Me and My Shadow - Katie MacAlister [93]
Kostya, to my great amusement, looked embarrassed, his gaze flickering around the room at us as we all watched with interest while Cyrene lambasted him.
“That was spoken in a private moment,” he said in a low voice, sending her a furious look.
“Screw private!” she snapped, poking him in the chest again. “You told me you loved me. You said we were meant to be together. Then you let that stupid lair ruin everything. You’re just a pig, Kostya! No, you’re a pig-dog! A pig-dog dragon, and I loathe the very sight of you! I never want to see you again. Do you hear me? Never want to see you again!”
Cyrene was panting with emotion, her eyes blazing as she shoved him in the chest a third time.
Kostya stared down at her with a black expression for about half a second; then with a growled profanity, he grabbed her, pulling her up against his chest as he kissed the living daylights out of her. That lasted for about five seconds before Kostya yelped, lifting his head with surprise. There was blood on his lip.
“Pig-dog!” Cyrene snarled at him.
“Insane watery tart,” he spat back.
They stared at each other for another few seconds; then this time, Cyrene flung herself at his head and locked her mouth over his.
“Well,” I said, clearing my throat, but couldn’t think of anything to say.
The two models looked at each other in stunned surprise for a moment. Then both narrowed their eyes and glared at the back of Cyrene’s head. Kostya hoisted her up, his hands on her behind, as he continued to kiss her, Cyrene making happy little moaning noises as she wrapped her legs around his hips.
“I’m so glad Jim isn’t here to see this,” I said to Gabriel.
He chuckled before his expression turned serious again as Chuan Ren entered the room, followed by two red dragons. One I recognized as her handsome son, Jian; the other was a man I hadn’t seen before.
Chuan Ren was not my favorite dragon. Outwardly she resembled a tall, elegant Chinese doll, all porcelain skin and long silky black hair, but she was meaner than Magoth, and twice as deadly. She looked around the room with dark brown eyes with deep red lights, her gaze pausing for a moment on the sight of Kostya and Cyrene locked in a kiss.
“Where is Fiat?” she asked after giving them a look filled with scorn and disgust.
“He will be here when the sárkány is called to order,” Drake said placidly.
“You will hand him over to me now,” Chuan Ren demanded in her officious manner. “You agreed I could punish him for the attempt to take over my sept.”
“Chuan Ren. You have met my mate, May, I believe?” Gabriel interrupted her, pulling me forward as he approached her.
She spared me only a harsh glance before turning her attention on him. “I have acknowledged her as such, yes.”
Gabriel waited a moment.
She made an annoyed sound and gestured sharply to her two companions. “I present to the silver mate my mate, Li, and son, Jian.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I told the man who was her mate. He smiled, and bowed, as did Jian.
“I am glad to see you in good health,” the latter said, taking my hand to press a kiss to the back of it. “We owe you much in returning Chuan Ren to us.”
“Ever the diplomat,” she said in a contemptuous tone to her son.
I wasn’t surprised. Chuan Ren seemed to feel force was the only way to achieve a goal.
“You are in command of the red dragons again?” Gabriel asked her.
“Did you doubt I would take control the second I was released from Abaddon?”
He smiled. “I knew you would not tolerate another ruling the red sept, but you said you had not found him to challenge him. He returned to England while we were hunting for him in Europe. How, then, did you challenge him for control?”
Her eyes narrowed on him. “I do not need the stupidity of a challenge to take control of what is mine,” she said in a low, mean voice. “The red dragons belong to me and no other.”
“What did I miss? I heard yelling,” Aisling