“Are you okay?” I raised my hand to Vali’s cheek and brought his face to mine. I may not have been able to read their emotions like they could mine, but I rated myself pretty well at reading people.
“Ah Regina. I am more than just okay. You have no idea how long I have wanted for my brother to not hate me. These things take time, but for now, I couldn’t be happier. Thank you.” His granite eyes were alight with relief and joy, and it made my heart clench painfully for him.
“Thank me? For what? You did that on your own.” Acting on pure instinct, I raised up on my toes and pressed my lips to his. My only excuse could be that I was riding high on the adrenaline of the flight through the clouds and my almost staggering happiness to see him and Cole mending bridges. But still...
“Shit, I’m sorry. You wanted to wait, and I said I was cool with that.” I pulled back, breaking our kiss.
Vali chuckled, slipping his hand into the hair at the back of my neck. “I said I wanted to wait until things were better between Cole and I. Things... are better.”
He dipped his head back to meet mine, claiming my lips in a kiss so hot it was practically on fire. Moaning, I parted my lips, allowing him to caress my tongue with his own as we released weeks of pent up desire into that one kiss.
It was no great shock when we finally pulled apart, breathless and lightheaded, to see the burned patch of grass under our feet.
“There was something else we meant to discuss with you, drag?,” Vali said as he pulled his T-shirt back on, then took my hand in his to walk back to the house.
“Oh?” I prompted, curious.
“Yes, Cole and I have discussed the bonding.” He flicked a look at me from under his dark brows, sweeping a hand through his scruffy hair to move it from his face. “We wondered, if you were open to the idea, if you might bond us both at the same time.”
“Oh. Um, why?” I was a bit stunned and confused, but not against the idea.
“Well, we just thought our magic is essentially the same thing—we shift into dragons. From the work we have done this week, it seems that the way we access and control our fire or ice is identical also. So, if you were to bond us both, it’s really only one learning curve when you take on our abilities.” He paused, scratching at his eyebrow a bit awkwardly. “Did I explain that right? This is why I wanted Cole to talk about it.”
“Oh stop, don’t you give me that language barrier shit again.” I laughed at him. “Yes, I think you explained that well enough. And you’re probably right...” I chewed my lip as I mulled it over. “My only concern is dealing with all the feelings from you both at once. But Austin seems really sure we can get a lid on it before I bond anyone else so... yeah, in theory I’m down with this idea.”
“Excellent. So now you just need to work on blocking?” Vali smiled at me a little apprehensively, like he had just realized I’d said yes and this could actually happen soon. “If it helps, I truly don’t think you will have many feelings to manage from Cole. Before meeting you, I could have sworn he had the emotional depth of a cucumber.”
I snorted a laugh at this visual and hip-checked him playfully.
To everyone else, Cole might seem to have the emotional scope of a cucumber, but I knew better. My Cutie just had a great poker face, I was pretty sure.
Either way, he was my cucumber and I loved him.
15
WESLEY
Cole was the first to return from the dense trees behind the house, stalking like he was pissed off at something, but as he came closer, there was an oddly calm, almost happy look on his face. Complicated bastard.
“Good flight?” I asked him as he let himself in through the sliding door to the back yard. I’d been working on my computer at the table, and it was pure coincidence that I was facing the trees that Kit had disappeared into with the Romanians some hours earlier.
Okay, fine. I was waiting for them.
“The best,” Cole responded, never one to mince words. “Heading to bed. You should too; it’s late.”
“Ah yeah, just got a few more things to do,” I hedged, running a hand through my hair even as I glanced at my blank screen. I hadn’t done any work in at least half an hour, since I’d started worrying that they’d been gone a really long time.
Cole narrowed his eyes at me, and a tiny smile curved the edge of his lips. “You couldn’t spy, huh?”
My traitorous cheeks flamed with heat, but I still denied it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just doing some background research that River asked for.”
“Hah, sure. You’re pissed because Vali and I scared all the crows away from the area, and you have no eyes or ears to keep an eye on Vixen.” Cole patted me on the shoulder. “Go to bed, Wes. They could still be a while yet, and she is perfectly safe with him.”
At a loss for words because he was fucking spot-on correct, I huffed and closed the lid of my laptop, pushing back from the table and standing up.
“Not fair, dude,” I grumbled, following him out of the room and heading for the stairs to reach my room. “I have no surveillance set up out here. You couldn’t have left the crows alone?”
Cole barked a harsh laugh but didn’t reply as he disappeared toward his own room and closed the door. Sighing, I pushed my glasses up my nose again and made my way upstairs. My contacts had been getting a bit gritty, so I’d swapped back to glasses to give my eyes a break.
Once inside my room, I got changed for bed but stayed up a little longer, fucking around on my phone near the window until I saw Kit and Vali emerge from the trees. They were holding hands, and Kit was laughing at something the Romanian dragon had just said.
Relieved to see she was okay, I could finally go to bed. Something had been nagging at me, telling me something bad was coming, but I just didn’t know what. Until I could work it out, I would be nervous and paranoid anytime Kit was out of sight.
Flicking my light off, I climbed into bed and braced myself for whatever my dreams would hold this time.
“Hello?” I called into the mist, looking around me cautiously. This was a new one, that was for sure. Often my dreams allowed me to pop into other people’s dreams. For the most part, they never knew I was there, but sometimes they did... like with Kit. The dreams we shared were my favorite reason to sleep.
It almost felt naughty when we met in our dreams, especially when I knew she was sleeping in the arms of one of my friends. But it was all the more exciting for that fact.
This dream was different though; I could tell instantly. Something about the way the mist clung to my skin like it was a sentient being.
“Hello?” I called out again. One thing that remained constant in all of my dreams—I was never alone. Even when the dreamer couldn’t hear or see me, they were still present. So the question now was whose head I’d ended up inside.
“Wesley,” a voice said from close behind me, and I startled, spinning to face... my brother?
“Grant?” I puzzled, confused as all hell. How did I end up in my little brother’s dream?
“Not exactly.” My little brother’s form melted into a blur of mist, reforming into my mother. “Is this better?” I gaped, not totally sure what the hell was going on. “Ah, I see it’s not. How about this?” My mother faded into mist and reformed as Kit.
“Stop it,” I demanded. “Show me your real form. Stop hiding behind the faces of my loved ones.”
“Ah, no. I don’t think so. But perhaps this is a more comfortable form for you.” The creature faded and reformed once more, this time wearing the face of the old shop clerk in town.
“It’ll do,” I conceded, still on high alert. Whoever this was, they couldn’t be good. Why else would they refuse to show their form to me?
“Oh, don’t look at me with such suspicion, Wesley,” the old man scoffed, flapping a hand and creating a worn looking armchair out of the mist to sit in. “Sit down, young man. We have much to discuss.”