Chapter Three
I tossed and turned most of the night. As faint morning light crept into the room, I opened my eyes. They felt as if someone had poured sand into them. Normally, being snuggled between two of my mates ensured a peaceful night’s sleep, but my anger towards the wizards had my mind spinning far into the night.
Mithraheal’s arm wrapped around me, drawing me into his body. Levi scooted in tighter on my opposite side and let out a contented humming in his sleep. I loved these men so much. Luke, Levi and Mithraheal had fallen into a comfortable camaraderie over the past few weeks. They had adjusted to the idea of my having several mates much quicker than even I had adjusted.
Every evening, I would find two of them sitting on my bed ready to sandwich me in-between them for the night, while my third mate guarded our home. I never knew which two would be waiting for me, and couldn’t figure out how they made that decision, but it was a relief that they got along with each other.
“Dragostea mea, why are you flopping around in the bed like a fish out of water?” Mithraheal groaned into the curve of my neck.
“I’m anxious about today,” I whispered. “The wizards have been a tremendous help in planning our attack, but they make me uncomfortable. I don’t feel as though I can fully trust them.”
“Is it their beliefs that make you feel this way?” Mithraheal asked. When I nodded, he continued: “It is important to remember that many of their customs are long-standing and the newer generations often don’t even think to question those long-held opinions. I agree with you that their treatment of the nadir is cruel, but there are many other vampires who would take no issue with it. Vampires can be cruel too. They often kill the weak among our kind. This reckless regard for a life is one of the reasons I challenged my father for the throne.”
I drew imaginary circles up and down his muscled arm as I listened. I shuddered as I remembered the bits and pieces that he and Damien had told me about the challenge—a bloody battle where the two royal vampires attempted to kill each other, the winning vampire receiving the throne. The winner was declared only after he “killed” his opponent. It wasn’t a permanent death; vampires were the hardest to kill among the paranormal species, and aside from having their heart crushed, whilst their head was simultaneously ripped from their shoulders, there was no way to for them to die. They were dang near invincible.
The thought of Mithraheal going through the physical pain of the battle, as well as the emotional pain of fighting his father, sent a pang through my heart. Mithraheal hadn’t wanted to rule, but as the blood driven had grown more and more powerful, his father had begun to rule with more cruelty. He ruled without mercy, whilst turning a blind eye to the illegal activities of his friends. The blood driven had become restless and a war amongst their kind had been looming on the horizon.
Mithraheal had challenged his father for the throne to restore balance. After his victory, he had immediately gone to work, trying to right the wrongs that had people been subjected to. It had taken many decades, but eventually his father had apologized to the blood driven for his behavior, and for allowing power to blind him to their needs. Mithraheal’s parents now spent their time traveling the world, enjoying freedom from the duties of reigning royalty. Duties that weighed heavily on my handsome vampire mate.
Damien and Mithraheal teleported back and forth from our hideout in the woods to their palace on a daily basis. Until we were able to determine if Draven had followers among the blood driven, we didn’t feel it was safe to make it known exactly where I was living. I also worried that innocent lives would be lost if I moved into the castle and Draven attacked. It was better to wait until the threat was gone; then we could sort out more permanent living arrangements.
The warm morning sun had now filled my room and I knew it was time to get up and prepare myself for the day. Closing my eyes, I teleported myself to the bathroom. You can call me lazy, but I viewed this as a way of continuing to improve my skills. Okay, fine. It is lazy, but also extremely convenient.
I rushed through my morning routine, slipping on a worn pair of jeans and a backless red shirt. Mithraheal had replaced most of the shirts in my wardrobe with backless tops, which pleased Beasty immensely. We were both still hurt over Cage’s rejection, and it was nice to have little reminders that our other mates loved us no matter which form we took.
After slipping on a pair of black riding boots and strapping on my beautiful daggers, I teleported myself directly into Luke’s lap. He barely even started, quickly setting down his mug of coffee before wrapping his arms around me. He had shadows under his green eyes, no doubt from staying up to guard the cabin the night before.
“You are going to give me a heart attack one of these days.” His words held amusement as he leaned forward and captured my lips with his own.
I laughed against his mouth, knowing that my men had grown used to me randomly popping in on them throughout the day. Sure, Levi had screamed the first several times I had done it to him, but now he only jerked in shock when I suddenly appeared in front of him.
Luke nipped at my bottom lip, and I parted my lips, allowing him to deepen our kiss. As his tongue danced across mine, I tasted the toasted caramel flavors of his coffee. My heart lurched and danced to a rhythm only I could hear. I scooted tighter against him as I straddled his lap. One of his hands sunk deep into my hair, while the other slid under my shirt. I gasped as his fingers caressed my breast.
I felt his smirk against my lips; he was teasing me. Jerk. Two could play at this game! I ground myself against the bulge that had grown harder beneath me. He inhaled a ragged breath. I began a slow rhythmic rocking, keeping a slow and unhurried pace. His groan quickly turned into a growl and his hands moved to grip my hips. He pressed me down tighter against his erection, causing heat to rush to my core. Our kissing had gone from playful to frantic in mere seconds, something that often happened with all my mates.
As his lips slid down my neck and his hands fumbled to unbutton my jeans, I tilted my head back and groaned. I stiffened. Luke sat back and then burst into a throaty laugh.
“You purred!”
“I did not!”
His booming laughter filled the kitchen. Indignant, I hopped off his lap with as much grace as I could manage, ignoring the protests from my throbbing lady bits that begged me to ride him like a carnival ride. Goddesses do not purr. I sniffed and turned to leave.
Luke caught my hand and brought it to his lips. “I love you… Kitty.”
His eyes twinkled and his lips twitched as he attempted to hide his amusement. I opened my mouth to respond with something I hoped would be witty but stopped as my ears popped. I had come to recognize this as a sign that a supernatural was about to arrive via teleportation magic. Apparently this was a dragon ability, as other paranormal species couldn’t sense when someone was about to teleport themselves to a nearby location. We were keeping that nifty little talent a secret for the time being.
“Someone’s just arrived. I need to go see who.” I leaned forward, giving Luke a swift kiss before moving out the door and toward the wizards’ command area.
Beasty stirred in my mind, stretching languidly as she focused on our surroundings. She hated waking up early, and for a second I wondered what had woken the sleeping dragon. A tingle rushed through my body and my tattoos began to glow. Hmm … this was a new reaction.
I sent my magic out to seek a threat, but I found none. It did, however, find the new arrival, and I felt the magic as it twisted around him like a cat before returning to me. Good grief! I was a dragon, not a house cat! What was wrong with me?
As my magic merged with me again, a new emotion overwhelmed me. Anticipation. I barely kept myself from running to the room that held the new arrival. My back itched as my wings tried to burst free, my gums ached as my fangs burned to be released, and my ears twitched. I didn’t want to alarm everyone in the room by bursting in mid-shift, so I strained to maintain control and keep a mostly human form.
First impressions were important, especially when meeting your newest mate for the first time.