re to wear nothing?”

I smirk, pulling him towards me, my lips a breath away from his. “Then you better finish the job.”

His gaze darkens and another rip sounds through the room as my pants disappear and vanish into the shadows. Tendrils wrap around my legs and arms, spreading me open and pinning me to the bed.

My back arches, craving his touch.

“You smell delectable, and all I can think about is fucking you into the mattress. I want to hear you scream my name,” he rasps, kissing down my body with an urgency I’ve never seen from him before.

I feel his hot breath on my core and I nearly whimper with need. “Please,” I beg, my mind getting delirious as this frenzy kicks in.

Loud roars echo from outside somewhere and I know through the bond with Vasari that it’s begun. Now I understand the dragons’ reassurance about having plenty of energy, but I can’t remember the details. The only thing I can think about clearly is my mates. Aemon.