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Her soft hair tickles my chest and I open my eyes. I’m not sure why, but I have a compulsion to run my fingers through the inky strands, to draw intricate patterns on her skin, to watch the light play along her curves. There’s a power that rolls through me, starting at my toes and working its way up, circling around my heart and making it flutter against my ribs. It’shim–my dragon–awake and ready to annoy the hell out of me.
As much as I want to stay, to enjoy this a little longer before she wakes up, I know I shouldn’t. Not with her like this. He’ll make it impossible. It was already hard enough to keep him at bay when he knew she was a shifter, but now that he knows she’s adragonit’s going to be ten times harder.
I groan, cursing under my breath as my body betrays me.
Not the time,I say in my head, knowing he can hear me. My heartbeat quickens, my breaths become shorter, and heat pours through me, making his response clear without words.
Before I laid down in this bed, I set rules. I was to stay on my side, and she was to stay on hers, and now I'm wrapped around her like ivy would cling to stone–cuddlinglike some domesticated animal. Worse yet, I want to stay like this, intertwined with her, I just don’t trust myself to do so. Not when my dragon is hovering just below the surface, pushing me, egging me on, dumping liquid lust into my godsdamn veins by the bucket full.
There’s no reason for this, for me to want to be this close to her. It’s not for warmth. My beast wouldn’t let me freeze, and I’ve never needed comfort at night. I don’t have habitual nightmares like Calamity, or a need for physical closeness, not even a ping of desire for it before now. This is possessive, mydragon trying to manipulate me into doing his bidding. To mark her, claim her as a mate. He’s trying to show me how good it could be under the guise of comforting her..
Willing myself to move, I lift, feeling weight against my arm. It’s shoved under her head, preventing me from going anywhere without waking her up. I gently lift my other, hoping to use it and gently lift her enough to slip away, only to realize it’s not just laid over her, my hand rests between her thighs mere inches from where they meet the rest of her body.
“She’s ours. Can’t you feel it in your gut? Something different,”my dragon purrs in my mind.
She’s a fury.My brows draw together.Megara’s daughter belongs on the dragon throne, and mating us will prevent her from claiming it. We’re banished, or have you forgotten?
“Semantics! Once she claims her crown, you’ll be pardoned,”he insists.
I huff out the air in my lungs.“Right. Once she is CROWNED she can, and we’d have to prove her heritage before that can happen. Until then, my father will still make the rules. How do you think he’ll react? We never returned, we failed to get Elaria to leave, word has likely traveled to him about her death, and then we show up mated to a Midicious, the daughter of the man who murdered her. Fury or not, he won’t be happy. He won’t show mercy.
“Fine, then Jesper takes her up. We join them afterward. It doesn’t change the fact that she’s perfect–our mate.”
No, she’s who you WANT to be our mate,I snap back.
“You’re dense. You know exactly what I mean. Most mates are chosen. True mates are rare. I can feel it, and I know you can too. You saved that girl before you knew anything about her. You felt drawn to her in ways you couldn’t explain. Tell me that’s not a true mate.”
You know as well as I do that it’s impossible to know.My lips are pressed together so hard they start to go numb.The only way to know is to court them and see if the mark simply scars or not. Until then, you’re suspecting things that aren’t there.
“Mark her, then. Prove me wrong.”
No. She just found out what she is, and not even completely. I won’t add to her confusion right now. Besides, she won’t have the control of her creature to withstand the bond’s pull. She’ll end up biting me back, and then she’ll give up everything, her crown, her mother’s legacy, all of it before she even knows it exists. So, fuck off.
A visceral growl rumbles, low and deep in my throat, but it’s not of my doing. I try to swallow it down, but it’s useless. There’s no smothering it.
Calamity stirs at the noise, rubbing her eyes with the heel of her palm. “Good morning to you, too.” She twists, ever so slightly to look over her shoulder, her golden eyes meeting mine. “I don’t suppose you’re going to blame me for blatantly disregarding your own rule, are you?”
The more she moves, the more intoxicating she becomes, her scent making my head spin.
“Don’t move,” I grit, baring my teeth as I hiss out a breath. My muscles strain as a wave of lust consumes me, infiltrating every part of my body until it aches. It’s dangerous, butfuck…I can almost taste her, the power that pollutes the air between us. My cock twitches, and I bite my tongue hard enough to taste copper.
I need to get up, get out of this bed, dosomething. Anything to distract me.
“Are you alright? Did I do something?” she asks, searching my eyes as if the answer lies within them.
“It’s not you. My beast is being an obnoxious ass right now. Just try to stay still, please.”
She swallows, her spine elongating as if she’s attempting to flatten herself to the bed. In reality, it just lifts her chin, lowers her shoulders, and bares her slender throat to me. Her skin is flawless, not a single mark left behind from where the Grimleer attacked her, so smooth and soft beneath my fingers. But if there’s one thing you never do, it’s leave your throat exposed to a shifter, and definitely not when you smell like dripping sex appeal. My senses sharpen; colors becoming more vivid, sounds more acute, and the power dancing between us flutters like cords of lightning roving over my flesh.
I salivate at the thought of kissing there, feeling her pulse against my lips, the way it would jump.
“What happens if I move?” she whispers, as if the threat can hear us.
“I don’t know, but um… You’re in heat, and…” I close my eyes, unable to finish the thought. My heart pounds in my chest, making a steady percussion ring in my ears. Between that and the way my hips threaten to move on their own accord, to grind against her, I can’t focus. Every bit of my energy is going toward staying still. And I’m quickly losing the battle.
“Your beast wants to mark me…” she says, finishing the thought herself.
“Yes.” I can’t look at her face as I speak, knowing how weak that sounds. Control shouldn’t be an issue. Up to now, it never has been. I’ve been around Vik countless times, and while Faelor and Jesper turned into complete fools, I always remained in control. But this time, I’ve never felt so helpless.
