Page 25 of Dragon Flames
I park the car out front, grab an armload of bags, then practically dash toward the room at the center of the house we’d converted for our potential mate. The building had been constructed for the males to protect their mate, plus grant each male their own access to her suite. We sealed it off decades ago, and now we’re scrambling to make it presentable.
Each of us have added some things to make her more comfortable, small treasures from our hoards that we collected for a mate in case the fates ever deemed us worthy of the privilege.
Now we’ve finally been granted our mate, it’s hard not to roar our claim to the world.
Instead, I busy myself with doing whatever is needed to make her happy.
She deserves the best, and I’m determined to give it to her. Her other two mates are worthless at showing their emotions, and I won’t have them fucking things up for us.
When I open her door and discover the room empty, my stomach drops and fire burns through my veins as I struggle not to panic. I chuck the packages into the room, charge down the hallway in a blind panic, then stop dead when I turn the corner.
The house wouldn’t have been standing if anything had happened to Felicia.
I lean over, bracing my hands on my knees, waiting for the light-headed sensation to dissipate. Releasing a heavy breath, I straighten, struggling not to feel out of sorts that my mate wasn’t waiting for me where I left her.
I don’t care if I’m being irrational.
I stomp through the house, heading toward Darius’s control center, determined to track down our mate, when I spy the doors to the library standing open.
Elias never allows anyone into his domain, fiercely protective of his books, the library part of the treasure he hoards like a miser. I made the mistake of touching one of his bloody books only once, and I can still feel the sting of the beating all these decades later.
Worry pierces my thoughts when I realize Felicia might have wandered into his den, and I break into a run. Logically, I know Elias won’t lay a finger on our mate, but that doesn’t stop my heart from thrashing against my ribs in panic.
I stop dead at the threshold of the library, and I gape at the sight that greets me.
Elias is pleasuring our mate, her legs spread wide, all her glorious skin on display.
My cock hardens so fast that the zipper burns along my flesh, and I go light headed again.
Only a sense of self-preservation keeps me from crossing the distance separating us and joining them, but it’s a battle. When she arches, letting out a husky moan, I nearly cream in my pants at the beautiful sight. The smell of her lust makes my mouth water, and it’s all I can do to keep from crossing the distance and nudging Elias out of the way so I can have a taste.
I must have taken a step to put my thoughts into action, because Elias goes into full beast mode, scales pushing at the undersides of his skin, his eyes turning a burnished gold, and he roars in challenge.
My dragon wants to roar back, demanding our turn at our mate. The beast shoves at the underside of my skin, and I grit my teeth to keep the fucker down so the idiot doesn’t get us killed.
Then I see Felicia peer out from behind him, not showing an ounce of fear, and my beast quiets like a puppy happy to be noticed by its master.
“Mine!” Elias tucks her behind him, and I smother a laugh when she just pops out the other side, rolling her eyes and shooting the poor sod a nasty look.
“Ours,” I remind him mildly, giving Felicia a friendly smile, trying to ignore the fact that my cock is trying to escape my pants. “Would you care for lunch?”
It’s the only sure way to extract her from Elias’s clutches.
Mates, especially males, constantly struggle against the need to ensure our mates are well-fed and satisfied. And I’m right. As soon as I hint that she might be hungry, Elias goes from wanting to rip my head off to being concerned about our mate in a nanosecond.
It’s almost amusing…or would have been if I wasn’t struggling with the same urge.
Felicia’s stomach growls before she can reply.
Instead of being embarrassed that she was caught being pleasured, Felicia gives a regal nod. “I could eat.”
I fucking love her boldness, imagining the different scenarios where I can pull her away for a tryst. As she saunters toward me, I take in her outfit. She should look like a homeless person with just a sweater and wool socks pulled up to her knees, but she could’ve starred on any catwalk. Her hair curls wildly around her, giving her a sexy, just-fucked look.
As she nears, I realize that she isn’t wearing anything under the damn sweater and nearly whimper.
Or maybe I did whimper, if the smug look Elias casts my way is any indication.
I offer Felicia my arm. She narrows her eyes at it, like she’s expecting a trap, and my heart aches at the harsh reminder of where she’s spent most of her life. The urge to destroy the prison rides my beast hard.
