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Zabriel pats his thigh.
Oh, blood and stars. Of course I have to sit in his lap. Well, we are pretending to be lovers.
“I’m doing this for the people of Maledin,” I tell him warningly.
“Mm-hmm,” he murmurs, but I don’t think he heard a word I said, because he’s focused on the sight of me moving between his thighs, putting my hands on his shoulders, and perching on his leg.
Zabriel’s smile is amused. “You look like a bird preparing to take flight, not a woman who has been rutted for hours on end.”
“What does rut—” I start to say, but I break off as he hauls my legs across his lap and settles me against his chest. It’s intoxicating to be held so close to him like this, and how wonderful he feels with just this thin silky fabric over his muscles. One of my hands is pressed to his chest, and I can feel the strong, heavy beating of his heart.
“That’s better,” he murmurs, arranging the cloak around me so it shows that I’m in a state of undress but without revealing too much of my body. “Just one more thing.” Zabriel cups my cheek with his huge hand and his mouth descends toward mine.
“What are you doing?” I gasp.
His lips part. His red eyes are sharp and intent. “I’m not going to kiss you. I’m only going to bite you.”
“You’re going to—?”
Before I can finish what I’m saying, he lowers his head and sinks his teeth into my lower lip. I’ve never been kissed, so I have nothing to compare it to, but his bite is chain lightning erupting through my body. His teeth feel like they were made for my lower lip, and I arch into him with a gasp. He curves his hands around my ass and pulls me tighter against him with a deep groan. The rumble in his chest travels through my fingers and down my body, making fire burst in my belly.
Finally, Zabriel releases me and sits back with a pant.
I ask breathlessly, “Why did you do that?”
“So our guest will believe I’ve been kissing you hard, and when dragons kiss, they bite.” He sharply annunciates thebitewith a snap of his white teeth.
Zabriel relaxes back, knees spread, with one arm around me and the other along the armrest, a smoldering expression in his red eyes as he gazes at me, looking every inch a king who has exactly what he wants.
A moment later he glances down the Great Hall, and his eyes narrow in anger. A man in Brethren robes coming this way, escorted by two castle soldiers. The soldiers deposit the Brethren priest about twenty feet from us and leave the room.
“Zabriel of the Maledinni,” the man calls in greeting, though he doesn’t use Zabriel’s honorifics or bow to him.
With a stab of fear, I realize I know this priest. He once caught my attention wandering during a service and dragged me outside into the mud, tore off my veil, and beat me with a stick. There’s no answering flash of recognition in his eyes as he glances at me cuddled against Zabriel’s chest. I’m just another Veiled Virgin whom he punished.
Zabriel feels me tense and puts his lips against my ear. “Who is he? If he ever hurt you, I will kill him.”
Just those words are enough to soothe me. I’m not the prisoner of the Brethren, and I slowly relax. “I…just don’t want to look at him.”
Zabriel cups my cheek and presses a kiss to my brow. “Look at me,sha’len. I’m the only one who matters here.”
I nestle closer to his broad chest, telling myself it’s for the pretense that we’re lovers.
While making minor adjustments to the robe that’s around me and stroking his fingers down my bare arm, Zabriel says, “You dragged me from my bed, priest. I understand that you’re clueless about such matters, but you should know that your presence here is denying my mate her satisfaction. Speak, and then get out.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the priest draw himself primly up, but I focus on the hard line of Zabriel’s jaw and his full lips in profile. My fingers are playing with the edge of his open robe and my body slowly relaxes into his. I might even melt a little; he’s just that warm and comfortable.
“The High Priest of Maledin sends his respects, and he asks that the King of Maledin’s bride is returned to us.”
Zabriel presses kisses to my cheeks, my eyelids, and my temple. “I’m the King of Maledin, and Isavelle is already mated to me.”
“If by mated you mean married in your tradition, then will you be able to produce documents to that effect?”
“I don’t mean married. I mean bedded. I took Lady Isavelle to bed the moment I snatched her back from your men. When I want something, I take it immediately. Don’t I,sha’len?”
I was nestling into Zabriel’s warm embrace, but I freeze when I realize I’ve been asked a question. I don’t even know what’s being said.
Zabriel puts his lips against my ear and breathes, “Touch me. He won’t believe that I’ve had you already if you don’t show him how much you adore me.”
