Page 66 of Gemini Kings
And, pretty much, so has Zara.
“I mean it. He ate like he thought we’d take his food away. It’s like he’s feral or something.” My cherished one pauses in her pacing long enough to frown at me, propped up against the headboard of our platform bed with my Honors Science of Witchcraft textbook spread open across my lap, since I’m still trying doggedly to bone up for our midterms.
“I mean, do they do that in Siberia? Starve people?” she demands. She might not like Maxim very much right now, but I can tell the thought of him suffering really bothers her. “The guy’s all skin and bone.”
“And dragonfire,” Ronin mutters.
He’s sprawled in her window seat, looking delectable but overheated, shirtless and barefoot with his pants unzipped (which makes me so horny). I can’t help it, he’s like explosively hot, all ripply ribs and drum-tight abs, it’s so fitting that he literally has flames tattooed across his chest. But I’m still not totally over him ghosting me, so I don’t act on it. Right now he’s brooding and sharpening one of Vasili’s knives, the one Vasili gave Zara during that whole queen killer stalking episode.
That knife normally lives in our nightstand drawer, and I almost forget it’s there. I figure its sudden appearance now isn’t really a good thing.
“And muscle,” I add, going back to the dragon. “He’s, you know, all sinewy?”
He’s kind of intriguing, actually, the new guy. Obviously I know he’s a dragon shifter, like Zara is now, which is so awesome. I can’t wait to see her shift, even though I can tell she’s nervous about doing it, because she’s not on board with the idea of a mating flight with Maxim, like,at all. But right now the new guy reminds me more of a cheetah than a dragon, all long and lean and hungry, with sharp angles and starving eyes.
I guess I’m a little more accepting of the idea of a new guy than the others are, because I’ve always known I’ll have to share her. Just like I do already. Our queens in the witching world are pretty much all polyamorous.
You could say I was raised for this.
I’m from a big political family with a famous last name, and my father leads the Arcane Senate. It’s an elected post, but he keeps on winning it. The exact same way I’m supposed to do myself someday to carry on the Mercury legacy.
“Mmmm, you like that dragon, don’t you, baby?” Zara’s face softens in a fleeting smile that’s just for me, which I can’t help returning (with a blush) before she starts pacing again.
“This is a big bed.” I shrug. “Even with Vasili’s long legs taking up half of it and Lucius’ wolf growling and fighting in his sleep.”
I wish she’d stop pacing and crawl into this bed with me.
Actually, I kinda wish they both would.
They’re gonna need to take the initiative, because I’m still aching and bruised and heartsore and torn up inside from being left behind. Ronin always senses what’s going down with me, so I figure he’s trying to give me my space and show he respects my feelings before he (inevitably) fucks me into a blissed-out sex puddle. I’m actually still trying to decide how hard I’ll make him work for it before I finally give in.
But Zara’s clearly way too restless to settle.
“It’s acrowdedbed.” Ronin divides a pointed look between the two of us, then returns to scowling over Vasili’s blade. “Those eastern religious warlock clans are homophobic as fuck. Just like Vasili’s old man. Not really sure Maxim’s going to fancy sharing you, love.”
“Well, that’s a deal breaker for me. Anyone who wants me needs to want all of us. And vice versa, because you all get a say. We’re a package deal, and that’s final.” Flushed and irritable, Zara peels out of my sweater.
My heart stops beating. Heat pools in my dick.
Wow.
Underneath she’s only wearing a bra, one of the yummy black lace push-up ones Vasili had shipped for her in his last lingerie box from Paris. And I bet she’s wearing the matching thong under her leggings. It’s definitelynotthe innocent white silk and cotton skivvies of the regulation Academy uni. But they’re both rebels—both my fated mate and Vasili.
Neither one of them really does innocent.
Or regulation.
I love the way Zara’s full breasts spill out of the cups. Her boobs are even fuller than usual, it seems like to me. The way the outline of her rings and her swollen nipples juts against that black lace, yeah, that just makes my mouth water. Her skin gleams with a fine sheen of sweat.
Ronin and I both stop what we’re doing to drink in the sexed-up, punk-rock pinup girl vibe she gives off so effortlessly. Jesus, my junk’s standing straight up under my sweats.
I swallow hard and shift my hips on the bed.
Ronin gives a low growl that’s almost a whine. That’s his heat rising for sure.
But I know he’s fighting hard to wait for the rest of our guys before he gives in.
“Not to mention,” she adds, still pacing, while the firelight laps at her curvy body and the wild mane of curls swinging down her back, “there’s that whole…breedingkink that dragon’s rocking. I’m not having kids anytime soon. Not till after I graduate and we get this whole queen thing sorted out, like, at minimum. And he doesn’t seem willing to wait. So Maxim being straight? That’s actually the least of his problems.”
