A Destiny of Dragons (Tales From Verania #2)(156)

Ryan was ignored as if he didn’t exist. He was amused by it.

“You just think it’s funny because you’re the other woman,” I accused him as yet another new adoring fan of mine skipped away after not having even acknowledged Ryan sitting next to me.

“Wow,” he said. “That’s the first time I’ve ever been accused of that.”

I scowled at him. “If the high heel fits, you interloper.”

“Not one of my kinks,” he said easily. “Though I won’t tell you no if you want to try it.”

“That’s not… what are you even… holy gods, really? I mean, I don’t think I would like that, but what do I know? If you’d told me a few years ago I’d get off on fucking your mouth and coming on your face while I pulled your hair, I would have—scratch that. I would have believed that in a heartbeat. Holy shit, that’s super fucking hot. You know it’s—heeey, little girl who has apparently been standing in front of me long enough to hear me say something no little girl should ever have to hear. You look… pretty.”

The little girl burst into tears and ran in the opposite direction.

“Don’t do drugs!” I called after her. Ryan was laughing hysterically beside me, hunched over, arms wrapped around himself. It pissed me off, but it also made my heart thump a bit in my chest that, after all the crap we’d been through, he could still laugh so freely and openly. It really was beautiful to see and hear. I also wanted to fuck him stupid right about now.

“Oh,” he said, still chuckling. “You’ve got that look on your face.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said as I drooled a little bit. I wiped my mouth, feeling absolutely no shame. “So, come here often?”

He rolled his eyes. “Not really.”

“Would you like to?” I waggled my eyebrows at him.

His smile softened. “You’re ridiculous.”

“It is part of my charm,” I agreed. “Now, what say you and I get out of here and maybe I’ll fuck your orifices a little bit.”

“With an offer like that, I don’t know how I can refuse.”

“You seemed like a sure bet,” I said, leaning in to kiss him. My skin felt hot, and I wanted to grab hold of him and never let go.

“Smooth talker,” he said, and I could feel his breath on my face.

“I’m gonna do so many things to you in like three minutes,” I growled and closed the distance to— “Sorry to interrupt.”

I groaned as I missed Ryan’s lips and ended up sucking on his nose a little bit. Not the smoothest I’d ever been, but it was all Ruv’s fault for even coming over to us when we were obviously about to bone.

Ryan grimaced as he pushed me off him, wiping his face. “That was unpleasant.”

“It wasn’t my fault,” I said, looking up to glare at Ruv. He stood a little distance away, hands clasped behind him, looking amused. “Someone doesn’t know what it means when I’m giving off my I’m about to get laid vibes. Not cool, dude. You fucking cock blocker.”

“My apologies,” he said, though he didn’t sound sorry at all. “I was hoping to have a word with you before you became… otherwise engaged.”

“That means the sex,” I whispered to Ryan.

“I know what it means,” he said, shoving my face away. “You dork.”

“Just making sure. Sometimes, things get lost in translation.”

“You’re not translating anything.”

I shrugged. “Same difference. Wait, what were we talking about now? Because my erection is getting really uncomfortable.”

“I did that,” Ryan said to Ruv, sounding smug.

“Congratulations,” Ruv said slowly. “You must be so proud. A word, Sam. If you don’t mind.” He glanced at Ryan, then looked back at me. “Alone.”

“Anything you can say to me, you can say in front of Ryan,” I said. “I’ll just tell him later anyway.”

“Yes, I suppose you will. But I’d prefer not to get stabbed.”

“Stabbed? What the hell are you—Ryan, put your sword away.”

“What? I’m just holding it.”

“And posing.”

“It’s not posing. It’s the proper at-the-ready position.”

“You just flipped your hair.”

“It was in my eye.”

“You just flourished your sword.”

“It was slipping from my grasp due to the desert heat, and I wanted to make sure I had a good grip on it.”

“You’re flexing.”

“I am? Oh, I didn’t even notice. But thank you for pointing that out. I do look rather vascular today, don’t you think?”

He really, really did. “You’re not going to even be able to walk by the time I’m done with you. I’m going to fuck you so full of my—little girl, why do you always come at the worst possible times?”

She burst into tears again and ran away, dropping a garland of flowers.

I almost felt bad but then realized that little girls have the worst timing ever, so I couldn’t be blamed. Plus, I figured it was probably better she learned now that boys were gross rather than later. When she got older, I bet she’d think twice before she did something untoward. I had done my duty in protecting the children of Verania.