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“I would like to know why the fuck I can smell The Dragon Killer on your flesh, Aria. Tell me why Zyion’s scent isallovermywoman.”
I frowned at the title he’d referred to Zyion by.The Dragon Killer. As in, Zyion specialized in killing them? Brilliant. Of course, I’d end up running right into someone Knox hated. Our family histories made it inevitable. When I stepped back, biting my lip anxiously as my cheeks warmed, he prowled forward. Sleek and lethal, like the predator he truly was beneath the veneer. The anger and betrayal stamped on his face forced my heart to race.
“I’ve met Zyion Vicious, Knox. But I didn’t allow him to do anything other than escort me to my room,” I explained with confusion whirling through my mind. “It wasn’t as if he walked up to me and introduced himself by that title when we met.”
“Did he do more than escort you into the chamber? Or was he a gentleman and left the pretty princess at the threshold to her private chamber?” His tone sent a chill racing down my spine. “Because I shouldn’t smell him on you atallif he escorted you to the door. Instead, I can smell his touch on your supple, smooth flesh.”
“I’ve already told you I haven’t fucked anyone.”
I seethed at the accusation he’d thrown at me. Was I completely innocent? No. I had eyeballs, and I’d checked Zyion out. But I wasn’t dead, which meant I could appreciate a hot body or man, without touching or throwing myself at him. I wasn’t cheating by just appreciating an attractive person. Fuck, I’d checked Esme out, and we were platonic—unless, of course, you asked Ember, who swore I was Esme’s best lesbian. If anyone said they didn’t look at someone as hot or as masculine as Zyion was, they were lying, even to themselves. It didn’t mean I wanted him, though.
“Good,” he snapped before he slammed his hand against the wall as my back struck against the hard surface. I hadn’t even realized I’d still been backing up until I’d come up against the wall. “Keep it that way. He’s a murderous prick.” Excitement beat through my mind, even as the weight of the past pressed against my chest.
“So are you, Knox, and so am I,” I whispered softly. They exhausted my mind by obsessing with the past and needing to throw dirt at one another. Why couldn’t anyone let it go? Or get over it, and move on? As long as they’d learned from it, couldn’t they overcome it? “If he murdered people during war time, then that isn’t on me. If he gets off on murdering dragons? Then that’s on him. It isn’t like I’m there to find a mate. I have one, remember? He’s a conceited, tenacious, obtuse barbarian who occasionally has the brains of a gnat, but he’s mine. I still bear your mark, and there’s no one else’s I’d want on my flesh.”
“Fucking hell, woman. You drive me insane,” he growled huskily, nipping at my lip teasingly. The crunching of kernels, even as the room filled with the buttery scent of popcorn, had both of our heads swinging toward the sound of chewing.
Lore, bless his heart, waved butter-covered fingers toward us before swallowing. “Don’t mind me. I’m here for the porn. I heard there’s about to be a throw-down and thought maybe this time I’d get myself a seat for the show.” Lore’s voice forced Knox to step back, even though he’d probably felt him there already. Not much slipped past Knox.
“Get out,” Knox growled before turning back toward me. “Now, Lore. I won’t ask again. The lady doesn’t enjoy others watching as she bows before her king.”
I lifted a brow. “Who says I intend to bow to you?” I demanded in a haughty tone. His lips jerked into a devious smile, which sent my heart thundering with anticipation.
“Oh, you’ll bow for me. You’ll scream too. And then, you’ll fucking beg, Aria,” he warned in a husky rasp. The gravelly tone was erotically abrasive against my flesh. “Here’s the thing. I don’t like that you’re somewhere I can’t get to you. It isn’t enough that you’re surrounded by men who aren’tnicepeople, was it? No, you had to go and fuck around with the one asshole I hate more than anyone else, including your grandmother. So, if I were you? I’d be terrified of what I intend to do to you when I capture you.”
Chapter Eleven
Knox
Aria’seyeswidenedatthe threat. She was such beautiful prey. Taking a few steps closer to her, I smiled as she bit that lip. I didn’t know if she even knew how hot she was when she did it. I didn’t honestly care if she did or not. Grabbing her by the throat, I yanked her closer, enjoying the soft gasp she expelled at the rough handling. Aria enjoyed being manhandled, no matter how much she pretended otherwise.
I pushed her chin up, forcing her attention to my face. The moment she noticed the predatory gaze, the speed of her heartbeat increased. Those lovely, turquoise-colored eyes flashed with surprise before growing heavy with lust. Before she could conceal it, I caught the scent of arousal rapidly intensifying. All logical thought vanished, leaving behind only the shared raw, primal need. Our primal desires fueled the need to hunt, capture and fuck until we declared ownership of each other.
“I don’t understand why you’re so angry,” she admitted past her kiss-swollen lips. Her tongue jutted out to lick the full bottom lip I was already imagining wrapped around my cock. Fucking hell, this woman would be my undoing.
“You don’t need to understand anything.” That much was true. “You left me and then came waltzing back with his scent all over you. Do you even know who the fuck you’re allowing to put their hands on you?” The snarl that left my lips caused her pulse to jackhammer against my thumb, forcing my cock to spasm at the thought of being buried in her welcoming, tight heat.
Aria didn’t need to understand why I was mad. She had no idea that I was about to mark her lovely body so fucking primally that she’d never even look at anyone else. Catching his scent had awoken my hunger for her, and there was no way she was leaving her without knowing who the fuck she truly belonged to. I wouldn’t chance that bastard thinking she was anything less than truly fucking claimed, marked and owned.
Zyion was a cruel, sadistic, murderous prick. He’d fucking devour her soul and leave her nothing but a hollow shell. I’d faced off against him several times, and he’d been the only one ever to meet my blade and not end up dead. Zyion was versed in more than warfare, which explained his place as Scylla Prometheus’s guard. On more than one occasion, that bastard had prevented me from murdering the queen and ending the war between the dragons and the phoenixes.
Considering it wasn’t a secret I’d claimed her, it was a given he was very aware that she belonged to me. It both horrified me and left me needing to get her back here, where I could protect her.
Letting her leave that morning hadn’t been easy, and every day since, I’d regretted not capturing her and tying her to my fucking bed where she would’ve been safe. She sure as shit wouldn’t be in a realm hidden from me or cozying up to Zyion fucking Vicious. Hell, the man in the cave who’d watched her pussy drip down my chin didn’t concern me a fraction as much as he did.
No, Zyion hated me for more than the blood that coursed through my veins or which side of the battle I’d stood on. I’d inadvertently killed the woman he’d been intending to wed. She’d been a warrior, who’d led an ambush against the caravan my mother and Lore, who’d been an infant at the time, were traveling in. Eira had wanted to visit the battlefield to see our father, but also had planned to walk through the tent holding the wounded to lift their spirits. Claire Obert had died at the end of my blade, her short life snuffed out to protect my mother and Lore.
“Are you jealous?” she spat out, her eyes burning with fire.
“You honestly think I get jealous? I don’t do jealousy, woman. I get fucking evil. I’m a fucking king, which means I get what I fucking want, when I want it,” I retorted in a raspy hiss of sound. She was getting pissed, which was exactly what I wanted.
Aria pissed off was a sight to behold, but it would also leave her unbalanced. I wanted her off-kilter. Fear would make her run harder, faster. This girl wasn’t going to forget tonight, even if it was only her conscious mind here with me. By the time she returned to her body, my markings would bruise her creamy, unblemished skin. Her pussy wouldn’t just ache. It would be swollen, sore, and I’d ensure it dripped my essence down her pretty thighs.
The beings within us were primal hunters, which fueled the shells they housed. I’d hunted her pretty ass down once before in the human realm, which had forced Lennox to the surface. She’d seen my monster, sampled his ravenous hunger, and fucked him as if she had an endless desire for more of him. The time I’d chased her through water, then down the slate, I’d wanted to throw her down, fuck her soft, sweet body into submission. She hadn’t been willing, even if the mark made it seem as if she was. I’d never force her to fuck me, ever. Aria’s submission when it was given? Fucking undid me.
I was a cruel bastard, but I’d never raped a woman. In order to hunt her in the way I craved, she had to trust me. She had to shed her inhibitions, and she did it beautifully when Ember was near to the surface. Only, I didn’t want to hunt Ember. I wanted Aria.
Aria was my girl, the one who’d fucked my world up. I didn’t deserve her after what I’d done, how I’d treated her. I knew that better than anyone else, but there was no world where she wasn’t mine. I’d rather burn it to the ground and walk aimlessly through the ashes until I became nothing more than a haunted, mindless corpse.
