Page 16 of Dark Fire Kiss

I glanced at Fergus long enough to catch the spark of amusement in his eyes.

But she must not have, because she quickly lowered her gaze. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.” A blush stained her cheeks.

My breath caught. Fergus made a low sound, and I knew his thoughts matched mine.

She’s afraid. But it wasn’t the ordinary fear a captive might feel. This was muscle memory. She’d challenged someone in the past and had suffered for it. I’d bet the castle on it.

My beast rose to the surface, furious that anyone had dared to harm our mate. I drew a deep breath and pushed it down. “Another time,” I promised it. Right now, Fergus and I needed to appear as non-threatening as possible.

Moving slowly, I put a hand under the female’s chin and lifted her gaze to mine. “No apology necessary. You said nothing wrong. As for untying you, I want your promise not to channel. And we’ll be needing more information besides your name.”

She looked between us again, as though she wanted to keep both of us within sight. The pink in her cheeks deepened. “I can’t channel. I’ve never been able to.”

Truth. Sitting this close, I didn’t have to sift through scents to determine if she was sincere. Her words carried the clean smell of earth after a spring rain, and I knew she’d spoken honestly.

Fergus knew it, too, because he leaned down and snapped the tie on her ankles. “Best sit up for your wrists,” he murmured. “I can tell you from experience it hurts like a bitch once the blood starts flowing again.”

“You’ve been bound like this?” she asked, her voice tentative as I helped her into a sitting position.

“A time or two.”

But he’d enjoyed it. I hid a smile as I pinched the plastic around her wrists and let heat build under my skin. A second later, the zip tie fell away.

She gasped, then examined her skin as if checking for burns. When she found none, she regarded me warily.

Fergus folded his arms over his bare chest. “We upheld our end of the bargain, lass. Now you owe us some answers. We’ll start with your name.”

She drew a deep breath. “Halina of Krovnosta. Prince Ludovic is my father. He’s dying, and dragon tears are the only thing that will heal him. I was sent here to negotiate with you.”

Fergus’s eyes widened—a reflection of the surprise I felt. She’d just dropped a lot of information, but one element captured my attention above all others.

“A negotiation involves an exchange,” I said. “Assuming we give you the tears, what are you prepared to give us in return?”

She took another breath, and now her cheeks went nearly as red as her hair. “My…body. I was told to offer myself in exchange for the tears.”

Chapter Six

HALINA

I’d thought one tall, muscle-bound dragon staring me down with lust-filled eyes was terrifying.

Now that two of them were doing it, I couldn’t control my runaway heart rate.

It didn’t seem possible, but Bram was even bigger than Fergus. In fact, he was the largest male I’d ever seen. His white button-down shirt strained over his powerful arms and broad shoulders. Even seated, he still towered over me. And though he’d been kind enough to free my wrists—by melting the tie with nothing more than his skin—he exuded an aura of danger that Fergus lacked.

Maybe it was simply the contrast in their coloring. Whereas Fergus was blond, Bram’s hair was as dark as the ravens that sometimes circled the towers of Krovnosta.

There was nothing dark about his eyes, though. Green as emeralds, they were fringed by thick black lashes almost too long for a male.

But I hardly noticed his lashes or his captivating irises. I was too focused on the tiny flames flickering among the green. The fire had been there when he first approached the bed, and it had reappeared just now—when I said I was supposed to surrender my body for the tears.

The same strange lights danced in Fergus’s eyes, reminding me they thought I was their mate. As in, the fated female all dragons searched for.

And then bred in painful and degrading ways until they got the offspring they needed to rebuild their race.

My heart pumped faster. They were wrong, of course. Or, more likely, they were toying with me in some kind of cruel game.

But why were they waiting to pounce? I was already in their bed. There was nothing to stop them from claiming me. They might not even give me the tears. After they’d had their fun, they could send me back to Krovnosta empty-handed, where Grigory would promptly remove my head for failing in my mission.

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