Forbidden Honor (Dragon Royals #1)(83)

I didn’t regret claiming both Jaik and Talisyn as my own. I wanted them both. But in my fury, I’d started us off down the wrong road. I didn’t know how to begin to fix it.

Jaik lay down, pulling me against his body, and for a moment I lost myself in the warmth and comfort of him, even knowing just how dangerous it was.

Even though he claimed this would be the last time, I knew it wouldn’t be that easy for the dragon royals and me to stay apart.





Honor



I was leaving Jaik’s room when Talisyn’s door swung open. I froze as if he might not see me, but of course it was too late, and his gaze widened as it met mine.

He startled me so much that I pressed my hand to my chest, my heart thumping as if I’d been caught doing something wrong. This was exactly what I’d planned before, when I thought that I would use the two of them to break their little group apart. Now the moment was upon me and regret sat like a stone in my stomach.

As Jaik stepped out from behind me, Talisyn’s gaze swept from me to him to me again. His lips parted, his brow melting in sorrow, for just a second. Then his blue eyes flashed, and he seemed to harden.

All of it made my heart twist.

Talisyn gritted, “You said we had to stay away from her.”

Jaik looked at me, not at Tal, his amber gaze as sad as Tal had seemed a moment ago. “This was the last time.”

“The last time?” Talisyn’s tone carried the same disbelief I felt.

His tone left a muscle ticking in Jaik’s jaw. “I’m not discussing this with you. This is not a democracy. She’s off limits.”

“I understand her being off limits.” Tal folded his arms across his chest. He clearly wasn’t going to back down now. “What I don’t understand is why, if she’s off limits, you’re fucking her now.”

The word fucking seared into my chest. Jaik glanced at me, then warned him, “Watch your mouth.”

“What?” Talisyn demanded. “All of a sudden we don’t fuck girls anymore? What were you doing, making love?”

Jaik’s face was taut, but he gestured for Talisyn to go on, the movement quick and impatient.

Talisyn took the bait, speaking too quickly. “I’m the one who cares about her, Jaik. I know she’s just another conquest for you. You saw I wanted something so you had to have it. You’ve always got to establish dominance.”

True to form, Jaik seemed to only grow cooler the hotter and angrier Talisyn grew. I worried my collar between my fingers, trying to find a space in the fury between them where I could fit, where I could fix things. I couldn’t find one.

“Are you finished, Tal?” Jaik’s tone was ice. “Have you gotten that out of your system? You’ve resented me since we were eleven years old.”

“You’ve been an asshole since we were eleven years old,” Talisyn shot back. “I love you, but there’s no denying that you are not a very nice person.”

Arren’s door flew open, and his furious gaze met mine, as if he’d looked right for me when he heard trouble. I raised my chin, staring back at him. The golden twins piled out of their rooms too.

Branok shot one look at me and said, “I knew you’d be poison.”

He always thought that, but this time I was the poison, and the knowledge set me on edge. I turned on him, my hands flying to my hips. “Why do you think this is my fault?”

“You’re standing outside their rooms, it’s pretty fucking obvious.”

“You can’t ask us for more than you’re willing to do yourself,” Talisyn told Jaik. “You should stay away from her.”

“I don’t understand why you can’t both stay away from her.” Branok sounded disgusted with everyone involved. “Is it really that hard? Does she have a magic pussy?”

“Watch your mouth,” Jaik growled for the second time in as many minutes, his tone even more dangerous.

“I’m genuinely trying to understand,” Branok said. “You two have been friends all your lives. We’ve faced the Olds together how many times? We’ve kept each other alive. And now, what? You both like the same girl? So, I guess that’s all over. It’s been fun while it lasted.”

Branok’s scolding might have brought them to their senses. But Talisyn’s eyes fell on one of the hickey marks left on my throat. I swallowed hard, my fingers rising to my throat.

Tal’s furious gaze flew back up to Jaik. “I can’t believe what a selfish bastard you are.”

Jaik leaned in close to Talisyn. Any of the other shifters would have shrunk away in the face of Jaik’s anger, but Talisyn blazed back at him.

“You don’t need to worry about what I’m doing. You need to worry about following orders.” Jaik’s voice was quiet, but laced with steel.

“Oh fuck your orders,” Talisyn said as he slammed into Jaik and the two of them landed hard on the floor.

The two of them wrestled across the hardwood. I winced as Talisyn got in a punch across Jaik’s already damaged jaw, then Jaik gripped Tal’s throat and began to choke him. The two of them struggled, trying to throw each other.

Lynx heaved a sigh. He looked as if maybe this had happened before.

I glanced around at the three remaining guys who were not involved in trying to smash each other into jelly. Normally, I looked to Jaik or Talisyn when I had questions, and I wasn’t entirely sure what to do now.