Page 69 of Betrayed By Dragons

"I know," Rafe murmurs, just like I did earlier. "I know."

I blink away the sting, focusing on this man and what we have together. Who we are and what we can be. I curl my hand around his neck.

"Burn with me," I breathe, echoing his voice when he took me by the hand mere minutes ago. This time, there's no risk of fire.

But we alight all the same.

Limitless pleasure blazes through me, and my entire body explodes in ecstasy. Rafe shouts my name, his cock throbbing inside me. Hot jets of his come fill me up, and I squeeze down hard, not wanting this to end.

Eventually, it has to, of course. As I slowly drift down from my peak, Rafe rocks into me a final time.

Shuddering, he collapses over me. I'm pinned by his weight and his hips, and I wrap my arms around him tightly, reveling in the afterglow.

But seriously. The rock behind me is going to leave bruises all up and down my spine.

I let out a little sound of discomfort, and Rafe pulls back. He brushes a soft kiss to my lips, and our gazes connect. There's a vulnerability to his eyes that's new. Something important has passed between us here. My lips curl up into a tentative smile, and he shines his own right back down at me.

With a grunt of exertion, Rafe lifts me into his arms. I sigh as he peels me off the cairn. His cock slips free, and I clench my internal muscles against the sudden emptiness and the rush of fluid leaking out of me. He sets me down, and I stand on shaky legs on the rough rock, my exhaustion from earlier hitting me anew. Leaning over, he grabs my clothes and passes them over. As I pull them on, it feels like I'm using all of my remaining energy just to keep from falling on my face.

I want nothing more than to curl up and cuddle with my mate and enjoy a bit of the afterglow, but there's nowhere to do so.

Rafe frowns and glances back at the castle, looming in the distance. "We should probably get back."

"Probably," I agree.

He's silent for a moment, but I can practically hear him thinking. "I'm sorry," he finally grits out.

"For what?"

He cocks one brow. "Being an immature little shit?"

I can't help the laugh that escapes me. He's not completely wrong, but I shake my head all the same. "No one talks about my mate that way."

"Even if it's true?"

I close the distance between us and put my hand over his heart. "You had a tough couple of days."

"And I took it out on you."

"And on your liver."

"Don't remind me," he groans. He might have been a little drunk when we started, but he sobered up quickly enough. Other than a touch of fatigue hanging around his eyes, his vision is clear, and there's a determination in him. "I'm not going to give up on trying to talk my father down. I may have to go through my brother."

I nod. With both King Haoyu and King Aeden intent on starting a war, and with King Zephyr saber-rattling in the distance, we're going to have our hands full, trying to maintain any kind of peace in the dragon kingdom.

Before we can start analyzing the situation in any more depth, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I take it out, half expecting it to be Jianyu or Amy asking where on earth we've gone.

I scrunch up my brow. "It's Freya."

Jett's mate, mayor of Unity, my friend.

As I read the group message, addressed to me, Amy and Jett, my eyes widen. I look from the screen to Rafe. "She has new information about the bombing at the summit in Unity."

We've been in touch over the course of the past few weeks. Cleaning up after the attack and rebuilding the town hall has been a full-time job, but Freya has also dedicated herself to trying to get to the bottom of what happened--and who might be responsible.

"Does she have any leads?" Rafe asks, an edge to his voice. So far, our efforts to find a culprit, both in the Stone Kingdom and the Fire Kingdom, have been a pretty big failure.

"Maybe. She wants to video chat with the whole crew and discuss."

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