Feel the Burn (Dragon Kin #8)(82)

“You’ll never be queen,” Aidan felt the need to point out. “He rules the Empire with his sister. She’s his queen.”

“Ewwww.”

“Not like that, you idiot. And if I were you, Mother, I wouldn’t waste my time throwing any of your offspring at the king.”

“Why not? Both my daughters are high-born enough for the usurper of Thracius’s throne.”

Aidan took a moment to crack his neck, relieving the tension that had been building there since he’d first stepped into the marshes surrounding his parents’ territories. “First, you have three daughters. Just as you have three sons. Let’s keep that in mind, shall we? And second, you may not want to refer to Gaius as a usurper to Thracius’s throne. At least not in front of him. I’m relatively certain that will insult him and make Rhiannon extremely paranoid about you. With good reason. And third, Gaius is only here to get access to the Western Mountain Dwarves. Not so that you can throw your daughters at him.”

Lips pursed, his mother narrowed her eyes on Aidan. “You call him Gaius? He allows that from some worthless little Mì-runach?”

Aidan slowly nodded his head and replied, “Yes, Mother, I missed you, too.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Gaius didn’t know how long he slept on that soft bed in his room, but he felt a hand caressing his bare chest and immediately grabbed it.

He was really relieved when he opened his eyes and saw Kachka grinning down at him.

“Thank the gods it’s you,” he sighed out.

“I am good f*ck.”

“That’s not what I mean . . . mostly.” He raised himself up on his elbows. “Did you see the way Gormlaith was salivating at me? She wants me for her daughters. Something I’d like to avoid.”

Kachka sat cross-legged on the bed. “You do not want royal wife?”

“I don’t want any wife at the moment. But based solely on Aidan’s reaction to his kin, I definitely don’t want anything to do with his sisters.”

“No one gets along with family.”

“There’s not getting along, Kachka, and there’s warning you to run. That’s a big difference.”

“Brannie does not like it here either,” she admitted. “She paces in her room like chained dog.”

“She has her mother’s instincts.”

“And tits.”

Gaius dropped back on the bed, one arm thrown over his eyes until he felt Kachka land on his lap, her thighs on either side of his hips, even though a fur still separated her from his naked body. He lifted his arm enough so he could peek at her.

“Can I help you?”

“Just wanted to be comfortable while we wait to feed.”

“Well, if you really want to be comfortable—” he began, placing his hands on her hips. But before he could take even a tiny step farther, Aidan walked into the room, with Brannie right behind him.

The poor dragon dropped face down on Gaius’s bed, ignoring the fact that, save for the fur covering, Gaius was naked and Kachka was on his lap.

“I hate these dragons!” Aidan roared into the bedding.

“What happened?” Brannie asked, closing the door behind her and throwing the bolt. Like that would help with dragons.

The walls were made of stone, but not the doors.

Aidan lifted his head to look at Gaius. “Just so you know, you’re expected to pick a queen from one of my sisters. But only the two eldest because no one cares about my younger sister or even knows where she is.”

“No offense, Aidan, but—”

“You don’t even have to say it. I wouldn’t wish my two oldest sisters on my worst enemy. Besides, they’re already queens. Queens of vapidity.”

“I’m sorry we needed to bring you here.”

“I offered. I just forgot how hard it is to deal with them.” He turned on his side, resting his head on his fist, his elbow on the bed. “Two decades I’ve been away and they’re still intolerable.”

“You haven’t been home in twenty years?” Brannie asked.

He leveled his gaze at her. “Do you feel comfortable here, Cadwaladr?”

“No,” she quietly admitted. “But I thought I was just being paranoid.”

“You can’t be paranoid enough around my family.”

Gaius again raised himself up on his elbows, but he wasn’t about to move Kachka. He liked her right where she was, even if there was an audience.

“Are you sure we have to go through your father for this? Can’t we just bypass him and the rest of your family?”

“No. In order to get to the dwarves, we have to go through this castle and into their tunnels. My father’s soldiers guard those entrances. It’ll be a fight if we try to get by them without his permission.”

“You keep them busy,” Kachka offered, “and I will get by them.”

“And then what?” Gaius asked.

“He’s right. Without my father providing you with an invitation, with his seal, the dwarves will chop you to pieces. They hate Riders.” Aidan shrugged. “They actually hate everyone. But they do tolerate my father. Speaking of which . . .”

Aidan sat up. “I also think I should mention that my father is slightly . . . uh . . . hmmmh . . . insane.”