“Move along,” he snapped and stayed there until I went into my classroom with Aylia at my side.

  “Why is it like this?” Aylia asked, seeming as confused as I was by that reaction. It was as if I was the one who was the bully, not Coral.

  Coral came in a moment later, looking too much every inch the victor. My hands curled, tempted to punch her.

  She flicked her curly hair behind her shoulder. “Try all you want, but you’ll never be able to touch me again.”

  “What makes you think I’d ever want to?” I asked.

  “What have you done?” Aylia asked. “Did you turn everyone against Rayna? She’s never done anything to deserve this.”

  “Nothing? I heard from King Laskis directly that you’re nothing but trouble, trying to ruin the bond of dragons and riders. You’re the predator here, Rayna. Not me.”

  “From the king?” I frowned. How?

  Her smile stretched out further. “I know him personally, considering I am in his care.”

  “You’re a ward of the king?” Aylia asked, looking completely shocked.

  “Ward?” I asked.

  “She’s considered one of his kids. She’s treated as such,” Aylia explained.

  “Like a princess?”

  “Pretty much,” Coral said. “So go ahead, keep going against me. You’ll be the only one to suffer for it.”

  I scrunched up my nose in disgust. He was a lecherous old man, creepy to the tenth degree. If he was always trying to make me bond with him, then there was no telling how he was with other people my age.

  “You spread your legs out for him?” I asked, unable to stop it.

  That seemed like the only reason he’d have a ward at his age. And he definitely sexualized people as young as Coral and me. I gagged a little bit at the thought.

  “What the hell is the matter with you?” Coral asked, looking genuinely disgusted. “Not everyone needs to spread their legs and fuck someone to gain power.” She stalked away from me, leaving me a bit confused.

  So he wasn’t a complete predator then. It was just with me.

  That didn’t sit well with me at all. It meant he wouldn’t lose interest in me once someone else came into the picture. I was truly trapped here with the king slowly circling around me like a predator stalking his prey. He was just waiting for the right time to pounce.

  “Rayna?” Aylia asked, sensing that I was spiraling out of control again.

  I always felt like I was losing control over everything since becoming a rider. It was like all my choices were taken away from me, and everything that could go wrong had.

  I glanced in the doorway just in time to see Captain Corniz walk by with Tanja at his side. It seemed more often than not that they were trying to help us. The guys even said the captain tried to warn them to escape, but we botched that, not completely understanding his intentions. And Tanja was always warning me that if we kept up with our attitude and fought back so publicly, we’d only cause more trouble and put ourselves in more danger.

  Were they really on our side? Were we not as alone as I felt?

  Maybe we’d be able to at least have one more chance if I could talk to the captain alone.

  Chapter

  Twenty-Two

  Cornering the captain to have a private word with him proved impossible over the next couple of days. At least Coral was leaving me alone, for now. We didn’t get any time to ourselves until the weekend. Aylia was more than happy to drag me to the library to find any information we could on the legend Aylia told me about the rider with more than one dragon mate.

  If I couldn’t talk to the captain, I could at least dig into the texts in the library. As we walked into the massive library, I realized we were about to dig in a haystack for a needle, and it wasn’t going to be fun. I liked reading, but I was a casual reader.

  “Holy shit,” I said, looking all around us.

  It was shelves on top of shelves of books everywhere. Like most of the academy, things were bigger, including the desks and chairs. There were even couches and sofas sprinkled around the room, most of them already claimed by others. I looked up at the domed ceiling, the very top was some kind of glass-looking mosaic that allowed light to come in through the stained colors. It painted a picture of dragons and riders flying through the sky.

  It was rather breathtaking, especially as it was lit by the sun.

  “Come on,” Aylia said. “I doubt we’ll find something here. We need to find the more uncommon books. All these books on the first floor have been well read at this point. If it were in any of these texts, it’d be known.”

  She did make a good point. I let her drag me up and up, going to the third level, where there were less people and less shelves.

  “These are history books that aren’t needed for classes,” Aylia whispered, looking around until she found a free table that tucked us away from everyone. “All these texts are lesser read, if at all. We can’t get higher than this until we advance through our lessons, but this is a good spot to start, I think. If we can find even a whisper of the legend, then we’re on the right track and maybe we’ll be able to find more texts after that.”

  “So we find the needle now, and once we’re familiar with what that needle looks like, we’ll be able to find more?” Aylia just stared at me, my analogy going over her head. I sighed. “The book will give us a clue into what kind of books we should be searching for.”

  “Yes, that,” she said. “I’ll look through the shelves closest to us. You can start further back and we can work our way to the middle.”

  “So I get to do all the walking?” I asked, trying to tease her.

  She smiled. “I like doing the least amount of work.”

  “And I don’t?” I raised an eyebrow.

  She gently shoved me away. “Just go. We have a ton of books to go through and not much time.”

  Aylia was right about that. There were so many books. I didn’t realize how deep the library was until I was at least six rows away from where we were sitting. The lighting also got darker since the windows were all on the other side. I tried to clamp my over-active imagination, but I couldn’t stop thinking about someone stalking me around the library. Every sound had me jumping. The place was just too creepy, making me think it could be haunted. Granted, I felt bad for whichever poor soul was stuck stalking a library.

  Didn’t seem that fun to me.

  I read titles after titles, wondering which ones would most likely have the potential to tell me what I needed to know. I didn’t realize how vast history could be until I saw all the different topics. Granted, some rows would all be on the very same subject matter, while sometimes there was only one book on one particular issue. My eyes blurred as I pulled down books, stared at the table of contents, and then moved on. Any books about mates and dragons I obviously piled up on a nearby table.

  Once I finished going through the entire aisle, I brought all the books back with me. They were heavy, and I could barely see over them, but somehow I managed to get the massive stack back.

  Aylia’s eyes bugged when she saw everything I dropped onto the table. “Did you bring the whole shelf back with you?” she asked, looking over the titles.

  “I’m not going back and forth. It’s creepy back there.”

  She snorted as she grabbed one of her books and opened it. Her stack was a lot smaller than mine. I looked over at a nearby shelf, and could see spots missing in them. She really only had to go like three feet to put the books back.

  Hours dragged by, and I kind of wanted to cry. We weren’t finding anything, not even a whisper about the story she heard as a kid. At least Aylia remained determined because I definitely wasn’t. Frankly, staring at books for so long made me want to sleep. I was a person used to being on the go constantly from working on the farm. Reading was something I did for pleasure at night until I fell asleep, which wasn’t all that much time nightly, considering how exhausted I’d be after working all day.

  So being idle ended up feeling more exhausting than working. I’d rather be lugging things around, trying to fix broken fences and machinery or chasing after escaped livestock. Not sitting in a library all day.

  My stomach growled, letting me know it was definitely dinner time.

  “One more trip, then we’re calling it for the day,” I said, standing up and staring at all the books I’d have to put back.

  “Fair enough,” Aylia said.

  I sighed, grabbed the books, and worked my way to the back of the library, trying to not psych myself out with made up horror stories. I just put the stack of books down on a side table when rustling caught my attention.

  I looked around but didn’t see anyone. I strained my hearing and didn’t hear anything either. Frowning, I kept looking around. There was definitely someone nearby, and while the chances were high that it was another student just looking for a book, it was hard for me to shake that feeling of being stalked.

  Again, there was a shuffle of someone nearby. Just around the bend of bookshelves that I was between. I tried to see in between the books and shelves to see on the other side, but I wasn’t seeing anything.

  I grabbed a book, trying to shake the feeling that someone was there. I reached up to put it back on a shelf just above my head, when a shadow fell over me and grabbed the book. I let out a little scream and jumped back into them, ready to ram my elbow into my potential attacker.

  “Rayna, calm down. It’s just me.” Philit grabbed my arm, stopping me from hitting him. He slid the book into its spot and turned me to face him. He frowned, looking over me slowly. “You look exhausted; what are you doing?”

  “I could ask the same thing. Where did you come from?” I looked around. How did I not sense him? He was my mate, so I should have known. That upset me more than I liked.

  I should have felt him this close to me.

  He touched my face, forcing me out of my thoughts. At least where he touched me tingled, even if I couldn’t pick up on his emotions like I should have been able to.

  “I thought we would be too late in finding you,” he whispered.

  “You were looking for me?” I asked, warmth flooding me.

  “It’s been too long.” He leaned forward and rested his head against mine, releasing a soft sigh as his body seemed to relax against me. I closed my eyes, loving being so close to him. His wings ruffled and he grimaced. “I’ll never get used to not being able to move my wings.”

  “Does it hurt?” I asked, worry slipping into my question.

  “I’m mostly used to it now. It’s just restraining at this point. Come on.” He dropped his hands and grabbed my wrist gently, pulling me deeper into the library. Philit weaved through stacks, stopping every so often as he checked to make sure no one was around.

  “Aylia is going to realize I’m missing.”

  “It’ll be fine. She actually helped us find you.”

  “What?” That surprised me.

  “Yeah. She slipped another dragon a note to send to me. He delivered it.”

  “I can’t believe she did that,” I whispered.

  “She’s a good friend. I’m glad you have her since we can’t be by your side. The three of us get to see each other each day, but you’re all alone.” His voice dropped into a growl as his grasp on me tightened. “I hate it, that I can’t be there for you.”

  “I hate it too,” I said softly, beginning to wonder if I nodded off in the library and this was only a dream. I wouldn’t be surprised if it were. If it meant I’d get to see my guys more often, I didn’t mind. The dreams were real enough. My body definitely felt how real.

  “It took us time to find, but we managed to get an older map of the academy. We realized there are secret tunnels,” Philit said. “And one of them leads right here to the library from the dragon side of the dorms. At least we’re lucky that way.”

  He stopped us in a nook tucked away really far into the library. He tapped on the wall next to the statue, and a moment later it slid open with Landers there, his huge grin greeting me.

  “Hello, gorgeous. Miss us?”

  I blinked at them, a lot of emotions hitting me at once. I really did miss them. So damn much. And it hit me how much only when I looked at them. Even Zilon was there, peeking over Landers’ shoulders.

  I broke out crying, it was all a bit overwhelming.

  “Shit.” Philit pulled me into him as he moved us into the dark passageway. It was wide enough to fit the dragons so there was a ton of space. Enough for all three dragons hug me as I cried and took comfort in their touches.

  “It’s okay,” Philit said, sounding pained.

  “We’re here,” Zilon whispered.

  Landers rubbed my back. “Just let it all out. We know. We missed you too.”

  They let me release my emotions and my relief at seeing them, not judging me at all. To think we came this far in such a short amount of time.

  Zilon managed to kiss me, licking the salty tears off of my lips. All that relief was quickly replaced with passion as my body became all too aware of the people who surrounded me. Landers’ hands slipped down from my ass and around me, touching me low on my stomach.

  Very quickly, like a light switch, the mood changed for all of us. Two of them growled as they tightened their hold on me, almost squishing me between the three of them, but I didn’t care. I needed to feel all of them at that moment, needed to make sure they were all whole and okay.

  One of Philit’s hands pressed against my pussy, and I moaned at the teasing touch.

  “I can tell you’re wet for us even through your skirt,” Philit whispered. “Are you hungry for our cocks?” His husky voice was almost too much, too intimate. My body tensed up, anticipation swirling through me.

  Their scents overwhelmed me, setting my body on fire for them.

  “There isn’t much room in here,” Zilon whispered.

  “We’ll make it work,” Landers growled out.

  Philit turned me so that I faced him, then he pulled me down on top of him as he sat down on the floor. He set his back against the wall. I cradled him, feeling his cock pressing against the entrance of my pussy.

  They made quick work in getting rid of my top and bra. My skirt was hiked up around my waist, my underwear soon torn away. I was as naked as I was going to get.

  My hands fumbled as I worked to release his cock completely so that I could really take him down. Philit didn’t say anything, just stared at me with dark, hungry eyes. He was going to make me work.

  I didn’t mind. It felt more like I was claiming them when they made me work. Granted, it was only so I could pretend because there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that they were always in control. Always.

  Philit’s cock broke free, and I wrapped my hand around it, giving it a couple of pumps that turned his breathing ragged.

  Landers came to my side, dipping his finger down into my folds. He gathered the wetness that was spreading down there and teased it around, circling my clit.

  I gasped almost jerking away, but Zilon was at my back, holding me there. All three of them worked over my body, stopping only just before I could climax. All of me was completely sensitive, too aware of the guys.

  “She’s ready,” Philit said, wrapping his hands around my waist and lifting me up.

  I hovered over him and for a moment, I thought he was going to make me do the work to sheath him, but then he pushed me down as he slammed up.

  I screamed, a hand covering my mouth to mute it before we alerted anyone to our presence. We may have been in a secret passageway, but there was no telling if anyone passing by would be able to hear or not.

  My pussy stretched out, shocks spreading through me. Philit had managed to completely sheath himself inside of me, not moving for a moment as he adjusted to the feeling. Then, he began moving, bouncing me on top of him.

  “Damn, look at those perfect breasts bouncing,” Landers said, grabbing one of them and tweaking my nipples.

  I shuddered as shocks went through my body. So many different sensations were flooding through me.

  “Take my cock in your mouth,” Zilon whispered.

  He was standing on the other side of me. I didn’t wait, taking him in completely and loving how his precum exploded on my taste buds. I sucked and licked as I bobbed my head, making sure to wrap my tongue around his tip so he could feel it all. His legs began shaking the longer I worked him over.

  It became harder to tease him though as Philit picked up his pace, making me ride him hard as he slammed into me.

  Before I had a chance to prepare myself, Landers flicked my clit, sending me over hard. My whole body shuddered as I clamped down on both my mates, sending them over too after a few more thrusts from them. My pussy and mouth were flooded with their hot seed. I almost choked on Zilon’s but managed to swallow after releasing his cock with a small pop.

  Philit swore as he held me close to him, his cock’s swelling making me feel so full. He really did make it work in this small space. I glanced at Landers, and judging by the smoldering look he was giving me with his pupils blown wide, then he wasn't done with me just yet.

  None of them were.

  My body shivered, anticipation for more flooding through me. I would never have enough of these guys.

  Chapter

  Twenty-Three

  “My turn,” Landers said, picking me up from away from Philit.

  Enough time had passed so that the blue dragon was able to slip out. Landers sat down on the other side, and I thought he wanted me to sit down on his lap, but he gave my ass a little swat.

  “I want to taste your sweet nectar. Stay standing. Put your hands on the wall,” Landers ordered.

  Nervous with what he wanted, I did as he said. She hooked a leg over his shoulder and quickly buried his face in my pussy. I moaned as his tongue dove inside of me. Then, Landers pulled his mouth back enough to play with my clit and to nip at it with the slightest hint of eager teeth.

 

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