Page 22 of The Magic of Eternity
I’d never imagined I’d be sitting here, pregnant, on Sloane’s lap while he poured his heart out. The fierceness with which I loved him was causing my heart to thump, spreading endorphins and serotonin straight from my brain throughout my body. He was devoted; he was mine. And gods, I was his.
“I love you,” I whispered, pressing my mouth to his. He returned my kiss, as though his tongue might be able to convince me of his feelings if his words hadn’t already done so.
“I love you. Now, go pee and get yourself a snack. We’ll fly up when you’re ready. Together.” He clapped my thigh and shifted me to standing so he could get up. Before I thought twice about it, I launched myself at him and gave him a hug. The silly man was stiff as a board for all of two seconds before melting against me and hugging me back. The fact that he’d noticed my distress, helped me through it without being annoyed that I was holding up his plans, and then decided to do this together... I noticed. I was pretty sure Sloane was actually a bigger softie than he’d ever care to admit. But I saw him.
“Okay, I better go pee now. Since I stood up, it kind of hit me all at once.” I stepped back and tromped off to find a tree.
“Make sure you get all of those farts out over there too!” he shouted, then laughed like hell.
I pretended I didn’t hear him. But gods, yeah. I did have some to unleash on this poor tree.If he tells the others a word of this, I swear I’ll get payback.
I flutteredmy wings and lowered myself right behind Sloane’s big ass dragon head. I was tired—again. So he could do the heavy lifting, that was fine with me. As long as he wasn’t out of my line of sight, I could handle riding him like a queen.
Scanning the expansive terrain, I suddenly spotted a glimmer of something. We weren’t terribly high above the trees, but still high enough that I wondered if I’d imagined it.
‘I think I saw something shiny down there,’I said to Sloane through our mental link, the one that only existed while he was in his dragon form. I squealed when he abruptly shifted to the left and began to descend.‘You could warn a girl next time!’
‘What was it? Gold? Some kind of gem?’
‘I told you, I just saw a shimmer of something. Fly over there and I’ll see if I spot it again.’Crazy, treasure-loving dragons... Worse than a dog hearing the word ‘ball.’ I focused my attention on the ground, growing more and more sure I’d imagined the whole thing.
‘Anything?’Sloane rumbled. I was positive his own eagle eyes were scanning the ground like some kind of built-in treasure detectors. I wondered whether his body would beep if he spotted it.
‘No. It was probably noth— OH!’We dropped so rapidly, my tits almost hit me in the face.
‘Found it!’Sloane squealed. Squealed. Like a two-year-old who’d just found a dropped gummy bear covered in dust. None of that mattered. Treasure was treasure.
We landed smoothly, and Sloane scampered off to collect his findings. I trailed behind him, laughing at the way his whole body shook with excitement, like a big, scaly puppy. It was especially funny when he shifted to his human form and his ass continued to shake. There was no way he even realized he was still doing it and I wasn’t about to tell him.
We were on the edge of a large lake; the water was such a vivid blue and I wished we had more time here, all of us. There really were gorgeous landscapes here in Besmet. “What is it?” I called to Sloane, approaching where he was crouched down.
“I think... I think it’s yours,” he replied, standing and turning toward me. My eyes dropped to the object in his hands. It was easily the most stunning crown I’d ever seen.
“Mine?” I questioned him, confused—because how would he know that?
‘It is yours, my queen,’a familiar deep and raspy voice said in my head, and I smiled.
“Why are you smiling?” Sloane asked, studying me.
“Vaeryn’s here,” I replied, looking around for any sign of the big guy as Sloane stepped up to my side, pulling me against him. “I don’t see him though. Do you?” I tilted my head up to look at my mate as his eyes darted around. His enhanced eyesight was incredibly useful in times like these.
He glanced down at me with a frown. “I don’t. Are you sure you heard him?”
I nodded. “Yeah. It was when I took the crown from you and questioned it being mine. He said it was.”
‘Welcome back, my queen and queen’s mate,’Vaeryn said, and we both spun around, searching for him.‘You won’t be able to see me. You’ll have to follow my instructions. We’ve hidden ourselves for protection. Enter the lake and swim to the bottom.’
Sloane and I looked at each other. His expression was full of his classic skepticism.‘That’s it? Nice deep dive in the midst of a war, all because a dragon that we can only hear in our heads tells us to? There’s no fucking way my pregnant mate is getting in that water without some reassurance, Vaeryn!’
I blinked.Okay. Go on then, sexy boss man.
‘I would expect nothing less. I shall reveal myself to you. It will be quick, so pay attention. Follow me and bring the crown, my queen. You will be safe,’Vaeryn assured us.
My fingers twined around Sloane’s as we stood there, facing the lake. Ripples began to spread across the surface, and I gripped his hand tighter. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing when Vaeryn’s scaly head rose from the water just far enough to reveal his eyes. With a wink, he sank beneath the water once more.
‘So you see, it is safe. We have much to discuss. Please, follow me.’
“Do dragons live underwater here?” I asked Sloane, trying to process everything. “He’s like a big ass alligator!”
