AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rush smirked as the image of him snapping the prince’s neck flashed through his mind. He couldn’t bring up that he knew what was in Aura’s letter to Pax without admitting she was at his palace, but it hadn’t implicated Moonstone. In fact, she’d made it come off as if she’dchosento leave. But the king nor Pax wouldeveradmit that so publicly. “I can’t force you to believe what I say, yet I can promise that Starnight will burn with dragon fire if you don’t cease your lies.”
With that, Rush clenched his teeth and turned on his heel before sauntering from the palace. He squeezed his fists, nails digging into his palms. Quinton and Pax might not believe him, but they would think twice about bringing the conflict to Moonstone’s doorstep. They might poke around, try verifying their concerns. To gather proof. But they would never find Aura.
Rush’s dragon dove through the clouds, wings pressed firmly against his sides as he descended, the wind whistling in his ears. The design of his palace’s lush hedges came into view and his wings cracked open. The force of the motion jerked his upper body back so his rear feet were poised to land first.
He touched ground and his scales receded, his body shifting. The dragon took most of the sun’s heat with him and Rush shivered as the air skimmed his bare form. His anger simmered and faded the longer he flew—now he was simplytired. Gathering up the trousers he’d left at the edge of the clearing, he slipped them on.
“Have a good time?” an overly-sweet voice asked.Aura.
Rush spun around to face her with his trousers still untied. When her gaze dipped to his chest, his dragon preened. “Are you spying on me, kitten?” he purred. “If you want to see me bare, you need only ask.”
She huffed. “You’re the one who toldmeto meet you out in the gardens. And with no specific time at that. So why did you want me here?” Her hair hung loosely over her shoulders and she wore a simple pink gown. The high neck and an ankle-length skirt showed none of her assets, but still, he knew what hid beneath the fabric now as he thought about her in the sheer garment from the party. He swallowed hard and snatched his tunic off the ground. Grass tickled the soles of his feet as he prowled toward her.
“Did you wait out here all day?” he asked, ignoring the question. There hadn’t been areasonhe’d wanted to meet with her other than the growing desire to fuck her—there was also aneedto get to know her a little. He traced a fingertip over the delicate skin of her forehead, where the glass scales had decorated her brow at the party.
Her eyes widened and Rush drew his hand back. “Does it matter?” she asked, her voice dripping sarcasm. “Does that mean the dragon is feeling cooped up here? I wonder what that might feel like.”
“Retract your claws.” Rush smirked, shoving his white tunic over his head. “Play nice and maybe I’ll take you with me next time.”
“Is that possible?” She perked up. “Does the spell not work up there?”
Ah, fuck.He hadn’t been thinking when he said that. “The spell would still work,” he admitted, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to take her into the sky. They could soar over the gardens perhaps, as long as they didn’t pass the perimeter. What would have happened if he and Astor had failed to stop Vikram and Dzmitry from doing just that? She would’ve fallen asleep in their carriage, unable to wake, while they— His dragon growled at the thought of them using her unconscious body in that way.
“Are you ever going to tell me about this curse?” She crossed her arms over her chest and bit her lip in anticipation. “Is that why you wanted me to meet you here?”
“Not yet.” He paused. If he didn’t give hersomething, she would never stop asking. Normally he would enjoy taunting her with vague answers, but he was exhausted. And for some foolish reason, part of him wanted to tell her everything. He couldn’t, of course. “I had someone special in my life once,” he told her in a strained voice. “She was a thorn in my side, just like you. And she fell in love with someone unworthy. Just like you.”
“I’mnotin love with Pax,” she snapped.
Rush closed his eyes for a moment, pushing back the burn in his chest until he forced a chuckle. “Not anymore.”
Aura opened her mouth to refute his claim but clamped it shut again. A wicked grin curled his lips. She couldn’t deny that she’d thought she loved the Prince of Starnight at one point. That she had been delighted to marry him. Just because it all turned out to be a lie didn’t make the feelings she had any less real. And, because of that, Pax still thought he owned her.
Which was exactly why she was perfect for Rush’s needs.
Chapter Thirteen
Aura
Once Rush slipped on his boots, Aura walked beside him in silence through the lush labyrinth of green until he came to a halt. He hadn’t given Aura a specific time to meet him in the gardens which hadn’t surprised her. However, she’d spent the day outdoors, taking in the fresh air, the sweet smell of the flowers as she waited for him, more curious than she should’ve been to see what he’d wanted since he’d been mostly gone from the palace after the party. Even though deaths had occurred not far from this very spot recently, the gardens still somehow made her feel safe. It was strange, and she wasn’t certain how to feel about that.
As she peered at Rush near a blossoming bush, his demeanor was the same, sure of himself as always. Yet his gaze flickered, seeming as though something bothered him.
“So, here we are…” Aura blew out a breath, averting her stare from him, who moments ago she’d just witnessed bare.Again. But she couldn’t deny his body was made perfectly, the strong and lean muscles, the sun-kissed skin. Even his dragon was. As he flew through the sky, it was somehow both elegant and intimidating. It was beautiful. She shrugged the thoughts she shouldn’t be having away.
“Yes, here we are, kitten.” He smirked, playfulness seeping into his eyes, taking away whatever hidden emotion she thought she’d seen.
She tilted her head and crossed her arms. “Well? Why did you want me to meet you here?”
Rush strolled toward her and wrapped a loose lock of hair around his fingertip. “I had planned to get to know you a little more. Find out what’s beneath those claws of yours. But I’ve had enough fresh air for the day, so let’s take our conversation into the library.” He slipped his finger from her hair and lifted her chin as a devious grin spread across his cheeks. “As long as you promise not to burn another one of my books.”
She rolled her eyes. “That depends on your attitude.” Her heart pounded while she studied that smile, how it made his face even more handsome. A handsome face on a man who could easily murder, who might have taken the life of the girl from her dreams…
With a deep chuckle, he motioned her to follow him, and her curiosity only intensified to see if she could uncover something from him. Perhaps maybe something else about her family, if Astor was still slinking about her home.
As they entered the palace, the guards and servants bowed their heads when they passed them. Rush drew to a stop just outside his room instead of the library and opened the door.
She grasped his arm, then dropped it as if it had burned her. “Why are we going inside your room?” Her pulse spiked, remembering the last time she’d been there. How he’d stroked his long length until he came. She could still hear the sounds he made, the way his eyebrows pulled seductively together.
