I knew the question was coming. She was too polite to ask me what had really happened to curse our people. But there was no way in Slaine I was going intothatwith her. “No there hasn’t, but we’re going to change that.”
Her eyes met mine and held. The bond I’d been fighting roared up inside of me like a tidal wave. My dragon wanted her.
And I was afraid there would be nothing I could do to stop it.
7
Elena
Stupid girl.
I should have left the moment he showed up. At least after we were bound together, we’d be in his castle with servants and other shifters around as a buffer. Out here, there was only us.
The forthcoming man before me didn’t seem like the one who could murder his mate in cold blood. Were the rumors really true? I couldn’t be sure. “I-I’d better get back to the castle,” I said and was furious to find my voice trembled, not with fear, but with something much worse—curiosity.
There was a moment of tense silence, and then he nodded. “I’ll escort you back.” When I moved to put space between us, he said, “You have nothing to fear from me, Princess. At least not yet.”
I didn’t grace that comment with a response, but I also didn’t argue with him when he took my arm in his. His warmth was too seductive to deny against the wintrychill pressing in on my cloak.
And he was right; someone wanted to kill me. He may be a beast, but he was a threat I could see. Whoever poisoned my wine could be someone close to me, someone I trusted, which scared me more than being filleted and roasted by the Dragon.
Mostly.
The castle was quiet when we approached, but the guard had more than doubled. Lord Blaque turned to nod at those who’d been waiting silently at the entrance to my quarters. After I’d nearly been poisoned, they’d taken shifts watching over my rooms, which was what made escaping so difficult…and welcome. I hated being under constant surveillance at the castle. At least when I’d been banished to the temple, I’d been left to my own devices.
The guards bowed to me, and I inclined my head to them in return. A maid appeared from the shadows, took a candle, and led them away. My ladies-in-waiting twittered excitedly as they appeared out of nowhere. I dismissed them with a wave of my hand and I was pleased to find that it didn’t shake with nerves as my voice had.
The doors closed behind the last of the servants with a sound of finality, with Lord Blaque and I alone inside. I should have said goodbye before he escorted me to my rooms, but I didn’t want to make a scene in front of the servants. There was already too much gossip where he and I were concerned.
My dress swished at my legs, settling around me in a swirl of elegant fabric as I putdistance between us. The preparation had seemed silly at the time, but in hindsight I was grateful I let Leisha make up my face and hair for dinner. With his imposing presence, I felt I had to have all of my best cards at hand to come out as the victor and the finery felt a bit like a mask.
“Why did you come back?”he asked, as he ambled about the room and studied my things. He paused, one claw rifling through my bag of paltry dresses I’d worn at the temple. “You could have stayed away and I wouldn’t have forced the issue. You’re a princess. I’m a beast. No one would have blamed you.”
“My father had an agreement with you. Darkmoores don’t go back on their word. And wanted to see him…at least one last time.”
At the mention of my father, I turned from him and walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked over the courtyard and our lands in the distance. I had never been beyond the palace walls, aside from my trip to the temple, but I loved my kingdom. From the mountains and the thick forests teeming with life to the oceans and plains on our borders. It was my home, my heart, and it was my duty to be their champion, their savior, no matter the cost. Even if the cost was everything that made me who I was.
His boots clicked against the marble floor as he crossed the room toward me. His presence wasn’t seemingly malevolent, but there was an energy that surrounded him which put my nerves on edge, and had since the first time I saw him. It made me wish for a weapon. Like the dagger my father gave me when I first learned I would be Queen—or when I first understood the reality of what it meant. My tutor, Hilda, hid it from me, when I became more interested in swordplay than my lessons. She’d scolded my father behind his back for giving such a violent gift to a lady. As Lord Blaque drew near, bringing with him the scent of smoke, earth, and cinnamon, I was helpless to protect myself. Not that a dagger would prove much protection from a dragon.
“He spoke very highly of you,” he said. “And please, call me Rhys.” He growled the name,Risseee, like the thought of his name on my tongue would bring him pleasure. If that were the case, it’d be a cold day in Slaine before he heard it from me.
“Did you meet with him often?” The people below me went about their nightly chores, unaware of the sacrifices I would soon make to continue to keep them safe. I’d failed them so many times; I didn’t want to fail them again.
“Often enough.” He propped an arm against the window next to me and I glanced up at him, taken aback by the soft expression on his face as he gazed at me. I blinked and then the expression vanished, causing me to wonder if it was a figment of my imagination. “He said you would have made a magnificent queen.”
Underneath the heavy layers of my dress I was sweating, and my knees trembled, but my face was smooth as glass and my voice did not waver. He was much too close, but I would never let him know he affected me in such a way. “I suppose it’s a good thing neither he nor my mother are here to see how far from Queen I’ve fallen.”
“The Dragon-Clan has a saying: Don’t let anyone steal your fire. There’s a fire inside you, bright as the stars, beautiful as dawn. They can only douse it if you let them.” His voice was melodic, soothing. Devious. The long days of travel and the fading adrenaline had my weary body swooning toward him. Certainly there wasn’t any other explanation for my reaction.
The thick material of my dress was stifling, or maybe it was the heat that came at me in waves from his too-near body. I kept my gaze on my feet so that he did not see my wild eyes. It felt like the fire he spoke of would burn me from the inside out. Was it the heat coming from his body that made me feel like I was being slowly scalded? It couldn’t be. He wasn’t even touching me.
As soon as I thought the words, bare fingers caressed the curve of my jaw and my eyes closed, though, to my despair, not from revulsion. The pads of his fingers seemed to sparkwhere they came in contact with the soft skin under my jaw. I couldn’t contain the nervous swallow or the thready beat of my pulse. I remembered the decadent feeling of being in his arms and surrounded by that warmth all too clearly.
“We should…” I cut myself off, cleared my throat. “We should get some sleep. With the binding ceremony tomorrow, it’ll be a long day for both of us.”
His smile returned, dangerous and full of depravity I didn’t quite understand. His claw reached out and sifted through my hair. “You know, I didn’t want to be bound to anyone.” That I hadn’t expected. Before I could bite out a retort, he continued, “But I’m beginning to believe it may not be so awful after all.”
My breath caught in my chest and his fingers glided down the smooth column of my throat in a possessive movement that caused my back to stiffen. His hand rose again and his thumb traced the full line of my lower lip. My mouth opened the smallest fraction, and I licked my lips without conscious thought, tasting him there.
