s [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

about this.
"Yes." Rai walked up to him and placed a long hot
kiss on his lips.
Forgetting his concerns, forgetting the audience,
hell, almost forgetting his name, Jory gave himself up to
the large dragon man.
"I am king, and you are my king-consort and Val's
duke-consort. You are now the most important person in
my kingdom."
"Shit."
Pulling out of his thoughts, he looked up at two
angry men.
"What?"
"You could at least pretend to be happy about it."
Rai glared at him.
Jory swallowed the lump in his throat. "Sorry."
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"You have to present your dragon," Lewn said. "For
confirmation that their marks match your beast. It is a
dragonkin tradition."
"What about them?"
Lewn shrugged. "Everyone knows what their
dragons look like. But we don't know about that." He
pointed at the dragon on Jory's shoulder. "Put it on the
table," he said, indicating a table in the middle of the room.
"Her," Jory corrected.
An older woman walked up to the stage, her bearing
regal and her eyes cold. She waited before the table to see
the dragon.
Jory swallowed. For the first time, he was nervous.
If he didn't miss his guess, this was some relative of the
king's. She had Rai's eyes. With cautious motions so not to
startle the little beast, Jory lifted the dragon off his
shoulder, walked over, and placed her on the table. She
stood there like a statue so the others could check for
similarities.
Lewn examined her.
"I declare this mating valid."
A roar came up from the crowd. The black dragon
moved uneasily on the table. "Good girl." Jory patted the
beast on the head.
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The trio went to the sidelines as others came
forward and revealed their mating marks. Some turned into
dragons to prove their marks to their new mates, some
weren't dragons so it wasn't necessary. Jory sat comfortably
between his two mates as the king's brother presided over
the ceremony.
When it was all over and people were starting to
leave Jory stood up.
"Can I hold her?" There was a look of awe in Rai's
eyes as he stared at the black dragon.
"I'll ask, but if she doesn't want to, don't push. She
spits acid."
"I know."
"Acid and fire." The woman gave a wide smile.
Jory was certain the unusual expression could crack the
woman's face. "The pretty man found a god-be-damned
queen." She pinned him with eyes so similar to his lover's it
was unnerving. "Any man who can call a queen is worthy
of my nephew. I give my blessing."
"Um. Thank you?" He wasn't proud that it sounded
more like a question than a true statement. After all, he
wasn't sure he wanted both a king and a duke as his mates.
His father would have way too much fun with that. Maybe
he could try again and get a foot soldier or someone who
didn't have any royal blood.
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This was an accident waiting to happen.
"So what do we do now?"
Rai and Val both stepped forward to take Jory's
arm. Low growls rose from their throats as they tried to
stare each other down.
Breaking between the men, Rai's relative took him
by the arm. "Why don't you come with me, dear, and we
can discuss what you need to wear for the crowning
ceremony. I'm Duchess Thi, Raiston's aunt."
"Crowning ceremony?" He focused on the phrase as
a lifeline. Something to focus on other than the panicky
thought he was mated to two powerful men and his father
was going to be insufferably happy about the entire event.
He was afraid from the look she gave him that he
sounded as appalled as he felt.
"Yes, you will be a co-king and a co-duke so you
must look your best." She scanned Jory's outfit. "Though
you seem to have a nice style of your own."
"Can't I just have Britson make me something?"
Wow, he sounded whiny. His mother would have kicked
his ass.
"Britson?" The duchess gave his outfit another look.
"You've been in town for less than a week and you already
have someone dressing you?" She slid an arm through
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Jory's. "Yes, I think you will do very well. Where do you
come from, dear?"
Jory was about to give a vague reply when his
mates came to his rescue.
"Not so quick, treasure." Val said. With a smooth [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]