Page 34 of The Dragon Queen

“Your queen…” Draven looked too pale, the bones in his face standing proud as he surveyed the lot of us. “And mine.”

Chapter 18

My men were fighting a war over me.

I saw Cynane, saw her mates doing the same, the males scrabbling with each other, unable to give up fighting for a place by her side, even though she’d already chosen them. With the dragons, that war was fought with fangs and claws, but mine were so much more seductive.

Teeth grazed my nipples, but right as I began to wince, the pain was licked away and replaced by long swallows that had me writhing for whole other reasons. Lips traversed the slope of my ribcage and down my belly, stubble grazing my inner thighs as my legs were separated. I couldn’t tell you who did what, just that I was lost. Fingers pushed inside me, others pinched at my pearl, giving the pleasure an edge. I moaned into it, riding the waves until the fingers were pulled away and a tongue replaced them.

“Like this, my queen?”

I looked down to find Draven between my legs, but any reply I might make was cut off as he licked upwards. My whole body shuddered in response. I rode his face unashamedly, needing more.

“No, like this.”

Draven was hauled away right as I got close to my peak. Myhands fought the grip the others had on them, wanting to claw him back, but Brom settled down in his place. Fingers were pushed inside, forcing me to stretch, then curled upwards, a thin scream escaping me, right before he sucked it away. There, just like that, I mumbled something to that effect as they all went to work. I was getting close, so close, Brom’s pace punishing.

Only for him to be dragged away.

I jerked my hands free, rolling up onto my elbows to watch the two of them fight.

“She’s my queen!” Draven snarled, and I couldn’t help but see the warring dragons right then. “She stood beside me in front of the entire city.”

“Dressed in a fucking wig and gold armour Pippin would never choose to wear, just like you did when we left her estate!” Brom shot back. “You’ve never been able to accept her. You see everything she is and still you want to change her!”

“I didn’t want that.” All the heat seemed to go out of Draven then. He wavered on his feet and, through the haze, I remembered. He wasn’t just a king, but a son that buried both of his negligent parents. “I didn’t want any of this. Who knows that better than you?”

He took a step towards Brom, but my husband refused to allow himself to be drawn. That step back, it wasn’t right, somehow I knew. In my mind, I saw how it worked. Cynane roared over her dissenting mates, making clear how things would be.

Because she was queen.

“Kiss him,” I said and both men’s heads whipped around, not sure who I was speaking to. Ged pulled me back and into his lap and I went gladly. My hand went to his neck, teasing the little hairs there to the sound of his purr like rumble. “Kiss the taste of me off his mouth.”

Draven just stared, fists clenched, blood still trickling sullenly from his nose, as if waiting for the next blow to fall, but Brom’s thin sound of frustration told me everything I needed to know. We were entranced by our king, just as much as we were frustrated by him.Tomorrow, we could get up and sort through those bones of contention, but right now we needed this.

“You’ll never take her from me. Never.”

Brom was holding on by a string, but it would break. We always broke around Draven.

“I’m just trying to claim a part of her too.” My king’s eyes swung around and met mine. “If you hated the wig… If I was putting you through that debacle all over again?—”

“You needed something from me.” Ged’s hands covered my breasts and he placed kisses along my neck, turning my voice throaty. “Before and now. When we flew from my estate, you were a rude bastard, cruel and I hated every second of it. That silver dress, that terrible wig?—”

“If you ever try that shit again, I’ll be the one punching your teeth down your throat,” Flynn snapped, right before turning my lips his way.

I kissed him because I loved him, because he’d endured unimaginable hurt tonight, and because I wanted to every time I saw him, but I had one last thing to resolve.

“This time, you asked. You needed something from me and asked if I would give it. Now I asked something of you.” I kissed Ged, almost getting lost in his mouth, before turning back to the two of them. “Kiss him until you can’t taste me anymore and can only taste each other.”

They were wary as cats, but Brom’s eyes met Draven’s, and I saw it flare to life. It wasn’t like the love I shared with each one of them. It was harder, more brittle, as if it would shatter with a good tap. That’s not what they did right now. Brom’s hand went to Draven’s hair, and I knew what he was feeling. All that silken weight running through his fingers, right before he jerked him closer.

“You will never be king here,” Brom informed him in a dark tone.

“No?” Draven dared to smile. “I’ll settle for just being hers and… yours.”

I smiled when their mouths collided. The way they kissed, it was so much harder, more vicious, than when they kissed me, and I likedthat they could unleash their strength on each other. I crawled forward on the bed, the others following me as I drew closer.

“Pippin—” Ged ground out as his hands slapped down on my hips.

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