and cupped both his scruffy cheeks.
“I know so. We’ve got this.” She leaned in and kissed him, needing the assurance for herself as much as she needed to give it to him.
He hummed against her mouth, resting his hands on her hips and easing a little closer. Her body thrummed with awareness of him, and she was surprised to be ready for yet another night of fun with the whole group.
But Jacob reluctantly pulled away and shook his head. “Not tonight. You two need to be alone. I want you to go fly for a while, just you and Astra. Let your dragons stretch their wings together. Test that bond while it’s unadulterated by your normal thoughts. You don’t need a bunch of male energy diluting it the night before a match.”
With a sigh, she stepped back and darted a look at Astra. The other woman smiled, then gave a little wave. “I’ll meet you by the lake in five. I’m just going to go say goodnight to my guys.”
“Are you sure? We set those rules for a reason.”
Jacob nodded. “When it comes to training, you two are exempt. We need your dragons in sync. What you do together is up to you.”
“I’ll have dinner waiting when you return,” Gunther said, slipping up beside her and resting his hand at the small of her back.
“What are you guys going to do?”
“Eat, mostly,” Gunther said. “And watch tonight’s trio match on the vid screen. Triple Talons is kicking ass, and it’s only the second round.”
“Record it for me, okay?”
“Always,” Teague said. “Now go. We’ll wait up.”
She kissed them each then headed out the door, shedding her clothes on the way to the shore. Astra waited, naked and smiling, then shifted and launched herself in the air just as Ksenia reached the edge of the sand. She opened herself up fully to her dragon, letting the beast take hold and transform her body. Then she was airborne, chasing her partner across the purple sky.
Through their newly forged bond, she could feel Astra, could sense her intentions as if they were her own, and she took advantage of the opportunity to test that link. Together they flew high into the starlit emptiness above, then swooped as one. They turned in coiling loops, then fell into steep dives until their wings touched the water, flattening out across the surface, their wing-beats leaving rippling waves to lap against the shore behind them. They arched back up into the air, mirroring one another, and it was as if they were one being with two minds shooting up toward the moon.
They flew for ages, and though Ksenia’s energy ebbed, she was too elated to want to stop. But soon she sensed through the bond that Astra wished to land. She banked back toward the lake and aimed for the floating dock that sat peacefully in the water several hundred yards from the shore below the house. A row of dim lights around its edge illuminated it, so she landed easily, shifting back into her human shape as Astra landed beside her.
Without a word, Astra dove into the water, disappearing beneath the surface. Ksenia sensed her intentions and dove in after, coming up in front of the other woman as they treaded water near the edge of the dock.
“You know what I think?” Astra asked, breathless from their flight.
“That we have the best mates in the world,” Ksenia answered, easily picking up on her mental thread.
“Precisely. Though as wonderful as it is that they’re insisting we do this, I think we should set our own rule.”
Ksenia nodded. “You’re thinking we should only make this a thing the night before a match.”
“Yep. Don’t get me wrong—now that we’re in sync, doing anything with you is fun as hell. But I went through a lot with them. I don’t ever want to risk them thinking I’ve forgotten our mating bond. Those men mean everything to me.”
Ksenia nodded again. “I feel the same way, but you mean a lot to me too, Astra. In a different way, but no less important.”
She gripped the edge of the dock with one hand and reached up to cup Astra’s cheek. Tonight was about reaffirming their bond. If they had no other opportunities to exercise this bond, they would have one night before each match for it, and Ksenia intended to make the most of it.
She leaned in and Astra met her kiss. Her lips were cold and wet from the lake, her tongue a