Page 14 of Dragon Awakened

As I crash my mouth into hers, it's water pouring over hot stone. I crack in two, and something inside of me is healed.

The aching part--the piece of me that felt her being ripped away and whisked into the realm of shadows... The broken portion of my soul that watched her fall from a black stone tower into an icy sea...

They knit back together at the feeling of my mate, safe and alive and real and here.

I pour everything I feel into the kiss. The desperation and the loss and the fear, and the bone-deep certainty that whatever is happening to her--to us...

It's bigger than any of us.

And I accept it all.

Chapter

Five

EMBER

It can't be this easy. It can't. I've kept so many secrets from these men who are my destined mates. Huge secrets--about who and what I am, and about the destiny that twines us all together. They should be horrified. Shocked.

I expected to be rejected and abandoned yet again.

But as I melt into Jianyu's kiss, his conviction washes over me, and the euphoria bubbling up inside my lungs is almost too much to bear.

"You're really okay with all of this," I mumble between kisses. "With sharing me--"

"He's had some practice," Rafe interrupts, and I laugh against Jianyu's mouth.

I look to Malik, still struggling to believe that he's really changed his attitude so much and so fast. Prickles of jealousy fire off in our connection, but there's the heat of desire in there, too.

I pull away from Jianyu's kiss, connecting my gaze to each of theirs in turn. "You're alright with all of it. The new mate and the magical powers and the...prophecy stuff."

"How many times do we have to tell you?" Jianyu asks, cradling my face between his strong hands. "We accept it all."

But I have to be sure. Nothing can be left unsaid anymore.

My voice quivers, "Including the fact that I'm a Shadow Dragon."

"We accept all of you," Malik promises.

But I'm not done. "And that we have to break into a hostile kingdom that's probably overrun with the Shadow King's forces--"

Rafe cracks his knuckles, one side of his mouth lifting. "Don't threaten me with a good time."

His humor buoys me, but I refuse to be derailed. "For the express purposes of finding my fourth mate, who will probably be an asshole."

"To paraphrase my companion," Jianyu says diplomatically, casting a glance backward at Rafe, "it wouldn't exactly be the first time."

A watery laugh escapes me, but I look again at Malik.

"If this man has been chosen for you by the gods, then I will approach him with an open mind," Malik vows.

As he speaks, he sinks to his knees alongside Jianyu. His hot hand settles on my thigh, and I quiver inside. My skin is electric, our bond overflowing with the combined power of the need swelling within each of us.

My breasts tighten, arousal blooming low in my belly, but I try to push my desire down.

"Once we're all mated--it's going to be dangerous." My voice catches. "If all the prophecy stuff is true, we're going to have to find a way to bring forth my dragon."

"Hell, yes," Rafe growls, his own dragon rising to the surface.

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