Page 66 of Beautiful Beast

“Have you seen yourselves?”

“We have,” he said. “And that’s the first step. Because you haven’t truly looked at us.”

Sirrus stepped back next to the others, and I allowed myself to look. My nerves surged. Holdover from imagining a wedding night with a man I did not care about and actively hated. I wanted to look, but it still felt forbidden.

Looking at a naked male was very different from the drawings of anatomy I’d been shown. Not in my official studies, but by my grandmother and Helena, to prepare me. And these males were more different still, because they weren’t human.

Color wrapped around their ribs with the shadowing of scales that betrayed the color of their dragons. In Endre’s case, the opposite of his dragon, the pale shimmering tone of his skin nearly matching the shining scar on his chest.

I’d noticed the beginnings of the markings earlier, but I didn’t imagine what they would fully mean. Especially since I’d been avoiding looking too closely.

Taking a breath, I finally dropped my gaze lower and took them in. My first instinct was panic, because the drawings I’d seen of manhoods hadn’t been nearly that size. The second reaction was curiosity, and the third was delight. The color of their skin deepened as it drew downward toward their feet, shining more, and becoming closer to the glittery, beautiful dragons who sparkled in the sunlight.

Their bodies were strange, but beautiful. And so much more interesting than a human man would have been. Still, hesitance danced along my spine. “I’m told it hurts the first time. Or the first several times.”

Zovai took a step forward. “It might, but it won’t tonight.”

“Why not?”

“Because tonight will only be your pleasure.”

I frowned. Pleasure for the woman wasn’t really spoken of. Here and there, it was mentioned, but I’d never truly considered it. Even me saying yes was wanting them close and wanting to feel them, not about my pleasure.

“I don’t understand.”

All he did was smile. “May we see you, Lena?”

Pressing my hands to my stomach to quell the nerves, I nodded. “Yes.”

Zovai’s hands came to my shoulders, gently pulling the straps of the nightdress down. It dropped, falling as soon as I released my hands, leaving me in nothing but skin.

I thought it might be strange, but instead I felt relief. That same fire in their eyes burned hotter now. Something deep and primal settled in me. Every time someone had instructed me about what would happen on my wedding night, they told me it was natural. But nothing about it had seemed that way. This? This felt natural.

“This too?” He gently touched the locket resting on my chest. “I promise I’ll keep it safe.”

Nodding, I allowed him to lift it over my head and gently set it aside. “It belonged to my grandmother. She had my lady’s maid gift it to me on my wedding day. I don’t know why. It seems like no great thing. But it is all that remains of her.”

“Perhaps that was why,” Sirrus said. “Small things matter when they are all that’s left.”

I nodded, my eyes catching on the shimmer of his skin and bouncing between their bodies until I landed on Zovai once more. I couldn’t look away, and I still didn’t know what to do next.

Sirrus’s fingers brushed down my arm, drawing a gasp. I’d been staring at Zovai for so long I hadn’t noticed the others surrounding me. Bodies on all sides. “Show me,” I begged. “Please.”

Endre’s fingers brushed my hips from behind. He swept them up my ribs and higher, sliding around until they rested just beneath my breasts. “I will try very hard to go slow for you.”

There wasn’t enough air in the world to take a full breath. “You don’t want slow?”

“I want to consume you.” Low, dark words whispered into my neck. “Get on the bed before I put you there.”

I leaned back into him, nothing but pure instinct guiding me. There was no real threat in his words. Instead it sounded like a promise, and I wanted to know what it was. “Put me there how?”

Endre swept my legs out from beneath me, lifting and moving me to the center of the impossibly large, dragon sized bed. He hovered over me, and it was impossible not to feel the difference between us. How much larger and how much… harder.

Lips warmed my shoulder. Sirrus.

“What should I do?”

“Nothing,” he breathed. “Enjoy. Savor. Feel what you like and tell us. Let us bring you pleasure.”

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