said.
She laughed at that. “Most days. It’s also
very nice to be in the company of adults.”
The round of betting ended. Pierce dealt
the three-card flop—two of diamonds, king of clubs, nine of clubs. Combining
the five, she had a pair of twos with an ace high. She matched the bet to stay
in the game when her turn came.
“Have you given any thought to how many
children you’d like to have?” Roque asked, and all the men except Pierce and
Hakon went completely still, as if her answer was of the utmost importance.
Fools! Tielo
thought. So ready to give up their freedom and take on the ball and chain of
mate and offspring.
Not him. And yet he caught himself leaning
forward, as if he might miss her reply.
“Two is a good number.” The softness of her
smile led him to believe she thought of specific children.
“It’s a start,” Jubal said, an irritating
purr of approval in his voice, as though he already imagined her swelling with
his children.
Tielo swallowed flame rather than exhale
it, though two small tendrils of smoke escaped. Not that she noticed. She’d
made a point of looking everywhere but at him.
“A start?” she asked.
He gritted his teeth, hating the smile in
her voice and the teasing humor directed at Jubal. Couldn’t she tell the male
wasn’t right for her?
“How many children do you see yourself
fathering?”
Tielo’s cock throbbed like some unruly
student with hand raised, shouting, pick me, pick me .
“Ten.”
Her laugh had the others leaning farther
forward, as though she were inviting them to her lips. Didn’t she understand
she was feeding their fantasies and encouraging them to claim her by fair or
foul?
Tielo tamped his aggravation. So be it. She
created her own fate.
“Ten?” she said, not allowing the subject
to drop as she should. “I take it you haven’t considered how that could put a
serious dampener on your sex life?”
Despite himself, Tielo’s growl of protest
at the prospect of any hindrance to pleasure joined those of the others. Around
him the betting became fast, furious, the conversation spurring dragon
competitiveness.
Jubal won the hand, claiming all of Soren’s
coins as well as Cael’s. He leaned close to Lyra and it was nearly impossible
for Tielo not to react with extreme prejudice to the sight of Jubal’s hair
stroking her skin as he put his arm along the back of her chair. Violation!
Tielo was of accord with Odion, whose
furious eyes bored into Jubal, not that Jubal noticed. Nostrils flaring and
lips tightening, Tielo sent a blistering glance in Pierce’s direction but his
partner had apparently developed table blindness.
Jubal murmured in her ear, “Deny them. They
are not right for you.”
She appeared momentarily confused, until
Cael sent a charming smile her way, saying, “Talk of children momentarily
separated me from my wits. I would very much like to rejoin the game.”
Lyra glanced at all the coins in front of
the others, then at her own barely dented stack before saying no to Cael. She
gave Soren the same answer when he too asked to be allowed back into the game.
Good riddance , Tielo thought. They weren’t right for her with their primitive,
unenlightened views about what it meant to have a mate.
The dealer button moved to Roque, forcing
Lyra to put coins at risk in what was called the big blind. Something changed
because of it, her play became more confident and her scent mirrored it. She
grew bolder round by round, hand by hand, and especially when she started
winning.
Her beauty was breathtaking when she
finally sent her first player from the table, Zephyr, who was more interested
in acquiring and cultivating exotic orchids than mastering poker. Orchids! What
kind of a dragon preferred to spend all his time with his snout buried in a
flower?
Tielo’s gaze snapped back to Lyra, caught
and held there by the fantasy of being between her thighs, face inches away
from the slick, soft petals of her woman’s flesh.
She laughed at that. “Most days. It’s also
very nice to be in the company of adults.”
The round of betting ended. Pierce dealt
the three-card flop—two of diamonds, king of clubs, nine of clubs. Combining
the five, she had a pair of twos with an ace high. She matched the bet to stay
in the game when her turn came.
“Have you given any thought to how many
children you’d like to have?” Roque asked, and all the men except Pierce and
Hakon went completely still, as if her answer was of the utmost importance.
Fools! Tielo
thought. So ready to give up their freedom and take on the ball and chain of
mate and offspring.
Not him. And yet he caught himself leaning
forward, as if he might miss her reply.
“Two is a good number.” The softness of her
smile led him to believe she thought of specific children.
“It’s a start,” Jubal said, an irritating
purr of approval in his voice, as though he already imagined her swelling with
his children.
Tielo swallowed flame rather than exhale
it, though two small tendrils of smoke escaped. Not that she noticed. She’d
made a point of looking everywhere but at him.
“A start?” she asked.
He gritted his teeth, hating the smile in
her voice and the teasing humor directed at Jubal. Couldn’t she tell the male
wasn’t right for her?
“How many children do you see yourself
fathering?”
Tielo’s cock throbbed like some unruly
student with hand raised, shouting, pick me, pick me .
“Ten.”
Her laugh had the others leaning farther
forward, as though she were inviting them to her lips. Didn’t she understand
she was feeding their fantasies and encouraging them to claim her by fair or
foul?
Tielo tamped his aggravation. So be it. She
created her own fate.
“Ten?” she said, not allowing the subject
to drop as she should. “I take it you haven’t considered how that could put a
serious dampener on your sex life?”
Despite himself, Tielo’s growl of protest
at the prospect of any hindrance to pleasure joined those of the others. Around
him the betting became fast, furious, the conversation spurring dragon
competitiveness.
Jubal won the hand, claiming all of Soren’s
coins as well as Cael’s. He leaned close to Lyra and it was nearly impossible
for Tielo not to react with extreme prejudice to the sight of Jubal’s hair
stroking her skin as he put his arm along the back of her chair. Violation!
Tielo was of accord with Odion, whose
furious eyes bored into Jubal, not that Jubal noticed. Nostrils flaring and
lips tightening, Tielo sent a blistering glance in Pierce’s direction but his
partner had apparently developed table blindness.
Jubal murmured in her ear, “Deny them. They
are not right for you.”
She appeared momentarily confused, until
Cael sent a charming smile her way, saying, “Talk of children momentarily
separated me from my wits. I would very much like to rejoin the game.”
Lyra glanced at all the coins in front of
the others, then at her own barely dented stack before saying no to Cael. She
gave Soren the same answer when he too asked to be allowed back into the game.
Good riddance , Tielo thought. They weren’t right for her with their primitive,
unenlightened views about what it meant to have a mate.
The dealer button moved to Roque, forcing
Lyra to put coins at risk in what was called the big blind. Something changed
because of it, her play became more confident and her scent mirrored it. She
grew bolder round by round, hand by hand, and especially when she started
winning.
Her beauty was breathtaking when she
finally sent her first player from the table, Zephyr, who was more interested
in acquiring and cultivating exotic orchids than mastering poker. Orchids! What
kind of a dragon preferred to spend all his time with his snout buried in a
flower?
Tielo’s gaze snapped back to Lyra, caught
and held there by the fantasy of being between her thighs, face inches away
from the slick, soft petals of her woman’s flesh.
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