“We shall surround her then as well,” Darc declared.
“So greedy,” Zhavage huffed while I giggled. “Oh, you find this amusing, Elaria?” He tried to peer around my husbands but they kept shifting to block him. “You saucy minx! Well, I'll have you know that I'm envisioning you right now, and I'm seeing you completely naked! You're lovely, I might add.”
Banning started to growl and it was a Blooder growl, which meant that it was damn creepy; sort of unnatural and horrific all at once.
“All right!” Zhavage gave in. “I shall excuse myself. It was good to see you all even though I didn't get to see all of Elaria.”
“Brother,” Verin growled the word but his growl wasn't eerie, it was simply vicious.
“I'm going!”
“Goodbye, Zhavage!” I called over Gage's shoulder.
“Goodbye, Elaria,” Zhavage said warmly as he left. “A pleasure, as always. Come back anytime.”
As soon as the Red Dragon and his men left the airlock, it started to fill with water. Gage shouldered the bag with our clothes, Verin's included, and the men turned, breaking the shield in a way that left a straight line of sight between Verin and me but not Saif. Verin lifted a brow at that but didn't say anything. He didn't have to; his eyes said it all when his stare met mine... then lowered. My underwear was modest enough but it was red silk, and Verin stared at it as if he were a bull ready to charge. At least I hadn't worn the transparent bra that Slate adored, but I had a feeling that once the water got to it, there wouldn't be much difference between the two.
Verin swung his head away, still channeling the bull, and hunched his shoulders, his stare set on the airlock door determinedly as he waited for the room to fill. I became determined as well... to not look down and see exactly how much I had affected him. I did, however, give my men the same questioning look that Verin had. Were they trying to show me off? Entice the Blue Dragon? Were my husbands attempting to seduce a lover for me? Did it make them feel more in control?
None of them would meet my gaze.
I barely had time to take a breath, I was so distracted again. I gasped one in just before the water covered my nose and then swam out of the opening doors after my men. Verin took lead, streaking through the water ahead of us with even more grace than he showed on dry land. But I suppose that was to be expected. A sleek vehicle waited for us just a few feet away; black, glossy, and with a pointed nose that would have worked just as well in the air as it did in water. Verin hit something on the side panel of the thing and a door opened, moving inward then aside. We swam into a tiny airlock.
I found myself pressed between Verin and Gage. No jokes about a rock and a hard place, please. I would have groaned in despair if I hadn't been holding my breath. I tried to concentrate on Gage. His sculpted chest was pressed against my back so tightly that I could feel his heartbeat and his body curved around mine; biceps bracketing my torso and hands on my thighs. Gage had his face tucked in against mine, nuzzling my cheek, and his shaft was just an ass-twitch away from hardening. It should have been easy to focus on him. And I would have if Verin's hair hadn't been swirling up in the water before me, teasing me mercilessly.
At least Verin—King... oh, forget it—was facing the wall, which left me leaning into the bulging muscles of his back while my lower half was plastered to his remarkably pert ass. I had my hands up between us but this only gave me an excuse to touch him. I found myself stroking his bare skin; my fingers moving ever so slightly and entirely against my will as I endeavored to hold my palms steady. He had on a pair of skin-tight shorts that left nothing to the imagination but that hardly mattered; my skin processed the feel of his body and translated it into a graphic image. But as maddening as that was, I had no doubt it was a better situation than what would have happened had I been set against Verin's front.
Oh, sweet stones, I lamented in my mind.
Yep, he definitely has a pair of sweet stones on him too, RS chortled. You may not have been looking, but this isn't the first time we've seen all of Verin, and I have a damn good memory when it comes to naked men.
If you had lips, I'd tell you to kiss my ass, I growled.
If I had lips, I'd be kissing his ass.
I gave up.
Verin hit another button and the water was forced out of the airlock, replaced by air. As soon as the seawater drained, he hit another button with an anxious slam of his palm and a door slid open. We poured into the ship, my men grunting in relief along with Verin.
“I didn't expect such... close quarters,” Verin said by way of an apology.
“It's fine. No biggie.” I went to Gage and held my hand out for my clothes.
Oh, it was big, RS murmured.
Shut up! Kyanite hissed at her.
“There are towels in the bottom of the bag,” Verin noted.
Gage grinned at me, his stare lingering on the wet silk of my bra as he passed out the clothing. “You're gonna have to wait a second, Mate. I'm trying to get to the towels.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, and he pouted.
Finally, after all the clothes were passed out, Gage produced a towel and I snatched it from his hands before someone else could take it. He chuckled then focused on getting dry; the water had been freezing and everyone but Verin was shivering. When I was as dry as I could
