Page 97 of Cryptic Dreams

“They’re already here?”

Dec watches me pull on a shirt with a smirk. “You think I would have come in here with the smell of sex so strong I could practically taste it if they weren’t?”

“I’d hope not,” I say with a scowl. “Entering the mating chamber of a Descendant is rather like taking your life in your hands, don’t you think?”

“Eh, I wasn’t worried.”

“Just curious.”

“Curious?” Declan nods thoughtfully. “Sure, but not about Z.”

Or me, either, since this male has seen me nude more times than he ever thought he would, as well as walked in on me a time or two when I’ve engaged in a quick fuck outside my room at the nest, which means he was curious about thewhatandhowof what Zephyr and I were doing, and not thewho. “When this is all said and done, I’ll give you a right proper crash course in how to start a sex dungeon, but for now, we have more pressing matters.”

“You can say that again,” Declan says with a sigh. “These two are pissed, and that ammo wasn’t the only thing we found in their ride.”

Lovely.

It looks as though it’ll be a long night for us.

I only hope to have things sorted before my mate returns because I’d hate to have her walk in on the other thing Declan has witnessed—and participated in—more times than he ever thought he would.

After so many years, my friend and I have perfected our tactics and they are by no means for the faint of heart, and I’d like to keep those goings on as far from Zephyr as I possibly can, for as long as I can.

I’ve no doubt that after this it’ll only be a matter of time before it all explodes right at our own front door.

25

Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

ZEPHYR

“Well, this is kind of fun.”

With a sigh, I shift my gaze from the clock on the wall toward Aries as he steps out of the makeshift dressing room wearing a bright blue corset, a sharp white button down, and black Italian slacks.

“I like that a lot.” Though, the bare feet throw off the look a little. But we’ve been trying on clothes for hours and the neon green socks weren’t doing him any favors when it came to coordination, so Aries took them off to get a better look at his outfits.

“You’ve said that the last three times I walked out here, Z.” My cousin’s mate frowns at me in the mirror as he smooths his hands over the corset. “I’m finding it hard to believe you like anything at this point.”

I just shrug.

He’s not wrong.

I mean, I have genuinely liked every outfit he’s shown me because Aries has great taste in clothes, and he’s absolutely the reason Orion dresses as well as he does when he’s working, but I’m not really feeling this today.

Not that I ever really feel like going out or shopping.

Even though I’ve really embraced who I am, who I was always meant to be—as Wraith’s mate, but also as the female who’s always been inside me—it doesn’t mean I all of the sudden want to go shopping all the time or find other ways to spend my wicked Prince’s fortune.

My gifts aside, I’ve always been a homebody.

My parents didn’t really do much outside of their Purist meetings; my father worked and we visited with my aunt and uncle, but that was the extent of it. Mainly because we were very much indebted to Ian’s family, but also because we all placed a lot of value on spending time together, and not making any waves.

Good little soldiersis what my father always said, which was rather cliche when you consider they wereactualsoldiers in a secret army.

We honored our contract; he worked, I went to school, they both played active roles in the first wave of the Uprising, and my mother kept track of everything for us. That was it, though.

No parties or social events.