Page 81 of Love Bites Extra Hard

Somehow, he seemed even hotter than usual. The heat of his scales seeped into my skin, and I carefully wrapped my arms around his gigantic neck, hoping like hell that I could stay on without too much pain.

He took off more carefully than he ever had before. The motion was smoother than I expected—and the pain I felt from it was minimal.

I let out a relieved breath and leaned more of my weight against him.

Stella flew circles around us, making me laugh a few times with the aerial tricks she pulled. By the time we landed, I hated Talon even less.

But I couldn’t just forgive him.

Could I?

No. He had lied. I couldn’t trust him.

Even if I wanted to.

My sisters were all chatting on the edge of the lake, with their gigantic mates sprawled out on lounge chairs around the pool.

Talon landed and shifted, easing me to my feet. My sisters were already rushing toward me, and he growled at them.

“Careful. She’s hurt.”

“How hurt?” Blair asked, concern creasing her forehead.

“I’m fine,” I said, stepping around Talon. He caught me gently by my hips, and I winced a little.

“She wasn’t kidding about nearly dying, was she?” Izzy asked, as Clementine pulled me in for a careful hug.

“No. Her heart fucking stopped.”

“Then you’re the one who deserves a hug,” Zora tossed back.

I could feel her glaring at me. She’d hold a grudge against me for risking my life, undoubtedly.

Stella was still in the sky, surveying the situation. I figured she’d probably stay up there until Talon gave her the nod.

“We’re on Avery’s side, remember?” Clementine teased, releasing me with a whispered, “We missed you.”

The rest of them hugged me too, one by one. And all of them were careful.

“I’ll be completely healed after we swim for a while,” I added. “No reason to worry about it.”

“Then let’s go.” Blair grabbed one of my arms lightly, and Izzy took the other.

“Are you sure we can’t kill him?” Zora muttered, her and Clementine right behind us.

“I’d like to see you try,” Talon drawled from behind us.

I looked backward, and saw Zora flip him off over her shoulder. I nearly snorted. Clementine did snort.

They blocked their mates’ view of me while I stripped, which meant they got to see my healing wounds.

Gasps and chastisement went around the group.

I dodged all of their questions, and finally dove into the water. It felt so amazing against my skin, I sighed.

Everything was going to be okay, somehow.

Eventually,my wounds were fully healed and my sisters dragged me to the surface of the water. We were far enough from the men that we could still see them, but couldn’t hear them.

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