be successful attempts or not was completely up in the air, but after what I experienced with Marco? I wanted… no, needed that, with the others. Both the mating and making love aspect.
My cheeks stained at the concept of making love with Marco, not purely because of the physical aspect, but more in reaction to the confirmed fact that Marco loved me. Me! He loved me. The concept seemed nearly unreal. How someone like Marco—or any of my mates, actually—could love me was still somewhat mind-blowing.
I hadn’t known what to expect for my future besides pain for so long, but to not only escape that but then to find a group of mates that cared for me? It was a blessing I could have never expected. Sometimes I offered a small prayer of thanks up to whoever was listening, that despite all the pain I’d gone through, I’d ended up here. Nothing could have ever prepared me for the contentment, affection, and love I felt for these men. I just needed to get better at communicating that to them.
I needed to find a way to show them how much I loved them.
Unfortunately, my plans would have to wait because Marco and Henry were insisting that we go to brunch before we left for the Dreki realm. Something that sounded amazing in theory… if it wasn’t for the fact that it happened to be with the dragon council members. Honestly, I wasn’t positive why they wanted to meet with us, considering I knew that three out of the four of them didn’t agree with my choice in mates, but it was obviously important enough to warrant a sit-down meal, so I wasn’t going to question it. I didn’t want to be rude towards them, despite their own behavior, but I needed to find a way to explain to them that it was a bit too late for them to try to interfere with who I mated with. Not that they would have had a say to begin with.
Not only had I marked three of my mates, but I had been with Marco fully, and that wasn’t even including the mark on my arm. The stunning design was like a tattoo that had me smiling as I ran my painted fingernail along it. A shiver broke across my skin as Atlas’s chest produced a low rumble, my eyes flashing up to see that his hand had tightened around the phone that was pressed against his ear, making me wonder what had him so worked up.
Was it the conversation? I arched a brow as he answered the person on the other end, his words making no sense without context but seeming to relate to security.
Was it wrong that I wanted his full attention? I knew he was doing something important, but I had the urge to crawl on top of his lap and kiss him until he decided his phone call wasn’t important at all. I wasn’t the only one, either—Bella very much wanted his attention. She was being a complete little stinker and continued to try to attack Atlas’s large, rough hands while he attempted to type on his laptop.
It wasn’t like either of us had anything else to do right now. Marco and Henry were both busy getting ready, and outside of drinking my stolen coffee that had once been Atlas’s, I was pretty bored. Although listening to him talk to someone while typing one-handed on his laptop was entertaining to an extent, but not nearly as much as, let’s say… kissing him? My smile grew because there was another reason why watching him type was entertaining, but that had to do with Bella. Every time his fingers began to slide quickly across the keyboard, a predatory light filled her eyes. When she began to wiggle her little butt a bit, ducking her head down, I just knew that she was going to attempt another attack.
“No,” I warned Bella, but it was far too late, because Atlas’s fingers started to move faster as she surged forward suddenly, jumping on top of his hand completely. I sighed, shaking my head as my mate paused, his phone tucked between his large shoulder and his ear while he flashed me a smile at her antics. I couldn’t help but smile back, because not only was she adorable, but it was hard to not smile back at Atlas. From the moment I had first met him I had been completely enamored with him and how