Page 37 of Tempting Her Dragons

I gulp as King crawls over me and lies down, and Mav lies on my other side. I asked for it, and now what do I do? My blood isstill buzzing from the alcohol. I don’t want to make any decision before I’m sober. I invited them into my bed. Do they expect something to happen?

“Relax, Firefly,” King says softly. The nickname, as usual, makes me melt. “Just sleep.”

Grateful, I slide my legs under the covers. “You’re not getting under the blankets?”

“We’re good,” Mav grumbles.

“I don’t want you to get cold.” I glance at him, his gaze on the ceiling.

“We’ll be fine.”

“King.” I turn my head.“Firefly, don’t worry about us.”

I bite my lip and look down the bed, back to King and then Mav. “Really?” King turns on his side.

“Saph, we run hot,” he says. Yes, yes, they do.

I lay my arms beside my body. I roll my lips. I look out of the corner of my eye at King and then Mav. Their skin is inches away. The room is silent. My fingers pick at the bed. Maybe the blanket was a bad idea. My body is burning the alcohol fast, and I’m sweating.

They aren’t asleep. I wonder if they snore. I wonder if I snore.

Do they want to have sex? I’m not ready. My body is begging for it. I have a constant need in my stomach. My mind is stalling. Playing around is one thing, but committing to everything will take some time. I need to build up to it. I need to trust them fully first. They have to learn more about me. They’ve opened up, but I know there is so much more.

The tension is real.

No one is snoring. How do I break the tension? I can’t go to sleep like this. I close my eyes. Maybe if I count sheep.One, two, three, four…the sheep turn into bunnies, and I think of Sally.Shit.That leads to her comments about my mates. They are sexy. Their bodies are so close. They do run hot. I feel the heat comingoff their arms. King is still facing me. I feel his eyes. It could be all in my head.

What to say? What to say?

“I never had a mom.” Fuck, my eyes pop open. I didn’t know I would say that.

“Firefly,” King whispers, and his sympathy urges me to keep going.

“Of course, I had a mom. She died.” I close my eyes again, but now feel both of their attention directed my way. “She died when I was two. My dad did, too. Hunters killed them. At the time, Bishop was with me, traveling with Micah. Laken was home with them when they came to kill our parents. Mom hid him under the house. He saw the men kill them.” I have never spoken to anyone about it. “I can’t imagine what he went through. I didn’t understand at the time; I was too young, and my memories hold nothing of our life then. Laken was afraid they would come back for all of us and convinced Micah to take us with him. Laken stayed behind, and I didn’t know until years later he was hunting the men who did it.

“I thought it was a grand adventure traveling around the world. I didn’t have to go to school or have a schedule. Micah was fun and didn’t give us rules. He took care of us for years.” I press my hands to my stomach. “Micah had a sister. She was the best thing in my world. Maddy was the mother I never had. I knew she wasn’t my real mom, and the facts of my first years weren’t hidden from me, but I didn’t dwell on it. I didn’t know her. I was sad she was gone. How could I miss someone I didn’t remember?

“Maddy,” I whisper. “She taught me all the ways to hurt a man. We would use Micah as a punching bag.” I laugh lightly. “Poor Micah. I had years with her, with her guidance and love for a girl without a mom. She was so beautiful. I didn’t care that she was a vampire. She taught me to get to know someone and take themat face value, regardless of their breed. As Bishop got older, he would leave, try to see Laken, and live his life. I don’t blame him for the need. I was much younger than him. He didn’t know how to take care of a little girl. Maddy did.” I swallow harshly.

“What happened to her?” Mav asks, and I look down as his hand covers mine.

“She died. She was murdered.” I blow out a breath as tears fill my eyes. “I don’t think I have dealt with her death. It gutted Micah. They were best friends. They lived together for so many years. They couldn’t remember their human years, so they clung to each other, the one real thing they had in life. He took off for days at a time. He always checked in, but he was lost in his head, hurting like I was.” I angrily brush my eyes. “I loved her desperately. How could another mother be taken from me? What was wrong with me? My brothers were dealing with their own demons. Laken was on a mission to kill. Bishop needed him to come back to us.”

“You needed someone to take care of you. Hear your heartbreak and grieve with you,” King says, brushing the tears from my cheeks with the pads of his fingers.

“We all dealt with the pain differently,” I say.

“You pushed it away,” Mav says.

“Yes. I couldn’t lose it. I had to be strong for them. Maddy taught me to be strong.”

“She wouldn’t want you to hurt, but I don’t think she would want you to deny your feelings,” King says.

“You’re right.” I tangle my fingers with Mav’s. “My brothers love me and have tried to talk to me about it, but I’ve pushed them away. I say I’m fine. They don’t want to upset me, so we don’t talk about it.”

“I think you need to,” Mav says. “Let them take your pain.”

“If not them,” King whispers. “Let us.”

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