“Don’t look like that,” Draven said, sitting down again and putting a hand over hers. He was still his stern self, but he’d backed off on her after their moment together yesterday, when he’d held her after the memories.
She didn’t remember ever feeling so safe, so protected. It had been the opposite of being alone. Or being dead.
And then the lovemaking that had come after had been even more wonderful. She felt those moments helped her grow in her relationship with them in leaps and bounds.
She’d seen just how much Ran enjoyed watching her and Draven come together, but when she’d looked into his flickering green eyes, she’d seen a heartbreaking kind of longing she couldn’t resist soothing. She’d wanted to bring him with them. She kind of had.
But she wanted more. She wanted both dragons inside her. Wanted them all to be one.
Ran snorted in the corner, and she felt a blush at her own thoughts.
Draven was torturing his hair with his hands again. She reached over and did it for him, running a hand through the thick, coarse locks as he closed his eyes and enjoyed it.
“You have a way of healing,” he said quietly. “I noticed it with Ran last night. You know, you really just might save us.”
Her hand froze. “What do you mean save you?” she asked.
Draven went still. She could feel the tension radiating off his huge body. Feel the same tension from Ran.
Growing up in foster homes or other settings, always alone, she’d become an expert on reading moods. Sensing anger. When you were alone, you had to always have your guard up. She supposed it was why she never got involved. She’d been alone for so long and things had been just fine.
Now these men had made her want more but wouldn’t tell her things she needed to know about their life together. If they wanted to have one.
“We need to start being honest,” she said, folding her arms and sitting back in her chair. Her long, curly hair fell over her shoulder in wild waves, and she pushed it back. “We can’t keep going like this, just having sex and pretending everything is fine in the morning. Something isn’t fine, and I can sense it. And I hate it,” she said.
Ran stood up abruptly. “Want to go flying?”
Her heart pounded. “Flying?”
“Dragon scales can be invisible. We could take you flying.”
She looked at Draven, who pressed his lips in a hard line. When he said nothing, she turned to Ran.
“Where would we go?”
His eyes were soft, wistful. “Wherever you want. When you find out everything, you might leave us. I want to give you everything we can before that.”
Her throat tightened even as her heart leapt at the thought of flying on dragon wings.
Did they really want to give her everything, or were they just trying to sweeten the deal even more before telling her the truth of what was to happen?
Quill, the blue dragon, had talked about the mating ceremony and what would happen after.
“Are you really ready for it all to end?” Ran asked, tilting his head so his golden hair fell away from his face. His gorgeous features fairly sparkled in the sunlight, green eyes glowing like emeralds, perfect lips pursed. Like something from a painting, but he was real.
He’d made love to her last night. He and Draven, working together.
Perhaps more than anything, she was falling in love with how much they cared for each other. She didn’t think she’d ever had a friendship like that.
She wanted one.
“That settles it,” Ran said. “We can fly. And then we can show you our treasure.”
“Ran,” Draven said. “You can’t…”
“My dragon would never hurt her. I could feel it last night…”
Draven slammed a fist down on the table. “Dammit, Ran. When will you get I’m not worried about you hurting someone? I’m worried about you hurting yourself. When will you get that I don’t want to protect anyone from you? I want to protect you! I always have.”
Silence fell over the room. Whatever was happening, it felt far over her head.
“Ran’s dragon is sick,” Draven said in a low voice, his big shoulders hunching in on themselves like he was sealing himself in a cage. “Ran’s dragon is making him sick.”
Ran’s eyes widened in anger. “Don’t do this, Dray.”
Draven’s angry eyes studied Melissa’s face. “Is that what you want? To fly around on dragon’s wings and be ignorant of the truth? After what I learned about you last night, I can’t do it. Dammit, Ran, are you going to tell her or am I?”
“What do you mean?” Ran said, green eyes deepening in color as they narrowed. His lean body was tensed in anticipation. “What do you mean what you learned?”