Page 70 of Beautiful Beast

“Because there are those who wish them to, and they are convincing,” Zovai said. “And once they convince who they can, those same people convince others. It simply spreads.” Then more quietly. “Fear spreads things faster than anything else.”

Lena’s scent shifted to pure dread. “I understand that. They’re so afraid of you. All of them. Well, there are those who aren’t. My grandmother and her ladies. My lady’s maid. The couple who taught me potion work. There must be others. But in the face of everyone else?”

I hummed into her skin. “We understand.”

Endre came in, now wearing only a pair of pants, Varí perched on his shoulder. Lena laughed. “I wondered if you’d gone out into the city naked.”

“I might have.” One side of his mouth tipped up into a smile. “But like you, it would have caused more questions than were worthwhile.”

Varí leapt onto the bed and scuttled over to Lena, turning a shade of green that matched her eyes before curling up in her hair. She reached up and stroked behind his ears as he purred in contentment. “Sorry if you were worried.”

How the small dragon had ended up in Rensara, I had no idea. His kind dwelled in the far eastern reaches of Viria, in the thick forests where flocks of them flew like birds and walking beneath the branches was like passing through a rainbow.

That Lena had found him was either luck or destiny. Then again, the same could be of her being here with us. If Zovai hadn’t hesitated, we would have never known her. And despite everything, my dragon told me we still would have felt the loss.

“I should bathe,” she said. “I still have the sand and the sea on me. Along with the three of you.”

Endre rumbled a growl. “You haven’t been covered in us yet, Lena. That’s still to come.”

Her skin flushed and her eyes went wide. This close, I heard the way her heart thundered, scent turning once again towards desire. I rolled off her. “Follow me,” I told her. “If we don’t get you into the water one of us will have you pinned beneath our mouths.”

“Yeah. The water will definitely help with that,” Zovai laughed, his tone indicating the exact opposite.

But Lena smiled and followed me. When I offered her my hand, she took it. And just that small movement felt like everything.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

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KATALENA

The baths in the Heirs’ chambers were so much bigger than the one I’d used before. Multiple pools at different heights with waterfalls connecting them all. Each was a slightly different temperature.

As soon as I took off Vari’s pouch, he was spinning beneath the falls and splashing with his wings. His joy fed mine as I sank into the hottest pool I could stand. There were still hotter, and that was where the dragons sat, watching me with nearly glowing eyes.

Their dragons peered out occasionally—gaze shifting fully to gold and back again—because they were so close to the surface, and I didn’t mind it.

I hadn’t had time to fully process what had happened. I’d been pleasured by three males. The dragon males. On top of it all, I didn’t think I’d ever felt better. My soul felt easy and my head was clear. If Helena, Taia, or Baris had told me that sex left you feeling like you could fly without wings, I would have looked forward to it more.

Then again, I knew that it wasn’t simply sex that felt like this. My wedding night with Andaros wouldn’t have come close. The man was too prideful and too selfish. I doubted I would have enjoyed it.

Varí was busy playing in one of the waterfalls, using his tail to create little holes and shapes as it flowed down. And the dragons still stared at me. But I didn’t want them to stare. I wanted them closer.

“I feel like an exhibit,” I said, crossing to where their pool joined mine. “I don’t want to be separated.”

Pushing up and over the barrier, I splashed into the much hotter pool and was instantly lifted out with a cry of dismay. “You?—”

Zovai looked at me, and I looked at him. My toes still lingered in the water, and slowly, he lowered both of us back down with an awed look on his face.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s too hot,” he said. “For humans. This should burn you.”

I flushed, and not just from the heat of the tub. “Well, as you already know, I enjoy heat.”

Endre released a dark chuckle, like I hadn’t felt true heat yet. I pushed away from Zovai and floated across the pool to him, enjoying the way he watched me and the pieces of me that were visible. Like that night, he looked like he could eat me alive. And for the moment, it didn’t seem so bad.

“What’s so funny?” I asked, climbing into his lap. Endre groaned, hands falling to my hips and pulling me closer, burying his face in my neck.

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