Page 17 of Midnight of Ashes
“No.”
Cáel was back to single words and grunts. Maybe it was more of his animal side taking over, trying to protect him.
I pressed a kiss to the hollow of his throat, to the swirl of ink there. “I’ll be okay. You’ll be right there with me.”
“It’ll go better if she walks in on her own two feet,” Knox said.
My gaze found Maddox. He stood nearby, but he might as well have been a million miles away. There was a glassy, unfocused quality to his amber eyes that set me on edge.
Cáel’s hold on me loosened slightly, and he dropped my feet to the ground. “Stay close.”
I looked up at him. “Always.”
His head lowered, and he took my mouth. For the first time since the attack, Cáel kissed me. Really kissed me. This was no polite and gentle lip touch. This was Cáel. He plundered my mouth, his tongue demanding entrance.
My body answered instantly, pressing up against his and tipping my head back to grant him better access. Cáel’s tongue teased and stroked, sending waves of need coursing through me.
A throat cleared, and I jerked back.
Easton inclined his head toward the house. “We need to go.”
Knox shook his head. “Thanks for making me meet the dragon council with a hard-on. That’ll be fun.”
My cheeks flushed, and I ducked my head.
Cáel scowled at him. “Don’t embarrass her.”
“Embarrass her?” Knox protested. “I’m the one going in there hard as a fucking rock. I look like I’m going through puberty a second time.”
I glanced at Maddox. He still had no reaction. Dread pooled in my belly, and I moved in his direction. “Are you okay?” I whispered.
He blinked a few times as if just realizing I was there. “Fine,” he clipped and headed for the front door.
That went well.
Knox squeezed my shoulder as he pitched his voice low. “Don’t take it personally. Mad has bad blood with the council.”
I looked up at him, a million questions in my gaze. But I knew none of them would be answered.
Maddox opened the door and strode inside. We followed behind. The moment we were in the entryway, Knox took one side of me, Cáel the other. They boxed me in, so it was hard to even move.
Easton and Maddox led the way toward a formal living room I’d never spent any time in. Unfamiliar voices filtered through the air, and a wave of nausea swept through me.
“Ah, here they are,” a feminine voice crooned.
“Late,” a male voice chastised.
“It would’ve had to have been a planned visit for them to be late, Nolan.” Cillian’s voice sounded as if he were reprimanding a child.
The other man grumbled something under his breath.
As Maddox and Easton parted, I could finally take in the room. Four strangers were perched on various pieces of furniture. As different as they all looked, they had one thing in common. They were stunningly beautiful.
The sole female looked to be in her late twenties. She sat on a tufted chair, in a pose that would’ve been fit for an oil painting. She wore leather pants that fit her like a glove, paired with stiletto heels and a blouse that I’d be far too terrified of spilling something on to ever wear.
Her hair was a vibrant red and spilled around her shoulders in perfect curls. The only thing that overshadowed the tendrils were her piercing green eyes. Eyes that were locked on me. Assessing.
I winced as I thought about what I was wearing. I at least had on one of the new pairs of jeans the guys had gifted me and new Vans. But my T-shirt was an old one of mine that read, Never Trust an Atom, They Make Up Everything. Not exactly my best first impression.
