His eyes were frozen pools of rage, twin storms she feared buried his entire personality. She feared he would actually kill her.

She slipped into Silence, countering his Forms without aggressing in return. Then the sequence downgraded. The bastard was playing with her.

She knew this sequence, this blasted strategy of Forms that always ended one way because she’d never quite been able to unravel the way Eredan’s tricky mind worked. It ended with her back pressed against his chest, his body entrapping hers. He must have developed it for just this purpose. An excuse to rub his cock against her ass. She’d still been inexperienced at the time. But in his arms now, she couldn’t see this for anything other than what it was.

“Still too slow, Reign,” he crooned, mouth against her ear.

She panted, breaths harsh in her chest, completely entrapped in his arms. “Slow, my ass, Eredan. You’ve gotten sloppy. You should have taken me five minutes ago.”

“I believe,” he said, “I will rectify that.”

“Wait, what?”

Vykhan spun her around, hands locked around her upper arms, and gave her a brisk once over. Then shoved her to the side.

“Wait, no!”

He’d snatched Lohail out of the air, hand around his neck, and slammed him to the ground where he crouched over the Aeddannar, who just looked up at him with a sensual smile, hands held mockingly in the air.

“I surrender. Please don’t hurt me, sir.”

Vykhan snarled. “Don’t ever touch her again. Even if she asks you.”

“Begs,” Lohail corrected, smile dreamy. “Even if she begs, my love.”

“I hate males,” she muttered.

But still Vykhan waited.

Lohail dropped the amused act like trash and curled a lip. “Unless it’s foreplay, get your hand off my fucking neck.”

Vykhan appeared to squeeze harder.

Lohail rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he snapped. “I won’t touch your little human again. Even if she begs me to.”

Vykhan rose slowly.

“I wouldn’t have had to,” Lohail added nastily, “if you hadn’t left her wanting. What is wrong with you? Are you so afraid of yourself that you would throw away your own bonded to cling to the false baby blanket of Silence?”

Vykhan froze.

“Oh, you thought I hadn’t noticed?” Lohail rose gracefully to his feet, flicking stuff off his shoulders, then shaking out his hair.

 “Your marks spark whenever you touch her. I do believe she’s trying to pretend they don’t. You deserve each other.”

He strode towards the door, ignoring the shambles of the room. “I’m going to find something to drink, and have my breakfast in private. Work your issues out now, before Adevega arrives, or she will exploit them, and you will both fail.” And he muttered something else that sounded like, “Fucking followers of Haeemah. Spare me.”

Reign crossed her arms, gave Vykhan a wary look, then uncrossed them and began to move towards the door. “Well. I should go and reconnaissance, sir.”

She made it three steps.