by Abigail Owen
Skylar’s vision went spotty for a brief second, but as a pilot who’d experienced this before, she pushed through and searched the skies behind and around her, trying to find the source of whatever caused Ladon to do this.
She didn’t see anything.
He came out of the flip only to drop his right wing, throwing them into a tight downward spiral. Again, her vision threatened to close in on her. But Skylar held on to her wits and kept searching, until finally she caught movement among the clouds. But that couldn’t be right.
“Why are the clouds moving?” she yelled above the rush of air, doing her best to keep her focus on the weird phenomenon above them.
“White dragons,” Ladon answered. “Two of them.”
He leveled out suddenly, and Skylar grunted at the change in pressure against her body. However, she was too focused above her to care much. Sure enough, now that she knew what she was looking for, those fluffy white clouds developed tails, and spikes, and wings. Only flashes of them, as they moved, but still there.
“Tricky motherfuckers,” she muttered to herself.
As the dragons overhead dove after Ladon, she caught the flash of ice-blue eyes, so like her own, that she gasped. These bastards were her father’s clan.
My clan.
Fear took a back seat to purpose. “Get me close,” she yelled over the wind.
“Why?”
“If I can touch them, I can send them to your holding cells.”
“No fucking way.” Ladon did a maneuver akin to a sudden dip in a rollercoaster, up and then down fast. “You were barely keeping your eyes open until five minutes ago.”
She hated admitting that he was right about that. And the thought of trapping anyone in that soundless, sightless in-between, even enemies, made her sick. “What’s your plan then?”
He changed direction sharply, almost as though he hit ground midair and launched off it to go straight up. The two white dragons jerked out of Ladon’s way as he shot upward, separating them. She didn’t miss the fact that he hadn’t answered her question but was smart enough to stay quiet.
At speeds that boggled her mind, Ladon continued to head straight up until even the warm clothes they’d bundled her up in and the fire warming her from underneath couldn’t hold back the frigid cold, and the spots dancing in front of her eyes had nothing to do with Gs and everything to do with lack of air.
“Ladon,” she gasped. “Can’t breathe.”
Even those few words had her chest heaving. Immediately, Ladon flipped and they plummeted back toward the earth in a controlled free fall. Only this time, she couldn’t keep her vision from closing in. She didn’t pass out, still vaguely aware of the screaming winds and Ladon’s massive form beneath her.
As fast as they dropped, he suddenly flared his wings, slowing their downward progress rapidly in a way that flattened Skylar like a bug against the windshield of a Mack truck.
Finally, momentum stopped, and she blinked her sight back into being. “You’re damn lucky I don’t have a weak stomach,” she grumbled.
Even so, she was sweating and trembling in a way that frustrated the hell out of her. Weakness had no place in this world.
“Sorry.”
Urgency had her twisting in her seat, searching for those white dragons, fighting the very bindings that probably saved her from falling off her mate. “Why’d we stop? Where are they?”
Ladon was fast, but his up and down rodeo shouldn’t have lost the dragons after them.
“Look down.”
She did. “All I see is blue scales. Very pretty, but—”
That grunt sounded again, and he tipped, giving her a view of the ground and two white dragons pinned down by massive nets. Each time one moved, blue electricity shimmied over the filaments, forcing them to still. On either side of them, two blue dragons stood guard—one leaning almost toward purple in color, and the other so ice-blue as to be almost white.
“Who are they?”
“Ivar and Rainier.”
A warmth settled in Skylar’s gut as Ladon drifted to the ground, then waited for her to untie and scoot off his back before shifting. No way would her king show weakness by having his men follow him, which meant Ivar and Rainier were there to protect her. Her stupid heart clenched at the realization.
To cover her concerning reaction, Skylar stoked some helpful irritation. Ladon was hardly done with the shimmering reforming of his body before she gave him a pointed stare. “Some warning might have been nice.”
…
Once again, Ladon had to stamp out the urge to laugh, because his mate was definitely the take-no-prisoners, never-back-down type, and he had to admit that side of her was an unexpected turn-on. Even after dropping a bomb on him like the giving up her immortality thing, those walls of hers still remained impenetrable. A challenge. “I’ll make it up to you later.”
Dark eyebrows winged high. “Sex is not going to fix everything, you know.”
Except now an unmistakable heat melted those glacial eyes of hers, and everything inside Ladon tightened and hardened…and melted…in response.
Get your head where it should be. On the immediate danger.
Ladon turned to the two dragons still pinned by the electrical nets. “Shift. Now.”
Despite a hiss of frustration from the more opaque of the two, both shifters shimmered briefly, their forms reducing in size, shrinking in on themselves, joints and bones realigning in a silent slide until two men in white military gear, likely designed for snowy climates, lay beneath the nets.
Ladon nodded, and Ivar and Rainier shifted in order to release their prisoners. Then they replaced the nets with shackles made of dragonsteel around their wrists, ankles, and necks. As soon as they finished, Ivar returned to dragon form, in case one of the prisoners did something. Not that either white dragon would be shifting any time soon. If they tried it, the dragonsteel restraints would cut deep, and the cuffs around their necks would decapitate them. They wouldn’t try it.
“Who sent you?” Ladon demanded.
The two men recoiled then looked at each other and remained silent. The taller of the two pulled his lip back in a sneer.
“Volos, of course,” Ladon surmised. “But Pytheios is pulling your king’s strings. So, I have my answer to that. Are you only on recon?” A small contingency out to determine what information they could glean? Or were these men part of a larger army on the attack?
“We answer only to our king,” tall guy insisted.
“Oh?” Skylar tipped her head. “What about your rightful queen?”
Ladon slowly turned to find her glaring at the two men with a disgust she didn’t bother to conceal.
“We have no queen. Volos is not mated.” The white dragon shifter’s voice indicated he thought her dim-witted not to know that.
Skylar raised a single eyebrow, reflecting the dimwit opinion right back at him a hundredfold. “Wrong. My father was your king and my mother your queen until Pytheios murdered them both and put his lackey on the White Throne.”
She moved forward and placed a hand on each man’s shoulder. To what end? To gain their confidence? To show she carried no fear of them?
Despite an immediate need to yank her back, away from possible harm, he knew his mate would not appreciate his interference. Muscles tight from the effort, Ladon held back.
This should be interesting. Ladon folded his arms and sat back to watch Skylar go to work on these two fuckers.
“Lies,” the tall one hissed.
Her lips tipped up in a chilly smile that made even Ladon shiver. “You think so?”
Skylar lit her fire, loose tendrils of her hair lifting around her face in the flames. She drew herself to her full height. “I am Skylar Amon, daughter of Zilant Amon and Serefina Hanyu, rightful heir to both the Red and the White Thrones.”
Both men trembled, eyes wide and focused on her. “This can’t be.” Tall guy was losing his confidence by the second, almost visibly shrinking. “Serefina Hanyu died with Zilant. No phoenix has existed since.”
“Lies,” Skylar spat. “Fed to you by the false High King, Pytheios.”
She crossed to Ladon’s side and held out her hand, which he took without hesitation. “I am a phoenix, and mated to Ladon Ormarr, King of the Blue Clan. Bow down now, declare your allegiance, and I’ll allow you to serve me instead of executing you where you stand.”
Not exactly on the list of what queens got to do in their society, but Ladon rolled with it. He’d back her up if they called her on it. If anything, her display of power only had him harder, eager to claim that body as his all over again. Put that lush mouth to work on his cock. Maybe while she was on fire, warming him both inside and out.
He adjusted his stance.
“How do we know this isn’t a trick? Maybe you’re a witch.”
Skylar let her fire die as she lifted her gaze to the skies, appearing almost bored. “I don’t really care. Choose. Die or serve.”
The two men hesitated, mistrust and distaste clear in their flat lips and narrowed eyes.
Skylar pretended to check a watch she wasn’t wearing then looked to Ladon, who nodded to Ivar. The bright blue dragon slithered forward in a river of motion.
“Wait!” taller of the two called out.
Ladon held up one hand. This would be the only stay of execution they’d get from him.
The two men exchanged another glance, then, together, fell to their knees before Skylar. “My queen,” tall guy said, his compatriot parroting him in a hushed tone.
Skylar smiled. “For your faith, I will show you.”
She turned to Ladon, giving him a significant look he shouldn’t be able to interpret, and yet he instinctively knew what she wanted. “You sure?” he asked, voice low, just for her.
In answer, she turned her back to him, lifting her braid, showing the still-blank skin at the back of her neck. His brand would show there one day.
“Do it.”
Entranced by that unmarked swath of skin, Ladon leaned forward to place a kiss right where his mark would go, not missing her shiver, holding in a satisfied grunt. Then he built the fire inside him and, with his mouth puckered, blew a concentrated stream across her neck, controlling the flames to keep from burning her.
As had happened when they mated, Skylar’s skin started to glow and that feathered design appeared over any skin exposed by her tank top, flaming wings lifting around her. Unlike the first time, though, this time Skylar’s markings glowed blue.
My color.
Damned if that didn’t push his already hard body into overdrive. Ladon fisted his hands to keep from wrapping them in her braid, yanking down her pants, and plunging into her. He could just hear the names she’d scream at him if he did, and a secret smile unfurled inside him at the knowledge that they’d soon be where he could, taking the worst of the edge off his need.
“We are yours to command, my queen.”
Tall guy’s voice pulled Ladon’s attention away to find both men watching her with a fascination in their eyes nothing short of awe. And this time, their loyalty was no longer in question, conviction in every word.
“I want you to go back to your people,” Skylar said.
What? Release them to let these men attack them again?
She turned to face him. “Trust me,” she whispered.
Had she heard his thoughts? Mates could do that, but her voice hadn’t sounded in his head yet. Regardless, Ladon waved her on.
“Go back to your false king and pretend as though nothing has changed. Report to me any and all plans the White Clan has against my king. Understood?”
“Yes, my queen,” both men answered.
Again, she looked to Ladon, who nodded at his men. Their prisoners’ restraints were removed, and both men shifted and flew into the skies. At the same time, Ladon dismissed Ivar, who returned to dragon form, and Rainier, and both sped in the opposite direction, heading back to Ben Nevis and leaving him alone with his mate.
“You don’t know that they will stay true,” Ladon murmured as they watched the dragons shrink then fade into the clouds and sky.
“Yes, I do,” she said with zero doubt.
“How?”
Skylar shrugged, her gaze still on the skies. “Because I saw their faces when they saw my markings. They believe me. They’ll remain loyal.”
In the space of less than an hour, he’d seen all her sides—vulnerable and open, cunning and fearless, and always, arresting.
Unable to stop himself, Ladon stepped in to her, pressing his body along hers. “Sexiest damn thing I’ve ever seen. You all commanding, and brilliant, and calling me your king.”
“Oh?” Her lips tipped up, a siren’s call, and his dick pressed against the zipper of his pants.
“I want you.” Those three words came out more growl than voice.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
She should definitely not allow herself to be turned on by his words, or the way he was watching her with raw need, that edge to his voice that told her he was on the verge of out of control.
He nuzzled into her neck, inhaling her scent. An even bigger turn-on. “Tell me you want me.”
Skylar tipped her head back, giving him more access. “Gods, you have the worst timing.”
As far as she could figure, they were in the middle of the flat, lush farmlands of Denmark, far from the men who were waiting for them at the southern tip of Norway. The farthest a dragon could fly was two hundred miles, and many needed a short rest after less. The trip to Norway was beyond those ranges if they took a direct route across the water, so they’d had to take the long way around, down through England, across to the Netherlands, and now back up through Denmark.
“Tell me,” he demanded. He lifted his head, pinning her with eyes lit by blue fire.
Damn her weakened state, or she would’ve simply teleported him. Maybe by tomorrow morning. But at this moment, she and Ladon were alone and undefended. Not a good time to be distracted. That’s what the angel on her shoulder was saying. The little demon on the other shoulder, however, was thinking all sorts of naughty thoughts and reminding Skylar that she could lose Ladon in what was coming.
A reality slowly creeping up on her. One that scared her more than she could ever have thought possible.
And I thought I’d just walk away from him when this was over.
“We have to stop for the night anyway, right?” she asked, trying to change the subject. Damn that little demon. Along with the man standing in front of her who managed to have this much of a pull on her.
His lips tipped in a smile almost cruel, the long scar down one side giving him a wicked edge, and she’d bet he knew what she was up to. She didn’t want to answer that question, to give him that power over her. True or not.
Ladon dipped his head to give her a direct look. “You can be honest with everyone but yourself. Is that it?”
Skylar crossed her arms to keep from reaching out to him. “Just the opposite, actually.”
He dropped his head until his lips hovered over hers. All she had to do was sway… “I’m your mate,” he murmured. “It’s right that you should want me, that your body needs my possession.”
Possession? No way in hell, even if heat flushed through her at the word. She leaned away and tipped up her chin. “My mind made the decision without my heart involved.”
Lies.
Words that had his mouth flattening, even as he raised unimpressed eyebrows. “My head and heart and body are having the same conversation. You’re mouthy, headstrong, and independent to a fault.”
Ouch. “In other words, with all four of us standing before you, you wouldn’t have picked me for your queen?”
&
nbsp; His face settled into the harsh lines she recognized from when she’d been watching while hidden in his mountain, that twitch kicking up. “Actually, I sort of love that about you,” he said bluntly. “But it doesn’t make you easy.”
Skylar had to breathe through her nose several times to loosen lungs that had suddenly gone tight. “Oh.” With no clue how to respond to that, she glommed onto the second part. “If you wanted easy, you shouldn’t have mated me.”
“I’d say the same thing to you.” He cocked his head, still so close his body heat and his scent surrounded her. “Then again, you thought I was going to die in the process.”
Skylar hid a grimace. “I knew I shouldn’t have shared that with you.”
Eyes still ablaze searched hers. “I’d rather we be honest. Wouldn’t you?”
Maybe there was such a thing as too honest.
“Yes,” she grudgingly agreed. “If we aren’t, we’ll be stepping on each other’s dicks every five minutes.”
Ladon dropped his forehead to hers, and she couldn’t make herself pull away. “Not an image I want in my head ever again. I like you dick-free, unless it’s my dick involved.”
“It was a metaphor—”
“I got that.” He pressed a short, sweet kiss to her lips that addled her brain and scrambled all her lady parts. She inhaled sharply, although by the time her reaction shot through her, he’d already lifted his head and stepped back. “I want you. You need to figure out what you want. And you’re right, the time and the place suck. So, I’ll wait.”
Skylar remained frozen where she was, body still buzzing from that brief contact. “You’ll wait,” she repeated. “For what?”
“When you can tell me you want me, too.”
He turned and walked away, leaving her staring after him. It hardly registered that he was shifting, until the mirage-like waves grew with his size. She blinked at the magnificent indigo creature in front of her, all power and destruction. The scar down his face was more obvious in this form. It looked as though he’d caught a tail spike in a fight. Maybe with some dragon fire to sear him from the inside. She’d mated a badass.
