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Chapter Eight

“ B rother, we finally meet.”

Kris opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by light. He had no sense of up or down. None of the others were nearby, nor could he hear evidence of them. All Kris heard was the resonant female voice coming from all around him.

He had no frame of reference for anything aside from his own body, but even that felt somehow unfamiliar. When he looked down at his hands, he instead saw a pair of massive, iridescent talons. He took a step, testing his motion and weight. A heaviness and overwhelming sense of mass enveloped him.

He sat back on his haunches and stretched, feeling new limbs.

Wings? And more than that, even. He moved his backside and the sensation of yet another limb stretched out behind him.

He twitched it experimentally and the sleek tip of a tail swept around and hovered before his eyes.

Curious, he looked down between his thighs and cocked his head, staring in wonder at the huge, erect cock that jutted there.

It shimmered, the light causing its smooth surface to display a myriad of colors.

“Yes, Brother,” the voice said with a hint of humor in the tone. “You have arrived. You have been reborn, in a sense—come into your own. The ritual was a success. I am awake now. You have one final task, however.”

Kris had so many questions for his elusive sibling, but knew they would have to wait until the end of the ritual.

“What is it … Sister?”

“My mate. He should have come to me already, but he hasn’t yet. I am still alone in my chamber, waiting. Without a proper mark, I can’t sense him, and you know I am forbidden from leaving the temple without a mate.”

“Corey … He’s been resistant to the idea of the ritual since the start. I will try to convince him.”

“You must do better than that, Brother.”

“I will.”

The light brightened to a blinding degree and he closed his eyes, but just before he did, he caught a glimpse of a brilliant green serpentine shape.

The image evoked a distant memory, something that had come to him once in a dream long ago.

He grasped at it, tried to hold on, but it slipped away like mist through his talons.

In the fog of the aftermath, Kris imagined he was weightless, flying through a cloud of pulsing light, the sounds of ecstatic pleasure filling the air around him. He had the sense of Issa by his side, her gentle voice comforting in his ear.

The sense of place came back to him gradually. He opened his eyes and peered up into a pair of lovely eyes as violet as the dusky sky. He lay on one of the tiers away from the altar, his head cradled in Issa’s lap.

Wondering if it had all been a dream, he raised his hand up to stare at it. Human fingers waved in the air in front of him, but with the barest intention, his skin tone altered slightly and his hand grew and elongated, sharp claws springing painlessly from the tips.

“You did it,” Issa said.

Kris smiled up at her, his chest warming from the hint of pride he heard in her voice.

“You helped.”

“No, I just watched. You were magnificent .”

“You did more than watch, and you know it.” He reached up and traced a fingertip down her jaw, letting it trail down her chest until he reached the tip of her bare breast. He paused and drew a tight circle around her nipple with it, enjoying the way the purple flesh grew stiff.

The earthy scent of her sex reached him a moment later, and he realized all the things he’d done with the others, but had yet to do with her.

He understood Camille’s enthusiasm for the entire experience.

Everything was new and wonderful, especially when you’d never been touched before.

Kris shifted on Issa’s lap, preparing to push her back and spread her thighs.

He craved the taste of her now like he’d wanted nothing else before.

He wanted to bury his tongue in her pussy and maybe come up for air in a hundred years.

He turned and gripped her thighs, squeezed them, then groaned in frustration.

“What is it?” Issa asked.

“I’ve got something I need to do first. Don’t go anywhere, all right?”

“I’ve waited five hundred years for you. What’s a few more minutes?”

He bent and kissed her. It was an effort not to give in and stay, but he forced himself to turn and leave.

Of course Corey was nowhere in the small chamber, but when Kris glanced up toward the entrance, he saw the tripod with the camera perched on top, focused at the center.

He walked out the door and found Corey seated on one step in the shadows of the staircase, head tilted back and resting against the wall.

His eyes were closed, his brow creased intently, his lips curled down in a tight frown.

His hands rested in his lap, but when Kris looked more closely he realized Corey wasn’t just resting his hands there—he was cupping himself gingerly.

“If it’s any consolation, I know exactly how you feel right now.”

Corey’s head snapped up and his eyes opened. He stared at Kris in surprise.

“I didn’t hear you come. Well, actually, I did hear you, and all the rest of you, come . Like, every ten minutes for the past two hours. Jesus, you guys are unstoppable. How the fuck do you … fuck so much?”

“You could have joined,” Kris said. “You’d feel a lot better now, if you had.”

Corey looked him up and down, appraising. “You seem more relaxed than you have since we met. I always wanted to ask what your deal was, hanging out away from the group when we were in camp. Shit, I think there were only two of us who wouldn’t have banged you, knowing how the others operate.”

“And now there’s only one.”

Corey held up his hands, palms out, and shook his head. “I’m not fucking banging you, man. I think you’ve had your fill already. It’s bad enough that all of you have been running around naked all night.”

With a chuckle, Kris sat across the corridor on the same step and rested his elbows on his knees.

“You’re in pain, aren’t you?” he asked.

Corey remained quiet, then nodded. “Yeah. Worst blue balls of my fucking life. I tried to stay and film you guys—Erika wanted me to—but fuck if I could watch. There was a second there when that little golden beauty aimed her backside at me I almost fucking lost it.”

“So why didn’t you? Dimitri strikes me as the sharing type, and he has more than enough to go around now.”

“Because … I don’t do that. It’s against my nature, I guess.

I don’t fuck other men’s women. I don’t fuck other men , come to that—no offense …

I do see the appeal, but no. Not for me.

I guess I’m just not wired like the rest of you.

And fuck … Camille surprised the hell out of me.

Of all the women in this party, I never expected Hallie to be the conservative one where sex was concerned.

Jesus, I know way too much about all of you now. ”

“And being intimately familiar with your friends is a bad thing?”

“Well, no. But it does feel a little … incestuous? I have to ask, those two … the golden ones with Dimitri … they’re related, aren’t they?”

“Twins.”

“See, like that. Incestuous.”

“They don’t touch each other except platonically.

Trust me, I watched every second of their phase with Dimitri.

They’re more like …” Kris struggled for an appropriate analogy, wishing he’d been allowed to spend more time learning about popular Western culture.

“They’re a team, I guess. Partners after a common goal.

Dimitri was that goal. Technically only one of them was supposed to have him, but they’re devious. ”

“Huh.”

Kris glanced at Corey, who seemed to be processing the details. After a second, Corey said, “I guess there’s someone for everyone, even if it’s two people. What about you?”

“What about me?” Kris asked.

“You just had sex with all my friends, man. Right in front of me. First, I think kudos are in order for having that much goddamn stamina, but where do you stand on actual—you know— relationships ?”

Kris stared into the distance, at a loss for an answer.

It had never been a topic of consideration during his training, but he remembered the dynamic between Zak and Darius.

Mutual respect, intelligent conversation, caring gestures that were never overt.

Once Kris had seen his two teachers engaged in a more intimate way, their behavior toward each other in public had taken on a different meaning.

He realized, with a sudden jolt, that they loved each other.

Probably very deeply. Had their relationship affected him somehow without him even knowing it?

All they had explicitly taught him was how to focus, how to fight, how to track, how to be who he was now becoming.

He’d once asked them to show him how to do the things they did in private.

Darius had looked upset. Zak had merely told him that was something he’d learn on his own when the time came. They were always right.

“Relationships?” Kris finally said. “I have no idea. I only came here with a task to complete. And I just did—mostly. But if what you mean is who do I want to be with, well … She’s been very patient with me so far, but I can’t imagine anyone else I’d rather devote the rest of my time to after this. ”

“The purple one? I saw her with you a couple times. She definitely has the hots for you, that’s clear.”

“Issa. Her name is Issa.”

“Right, sorry. I have the worst people skills sometimes.”

Kris laughed. “And you’ve actually lived with people your whole life. I grew up in a monastery.”

Corey sat up abruptly. “Bullshit. After that performance? Tell me it was a monastery where they train you for nothing but sex.”

“Issa was the first person who ever touched me.” And she’d be the last, if he had any control over the situation.

Corey seemed to marvel at that idea. “You two. Wow. I thought that would be the end of it after you guys fucked. Just watching you with her rocked my world. I remember thinking, ‘now that’s what lovemaking should be like.’ Not the fucking part so much, but all the leadup.

She was invested in every single second, even though you were being a jackass at first. I … I want to be that for a woman.”

“A jackass?”

“Fuck no, man. Invested . You turned it around. Then all the others had to get in on the action and it ruined it for me, but there was that sweet few minutes when I was on the edge of my seat, just dying for you to …”

“To what?”

“I don’t know, tell her you loved her. That would have been the cherry.”

“There’s someone for you, you know. You can have that, if you want it.”

Corey stared at the ceiling. His face looked troubled, confused. “No,” he said. “She’s not even human.”

“You know who I’m talking about?”

“Kol said something. This … ritual. The Queen? I guess I’m the only one left for her. Talk about leaving dregs. You should have given her Erika first; they’d have hit it off fantastically. But I can’t. I just fucking can’t.”

“You’re a better person than you know, and she’s not like the others.”

“What, she’s not a nympho?”

“Ah … No. She’s my sister.”

That confession seemed to draw Corey up short.

Kris could tell the man’s paradigm was shifting.

Kris had interacted with him closely for the last few weeks.

He’d probably talked more with Corey than he had with either Dimitri or Eben.

The group’s tech had been the friendliest, most open male in the group, which had drawn Kris in.

Conversation was easy with someone willing to openly share their thoughts the way Corey always did.

But opinions could cloud perceptions in the worst way.

“You’re one of them,” Corey said in an awed tone. “So, let me get this straight … Your sister wants a date and you’re probably going to kick my ass if I don’t show up for it, huh?”

“I won’t kick your ass, but I can’t guarantee its safety if the rest of these guys find out you didn’t show.”

Corey’s shoulders sagged. It wasn’t so much a gesture of disappointment, or even of resignation, but of relief, which struck Kris as odd. Corey smiled at him and nodded, gesturing up the steps. “I guess I’ve gotta go get ready for a date, then. Wish me luck.”

As Kris watched Corey stride up the steps, he realized what it was about the man. Corey’s sense of honor was what drove him onward, not the desire for sex or glory. He just needed a purpose to follow through on.

And Kris had all he needed now, too. A new purpose beyond seeing this ritual through to completion.

As he walked back down into the chamber, he watched Issa.

He could already feel her soft skin under his palms, hear her throaty moans in his ear.

He wondered whether it was a quirk of dragon nature that made him look forward to immersing himself in a life with her and no one else, even though he knew most dragons tended to collect multiple human mates.

But they weren’t most dragons, were they?

When he reached her, he sank down on his knees before her. He only rested his hands on her thighs instead of spreading them wide to pleasure her like he’d intended to when he’d left her moments earlier.

“What is it, Kris?” she said, brushing her fingers through his hair.

“I love you. If there’s nothing else that I’ve learned from this, it’s that I need to tell it to you as much as I need to show you.”

If the Mother was willing, he’d have several lifetimes to do both.