Page 47 of Dragon King’s Duty Bride

She didn’t want Orion’s music filling her silence. She wanted this. The warmth of Lucas’s arms. The steady rhythm of his heart. And the spark that flared every time he looked at her like she was more than his queen.

Her feelings for him weren’t a distant ache anymore. They were here. Tangible and real.

And as his thumb absently brushed against her side, a small, unconscious reassurance that she was secure, awareness sparked hotter.

Her heart was in trouble.

And, if the way he held her meant anything at all, so was his.

Chapter 17

Lucas

Lucas regretted the fact that he couldn’t just shift. He contemplated it, just a pulse of instinct beneath his skin, to get Sia back to the house faster, but he was still unsure.

It was the perfect place to reveal himself, but if she didn’t know what he was, it could prove detrimental to winning her over. So, his dragon remained coiled and silent.

Besides, he liked the closeness.

He told himself it was because she fit perfectly in his arms. Because they now had physical contact that they had worked so hard to avoid. And he had no complaints about that. So he carried her.

The boot made everything more difficult because it made her weight off balance. He adjusted his hold and walked, steady and deliberate, careful not to jar her injured ankle.

She was lighter than she should have been. Or perhaps he had simply just noticed her physicalness now. A slight pang of regret washed over him. He should have carried her to their chamber on their wedding day, but they had barely even touched the entire time.

He had a lot to make up for.

Her arm rested around his shoulders and her fingers curled lightly at the nape of his neck. Every so often, her breath brushed his throat when she shifted, and the awareness of her made his chest tight.

He had been angry in the clearing. No, not angry. Afraid. He had felt a territorial flame beneath his ribs. Pure jealousy.

He adjusted his grip under her knees. “You doing okay?”

“I’m perfectly fine,” Sia replied and adjusted her arm looped around his neck. “You’re the one who insisted on scooping me up like a sack of flour.”

“You are the least flour-like person I know.”

“Rude.”

He huffed a laugh and kept walking, careful of roots and stones. There was no way he was letting her hobble to her parents’ place no matter how distracting she proved to be.

“Lucas.”

“Mm?”

“If you drop me…” She let the threat remain implied.

“I’m not going to drop you.”

“You almost walked into that tree.”

“I was surveying the terrain.”

“You were looking at me.”

He nearly missed his step right then. “I was not.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “You absolutely were.”