Chapter 60:

I was more than over this place, so by the time the prince even walked out from behind his father, I was already turning to leave. Xavier was right beside me as Lexi and Genie followed close behind us, leaving the prince to trail at the back of the group. 

"Damn, if I knew I would be getting this kind of a view, I would have come out far earlier," Daydree called from behind us with a low whistle, and I ground my teeth together, just to try to keep my mouth shut. "This team would be perfect if it weren't for that damn lieutenant," Bane growled at him, and just as I was about to turn to tell him exactly where he could shove his opinions about our team, a large hand grabbed my wrist. He would have tugged me backwards if it hadn't been for Xavier's arm banding around my waist in an iron grip that Daydree wouldn't have been able to pull me out of, even if there wasn't also a knife currently being held to his throat, before I added my own knife into the mix. Although just for good measure, I aimed lower than Xavier had, pressing the tip of my blade into the soft flesh right under his ribs as I leaned back against the hard muscle of Xavier's chest. Daydree quickly held his hands up in surrender, backing away as he glanced between the two weapons. 

"Do not fucking touch her. In fact, keep your hands off of all of them unless they specifically ask for it. I don't have the time or patience to deal with the likes of you and your fucking ego, and while the mission states that you have to come back alive, it says nothing about having all of your limbs intact." Xavier warned in a low, cold tone that even had me wanting to back away from him. Bane was growling low as he bared his teeth at the prince while standing about halfway down Xavier's arm, as he even warned the other man off. The prince trembled as he backed away, his light green eyes flashing with stunned surprise as they jumped between the two of us. 

"I should have guessed that you'd be into brutes." Daydree sneered as his long, light brown hair fell loose from the ponytail he had it in and plastered itself across his face, catching in his mouth and causing him to splutter, but I couldn't suppress my laughter at the sight.  

"Actually, I'm just into real men. I don't play with little boys, especially ones that have an ego as big as yours. A red flag like that generally means they're overcompensating for something else." I quipped, causing Xavier to actually chuckle at me as he slid his blade back into its sheath at his side. 

"Like I said, five minutes." He whispered as he leaned down into me for a moment, making me grin before those eyes snapped back onto Daydree. "Get on your damn horse and let's go," Xavier told him before turning to start walking out further into the field once more, but he left his hand on the small of my back, making me smile as I happily leaned further into his hold. 

As we made it far enough out for Bane to shift, Xavier leaned down, grazing his lips over the shell of my ear as he whispered to me in a tone that had my knees threatening to buckle under my weight. "You take the first prince by the balls, and the second by the guts? Are you trying to get my attention, princess? Because I can guarantee you that you damn well already have it, although the little show was definitely a sight you'll be rewarded for later." I grinned as I fought not to claim those sinful lips in a kiss. 

"I have to keep you on your toes somehow, handsome," I whispered back as Bane leapt from his shoulders and shifted to his larger form a little ways further into the field. 

"You're damn good at it. I'll give you that one." I just giggled at him as we made our way over towards Bane. 

"You can't expect me to fly with that... that thing!" Daydree whined as he looked up at Bane. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I forget to warn you that mine's way bigger?" Xavier shot back, and I had no clue how he kept a straight face as all three of the rest of us burst out into laughter. 

The prince just gawked at him for a long moment before spluttering out a response. "Well, that thing is going to mess up Nyra's flight pattern. She doesn't need her feathers messed up by that... that beast." He huffed out, crossing his arms over his chest before Bane turned towards him. Lowering his head, he swiveled it back and forth in the eerie serpentine way he tended to do before attacking something, before, in one quick move, stretching his neck out and roaring right in Daydree's face. We all laughed as the prince fell backwards onto his ass, letting out one of the most girly screams I've ever heard as he scrambled backwards away from the pissed off dragon. 

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and say that he didn't particularly appreciate that one," Genie said with another giggle as Bane puffed out a heated breath in Daydree's direction. 

"Oh, I guess I also forgot to mention that he tends to run on the snarly, easily offended side, and unless you like the idea of becoming either charcoal or dinner depending on how he's feeling, it's generally best to stay on his good side. Don't piss him off when he's small, either. I've seen him take a man's hand for less." Xavier said with a nonchalant shrug as he just walked over to the huge dragon, placing a hand on Bane's cheek with a grin that was nothing but pure, devious glee as he watched the prince cower back. 

"Okay, I get it," Lexi said with a giggle as I looked over at her. 

"Get what?" I asked, and she just raised an eyebrow. 

"What you like about him." She said as she came up beside me to pat me on the shoulder.

"I told you, he's actually rather fun to be around, once you get past that whole hard-ass exterior. If I'm being completely honest, you never actually know what's going to come out of his mouth, but you can guarantee one thing. If he's not toying with you, then whatever comes out is going to either severely hurt your ego or tell you exactly where and how you can shove it in explicit detail, but even then, it's quite fun when it's not directed at you." I told her with a grin before walking over towards Bane's leg. "Let's get out of here before Bane decides he's hungry again," I called loud enough for the prince to hear as I started up Bane's leg. Xavier quickly caught up to me, stepping around me as I sat, allowing Bane to readjust as Xavier strapped all of our bags down onto his back once more. 

The prince finally moved off further into the field to mount his pristine white pegasus as we settled in on Bane's back. I couldn't help but to giggle as Bane stretched his neck out and snapped his teeth right as he started climbing on the horse, spooking the creature and causing the prince to once more land right on his ass. I just leaned over, patting Bane's shoulder as he made a sound that was as close to a laugh as a dragon could make. We all just watched as the prince once more went to mount his horse, although this time he was staring at the huge dragon in a mixture of fear and frustration.

"Do women actually go for that?" I asked as I leaned back against Xavier's chest, looking up at him as he let out a soft huff of a chuckle at my question. 

"Yes, but more for his title rather than anything else. There are a lot of people who are willing to overlook a lot of things when coin is involved, and the place we're going to is packed full of them. It's the perfect place for someone like him." Xavier leaned in to tell me over the wind as Bane took off, Kira quickly following behind, obviously far more comfortable with the dragon now than she had been before. Nova came up on our left as the prince flew beside Kira, who veered far closer to Bane rather than the pegasus. 

"So, I take it you've been there before?" I asked, looking up at him with a raised eyebrow. 

"Yes, I was there briefly twice last year." 

"You cut that pretty short, Xavier," I told him, turning to look up at him as my other eyebrow joined the first now. "Look, I get it. I know I'm not your first, you're way too skilled in that department for me to even begin to think that. All I want to know is if I'm going to have to beat any clingy bitches off you." That made him chuckle as he just shook his head. 

"No, no one at that camp got that treatment from me. There was no reason for me to have to pay for something that I could easily get for relatively free elsewhere, and I definitely don't have any need, or want to now, princess." He pressed a kiss to my cheek as I just grinned at him. It's not like I could berate him for needing to blow off some steam in our line of work, hell, honestly, I couldn't care less who he fucked before me as long as I was the only one in his bed now. "Although I will warn you. They will go after anyone who walks through that camp, and I don't share, princess." He whispered to me, allowing his lips to brush over that sensitive spot right under my ear as he spoke before punctuating his claim with a sharp nip. I gasped, but couldn't help but lean into him as he kissed over the spot, soothing the slight sting of his teeth.

"You act like I would actually want anyone else. I've been disappointed enough times in my life to know an incredible thing when I have it." I whispered back, tipping my chin up to press a kiss right under his jaw.