Page 24

It was a short speech, but I was thrilled by it. “I’ll do whatever you need me to do,” I said, my heart beating with excitement.

Of course, my excitement filtered through the bond to Argus, who was ready for the coming battle himself, but it also flowed through to our egg, making it quiver and hum.

“Not you, little one,” I said with a laugh, stroking my egg. “You’re far too little to fight a war.”

Leo laughed. “Our baby is already itching to hatch and join the fight as well,” he said, sliding an arm around Diamant’s waist. “We should probably stop off at home to see how he’s doing and to let him know it won’t be long now.”

“Agreed,” Diamant said with a laugh. He glanced at his brothers and said, “Between my mate and our children, I fear I am about to be greatly outnumbered in everything.”

It was a sweet, cheerful moment, which felt odd, considering what we were all about to face.

The moment continued as long as we could stretch it out as my brothers and I and our mates settled into the chairs and sofas around the veranda for an hour or so to enjoy the feast Veronica had gone through so much trouble to prepare for us all on short notice.

None of us were completely relaxed as we discussed strategies Osric might use in his efforts to overthrow Father and as we debated who the traitor in Osric’s camp might be, but for those few moments, I had a glimpse of what our future might look like.

“I can’t wait until this horrible time is over and we can all live in peace here in the magical world,” I told Argus some time later, once we’d returned to our bedchamber.

A nest-like crib had been placed in the room for our egg, and when we’d arrived in the room, a large, warm bath was already waiting, as if the house itself knew my mind and what I needed right then. I wasted no time in tucking our egg into the nest-crib and stripping so that I could take a bath.

“All of us long for times of peace,” Argus agreed, peeling out of his clothes and checking on our egg before joining me in the bath. I noticed that the gaping wound my father had given him was completely gone now, probably thanks to the return of his magic.

It was the most blissful thing to have my alpha mate settle into the warm, fragrant water with me, sitting behind me and wrapping his arms and legs around me. I couldn’t remember ever feeling so safe or so cared for.

“This might not have been the life I chose,” I said with a sigh, leaning back against him and closing my eyes, “but it might be better than what I would have picked for myself.”

Argus laughed, the vibrations traveling through me straight to my hole. “So you’ve decided that having a fated mate you were forced to fall in love with is fair after all?” he teased me.

“Well, once I saw this amazing house of yours by the sea, it changed everything,” I teased him right back.

Argus laughed some more and tightened his encompassing hold on me. “You are a firecracker,” he said in a low purr, then kissed the side of my neck.

I sighed and tilted my head to the side to give my alpha access to whatever he wanted.

I wanted to give him more than that. Deep within me, the desire to bare myself completely to my alpha and to submit to whatever he wanted from me throbbed hot and heavily inside me.

It was still true that we needed much more time to truly come to know each other, but I was not as opposed to my feelings jumping ahead of my thoughts when it came to falling in love with someone.

“I could have done much worse in a mate,” I said flirtatiously as I twisted in Argus’s arms to sit facing him, astride his thighs. “Much worse indeed.”

Argus made a sound of curious approval, but before he could continue the banter, I leaned into him, slanting my mouth over his.

I might have been filled with an omega’s instinct to submit to my alpha, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t initiate things and take what I wanted.

Right then, I wanted to kiss my mate and join with him in every way possible.

I wanted our two hearts to beat as one and our bodies to give each other all the pleasure in the world.

We had come through so much together already and we would have to go through more before we could find our peace, but in that moment, we could steal all the pleasure we wanted.

“I love you, my wild omega,” Argus growled, stroking his hands up and down my sides before gripping my hips tightly. “Fate may have chosen for us, but you are exactly who I would have chosen for myself.”

“And I would have chosen you,” I said, moving my hips restlessly over his growing cock as mine swelled as well. “I would choose you again a hundred times over. You are my alpha, my dragon, my mate.”

Argus growled more deeply and crashed his mouth over mine. The combination of his ferocious kiss, the warm, sloshing water all around us, and the insistence of his hard, hot cock as I sat over it had me pulsing and leaking slick in no time, even though I wasn’t in heat.

“I want you,” I moaned against his mouth between kisses. “I want you deep inside me.”

“Lucky omega,” Argus laughed wickedly, grasping me around the waist and standing. I wrapped my legs around him as he stepped out of the tub, both of us dripping water everywhere. “Because that’s what I want, too.”

The cold evening air shivered against my wet skin as Argus moved toward the bed, but that didn’t last long. Before he could lay me on my back on the edge of the bed, pulling my legs up so my ankles rested against his shoulder, a warm, magical breeze dried both of us off completely.

Well, not all of me was dry, my hole still gushed slick as though I would never grow tired of producing it.

Argus stroked his hand down my inner thigh then plunged two fingers greedily into my twitching, hungry hole.

I made an obscene sound at how good that felt, then gasped when Argus removed his fingers and sucked on them.

“Delicious,” he purred. “My omega is the sweetest of all.”

I didn’t know whether to laugh or groan. I didn’t have time to do either. Argus lowered himself until he was at the level of my hole with my thighs over his shoulders, spreading me wide but awkwardly, then buried his face against my wetness.

I cried out at the remarkable pleasure he gave me as he licked and slurped at the slick that poured from me. He was certainly a master with his tongue and knew just how to drink my juices to have me writhing and producing more.

That was heady enough, but when he thrust his tongue into me and it felt like it kept growing and expanding, my cries turned into something more.

Dragon tongue. That had to be what it was.

He’d transformed just his tongue so he could pleasure me with it, which he most certainly did.

In no time, I was throbbing and arching up off the bed as orgasm hit me.

Without even touching my cock, jets of warmth shot their way across my belly.

That was amazing enough, but when Argus pulled out and shifted to lick my cum off my skin, his tongue still long and thick in its dragon form, I could only laugh with pleasure. I’d somehow found myself the most amazing, sexy dragon that existed in any realm.

“You are beautiful when you laugh,” he said, his voice low and thick with desire. “I will make you laugh every day for the rest of our lives just to hear that wonderful sound.”

“And I vow to give you something to laugh at every day,” I panted. Argus grinned with pleasure, until I added, “I’ll give you a mirror.”

Argus froze, his eyes going wide. I couldn’t help but laugh even harder at his surprise.

My laughter turned into a gasp as he stood completely, thick cock protruding eagerly in front of him, then grabbed my calves to force my legs wide apart. He shifted to grasp my hips, then brought his flared tip to my still-dripping hole before thrusting possessively into me.

I grabbed the bedcovers on either side of my head and cried out at the invasion.

It felt so good to have my alpha claim me that way.

I should have pretended to put up a fight so we could play around and have a little fun, but all I wanted was to feel my alpha’s girth stretching and rearranging my insides.

Argus enjoyed himself thoroughly, watching my body and his as we joined.

I could feel just how aroused everything made him, which gave me double the pleasure and had me coming again in no time.

I should have tried to hold out longer, but the orgasms my mate gave me felt so good that I couldn’t help but embrace them.

Moments later, Argus gave himself over to the feeling as well.

He tipped his head back in pleasure and made a delicious sound as he filled me with his seed.

I swore I could feel it, although that might have just been the bond.

Either way, nothing compared to the joy of my alpha spilling himself inside me and claiming me as his own.

“I love you,” I panted a few moments later, when we were both spent and wrapped up in each other’s arms under the covers of our bed. “I don’t care how it happened. I’m so happy just loving you that nothing else matters.”

“I love you, too,” Argus purred, rubbing his cheek against the side of my head as he closed his eyes. “And I will do whatever it takes to keep you and our family safe, now and always.”

I smiled and closed my eyes to drift into sleep with him. We had a desperately important battle ahead of us, I knew, but in that moment I was too content to care about it. If love could win battles, then my mate and I would defeat every force of evil that dared to oppose us.