AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Realizing I was scaring her with my thunderous rage, I dropped my hands from her shoulders and took a half step back. I cracked my neck, then my knuckles, every instinct yanking my Dragon to the surface with one goal in mind – protect.
“I received these for daring to defy my captors,” she hissed, a haunted flash of white fire entering her eyes. I’d already planned on killing them violently, and that thirst for their blood increased tenfold with her words.
What the fuck had my father and King Zalan allowed?
He’d kept me from her… so they could play their sick twisted games with my mate. This made my plan to kill him that much sweeter. His death would be fucking brutal, and he would receive no funeral, his body left in the lonely mountains to be picked apart by carrion.
“Izidora…” I croaked, falling to my knees as her fiery gaze speared my soul. “I’ve said it before, but I promise to spend the rest of our lives making this up to you. If I had known… I would haveburned the world down to get to you. My greatest regret in life will be that I didn’t come for you sooner.”
Her wet hair clung to her breasts, making the heaving of her chest unmistakable. I reached for her, but she stepped back, her eyes still containing that wildfire as she looked at me. “Start by showering over there and keeping your hands to yourself,” she snapped, crossing her arms.
I nodded, my neck still tight with rage, and pushed to my feet. My chest ached as each step away from her shredded that ice-covered muscle that kept me alive. I couldn’t tear my eyes from her, not when I was beginning to understand the depths of depravity she’d endured.
The assault. The whips. The poetry.
I needed to know it all.
She reached for a bar of soap sitting on the inlaid shelf, and quickly worked it over her body and through her tresses, shooting a heated glare at me every so often over her shoulder. I grabbed a bar for myself, the soap turning slick as I coated myself with it. Her heady scent wafted to me on a cloud of steam, more fragrant than the soap I used to wash almost a week's worth of dirt from my body. I tried and failed to calm down, my fury mixing with lust and hardening my cock until it was painfully erect.
Her gaze locked on my shaft, swollen for her, and her body flushed from more than the hot water. Masking the bloodlust that pinched my chest with a sardonic smirk, I winked at her then exited the shower and turned the taps. Water dripped off me with every step I took toward the folded towels waiting for us to use to wipe the moisture from our bodies. She stepped out of the dissipating steam, her long chestnut hair covering her breasts. She strutted toward me and snatched both cloths from my hands – the first went around her torso, the second around her hair.
“I didn’t need one anyway. I’ll air dry,” I told her, and that vengeful fire slipped from her eyes as they darkened. She couldn’t help her reaction to me, even though she wanted to, and that knowledge loosened my chest and shoulders.
As I walked past her, she chewed her lip, and I stopped, grasped her chin, and with my thumb, pulled her lip from between her teeth. “That is for me to do to you,” I growled, cock twitching as I imagined the moment I would suck her lips between my teeth. Fighting every part of me that threatened to take her to bed, I continued on to the bedroom in search of something comfortable to wear. The light pad of her bare feet followed me as I stalked all the way to the closet where fresh clothes awaited us both.
I tossed her a slinky dress and nothing else over my shoulder while I searched for a pair of loose pants for myself. The soft fabric did nothing to hide the hardness at my thighs, and I left my chest bare for her to see. When I spun around, she had yet to fully slide the dress over her head. A hint of her core caught my attention before the shift settled over her body.
The tension between us was nearly visible as we drifted toward each other, pulled by an unseen bond. I took another step in her direction, then thought better of it. Gritting my teeth, I used the sharp pain in my jaw to ground myself against my basest desires. I was so fucking close to losing control.
Nearly sprinting to the bathroom, I slammed the door behind me, my rage and desire waging war in my brain and in my body; but they had a common goal – fuck, fight, protect. Filling a basin with cold water, I dunked my face, the sting tempering my emotions, which threatened to burn the whole palace down. With knuckles turned white from the vice-like grip on either side of the basin, I stared at myself in the mirror, counting my breath until my cock no longer tented my pants and my heart beat steady and slow.
The rumble of the lift reverberated in the walls, signaling Cedomir’s arrival with our food. I stalked to the living area where Izidora lay prone on a couch in front of the fireplace, head propped up by her hands, engrossed by the flickering flames. My gaze roamed over her tight ass that her thin dress could not hide, and I almost had to return to the bathroom. But Cedomir knocked at that moment, interrupting the dark flow of my thoughts, and I strode to the door to open it.
He wheeled a cart carrying plates of food and a bottle of wine to the dining table, carefully arranging our meal so that we faced each other. A handful of white candles dotted the wide space, and he laid a bouquet of fresh flowers beside Izidora’s place setting. It was a nice touch, and I thanked him before dismissing him. He closed the door behind him, and I tossed some magic over my shoulder, sealing us and all sound in our suite.
Grasping the flowers, I tucked them behind my back and sauntered to Izidora’s spot by the hearth. Placing myself between her and the fire, I knelt and proffered the bouquet of gold-flecked white roses. Her eyes came into focus as she noticed the gift, and the soft smile that spread on her lips made me grateful that I was already kneeling. She reached for the roses and brought them close to her face, inhaling their floral scent.
I stuck my hand out to her, hoping she would willingly take it. “Come to dinner, my sprite.”
She rose from the couch but did not take my hand, and I let it drop casually, hiding the sting of her small rejection. At the dining table, I pulled out her seat before rounding it to my own. Uncorking the bottle of dark red wine, I poured a measure into the carved crystal glasses on the table, allowing the swish of the liquid in the glass to soothe my racing heart. I handed one to her before downing my entire glass. The spicy plum flavor coated my tongue, the warmth soothing my bellyand steadying my nerves as I studied the female sitting across the table.
I would kill to know what she was thinking. It was as if every time I coaxed her in my direction, she came to her senses and retreated just out of reach.
What would it take for her to fall into me, to say yes to me, to love me as mates should?She had all the power, but I could not let her know that. There was no way I could lose the upper hand, because at the moment she would leave me without a second thought.
No one else was going to leave me – unless I allowed it.
11
Ruslan’s demeanor changed completely in the ten minutes between storming into the bathroom and returning to the bedroom. My shoulders were in a constant state of tension around him, his moods and actions unpredictable from one moment to the next. I walked a tightrope with him, waiting to see which way I would tumble. It didn’t help that no matter how hard I tried to stay away, something pulled me back to him.
Not something – a thread that I chose to blatantly ignore as much as possible.
The kiss we had shared while we gazed across the Iron Realm was raw, possessive, and ruining. A knot formed in my stomach and my low belly heated as the moment returned to me, clear as day. Only a few weeks had passed since I had been snatched from the feast, and I was already kissing another male.
What was wrong with me?
I continued to berate myself for allowing Ruslan to worm his way under my skin while Kazimir was most likely losing his shit trying to get to me. What I had with Kazimir was uncomplicated, passionate, and most of all, safe. Ruslan was dangerous,possessive, and irrational, and yet our banter made me feel fucking alive.
