Page 111 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

“That sounds much less fun,” I said against Riordan’s smile just before he kissed me deliciously slow and soft. But it still ignited a heat deep in my blood that seemed to sweep through all my veins like a gasoline fire.

Orion did not make a sound, but I heard him rise from his place in the corner to walk away across the room.

After a moment of kissing me, Riordan stepped back and squeezed my hand in encouragement, so I resumed trying to find his magic inside. I tried to remember how it felt like I had seized a bolt of lightning from somewhere inside of me. But when I reached for power, all I found was an inferno of my own fire magic. Hotter and fiercer than I had ever felt it before, but it was all mine.

The heavy thumping that arose from Orion distracting himself with a practice dummy somewhere behind me also became rather intrusive.

“Remember what I said about how the air magic is like reaching up, not down?” Riordan asked, and I nodded.

“Is he alright? Was that too much?” I whispered.

“Never too much,” Riordan assured me with a warm smile that made me blush for absolutely no reason at all. “But I am going to help him blow off some steam if it is alright with you, and then check back with you shortly?”

“Of course! There isn’t a lot you can help me do until I work out how to summon the magic again,” I admitted.

Perhaps it should have made me jealous to watch my mate make time and find energy for hisskiáthe same way that he did for me, but it never did. Watching Riordan find ways to balance his attention between us and attend so diligently to both of our needs was comforting. I trusted that he took his bonds seriously and would not devalue either of us to make room for the other.

And I hoped Orion could begin to see that too.

Besides, watching them together was intriguing to me. Which was why, after a moment of ineffectual meditation, I decided to drift closer to where they were grappling on their feet. I went quietly so Orion didn’t realize because he was entirely different when he was with just Riordan. He smiled. He laughed. He was playful. Comfortable.

I tried to tell myself that I was just curious because it was a relationship that Riordan valued so much.

But I knew deep down that was not the whole truth.

Orion had been grumpy and rude to me, and now he seemed apathetic, but there was no denying the fact that I still found him attractive. Not just appealing to the eye, which he certainly was as well, but Ares was objectively attractive, and yet I was not attracted to him.

Orion wasintriguingto me. Secretive and private and exclusive to Riordan. His jokes and smiles were addictive because they were not for everyone.

And when he laughed… Holy gods, I did not have the words to describe it, but that had honestly been the most incredible thing to experience for the first time. Rare and precious like a Kirtland’s warbler sighting.

It wasinsane, and I was actually really disappointed in myself for thinking about him like that because he’d been nothing but mean to me. I shouldnotbe intrigued by him. But perhaps it was my old habits as a bird watcher that were to blame. My tenacious obsession with all things rare and beautiful and a need to pursue them.

I could only hope that the fixation would pass soon.

Orion suddenly threw a knee up into Riordan’s right side in what would have been a blow to the liver. I’d had just enough training to know that this was an incredibly painful hit to take, so I was relieved when Riordan twisted to grab Orion behind the knee. He instinctively pulled to flip Orion onto his back, and I gasped in concern that Orion was about to land on his wings. But in an incredible feat of agility, Riordan twisted in midair. His wings went incorporeal in a way Ktínos wings could not so he did not injure them as Orion would have done if he fell first.

The breath whooshed out of them both when Riordan landed flat on his back, and Orion fell on him.

Orion gasped something, reverting to his native tongue as he undoubtedly checked to make sure his friend was not hurt. Then he seemed to realize he was still lying on Riordan and scrambled upright, straddling Riordan’s hips with his knees. Luckily, my mate was unhurt and started laughing with his head tossed back on the leather mat.

“Finally took you off guard,” he declared breathlessly.

Orion hesitated, and for the briefest of moments, I saw his eyes tracing Riordan from his parted lips and exposed throat to his heaving chest. Awareness seemed to eclipse Orion’s concern, and his lips parted as his fists clenched against his own thighs. Affection softened his expression until he was almost unrecognizable to me.

Then he blinked, rebounding from the momentary lapse in control and forced a glare down at hisskiá.

“Ilíthios,” he cursed Riordan, but the name calling only made my mate laugh harder as he accepted the hand that Orion extended. Riordan’s incorporeal wings smoked as he was pulled back to his feet, flickering with veins of lightning until he was upright and they solidified.

It had all happened so fast that I might have dismissed the brief glimpse of Orion’s yearning, but it left an ache in my heart. I thought again that I should probably be angry, but how could I be when that look on his face was so full of such genuine love?

Besides, there was no denying the emotion thathadbeen invoked instead which was definitely not anger.

I found my eyes lingering on where they touched one another while Orion began to brush nonexistent dirt off Riordan’s back. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell my mate what an impressive move that had been, but I kept my mouth shut in favour of observing them quietly.

It wasn’t surprising that everyone knew how Orion felt about Riordan. And it bothered me because I knew I was supposed to be angry. I wassupposedto feel jealous and possessive, and I wassupposedto try and limit their interactions the way Orion had wanted to do with me.

Instead, all I wanted was for Orion to work through his hatred of me so we could all exist in the level of comfort they were sharing now. I didn’t want him to feel like he was competing with me anymore. I wanted him to know that I was not takingRiordan away from him, and for him to become comfortable sharing our king.

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