Page 43 of Deadly Maiden

Liking her has no credibility? Still, she hasn’t screamed or hit me.

I suck in air through my teeth.

“Yes. And no.” Again she proves herself adaptable and sensible. “I’m not okay with your persecution by others if you’re innocent.”

“Okay. I think?” She sounds puzzled. “That’s almost weird and, on reflection, definitely honorable.” Her smile is brief but there.

Amused, I snort. “Dragonshifters have a reputation for weirdness.”

Shyly, she adds, “I like you too. Your question?”

This is good.

Now I’m stuck. I was going to ask her what she has done to me to make me so willing to track her every movement, to imagine us together.

Her beneath me. Rutting in her. Filling her full of my seed and watching it spill from her pussy. I swallow. My pants grow tighter.

I cannot ask that. Not one single word of that filthy montage. Perhaps if she were sitting opposite, I could saysomeof it.

There is also my resurfaced shifting capability.

“Do you know why I can shift now? It seems stupid to suggest this, but is there a reason why partnering up with you…” Now I pause to blink. Partnering has more than one meaning. “Has restored my shifting ability?”

I have been avoiding meeting her gaze, but I scrape up my courage.

The blanket has slipped, and I catch her staring at my bulge. I clear my throat and pull the blanket back over my lap. Perhaps it was only for a second, but I’m sure she looked.

She whips her focus higher. A blush roars in. “Oh. Ahh. I don’t. No. I’ve no idea why. I don’t.” She clamps shut her mouth, her eyes kept wide. “Sorry.”

“Okay.” She is flustered, and because she is, I can’t tell if she’s being truthful. Then again, how would this naïve, untrained girl ever have any influence over my shifting?

“My next question then?” she prompts.

“Next, yes.” It’ll give me time to figure out how the fuck does anyone ask a female, politely, how she’s controlling their cock like a marionette.

“Right. So you’re being my protector slash bodyguard because currently you think I’m sweet and innocent.” She throws me a cheeky smirk.

I guffaw. “Untrue. You are an irksome brat. But continue.”

“Okay, so I’m bad, but not that bad. Question…do we know why the Aos Sin are after me?”

“It is probably for the same reason I was watching you. You are the child of two people who were great necromancers. They think you’ve inherited their skills. Before you say more, I am unsure why that matters. But here is some new information. That undead raven that visited you arose from near Slaedorth Fortress. Someone there alerted King Madlin, and they figured out what path it was taking. The enforcers were sent to arrest you, and this was what triggered that to happen.”

She nods.

“Where is that raven now?”

“I haven’t seen it since it appeared at our house. It flew out the window.” She shakes her head.

“So you don’t know why it sought you?”

“No.”

I almost apologize for that invasion, but it’s in the past. I showed my disgust and saved her.

“We’ve done a lot of things together since then.” The moon has risen enough that she should be able to see my face quite well. “Though my vow stands, I will help you journey safely to wherever you wish to go.”

“I…I’m at a loss there.” Her face falls into the most despairing expression yet. “Where can I go? How do I stop what is happening when people are trying to earn that huge reward? They even implied it was fine to kill you. I’m sorry, Rorsyd.”

---