She cut her eyes at me, crossing her arms. “So, you’ve said. Look, dude, you’re not keeping me locked in here barefoot and pregnant with dragon babies. That’s not my calling. And don’t think I don’t know you’ve been trying to distract me with sex and your ridiculously amazing penis.”
An instinctual smile crossed my lips. I didn’t doubt that she found me attractive, but I was surprised that our unions, which took up half the night, hadn’t bonded her to me. Dragons were very particular. Not every sexual encounter meant mating, but when dragons of any level had sex, then an almost imprint formed. It was almost like an omega and alpha pairing.
If she felt no pull, did that mean she actually wasn’t part dragon? Could I have been wrong? I felt it with every core of my being that she was my kind. And her body had reacted strongly to mine. Was she fighting it?
She sighed and loosened her arms around herself. “Look, I’m not denying that you interest me. I just don’t think I’m what you think I am. And full disclosure, I’m kind of mated to someone already.”
I growled, gripping the table. I wanted to toss it across the room. Had someone else already claimed what was mine? Murderous thoughts raced through my mind.
Lila sat back, eyes widening in fear as she raised her hands in surrender. “It wasn’t actually an agreed-upon mating.”
Had someone assaulted her? My eyes shifted, vision darkening. Now I did want to get out of here so that I could kill whoever this monster was that had taken her.
She touched the sides of her face, squishing her cheeks. “Yeah, I’m making this worse. Okay, I was with this guy for a while, and when we finally had sex, he got a little carried away and claimed me by accident. Allegedly…” She looked off to the side with a silent snarl. “Anyway, please lose the scary black eyes and go back to the normal pretty jewel ones. I wasn’t hurt. I’m just saying that maybe my magic is coming off all confusing because I’ve been claimed by an alpha.”
An alpha? Whoever this was would then be formidable. They were almost as rare as dragons in this realm. I only knew of three alpha fae in Prinath, and it would be too much of a coincidence for her to know any of them. But perhaps that would explain her familiar scent. No, I smelled dragon on her. “I didn’t see a marking on you.”
“Hidden by magic until I will it to be seen. Of course, if I let it be seen now, then I probably can’t hide it again because my magic is muted.”
That made sense. I stood up and brought my plate to the sink to clean. She still had food on her plate, and I needed her to eat and maintain her energy. “Can you promise to stay here when I go to work?”
She smiled sweetly, batting her lashes. “Of course,” she lied.
I ran my hand over my head. “You won’t have a car, a map, or your powers. I don’t think the muting magic will wear off soon. We’ve increased our dosage so it may be several days. Can you stay put until then?”
She squinted at me. “Are you lying to me?”
I shrugged. “You would be the first to know if your powers return.”
She picked up her fork and began to eat, rolling her eyes. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hurt to see her in such a rush to leave me. I understood it, but I couldn’t fathom having her gone from my side. I began to wonder, if she did have the magic to break the ward and cloaking, was it time for me to finally leave and go with her?
CHAPTER24
LILA
Sex. I had never had so much sex before. Several days had passed, and most of my time with Luca had consisted of talking, eating, and sexing. When I had a moment to myself, I maintained contact with Yosef, but they were having no luck with finding us. He spoke calmly in my head, but his energy was frantic. I could feel his worry, rage, and fear from the inside out. It hurt and spread through me like a virus, making me nauseous and clammy. Whatever concern I already had tripled. In a sick sort of way, it felt good to be cared for that much, even if I still was pissed at Yosef. Although, that lessened day by day. Luca could sense my worry, and I was pretty sure he was using sex as a way for me to distract myself.
For all I knew, Yosef and Xander were right beyond the ward. I just had to uncloak us and appear. However, until my powers came back, I played domestic housewife. Luca, although of more modest means, spoiled me as best he could. He got me proper clothes, books to read, food I might like, and toiletries. It was as if he didn’t think I’d really leave. Or he had serious doubts about my ward-breaking powers.
Truth be told, I did, too. Not that I would let it stop me from trying. As soon as my magic came back, I was going to try hard as hell to leave. Until then, I just had to lay low. Currently, that meant I was spending time cooking. Luca left me to go to work, but that didn’t mean he trusted me. He had warded the perimeter of his house, so there was no getting out while he was gone. I debated whether I would tell him when my powers returned. Then I could wait until he left for work and leave without the drama or the sexual pull he had over me.
That didn’t sit right in my spirit. To just leave without telling him. However, I had to remember that he was possibly the enemy. Or so I’d like to believe. It was easier that way. To think otherwise made my head hurt. My mind kept spinning back to his belief that I was actually part dragon. I had a cousin I could ask about that, but he was on my mother’s side, and I knew they were mages. My father was an unknown. Was he actually a deadbeat dragon?
That was upsetting to know, but it kind of made sense. I’d always been a powerful ice mage. If my father was an ice dragon while my mother was an ice mage, then that would explain why I was so strong. And now, it opened up so many doors. Like why did he leave my mother? Where could I find other ice dragons? Dragons were a small community; it wasn’t entirely impossible to one day find my tribe. Maybe he was even still alive.
I let out a breath, stirring the pot of sauce on the stove when I heard a knock at the door. I startled, fear creeping up my spine. Luca would not be knocking. Whoever was at the door was a local, and therefore, not my friend. I froze, thinking maybe if I didn’t move, whoever it was would think no one was home.
But they kept knocking. And I kept standing still.
“Come now, I know you’re in there, sweetheart,” shouted a husky voice that sounded very female.
By sweetheart, did she mean me, or was she referring to Luca? An unnecessary pang of jealousy hit my heart. Why was I bothered?
“I know Loren’s at work, but I came to lay eyes on you,” she went on.
Who the hell was Loren? Could that be Luca’s last name? Why had he given me a different name than he normally went by? Maybe only his friends called him Luca and his fellow soldiers called him Loren. When I was in the military I only went by Ramirez.
The more important matter was that a Nodoor fae was looking for me and I didn’t know why. And I thought Luca had a ward up. How was this chick able to get through? Maybe it only stopped people from getting out. But then she wouldn’t be able to leave. It was entirely possible that the ward was made just for me. I did not want to open this door and have this fae try to grab or even kill me. Who was she to Luca?
