Thunder chuckled. "I"m only joking! I don"t know the exact number but there are a lot. All I know is that when I activate my power," he kissed her neck, "a minute electrical surge goes through your body and stimulates them all."
Tammy groaned. "It sure does. It was so good." She reached up and brushed a kiss on his mouth.
"I"m glad you can handle it." Thunder was sure that his female was sore after such rough lovemaking. He tried to ease off of her.
Tammy had other ideas. "Where do you think you"re going?" Her hand slipped between them and wrapped around his c.o.c.k. Tammy gave his length a light tug.
Thunder"s eyes closed for a moment and he groaned, pumping into her tight fist.
"I"m ready for more," a breathy whisper, so full of promise he couldn"t help but pumping into her fist, making a grunting noise this time.
"I"m glad, because there is a lot more where that came from," Thunder kissed his female. His heart felt huge inside his chest. It beat for her. For his Tammy.
The next morning ...
The door creaked open. It crashed as the broken hinge gave. Thunder sat up, ready to spring into action. To defend his female.
It was Blaze. The male smiled broadly. "I"m glad to see that the two of you came to your senses." The male kept his gaze on Thunder, who glanced down at his female. She was sleeping soundly. Thunder made sure that the blankets were tucked firmly around her.
"Congratulations!" Blaze was grinning from ear to ear.
"Yeah, thanks," Thunder couldn"t help but smile back.
Tammy buried herself deeper into the blankets and gave a soft sigh. They had made love all night. The sky had been streaked with oranges, blues and purples when they"d finally fallen asleep.
Judging from the height of the sun, it had to be mid-morning already. Thunder bit back a yawn and rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand.
"Roxy gave birth to a beautiful, healthy egg." Blaze"s grin widened.
"Oh wow!" Thunder grinned right back. "That"s great! You guys must be thrilled."
"It"s hard to believe that we"re going to be parents soon." He clenched his jaw, looking emotional for a second or two. He"d never seen the male like this but Thunder couldn"t blame him. Not even a little bit. He would love to be in the other male"s shoes.
"Congrats! Please congratulate your mate as well for me."
Blaze nodded once, his expression turned more serious. His body tensed. "About those lashes ... when would be a good time for you?"
"I"d say right now but we don"t have a whip."
Blaze smiled. "We do. I sent for one."
Thunder raised his brows. "When?" he frowned.
"Yesterday, after our meeting."
"But that would mean ..." Thunder shook his head. "Tammy was right, you"re a sneaky sneak."
"A what?"
Oh f.u.c.k! What the h.e.l.l was he saying? "Um ... what I meant was ..."
Blaze choked out a laugh. Thunder laughed along with him. His female didn"t so much as blink through the commotion. He really had worn her out.
It was Thunder who pulled himself together first. "If you don"t mind us staying on for a couple of days, I"ll get my punishment over with now."
"You sure?" Blaze smirked. "You are newly mated. Your female might not be happy if you"re out of action for a day or two."
Tammy needed the recovery time. His female had been insatiable. She had matching bite marks on her breast and one on inner thigh. Not as deep as the first, but still. "This morning would be good." He also didn"t want her to worry. This way it would be over with before she even knew what was happening.
"Okay. I"ll have one of my warriors fetch you in an hour."
Thunder pulled a face. "Can we make it a half hour?"
Blaze looked at him pointedly. "She"s going to be p.i.s.sed," he gave a nod towards the sleeping female. "But I do understand why you"re moving so quickly. Humans are squeamish about this sort of thing." He sighed. "I"m sorry there"s no way around this. It"s ..."
"You do not need to apologize, my lord. It is I who should be thanking you. I"m deeply grateful for all you have done for us. My female is worth it."
"I would do the same for Roxy," Blaze looked thoughtful for a moment. "I will send my best healer since my four warriors are doing so much better."
"I"m glad to hear it."
"I"ll leave you to prepare." The male"s nostrils flared. He sucked in a breath like he wanted to say something. Instead, he gave a small shake of the head and left.
Thunder knew what the male could scent. His female was at the start of her heat.
Chapter 24.
Three months later ...
Tammy straightened the cutlery on the table. She poured the wine, putting the bottle on the table. It was a rich burgundy that, according to the bottle, was robust and opulent. The table looked perfect.
The roast was resting. Everything else was ready and waiting. She"d prepared the meal herself and it smelled delicious. They were having chocolate fondant for dessert. It was Thunder"s favorite. A flutter of nerves. .h.i.t, her stomach gave a little clench. She wanted this to be perfect.
Tammy smoothed her dress, she walked to the full-length mirror just to be sure. The dress was blue silk, it clung to her every curve like a second skin. She"d put on some weight since coming to live in her new home. Her b.o.o.bs were more out there and her hips more flared. Thunder loved it. He couldn"t stop touching her and kissing her. He loved how everything bounced when they made love. Loved that there was more to hold onto. He just loved her full stop. The b.u.t.terflies in her stomach slowed their roll.
She"d never been happier. She touched one of the diamond and ruby earring. It sparkled in the dim light. They were those elaborate chandelier type earrings. For a second she was tempted to take them out. They were too much.
There was a knock at the door. She frowned. Who could that be?
Storm leaned up against the doorframe. His whole face lit up when he saw her. "It"s my favorite sister-in-law," he grabbed her in a bear hug. "Happy three-month anniversary."
"I"m your only sister-in-law, but thanks," she hugged him back. "You"re about to ruin my surprise." She looked up and down the outside hallway.
Storm chuckled. "Surprise?" He shook his head. "Hardly."
Tammy grabbed his wrist and pulled him inside. "What"s so funny?"
"You celebrated your one-week anniversary. Same with your one-month anniversary. Then," he lifted his eyes in thought, "there was your two-month anniversary, so it stands to reason that you would celebrate this one as well."
She folded her arms. "Are you done mocking me?"
He smiled. "I"m not mocking you. I think it"s really sweet. I only hope my female is as lovely and half as caring."
She gave him a light touch on the arm. "I"m sure she will be. Is there something I can help you with?" She tried not to sound impatient. The last thing she wanted was to kick him out but Thunder would be arriving at any second.
Storm tapped her on the side of her arm with the rolled up newspaper in his hand. "You can relax. He"s finishing up. Thunder will be at least another ten or so minutes. They"re working on the new project. All the kings were on a conference call."
"The new project, as in the whole silver thing?"
Storm nodded. "You are a genius as well as being the nicest female I know. They"re moving forward with the project and it"s all your doing."
She made a noise of embarra.s.sment and waved her hand. "Hardly."
Then Storm frowned, looking worried. "The next step is deciding who gets to play guinea pig. Granite has put the Earth dragons forward."
"Someone"s got to do it. What"s the big deal?"
He exhaled. "What if it works?"
"That would be wonderful," her voice was filled with excitement.
"The four kingdoms are united but it wasn"t that long ago that we were at each other"s throats. The kingdoms have little trust for one another. If the Earth dragons find a cure for our silver affliction, it puts the rest of us on the back foot. It puts Blaze one rung lower than them and the male will never stand for that. I foresee bloodshed before a decision is made. We all want to take on this project and yet to bring a team of human doctors into our lair would mean more risk. It is a tough one."
"I hear you," her voice was soft and filled concern. Mirroring the worry she felt inside. Storm was right, the dragons might be barbaric sometimes in the way they did things but they were a fair species, a just species. Humans could be cruel. No wonder Storm had been so cagey during that first meeting. If the humans ever found out about the dragons, about where they obtained their wealth, it would be over. They would be wiped out. She shivered. "We need to find a cure. You need to work together. Stick together."
"I know," he gave a shake of the head. "I am with you on that one. Enough doom and gloom. It"s a celebration. Thunder will be here soon. There is something I wanted to show you." He unrolled the paper. "I know my brother won"t want you to know about it but I think that you should."
"Know about what?"
The paper crinkled in his hand drawing her attention.
"This," he gave the front page of the Walton Springs Press a slap with the back of his hand.
There was a picture of her ex-boyfriend on the front cover. One of his eyes was swollen shut, his lower lip was cut and his arm was in a sling. He was barely recognizable but it was definitely him. "What the h.e.l.l?" she muttered, taking the paper from Storm. "Local business man, Christopher Collins, made a startling confession earlier today," she read aloud, not quite believing what she was reading. "In 2014, he accused one of his employees of breaking into his place of business, destroying his property and making off with an undisclosed amount of cash. Tamara Schiffer was arrested for the crime. Collins later dropped the charges under suspicious circ.u.mstances. Oh my G.o.d!" She clasped a hand over her mouth, skimming the rest of the article. There was a quote from her arresting officer saying that he never believed Tammy was guilty.
Her eyes felt wide in her head and she felt them stinging. "Collins confessed to everything. He handed himself in to local police begging to be arrested for his crimes." Her eyes ran over the rest of the page. A tiny article in the bottom corner caught her attention.
"Man sees dragons," read the headline.
PETER THOMPSON was walking his dogs when two large dragons took flight from a nearby garden.
"They scared my little Harry half to death," said Thomson, who described the mythical creatures as being at least as big as a delivery van, with scales, wings and gleaming golden chests.
"It was the two of you," she looked up at Storm who c.o.c.ked his head.
"I thought you should know. It was Thunder"s show. I went along for the ride."
"Wow!" She gave a quick laugh and held the paper to her chest. "I can"t believe it. Thank you."
Storm gave a shrug, as if it was nothing. "I love it when they p.i.s.s themselves. Bullies always cry the loudest."
"Chris peed himself?" Tammy knew it was wrong of her to take glee in another person"s suffering but in this case she couldn"t help it. Christopher deserved everything he got.
Storm nodded. "He refused to listen to Thunder. Idiot had a lot to say, should"ve kept his smart mouth closed," he clenched his jaw for a second. "f.u.c.ker c.r.a.pped himself in the end."
"He c.r.a.pped himself, as in ...?" She tried not to smile. It wasn"t right. "Surely not."
Storm had no such qualms. He grinned and gave a slow nod. "Yup. He deserved everything he got ... you can trust me on that one. The male is bad news."
"Yeah, he is." She didn"t know what she"d seen in him.
"He also made a sizeable donation to the local orphanage to make up for what he stole from you."
"Thank you." She gave him another tight hug. "You really are the best brother-in-law."
Storm put a hand to her back but otherwise didn"t reciprocate. "You can thank Thunder. Like I said, it was his show."
"By the way," he took a step away from her, towards the door, "you look really amazing. My brother is one lucky SOB. You also smell really ..." then he made a groaning noise. "Your surprise," he lifted his brows.
She nodded.
He held up both his hands. "I"m out of here."
She giggled and folded her hands over her chest. "Thanks again."
Storm was already on his way to the door. He glanced back at the last minute. "Those earrings look really good on you."
"Thanks." She fingered one of the pieces.
"You should wear more of our family heirlooms. My mother would have really liked you." Then he winked at her, reminding her of Thunder. "Enjoy your anniversary." She thought she heard him say "My brother is one lucky f.u.c.k" but she couldn"t be sure.
Within three minutes Thunder walked in. Tammy launched herself into his arms and wrapped her thighs around him.
"Now that"s a welcome home." He planted a kiss on her lips.
"You"re the best and I love you."
"I love you too," his voice was a deep, rich baritone. He clutched her a.s.s and buried his face in her neck. She heard him inhale deeply a couple of times. Thunder lifted his head, his brows were raised but there were also two deep grooves on his forehead. "I thought you were taking the Pill?" He didn"t wait for her to reply. "Your last heat nearly killed me."
It was all true. They"d ridden it out together. The first day had been pure torture for both of them since Thunder"s back was still healing and well, she was a little tender. After that, it had been one sweaty bout of s.e.x after another. Thankfully it was over in three days. They"d gone through a ton of condoms. She smiled just thinking about it.