Page 29 of Dying in Flames (Reborn 4)
“Sorry, I know it’s a good thing they have a place, but I just can’t understand anyone wanting to leave their children behind,” she mumbled and blinked the tears away. “Maybe this is part of the weird nesting thing. I feel way more emotional than normal.”
“Possibly,” I agreed softly and squeezed her waist. “Don’t think too much on it. They have a safe space to be if they choose it, or if not, we can figure something out. We have even offered for them to stay here. Unfortunately, I don’t think they will take us up on that because despite Clive being young, having two alpha dragon shifters together is a horrible idea.”
“We would try to make it work, though,” Anani assured.
“It’s their decision, of course.” Maya sniffed and then shrugged. “We can talk about it later, I am upsetting Bella—” She broke into a soft laugh as Bella licked her cheek in a gesture that had me smiling. I knew Maya understood the situation, and the level of empathy she experienced towards others always absolutely blew me away. For someone who had the background she did, she was really in touch with her emotions, and it was actually beautiful.
“Angel,” Atlas called out from where he was sitting with Croy and Ledger. The first looked like he was in shock, most likely over her outfit choice.
Croy was a great guy, but it was hard to remember sometimes that he was an old bastard, and I could practically feel his wolf freaking the fuck out about her being dressed like that and in the vicinity of other males. I had a feeling that tonight was going to be interesting…for many reasons. In fact, the only one who didn’t seem fazed by her outfit was Ledger, and I knew that was absolute bullshit. That relaxed attitude was all an act, but it would be funny to see how long he could maintain it.
Maya let Bella down, and she practically sprinted across the wood floor, sliding on her paws into Atlas’s legs in excitement. Maya leaned against me and let out a small laugh at how excited she was before frowning in concern at her collision. She relaxed the moment Atlas picked the kitten up.
“Baby girl.” Marco’s voice was filled with tension and warning as he walked over, finally seeming to get his shit together enough to interact with our mate. His tone had her looking over with an innocent, confused expression.
“What?” The little head tilt she offered had me nearly groaning.
“This fucking dress,” Marco growled, motioning to it. “That is what.”
“Do you not like it?” Her eyes went wide, actual concern filtering through them. I narrowed my eyes at Marco, whose face filled with instant guilt. Maya may have enjoyed our reactions when they were positive, but I knew she was still hyper-sensitive about negative things, and the last thing I ever wanted to do was make her feel rejected or like she was doing something wrong. Our mate looked fucking fantastic, we were just being bastards about it.
“No, I do,” he muttered, seeming to struggle with what to say, as Anani offered me a smirk. “It’s just…very short.”
Maya instantly brightened up. “No, Marco. I promise, it’s the perfect length.”
I couldn’t help but smile as she turned around to offer us a view of the skirt from behind, the material brushing right against the top of her thighs. I mean, she wasn’t wrong. It covered everything and fit her perfectly. Maya was just too fucking sexy for it.
Turning around again with a ‘see’ expression, she jolted as Anani cursed and strode away towards the kitchen. I pulled Maya close to me again and kissed her neck as she offered me a secret smile that was a bit too amused to be innocent. It probably didn’t help that Marco was currently staring down at the floor, his hands in his pockets, clearly trying to collect himself.
“I told you,” she offered to Marco.
The man looked up and nodded towards the kitchen. “Go into the kitchen, Maya.”
“Why?” She blinked, looking confused.
“Because if you don’t get away from these stairs, I am going to have you in my bedroom in the next second—”
And she was gone. I watched as she escaped towards Croy, who was watching the entire interaction in amusement. Maya looked back at us while sitting on his lap, clearly enjoying this game, as my eyes narrowed on the way she moved her hair, highlighting the diamond collar.
Sorry, not a collar, a choker. My bad.
“You’re part of the problem.”
I looked at Marco and smiled. “How?”
He motioned, shaking his head. “You bought her that fucking necklace, and it just makes it so much worse. I don’t know if I can let her go out like that. I may end up slaughtering everyone.”
So fucking dramatic.
“It will be fine,” I assured him before shrugging. “Plus, I think the necklace looks hot on her.”
“Yeah, that’s the fucking problem,” he grunted.
“Hey, where is Henry?” I asked. Marco nodded towards upstairs.
I hadn’t seen a lot of him today, but he’d been on the phone a fair amount of the time, and considering everything going on, I couldn’t really blame him. A lot of the planning for stuff like this—except for security, which was handled by Atlas—fell on Henry. Maya didn’t know, but the amount of preparation it took for us to safely attend events like this, especially with the increased threats recently, was extensive.
None of that, though, changed the fact that I wanted to sock him in the goddamn jaw for how loud he’d been with Maya the other night. None of us had gotten sleep, and he damn well knew it. It was why he was walking around with a fucking smile on his face, looking like the king of the world.
