Page 51 of Dragon Rivals of New York

Her eagerness surprises me. “Are you sure, lovely? Just hours ago you weren’t convinced you wanted to do this at all, and now you want to do it right away?”

“I don’t have much of a choice.” Her voice is soft, but not with the same resignation as before. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt, but… I think… it’s more than that. I like what we have. I’m scared shitless, but… this is good.” She wiggles her ass against my groin.

“Careful, lovely, or we’ll give you round three.”

She laughs, but stops moving around. “I think I’ve had enough for a little while. But… I like the idea of being with the two of you. I think this might work.” There’s a mischievousness in her tone as she adds, “You definitely kept that promise to make me too sore to walk.”

“It’ll go away once you transform,” Kyro says.

“All the more reason to go now.” She tries to push herself up.

“You should rest, lovely. Let us clean you up and get you some dinner. We can make arrangements to go first thing tomorrow.”

“I have work tomorrow.”

“Then first thing afterwork.”

“Cleaning up and eating sounds good, but can’t we go tonight? I don’t want to wait. Now that I’ve decided, I’d rather just do it.” She twists her hair around her fingers nervously. “I don’t want any special arrangements or ceremony. I’d rather have it be just us. Can it be just us?”

There’s a little excitement mixed with the anxious edge in her voice, and it makes me want to carry her to the temple right now, just the three of us.

“I’m sorry, Ara’ha,” Kyro says. “Our mating concerns the whole horde now. We can’t do it in private.”

“Why not?” I find myself asking.

Kyro’s brows tug together.

“I mean, we need a priest or priestess there, but that’s all that’s really required, right?” I push up a little to see him better.

“Yes, but—”

“There’s not a lot we can control in this situation,” I say, “but if our girl wants it to be just us, that’s something we can give her.”

Kyro is quiet for a minute, then his gaze lands on Sora.

“Please,” she whispers on an exhale.

“Alright,” he agrees. “But first we shower and eat. And ifyou’re too tired after that, we stay and sleep.”

She squints as she glares at him and scrunches her nose. “Oh, is that so?”

I chuckle. “He’s not trying to be controlling, lovely. Are you, Ky? He just wants to take care of you.”

She relaxes her face and sighs. “Fine.”

I clap my hands. “Perfect. Now, the important part. What should we order for dinner?”

We spend the next hour showering and fighting over what to eat. And it’s the most glorious hour of my life. Kyro was right that this wasn’t what I expected, but it’s exactly what I want.

Chapter 24

Kyro

Mywingsbeattheair, propelling us toward the Temple of Gold. The place Nadia died. I hate going there, but this is what my mate wants, and I’ll give her anything.

Sora nestles in Jethro’s arms on my back as I fly over New York City. I offered to fly because I needed to stretch my wings. Also, because I needed to think.

When Nadia was wounded after our attack, I carried her back to New Jersey, begging the goddess that she would be okay. She died before I landed. I didn’t get to talk to her one last time. I didn’t even get to tell her I loved her.

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