Although the worst damage to my body had been healed pretty easily with magic, the rest of me wasn’t so easily put back together. The brand faded a little every day—but it still clung to my skin.
Worst of all, while my men knew that I couldn’t shift, they didn’t think it mattered if I could shift into a squirrel. I liked these men, but their arrogance was something that we were going to have to work on if we were going to have a happy ending.
Late one morning, I sat with Jaik and Talisyn in the garden outside the northern retreat, which overlooked a shimmering blue lake. In the distance, the mountains were covered in snow. I was bundled up in one of Jaik’s sweaters and a pair of leggings.
Everything was cozy and perfect… except my thoughts revolved around the fact that I couldn’t shift. How was I going to manage as Lucien Finn? How was I going to resurrect Lucien Finn from his mysterious disappearance while I was tortured by Henrick and Alis?
The men hadn’t pushed me too much on what happened to Lucien; I knew they didn’t want to upset me. But they wouldn’t feel that way once they were face to face with Lucien again. Jaik went tight with fury whenever he thought of Caldren and Lucien failing to protect me. There was going to be a reckoning when he saw them, as unfair as it was.
I hated that being Lucien was the cost of being a dragon. I could never give up the magic of being a dragon shifter now, soaring through the sky, breathing fire. But I wanted to be both Honor and the dragon.
The worries on my mind bubbled over into my speech, even though I knew I couldn’t be honest with Talisyn and Jaik, not yet. The elders had made sure that I couldn’t tell them the truth about who I was.
“I still can’t shift.” I pulled down my collar to look at the mark. The brand was partially healed with magic, but it would take many, many more healing sessions before it was removed entirely. It could be weeks before I could shift into a dragon again.
“So you have to go a few weeks without being a squirrel,” Jaik said. “I think it’ll be all right.”
“Don’t be condescending about my shifting,” I shot back.
He looked flummoxed, although it wasn’t as if Jaik should be surprised by someone telling him that he was condescending.
“I’m not trying to be,” Jaik said, “but why would you need to be a squirrel? You have us to protect you. You don’t have to make yourself small anymore.”
“That’s not what it means to be a squirrel shifter,” I answered. “It’s not me making myself small.”
Jaik looked perplexed, and Talisyn reached over and kicked him. “Talking to women who aren’t impressed with you is not your strong suit, is it?”
“Who said that Honor isn’t impressed by me?” Jaik retorted.
Talisyn just laughed. “I can tell.”
Jaik turned his offended gaze toward me.
I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “I told you that as a king, you shouldn’t have such tender feelings. You should be able to take a little criticism.”
“I can take criticism,” he scoffed. “What I can’t take is for you to pretend like you don’t adore me as much as I adore you.”
“You adore me?” I asked, my heart beating faster.
“And he saved it,” Talisyn narrated. “He’s usually an idiot but sometimes he does come through with the charm.”
I had to laugh at both of them.
“Want to swim?” Tal asked me.
That seemed like a terrible idea. The crystal blue water looked inviting, but I knew how cold it was. It was fed by the mountain springs. The entire thing was one giant pool of melted snow. I preferred for my swimming to be a little more restful and a little less invigorating.
“You should really join us,” Talisyn said with a wink. Then he shoved Jaik, who raised both eyebrows. “Race you!”
“He’s a child,” Jaik told me as Talisyn sprinted toward the lake. Then abruptly, he turned and ran after him. Tal flashed a grin over his shoulder as Jaik caught up to him.
Talisyn pulled his shirt over his head revealing broad shoulders and his powerful taper of his waist. Jaik was slightly leaner, muscular and tall with grace to the way he moved.
Tal tackled Jaik into the water and Jaik retaliated by pushing him under, the two of them fighting and splashing in a playful way. That made me grin.
I’d still never seen Jaik smile. He seemed to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. Even when we were intimate, he always had an intensity. But I hoped eventually I would soften him up. I had laughter enough for both of us. Even being on the shit list of the king of the dragons didn’t bring my mood down too much.
There was a flutter of wings somewhere overhead, and my head snapped up searching the horizon. Speaking of the king of dragons, was that one of the Olds come to drag me off for interrogation?
I was on my feet in an instant, ready to fight. There wasn’t much I would be able to do when I couldn’t shift, not against one of the dragons. I hated the thought that I couldn’t protect my men.
But the next second, a hawk swooped back overhead again, carrying fish from the lake, and I blew out a pent-up breath. I was so keyed up, I couldn’t help seeing dragons everywhere, even though there were only a few dozen in the whole kingdom.
“Honor,” Talisyn called, and I couldn’t resist, even if I knew that going into that water was a bad idea.
I ran to join them.
They stripped my clothes off with eager hands, kissing me, working in tandem as smoothly now as they did in battle.
My nipples beaded from the cold, drawn painfully tight. Jaik cupped my breasts with his hot palms; he still burned hot despite the cold. He was teasing my nipples when his gaze caught on the birthmark above my left breast.
“What’s this?” He caressed the mark. “A demon’s kiss?”
“I believe they call it an angel’s kiss where I come from.”
“I can believe that for another girl, but for you?” Jaik teased.
“Let’s show her we can match her for wickedness,” Talisyn asked, crowding behind me, his cock brushing against my inner thigh.
Determined to prove they couldn’t keep up, I twisted in Talisyn’s arms and dropped to my knees, taking his cock into my mouth. I grabbed his tight ass with both hands, encouraging him to pump harder into my mouth. Talisyn’s moan broke the deep silence of the forest.
I shivered, and Jaik knelt behind me, his hard expanse of warm flesh covering my naked back. His fingers brushed over the scars that covered my back. I’d always been self-conscious about them, careful to hide them in a gown, but I just ground back against Jaik now. I knew he didn’t care.
When I finally collapsed back on the bank, sore and throbbing in the best of ways, wrapped in a towel, I felt tempted to stay here at the northern retreat forever. I felt happy.
Orgasms so often lead to optimism.
Then I heard a whisper in my mind. “Honor…”
Chapter
Eleven
Honor
My heart was in my throat instantly, and I searched the horizon, trying to figure out what had just happened. Tal and Jaik had gone back into the water to bathe, and my lips parted to call them.
“It’s me. Come into the woods.” It was Damyn’s voice. “Just out of their sight.”