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“Will your snow hurt my jasmines?” I asked.
He chuckled. “It won’t snow the whole night.” He tucked my head back under his chin.
“This feels nice, Iokul.”
“I thought I would always be the unfeeling ice,” he whispered, “but you melt my ice. You make my ice burn for you. The world starts to have colors when I can feel. I’ll never let you go. Even if you drive me away, I won’t go. And I’ll always come back to you, no matter what.”
“And why do you think that I’ll ever drive you away? Why do you think I’ll ever let you get away?”
The wind stormed around us. The snow twirled violently. Wings flapped in the air. When they tucked away, a deep growl rose from the edge of the garden.
My other mates had come.
Iokul and I were so indulged in each other that we’d forgotten the whole world.
The ice dragon snapped his head at the indignant noises and rolled his eyes.
Blaze glared at him. “You should have known better, Iokul. This is a dangerous time, and Daisy is no safer than before. What if the enemies snuck up and hurt her when you let your guard down like this? Have you forgotten your duties and responsibilities to our mate? She isn’t only your mate!”
Lately, Blaze was all about lecturing others and me. Knowing I’d had sex with his brother before his arrival hadn’t improved his mood. Even Rai, the reasonable, level-headed one among us all, stared hard at Iokul.
Iokul, for the first time, looked chastened and didn’t retort.
I also felt guilty for stealing precious moments with Iokul, though I shouldn’t be ashamed spending time alone with any of them.
I knew my mates were all alpha dragons and they couldn’t help being dominant, though they’d all tried to tone down their dominance when they’d first courted me.
Now that we’d mated, I wondered if they believed they’d secured me so that they wouldn’t need to work on our relationship.
I loved them all, but I wouldn’t allow myself to be taken for granted or being lectured like this.
Not all of them act like that, part of me reminded myself.
Right, only the fire dragon was at odds with me. Maybe I needed to snuff out the spark before it became wildfire, before all his brothers started acting the same.
But where did my insecurity come from?
I avoided looking at Blaze but gazed at Rai. He held my eyes, and the anger in his stunning sapphire eyes dissipated. He reciprocated the same longing and hunger. He read how much I wanted him, too. I craved to go into his arms, to feel his powerful heartbeat and taste his masculine lips.
A smile ghosted his mouth, and heat rose in his eyes, as I showed him my open desire through our mating bond. I wanted him to push me against the wall and screw me slow and hard.
Iokul pulled back the drifting snow.
But Blaze was still unable to let go. “Quit fooling around, Iokul,” he snapped. “Let’s get back to the ship now!”
I bet if I were dancing with him, he wouldn’t say we were fooling around.
“I’ll always be in danger as the heir to the throne,” I said. “But that doesn’t mean I should hole up in a dark corner and be miserable. I’d like to celebrate my every free breath when I can. If you can’t take it, you don’t have to join me.”
Blaze’s golden eyes immediately darkened, as if my words stabbed him in the heart. It was the first time I’d been so harsh toward him, when he was only concerned about my safety. A slice of guilt jabbed me, especially since my curse had been completely broken while my mates still had half their curse upon them.
“Blaze meant well, though it came off as overbearing,” Rai said, wrapping an arm around my waist. “He was—we both were—extremely worried when we lost you for a few hours in Amethyst. None of us could locate you, not even through our mating bond.”
That was when Iokul and I had been running in the tunnel. And later on, Elvey must have cloaked us.
Iokul stepped back as Rai pulled me against his chest. I held onto him, taking comfort from his warmness and solidness, inhaling his scent of autumn and rainstorms. From the moment he saved me from the drones while I was in my Fury form, Rai had always been my rock, and he knew it.
My face rubbed against Rai’s chin with deep affection, and the corner of my eyes caught Blaze brooding alone in front of a jasmine bush and staring at me with both regret and hunger.
