Page 3 of Iced Heat

“I doubt it,” I shrugged. “They like shipping us. So, me riding on your back and all that.”

“Selt does not ship us,” Teddy laughed. “You’re too close to him for all that. Wait! You don’t ‘ship’ us, do you?”

“No,” I said, meeting his gaze so he knew I meant it. “You’re great but I don’t have time to make relationships with people who aren’t my chosen mate. That’s too much drama. I’m not going to explain my life more than once, ever.”

Teddy thought about it for a second and nodded like he understood. He might’ve. He dated enough and was well enough known in the purple district that maybe he ran into the problem of being from another world. My problem wasn’t a problem for me. It wasn’t a problem for a lot of the guys I hooked up with at the purple district either, but it might be a problem for some people and I wasn’t going to risk that bullshit. My first instinct was to freeze someone anytime bigoted bullshit poured out of their mouths. I wasn’t sure the Starscale Flight would look too kindly upon me for doing that.

“I don’t think any of them would do that,” Teddy said. “Maybe, I don’t know. Sunny was sure Selt was a full-blown asshole – like against omegas or anyone else having rights but he’s not. I don’t think they’re allowed to come in that flavor of bad.”

“I’m not taking any chances,” I shook my head. “My mate will come, or he won’t. I’m okay either way. I can barely conjure a door hinge. Believe me. I have plenty to keep me busy.”

“No conjuring hinges over here,” Selt teased when he and Liatris finally joined us.

“You don’t let me have any fun,” I rolled my eyes, really wanting a cigarette.

“If you can smoke on my back, go for it,” Teddy laughed as he stepped out of his pants as he jogged away so that both he and Selt had enough room to shift into their dragon forms.

Chapter Three

Sequin

Laying on the Bar at Glitter Bomb

Feral was right. Most of the crowd left just before midnight. A few patrons lingered at corner tables, eating, drinking, and talking in hushed voices as if they’d wake up the city if they spoke too loudly. I lay stretched out on the bar with my feet pointing at Feral’s feet. He had my joint now. All his kids were teenagers or older and home with his alpha. He wiggled his toes, tickling mine. I laughed but moved my foot away. Glitter was everywhere. I’m pretty sure I’d be washing it out of my ass crack for the next fifty years.

The doors swung open, and I half sat up, planning on telling Teddy off for leaving me all alone with the crazy people but he smelled sad, and another scent played on the tip of my tongue. One that refused to be ignored. I sat up properly and swerved around on my butt to see the newcomers. Teddy was there as big and broody as ever. He smelled sad and anxious. I hated that. I hated that the world had done that to him. Then there was the man with a baby. That was Selt. He just looked like Teddy’s type. The other was an omega like me and he smelled like a lion. That meant he was Liatris, Selt’s true-mate. That only left one person. Xav. He had to be Xav, right? Who else would that lot bring with them?

Xav.

Xav.

Xav.

His name twisted around my thoughts until my dragon bumped his head against my ribs wanting to reach Xav andwhatever creature lived inside of him. My dragon dropped his mouth open and breathed in. I mimicked him, wanting more, so much fucking more. All of him. Only his scent didn’t give away enough. Alpha. Shifter. More magic than a wartime yule party. Ice. Something cold. Something cold that I wanted all over me. He was tall with dark hair and icy eyes. Maybe that’s where his scent came from. He looked young but his five o’clock shadow meant he had some age to him. Young wasn’t bad. I wasn’t all that old myself and elves always looked younger than they actually were. His pointy ears gave away some secret elven heritage. Shit! It probably wasn’t a secret. I racked my brain for something – anything – else about him. Surely, Teddy had said more. Something about him freezing assholes or something like that? He was Liatris’s magical student. He came from a world that wasn’t Starscale too. If Daliah had been nearby she’d probably have remembered more about him. I flinched thinking her name and not reaching out to her hurt. This would be my luck. My true-mate waltzed into the bar with our brother and we weren’t talking.

I dropped my feet down onto two of the barstools. Feral didn’t usually put up with that shit but what could he do? This was my day. He was here. My mate was here, and he was hanging out with Teddy all this time! I opened my mouth and shut it again not wanting to look as dumb as Daliah did when she first met Rosemary.

“Is this what I think it is?” The dragon holding the baby asked.

Someone answered but I didn’t hear them all the way. My brain was glued to the man crossing the dancefloor to reach the bar. A second later, as if he blew in on the breeze, he stood between my legs. His hands rested on my knees and a quiver of strange familiarity shimmied up my spine. I knew him before. Of course, I did. Didn’t Nelum coming back at all prove that?

He cupped my chin, stroking it with his thumb. Usually, I made guys at least say hi and introduce themselves before stealing a kiss but since he was the beginning of my forever, I let him by with it. His lips were soft but demanding. The kiss started out gently as his tongue pressed between my slightly parted lips. My hands found his arms, desperate to hold onto something, anything that would keep me from tumbling off the face of the world. I would’ve given up a chunk of my soul to kiss that man forever. He tasted like ash and ice and something else I couldn’t put my finger on, but it was delicious as it rolled across my tongue.

Someone wolf whistled, probably Feral or Teddy, and the kiss broke. I didn’t let go of him afraid he might slip through my fingers like so many opportunities had. I slid my hand to his chest. He wore a shirt, but his star-shaped scale was definitely there along with other tiny scales. That meant this was real. He had the scale and so did I. It was a challenge not to peek down his shirt to see what color his was.

He leaned in to kiss me again, but Feral’s hand slid between our mouths as he muttered something about having a baby on board.

“Oh, yeah. Little guy’s here,” Xav laughed but didn’t take his eyes off me. “I’m Xav. You must be Seq.”

“Seq? Nicknames already?” I grinned.

“Teddy’s fault.”

“HEY!” Teddy laughed and probably shot me daggers with his eyes, but I wasn’t looking at him to know for sure.

“Always is,” I laughed, keeping my hand over his scale. It was warm to the touch, radiating its magical heat against my palm. I leaned my forehead against his. “Why are they so quiet?”

Xav laughed. Okay. Maybe they hadn’t been quiet. They wolf whistled and made us stop kissing. Well, Feral had done those things.

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