The (Not) Satisfied Dragon - Colette Rhodes Page 0,108

happily.

“Was I too rough?” I asked, concern penetrating the post-orgasmic haze.

“No, no. You were amazing,” Shira assured me, her voice slurred. “I feel so good. Like I’m floating.”

I snorted, reluctantly pulling out of my mate’s glorious body and scooping her up in my arms, ready to take her to the bath. So, naturally, the other four arrived back at that exact moment, filing in through the front door with shit-eating grins on their faces.

“Oh gods,” Shira squeaked, crossing her legs primly as I cradled her closer to my chest.

“So, she didn’t tell you to take her to bed then?” Hiram chuckled.

“What?” Shira asked, a look of confusion crossing her gloriously flushed, post-sex face.

“Tell me to take you to bed. You deserve better than the hallway,” Hiram said, pitching his voice low.

“You projected that part,” Seff said guiltily while Hiram howled with laughter. Shira clapped her hands over her face, hiding her spectacularly red cheeks.

“We had to land and shift back until we calmed down so our dragon dicks didn’t traumatize anyone,” Hiram added, still wheezing.

“Stop embarrassing her,” Levi scolded, shoulder barging Hiram, though he was grinning too.

“You’re the ones who couldn’t control your dragon dicks. If anyone should be embarrassed here, it’s you,” Shira said haughtily, attempting to regain her composure.

“You’re absolutely right, my love,” Ezra said with a small smile.

“I usually am,” she sniffed. “Now, since you were all so rude to Oren, I think we’re going to have a round two to make up for it. To the bath, my water dragon.”

“Anything you want, little rebel.”

Epilogue

“Time to vote,” Corvus announced. He didn’t look confident. His mouth was set in a grim line, shoulders tight with tension. In all the sessions he’d run as Speaker, this was the most uncomfortable I’d seen him.

This vote had been three years in the making. Three years of blood, sweat, and an embarrassing number of tears on my part. I’d fought for this, alongside my mates and Regina and her mates. We were on the only two golds on the Council. It wasn’t great representation out of a hundred or so Councilors, but it was a start.

“All who are in favor of the legalization of Lover’s Leaf, raise your hand.”

My hand shot into the air, the first one of all the Councilors. Hiram laughed as he raised his own hand, leaning over to pat my round belly with his other.

“Slow down, babe. You’ll send yourself into labor,” he whispered, pulling his hand back. Just in time, as my stomach tightened again.

I barely acknowledged him, too focused on the Councilors in the stands, counting the raised hands under my breath as quickly as I could. It wasn’t a clear majority, that was for sure.

“I think the ayes have it,” Seff murmured, reaching back from the row in front to absently stroke my belly.

“By two votes,” Corvus roared. “The ayes have it. The legalization of Lover’s Leaf passes.”

I clapped both hands over my mouth as Ezra scooped me up into his arms, cradling me like he didn't even notice all the extra weight I was carrying these days. My mates whooped and hollered, but I was too overcome with emotion to make a sound. My belly twinged like it was celebrating too.

Yes, we’d won — and there was something deeply satisfying about that — but more importantly, we’d given options to golds who might not have had them. We’d spoken to hundreds of flights over the past three years. For many of them, this would be life-changing.

Not that I could take full responsibility for it. Legalizing Lover’s Leaf hadn’t even been my idea. The Alchemist had called in her favor, wanting us to decriminalize her best-selling product.

And I was thrilled to be pregnant. I couldn’t wait to meet my baby, hold them in my arms, see my mates fall over themselves to try to keep this little creature happy. I was also very glad that we’d had two years together before we even considered having children.

“Congratulations, Councilor,” Corvus called out to me a moment before Regina’s mass of curly red hair appeared in front of me. She clasped my arm, beaming with excitement.

“Put her down, Ezra. We have to hug this out,” she demanded. Regina and her mates had run for Nerio’s old Council seat. Between them, us, and Seff’s fathers, it was the youngest sitting Council in history.

Ezra growled as he gingerly set me down, staying glued to my back with his hands on the sides of my belly while Regina and I awkwardly hugged over the bump. She’d been so nervous around Ezra when we first met, but she was slowly realizing that he was more bark than bite. Most of the time.

He’d even been getting along better with Xander lately. All of my mates had. Laurel had just given birth six months ago, and I couldn’t wait to see our little babies hanging out together, growing up together.

“You made this happen, Shira,” Regina said, pulling back but clasping my shoulders. “This will change lives. You did that.”

“We all did,” I sniffed. By the gods, pregnancy made me even weepier than usual.

“Session dismissed,” Corvus called over the ruckus, waving his hand absently, presumably realizing we weren’t going to get anything else done today.

//They’re all giving us ‘let’s celebrate’ looks,// Oren grumbled.

//It’s probably not a good idea,// I replied, keeping my tone light.

//Why not?// I couldn’t even tell which one had said it. Maybe all of them.

//Because I’ve been having contractions for the past hour.//

“What?” Ezra roared, startling the nearby crowd. “Everyone move! We’re having a baby!”

✽✽✽

FREE BONUS SCENE

Want to read a steamy group scene that takes place one year after the events of the main book? Of course you do! It’s almost 4k words of pure smut, you have been warned…

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✽✽✽

Thank you, reader!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read the Deadly Dragons duet. It was reader feedback after the Empath Found series that encouraged me to write Shira’s story, and I’m so glad I did. These books have been a real adventure, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.

There is a special bonus group scene (wink, wink) that didn’t fit in the main story and takes place a year after the last chapter and before the epilogue. You can read it for free here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/72a05ovcf6

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Colette x

Books by this author:

Deadly Dragons duet:

The (Not) Cursed Dragon

The (Not) Satisfied Dragon

Empath Found series:

The Terrible Gift

The Unwanted Challenge

The Reluctant Keeper

My Name Is Saffir (novella)

Audax Pack series:

Fire & Gasoline