Chapter 59
RAINE
Food. I’m starving again and cold. The warm days of summer are long gone.
But this time I ate everything Leo brought me for lunch and it’s not quite dinner time yet.
Afternoon tea sounds delightful now, but I told Leo at lunch that I wouldn’t want anything because I had to focus. Such a silly thing to have told him.
I stop outside the dining room in the dragon’s eye foyer.
Kieren was by earlier, but he’s been called away to Crest Wing for a day or two.
Evander’s there now. Roark’s in the office fighting a spreadsheet.
Kieren warned me to stay clear: Roark has to get whatever it is he’s doing done, and the last time I poked my head in while he was working, he gleefully left his computer.
The drape over the closed office door is wide open, tempting me to come in.
I resist the pull and spin around, pointing myself back in the direction of the dining room.
But I pause at the curtain in front of the Thessari.
I’m not supposed to look at it. Even now.
A waterfall of thoughts rushes through me.
They must have some doubts about me, or they wouldn’t tell me to stay clear of the portal.
Right? Queen. I huff. It’s absurd. I’m not queen material.
I’m barely Duchess material. My stomach flips.
I’m falling in love with all three of them. No, not falling.
In love.
Holy crap. I can’t be in love. Because what if I don’t have the lightning?
Also, what if I have the lightning? Queen.
Me? I don’t think so. I spin around and glance at the shut door.
I could say hi. Sit quietly with my notebook and tell him he has to finish it.
Nope, that’s cruel. Because the last time I went in there, I was pinned under him and Kieren within a few minutes.
He needs to get his work done. There’s plenty of things I don’t like doing, but once I’m doing them, they’re not that bad.
Interrupting him? That’s rude. No matter how much I’m squeezing my core at the memory of last time.
I take a step toward the dining room, but there’s a loud screeching noise behind me. The Thessari.
“Leo!” I run into the dining room. “Leo!”
Leo steps out of the butler’s pantry, a blue robe in hand. “Mr. Slate is returning from Crest Wing.” He snaps the curtain open, and the metallic scrape of the rings on the rod echoes in the foyer.
I tuck my notebook under my arm and stand behind Leo. I’ve never seen anyone come through the portal before, and my heart’s slamming around the inside of my ribcage.
“No need to worry, Miss Raine. You’re standing in the correct position.”
I tilt my head to Leo. He’s watching the void like he can see things I can’t.
His eye on his dignified profile twitches. “Now,” he says.
Evander pops from the blackness. He skids forward with a little hop and ends up in the middle of the dragon’s eye mosaic. Smoke twirls around his head, and his tanned skin glistens with heat. And it dawns on me why the foyer and the portal are so large.
“Stuck the landing, Leopold. Impressive, right?” Evander takes the robe from Leo and puts it on.
I step out from behind Leo.
“Raine.” Evander’s face lights up. “You’ve never seen the portal fully in action. But if you had, you’d know that was a really good landing.” He pulls me against his warm, naked body—his robe’s hanging open.
“You’re hot,” I say, placing my cold hands on his hard chest.
“You’re hotter.” He peppers kisses on my cheek until he reaches my lips. His kiss is firm and demanding. It has me completely forgetting about how cold my hands are. He pulls back first. “Thank you, Leopold.”
“You’re welcome. I have food set up for you and Miss Fischer in the dining room.”
“Wonderful.” Evander interlocks our fingers and leads me to the dining room. A dining room that didn’t have any food in it a few minutes ago now has a stack of grilled cheeses, potato salad, potato rostini, and roasted potatoes.
“I guess he knew exactly when you were going to be here,” I say as Evander helps me into a seat. He pulls his chair close enough that our legs touch.
When he’s mounded his plate with food, he leans back in his chair and smiles at me. “It’s good to be home. Damn, in all the years I’ve lived here, I’ve never once thought about this place as home.”
“Really?” I take half of a grilled cheese from the platter, but I’m no longer hungry. Being with Evander has filled that emptiness inside of me. And it hits me.
This feels like home to me too.
I nod, keeping my realization to myself. I should think this through for a while.
He puts his fork down and squeezes my hand. “You’ve done that for me. You’ve done that for all of us, actually.”
“I feel the same,” I blurt out. So much for thinking things through. “I do. I . . .”
“What?”
“What happens if I don’t have the lightning? If I never get the mark? We haven’t talked about it.”
“Right, I don’t think we need to, because I’m confident it will happen. But you’re right: you need to know how things work.” His thumb draws circles on the back of my hand.
I nod.
“We’re like Earth shifters. When we claim a mate, we bite.
And when one in a thunder claims a mate, it claims the mate for the whole thunder.
That doesn’t stop each male from claiming the female and having the female claim them.
Legend has it that while it’s an honor to be the first mate to claim a female, each mating after is more erotic and pleasurable. ”
I reach for my water because I’ve suddenly become exorbitantly thirsty.
“I’m willing to wait a long time. I have a great aunt who is known for being a bit headstrong. It took her over six months to have her lightning. Her mates knew she was theirs, or so the story goes.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Not that I think you’re headstrong.” He drops his hand to my thigh.
“I . . . I’ve been accused of it before.” I drop my napkin on the table. I didn’t realize it, but I’ve been twisting the ends. “Do you think I could be the reason why the lightning hasn’t happened?”
“No . . . no, Raine, that’s not what I meant. My great aunt was Rivulet and just wasn’t sure she could live on the prairie of Elderglen. It’s different.”
My focus flicks to his brown eyes. “Rivulet vs Elderglen, Crest Wing queen vs regular girl. It’s not that different.”
“True, but I’m sure about you. That’s one of the reasons why we have broken the rules. And why I’m willing to break more rules if we have to.”
They’re not supposed to be sharing me yet. I take another sip of water. “What other rules?”
Evander’s chest rises. “Right. If you don’t have the lightning, you can’t come to Crest Wing.
But I’m willing to fight them on that. Dragons of the older generation can be a bit rigid.
And by the older generation, I mean Kieren’s parents.
They are firm in their ways.” He takes a bite of his sandwich.
“And humans who aren’t lightning mates aren’t widely accepted. ”
“Especially as a queen.”
“Yes,” Evander says.
“What if someone doesn’t want to be in a thunder? Not that I feel that way.” His hand is on my thigh, and I place mine on top of his. Because I don’t. If there wasn’t this whole queen thing loaming over me, I wouldn’t have a single question.
“Sure, lightning brothers can turn each other down. But they never do. We’re males and a bit like furastina.
Hmm, lemmings I think is the animal here on Earth.
They just do what the next one does. Females, though?
Females have been known to take a long time to have the lightning.
And some even decide not to join the thunder.
And that’s their right. It’ll be your right too.
I think that’s why we’ve developed this way.
Dragons from my realm can be . . . well, we’re difficult, you know? ”
I purse my lips and give a slight nod, remembering my first day here with Kieren.
“You know. If the lightning were to happen for the female quickly, with the males thudding around setting trees on fire and acting like a bunch of dragonets, most reasonable females would leave. But this way, with having to wait for the lightning, it forces us all to get to know each other. Let us show you that we’re not complete mud monsters. ”
“Mud monsters?” I laugh.
“Oh, you wouldn’t laugh about mud monsters if you were born in Elderglen. I was scared silly about them when I was a dragonet. And of course my older sisters knew it. They used to make up great tales about how mud monsters swallowed down dragonets for breakfast.”
“That sounds horrible,” I say, but I’m having a hard time keeping the smile off my face.
“You’ll like my sisters. My parents too. They’re not stuffy.”
I raise my eyebrows at him.
“Not that Kieren’s . . . Yes they are. Stuffy is being kind.
Though there are some perks to being in the prince’s thunder.
Having an ancestral here waiting with my robe.
Not having to cook. I’m sure there are other things I can’t think of right now.
” Evander ties his belt, hiding away his perfect abs.
He grabs my chin with his thumb and forefinger. “I like the way you look at me.”
His other hand wraps around my shoulders, and his lips claim mine. He tastes of cream and smells of smoky almonds.
When our kiss ends, my stomach has settled. I grab the other half of my sandwich and take a bite.
“You know, I think you’ll really like Elderglen. It’s full of history.”
“I hope I get to see it someday.”
“Oh, you will. I can’t wait to have you on my back, the wind in your hair as I fly low over the tall grass. To hear your laugh bursting over the prairie as we buzz to my family’s tower.” There’s a serene smile on his lips.
“You miss Elderglen?” I ask. And I can’t help but think about Roark’s brother, Varek, hiding out there.
“It’s a wonderful place, where all my family is. But they have each other.” His chest heaves.
“And Kieren’s sister has only the three of you.”
“Yes.” He squeezes my thigh. “We’ll figure out how to keep her safe.” He kisses the side of my head. “Have you had enough to eat?”
“Yes.”
“Good, because I haven’t.” He tosses me over his shoulder and charges up the stairs.