Page 24 of Gladiator's Bite
TEAL:Not S&M. Teddy wouldn’t do S&M. I wanted to let you know, Sunny, watch out for enraged dragons. Those get tied down. Maybe the Starscales tie them down to slabs of stone so they can’t fly away. Be careful. Tell your mate to be careful too.
ME:I will. Always careful.
ME:Has Liam told anyone who Teddy’s mate is?
TEAL:I’m working on it. You’d think so would Duke but he told me to mind my business. If Teddy is your business then he’s our business too. Grandcarrier says to mind our business too but he’s more concerned about who you’re going to sacrifice and to who. He wanted us to remind you that Frost and Juda have never asked for any sort of blood sacrifice like that.
I rolled my eyes. Of course that’s what my carrier would worry about. He’d pick the most outlandish possibility and worry about it. Though, my youngest sibling was born not long ago and Dad always got weird after having a baby. At least, that’s what I’d been told.
COBALT:So is he hot? When do we get to see him?
Me:Uh…. Cousin. We don’t know for sure who it is yet. Put it back in your pants.
INDIGO:Not S&M guy. YOUR MATE!!!!!!!!!!!
COBALT:WHAT HE SAID!
TEAL:SORRY THEY’RE UNCIVILIZED KOMODO DRAGONS!!
ME:Soon. I promise. I’m not sending a photo of him to another world without his permission though. Oh! Shit! What do you guys think of heading a community tree project in London? I almost forgot to ask you.
COBALT:That’s my cue to run away. I’m allergic to half the things my carrier grows.
TEAL:Email me more details. I’ll help you. I think it’s to impress your guy anyway. So, I’ll help.
I almost told him it was about more than impressing Laken. It would’ve been the truth, but I didn’t want to leave a trail of texts insulting how my grandparents ran things. If they knew that was influenced by Laken at all, they’d never like him. My carrier would be offended that he was accused of not ‘loving’ his flight and my sire would blow his top, saying he did the best he could. It was better if I waited until I could get the triplets on the phone.
ME:Thanks, Teal. Cobalt, take your damn allergy shot. Make them sit on you or something. You’re bigger than that needle.
“So, that’s why you wouldn’t have made fun of me,” Laken said, leaning his chin on my shoulder.
“Dragons did not evolve to take shots. We evolved to rebel against anything that tries to stab us,” I shrugged. “Those are my nephews. We’re all around the same age, though. They’re triplets.”
“The ones you grew up with,” Laken nodded and kissed my bare shoulder. “I look forward to meeting them.”
“One of them might help with the community plant project,” I told him as I typed a quick ‘talk later’ text to the triplets. “He thinks I’m only doing it to impress you.”
“Even if you are, I’ll take it and probably so will the dragons that get food in their bellies because of it. Sometimes if something has a good outcome, people can forgive you for thinking with your dick.”
“Eh, I mean, you’re hot, but I wouldn’t need to do that to get laid,” I teased him, tucking my phone into my pocket and turning around so that we faced each other. “But as we’ve established, I’ve never wanted just a romp. Besides, I don’t disagree with you. I don’t know that it’ll work back—”
“Nothing works until it does. No nail is hammered in until you find someone to hold it steady,” Laken said.
“I’ll hold it steady,” I smirked.
“This is where I want to make a joke about alphas always being so fucking horny, but,” he said, grabbing my hand and putting it on his crotch.
My nostrils flared and a ring of smoke drifted out. Laken smirked at me. He smelled so fucking good. Keeping my hand on his crotch, I claimed a long, slow kiss. His soft lips parted under mine, and I slid my tongue into his warm, welcoming mouth. His stubble rubbed against my face. Not a lot of dragons grew facial hair so quickly. I wondered if he was a whiskered dragon and suddenly was torn between getting him naked again and seeing him in the scales.
“I am,” he growled against my lips.
“Whiskered or naked?”
“You’d know if I was naked with what you’re holding onto, mate,” he chuckled, and we kissed again.
The scales could wait and so could the whiskers. I started to drop to my knees, but he grabbed one of my belt loops and pulled me back inside.
“I’m not modest but you never know who will walk by. Probably no one who would take offense but—”