Page 33 of Tempting Her Dragons

She breaks the tension, and everyone wanders around the food.

“What do you want, baby?” Mav asks.

“A little of everything.” He nods, and King guides me to the end of one of the couches. He waits until I sit and takes a seat to my left. I cross my legs toward him, and his warm hand cups my thigh. Shit, I can’t get turned on. It’s bad enough everyone in the room can probably smell what we did before we came.

“Sally mentioned you love rabbits,” Micah says across from us.

“Mentioned,” Quinn rumbles. He’s a bear shifter. Steph is his mate, and he holds her close. “She wouldn’t shut up about it.”

“It’s an important fact,” Sally snaps, walking over with her plate.

“We do,” King says as Mav sits on my other side, handing me a full plate. “Our mom is a rabbit shifter.”

“Your mom?” Micah asks, and Sally’s hand stops halfway to her mouth.

“Yes. Our parents were tortured and murdered when we were children. We were kidnapped and held captive for four years. She rescued us and told us how to kill them. She took us in and has been our mom since we were twelve,” King explains bluntly. Everyone’s attention bounces between King and Mav.

“Besides the blanket she snuck us while we were held in a closet, her fur was the softest thing we have felt,” Mav says. “Until Saphira.” I feel the red bursting across my cheeks. “Her hair is very soft.” He winks at me.

“I’m sorry,” Micah says softly. “I’m glad she was there for you.”

“Your parents were killed?” Laken asks roughly.

“Separate parents,” King says. “They were best friends.”

“King is my brother,” Mav says aggressively.

“Of course he is,” Bishop says.

“We understand,” Laken says with a new respect in his eyes.

“What’s her name?” Sally asks softly.

“Roxanne,” King says. “She will be here soon.”

“We told her not to come yet, but she doesn’t listen,” Mav says.

“I would love to meet her,” Sally says.

“She will be thrilled,” King says. “You remind me of her. She’s the best thing that happened to us.” Another round of sighs come from the women. “Until Saphira.” I swallow hard and put my hand over his.

“Fuck,” River says with a mouth full of food. “I thought there would be blood. How are we supposed to dislike them?”

My attention bounces between my mates with a dreamy little smile.

Yes, how could I not like them? I’m already past that, and the word love floats around in my head.

It only took two days to start to fall.

Chapter Nine

Maverick

The music of the club and the many voices around me drown out the clack of my lighter. It didn’t take long before I had the urge to hold it in my hand. I’m surprised the lid hasn’t broken yet. The constant stimulation is pounding through my skull. I don’t socialize, and if I have to, it’s not for long. I don’t mind Saphira’s family; I understand their need to learn about her mates. No one is overtly hostile. They are polite and genuinely interested in our lives. Kingston blurting out some of our past wasn’t unusual, but we have shared more in the last twenty-four hours than our whole lives. We will share more, but not until we do with Saphira.

I’ve never seen so many different shifters and vampires in the same room, casually and proclaimed family. The wolf, River, is hilarious. I watched him curiously as he had a tender moment with Saphira. He seems to look at her as a sister figure and I hope to learn about their relationship. His brother is an Alphabut not a dick about it. The dedication they show their mate is commendable.

I used to know a lion. He was nothing like the three men sitting across from me. Their mate is beautiful and easily switches between the brothers.

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