Braxton’s lips brushed over my neck; the graze of his teeth followed. “You chose me over food.” His low, gruff voice distracted me from my worries. I loved the hint of humor in his tone. It was enough to bring a smile to my face. “I definitely know you love me now.”
I pulled back, chuckling. “Bet you were worried there for a second. To be fair, it was a close call, but in the end … you’re naked.”
Merriment danced between us, and the lighthearted moment reminded me of the old days with Braxton, the perfect days where he’d loved me and I’d been too stupid and scared to even consider the possibilities. His grin turned into laughter; he threw back his head and laughed as if he had not a care in the world. There was something about this world which soothed the beasts in our souls. The same way being in Braxton’s arms felt like home, this place did too.
I made a conscious decision then that I would not stress about shit I couldn’t change. If I was pregnant we’d deal with it. If the dragon king had his army ready to rock and roll when we got back to earth, we’d deal with it. We’d always stuck together as a pack, and that wasn’t going to change now. Together we could do this.
“Where are the others?” I asked. I was dying to tell them everything I’d learned. But mainly I needed to know how much more alone time we had.
Those blue eyes, locked on my face again, darkened to rich, cerulean blue. “They’re close. We’ll see them any moment.”
He sounded disappointed, and I totally got that. Was it too much to ask for a few moments to be together as a proper mated couple? We were constantly being torn apart, and I wanted to hole up in a room with Braxton forever and explore him – literally, emotionally, mentally. I’d never cared before, not with any male – my past relationships were purely fun and sexual – but I wanted it all this time. Despite the fact that I knew him as well as any supe in the world, I wanted to relearn everything. And I’d also like some sex, because the few times with Braxton had been amazing. Like mind freaking blown. I figured I was due about eight hundred thousand more of those orgasms.
I placed my hands on either side of his face. “Here’s some real talk. We’re in desperate need of some bonding and sex, so let’s just kill the king quickly, then you, me, and a cabin in the woods or some clichéd shit.”
He laughed again, but the heat in his gaze was all I needed to know that we were both on the same page. “I’m going to kill the king, babe, don’t you worry about that. Then we’ll have our romantic cliché moment.” The rolling timbre of his voice had me squirming. He was a deadly weapon against females. “I want to strip you bare and taste every single inch of your body.”
My breathing was getting all heavy, and of course right at that moment our pack rocked up. They were moving fast, coming up behind Braxton. With a huff, my mate lowered me to the ground, his lips grazing mine as he let me go. None of the guys would have blinked twice to find us naked and wrapped around each other, but it was time to focus on other things, which was a real buzz kill.
Jacob the jackass was back. “Fuck, I knew we wore the wrong thing to this picnic. You should have specified on the invitation that this was clothes optional.”
I stuck my tongue out at him and he shook a finger at me. “You’re in big trouble, Jessa babe, flying off like that and leaving the rest of us behind. Do you know how far we trekked to find your cute butt?”
Before I could reply, Louis stepped up and in an instant Braxton and I were clothed again. “You two are lucky I have the ability to weave clothing from material in Faerie. If I were constantly dragging these outfits across the realms, my powers would be too depleted to get us all home.”
No wonder my army-style pants and tank were so soft to touch. Faerie material was weaved out of the clouds or some shit.
“Is there a reason you haven’t demolished this food yet?” Maximus said, looking between me and the lavish picnic left by the golden dragon. “Is there something wrong with it? It’s bad, isn’t it? What sort of cruel bastard would lay out a meal like this and then taint it with bad-ness. I’ll fucking kill them, seriously. I’ll kill them.”
The small tendrils of tension which had been riding our group dissipated then as we fell about laughing. The look of actual despair on Maximus’ face was pure comedic gold.
A funny which all of us desperately needed. It reminded me again to be grateful for the little things. We were all here, alive, and about to eat a kickass feast. Food was my focus, not the fact that after this it was back to the real world. The weight of the pendant, which was nestled safely under my shirt, was a reminder that a lot more darkness was coming for us. I was already praying that we all survived.
Chapter 12
I didn’t have a single doubt that the food was safe for us, and it took zero effort for me to convince everyone of this. I trusted the golden dragon. In a way, she was mother to me as well as my dragon.
The six of us wasted no time stuffing our faces. Food in Faerie was not like any other. It was bright and rich and filled with flavor. The table was well stocked with fruits, seeds, nuts and vegetables, foods directly from nature. I particularly loved the mixed berries and salad type concoctions, which were wrapped up in greenery and filled with some sort of creamy cheese.
In deference to the carnivores of the group, a few meats were provided as well – small whole birds which had been marinated in something both spicy and sweet, and a large roasted boar-looking animal. It was different than the pigs from earth, taller, with long, slender legs, but the same general flavor applied.