Page 108 of Gemini Wicked

“Word games and semantics.” I snort and jerk my head away, then whip around to face blindly forward before I can fixate on how close he is to me.

The closest he’s been in ten whole weeks.

At times like this, I suddenly remember he isn’t human. He’s not a witching race. He’s Fae. To hear him tell it in class, they were here way before us.

All I know is, his twisty Unseelie logic makes my head spin.

Xhevith’s slow circling descent makes my own inner dragon chafe and fret. But if I let that genie out of the bottle and shift myself, I’ll be nakey.

Right now, I don’t wanna be that exposed.

“Zara the Moon-Blessed. Lady of Lightning. Queen of Dragons.” Zephyr’s silvery whisper singsongs in my ear. “You’re my bride. That means you command me. Not through your power, although that is formidable indeed. You command me through your love.”

My chest clenches and my tummy flutters. Him and me, we haven’t said the L word yet.

Now doesn’t feel like the time or place.

Even when Zephyr’s warm lips graze the piercings that rim my earlobe. Or when his hot breath fills my ear. Still, I shiver and his breath hitches.

Damn.

I missed him.

Even now, it’s really hard to ignore the lithe press of his lean strength against my back, the supple slide of his dragonscale against the backs of my thighs, and especially the hard jut of his codpiece nestled against my ass.

Heat pools low in my belly. Moisture gathers under my gusset.

But I’m a witch on a mission. I really am.

That’s why I ease away from the major physical distraction of a sexed-up Fae pressed against my back. That’s why I wait till Xhev settles to the sea-washed jumble of rocks below the lighthouse.

Then I scowl up at the lightning-scorched landmark towering over us and shake my head. “Here’s the thing, Your Radiance. I don’t feel like I can trust you.”

His breath rushes in on a hiss.

“Zarina Selene Gemini,” he grits through his teeth, fierce with heat. “You know I cannot lie. That makes me the only man in your bed you can truly trust—”

“Nope.” I pop the P hard on that shit. “One, you’re not in my bed right now. Two, Vasili hates you. Three, Max feels threatened by you—God, not to mention, just hearing your name’s enough to make Ronin a hot mess. And fuck knows how Lucius is gonna feel after that stunt you just pulled on him in the commons.”

I swing my leg forward over the pommel and jump down to the pier before Zephyr can try to help. Then I spin around to face him, tilt my head back to glare at him while he looms over me on dragonback, and plant my hands on my hips.

Still seated in the saddle like an emperor on his throne in his dragonscale armor and gauntlets, with his ever-present swords crossed over his back, the Dark Fae King frowns down his royal nose at my belligerent stance. His eyebrow lifts and his moss-green hair streams behind him in the ocean breeze. With his tiny fangs and his pointy ears, the eyepatch slanting across his face just makes him more savage, like a sky pirate.

“Zara,” he murmurs, in that silky ribbon of voice that strokes my senses like a finger.

Under my Academy blazer, goosebumps rise along my forearms. Heat licks along my skin.

But fuck that shit.

I’m still pissed at him for, like, so many reasons. I can’t even articulate all the reasons.

Next to me, his dragon noses gently at Vasili, who’s finally stopped coughing and stretched out like a cat to dry on the pier in the summer sun, with all that sleek skin pulled taut over the yummy long lines of his sinewy body and his pretty cock on shameless display. Oblivious to his whole effect, my snake is wringing seawater from his dripping hair with a look of utter disgust.

Now he stops fussing long enough to shove the inquisitive dragon irritably away.

Xhev really doesn’t wanna go. His hopeful muzzle hovers over the Goblin King. The dragon’s nostrils flare wide with interest to breathe in the scent of caramel and vetiver and Mogadon aggression.

Rudely Vasili shoves that interested muzzle aside, more roughly this time, with a huff.

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