Page 25 of Betrayed By Dragons

Normally, Rafe has no boundaries. He cops feels all the time, and he's always welcomed my touch. Right now, he's prickly and unapproachable in a way that makes my chest squeeze.

Is there something in the water today? First Jianyu had his moment of vulnerability, now Rafe is being standoffish.

And then it strikes me. Jianyu's moment of vulnerability. Our moment of shared connection.

"Oh," I murmur.

Rafe's arms tighten and his jaw flexes. His eyes are hard, but there's no hiding the gleam at their edges. "So did he go to you? Or did you seek him out?"

My throat grates as I swallow.

Right. Of course. Our bond is strong--overwhelmingly so sometimes. He might not have been there, but he must have been able to sense the maelstrom of emotions I experienced this afternoon.

A pang rips through my heart. I felt such love for Jianyu. Such desire and completion. Rafe might only have gotten the vaguest idea of what was going on between us, but having been excluded from that union must have torn him apart.

How must it have felt just now? Me wandering in, my distraction written all over my face. My other mate's scent covering me like a blanket.

Rafe's Adam's apple bobs, and a fresh wave of hurt washes over him as he watches me figure it all out.

Guilt squirms around in the pit of my abdomen. It's not as if I was planning to keep my and Jianyu's rendezvous a secret, but this isn't how I would have wanted Rafe to find out.

There's no undoing that now, though, and the only way out is through.

"Neither," I tell him. "Not exactly." I put my hand on his arm to stop him when he tries to interrupt. I'm not denying what happened here--just trying to give it all the proper context. Choosing my words carefully, intent on telling the truth without betraying Jianyu's confidences, I settle on, "Jianyu and his father had an argument."

"Poor baby," Rafe sneers.

"Don't be mean." I say it gently, not wanting to scold him, but I won't let him speak poorly of my mate.

He huffs out a breath, turning his face to the side, and I hate this distance between us. I hate that my connection to Jianyu comes at the cost of my connection to Rafe, and it isn't fair.

"We knew it couldn't be all three of us every time," I remind him.

"I know." He rakes a hand through his hair. He glances back at me, and there's a crack of vulnerability in his gaze. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

I raise my brows. "Just like I don't always like it when the two of you team up against me."

They've conspired against me often enough, working together to manage my feelings when I'm upset, or to convince me about things like leaving Unity in the wake of the bombing.

Of course, that's not what Rafe is thinking about at all.

"You certainly didn't seem to mind it last night," he quips, still hurt, but with a touch of innuendo that clears the air.

A rough chuckle escapes me, and our gazes connect. Warmth replaces some of the discomfort in my center.

"You're right," I admit. "I didn't."

Flashbacks bombard me. Right before we fell asleep last night, in our last round of love-making, the two of them were definitely working together to drive me insane. I lay on my side, worn out from a half-dozen orgasms, limp and sticky and still aching for more. I was curled around Jianyu, his cock buried inside me, but as we rocked together, Rafe was plastered to my back. He reached a hand between me and Jianyu and put the perfect pressure on my clit, while at the same time rubbing his hard cock against my ass. The instant Jianyu came inside me and pulled out, Rafe was rearing back and surging forward, taking his place, not giving me even a moment to recover, and that was good--that was perfect. I never wanted to not be split open by their cocks. I wanted to be touched by them, full of them, loved by them, always.

I blink, forcing myself to focus, but the hot tug of arousal tightening my nipples and making my clit throb is difficult to ignore. "That's not what I meant, though."

"It wasn't?"

I roll my eyes, but I'm melting into him. "You know it wasn't."

"Oh." He finally uncrosses his arms. When he folds them around me, tugging me in, it's the most blissful relief. "My mistake."

He kisses me then, hot and wet and lush, but slow, too. I get lost in it for a minute, trying to show him how I feel. I'm not sorry for spending one-on-one time with Jianyu, but it doesn't mean I care for Rafe any less.

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