Page 13

Chapter 12

Elsie

L ike another big sneeze, we’re sucked through the portal and spat out in the Great Hall of the palace. Aruan’s family is gathered in front of the waterfall that acts as a barrier for the main entrance.

I hear the trouble long before I can see it. War cries rise over the roar of the waterfall, enemies gathering beyond it.

My pulse spikes. I’ve had plenty of near-death experiences but none of them due to being attacked—at least not by threatening forces other than diseases or my own body. And I have to say, when danger comes in the form of a weapon, it’s fucking scary. If Gaia hadn’t warned us, whoever is ambushing Aruan’s people would’ve cut the two of us off before we reached the palace. We would’ve been trapped and exposed like sitting ducks. Unless Aruan can create a portal?

“What’s going on?” I ask with my heart beating in my throat.

“Phaelix,” Aruan says through gritted teeth, clasping my hand in an iron grip.

He’s positioned himself in front of me like a massive boulder of muscles and is scouting our surroundings with fierce silver eyes. I catch sight of those steely pools, now narrowed to angry slits, as he turns his head from one side of the hall to the other.

I follow his gaze. All I see are stone walls and statues on both sides. The big arched window is at the front. “What are you looking at?”

“The Phaelix who are stupid enough to think they can creep up on us.”

“But they’re outside.”

“I can see through the walls.”

He makes the statement matter-of-factly, but it takes the wind out of my sails. Not that anything about Aruan should surprise me.

He’s focused and collected, the quietness overtaking him the dangerous kind. This is the Aruan who’s ready to kill. It’s his single-minded goal, his only objective. It’s an awesome and terrifying sight.

The king faces the waterfall, his palms stretched out as if he’s holding the liquid particles together. Kian stands next to him with a sword in one hand and a stoic expression on his face. Vitai flanks his mother in the center of the hall.

The sickly queen is creating portal after portal with a flick of her wrist. The purple circles that light up the ground below are visible through the window. She’s leaning on Vitai for support, who has his sword poised in the air. The pose says he’s ready to cut down anyone who dares come near his mother.

Guards armed with daggers and swords sprint through the portals on the ground. The moment their feet touch the grass, they take up defensive positions. Gaia is working just as fast as her mother in opening portals, but hers are smaller and only letting in two or three men at a time whereas the queen is pushing through groups of up to ten.

“They waited until most of our guards had left to escort the caravan of trading supplies,” the king says tensely. “Someone must’ve leaked the information. Can our men get back here any faster?”

“Not on their own,” Aruan says. “They’ve covered too much distance. We need Mother to get them here now.”

“Blasted reptiles,” the king spits out.

“They’re going to storm the bridge,” Kian shouts above the noise. “They’ve surrounded the palace as well as the village!”

“Portal guards to the village to protect the people,” the king calls out without turning his attention away from the waterfall. Contempt is thick in his voice that carries across the space. “I can hold the water, but those creatures aren’t afraid of it. They might’ve mutated from their finned ancestors, but they haven’t lost their affinity for swimming. They’ll break through.” He adds darkly, “Even if it means losing a few who’d be washed away and crushed on the rocks.”

“And they’re going to do so in exactly five beats,” Kian announces evenly.

Everything happens so fast I don’t have time to process it. The thumping of my heart is a mere afterthought, a natural response I barely register in the danger we face as the hooting on the other side of the water turns louder and the seconds tick on to three, four?—

“They’re on the bridge,” Aruan shouts.

The king and Kian fall back just as a horde of Phaelix, clutching axe-sized knives with half-moon shaped blades, jump through the water. Some of them are swept away by the force of the foaming cascade, their screams piercing the air. I imagine their bodies flying over the sides of the bridge and bouncing off the sharp rocks at the bottom. But others make it through. They land on their clawed feet, their eyes narrowed menacingly and their lips peeled back over their shark-like teeth.

Aruan tightens his hold on my hand, squeezing my fingers to the point of pain as he addresses Gaia in a strained voice. “Portal Elsie out of here. She’ll be safe in my quarters.”

Gaia, who’s got her hands full with pulling up portals to bring in more guards, doesn’t have a chance to do as her brother commands. The reason for ignoring him is obvious. The queen can’t keep up the work. It looks as if she may collapse at any moment. Sweat drips from her pallid face. If the concerned glances the king steals at her are anything to go by, she’s not going to last much longer.

Kian says something in the guttural language of the Phaelix. From the hand gestures he’s using, waving at the space behind them and pulling a line with his finger across his throat, he’s telling them to either retreat or to be prepared for the consequences.

“Let the idiots get closer,” Aruan says. “Let them see what happens if they try.”

The Phaelix measure our small group. Drops of water roll off their shiny scales and splatter on the bridge. They hesitate, appearing to be waiting for something.

Fuck.

In my wildest dreams, I never thought I’d be caught in a fight, at least not the kind that involves swords, daggers, and lizards.

“Go, Nia,” the king yells, not breaking eye contact with the tallest of the Phaelix at the head of the party. “Enough!”

“Just a few more,” the queen croaks out, nearly crumbling to her knees.

“Vitai,” the king says, his voice as sharp as a whip. “Get your mother inside.”

“Now, Gaia,” Aruan growls. “I can’t leave the hall undefended to portal Elsie myself. Get her out of here. I’ve got this.”

Which answers my earlier question. Aruan can indeed create a portal.

The Phaelix leading the group looks toward the window. Below, an army of lizards advances up the trail toward the waterfall, marching like one man. Grinning, he lifts his face. That’s what he was waiting for.

Oh, shit.

A scream catches in my throat as the Phaelix storm us, but they don’t make it two steps before, with harrowing shrieks, the lot of them melt into goo.

In the meantime, the guards are fighting the Phaelix on the ground. The lizards force their way forward with vicious swipes of their knives. When a Phaelix hooks his blade around a guard’s arm and chops it off clean above the elbow, I understand why their knives are so strangely shaped. I pinch my eyes shut, willing myself to unsee the gruesome scene.

A weight slams into my chest, nearly stealing my breath. My eyes fly open with a gasp. Aruan, who’s still protecting me with his body, has stepped back and crashed into me. With my eyes tightly shut, I wasn’t following his lead. He’s slowly but surely walking me backward toward the hallway.

Caught off guard by the chilling screams of their disintegrating compatriots, the Phaelix on the ground have paused uncertainly, their bulging eyes trained on the palace. A few brave ones lift their sickle-like knives and charge the guards again, but in a second, the whole army of lizards is fizzling and bubbling.

Holy cow.

They’ve all been vaporized. The smell is disgusting. It stinks like rotten fish. I swallow hard, almost retching at the stench.

The guards are splattered with green glob. The ground is covered in the sticky mess. And just when I think it’s over, another wave of Phaelix rush through the waterfall.

They’re either brave or very fucking stupid, because like their buddies, they’re melted on the spot.

At this point, I’m observing everything with detached fascination. It feels too unreal, more like a movie than reality.

“Three strokes west of the sun,” Kian says.

Aruan turns his gaze in that direction. As Kian predicted, the Phaelix attack from a different angle on the ground. And then, poof. They’re all liquefied.

The enormity of Aruan’s power hits me then. If it hadn’t truly sunk in before, it’s staring me straight in the eyes now—and it’s terrifying. Kian uses his mind-reading ability to announce from which direction the enemy will be targeting while Gaia and her mother create portals to bring in more guards. Some of the guards must have powers of their own because I saw one hurling Phaelix through the air without laying a hand on them while another set them on fire by simply looking at them. I’m not sure what the king’s role in all this is, as he’s given up on the waterfall, but it’s clear that the guards’ main purpose is to keep the enemy at bay long enough for Aruan to vaporize them as they attack from all sides.

It’s almost too easy.

The Phaelix don’t stand a chance.

Finally, there’s a slump in the constant charging. The king uses the opportunity to drag the queen from the Great Hall as she seems set on ignoring his order to retreat. Vitai rushes toward us, saying something about getting the wounded guards to safety.

Gaia stops opening portals and grabs my hand. Aruan is still holding my other hand. When the reassuring grip of his fingers loosens around mine, I cling to him, a part of me unwilling and inexplicably incapable of letting him go.

“No,” I say as he releases me with a soft, reassuring smile.

I don’t want to leave him.

Of all the things I’ve never wanted to do in my life, including dying, abandoning him now is at the top of that list.

I can’t explain it.

There’s no logical reason.

All I know is that it’s as if my soul is being torn in two when Gaia drags me away and pulls me through the purple lights.

I stumble, yanking my hand from hers, when we land in front of Aruan’s quarters. “Wait, Aruan?—”

“My brother can handle himself,” she says in a stern manner. “You saw it yourself.”

Everything inside me protests. “We can’t just leave him there on his own.” What if they get a jump on him? What if his power runs out? Can it run out? I have no idea what his limitations are, if any.

“Kian and Vitai are with him as well as the guards. You should go inside like the other royals. They’re all in their quarters where it’s safe.”

“So that you can go back and make more portals while I sit here and twiddle my thumbs?” I ask with a snort.

A few tuataras scurry by, their sharp nails clacking on the flagstones as they run deeper into the palace. I duck as an anurognathus dives low through the air and whizzes past my head, following the pets to the farthest rooms, as far away from the danger as possible.

Pip.

They know. The animals know instinctively.

Aruan is fighting for his life—for all our lives. Kian and Vitai are helping as best they can. So is Gaia. The queen did what she could. The king, well, I don’t know what he’s doing, but I can’t just hide in the palace with the rest of the royals.

Suno rounds the corner, running in the same direction as Pip and the tuataras. He stops in his tracks when he spots us.

“Dragons, Gaia. What are you doing here? The queen has collapsed. She’s too sick to create more portals. I’m on my way to guard her so your father can return to the fight. You should be with your brothers. At least you’ll be able to pull them to a safe location in the palace if necessary.”

“I want to help,” I say, looking between them. “What can I do?”

Suno’s green eyes narrow as he regards me with disdain. “You don’t have a power, Elsie.” He must see the surprise on my face because he continues with an unfriendly smile, “Yes, news travels fast in Lona and even faster in the palace. Aruan may claim that you’re an Alit, but everyone knows you’re not like us. You’re useless. Stay here. You’ll just get in the way.”

Ouch. Okay, that may be true, but that was kind of tactless. What a dickhead. And to think I liked him.

“And what’s your superpower? Ignorance?” I prop my hands on my hips and walk right up to him. “I may not have a power, but I’m not fucking useless.”

He scoffs. “I can make any non-living matter invisible. My task is to ensure the enemy doesn’t find our queen if—the dragons forbid—they breach the walls.”

“Suno,” Gaia says in a chastising tone. “This isn’t the time for pettiness.” She softens her voice before addressing me. “If you really want to help Aruan, the best thing you can do is not distract him. If he thinks you’re in danger, he won’t be able to focus on anything or anyone else.”

I swallow hard. She’s probably right. Not because he cares about me, but because I’m his “mate.” Someone he believes belongs to him. His property.

And the potential loss of that property could make him lose control of his power, seeing as it seems to be tied to his emotions.

Is it like that for the other Alit? I still don’t really understand how their powers work, or why they’re all different. What the hell is this planet, and why is it so similar to and yet so different from Earth? What’s the story with the dinosaurs? I know now’s not the time to think about any of this stuff, but the questions are driving me mad.

Taking my silence for consent, Gaia pats my shoulder. “Don’t worry. It’s not the first time we’ve fought off a horde of Phaelix.” She motions at the open archway behind me. “Will you go inside?”

“If you promise not to lock me in.”

“Fine,” she says, already raising her arm and flexing her fingers. “I won’t seal the archway if you promise you’ll stay put.”

I cross my fingers behind my back. “Okay.”

A small circle of lights appears in front of her. It slowly gains size until it’s wide enough for her to step through.

“I’m going back,” she says. “Stay in the room until Aruan comes for you.”

The circle closes on her last word, and then she’s gone.

A long line of guards runs down the hallway in the direction Suno was heading, toward the queen’s quarters, I presume.

My fear morphs into frustration and then annoyance. “Why do the Phaelix keep on attacking if they can clearly see what happens to their comrades?”

“Because they’re dumb.” Suno steps aside to let a guard pass. “They have the intelligence of a sand snake. They’ll keep on coming until their leader tells them to stop.”

When the guards are gone, Suno gives me a long look. He opens his mouth, but seemingly thinking better of what he was going to say, closes it again before following hot on the guards’ heels.

I hate to admit that he’s right. What do I have to offer? I can’t open portals, heal people, make walls invisible, or read minds. I don’t even know how to defend myself with a knife. I’d most likely end up being in the way. And if Aruan is distracted, there’s a good chance we’ll all either end up dead or as slaves on a Phaelix barge.

The sounds of the continued fighting outside reach me through the window archways in the hallway. I run to the nearest one and peer outside. From here, I have a good view of the Sky Bridge, which is still swamped with Phaelix. The Alit are vastly outnumbered, but against Aruan, the Phaelix are doomed. That doesn’t mean my insides aren’t all twisted up. I watch with dread, growing sicker by the minute as I think about Aruan, Kian, Vitai, and Gaia alone out there.

It takes another few hundred storming Phaelix to be turned to goo before their leader shouts something in their language, and they finally fall back.

As soon as the bridge is clear, the waterfall parts. Aruan and Kian step through it onto the bridge.

Kian cups his hands around his mouth. “They’re climbing up the back! They’re making for the banquet hall windows.”

Aruan’s voice booms through the open space. “I’ll seal off the windows.”

Aruan abandons the fight in the front, leaving it up to his brothers and the palace guards to keep the fort there while he runs inside to prevent an invasion in the banquet hall.

Unable to stop myself, I run down the stairs to the hall where we had dinner. When I enter, Aruan is standing in the middle of the floor, surrounded by green puddles and ashes. Benches and tables have been turned over and strewn across the room. Tarix stands in the entryway that connects to the kitchen, a sword firmly gripped in both hands.

What the heck? How the hell did those lizards get in? Gaia said it was safe in the palace.

Aruan’s chest rises and falls with heavy breaths. Voicing my thoughts, he asks angrily, “How the dragons did they get in? None of them could get past the main entrance, and the guards sealed all the exits.”

“I don’t know,” Tarix says. “The bastards are like insects. They crawl out of the wood like termites.”

My relief is so great I can’t help myself from exclaiming, “Aruan, thank goodness you’re okay.” I don’t examine that relief too deeply.

He turns his face my way, and what I see in his expression stills me. Sure, there’s that murderous intent, that killing vibe from earlier, but there’s also unexpected tenderness and stark relief that reflects my own.

“Elsie.” He frowns, his eyes crinkling in the corners with concern. “Why aren’t you in my quarters?”

Something passes between us, a knowledge that one of us could’ve lost the other, and it sparks a deep and disturbing discord inside me, an ill feeling that makes me want to howl and tear my clothes in a dramatic act. And that says a lot because I hate drama. I’ve never been the dramatic type.

Awareness sizzles between us, crackling in the air. His focus changes from killing to something else, something that heats me like a red-hot rod dunked in a cup of water to boil it. My skin starts to tingle, and the tops of my ears begin to burn. Static noise drowns out all other sound. He watches me with undivided attention, his scrutiny so intense that it scares me.

Tarix and the rest of the world vanish. Nothing exists but Aruan. I don’t know what’s happening, but it’s as if everything has been condensed into a narrow tunnel, and I already know I’m going to barrel down it no matter where it leads.

Aruan makes it to me in a few long strides, carelessly dropping his sword in the midst of crossing the floor. He aims for me like a missile locked onto a target, and I welcome the explosion with open arms.

His lips are on mine before I have time to suck in a breath. My heartbeat is all over the place, a crazy, wild rhythm that gallops in my chest.

“Elsie,” he breathes against my lips.

I pull away to look at him, a desperate need compelling me to study his handsome face. Just as I do so, something moves in my peripheral vision. I turn my head toward it, and then horror turns me to stone.

A Phaelix has jumped out from behind one of the side archways, his sickle raised in the air, and he’s charging straight at Aruan.

“Aruan!” I scream, but it’s too late.

The tip of the halfmoon blade catches Aruan’s shoulder. Aruan must’ve caught on just before the Phaelix dealt the blow because the Phaelix is already disintegrating. But the blade has done enough damage. Blood pools from the cut in Aruan’s shirt, blooming red over the white fabric.

“Aruan,” I cry out again. “Your shoulder! You’re bleeding.”

He bends his arm and touches the gash at the back of his shoulder. Then he wipes his other hand over the wound and brings both hands to his face. Surprise transforms his features as he stares at the blood coating his palms. He didn’t even feel that cut, but that fact doesn’t put me at ease. The disconcerting thought that hits me is that Aruan isn’t entirely invincible. Despite his strength and power, he’s capable of dying. Very much so.

I’m trembling from my head to my toes. I’ve never felt fear so acutely, and it isn’t for myself. The fear is for Aruan.

Aruan turns to me frantically, cupping my cheeks with his bloodstained hands. “Are you all right?”

I manage a terse nod.

He pulls me roughly against him, sheltering me against the hard wall of his chest. For once, I’m glad that I can lean against him and borrow some of his strength.

“Dragons,” Tarix says. “I tried to get to him, but he had too much distance on me. It’s a good thing you vaporized the vermin before he could get his blade deeper into you.”

Despite the blood running down Aruan’s arm, his stance remains vigilant. He doesn’t show any signs of weakness or pain. “We’d better check if there’s more of that scum hiding somewhere in the palace.”

“There are none,” Kian says from the double doors, entering the hall with long, easy strides. “The palace is empty of any signs of their pea-sized brains.” He stops short of us. “We’ve cleared the grounds. The Phaelix have retreated. The village is safe too.”

“Thank the dragons,” Tarix says, wiping a hand over his brow.

Kian nods at Aruan’s wound. “You’d better have that looked at before you bleed out. I’ll tell Vitai to come.”

Aruan glances down. “It’s just a scratch. I can take care of it myself.”

I stand rooted to the spot, following the conversation as if it’s happening in a different place and to someone else.

“I’ll get Vitai for you anyway,” Kian says.

He nods in my direction and leaves promptly.

Tarix stares at the green puddle on the floor. “I’ll get the guards to clean this up.”

Aruan isn’t listening anymore. He lifts me into his arms and carries me swiftly to his room. Once we’re safely inside, he lowers me to my feet. I open my mouth to tell him we need to disinfect the cut while we wait for Vitai, because who knows what else the Phaelix chopped with that blade, but his mouth is on mine before I can utter a word. His bloodied hands are all over my body, touching and stroking as if he has to reassure himself that I’m here and alive.

The protest that had formed at the back of my mind dies prematurely as the fire running through me incinerates any inhibitions or objections. All that remains is the fear, the horrible fear that Aruan could’ve died, and with that thought, the strange accompanying sentiment that my soul is being shredded.

I barely register the hands that tug at the laces of my dress. His kiss is too all-consuming, my feelings too strange and overwhelming, almost as if they’re not my own. He growls impatiently into the kiss, his urgency matching mine as it reaches a feverish pitch. The reason for his impatience becomes clear when he gives up on blindly undoing the laces, and I hear the tearing of fabric as he rips them free. The tight bodice gives, allowing me to breathe more easily. I drag the welcome air into my lungs just as I’m inhaling Aruan’s very essence—that enticing male smell.

He groans his approval when I reciprocate by pulling at his shirt. As if my reaction somehow gives him the permission he needs, he quickly pushes the sleeves of my dress over my arms. The garment pools around my feet, leaving me naked except for my shoes. I have no idea how Aruan’s shirt has come off, if I tore it from his body or if he did it himself, but when his chest is finally bare, I press myself against him and tangle my arms around his neck like vines.

He’s tall enough that the action raises me onto my toes…and then higher as he fastens his hands on my ass and lifts me until my shoes dangle from my feet before finally dropping to the floor. The unyielding planes of his hairless chest are smooth and warm. Deep grooves define the hard-cut muscles. I can’t stop rubbing against him, needing to get closer, needing more, so much more.

“Dragons, Elsie,” he says through gritted teeth, practicing steely self-restraint.

I can’t explain how I know that. I just instinctively understand what he feels—the fast-dwindling control, the building tide, and the terrible need.

I’m burning up inside, flames consuming me alive. I don’t even care that we’re covered in his blood and that his handprints are leaving red stains on my skin. I’m beyond thinking, especially when he bends down and kisses a sensitive spot on my neck.

I tilt my head, giving him better access. He plants a trail of burning kisses down to my collarbone and over the curve of my breast. When he takes my hardened nipple into his mouth, I nearly come on the spot. The way he flicks his tongue over the tip before teasing it with his teeth is wicked. I’ve never felt anything like it. Something contracts in my core, my pleasure building instantly.

“Yes,” he says with a note of victory, releasing my breast and letting me down to shed his boots and pants.

I drag my gaze over him, taking in the magnificent male body in front of me, the broad chest and flat stomach, the abdomen that’s drawn in rock-hard squares like a slab of carved concrete, the deep V that cuts to his groin, and?—

Oh, shit.

He’s enormous. Huge. His cock is thick and long, ribbed with veins and adorned with a smooth, wide crest.

I drop my gaze lower, taking in his powerful legs. Aruan lets me watch, lets me get my fill, and a part of me mourns the fact that he has ruined me for other men. The unfairness makes me want to weep, but I don’t know if it’s with joy or sadness.

He’s looking too, studying my body. Somehow, this is different from the other times I’ve been naked in front of him. His intentions aren’t the same. But I’m too far gone to care, especially when he closes the distance between us and pulls me flush against him so that his hardness is nestled against my stomach.

When he bends his knees and slides that hardness through my thighs, I cry out in ecstasy. At the sound that escapes my lips, he becomes like a beast, holding my face in the vise of his hands while plundering my mouth and stroking my tongue with his, all the while gliding that thick cock over my folds, in and out of the narrow space between my pressed-together legs.

The act is a foretaste of what’s to come, a simulation of where we’ll end up if I don’t put an end to this, but I’m unable to formulate a single word.

He straightens without letting me go. I moan at the loss as he pulls his cock over my folds one last time before lifting me into his arms.

I wrap my legs around his hips for purchase.

Yes.

This feels even better.

He walks while still kissing me senseless, but not to the bed as I expected. As I want him to. Instead, he enters the cleansing room. The pool is already filled with water. He must’ve done that with his mind even as we were making out.

Understanding dawns when he ends the kiss and carries me into the water. He wants to wash the blood away. The color isn’t clear as when I take a bath but cloudy, and that distinct scent of milk and honey hangs in the air again.

The water is warm and inviting, soothing me in a relaxing way without making me sleepy like the first time.

“Why am I not falling asleep?” I ask. “The water smells and looks the same as it did the day you brought me here, yet I’m not lethargic.”

“The smell and color are due to the healing salts that are added,” he says in a rough voice. “Last time, Gaia also mixed in a salt that induces deep sleep. It was necessary in order to heal you. I didn’t want you to suffer through that.”

The consideration makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside, which is a huge contrast to how petrified I was when I thought he was going to drown me.

He sits on the built-in bench and arranges me on his lap so that I’m straddling him. His cock is trapped between us, a hot, velvety, iron-hard pressure against my belly. The crest is visible in the milky water where it’s resting against his stomach, reaching his navel. I have a sudden urge to taste him, to slide to my knees and take him in my mouth.

Before I can act on the impulse, he claims my lips in another brutal kiss. Weaving my hands through the thick, soft strands of his hair, I hold on tightly as I seek the friction I need by grinding myself on the hard length of his cock. He grips my short hair in a fist in turn, tearing his mouth from mine to tilt back my head and stare into my eyes.

“Mate,” he says, the single word infused with possession, desire, and an unmistakable warning.

My mind catalogues all those nuances, but they’re just information I store away. They don’t affect me one way or another. Their meaning doesn’t come through. I can only focus on soothing this ache, this growing need.

“You’re killing me,” he says with a clenched jaw as I move up and down, working toward a reward I need more than air.

Tears sting my eyes as he pulls hard on the roots of my hair, trying to get across some message.

“You’re not coming like this.” His voice is hoarse. Rough. “You’ll come with my cock inside you, so if that’s not what you want, you’d better stop now.”

That sounds so right. What I need. What I want. I lift higher onto my knees until the broad head nudges my opening.

“Dragons,” he bites out, staring at me as if he’s in pain.

I move down, letting that thick crown part my folds.

Oh, how deliriously delicious.

A voice at the back of my head warns me to go slowly—no, to stop—but it’s like background noise. Inconsequential.

I see his intention in his eyes, in the way the silver darkens to molten pools of charcoal and in the calculation that settles in their depths. A huge pull fills my entire being, compelling me to rush to the end, to a necessary completion.

Just as I’m about to take that plunge, Aruan tenses. The killing rage from earlier replaces the lust-crazed, predatory look in his eyes. It sobers me somewhat, pulling me from a deep, almost drug-induced state.

I gasp as I take in our positions, how vulnerable I am. It will only take a single tilt of his hips to spear his cock into me. I’m not even sure I can take him.

I hold perfectly still, my V-card, my life, and everything else hanging in the balance. What the fuck is wrong with me? What was I about to do?

That look that warned me we’re not alone has pulled me back to the present and not a minute too soon. Not to mention that for all I know, there’s a freaking Phaelix creeping up on us. Our lives could’ve been in danger while I wasn’t thinking straight.

Aruan yanks me down into the water. My ass lands on his thighs, my legs dangling over his.

“Bad timing?” a man asks with a teasing laugh.

As Aruan’s reaction already warned me that we have company, I don’t give a start, but it’s still an unpleasant sensation.

I twist my neck to look over my shoulder.

Vitai enters the room, an amused grin splitting his face. “If I’d known you were busy, I would’ve waited, but Kian said it was urgent.” He stops at the side of the pool and stretches his neck to peer at the wound on Aruan’s shoulder. “That’s a nasty cut. I’m afraid it’s too deep to wait. I’d better close it up. You’ll have to finish what you’ve started later.”

“By dragon, brother,” Aruan says, his fingers digging into my sides. “I have a good mind to kill you. I told Kian I didn’t need help.”

Vitai straightens with a chuckle. “You have a strange way of showing your gratitude for my services.”

“Get out,” Aruan says in a deep, dark voice. “If you see my mate in any state of undress?—”

“You’ll have to kill me,” Vitai says in a bored tone. “Yes, I know.” Turning his back on us, he says, “Well, make sure your mate is decent so I can heal your wound and get to our soldiers. They need me too.”

A muscle ticks in Aruan’s jaw, but the mention of the soldiers seems to bring him to his senses.

“Don’t move,” he barks out, the command aimed at Vitai.

He lifts me gently out of the pool and onto the floor before rising from the water like a Greek Adonis in all his naked glory. If my mind had been too lust-befuddled and drunk on passion to fully appreciate and memorize his tantalizing form and features earlier, that’s not the case now. The sight of him makes my mouth go dry. But fear and shame also pour back into my consciousness when I think about how I behaved and what I was about to do.

Aruan takes a big white folded sheet from a bench, shakes it out, and drapes it over my shoulders. He does so tenderly, treating me as if I’m made of rice paper that risks tearing.

“It won’t take long,” Vitai says. “I’ll be quick.”

I’m not sure if he’s addressing me or Aruan, but his implied meaning sends heat to my cheeks.

To make matters worse, Aruan commands in that very male, very raspy timbre of his, “Go wait in my bed, Elsie. I don’t want you to catch a cold.”

I shake my head vehemently, trying to come up with an appropriate reply, but words refuse to form on my tongue.

He narrows his eyes. His comment is mocking, but there’s a bite to it. “Lost your nerve, mate?”

The heat rising in my neck intensifies. I can’t believe he’s discussing this—that we almost had sex—so callously in front of Vitai, as if it’s perfectly normal to talk about what we did, and that I’m chickening out, in front of his brother.

Whatever mortification was keeping me silent evaporates in a burst of anger. “Have you never heard of discretion?” I snap, and clutching the sheet between my breasts, I spin on my heel and march away.

Or more like run away from what could’ve happened.

Aruan’s laugh follows me. It’s a dark, sardonic sound, saying what we both know. That at some point, if I stay here, I’m going to give in. No matter what I do, I’ve already lost. Like the Phaelix, I don’t stand a chance against Aruan. Only, in this battle, the risk isn’t being dissolved into a puddle.

It’s losing my life as I’ve known it and never returning to Earth.