Chapter 56
KIEREN
The energy from the portal fills my dragon. The draw of home tugs on me, controls me, making me want to step into the portal and return to my clan.
Waiting was hard, harder than anything I’ve ever done. There’s only a few more minutes now.
Evander takes up the rest of the chant. “Bring us together if it’s in your grace, oh fates. We demand you show us your answer.”
My eyes snap to Evander’s face. Demand is not part of the ceremony. We request, by the graces, you reveal in time your answer is how it’s normally phrased. But my dragon roars in agreement with Evander. My shoulders fly back, and smoke pours from my nose.
I stop in front of Raine. She’s shaking. In a minute, I’ll be able to hold her hand to comfort her.
Roark steps behind her and reaches down, removing her hood. Her dark hair cascades out to fall in front of her. His fingers slide down her arms, and he takes her hand in his.
Evander steps up to her, and she holds her hand out to him.
“And then we are . . .” they say together.
I cup her face with both hands.
Zaps and zings jolt through me. The marking down my spine burns, burns as much as when I had my own lightning.
Her blue eyes dilate, and her lips part in a gasp. “Kieren.” She holds her hands up, Roark’s and Evander’s hands with hers. Her eyes flick to them as if she doesn’t recognize they are her own.
We’ve done this more times than I want to think about. Never has my mark even itched. I want the robe off, but I can’t take my eyes off her. Removing my fingers from her skin isn’t something I want to do either. Fuck.
Her arms drop to her sides, and she drops the guys’ hands.
Roark’s close behind her. Ready to catch her. When the three of us had our lightning, we all passed out. Evander’s braced too.
“How do you feel, Duchess?” Roark’s voice isn’t much more than a deep whisper.
“On fire. My leg burns. My . . .” She shakes her head. “Something’s happening.” She turns to the portal.
“I’ll close the portal,” Roark says, pulling on the cords.
The energy from our realm vanishes, but there’s something new. A connection I’ve never felt before. I laugh. I can’t help it.
The pads of my fingers skim around her jawline, to her neck. “Raine.” A smile on my lips, I lean in. Will she let me kiss her? She rises up onto her toes, and her eyes close. I’m overcome with the knowledge that this moment will be with me forever.
The pads of her silken lips press against mine, leaving me dizzy. I can hear my thunder mates’ voices in the back of my head, but I have no idea what they’re saying. My eyes close.
One hand grips tightly on her hip, while the other moves to the top of her spine. My thumb presses on one side, and my fingers grasp the other, controlling our kiss, deepening it, tasting every bit of her.
This is definitely not like anything I’ve ever experienced. This is new.
My cock hardens.
Raine’s hands wrap around my waist, and I’ve never wanted somebody as much as I want her.
The fact that she hasn’t fallen to the ground with the lightning is more than shocking, but I won’t let it change the importance of this moment.
She’s not our thunder mate yet, but she will be. I feel it in my soul.
When our kiss ends, I don’t know if it’s been a year or a moment. Her eyes, so blue like the sky over the mountain behind Crest Wing Castle at home, search mine. I know she wants answers, answers I don’t have.
Until her, I didn’t believe in the prophecy. Now that I have her in my arms, how could I have ever doubted it? She hasn’t had the lightning, but it will come. I know it will.
“Raine,” I say, “I’ve never . . . It’s never been like this. I’ve never known anyone like you.” My hand moves to her hair. “You’re more than beautiful. You’re smart and clever and disarmingly good. So good that it overwhelms me.”
She brings her body flush against mine, pulling me into a tight hug. I feel her vibrations against my chest.
“Are you crying?” I ask, my gut twisting at the thought of causing her tears.
“I am,” she says, “but not because I’m sad. I was wrong. I didn’t know what I wanted, but I do now. I want this. I want all three of you.”
She reaches out a hand to both Evander and Roark, and there’s nothing I can do to stop her. She hasn’t had the lightning, but she’s our mate. There’s no way we can’t touch her together.
Evander removes the clasp with the emerald jewel at her neck and lets the robe fall to the ground. His lips hit the side of her neck, opposite my hand.
I glance at Roark. He’s still holding her fingers but hasn’t moved in. He hasn’t claimed that he’ll join us. My eyes lock with Roark’s. If Evander, the one more cognizant of traditions, is all in, Roark will follow.
I hold his gaze. What are you going to do, my friend?
There’s a low growl from him, his dragon. Smoke circles above his head, and then Raine is ripped away from my grasp into his arms. He takes the stairs two at a time. Evander has Raine’s robe clutched under his arm.
I manage to speed past all three of them and open the door to her suite, the one that’s been reserved for our thunder mate for a long time. I pull the covers down in one swish, throwing the duvet to the ground.
Roark tosses her onto the bed, and she bounces.
“Careful,” I say.
Raine’s laughter fills the room, and she scrambles onto her elbows. A pillow flies across the room and smacks me in the head. “I’m fine.”
Evander’s chuckling as his robe and other clothes fly onto the day lounger. Roark’s doing the same.
“Right.” I pull off my robe. I’m a few steps behind, and by the time I’m naked, Evander has her lips on his, one hand on her breast. Roark has her legs spread and his tongue flattened against her clit.
I’ve been away in the other realm, but in my imagination, they’ve had their hands all over her for the last few weeks. “It’s my turn,” I growl.
Evander’s head cocks to the side, but he doesn’t lift his lips from her and Roark doesn’t so much as twitch.
I smack the side of his head. Yes, I’m acting like a spoiled dragonet who hasn’t been allowed to play with his toy.
But she’s not our toy. I can feel it in my dragon’s heart.
We were made for her. It’s only a matter of time.
She’ll have the lightning, and when she does, it will be glorious seeing her mark spread across her skin.
I don’t care where it is or what it looks like, but I want it now.
I push against Roark’s shoulder, and his muffled laugh has Raine’s hips shaking.
“Fine.” He lifts his head at last. “You deserve a taste.” He lifts one of her legs and rolls out of the way.
We’ve never shared a woman before. Never even come close to breaking one of the cardinal rules of a thunder.
Raine is different. She’s ours. There’s no breaking of the rules when we know she’s ours.
We’ll have two first times. Now and after she has her lightning.
“You’re so beautiful laid out like this.” I skim my fingers up her leg.
Evander lifts his head, and Raine’s head drops to the pillow, her dark hair splayed over it.
She bites her plump lip, her blue eyes sparkling in the low light.
I skim my fingertips up her leg and lower my face between her legs.
The first taste of her has my dragon roaring.
I will never have enough of her. Her legs quiver beneath my hands.
I understand what Roark means, though. Her taste is addictive, and she’s so responsive.
I’m squeezing her hips, holding her sweet flesh to my face.
Roark’s moved up to give her perfect breasts the attention they deserve.
“That’s it. Oh, it feels so good,” Raine says, her voice full of tension.
I speed my pace and add a second finger in rhythm with my tongue, and she comes. Screaming my name. And it’s never been like this for me. I want to make her come a hundred more times before I even think about what I want. Her moans drop to quiet unintelligible mumbles.
“What are you saying, Duchess?” Roark asks, a laugh in his voice. It’s so odd to hear him so happy.
“I’m a flat pancake.” Her head flops to the side.
“A pancake?” Evander asks.
“Do you require food to keep up your stamina, Duchess?” Roark holds her hand.
“No, I don’t want pancakes. I am a pancake. I . . . Never mind, my brain’s not making sense.”
“What do you want?” Evander traces a finger around her jawline. “Do you want more?”
“Yes.” Her eyes flash at me.
A second ago, I didn’t care about my own needs. But if she wants more, there’s no reason it can’t be good for both of us.
Roark resumes feasting on her chest.
I’m on my knees for a second before she’s repositioned herself, wrapping her legs around me, her hips rising off the bed.
Fuck, I’m not worried that she’s not the one.
My mark down my spine tingles as I hold my cock at her lips.
Sliding into her, I’m fire. My dragon’s roar awakens lava inside my chest. I won’t mate her.
But I’m thinking that more as a mantra to myself. That would be too far.
Would it? My dragon barks at me.
Yes, no. As I slide deeper into her, worlds collide and I don’t know what realm I’m even in.