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The room sparkled. Voluminous lengths of silver and blue material draped across the walls, sparkling with metallic threads. The same crest I remembered seeing on a shield in Smoky’s bedroom adorned the wall—a huge bas-relief sculpture set in lapis lazuli and silver. A dragon, glancing over his shoulder, was engraved on the front with nine silver stars shooting out of his mouth into the sky.
Stretching over the dragon—two silver foils crossing blades shimmered, set in silver. Beneath the dragon, nine silver snowflakes drifting down from the sky. The borders of the crest were set in silver, with two vertical lines of knot-work to the left of the dragon.
I slowly walked over to the crest. “Tell me. This is the one in your barrow. You said that belonged to your father and your grandfather . . . is this, then, Hyto’s symbology?”
Smoky nodded. “It is my paternal crest, yes. But I count it as my grandfather’s more than Hyto’s. Hyto did not deserve it—he carried the shield out of obligation rather than honor. Over there, on the other wall, is my mother’s crest.”
On the opposite wall, the crest was set in silver and onyx. In the center, a dragon coiled, etched in the onyx. To the left, five sparkling silver stars. To the right, four stars faceted from diamonds. I gasped at the size of the diamonds—they were as big as my fist. Overhead, nine lines of silver arched over the dragon. Below, something had been written in silver, but I could not read it. Instinctively, I could tell that this crest outweighed the other in importance—by a long, long ways.
“What does this say?” I asked, kneeling down to look at the writing.
Smoky knelt beside me and made a sign of genuflection toward the crest. His voice was low. “It says, Dreams into action, life into death, take honor to heart, bring honor to breath. It means . . . my mother’s family is one of the oldest in the Dragon Reaches. I am truly a lord among my people. We are looked to for role models. My mother is very big on honor—which is why she married Hyto in the first place. Her father had promised . . . she could not break his promise.”
I nodded. “I think I like your mother.”
He smiled, then. “She is an amazing dragon, a woman who values truth over treasure. She does what needs to be done and does not flinch from duty. Come though, you should bathe and prepare yourself for the Council.”
A shiver of fear ran through me. “What should I expect? What am I getting into?”
Smoky paused, then shook his head. “You will be fine. I cannot prepare you because it is expected that you come to Council as who you truly are. If I coach you and you act according to what I say, the elders will know.”
Oh yeah, that made me feel better. I swatted him. “Fine, then. Give me soap and water and if you can find something that will fit me, clean clothes?”
Smoky led me to a bathing chamber with a huge marble tub that was filled with bubbling, steaming water. I stripped and he ogled me as I crawled into the dragon Jacuzzi, enjoying the whirl of froth that immediately began to ease my muscles. I leaned back against the marble, nearly falling asleep, letting the tension soak out of my body. After a moment, I noticed that Smoky had taken off his clothing and was crawling into the tub with me, a lecherous look on his face.
His long, muscled body was magnificent and I couldn’t help but run my gaze over the six-foot-four icy drink of water. His hair coiled and curled, sure signs that he was ready for playtime, and one glance at his cock told me the same thing. He was standing at attention, engorged and rigid. A swell of desire broke through my weariness.
“Oh, you think you’re getting some?” I couldn’t help but laugh. My wounds weren’t hurting as much, thanks to the Moon Mother, and the knowledge that we had Hyto strapped down and preparing to face trial made me ever so giddy. I leaned forward, crossing my arms over my breasts. “What makes you think you can crawl into my bath unasked, sir?”
“Because, you are my chosen mate, and my wife, and I know you too well—you’ve got that look on your face that says you’re hungry for sex. I’m sorry the others aren’t here. Well, I’m not, to be honest, but I know you like to play with all of us. I’ll just have to be enough this time.” But his eyes were twinkling and I knew he was teasing.
“You think so? What if I say I have a headache?” But at the sight of his puppy-dog face and pleading eyes, I relented. Truth was, they were all enough, at any one time. But for keeps, I did need all three of my husbands. I loved them all, and my love for them just kept growing as we were together. I couldn’t imagine any other combination that would make me this happy.
I pulled him to me, and he knelt between my legs in the spacious tub, as I leaned back against the warm marble. He fastened his lips to mine, as his tongue entered my mouth, playing against my own. We kissed for a long moment, him lying atop me, my breasts pressed to his chest.
And then I pushed him back, just a little, my hands on his shoulders. “We need to talk first. We really need to talk.”
He looked a little hurt and his expression stabbed into me. “Did I do something wrong? Are you not ready yet? I know Hyto’s attack . . .” His voice drifted off and he stroked my face. “Do you want to wait until the collar is gone?”
“No, no, my love. It’s not you, and I do want you. But we need to discuss a couple of things first. I want there to be no secrets between us.” I slid up to a sitting position and took his hands in mine as he sat cross-legged in front of me.
“All right. Then what?”
As I gazed into his eyes, I couldn’t help but smile. “I love you so much. I love you . . . And Trillian and Morio. You are my chosen mates, as you would say. I am a better woman because of your influences on me. Please, though, know that what happened with Vanzir . . . there was no choice. It wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t mine. Don’t blame him—he was trying to protect me and the energy blew up in our faces. I don’t want you angry at him. I would never have let him touch me like that if there had been a choice.”
Smoky pressed my hand to his lips, kissing my fingers. “I realize that, now. I wanted to kill him at first . . . but then you disappeared and Trillian and Morio convinced me I was being stupid. They wanted Vanzir to help find you. And he did. I won’t hurt him, my love. I’ll even be nice to the demon. Just don’t think badly of me.”
“I could never think badly of you. You are not your father, Smoky. You are a good man—a great dragon.” I stroked his face, feeling the smooth skin under my fingers. “Don’t you ever have to shave?”
He shook his head. “I seldom have more than a five o’clock shadow. Green dragons tend to have facial hair—but silvers and whites, rarely. Is there anything else on your mind?”
I nodded. “Yes, love. Your father and what he did to me. Smoky, it’s going to take me a long time to get rid of the memories, but the Moon Mother helped me understand my reactions to some degree—and I know that I’ll come to grips with his attacks eventually. What humiliated me most was groveling at his feet—I will never bow to any man’s foot again, unless it be a king or sovereign where custom dictates. And when he beat me . . .”
I paused. But he read me as if I were ink on the page.
“I will never touch you that way. I will never lay hands on you—I will not hurt you, Camille. I’m sorry . . . I wish I could wipe away what he did, but at least I can help mend the scars.”
The catch in his voice broke my heart. I was not the only one who’d been hurt. Hyto had done his best to destroy both me and his son. He’d made Smoky feel helpless, feel like he could not protect his family. He’d ripped at Smoky’s very sense of self. We would have to mend each other’s wounds.
