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Robin interrupted my words with another kiss. Then she pulled back. "Don't worry, love. I quite enjoyed the show. You can make it up to me later. When we're alone."

Sadavir caressed my hip, then shuffled around. When he spoke, I realized he must be sitting on the edge of the bed. "Thank you," he enunciated slowly. Then he kissed my temple and withdrew. I wasn't sure if he was thanking me or Robin. Perhaps both. Either way, it warmed my heart.

Robin huffed from somewhere beside me. "Your pet wants me to tell you that he will leave us now, so I can be alone with you and finish what we started, if I wish." She sniffed haughtily. "As if I need your permission to spend time with my mate, snake."

I smacked at her gently, landing a soft blow to what felt like her shoulder as I sat up beside her. "Be nice, Robin."

She leaned over and bit my ear, startling me. "I am being nice, Ruya, darling," she purred. "He's still alive, isn't he?"

I shook my head at her nonsense. I meant to say something more to Sadavir, maybe thank him for his thoughtfulness, but the click of the door closing told me I had missed my chance.

Robin nudged my shoulder with her own. "Come on, let's get the snake taint cleaned off you so we can cuddle."

I huffed. But I didn't fight her as she herded me into the shower. And when she stripped and joined me, lovingly washing my hair and massaging my shoulders under the hot spray, I felt so very loved and accepted.

It didn't take too much convincing on my part for her to let me sink to my knees and take care of her with my mouth, and I lapped up her molten release as if it were mana from heaven.

Giggling and stumbling, love drunk and sated, still reeling from the strange turn the afternoon had taken, I dried off and flopped into bed with Robin, and was nearly asleep again before my head hit the pillow.

Chapter 23

Sanka

Igrabbed the fist that flew at my face, but the little shit was fast, and wriggly as an eel. Yukio twisted his body mid-air, using his body weight to twist my arm, forcing me to either let go of him or break something.

I let go of him, then spun, ready for his next attack to come from behind or above, since he could move like the very air around us. He chuckled, his voice full of wicked superiority as he came up from below and sucker-punched me in the jaw.

"Damn it," I muttered. He had known where I expected him to be and chose to land in a crouch in front of me instead.

"Still too slow, sorcerer," he mocked, wings flicking to give him extra speed as he back-flipped away from me just to show off.

My hands glowed as I let a bit of my fire magic ripple over my skin. "I'm going to barbeque you if you don't stop cheating," I growled.

"Me?" Yukio demanded, landing lightly on the edge of the long table that held the various weapons and contraptions that belonged to the court. "My wings are a natural part of my body. You're the one with magic in your hands!"

I huffed and extinguished the flames. "No wings in sparring." Not that he'd ever followed that rule. Wouldn't want things to be fair, now would we?

His blue eyes danced with amusement, and his supple assassin's body folded and twirled like a professional acrobat as he leapt off the table, summersaulted over my head, and landed behind me. I whirled to find a knife at my throat. "Dead," he said with a disappointed shake of his head. "Again."

I smirked at him. "Hardly. If any of this were real, you'd already be a pile of ash, pixie. You know I can cast faster than you can draw that knife."

He sniffed, but he didn't have any defense. I was right, and he knew it. Before he could come up with some stupid argument otherwise, I grabbed his wrist and twisted, making him drop the knife before I yanked him in close.

We needed to keep our skills sharp. And sparring with Yukio was always a good time. But what usually happened after sparring… now that was the real reward. Training with Martina or most of the others was instructional. But the only payoff was sweat and bruises. With Yuki… well, there'd still be sweat and bruises, probably some teeth marks. But there'd also be the sharp taste of peppermint on my tongue and the post-orgasmic bliss that even a good workout couldn't match.

"Are you done being an ass?" I asked my frosty pixie as I trapped him against my chest, one arm banding around his narrow waist.

He looked up at me from under his long, dark lashes, his hand coming to rest against the center of my chest with the icy burn of his magic. "Are you done whining about losing?" he said with a smirk.

I bent my head and wiped that smirk right off his lips by kissing him senseless. He pushed back—he always did. Yukio might be smaller and prettier than me. It might give people some stupid ideas about our preferred roles in the bedroom. But Yuki was the gamma here. At the end of the day, I was a pushover, and he knew it.

"Since you 'won', apparently," I said with a grin, 'It just seems right that you get a reward."

He grinned back at me, and his cool aura brushed up against the heat of my own. "You're right," he said, putting a hand on my shoulder and pressing downward. "I think I'd like you on your knees."

I willingly let him push me down, my hands going to the waistband of his workout pants. "Such a modest winner," I snarked as I freed him from his pants, leaning in to lick him from root to tip, reveling in his beauty. Yukio was perfection. Yukio and Robin together were irresistible temptation. And now… I knew things had shifted between Yukio and Ruya and I couldn't stop thinking about how to convince them to let me in on that. It might be the death of me.

"Are you distracted?" Yukio murmured, his glittering blue eyes narrowed as he cupped the back of my head in silent threat.

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