Cassius sighed but gave in eventually. It didn't take much to convince him, just another clumsy tug of his arm. I didn't need to ask again for him to remove his shoes and jacket to join me on the bed.
"Don't blame me when you wake up sober to this," he warned me as snuggled up against his warmth.
While his hands hesitated for a moment before pulling me closer, wary of the sudden affection he was receiving, my inhibition had gone out the window. My fingers slipped through the opening of his shirt between the buttons to rest against his skin without a thought. I let out a light hum that resonated with the one that flowed through me at the contact. My body grew heavy against him, falling further into the realm of sleep. Until another itch interrupted my comfort.
"Is Jaxon okay?" The question blurted out as I tried to ease it with dull nails. My eyes opened to look up at him. It made me wonder how many of my other itches were actually my body telling me they were hurt.
"Why wouldn't he be?"
"It hurt when he removed a scale." It wasn't a question. I knew from the faint itch and the clear pain I had witnessed twist his face.
Cassius hummed. "He'll recover. Scales are the strongest part of a dragon, it's only given that they're the most difficult to remove. It'll take a while for the wound to heal. Eventually, his scales will grow in again."
"How long?"
"To heal? Fully, a few years, but it will take a few decades for the scales to grow back."
I sat up with a gasp. Or tried to. The arm Cassius had under my head bent over my shoulder to hold me in place.
"For food?" The hissed question came out astonished. Surely the meals we had weren't worth years of pain and discomfort. Not to mention, the missing scales probably meant a weakening of his defences.
Witnessing him hurt and weakened felt worse than it did when he tried to feed me last time. My reaction to that seemed ridiculous after what his pain did. Maybe I should just try to let him feed me again...
"No, for you." His large hand landed on the top of my head and forced it back into the position I had found comfort in earlier. "Go to sleep, pet. We'll discuss this in the morning if you wish to continue."
"But-"
"Where is she?"
Cassius's frustrated groan was drowned out by Jaxon's slurred words and the chaos that followed him.
"What are you doing?" Ares's question immediately followed Jaxon's. His eyes were narrowed on Cassius as he held Jaxon back by the back of his shirt.
"She wouldn't let me leave," he replied, pushing himself up to rest against the headboard as Ares and Jaxon approached.
When they neared the edge of the bed, Jaxon leaned in towards me. His breath smelled like tonight's choice of drink tinged with the burn of bourbon.
"Hi, princess. Mind if I sleep by your side too?
I didn't return his smile. Instead, my eyes were scanning his torso, trying to match the itch to its mirror location on him. Reaching out, I grabbed Jaxon and pulled him onto the bed, a task made easy by his drunken state. All I had to do was get him moving in the direction, gravity and his lack of balance did the rest.
He landed on his side and released a large breath. I didn't let him recover before pushing him down onto his back and pushing his shirt up.
"Whoa!" Jaxon exclaimed. His surprise was followed by a wide grin."Not expected but not unwanted," he remarked as my hand travelled up his side. It began to tremble before I even got to the wound.
