I Married A Dragon (Prime Mating Agency)(61)

We all burst out laughing, and Cedros playfully breathed out a tiny stream of shadow flames at his brother, who made a face at him.

“Cedros always had a prodigious appetite as a youngling,” Oshtara said with a wistful smile. “It’s not surprising seeing how big and tall he has grown to be. His father was just as massive… on all fronts. And with quite the healthy appetite… also on all fronts.”

I nearly choked on my drink upon hearing those words. Cedros snorted while his family stared at me with surprise. Oshtara suddenly spun her head towards Cedros, and her eyes slightly widened before she gave me a speculative look. An odd expression flitted over her noble features, then an even odder smile settled on her lips.

“Have you coupled with my Cedros? Your human body is so small. If my firstborn shares his sire’s girth, I fear you might not match,” Oshtara said with an air of sympathetic concern.

I wanted the ground to open beneath me and swallow me whole while Roldren and Caldri also looked at me with that same compassionate expression.

“Yes, Mother. My Kaida and I are perfectly compatible. Humans are quite adaptable,” Cedros said matter-of-factly.

“CEDROS!” I exclaimed, staring at him disbelievingly.

He looked back at me with the most innocent expression. “What? It is a valid concern. I’m merely reassuring them of your welfare.”

Before I could come up with a politically correct answer, Roldren chimed in.

“It is indeed reassuring,” Roldren said, looking relieved. “From all accounts, Shadow Lords are rumored to be relentless in their attention and to have phenomenal stamina.”

Caldri nodded. “It’s quite understandable,” she concurred in a reasonable tone. “After all, they have decades of forced abstinence to catch up on.”

That was it. I needed to get the hell out of there to put an end to this conversation. I hopped down from my bench and flicked my hair over my shoulder.

“If you’ll excuse me for a second, this delicious drink is playing a number on my bladder. I need to use the hygiene room for a moment.”

Before I could take a single step, Cedros wrapped his tail around my waist and drew me to him. He then picked me up and plopped me onto his lap.

“No, you don’t. You’re just trying to run away,” Cedros said with a laugh in his voice. He rubbed his face in my neck, then kissed me. “We’re teasing you because your prudish human ways are just too delightful.”

The others burst out laughing while I gaped at all of them in disbelief.

“The redness of your face is quite wondrous, my daughter,” Oshtara said with a chuckle.

I blinked, and then it hit me. I jerked my head towards Cedros over my shoulder to glare at him. “Oh my God, you put them up to this! You told them telepathically!”

“I did,” he confessed without any shame. “They never would have believed me otherwise.”

I made a face at him. “I thought you said only Shadow Lords and their Ejayas were this crude and open with each other?”

“Crude?” Caldri echoed, slightly recoiling in surprise. “This doesn’t qualify as crude for us. Shadow Lords and Ejayas are supposed to be open with each other about everything, especially their personal feelings in all of their interactions, as harmony and unity between them is primordial to the success of their relationship. But coupling is a natural function for everyone.”

“Right, but nobody wants to hear about their parents coupling,” I exclaimed, expecting them to concur with me.

To my dismay, they all looked at me like I was the weird one.

“Why wouldn’t we?” Roldren asked. “Them coupling is the reason we’re here. Who better than our parents to teach us about it? Don’t human parents explain mating rituals to their younglings to make sure they have a healthy sex life?”

I mumbled something about how the birds and the bees talk was every parent’s nightmare.

By the look they gave me, they clearly found humans strange, if not illogical. They were right, but old habits die hard.

I glared at Cedros again. “I’m so sleeping in my own room tonight with ten layers of clothes on.”

He burst out laughing and once more shook his head. “No, my Kaida, you’re not. Or I’ll scratch on your door while making whiny sounds throughout the night. And I’ll tell Nero to come tickle you.”

His family laughed some more.

“All right, enough teasing Kaida for today,” Caldri said, taking pity on me. “Let’s see how rusty you’ve gotten at Vayarka, big brother.”

“Yes! I can’t wait to brag about how I defeated a Shadow Lord at Vayarka!” Roldren exclaimed.

A predatory smile settled on Cedros’s face. “I’m about to show you why the oldest is always the best, Shadow Lord or not!” He gave me a passionate kiss before standing up and sitting me on his stool next to his mom. “Prepared to be amazed, my m… Ejaya.”

I smiled, pretending I hadn’t noticed he’d almost called me his mate again. Roldren went to fetch something while his brother and sister took flight. Moments later, a series of rings appeared in the sky a short distance above our plateau. The three siblings entered into some kind of aerial acrobatics dance that appeared to involve flying through the rings when their center filled with a colored energy field while the others tried to stop you, or avoiding it when it turned to a different color while your rivals tried to force you through it. I didn’t quite get it, but they seemed to be having a blast.