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His eyes lit up. “There it is again. I fucking love it.”

He opened the cloak then, and I heard his breath hitch as he took in what was underneath.

The dress was fantasy and flame colliding, a special mini-dress that fused elegance with seduction.

It was deep crimson and shimmering gold, the bodice clinging like molten fire and adorned with dragon-scale like textures. Intricate golden embroidery wound across the corset. It was embedded with ruby-red gemstones that sparkled like dragon eyes. The short skirt flared in layered tulle and scaled panels, blending the sexy transparency of fine lingerie with a fierce aesthetic of battle-forged armor. Gold-dipped lace and sheer red fabric draped from the sleeves.

“Fuck me, this is… breathtakingly beautiful.” He trailed his fingers lightly over the gilded dragon-scale like cups that were basically sculpted to my breasts. “And undeniably tantalizing.” He sucked in an unsteady breath as he drew his hand away, the struggle clear. “Hell, Ari,” he choked.

With a flick of his magic, he had the cloak closed, concealing what was beneath again.

“Are you all right?” I asked him, as I watched him turn away for a few moments, before then turning back and scrubbing his hand over his face.

“Yeah,” he breathed. “I’m not an animal. Icancontrol myself. Although, you were right about showing me now, giving me a heads-up essentially.”

I loved the way he looked at me.

Even when we’d been at odds and just engaged in some unfeeling dirty erotic play, there’d been so much lust and intensity coming off him, burning in his sexy gaze.

But now it was even more than that. Now our walls were coming down, it was adoration and veneration, too. I’d never feltso desired and consumed in all my life as I had since I’d allowed myself to get close to him and the guys.

“It’s intoxicating when you look at me like that,” I confessed, wanting to keep our newfound openness going, wanting to make this thing work.

That was what tonight was all about, what I really hoped it was going to demonstrate from me to them all.

“It is, hmm?”

I reached out and took his hands in mine, holding them between us. “Thank you for bringing me in out of the cold I’d inhabited for so long.”

“I’m just sorry I took such a harsh and hardline approach with you, in order to get us to this point.” He smirked. “Although, the purely sexual aspect holds zero regrets, to be honest.”

“No regrets there for me either.”

“Oh, I’m well aware. That was made clear the moment I stuffed my cum inside your panties and made you wear it, and you just did it. Admit it, you knew I wouldn’t really use that reality-warping spell against you.”

“You value out-of-the-box thinking and approaches to magical learning, so it’s something you’d want to encourage, not have punished.”

“Exactly.” He grasped my jaw in a tender way, his hazel eyes burning into mine for a few moments, before he let go and took a steadying step back. Sucking in a breath to obviously calm his body down, he asked in a more business tone, as he folded his arms across his chest, “So, you said you needed my head in the game tonight. What do you really have planned? With thatandthe dress you’re wearing so exquisitely, it’s clear the restaurant reservation is just a part of it, possibly not even the major part of what you have planned for the night, yes?”

“Vorzyr is flailing. He’s hurting. I need to remedy that from two different angles. And I’m gonna need your help with one aspect.”

“You want to give him what was missing when he took you outsidePolaris?”

“I need to connect with him on a primal level. Doing that, it’s extremely likely that I will actually lose control this time. And that’s where I need you, Kai. It’s gonna take the full force of your ability to counter magical influence from me. I’ve also enlisted Nyx to read Vorzyr’s emotions and connect mentally with his primal state to assist me with gauging where he’s at during specific moments when things get carnal.”

“And you need us to keep out of it?”

“I’d actually like to be consumed by all three of you. To lose myself to it completely.Buttonight needs to be about Vorzyr. It’s already been about me, and then about you. It’s even been about Nyx with Vorzyr’s connection with him, even the two of you giving Nyx what he needs. But Vorzyr hasn’t been so fortunate. He needs this tonight. But I also don’t want it done without the two of you present.”

“You want to be consumed by us? Wow, that’s really something, sweetheart.”

“We’ve been together in pieces, but never as a whole.”

“And it’s got you craving it, having us all over you at once?”

“Pretty much.”

Expecting him to escalate the sexual talk, I was pleasantly surprised when he stroked my hand and told me in an understanding and sweet tone, “I’m proud of you. I understand what a risk you’re taking by letting us in—in all sorts of ways. It means a lot to me, and I know it will to Nyx and Vorzyr as well.”