Page 91 of Kingdom of Aramis

“Relax, darling,” Gem coos. “When we come to your bed, there will be no fighting, only complete cooperation and focus on your pleasure, but anything else is fair game.”

“I’m not a toy to be fought over.” She sounds annoyed, and I feel the urge to soothe her, but before I can say anything, we arrive outside of the palace, and Hunter strips.

Colbie’s expression becomes heated as she takes in all of him in his naked glory. I’m not into guys, but even I can admire his toned body. Like me, Watch Team One has honed their bodies to be lethal weapons, and you can see it in all the rippling muscles on display.

“We know, but there’s nothing like a little incentive to get the blood flowing. Fancy a ride?” He smirks, and nobody misses the dragon’s suggestive tone, but Colbie just huffs and waves a hand.

“Well, go on then. They already have a head start.”

She and I watch as Gem also removes his clothes. The men, although similar in height, couldn’t be more different. Hunter is large and brawny, his build similar to mine, but Gem is more streamlined, like a runner or a swimmer, but neither of them have an inch of fat. They are pure muscle. We watch as they shift. Unlike mine, which is only a slight change, both of them change completely.

Hunter’s body twists and grows, morphing until he towers over both of us. His deep, eggplant purple dragon stretches his wings and shakes his body similarly to what I’ve seen a wolf do. He lowers his head, which is bigger than us, and smoke drifts out of his nostrils as he blinks large eyes with elongated pupils.

Gem’s transformation is very different. He shrinks slightly, and flames cover his whole body as he turns from human to bird and hovers in the air. The phoenix shrieks loudly before pulsing his wings and shooting off into the sky like a flaming rocket. Hunter’s dragon nudges Colbie, and she offers me a hand. “Come on, we don’t want them to beat us.”

She drags me over and tries to scramble up the side of the dragon, but she’s just too small, so I wrap my hands around her waist and give her a boost before leaping up after her. We’rebarely seated before his wings expand, and with a leap and pulse of his wings, we’re airborne. Colbie tips to the side, and I grasp her, hauling her up against me and holding her tightly while I grip one of his dragon’s spikes.

“Whoa, thank you. I almost slipped,” she shouts over the rush of wind as I tuck her in close, making sure she’s secure. She wriggles back into me, and I feel her warmth seeping through the thin cotton of my shirt. Her rounded bottom presses against my groin, sending a wave of desire through my veins. Her scent of frosting and cake batter tickles my nose, and I can’t stop the possessive rumble that leaves my mouth as I lean in to get a larger dose. Her hair whips around as I tuck my nose into her neck, unable to stop my tongue from darting out to see if her skin tastes as good as she smells.

“Did you just lick me?” she asks, turning to gawk at me incredulously.

My cheeks heat with intense embarrassment, but I shrug and smile. “You know what they say. I licked it, so it’s mine.” I don’t wait for her response before I lean in and kiss her. I know she’s new to this shifter dynamic, but as a whole, if we see something we want, we take it, and she’s my mate, so there’s even less of a reason to wait. Her lips are soft as she gasps, but her body melts into mine as she returns my kiss with enthusiasm.

Before it can get too out of control, the bastard dragon dives, and Colbie shrieks and grabs for his spikes to stop herself from falling. We plunge down, but as we rapidly approach the ground, he spreads his wings, and our descent slows before we touch down with a shaking thud. Colbie glances around, and there’s no sign of the rest of the team.

She fist bumps the air. “Looks like we won. I guess that means I get you and Hunter in my bed tonight.” She smacks another kiss on my lips and slides down off the dragon, leaving me speechless.

You should be saying, ‘Thank you, Hunter. I’m so glad that I was able to share in this victory with you,’ a voice rumbles in my brain, the tone amused.Now would you please get down so I can shift?

I jump in surprise and stare at the dragon in shock. His long neck is arched, and he’s staring at me.

You’re in the bond group now, so you get the added bonus of mind speak—not that it’s much of a bonus when Liam is bitching or Brodie rambles about some ridiculous topic.

Can you hear me?I ask, projecting my thoughts at him, and his large head nods in acknowledgment.

Huh, that sure is handy. I slide off Hunter, and he shifts, leaving him completely naked. He looks down at himself and winces. “Whoops, probably should have thought about that.”

Colbie stares at him unabashedly, but before either of us can reply, another scream signals the phoenix’s approach. He arrives in a ball of flame and hovers in the air in front of Colbie. Distracted from the naked dragon, she studies the flaming bird with intense interest. I can practically see him preening at her attention as she circles him. He’s large, probably twice the size of the biggest bird of prey.

She reaches out to touch him, but Hunter grabs her wrist, stopping her. “Wait, we don’t know if his flames will burn you or not. Let’s not test it out just yet.” She drops her hand in disappointment, and the bird shimmers, morphing into his naked human form.

He picks up her hand and presses a kiss to the back of it. “I can’t wait to feel your hands all over me, but Hunter is right. Until we know if you have your own phoenix form and are immune to my flames, we shouldn’t tempt fate. Phoenix fire can do a lot of damage. Our bond group is immune, just like they are to Hunter’s fire, but until the mating bond between us is sealed, let’s not risk anything.”

“Immune to your flames? And what did you mean about her having her own phoenix form? I thought you said she was an aquatic shifter,” I ask, but my ears perk up as the sound of pounding paws reaches the clearing.

A white tiger, a black and gray wolf, and a large white polar bear barrel into the clearing, and all three of them crowd around the queen, snarling and snapping at one another as they try to scent mark her, rubbing their heads and bodies over every inch of her they can reach. She giggles and runs her fingers through their fur, cooing at them as each one vies for their mate’s attention.

“What were you talking about?” I ask again, dragging their attention back to what Gem said.

“The queen is a multi shifter. We’ve seen three of her forms, but Sable, the general’s mate and head archivist, suggested that maybe she would be able to shift into all six—sorry, I guess eight now, and once we get a handle on the ones we know of to push her to try,” Gem explains as the big white tiger comes over and nudges him. His hands go into his fur as the tiger licks a wet stripe up his naked leg. Gem winces and pushes him away. “Jesus, your tongue can flay flesh, Gryff. I don’t want it quite that close to my delicate bits. At least not in that form.” He puts his hands over his dangling cock, protecting it, and I snort with amusement before focusing on what the phoenix just told me, a buzz of excitement filling my veins.

“She might be able to shift into a mer form?”

“That would be awesome!” Colbie exclaims as the other three shift. The two of us are now surrounded by naked shifters, and it’s like she doesn’t quite know where to look. I don’t care. Being comfortable naked is a part of being a shifter, and we learn at a young age not to ogle one another when we are, but the poor girl looks like a deer in headlights, and the scent of her desire thickens and fills the clearing.

“See something you like?” Liam asks, winking at her, which seems to have the desired effect of distracting her.

She huffs and rolls her eyes. “Meh, you know I’ve probably seen better.” We can all tell it’s a lie.