Page 11 of Winter's Dragons. Frozen Flames
My sweet female seemed to sense my souring mood. Despite the fact that our parents had engaged her in a conversation about her realm—a topic Cassia was always happy to discuss—she briefly turned away from them and faced us. She shot us a quick smile and mouthed, "Soon." It was the sole warning I received before a wave of her magic flowed over me, discreet, yet so very present, making my already restless beast stir in anguished arousal.
The growls and hisses that escaped my fellow dragons' throats signaled the fact that they weren't doing much better, and that they too had been targeted by Cassia's little trick. "This is going to be torture," Kerryn said through gritted teeth. He had apparently decided to discard his own earlier words and was staring at Cassia with just as much hunger I knew I must be displaying.
"I have a feeling it's not happenstance," Raijin pointed out. "We slighted her by not mentioning our families and she clearly hasn't forgotten."
Of course she hadn't. Cassia had a big heart, but she always acknowledged the mistakes her subordinates made, even if she didn't end up punishing them for their behavior. We might not have been her underlings, but the rule still applied. In hindsight, it had been a little too much to hope that she'd let us get away with our stupid behavior.
Well, there was nothing for it. I would just have to endure and submit to whatever punishment my female deemed appropriate. I had wronged her through my omissions—we all had—and we needed to pay the price for that.
Taking a deep breath, I mournfully tried to direct my attention to the plate in front of me. The dinner the nisse cooks had prepared for us was quite delicious. If I could only focus on the meal, I'd be fine. And I'd done more difficult things in life. Right?
I gripped my knife in my hand and painstakingly started to slice the meat into smaller pieces. Even in this form, it was next to impossible for me to choke, so I didn't need to be quite so thorough, but that wasn't really the point. It kept me busy, for about a minute, until Cassia decided to step up her torturing technique.
The tendrils of magic exploring my skin suddenly grew far bolder. As my soulmate's icy touch zeroed in on my erection, the ornate cutlery snapped in my hands and my dinner went up in flames.
It was only for a moment, as Raijin soon extinguished the tiny blaze, keeping the damage contained. Just the same, I had never hated the absurdly visible nature of my powers more. I was pretty sure Raijin and Kerryn were enduring the same treatment, but since their abilities were different, they hadn't drawn the eye of every single person in the room.
Cassia tilted her head at me like a curious bird and shot me an inquiring, perfectly innocent look. "Is the venison not to your liking, Emmerich? You do realize you didn't need to make it burst into flames if the nisse's cooking didn't agree with you tonight."
It was a small miracle that I could even provide a coherent response. "My apologies, treasure. I must be a little wound up. You know me and my temper."
"Yes, I do know."
As she spoke, her full lips twisted into another smirk and her eyes glinted with mischief. The magic's hold on my genitals tightened. By my side, Raijin made a wounded noise, and the icy table cracked neatly in the middle.
Kerryn shot to his feet and stumbled away from the table, covering his face and putting some distance between the two of us. It was a good idea. As a rule, he had no trouble controlling his more volatile poison-breathing skills, to the point where he could use the fumes to either kill or incapacitate an opponent. But our female had always been a wildcard, and none of us wanted to test the possible consequences of our skills clashing due to her little game.
As expected, the incident alarmed our parents. "Kerryn, what's wrong?" his mother asked, already scanning the room for threats to her hatchling. "Do you feel ill?"
"No, that's not it," Kerryn replied, his voice slurring like he was drunk, and his eyes shining so brightly they almost looked like emeralds. "Just... Just a little tired."
Not even one of Cassia's yetis would have believed him, and his parents definitely didn't. Fortunately, they didn't have to.
A look of realization dawned on Devin's face. "Perhaps it's simply time to retreat for the night. It's been a tiring day for all of us, and we do have much to look forward to tomorrow."
Brigid glowered at her mate, obviously not in the least bit pleased with the prospect of leaving her son when he was sick. My father and Noboru were already getting up, though, having understood what was going on as well as Devin had.
"We'll see ourselves out, Your Majesty," my father said. "I'm sure your amazing staff will be able to help us to our quarters."
He must've managed to convey to my mother the truth behind the embarrassing situation because she showed no further alarm. "Have a good night, dear. We will speak again in the morning."
Her compliance must've clarified things for Brigid as well, as she didn't protest when Devin herded her toward the exit of the massive dining room. One by one, everyone followed, until we were at last left alone with our teasing, naughty female.
"That wasn't nice, treasure," I said as soon as the doors closed behind my parents. "Seducing us like that when you knew we couldn't do anything about it."
Cassia left her seat, all pretense of innocence forgotten, power swelling around her in an alluring and almost suffocating display. "Well, you know me. I'm not a very nice person."
Raijin laughed, and the sound came out husky and raw, as if he had been doing his best to smother other, more animalistic sounds until now. "You're such a liar, treasure. But it's all right. I think we can find a way to fix that and make sure you never lie to us again."
Cassia arched a silver brow, still very much the queen, and yet, more seductive than any siren could ever hope to be. "That should be my line. You see, I've recently learned that my soulmates have been keeping things from me."
"Yes, treasure, but we didn't deliberately omit anything. We were simply distracted by your beauty."
I knew the words sounded corny even as I said them, but they were the absolute truth. It was in the nature of a male dragon to focus on his female, and this tendency was at its strongest in the first months after their mating, to the point where he discarded everything else. Had we been in Terra Dracones when this whole incident had happened, our parents would've thought nothing of it.
"You know, I actually believe that," Cassia said, "and I would never blame you for your nature. I also can't help but feel that maybe being unaware of something that's so deeply connected with my soulmates' way of life says something about the state of our bond, and about my own potential to be a good romantic partner."
That last sentence held no teasing note or attempt at seduction, and the weight of its meaning struck me like a physical blow. It hadn't occurred to me that Cassia would interpret our behavior in such a way, or that she would blame herself for it.
