Page 109 of Gemini Wicked

The knot of worry in my gut unclenches in a rush of relief.

He’s fine, showgirl, I tell my own fretful and restless inner dragon. Peace out. Our snake is fine. No thanks to this guy.

I swing back around to confront the waiting Zephyr—who’s also watching the naked Vasili with a singular intensity, his dragonrider gaze smoking with heat, a blazing smolder in his feral face.

Yowsa. Talk about distraction.

Like I just said, V hates his guts. Even more now than he did before. Plus those two guys are both dommy as fuck. If Zephyr’s gonna start lusting after my alpha, that’ll definitely make things in this harem, uh, interesting.

I resist the urge to fan myself, but I do clear my throat. Zephyr’s alert gaze veers back to me.

“You still want me to go with you to Avalon, right?” I wanna hear him say it, on account of that whole no lying thing.

“Indeed I do. Ash needs us.” His fist clenches hard on the reins. “My kingdom—our kingdom—is where you belong, my bride. The seat of your strength. At the Faerie Ball in Avalon, you’ll come fully into your power.”

I wish.

Wish I could put Ash first, the way that sweetheart Seelie Prince Charming of mine deserves.

Wish I could trust Zephyr.

At times like this, I’ve never felt less trusting. Or more powerless.

“Yeah, well, the Faerie Ball sounds like a fairy tale to me.” I sigh. “Plus you’re got major ulterior motives, Your Radiance. It’s not only about Ash. Am I right?”

When he stays silent (because he can’t deny that shit), I nail him with a look of challenge. “Right. Before we go anywhere, you’re gonna need to convince me—convince all of us, and that includes Ronin—that you’re someone we can trust.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Ronin

When we pitch up at the lighthouse in the dive boat in a muck sweat—I mean Lucius and Neo and me—Vasili’s having a nice leisurely sunbathe on the pier.

Without a scrap of clothes on.

Apparently half my polycule (including him) just almost got their tickets punched in the commons. Now here he is having a lie-about.

My boyfriend’s lounging flat on his back with a languid arm draped over his eyes and one knee coyly raised to cover his junk (barely). Like he’s on blooming holiday on a nude beach in the Greek Isles.

I swear he makes me mental.

Only it’s not really him setting me off, is it?

As I maneuver the dive boat up alongside the pier under Lucius’ anxious guidance, then kill the engine to coast the last few ticks, Zara pops up from that solitary brood she’s having on a jumble of rocks. She knows her way round a boat, my girl does, so she scrambles to catch the mooring line tossed by a worried Neo.

She is, very pointedly, ignoring the green dragon draped on his belly over the breakwater. Xhevith’s sunning himself in the Mediterranean heat with his eyelids lowered and his tail in the water.

And Zara’s definitely ignoring that sinuous Dark Fae dragonrider propped against the curve of Xhev’s neck, simultaneously sharpening his swords on a handy ledge of rock—and having a look-see at my naked boyfriend.

Just the sight of that bloody-minded Fae, brooding over someone else who’s mine, is enough to flip my switch.

Again.

My heart starts tripping like I’m defibrillating and my gut goes to butterflies.

Bollocks.

“Oh my gosh, babe, we’ve all been worried sick.” That’s Neo, scrambling over the gunwale before we’ve even moored to engulf our girl in one of his smothery hugs. (He’s generous with the PDA, our Red is, and we all love him for it.)

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