Page 85 of Tears of Gold

“He’s c-chained himself up in self-control for so long because there’re so few . . . people he can trust. Did you know if his q-qi so much as touches an elemental, he could be exe . . . cuted?” Erritt shakes his head sadly. “But what you don’t know is t-that part of his dragon-self has been hibernating. It’s just begun waking up. He . . . No, all of us, are still getting used to it.”

I whistle softly. Inner beast stuff that only applies to the more powerful species of shifters. “Well . . . I’m sure I’ll have a lot of questions about that, but is he safe?”

“He’s still Skye. He’s just going to be a lot . . . more Skye . . . soon.”

“Oh shit.” I shake my head. Skye on steroids? “Can we handle more?”

Erritt chuckles in answer.

Skye presses his fingers between Ava’s legs, and her happy moans weaken my knees. I lean back against Erritt, and he draws me close to his chest.

“Speaking of self-control, how is it that a prince likes touch so much?” I ask.

He puffs air through his nostrils, disturbing the curls on the back of my neck. “It’s because I’m a prince that I crave t-touch. Between r-royal reserve and servants being forbidden to touch us, I would go weeks without touch as a child.”

I shake my head. “Literal weeks?”

“Yes. All the staff wear long gloves, and we often do too.”

“Fuck that!” I pull off my torn shirt and throw it aside. “No wonder you’re starved. Touch away.”

His voice is soft as he thanks me and rests his forehead on my shoulder. It’s a little mind-boggling to believe that just a week ago I was convinced he was an arrogant asshole. And now, I feel like we’re close. I don’t even have words for what, but I can’t imagine leaving Exerin-Mi now.

“By the way, you’re barely stuttering.”

Erritt makes a surprised noise in the back of his throat. “I think you’re right. I hadn’t noticed. But I was this . . . morning.”

“Are you feeling better?”

He examines his hands over my shoulder. “Yes. A lot.”

Skye flips Ava over and pins one arm behind her back. He tilts her hips, exposing her rounded ass to the air and presses his cock to her fluted pink lips. I tense, trying to do the mathematics on that porn-sized schlong and her cute pussy. Between the rough hold and the size of him, I’m scared for her. Still, the way he nudges into her sends tingles shimmying through my core. My cock throbs, scraping against the seam in my pants, but I’m too nervous to adjust my bulging hard on while leaning against Erritt.

“Is Ava okay with this?” I whisper, not sure where to look so I’m not ogling the guy banging my girlfriend.

“Go ask her,” Erritt answers.

“Um.” Heat burns across my neck. “But, is that okay?”

Erritt releases his hold. “You’re one of us now. You n-never need to ask our permission to approach Ava. Not even during sex.”

Still, I feel uncertain as I walk to the bed. For months, I’ve had to tiptoe around them, giving them privacy and space.

“Ava—” I say. She flops her free hand toward me on the bed, wriggling her fingers in request, and my heart double beats. She’s so damn irresistible.

I reach for her, and suddenly, Skye lifts her with one arm and drags me underneath her, manhandling us both easily with his freakish strength.

Ava lands back on my chest, panting and moaning as Skye resumes his steady thrusting. My nerve endings short circuit as she clutches at my bare skin, her hard nipples brushing against my chest with Skye's every move, and her skin burning. It’s so fucking good, I jerk as my dick leaks. Over her shoulder, tiny wisps of mist twine around Skye.

“Are you okay with this?” I whisper into Ava’s ear as we rock on the bed in a single heap of bodies. My calves brush against Skye’s knees.

“Shit, yeah,” she pants.

The intensity of her answer drives away the rest of the speech I was forming. She buries her head in my chest, her body hitches, and she groans against me, crushing her tits to mine.

I moan. “Baby, you’re gonna make me come just from those noises!”

Ava attempts a chuckle, but she can barely breath, which is not surprising with Skye half-way to her lungs inside her. She shimmies forward, seeking my lips with hers and I meet her, finding her soft mouth partly open, and we sync our kisses to the wild rocking of her body. A moment later, she drops her head against my neck as her body tenses. She’s almost ready.