One slim, finely shaped bare foot appeared, the skin so pale it almost glowed. He’d never seen such a fine-boned ankle before. Dragons were stocky and thick, though they did not have cankles no matter what those stupid minotaurs claimed. Minotaurs were assholes anyway.

  Not a single hair marred the smooth skin on the leanly muscled calf that appeared next. Blaze held his breath, watching eagerly, no longer worried about who was sneaking into his room.

  His cock was fully hard by the time he saw the naked thigh, but he was disappointed when the hint of clothing appeared in the form of a short, flowing hemline.

  The green material looked to be as soft as the man’s skin. Blaze licked his lips and waited for more, but instead got a gasp and a squeak.

  He jerked his gaze up and found himself staring into the prettiest purple eyes he’d ever seen. So wide they shouldn’t have been possible on a living creature and uptilted beautifully at the outer edges. Dark purple ringed the lighter irises, with flecks of silver mixed into the lavender.

  The pert, thin nose and lush pink lips just about did Blaze in. He pressed a hand to his throbbing cock and wondered what he’d have to do to get those lips around it.

  “I’m—I’m s-sorry,” the fairy stuttered, the pale skin of his cheeks darkening to pink. “I-I was l-looking for s-someone else.”

  Blaze crooked a finger at the fairy. “But you found me, so why don’t you come in?”

  Griff knew Gia was somewhere. He just…didn’t know where. He’d come along on a trip when he shouldn’t have. His sense of disorientation was troublesome. All he wanted was to go back home.

  And instead, he found himself in the room of the orange-haired man Gia had knocked out hours ago.

  Going into the room with the man was stupid. He probably wanted to squash Griff flat for Gia’s spell. Then again, he might not remember it. Gia had said he wouldn’t.

  But Griff remembered the man trying to kill him.

  “N-no. You tried to k-kill me,” he accused, yet he didn’t back away. He’d seen the man push down on his erection. For some reason, that move held Griff in place.

  The dragon scowled. “I did not! I wouldn’t try to kill an attractive man. Or even a moderately not ugly man. I can’t be picky here.”

  “What?” Griff’s fear was trampled by confusion. “What are you going on about?”

  The dragon snorted and rolled his eyes. “Oh please. Look at me. Do you think I have handsome men sneaking into my room all the time? Or often? Or ever?”

  Griff hated to break it to him, but— “I was looking for my sister. And you did try to kill me earlier, and my friend Shadnay, who’d been nice enough to give me a ride to the palace.”

  “I am so confused.”

  Griff pushed the door open a little wider. Maybe if he didn’t go in, he’d be safe enough talking to the intriguing, but possibly psychotic, dragon.

  “I was on Shadnay the dragonfly, and you tried to squish us,” Griff explained slowly, in case the other man was a bit thick in the head. He didn’t know dragons, or whether low intelligence was common for them.

  “Dragonfly?” The man’s entire expression turned to one of horror. “Dragonfly! Oh shit!”

  Griff cringed at the curse word and covered his ears.

  “Sorry!” The dragon scrambled off the bed. If he’d had an erection earlier, it was gone now.

  “Sorry, oh gods and spawns, I didn’t even—” He gulped, then turned an unattractive shade of green. “Uh. What if I’ve squished other people? I’m going to be sick!”

  He ran for a door across his room.

  Griff stood there, hesitant to help yet not wanting to leave. He should have been terrified.

  Instead, he was struggling not to be intrigued. He didn’t like violence, and he’d seen proof already that this particular man reacted with violence first and thought… Well, who knew when he ever thought?

  Yet Griff remained in place, waiting for his return.

  Chapter Five

  It was strange. Griff had trouble remembering the oddest things—like who his king was—but he’d remembered the orange dragon without any trouble at all. Maybe it was the man’s unusual coloring, or those divine freckles.

  Griff cringed when he heard another gut-wrenching sound. He was fairly certain he hadn’t almost been murdered on purpose earlier. That still didn’t stop his mind from flitting around the dark edges of something he didn’t care to remember.

  “I’m so, so sorry,” the dragon said before he’d even come out of the bathroom. “I didn’t think—I mean, I’ve only seen fairies that are, you know, not little. Well, you aren’t exactly big like we are, kinda delicate-looking—”

  Griff stuck his tongue out even though he couldn’t be seen. He heard water running then the sound of gargling. He twirled a few strands of hair around one finger. Delicate-looking. He didn’t say delicate. He might think we are, though. Should I be offended or not? Considering he wasn’t certain the man was all that intelligent—dragons as a whole might be more brute than brains, for all he knew—Griff decided to go with not being offended. It took up too much energy to be pissy.

  But he could make a point. “So a delicate female fairy kicked your behind earlier today.”

  “What?” the dragon bellowed. It sounded like he sputtered and spat his gargling liquid all over the mirror. The water was shut off as the man coughed and hacked. “A girl?” he finally got out, appearing in the bathroom doorway, face red, eyes bloodshot, and drool on his chin. He took off his shirt, which was also wet, and exposed Griff to honey-gold skin dusted with freckles and orange hair.

  “I think I’m in lust,” Griff muttered, eyeing pretty coral nipples. Now he understood what his kind of fairy was supposed to be doing. He wanted to jump on the dragon and ride until they were both limp and sated.

  Except there was that whole comment about a girl, and Griff really didn’t like people who thought less of women than men. “No, a woman,” he stressed, narrowing his eyes at the dragon. Griff’s fingertips buzzed and tingled, and little bolts of iced-energy zipped from the tips. He didn’t lose control, though it was tempting to zap the dragon.

  But the dragon held up his hands. “What? Hey, no, no, I didn’t mean anything bad by it! Don’t glare—it makes my head ache! And our women—girls included—are fierce and deadlier than the males! Nothing but respect for the fiercer sex!”

  As far as backpedaling went, that was pretty good. “Well, you just—” Griff began, only to be interrupted.

  “It’s just that all of you fairies look like you’d break easy,” the dragon said, obviously not seeing the danger in letting his tongue overrule his brain.

  Then again, maybe there wasn’t any danger, Griff reminded himself.

  Griff sighed. Maybe dragons were dense and only understood one thing. If that was the case, then he could straighten out this particular dragon very quickly. “What’s your name?” he asked. “I’m Griff.”

  The dragon lowered his hands and smiled rather charmingly, if naively. “Griff, huh? That’s a wicked cool name. I’m Blaze, on account of me being part of the royal family. We get the hot names, you know, like Fyre and Bonfire and, well, Blaze.” He preened, sticking his admittedly nicely stacked chest out. The smile was on the cheesy side, but Griff was strangely charmed.

  And rethinking the whole, setting the dragon straight thing. He didn’t want to start a dragon-fairy war by offending anyone.

  But…he wouldn’t do permanent damage, and it might do the dragons good to learn that fairies weren’t helpless.

  Griff felt a stirring of excitement unlike anything he could remember experiencing—which wasn’t saying too much, considering his memory stank. Still, his grin might have held a little fairy impetuousness to it.

  That smirk was a forewarning, Blaze was sure of it. He just didn’t know what the bad thing was that was going to happen. Blaze wrapped his hands around the back of his head. “Not again!”

  Griff blinked in a slow way that was sensuous and pretty all at once. “Not again?” he questioned.

  Blaze nodded. His head throbbed. “Ow. Ow! Yes, no.”

  “You’re making absolutely no sense,” Griff said, doing the blinky thing. “None.”

  Blaze thought about what he’d just said. “Oh. Well, I mean…er. My head hurts, so the ow. Then I nodded so another ow, because, um. Ow?”

  Griff arched one thin, already pretty damned arched eyebrow.

  Blaze wasn’t sure if he was blushing or if his powers were fixing to go haywire on him. “Um. The, uh. Yes, I meant not again, but no, I didn’t mean yes, do it again.” Ugh! Could he sound any dumber?

  Hm. Probably.

  Griff pursed his lips, making them into a very lovely o.

  Blaze wanted to lick them. Suck them, maybe, and test their lushness with his teeth. Feel them on his skin and—

  But Griff spoke and kind of cracked that spell holding Blaze in a stupor over those lips.

  “Ah, I didn’t think about the backatcha spell Gia flung at you,” Griff murmured. “You’re lucky she held back, or you’d have been as splattered as you intended me and Shadnay to be.”

  “The backatcha—” Blaze let go of his own noggin.

  “Yes, that particular spell takes whatever you were about to do and throws it back at you,” Griff explained patiently. “Gia is one of the more powerful fairies in our frolic.”

  Blaze might have giggled. “A frolic?”

  “Did you just…” Griff took a step toward him, something like wonder in his voice. “Giggle?”

  Blaze slapped a hand over his mouth. “Noophth.”

  “You did!” Griff squealed, but it wasn’t like the annoying, eardrum-piercing squeals coming from the harem room. It was throaty and hot, and Blaze’s stupid dick was going to spring up and bob for attention.

  “You giggled, and it was adorable,” Griff continued, taking another step closer. “And I remember you, and why I’m here in this room. I was looking for my sister, but instead, I found the golden dragon!”

  Now, Blaze was hardly golden. He was orange. He knew it, and every dragon in the damn clutch knew it.

  But Griff was looking at him like he was truly special, and not in that snarky joke special way that he’d heard so often when he’d been growing up. And just earlier that day.

  No. Griff was looking at him like Blaze was…interesting, and not a freak.

  Blaze gulped. He didn’t know what to say or do and he didn’t want to move or speak and screw it all up. He really liked the way Griff was staring at him, the warmth in the fairy’s eyes and the way those lush lips parted on a big smile.

  “What are you doing in here with him?” shrieked someone who was definitely not Griff.

  Griff spun around, and Blaze guessed it was a fairy version of a blush that tinted every bit of Griff’s skin the same lavender as his eyes. “I-I-I-I—”

  A female fairy flitted into the room, glaring daggers at Blaze. “I should have zapped your ginger ass harder!”

  “Gia!” Griff covered his ears. “Language!”

  Gia rolled her eyes. “Get over your delicate sensibilities, brother! And get out of this nutjob’s room. Come on. You got lost again, didn’t you?” She took Griff by one hand. “I’ve already had my fun in the harem. Let me get you to your room, and don’t leave again until I come for you in the morning. Not that you’ll remember I said so. I’ll have to write a reminder spell—”

  “I wasn’t lost,” Griff whispered, turning his head to look at Blaze. “Not this time.”

  But Blaze didn’t know what had happened or why Griff was letting himself be dragged away, especially not when he’d been eyeing Blaze so thoroughly.

  Was it another rejection? And why wouldn’t Griff remember what his sister said?

  And worst of all, why had Griff sounded as lost as his sister said he was when he’d let himself be led away?

  Chapter Six

  Despite all the racket coming from the harem room, Blaze did eventually manage to fall asleep. Of course, his dreams were filled with a sexy male fairy. Blaze enjoyed the first couple of those dreams. He woke up from the second one with a raging hard-on he couldn’t ignore.

  Blaze reached under the thin sheet covering him. His sleep pants were a pain to get open, but the second he did, he spat on his palm. Blaze gripped his cock and started jacking off. Normally he liked to take his time to work up to his climax. But he was already so close that he couldn’t go slow. He stroked his shaft rapidly, roughly, chasing a burn and twist of pleasure.

  In an embarrassingly short period of time, he jerked from head to toes. His abs went taut, and his breath rushed from his lungs. He couldn’t keep back a growl as he came, images of lavender eyes and long white hair so clear in his mind. Pale, soft skin—it’d feel like nothing he’d ever touched before, so perfect, smooth, warm.

  Blaze practically swallowed his tongue as his climax ripped through him, all but turning him inside out. He’d come so damn quickly, he hadn’t even gotten to fantasize. He’d just had those flashes, and they’d sent him skyrocketing into orgasm.

  It wasn’t unusual for Blaze to develop crushes on guys he didn’t know. It was easier, actually. Safer. Well, usually, not counting the fuckup that had ended with him being grounded.

  Although, to be fair, he hadn’t had a crush on Valdez.

  Blaze sighed and wiped his hand on the sheet. He used another part of it to clean off his cock and belly, then tossed the material on the floor and tried to go back to sleep.

  His dream, when he did, wasn’t steamy this time. Not at all. Blaze woke up, sweating, heart slamming, a shout ringing in his ears, throat aching. He couldn’t stop seeing it—his hand swatting at an annoying dragonfly, not missing this time. And knowing he’d killed Griff.

  It wasn’t real. It hadn’t happened. Griff was fine.

  But that nightmare kept Blaze from getting any more rest.

  * * * *

  Gia had been annoyingly overprotective earlier. Griff didn’t know what had crawled up her butt. Maybe it was the fact that he’d almost gotten killed. He could never tell with his sister.

  Griff looked around the room he’d been put in. It was fancy-schmancy, with gold-framed paintings and drapes that probably cost a fortune. The furniture was all icky. Heavy, dark, so masculine it’d cause anyone sleeping in there for more than a week to grow a pair of balls.

  Griff hardly had need of the one pair he had. What would he do with two?

  He glared at the bed. He knew exactly where he was, and why. His memory was being his friend right now.

  In fact, all his body felt pretty good for once. He missed his wings but flying on Shadnay had given him a measure of peace he’d been missing. It wasn’t a permanent fix—it’d just lifted his spirits.

  And that dragon, Blaze, he’d lifted something else of Griff’s. Something considerably lower down than where a fairy’s soul resided.

  Griff giggled and noted the way his genitals were only barely covered by the material he wore. He’d never been one for easy sex once he’d tried it a few dozen times, but he was certainly considering making an exception for Blaze. Weird that he was so attracted to a guy who’d almost killed him.

  It had been an accident, though.

  Maybe it’d been an accident that had cost Griff his wings, too.

  Well, that totally dampened Griff’s arousal.

  “Oh no.” He fluttered one hand in front of him before resting it over his heart. “What if I’m attracted to men who want to kill me?” Would he get an erection if he saw the human who’d hurt him so badly?

  Dang it. His head was still a mess even if his memory was functioning for once. He was being paranoid, wasn’t he?

  Aren’t I? Griff racked his brain trying to recall who’d swatted him so severely. He couldn’t picture him, not even a hint of him. Yet Griff knew without a doubt it’d been a man.

  Oh, it was a puzzle, all right. Griff thought it over all night and into the first hour of the morning.

  It was worth it. At least he figured out that he hadn’t been feeling horny when he’d gotten hit. That had to mean something good.

  And he was fascinated with the dragon for reasons he couldn’t pin down. The freckles were part of it, but only part.

  One thing he did know, he was going to see the dragon again, soon. Griff ran over to the window. He traced a map onto its surface, hoping it’d still be there in case he forgot how to get to Blaze’s room.

  Chapter Seven

  “Mother of pearl! Ugh!” Blaze pulled the pillow over his head. “What in all of Hades are you fairies doing?” he shouted.

  “Each other!” several musical-tinged voices hollered back, along with a chorus of titters and giggles Blaze heard through the stupid wall.

  He thumped his head against the mattress. The knot he’d had from being knocked on his ass was gone, but he still winced as slippery little tendrils of pain wrapped around his skull. Apparently the area was tender.

  Blaze tried sticking his fingers in his ears. That helped some, until his ears started to ache. It didn’t help that every time there was a moan or shout or garbled whatever–it-was sound of release, he wondered if it’d come from Griff.

  It stood to reason that Griff was part of the harem. The king had arrived with his lovers, and as far as Blaze knew, that was it. So that meant Griff was one of the fuckers or fuckees—or both, or who knew what—next door.

  Every time Blaze thought of that, he growled, and had he been able to, he’d have shifted and toasted some fairy asses. So it was probably a good thing he couldn’t shift. He didn’t think he’d kill anyone, but then again, as unreasonable as he was feeling about Griff having sex with others, who knew? Obviously, Blaze was losing his mind.

  He didn’t know Griff. He’d tried to kill Griff, for goodness’ sake! Griff certainly wouldn’t be interested in him in any manner except possibly as a target for retribution. Even though Blaze hadn’t ever intended to hurt Griff, he’d been stupid and careless and inattentive, and he could have done such a horrible thing.