So much for hiding the skimpy silk dress until I could get under the covers.
I ignored their gazes as I slipped the robe down from my shoulders knowing what they would see and tried to climb into the bed quickly.
I said no sex, my little seductress,Riordan purred into my mind with a mixture of amusement and intrigue.
I thought it was better than being naked,I defended, sliding across the mattress toward Orion without looking up to see his reaction. Was I wrong?
Wrong. That dress is more of a tease than anything,Riordan reassured me.
I rolled my eyes before I could stop myself and then felt like a fool when I saw Orion’s brow quirk at me with amusement. I did not bother to try and explain myself.
I wanted to be closer—neededto be closer to him. Before I could question the impulse that felt as natural as it did with Riordan, I pressed up against him and nuzzled into his neck so he was sandwiched against Riordan.
But I froze when I realized that he was almost naked.
Orion chuckled when he felt me stiffen, but he put his arms around me and pulled me against him tighter.
Gods.I knew he would be every bit the embodiment of male perfection that Riordan was, but I had not expected to be cuddling up against that gorgeous body.
“Stop thinking like that,” Riordan called me out aloud, and I sputtered my objections uselessly.
Orion gave a soft huff of amusement and then tucked my head under his chin.
“He was talking to me,” he murmured after a moment. And my heart was suddenly pounding with exhilaration at the possibilities of what he might have been thinking.
If I bonded with him, then I would not have to wonder. His thoughts and emotions would be mine in the way that Riordan’s were.
I sensed Riordan’s approval as his hand, which I could feel resting on Orion’s bare abdomen, shifted to brush his thumb over my stomach with tender affection.
I closed my eyes, breathing in the scent of both men as a haze of the deepest contentment fell over me.
“You should sleep here every night,” I mumbled into Orion’s warm skin thoughtlessly, and he shifted his head to press a kiss to my head.
“Perhaps I will,” he replied before I fell asleep.
Chapter seventeen
PLOT OF THE WILD HUNT
Nuala
The moment we had returned from the aes sídhe camp, Rian made me comfortable at the fire and sat down facing me with theteine ceangal. Darragh suggested he should take Éadrom and the other vargr to hunt for which Rian thanked him. He promised to recall the shifter as soon as we had some more information.
Now we were alone in the tent, sitting in front of one another with our legs crossed and staring at the dark glass orb resting between Rian’s palms.
“You cannot touch the stone while I use it,” Rian said. “It would sear the flesh from your bones, but perhaps you will sense something if you touch me whilst I use it.”
I nodded in agreement with his plan and then reached out tentatively to place both hands on his forearm. I made sure to stay away from his hands, which I assumed would soon be burning hot as he used the stone.
“Ready?” he verified, and I nodded as I closed my eyes to try and focus.
I wanted to keep my composure while touching him, but it wasimpossiblenot to become wholly enraptured by him when his fire magic ignited. I was lost to the warmth and light gleaming upon my closed eyelids. Lost to the way his skinheated and hummed from the magic rushing through his veins. Lost to the feeling of his muscles as they flexed in his arm when he turned the orb. Lost to his scent so warm and calming, like lavender and amber, as it was intensified by the use of his magic. Lost to all the intimate secrets I knew about this man but had not yet experienced with him…
Like how sex also intensified the intoxicating scent of him to the point that I’d want to just bury my face in his shoulder and breathe him in as he fucked me. Or how his skin would heat the same as it was now under my hands just before he climaxed. And thesoundhe’d make…
I drew in a deep breath and released it slowly through my nose to bring my mind back to the present. Ever since Ornella healed my body, it had been steadily becoming more and more aware of him. In my prison, the longing had always been mental and emotional. Now I ached for him in new and much more delicious ways, and if I was not more careful, he would sense exactly where my mind had gone. There was no way to explain without telling him the truth of what caused my reaction.
There was silence while he presumably probed the orb with his mind. I was unsure whether or not he was even talking to someone else, but I tried to be patient.
