Sisters of Flame

Geva had offered to take her with him, but Erika couldn’t bring herself to regret telling Geva she had work to do. Her work had sustained her for years before she’d found him and while she missed it since mating him, it wasn’t the driving force in her life anymore. Was it a sense of obligation to her past that made her tell him to go without her? She still felt torn between the overwhelming longing for him and the need to keep some sense of herself in the middle of loving a man more than life.

There was also the promise that had hung between them when they said farewell two days earlier, high on the misty mountaintop only a fifteen minute walk from where she sat now. As close as it was, it may as well have been thousands of miles from this massive, dark, and oddly dust-free vault surrounded by some of the most amazing treasures she’d seen in her entire life.

The gold, jewels, and priceless artifacts would likely never see the light of day again unless some industrious dragon brought them out, but the promise she and Geva had made each other on that foggy morning would.

Once these obligations to their legacies were behind them and they were together again, they’d promised each other they would conceive a child.

When had this become an obligation to her, though? Had her entire life simply been a dress rehearsal for being mated to Geva? For being the mother to his children?

“Fuck me,” she said, irritated at herself for not being able to let go of the constant questions. She set down her tablet and returned the tiny, perfect sculpture she’d just photographed and cataloged to its protective case. In the last two days she’d barely made a dent in cataloging the objects that surrounded her. She’d made even less headway figuring out her ridiculous conflict over wanting to give herself completely to their world. To be a mother to dragons, plural, because heaven forbid he’d be satisfied with only one rugrat.

She’d given into their world, though, if her current activity was any indication. And the Court likely had enough of this kind of work to keep her busy for several lifetimes, if she wanted it.

But at the moment all she really wanted was Geva, and seeing his sister daily made that need burn ever greater.

She packed up her things for the day and rubbed the back of her neck in an attempt to ease some of the tension. It hadn’t been strenuous work for the most part. She had the assistance of Zak and Darius to move some of the heavier pieces for her photographs, but she still felt weary and grimy from the effort.

“You should go for a bath,” Zak said. “We’ll finish up here.”

She pressed her knuckles into her lower back and looked at the blond-haired man before her. The Unbound had let his hair grow and looked even more self satisfied than ever, now that he had been given his freedom. Yet in spite of that, he and his lover, Darius, had decided to stay here, with only occasional trips away. She supposed grandchildren would do that to you and with a pang wished her dad would be around to someday meet the grandchild she’d be giving him soon. Or was it grand-whelps? She added that to the list of questions to ask Geva after they’d done the deed.

But a bath … She chuckled at that particular thought. “I think I might have to skip it today if I’m going to stay sane. Those three have moved in to the bath house, I think. No fucking privacy.”

“Ah, yes. Darius and I have been displaced as well, but we make do,” Zak said.

What she didn’t want to confess was how she was even more conflicted whenever she saw Rowan. The beautiful Red was every bit as alluring and seductive as Geva, without even trying to be. Her resemblance to her brother made Erika’s heart ache with longing and the knowledge of Rowan’s expectant state deepened her curiosity. They’d had little time to get to know one another in the time since the ritual, and so far all Erika knew about her sister-in-dragon-law was a tiny bit of her heritage. She wanted to know more.

The image of Rowan’s body arched in ecstasy while she took both of her lovers at once had imprinted itself on Erika’s brain. It had been like looking at a female version of her own lover and she couldn’t shake the raw desire that came along with it. Dimitri must feel a little like this, seeing the Twins. And the lucky bastard got to be with them both every day.

She tried to shake off the uncharitable thought. Geva was more than enough for her, of course. But in his absence she felt herself increasingly drawn to his beautiful, sensual, and also taken sister. Falling asleep at night was lately accompanied by a fantasy involving Erika fitting somewhere into their little trio. Rowan’s limbs tangled with hers while the men orbited them like moons bound by their gravity.

Jesus Christ, she shouldn’t want the woman as much as she did, not when she had found the one person who truly satisfied her, body and soul.

She wandered back to her cottage in a weary daze. Her supper was waiting, still hot as though having magically appeared all on its own upon sensing her approach. She could almost pretend it was magic, until she’d seen one of the human monks scurrying away one evening. The gesture was comforting but didn’t help her feel any less alone.

After eating and trying to sleep with the same infernal images going through her mind, she gave up. Her skin was hot and itchy. She hoped that waiting awhile for a bath meant she would have some solitude for a change, but as she wrapped herself in her robe and headed barefoot up the smooth stone path, she found herself hoping they would be there again. Hell, at least she could live vicariously through them if she didn’t have the guts to ask whether she could share in the fun.