Page 76 of Heir of Draga

Kaiden glanced back at her and noticed her hesitation. Varan took her hand and squeezed in reassurance and then released, taking a step back so she was front and center. He was there for her if she needed, but knew she had to do this alone.

Adelina threw her shoulders back and clasped her hands before her at waist height again, watching as Nash crossed that narrow bridge from the eyrie castle. Her heart was pounding and her breathing short. Goddess it had been so long, and she was so nervous she felt sick to her stomach. So much had changed…

But the Corinthian prince was just as large as she remembered. Somehow his strange red, yellow, and green eyes of aapoak looked right against the dark, flaming backdrop of Hai Delta. His powerful shoulders were encased in that Kharan armor and he looked every inch the battle-hardened warrior.

When he spotted her Nash closed the distance between them so fast she gasped when his hands went around her waist. He lifted her up in a hearty hug that broke every rule of protocol, but it made Adelina smile.

Being in his arms felt so right and she realized just how much she’d missed him when that pain in her chest finally eased. Adelina had become so used to it over the last few weeks she hadn’t even noticed it until it was gone. The relief was overwhelming and it made her lightheaded as she smiled down at Nash.

The love on his face – and the sheer relief, it matched her own and Adelina was so thankful he still had feelings for her after the time apart.

Nash set her down and held her face, staring at her and the intensity of it made her breath catch. Then he kissed her.

His lips on hers felt so perfect. The passion Nash infused into that kiss filled her with love and desperation. His tongue flirted with hers and left her breathless. Adelina had to hold on as she lost all sense of place and purpose.

Goddess, she’d missed him.

The taste of him was fire and passion and spice. Adelina gripped his shoulders and breathed him in, feeling that incessant ache in her chest finally ease.

Until Nash yanked back with a frown on his face. “Your scent is different.” Then he really saw her.

Nash took a step back and Adelina felt cold when his warmth left her, but she’d expected this to some degree. “You don’t smell like jasmine, you smell like…” Then his eyes flicked to Varan. His nostrils flared as he scented them both. “Why do you and the thief have the same scent?”

Adelina let one hand fall to her side and kept the other at waist height, palm up as she’d seen Raena do. She’d always thought it looked so powerful, yet elegant.

She didn’t really understand Nash’s question as one’s scent never changed outside the courtesans, but she ignored that for the moment and let him notice the other differences in her before she responded. His eyes flicked to the new tattoo framing the underside of her breasts and Nash’s frown deepened, no doubt remembering the placement had been forbidden. Adelina was no longer the shy princess everyone ordered around.

“Prince Nash, I’d like to introduce you to my husband, Prince Varan.”

Kaiden’s laughing smile in the corner of her eye irritated her. Adelina spared him a withering look before turning back to Nash.

Prince Nash looked down at her hand and noted the fat, emerald-cut diamond there, and then the ring on Varan’s finger. The intensity of the anger that flashed through him made her wince, but Adelina hid it expertly by adjusting her signet ring.

“I’m relieved you’re alive and well,” she said with a gentle tone. Goddess, she was so glad to see him and Adelina wished she could take his hand so she could explain everything. She’d hoped for more time, for a moment before they spoke to the Council, but with Prince Kaiden and the other Drakesthai watching she couldn’t let her guard down.

Nash deserved so much more than a paltry introduction.

“A pleasure, I’m sure,” Nash finally said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “The Council has been waiting for your arrival before they deign to answer my request. Perhaps now that you’re finally here we can get on with the business of war.”

The Corinthian prince stalked back to the castle and Adelina sighed. This was not how she’d wanted their reunion to go. But Nash had never been simple. He’d been a chaotic whirlwind ready to tear her apart from the moment she’d laid eyes on him in the council room on Draga Terra.

Adelina had yet to find out if the sundering of her soul benefited her or not. All Nash had done was steal her heart and rip it to pieces so he could put it back in a way that suited him. She’d been his from the very beginning, but how to explain to him her heart was bigger than expected? That she could truly love both him and Varan?

“I apologize, Prince Kaiden. Please, take us to the Council.”

Kaiden stayed by her side this time, and Varan came up on her other side. Adelina felt coveted and protected somehow by the both of them. It eased the cold Nash had left in his wake. She tucked her hands in her pockets to hide the shaking, but still both males noticed. Varan walked so his shoulder was pressed to hers and Kaiden’s wings spread, protecting both her and Varan from the wind.

“It’s odd the prince seems so disappointed,” Kaiden said gently, softly in that lilting accent of his. “All Drakesthai females have three mates minimum, but usually more. Is he disappointed he was not the first?”

Adelina eyed the dragon prince and noted his protective stance. He was definitely submissive, but it was difficult to tell how much so when he smelled like nothing to her nose. All Adelina could scent was the fire and smoke and rock. He was definitely not vicious and cruel as all the reports had said. It made her question everything.

“I assume so,” Adelina admitted. “Prince Nash believes he is the most dominant, and that I must not love him because I love Varan. They only have one…mate, in the Khara Galaxy for the most part.” It was strange to say mate and not have it mean something so secretive and clandestine.

“Strange,” Kaiden said with a small frown. “Females start to bond with each of their mates once they scent each other. It is not her fault when that happens. Though with the Unchanged it is different. They only bond with one male if the genetics line up.”

Adelina glanced up at the dragon prince. Somehow it was easy to talk to Kaiden, and he was so open with her. It was a bit odd, but she was also glad to finally get some answers from the source.

“Multiple mate bonds? That is a fascinating concept. We do not have mate bonds in Draga.”

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