Page 51 of Dragon Unleashed

He slowly turns his head toward me. “You knew?”

This is the bit where he decides never to forgive me.

“Farrell’s dragon kind of kidnapped me at Mabon,” I say. “To be fair, Farrell seemed pretty pissed at that turn of events too.”

“Youknew?”

“Yep, it’s pretty difficult to miss a giant fucking dragon kidnapping you.”

I cringe at how flippant that sounds.Chano is going to go crazy.

Instead, one corner of his mouth twitches. “I’m just glad the dragon liked you, or you’d be toast.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I was shell-shocked. I knew you’d hate Farrell even more for it. I knew it could wreck our allegiance.”

Chano puffs out his cheeks, shrugging one shoulder. “Lorelei, I’m not sure it’s possible to hate him more. He’s trying to set himself up as a king. Being a genetic throwback doesn’t change that he’s only the offspring of some poor second cousin of the old royals—” The dragon’s tail lashes sideways, scattering the kids and rattling the dilapidated house to its foundations. Chano raises an eyebrow and continues, “He would never have amounted to anything in a royal court before. And now? He’s nothing but a jumped-up wannabe dictator. Worse, he’ll drag us into his war. He’ll drag you into it.” He buries his face in my hair.

Well, awesome. He’s not more angry at seeing Farrell’s dragon, but his opinion of Farrell is far worse than I realized.

We’re screwed. There’s no way I can tell him about me now.

The dragon twitches and writhes once before shrinking back down.

Silas strides toward Farrell and smacks him across the back of his head as if he’s an unruly child. Farrell merely shrugs, a self-satisfied smirk on his stupid face. He dusts his trousers off casually before catching my eye.

“Your turn,” he mouths.

Chapter Twenty-three: Lorelei

Cracking Chano’s door open, I pad cautiously into the semidarkness beyond. The place is bathed in the warm glow of hundreds of candles. Every surface is littered with them. Rose petals trail in a path toward his bed and tiny fireflies light the ceiling above it. The petals cascade down the pillows and form a perfect heart, and in the center… I giggle. In the very center is a giant pizza box from my favorite grubby little shop in Venez.

He remembered.

“Hoped you’d like it.” Chano’s gruff tones startle me as he steps from the shadows with a bottle of something in his hands.

“I love it.”

He pops the cork, handing me an elegant champagne flute, and we clamber onto the bed, the greasy box perched between us. This is the best date night ever.

After I’ve eaten way more than I need, we curl up on the bed, my head tucked into his chest, watching a stupid film on his tablet.

As the movie ends, Chano rolls me on top of him, so I’m lying with the full length of my body pressed against his. His scentfills my nostrils as he tucks my head in at the side of his neck. His hands slip under my top, the touch making me break out in goose bumps.

My gums prickle and his pulse beats enticingly.

“Do you want to feed, chica?”

The steady pounding of his heart is a siren call. I push myself upright, jerking my head away.Surely he won’t care who my family was. I never knew them, or that life.

Chano flips us so he’s pressing me into the mattress. He captures both my wrists in his, pinning them above my head before peppering kisses up my neck. His tongue invades my mouth, and my thoughts disintegrate. I wriggle, but he’s relentless, his free hand teasing my nipples, making them pebble while he nips and licks the delicate skin under my ear.

“You want to bite me, here? Hmm, chica?” He bares his neck and my incisors descend over my lip.

“No, Chano. Stop.”

He looks surprised, sitting up and pulling me with him.

“What’s wrong?”

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