the rejection I could have possibly faced. I had been worried momentarily that I was rushing it, that he would not return the sentiment, but the minute I said it, a softness and affection filled his face that had me knowing I’d said the right thing. Had me knowing that he felt very much the same before he even said the words.
Love. Henry loved me.
That wasn’t, of course, including the way Ledger was looking at me, which was also inspiring heat to my cheeks. I was pretty sure that they had conspired against me to make sure I blushed as much as possible. I narrowed my eyes down at the dress, wondering if there was a way to make them blush as much as possible.
“More traditional?” I questioned curiously. Ledger offered a small yawn, stretching an arm above his head, showing off how muscular he was. I found myself considering crawling into bed with him and ditching this entire idea of going to the Dreki realm. It was a tempting consideration, to say the least.
I was a bit hyped up about going to the realm though, so despite the desire, I wasn’t positive I could relax even if I wanted to, and this dress wasn’t making anything easier. Rather the opposite, actually. It was a beautiful garment, but it reminded me of something that you would see illustrated in a fairytale. The fabric was stiff, expensive, and thick, the pale cream and gold brocade pattern covering the skirt, sleeves, and torso, only interrupted by a light pink in the center that was laced with a gold ribbon that appeared to be used as a corset-type feature. Possibly?
Like I said—beautiful, but not very comfortable.
Plus, with so much of me covered, how was I supposed to feel my mates’ hands on me whenever they touched me? That wasn’t something I wanted to miss out on.
“Extremely so.” Ledger nodded, his orange-tipped curls bouncing slightly as the rest of his dark hair fell messily around his handsome face. His dark indigo eyes, framed by thick lashes, watched me with a lazy, sexy appraisal. It was a bit unfair, wasn’t it? For him to lay there with dark tattoos covering his large muscular frame in just a pair of gray sweatpants that sat low on his hips? It was very distracting.
Also, what was it about those sweatpants? I mean… I knew what it was, and his chuckle as my eyes darted away from the hard outline of his cock had me knowing that my attempt to not stare was ultimately a failure. I ran my fingers along the dress, pretending like I hadn’t been gawking at the man.
Then again… he was my mate. My eyes darted back up as I considered just what privileges that included. I mean, did I get to stare at him whenever I wanted? I feel like that was a real possibility. Better yet… What about naked? I feel like I didn’t get to see my mates naked enough.
I just needed to find a solid reason for them to be naked more often. Maybe if they shifted? My smile grew at that concept, wondering how hard it would be to convince them of that. I had a feeling it wouldn’t be very difficult.
Better yet… if I was naked, maybe they would get naked as well? I could do that.
“Firefly.” Ledger’s voice had me looking up at his darkening eyes.
“What?” I teased, offering a small smile.
“You know what.” His voice was a rough, low relaxed tone that had a hint of his dragon’s growl in it, making my entire body break out into pleasurable chills.
“What if we just stayed in the hotel all day instead?” I bargained, putting a knee down on the bed while crawling forward.
Ledger inhaled sharply, his eyes dipping to my cleavage as he took another sip of his coffee, not responding verbally. Although I could tell he wanted to say something because he was literally getting harder—
“Anani!” I squeaked out as a large hand tugged my ankle back and I fell onto my stomach, the soft bedding cushioning my fall as I turned to scowl at my mate. His smile was much more devious than his twin’s, and he seemed to find my expression more amusing than anything else.
“This version of Maya is dangerous.” Anani’s voice was edged in a growl as he met his twin’s gaze over my head.
“We won’t get anything done anymore,” Ledger agreed.
A small sound left my throat as Anani dropped a kiss on