Page 108 of The Dragon Queen Complete Series Collection
Chapter 107
“Come here…” Flynn said.
We’d been left to retrieve all our bags from our dragons’ saddles before dismissing them back to their dens within the peak itself, only Glimmer left to walk beside me. Riders remarked with surprise at her increased size, the gleam of her scales as we passed, something she marked with a lofty tilt of her head. Still others welcomed us back, asked how the honeymoon had gone, with a twinkle in their eyes, and Flynn kept himself together, making crude jests at our expense, right up until we got to our rooms.
But once the door was closed?
He grabbed hold of my shirt, hauling me up against his body as he pressed me back against the wall.
“Fuck, I’ve been aching all day…”
That was the only warning I got before his mouth slammed down on mine. All the aches and pains of the ride back to the capital, all of the emotional ones that rose when I saw the prince… They fell away under his demanding touch. My hands went around him, raking up the back of his shirt, needing to feel his bare skin under my hands. But when I did?
“Enough!” Soren’s voice was the furious hiss of a commanding officer, containing enough authority that we pulled apart, if only for a moment. Flynn spun me around in front of him, then pressed his back into the wall so that now I was looking at Soren.
“Enough?” Flynn’s voice was lazy. “The Gathering will start in an hour, according to Father and while it's not long enough for everything I planned in my head on the ride over, it's enough for some of it.”
I felt like a shameless slattern as Flynn inched my shirt up out of my pants, yet I couldn’t seem to bring myself to push his hands away. The three other men clustered closer, their steps as slow and steady as a wolf on the prowl, their eyes burning into mine. It was a tremendous gift, their attention and yet I felt it my due.
You are a queen and they are your mates , Glimmer told me, walking out of the main room and into mine, disappearing from sight when she climbed up on my bed. You have time to mate. I’ll keep watch and alert you if anyone seeks entrance to the room. You will need to be quiet though. I can’t hide those strange noises you make unless someone would believe some of those oinking things are in your room.
I wanted to laugh at her pragmatic tone, but any levity was lost when I felt Flynn’s mouth on my neck. My hips tilted back on instinct, and he groaned at the feel of me grinding into his cock.
“We can’t—” Soren started to protest.
“Waste a damn minute we have alone?” Ged strolled over and took my chin in hand, tilting my head up so I stared into his eyes alone. “We’ll have to snatch every moment we can for ourselves, with both hands. What did the general have to say, Brom? Tell me it's lots and lots of patrols.”
But as Ged dropped his head down to mine, his blue grey eyes twinkling the closer he got, Brom shared the news.
“Not patrols, but we’ve been tasked with the recovery of the lads,” he told the others.
“The general has no leads?” Soren asked, as Ged grazed his lips across mine. Flynn made an approving sound, especially when I arched up under his grip.
“None, but plenty of riders have theories,” Brom replied. “Ones that point the finger at the royal family.”
“Good.” Flynn’s voice was rough with emotion, as his hands raked over me. “The more people suspicious of that bitch the better.”
“As well as our king,” Brom countered, before continuing. “And our prince.”
Everyone went still then. I felt the puff of Ged’s breath against my lips. He blinked, then shook his head ruefully and pulled back. I missed his warmth, his presence, as soon as he did. As I pulled free of Flynn, the mood inside the room shifted and he let out a regretful sigh.
“You certainly know how to kill a mood, commander,” Flynn said. “So what’s the plan?”
“The same as it was before we arrived,” Brom said. “Find the lads, return them to their dragons. We can’t focus on anything until we achieve that.”
And that included what simmered between us, were the words that were left unspoken.
“The general said the young dragons bonded to Lance and the others can only see darkness,” I said. “Perhaps Glimmer and I can spend some time with them and see if we can persuade them to eat at least.”
“A visit from two queens?” Soren nodded. “That might just do the trick.”
“And we need to test the mood of the riders, see where people’s heads are at,” Brom said.
“And the representatives from each of the duchies that have arrived for the Gathering,” Flynn said, pulling me close once more, but this time for comfort rather than lust. He rubbed his nose along my neck before continuing. “My father has requested that I attend a dinner with him and some of the other Skanian nobles tonight. And he asked that I bring Pippin as my guest.”
“And the machinations begin the minute we get off dragonback,” Ged groaned. “So, the two of you go tonight and feel them out, but what about…?” His eyes flicked from me to Brom and back again. “What about Draven?”
It felt like all questions of strategy came back to the prince, but I didn’t feel like I could answer the unspoken ones that were attached to them. What did the other night mean for the relationship we were building between the lot of us? If I’d reacted badly to the news of history between Draven and Brom before then, how would I respond now that I had made my own? What did the arrival of Beatrice mean for us all, and what did Draven have planned? I stared into Brom’s eyes, seeing an answering pain and need in his, knowing he was the only one who really understood. Could we trust the prince to do just as he’d said and bring us closer together or would he tear us all apart? Brom nodded slowly, as if sensing my thoughts, before turning to the rest of the wing.
“Draven does as he will. It’s all he’s ever done. We cannot factor him into our decisions, nor can we exclude him.” He let out a long sigh. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”
“Well, he might be mad enough to fly away from all of this,” Flynn said in a much softer voice. His lips brushed against my neck and I shivered as a result. “But I’m not. Promise me that at the end of the day, when all is done, we come back here, all of us, to tear away all remnants of the day and come naked to our beds, to each other.”
I turned to him, the ragged sound of his words forcing me to take his face in my hands, to smooth my thumbs over the sharp planes of his face. His eyes fell half closed at my touch, his face nestling into my palm as he pressed a kiss there. But the half-lidded look he shot me? It tore into me, cutting through all the paraphernalia he so scorned, that he saw as obstacles between him and me.
“You have my promise,” I offered, a little tentatively, but my commitment to the idea solidified as I saw a slow smile spread across his face. The moment felt like one we’d stolen for ourselves amongst all of the chaos that raged outside.
“That’s all I need,” he assured me, moving forward, ready to claim my mouth with his and stir again the coals of heat that seemed to smoulder constantly between us. “Just that.”
“But not now.” Ged jerked me from Flynn’s grip with a rakish grin. “If the Gathering begins in an hour, we’ve got time to scoot down to the mews and see how Lance and the other lads’ dragons are faring. Get into your uniform, Cadet Emberly. You’ll need to be dressed properly, a proper representation of the corps if you’re to attend a Gathering.”
And the way he winked at Soren, the other man scowling, made me think that this was something Ged had heard many a time from his drill sergeant over the years. I moved, glad for something to do, and dropped my bag onto my bed. Glimmer cracked an eyelid to peer at me, but she wasn’t the only one to watch me. The feeling of eyes on my skin was palpable, once I’d shoved my travelling clothes off and then turned around.
I didn’t think Flynn needed to be worried about us making sure we were prioritising our relationship at the end of each day. If anything it would be the hiding of this bond, something that was discernible as they stared at me, their eyes feeling like hands sliding over my skin all at once.
Which made me wonder if they’d do just that at the end of the day. But not now.
I yanked my uniform shirt over my head, hiding my body away, the part of me that could be vulnerable and theirs, and took on the role I needed to play. By donning the pants and boots of a cadet, I became Cadet Emberly, not Pippin, something Soren noted with a nod, reaching over to straighten my collar, then flicking his fingers along the lines of my shoulders.
“Get Pippin and Glimmer to the Gathering on time. I have a feeling that all of us are going to want a front row seat to the proceedings.”