Page 21 of The Magic of Eternity
We dipped through the clouds, seeing the familiar mountain range coming into view in the distance. My belly dipped with butterflies—which, let’s face it, were probably gas, because these girls were making me gassy as hell. It felt like the first minute we were flying, I was propelled half by the power of my wings and half by the power of ripping ass. I was so thankful Sloane had flown ahead so I could fart in peace. I kind of hoped it was just due to something I’d eaten, because I’d never hear the end of it from the guys if this became the norm.
The guys. The thought of being reunited with them had my skin tingling with anticipation and my pulse pounding like a drum. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on them; I doubted I’d ever let them go. Not after this.
We landed a moment later, and Sloane shifted smoothly, standing naked as a jaybird and peering out over the landscape. I conjured some clothes for him and tossed them at the back of his head, earning me a scoff and an ‘are you serious right now’ expression.
“Well? You can’t be parading around here naked!”
“Actually, I think this is one of the only places nobody would bat an eye over a man walking around naked,” he argued, lifting a brow and stepping into the boxer briefs.
I huffed. “Yeah well, there might be females around here.”
“I still don’t think they would care—” He glanced up at me before a slow smile took over his face. “Oh. I see. My woman doesn’t want any other women seeing me. Is that it? You’re jealous?”
I laughed, waving him off like he was being ridiculous. His eyes narrowed and he pushed the boxers back down, letting his long, hard cock spring up and slap his belly.
“Well, if you’re not jealous then I’ll just go ahead and—”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence because I launched myself at him. I slapped his dick and pulled his boxers back up over it, then shoved a finger in his face. “This is mine. No other female will be seeing it in this lifetime or the next. Understand?”
His pupils dilated and glowed orange as we stared at each other. “Did you just slap my dick? That really happened just now?”
I pushed up on my tiptoes and put my nose against his. “And I’ll slap it off if I ever find out another female saw it! I don’t care if you’re taking a piss and a rogue dragon is hiding in the bushes!” Damn, I was getting so pissed at the thought of this hypothetical dick viewing. Probably partly due to the hormones... But that was my dick!
“Fuck, you’re sexy when you’re jealous,” Sloane growled, leaning down and burying his face into my neck. His hot breath trailed up to my ear, and I shivered. “You have no reason to be. You’re the only woman who can handle me, Red.”
I sank my hands into his hair and guided our mouths together. Now that I knew I had him back, I couldn’t keep my hands to myself. Reluctantly, I slowed our frantic make out session and broke away, breathing heavily. “Enough of that for now. More later,” I panted. “Let’s go find Vaeryn and get our guys back.”
Sloane nodded his agreement, and I started walking in the direction from which Vaeryn had appeared last time. Footsteps came right behind me and I shouted out, without turning around. “Put those damn clothes on!” When the sounds of his steps stopped, I smiled. Freaking buttlord.
We’d been trudging along down the side of the mountain for about an hour when I had to stop. My lower back was killing me, and I was now thirsty enough to kill for water.
“You okay, Red?” Sloane moved to sit beside me on a log. As I caught my breath, we stared out at the rolling hills and the thicket of pine trees that seemed never-ending.
I nodded and snapped my fingers, securing two bottles of water for us. “Thirsty. Back hurts.” I chugged my water in under a minute and Sloane handed me the remaining half of his. “I can get more. Drink it,” I said, attempting to hand it back to him, but he waved me off.
“I’m fine for now, and if we can get more then it’s fine. I think I should fly up and check if I can see anything that might point to where Vaeryn could be. And if not him, then other dragons.” He stood and began removing his clothing, throwing glances to the sky as he stripped.
“What should I do?” I didn’t want to just sit my ass here and wait around. Time was wasting.
“I would really like it if you would eat something. And maybe drink some more water? You’ll probably need to pee, right? That’s pretty much all I know about pregnant women. They pee. A lot. And eat weird food,” he added as an afterthought, and I laughed at how put off he was at not knowing all about something for once.
“Okay. Come back down in twenty minutes or I’m coming up after you. I’ll get some food for you too. Be safe,” I cautioned, suddenly not liking the idea of being separated even for a moment.
Sloane sensed my sudden distress and was quickly at my side, his arms wrapping around me tightly. “What is it?”
My throat felt tight and I had to work to get the words out. “I’m scared. I’m scared that if I let you out of my sight, I’ll never see you again.” My voice broke and tears spilled over. I was scooped up and placed firmly on his lap, our bond soothing me in a way that only my mates could provide.
Sloane kissed my forehead. “I know, baby. It’s been a really rough time since we met... but we have to keep going. We’re so close now to being done with this nightmare, and then we can live our lives the way we want to. Just hang in there with me a little bit longer, okay?” His thumbs brushed the tears from my cheeks, and I nodded, sniffling like a baby.
“I just feel like something bad is coming. Or is about to. I can’t place it, but ever since we landed here on this mountain, I’ve felt this sense of urgency. It’s getting stronger. What if the guys are in trouble?” I looked into his eyes and saw my own fears mirrored there. But Sloane was a soldier. Trained for times like these—being faced with the unknown and having to keep going. It was getting harder for me to do that. I wasn’t anything special...
A low growl rumbled against me, coming from deep within his chest. “Not anything special?” My eyes widened and I realized I must’ve spoken that part aloud. “How can you—” He paused and pinched the bridge of his nose, breathing deeply. After what felt like an eternity, he lifted his head and his gaze seared into my soul.
“You listen here and you listen good, Saige Wildes. You’re everything that’s special. Everything you are is special. I’ve been all over our realm, seen dozens of countries, millions of people, and let me tell you something. Not one of them even came close to being as special as you.” His voice was deep and full of absolute sincerity. I’d almost have thought he was angry, with how intense his expression was. Stony and flushed red, his mouth a thin line.
“Yeah, we’ve been trained for shit like this. That doesn’t make us special—that makes us experts. These are skills we learned. You, on the other hand...” His eyes trailed down to my neck, continuing to my round belly before he placed his hand there. “What you are, thewayyou are? Selfless, caring, understanding of everyone around you? The way you love with your whole being, Saige, that isn’t something someone can be trained to do. Nobody can become an expert in the field of selflessness.
“But here you are, and I’m fucking enamored with you. Totally and completely blown away by your very existence. The mother of my daughter. You are special—and you’re mine. Ours. Forever.”
