6. Maya #2
My mate was back on me in a heartbeat, his kiss hard and unrelenting, tasting like my blood and behaving far differently than his normal relaxed nature.
I pulled away, tearing his top slightly, unable to reach his neck to mark him.
I wouldn’t risk being separated again though, not before I could claim him.
My lips brushed over his muscular chest and he hissed in reaction when I suddenly bit down hard, my teeth sinking into his flesh without any hesitancy. My skin rolled with heat as his hand slipped into my hair, a low groan leaving his throat as my magic wrapped around the two of us.
All at once, everything collided. His blood. His magic. His dragon. All of it was mine. Our creatures and magic were becoming one in an unbreakable blood connection that lit my entire body up like gasoline on a fire.
I could taste his blood flowing across my tongue as his entire body tensed before a wave of pleasure coated our bond, creating a nearly euphoric high that invaded my body. Only when the connection was complete did I pull back, a sense of relief filling me as I ran my tongue over the wound.
My phoenix let out a soft, pleased sound at the sense of relief and contentment that rolled through our bond at seeing the mark I’d left on him.
Ledger’s dragon produced a near purr that came from his chest as he easily picked me up, my arms wrapping around his neck as I nuzzled against his throat, feeling like I could breathe once again.
Ledger was mine.
It was about a minute later that I realized what I’d done.
Everything I’d done and how I’d acted. My cheeks heated at the silence behind us, and I shrank further against Ledger, who was brushing his lips gently against our mating mark, his relaxed attitude making me feeling far better.
It was almost like a shield from the reality behind us and the consequences I could face for having acted so rashly.
That innate fear of being punished or having my mates mad at me snuck in. It shouldn’t have existed. They had never done anything to warrant it, but I had been taught that rash actions usually resulted in pain from my mother or Pastor Malcolm, so it was almost impossible to not be worried.
“Holy fuck.”
Despite the slight amusement in Anani’s statement, his voice smoothing over my ears like water and making my skin break out in chills, I was scared to turn around and face the others.
I had growled at him.
What was wrong with me?
“I told you that it was a pointless endeavor, trying to stop that.” Croy’s accented voice filled the space as I continued to keep my head tucked down.
The only thing that was slowly convincing me to consider looking up was the lack of judgement or anger I felt through my other three bonds.
There were a lot of feelings there, but anger wasn’t one of them, and that made me feel safer about facing the consequences of my actions.
“You both need to relax,” Ledger suddenly said, his voice filled with an even, smooth confidence as Henry let out a near growl at his command. “You are scaring the hell out of her.” His words had Henry’s growl cutting off as I felt worry fill our bond. Honestly, Ledger wasn’t wrong.
“Sweetheart?” Henry’s voice was soft, and I looked up to find him standing closer. His gray eyes were filled with concern, and his dragon had gone silent.
“Are you mad at me? Is Marco?” I whispered softly, my chest squeezing tightly as I felt panic begin to edge in.
“No,” Henry immediately stated, his eyes flaring with surprise. “Not mad, Maya.”
I could tell he was telling the truth, and I put my head up slightly more, my gaze moving over his shoulder to where Marco stood watching all of this.
I knew Atlas wasn’t mad at me, although concern was evident there, and the others weren’t…
but Marco? I couldn’t read his expression, and not knowing how someone felt was far scarier than knowing, even if it was bad.
The concept of him possibly being mad at me had my head feeling dizzy and light.
“Marco.” Atlas’s voice was harder than normal.
Marco blinked, seeming to shake something as his eyes went from black to green almost immediately.
I let out a small, concerned sound as he neared, approaching slowly and cupping my jaw, his gaze searching my face.
I could tell his dragon was upset I hadn’t listened to him, but Marco himself seemed both confused and honestly a bit turned on.
The combination had me feeling a bit safer as I offered him a shy look, affection and worry filling our bond.
There was another emotion there as well, one that I wasn’t familiar with from his end, and I didn’t know how to describe it.
“Maya, baby girl, I promise you I’m not mad.”
“Okay,” I whispered and then looked over at Anani, who was watching all of this with surprise. I spoke a bit louder. “Sorry for growling at you, Anani.”
His eyes sparked with amusement. “I liked it.”
Oh.
“You should know this is probably going to happen more often,” Croy pointed out, his voice settling something in my soul as he broke the moment and my fear of them being mad disappeared completely.
“Her magic is trying to catch up with all of her mating bonds before she goes into heat.” His voice turned into a slight growl on the last word before resuming its normal smoothness.
“We need to check with the physician, but I am almost positive that for a phoenix, marking her mates is essential to the process before going into heat. At least from what I’ve read. ”
Ledger pressed a kiss to the top of my head as he placed me down but kept me against him. I looked up at the others, who were all watching me as Croy pressed a hand to my forehead and examined my expression with concern.
“Fever?” Henry’s voice sounded anxious.
“Slight,” Croy muttered as his hand slid down my jaw and neared my mating mark.
Ledger let out a low warning rumble as Croy’s gaze snapped over my shoulder, his wolf letting out a dangerous, dominant sound that had my eyes widening.
I did not want them fighting, but I also understood it was less them and more their creatures.
Although, I also was figuring out that Croy was apparently ‘above’ the twins on the dominance scale in the ‘pack’ or ‘flight’ order.
Something I still didn't fully understand, but Croy had done his best to explain it to me briefly on the way to the Council when I had asked if Larry and Edmund would continue to be rude. It was different when they were rude to me, but to Croy? That wasn’t acceptable.
Apparently, Croy was close in dominance level to them, so he figured they would continue to try despite it being a ‘failed and rather pathetic effort,’ as he described it.
“Mating heat. Is the fever a sign of that?” I asked softly.
“I’m honestly not positive.” Croy’s expression turned thoughtful.
My phoenix preened inside of me, soaring through my subconscious while grooming her feathers, clearly thrilled at the concept of mating with all of our mates.
How she had gone from being so aggressive to calm was beyond me, but now she was acting extremely relaxed.
It had to be because we marked Ledger. The concept of marking the others was extremely appealing, and mating with them?
Maybe at the same time? Was that how mating heat worked?
I was one hundred percent okay with figuring that out.
I tilted my head, trying to imagine how exactly that would work, you know…
what I did with Marco but with all of them. At least positioning-wise.
I went to bring it up, but Henry was there then, shaking his head and running a thumb over my lips. “Nope. I wouldn’t risk asking that question right this moment, sweetheart.”
My toes curled at the heat in his gray eyes as Sai chuckled. “Well now I want to know.”
“I’m curious as well.” Atlas’s smile was dangerous as his eyes ran over my neck, something heated filling his gaze as a sound broke from his chest that nearly had me stepping forward. The man had a dangerous effect on me.
“Well, I was trying to imagine?—”
Henry’s lips pressed against mine in a forceful, hard kiss that had my knees nearly breaking, Ledger’s grip tightening on my hips from behind. “Maya, later. Trust me on this.”
I did trust him. But I was also very curious…
“Plus,” Croy drew out, “we have an audience.”
We did?