9. Sai
Sai
The sound of Maya’s soft laughter from the top of the staircase instantly had my entire body hardening, her happiness somehow managing to turn me on almost immediately.
Because that was so extremely normal, right?
Still, her rose and ash scent invaded my space and had me snapping my head up to find the gorgeous vision of my mate making her way towards me, down the steps.
Fuck. Me.
My gaze traveled up the delicate heels she was balancing on gracefully, the short skirt she was wearing, the light pink material swishing right under her ass only enhancing how long her legs looked covered in sheer thigh-high stockings.
Holy hell, she looked like she’d walked out of a goddamn fantasy.
Specifically, my own personal fantasy. I swear, I was so fucked when it came to this woman.
I did have to give her credit—she looked like a kitten, down to the diamond choker she was wearing.
Fuck, I did not want to examine why that turned me on so much, but it was clear where my head had been when I’d purchased it for her.
The way she smiled at her friend as they walked down the steps, seemingly unaware of the effect she had on anyone with eyes, only made it that much harder to control myself.
I wanted to make her all too aware of what she did to me. To all of us.
I did think Maya was starting to catch on to the hold she had over us, though.
Did I think she understood the trouble she was courting?
No. But I did think she got off on teasing us and wearing outfits like this one that made my knees feel fucking weak.
It was tempting to kneel in front of her and smooth my hands up her legs until I could bury myself between her thighs…
I pulled myself from those thoughts, not trusting what I would do considering how on edge I was from everything that had happened recently.
Although, I had come to the conclusion that after everything I’d endured on this planet, this tiny woman was going to be the one thing to absolutely destroy me.
My kitten already had my heart, and I knew she would do her best to protect it, but she really had no idea how much power she wielded.
It made me want to lay the world at her feet just to prove that I was worthy of her attention.
“Fuck.” Anani let out a choked sound as Marco released a low growl from where he was standing with him, causing me to tense.
I had no idea what was going on with the bastard.
I mean, I did… He was obviously on edge because of the situation with Malcolm, but it was more than that.
His entire disposition was almost uncontrolled, and even now, his normal reserved mannerisms seemed completely absent.
That was dangerous for most people, but with Marco, it was absolutely lethal.
As Anani mumbled something and drew a hand over his face, I kept Maya’s gaze as she looked down at me, offering a big smile.
I seriously considered tackling her at that moment, just to keep her against and under me, so that no one outside of our flight and Croy could see her.
I didn’t want anyone else to have the pleasure of looking over a single inch of her golden skin.
I barely noticed her friend Jordan slipping past to go to Marcellus and his brothers, her mates, as I reached out to grab Maya. She did a little twirl, showing off her outfit, and causing a rumble to catch in my throat.
“What do you think?” she asked, her eyes lit up with a teasing flash that was quickly replaced with warmth and affection that was sweet and almost innocent… Almost, because I think she knew I was fighting the very present urge to bend her over on the stairs and rail into her.
It was going to be a losing battle if she continued to look at me like that, and before she knew it, I would have her entire body covered in my bite marks.
That damn outfit just provided far too many opportunities that my cock was practically begging me to take advantage of.
My dragon was begging as well, for the record, and he was convinced that she was showing so much skin because she wanted exactly that and that I was somehow in the wrong for not giving in to her…
This was going to be a very long night.
“You’re a kitten,” I mumbled intelligently. Clearly, the sight of her had fried my brain cells.
She nodded and took Bella off her shoulder, presenting her to the three of us happily. I broke into a bark of laughter as the small kitten flashed a pair of phoenix wings. Alright, that was adorable—there was no denying that.
“That’s what you call me, so I thought it was fitting,” she pointed out, her smile small but filled with a coy sweetness to it that had my cock hardening even further against my pants.
“Plus, how often is it that Bella and I get to trade places like this? I couldn’t tell her no to the idea once I brought it up. ”
My mate’s gaze flitted around the room as she noticed the others staring at her from the kitchen, her smile growing.
I was glad she didn’t notice Jordan’s mates, because I wasn’t positive I could deal with her eyes on anyone else but us right now.
The group of them seemed preoccupied anyway, arguing about something that I frankly couldn’t care less about.
It wasn’t personal, not really, it was just that my entire attention was on my mate, who was looking like a fucking cupcake right now.
“Oh!” She looked at us curiously. “Did the boys get to the pack lands alright? I was worried about that, and I didn’t even get a chance to tell them to be safe tonight.”
So fucking sweet.
“Perfectly safe. Atlas personally made sure they arrived without incident,” I assured her. She seemed to relax, happy with that notion.
“I know they aren’t really kids, at least not after everything they’ve been through…” She sighed and then frowned. “I just hate the idea of them thinking no one cares about them. No one should feel that way; it’s the most isolating and lonely feeling in the world.”
“We will make sure they know they have us, even if they do decide to take up Alpha Creed on his offer.”
“Offer?” She arched a brow.
“To live on the pack lands with some of the other shifter children. They have an entire community because shifters abandon their children fairly often, so he’s made sure to have a massive house that can take in anyone in that situation.”
“They abandon their children?” Maya looked like she was about to cry.
“Goddamnit,” Anani growled, appearing next to me. “Why does she look like she’s about to fucking cry?”
I pulled her forward and kissed her cheek gently as she sniffed and seemed to shake herself.
“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.”