“Let’s get it done, then,” he coaxed, breaking eye contact to read the spell as Wesley handed him a small knife. Hesitating, I remembered the part where he needed to drop blood into my bloodstone ring, which was what bound us together, and I glanced up at Caleb sitting on one of the sofas.
“I’ll be fine,” Caleb reassured me. “Promise. If not, Austin can take me.”
Satisfied that he knew what he was doing, I indicated for Vali to begin.
Meeting my gaze with a nervous-looking smile, Vali sounded out the foreign words carefully, then waited while I recited my part before stabbing his thumb.
Same as it had the last time, my ring absorbed the droplet of blood and the rune circle flared to life around us. Vali’s wild, hot dragon magic flooded through me with the force of a tsunami, heating every facet of my being and then building higher, like gasoline on a bonfire.
As the burning inside me reached the point of excruciating pain, Vali’s lips pressed to mine. His mouth opened, and his tongue slipped in to meet and dance with my own., Vali’s kiss acted as an outlet for the overwhelming sensation that I was being burned from the inside, until eventually the heat subsided to a small fire, warming me but no longer burning.
“Holy shit,” I choked out when the magic finally settled to a bearable level and I pulled back from Vali’s scorching kiss. “Was that what it was like for you? When you first changed?”
He gave a small shrug, his eyes full of regret and apology. “I don’t know what it is that you felt, only that you were in pain and I knew what I needed to do. But, if it’s anything like what I went through, then I cannot apologize enough.”
“It’s fine.” I shook my head. “It was fine once you kissed me.” I glanced to Austin, and he gave a tiny head nod to confirm it was the same for him—that he’d just known what to do to soothe my pain.
Rubbing a shaking hand over my eyes, I sucked in a deep breath and gusted it out again before moving out of Vali’s lap. Somehow, I’d ended up straddling him while we’d kissed, but I also didn’t feel at all uncomfortable for having done so in front of my other five lovers.
“Ready?” I turned to Cole with a weak smile, and he scowled at me. His granite eyes sparked like a lightning storm, and I could see indecision written all over him, plain as day.
“Maybe we should wait a bit; that looked like it took a lot out of you, Vixen.” His words were sensible, but I could see how desperately he wanted to complete the bond. Cole was too damn thoughtful and considerate sometimes.
“No, now. If I’m going to start learning dragon magic, I want it to be with both of you.” I nodded firmly, shuffling on my knees across to him so that we were face to face. My reasoning was weak; I knew that. But I didn’t care. It sounded more plausible than telling him I suspected being bonded to Vali and not him might just destroy the progress they’d made on their relationship this far. As much as my guys were all technically okay with sharing me, they were all—even Wesley—dominant in their own ways. Sharing didn’t come naturally to them, and it was to be expected that there would be some jealousy and in-fighting.
All I could do was make it as easy on them as possible. Part of that was not bonding Vali without Cole. Seeing what it was doing to Caleb, who had a great relationship with his brother, was enough to imagine how hard it’d be on the Romanians, who had barely gotten into the not-hate stage of their relationship.
No, this was happening now. I could sleep and recharge later.
“Let’s do it,” I encouraged Cole and handed him the spell to read out, along with the knife. “I trust you, Cutie. You’re not going to let anything bad happen to me.”
These last words were whispered for his ears only, and I saw the indecision fade from his face. Cole had appointed himself my unofficial bodyguard way back when we’d first met, ever since Simon had shown up at lunch that day and gotten all weird and threatening. Protecting me was his thing, and I just needed to remind him of that.
Sucking in a breath, he looked down to the paper and began reciting the foreign words carefully, as though afraid a mispronunciation would change the outcome. Actually, that was a fairly valid concern, knowing what I now knew of magic.
Once Cole’s thumb was pricked and his blood absorbed by my ring, the spell was complete. The rune circle flared to life around us, overlapping the still fading outline of Vali’s circle. Almost instantly my body stiffened like I’d been dropped into the Arctic, and pain racked my form as Cole’s magic swept through me, clashing with the existing magic already within me. My fingers ached, and an anguished cry ripped from my throat only a split second before Cole’s lips met mine.
His kiss warmed me like a thermal blanket in a blizzard, wrapping around me and hugging tight until I could feel my skin again, until my joints unlocked and relaxed and the biting cold died down to a pleasant shiver deep in my core.
“Is it just me,” Wesley started quietly when Cole released my mouth and I rested against him while panting like I’d run a marathon, “or is that becoming more intense each time you bond?”
“The pain?” I asked, not bothering to open my eyes. My whole body felt like it had been turned to custard, and I was positive my legs wouldn’t hold me if I tried to stand. “Yeah, it is. I don’t know why... Maybe because there’s more magic in me that it needs to compete with? That’s what it feels like. Like it’s finding a balance.”
“Hmm,” Wesley pondered aloud. “That sort of makes sense.”
“Kitten, are you okay?” River asked me, crouching on the carpet and stroking a hand down my back.
Why does River always ask me the hard questions? Was I okay? My body was electric, sparking with four different types of magic all swirling and flickering inside me, making me feel wired and hyper. At the same time, I was pretty positive I couldn’t move if I even tried. So in response, I just mumbled an incomprehensible noise.
“Okay, I think maybe sleep is the way to go, don’t you love?” River chuckled. “Cole, can you carry her?”
“Of course,” he rumbled, wrapping his arms around me where I was already halfway collapsed against his chest, and standing smoothly.
Before leaving the room, he paused, and Vali leaned in to place a soft kiss on my hair.
“Sleep well, Regina mea,” he whispered.
Again, I mumbled a noise in lieu of words, and Cole swept me out of the room, returning to my giant bed in the master suite.
“I’m fine, Cutie,” I whispered as he lay me gently down on the rumpled covers I had just climbed out of not long ago. “I promise. I’m just...”
“Exhausted?” he finished for me, and I gave him a weak smile.
“But not, at the same time. I don’t feel weak—totally the opposite. My muscles just don’t want to play ball anymore.” I blinked a few times, trying to wake myself up while Cole unbuttoned my jeans and tugged them down off my legs for me.
“Just sleep, Vixen. It’s three in the morning, anyway.” He pressed a light kiss to my belly, where River’s shirt had ridden up. “Do you want me to stay with you?”
“Always,” I replied, shuffling over slightly and tucking a pillow under my head while Cole stripped down to join me. He rolled me onto my side and tucked me tight against his huge body, making me feel warm and safe.
“I love you, Vixen,” he murmured in my ear. “Thank you.”
He didn’t need to say anymore as I knew what he meant. His relationship with Vali had only just begun to heal, so the last thing I wanted was to become any more of a wedge between them than I already was.
“Any time, Cutie,” I whispered back, but he was already asleep, his warm breath slow and even against the back of my neck.
Sleep did not come easily to me that night. Instead, I lay there in Cole’s embrace for hours, simply watching my hand in fascination as scales rippled back and forth across my skin. First red and gold, then blue and green, and finally—just before sunrise—it settled into a metallic purple. A perfect blend of both my dragons’ colors.
19
COLE