Page 9 of Aria's Desire

While she didn’t doubt he’d heard from the man, she recognized the statement for the delay tactic it was. And, yet, she took the bait. What that said, she wasn’t willing to acknowledge.

“How is he?”

“Well. He is following up on a rumor of a traveling caravan holding ‘pop up’ tournaments. He also mentioned hearing whispers of an uprising in the next city and that a grand event is said to be taking place there soon.”

“Does he need backup?”

“No, he comm’d only to apprise you. He assures he and his team have it well in hand.”

“Alright. When you talk to him again, let him know we’re here if he needs us.”

Did she sound slightly breathless? He was standing so close now she could smell him—sugar, cloves, and sex. She could see all the unspoken words in his eyes, could see the pulse pounding hard and fast in his neck… and feel how he was holding himself back.

Why the fuck that drove her crazy, she didn’t know, but it did. Feeling that he was restraining himself, knowing he hid his depths from her, only giving her pieces, only showing her what he thought she wanted to see, made her want to tackle him to the fucking floor and…

Cutting off that thought, she resisted the urge to rub her temples.

It was fine for her to hold herself back, but when he did, it felt like a challenge, like he was saying he wasn’t hers, and damned if that didn’t make the animal side of her want to pin him down and fuck him until he knew he belonged to her and only her.

Did that make her hypocritical, crazy, or just contrary as all hell?

Thankfully, she was saved from having to answer that by Vee and her mates showing up. Finally.

Within minutes, the meeting room was full, and she had a legitimate excuse to ignore the quagmire of her unruly emotions.

Except, after that probing look from Tirox and the quickly hidden expression of interest and calculation on Kix’s face, the feelings wouldn’t quite go back in their box.

When Tirox and Sin walked in side by side, smiling and talking like old friends, looking like a goddamn feast tailor-made to drive her to the brink of sanity, those emotions fought their imprisonment ever harder.

Desperately needing a distraction, she focused on the battle plan. That, at least, she knew how to handle.

Chapter 6

The mission was straightforward, so the meeting was over quickly. They’d do a flyover and see if Killir’s information that the place was closed for upgrading was accurate. If yes, they’d return home and begin planning an incursion. If not, they’d sneak in under disguise and have a looksee.

Apparently, this remaining arena was picking up all the business from their own being ‘closed’ and had made enough credits to upgrade their tech, or so said Killir.

After leaving the meeting, she headed to her rooms. She dressed in a spray-on bodysuit and robe, strapped on her weapons, slipped two RegenBands on a finger, then packed a bag: clothes and weapons for Sin, a disguise collar for each of them, food and water pouches, and a bubble tent in case they ended up needing to stay the night out there. She had her comm and Sin’s, in case anyone needed to get a hold of them. Finished, she found her mates to give them another ‘see you soon’ kiss then headed out into the arena to meet Sin.

Relieved he was already in dragon form, and therefore, unable to talk, then immediately awash with guilt for feeling that way, she met his gaze for a moment, softening her own in silent apology, though whether or not he’d picked up on her relief was anyone’s guess. Sin, like Rellik, seemed to be doing a whole lot of masking himself these days, so reading him was becoming difficult.

She didn’t like it. At all.

But what was she going to say: I’m holding myself back from you, because I don’t want to screw up what I have with my mates, and I’m not experienced with standard one-on-one relationships, let alone two-on-one and damn sure not four-on-one. Sure, I want you and Rellik so badly I ache with it, but Kix can’t stand to be around people, so even if I put on my big girl panties and brought up dating you both, I’d be intentionally causing him pain. But when you and Rellik do the exact same and hold yourselves back from me it makes me want to break things so if you could both stop that’d be super cool?

How perfectly rational.

Instead, she simply asked, “You ready?”

In answer, he extended a wing and dropped his shoulder, then followed her with his gaze as she climbed up.

Thorn, one of Victoria’s mates, had crafted a small, ingenious saddle for Sin. It wasn’t just to make riding him more comfortable, though it definitely did. He’d fashioned it so that, from below, it looked like one of the planet’s native birds. Flying everywhere naked wasn’t practical, or terribly pleasant, and they’d yet to figure out how to make any supplies they brought with them invisible anyway. The bird shape of the saddle blocked anyone and anything above it from view.

Settling just in front of his wings, she gently took hold of the long, scaled appendages lining the back of his neck, gripping one in each hand to act as reins. Not that she’d be able to steer him, if he didn’t want to be steered. As a thirty-foot-tall dragon, Sin could do what he wanted.

Thrasin closedhis eyes when Aria’s almost imperceptible weight settled on his back, suppressing a shudder of almost painful arousal. He both loved and hated when she rode him. Loved her closeness, her trust that he would keep her safe. But he hated it, too. To feel her touch, to have her so near, and know she wasn’t, and would never be, his was torture.

That must make him a masochist, because he kept inviting it, craving it, regardless of the pain.

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