Page 87 of Gemini Kings
Body of Christ, can that be possible?
I trusted Maxim, sympathized with his plight, allowed him into our very home, based purely on my own instincts and the strength of his word. I trusted his oath, sworn on his own dragon, not to harm my students.
What if I was wrong?
At the mere prospect of Zara being hurt, my wolf bares his teeth in a savage growl and claws brutally at my skin. I maintain a firm grip on him, because the last thing this household needs tonight is a second shifter rabid and raging.
“No, no, I’m fine,” she says hastily, because of course she senses my wolf rising. “Really. But I think I kinda hurt Maxim, I mean, emotionally. I didn’t mean to, Lucius. I really didn’t. I… I promised him I wouldn’t. He’s—he’s just so—alone—”
Her voice splinters.
With an exclamation, I leap out of bed and drag her into my arms.
She burrows into me gratefully, slim arms snaking around my waist. I press her face into my shoulder and tuck her compact curves tight against my body. I massage the silky back of her neck with a reassuring hand. She relaxes and snuggles into my touch with a sigh.
The creamy scent of roses and vanilla—her scent, my queen’s scent, that scent I’ve missed so dearly, as I missed every single thing about her while she was on the loose—floats from her freshly washed hair.
Under the enveloping robe, I realize with a pang of concern, she’s shivering hard enough to make her teeth chatter.
“Damnation, you’re trembling,” I say roughly. My palate tingles as my fangs threaten to descend. “Neo, stir up the fire, if you will.”
He scrambles out of bed into the icy air in his briefs to comply, pausing only to press a tender kiss against Zara’s temple and whisper, “Be right back. It’s gonna be okay, babe, stay here with Lucius,” as he rushes past.
“You’re wearing pajamas,” Zara mumbles to me, sounding bemused. Her cold face turns into the side of my neck. “I didn’t realize you owned any.”
“He has a whole drawerful,” Neo says wryly as he wields the poker with purpose. In the hearth, a tongue of flame licks to life. “I think I’ve seen all of them.”
Even in the midst of this crisis, I find myself blushing.
“You’re such a gentleman,” Zara murmurs, lips soft against my neck. “And he’s so sweet and shy. Bet the two of you could use a little assist, couldn’t you, Lucius? Just a little help to get you… over the hump?”
Her hands slip under my shirt to graze my lower back. At my mate’s touch, goosebumps sheet down my back and tighten my buttocks.
Suddenly, I’m all alpha.
Abruptly my thoughts swerve from the still-bugling dragon whose intermittent screams continue to float through thedomusto the more immediate imperative of my precious mate and her sexual needs. The wolfish musk of my mating scent floods the air. That scent is engineered to soothe, and she breathes me in deep with a little moan.
Under my pajamas, my shaft heats and swells. My fangs shoot down to fill my mouth.
Thickly, I manage to speak through them. “My dear, your hands are like ice.”
“Ugh, sorry.” Her face lifts and her teal eyebrows pucker. “I was in the pool. I took a shower to warm up, but I’m still kinda chilly.”
She was in the pool?
The details of her disastrous encounter with Maxim begin to take shape in my mind.
“I want you to climb right into this bed with Neo and get thoroughly warm. That’s the first thing.” I make my tone firm enough to prevent either of them from arguing.
“Will you be getting in with us?” Her nails skate up my spine, spreading shivers and distraction in her wake.
“I will after a bit.”That’s at least the third or fourth thing.Firmly I disentangle myself from her clinging body, although separating from her is the very last thing I want.
But my duty beckons sternly.
Gazing down into her upturned face, I instruct both my students, “Now then. Into this bed with the both of you. I’m going to check on the others. Then I intend to phone the Dean.”
“The Dean,” she groans, bowing her face against my shoulder. “Same Dean who’s still pissed at me for the whole stolen jet incident. Oh, groovy.”
