“Did you hear? All the dragon heirs went home last night. They took Bex right after the meeting and left.”
Bex was gone. The thought made me a little sad at first, having enjoyed the few moments I’d had with the sweet dragon. But if she was gone, that meant she was safe, which was for the best. Hopefully one day our paths would cross again.
That left only Alexandra for me to check on.
“They must all be gathered here and waiting on Estrid to help get them home,” Drake mused, pulling me against his side and dropping a kiss on my head. “I should help her if there are any vampires. This is a lot for her to handle alone.”
Once again, he was proving to me how selfless and wonderful of a man he truly was.
Spitfire? Are you back?
Lincoln’s deep timbre flowed through my mind, the feeling bringing a flood of euphoria to me. Fuck, I missed that prick.
I’m here, Sir. Come and get me.
Only if you promise to be a good girl.
Never.
My heart was practically beating out of my chest at the thought of seeing him. Despite it not having been that long since I’d seen him, everything that happened since made it feel like a lifetime.
Wrapping my arms around Drake, I looked up at him. “Hey, I have two requests for the King of Sanguis really quick before you go help.”
“Go on,” he responded as he kept his eyes on the crowd, seemingly always on surveillance in case of an attack.
This issue had been weighing on my heart in a really fucking annoying way ever since it happened. And though I wasn’t sure she deserved me sticking up for her, it still felt like the right thing to do.
“I know you had Maya kicked out of the academy for fucking with me, but I want you to get her back in and tell her family to send her back if that’s what she wants. Even with the threat over the academy, it should be her choice.”
Silence followed for a few moments until he eventually nodded. “Okay. The second request?”
“Don’t wait too long to investigate Jeoffrey.”
The sooner we had more information on him, the better. He was a fucking snake in the grass, and sooner or later, he would be exposed. I wouldn’t rest until he was.
“Done on both accounts,” he easily agreed before dropping his gaze to me. He lifted his hand to cup my face. “Now, may I make a request from the Queen of Sanguis?”
I let out a huff and shrugged. “Not sure I’ll ever get used to that title, but sure. What is it?”
To my utter shock, he jerked me against his chest, knocking the breath from me as he dipped me back with a hand supporting me. His warm lips devoured me, and I opened for him, loving the public attention he was giving me. I was accustomed to him making a clear difference in his personality when we were in private versus outside the castle, and I was so pleased to see him not falling back into that pattern.
A throat cleared, and I was startled out of the moment with Drake.
“Welcome back, Princess.”
Oh, fuck. Lincoln got here faster than I anticipated.
Disentangling myself from Drake, I straightened up and turned on my heel to face the vampire who drove me equally crazy and made me equally happy.
He looked like shit. Well, I still wanted to run my tongue along every inch of his body, but he was a disheveled mess. His dress shirt and pants were wrinkled, and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbow. His hair was normally perfectly slicked back in public, but right now it looked like he hadn’t showered, slept, or done anything to his appearance since before I saw him last.
I could see the fatigue in his eyes, but there was a fire burning deep in them, and I sensed his frustration over finding Drake and I kissing. That fire was a lot more subdued than I would have expected. Whether that was from how tired he was or him starting to accept that I had other mates was yet to be seen, though.
Strutting right up to him, I grabbed his tie and pulled his lips down to mine. When they touched, it was like sparks danced in my heart. His hands quickly found the small of my back and dragged me in closer to him. Despite not looking like he’d taken care of himself, his scent was still his signature clean, minty aroma that made me melt into his embrace.
I needed to bottle up what each of my men smelled like to spray on my clothes when I missed them.
Well played, Comoara. He needed that.
