AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Aeron smiles, one that doesn’t reach his eyes, as he takes a step closer to me. A growl leaves me, low and threatening, and he stops.
Smart man.
“You haven’t formally introduced us to your new wife. My curiosity got the best of me, My King. You understand why people might take interest in the new queen.” Aeron has been in politics his entire life, just like me. But the dragon has decades on me. He’s been playing the game since my father was king.
The men were best friends; my father appointed Aeron as lord chancellor. A position that is extremely coveted and respected, second only to the king and queen. When my father and mother perished and I took up the title as king, the Nephilim were already our biggest problem. I let everyone keep their previous title, which means that Aeron still technically holds the position.
“Chancellor, you’ve forgotten your place. You have no right to touch the queen or question her. If she wants to speak with you, she’ll seek you out.” She won’t though because I’ll make sure she’s never alone with Aeron.
“I’ve forgotten my place?” Aeron’s brow cocks up. “Or have you, My King?”
“Tread carefully, Aeron.” The air around us sizzles as our anger threatens to boil over.
“We are running on borrowed time. Your queen—” He sneers the word like poison on his tongue. “—has a job to do. Her time as queen will be short if you aren’t focused on the same goal. As part of your advisor committee, allow me to advise. Find her strengths and exploit them.”
Aeron casts one last look over his shoulder and his gaze lands on Rose. She flinches under his gaze. “Until next time, My Queen.”
Aeron walks past me and I let him, even though everything in my body tells me I need to put him in his place. If I wasn’t in desperate need of able-bodied dragons, I wouldn’t think twice about challenging him.
The truth is I need Aeron and he knows it. I fucking hate this dynamic we always seem to fall into.
Though Aeron did remind me of something. I need to keep a better eye on Rose because I don’t want to end up in a situation where she’s left vulnerable and I’m not quick enough to get to her in time.
“Rose,” I say, my voice still taking on a deeper tenor than normal because of the adrenaline coursing through my body. “Let’s go.”
“No.”
Rose steps out from behind Mina. The fear from earlier is long gone, replaced with rage. And damn if my cock doesn’t twitch in excitement at the sight of her flushed cheeks and heaving chest.
“No? It wasn’t a question, little dragon.”
“And my answer is not negotiable. No.” She stalks across the garden so that she stands only a foot away from me. This close, I can smell her floral scent and the seductive taste of her ire.
“You think you can ignore me for days, then swoop in and rescue me and suddenly I will follow you like a lost puppy? Fuck that. And fuck you, too. As far as I’m concerned, Aeron isn’t the problem. You are. If you actually gave a damn and introduced me as your queen, maybe they wouldn’t feel the need to corner me.”
“Rose—”
“I’m not done!” She stomps her foot, nearly on top of mine. “You’re leaving me in the dark and I don’t like it. I get it, we are nothing to each other, but considering this is now my home too, I would like to live long enough to explore it.
“So no, Malix, I won’t follow you like an obedient child. I’m going to stay out here with Mina and we are going to finish watering the garden. Then I’m going to your bedroom and locking your ass outside. Slither into the bed of whoever will have you because it’s not me.”
Rose turns away from me and I’m tempted to pull her back to me and bend her over my knee until she learns her damn manners. That mouth on her will be my downfall. She is both insufferable and extremely fucking alluring.
Vivia smirks at me. “I like her,” she mouths. Mina, now back in her human skin, looks torn between wanting to do as her queen told her and not wanting to anger me. I dip my head, giving her the permission she wants.
“Let’s get you something to wear and then we can finish up here. If you still have the time,” Rose says to Mina before leading her through the castle doors, leaving Vivia and me alone once again.
“You have your hands full with that one. And I’m actually excited to see how long you’ll be able to handle it before you snap.” Vivia laughs. “I think you’ve met your match, My King.”
Yeah, me too.
Chapter 11
Rose
Iwake up with the start of a tension headache. I used to get them all the time back when my parents just died and I had to learn how to take care of myself and my sister. There were times I would black out and work on autopilot, going through the motions of a normal human, but not being able to remember what I did when the headache finally eased.
Yesterday’s events made me long for Grym Hollow, and the predictability of the small town. I’m a guppy in shark-infested waters here; yesterday proved as much. Aeron serves as a reminder that although the dragons may look human, they most definitely aren’t.
