Page 20 of Dragon Unleashed
“Look, the only time anything like this has happened was the day I arrived.”
“This extrication business,” he supplies.
“Yes.”
“And that was very bad?”
“Very.”
“I don’t understand. You said you came from a story, and yet here you are, accepted as one of them.”
“I was an exception to the rule, believe me.” I don’t bother to point out that if I hadn’t been a helpless baby, Hoc probably would have ordered me killed too.
“And what is the rule?”
“Everything that escaped its book was hunted down—and destroyed.”
Chapter6
Aries
“Destroyed?” I nearly growl it, anger heating the blood within my veins. Has this petite woman slaughtered innocents who, like me, were ripped from their homes—their worlds—through no fault of their own?
The moment that thought crosses my mind, though, I dismiss it. The expression on her face is not one of malice or guilt. Rather, she looks distressed. This is not a woman who has ever taken a life, evidenced by the horror reflected in her soft brown eyes and the fact that she is hiding me in her tiny home.
“Yes,” Paige replies.
And though her tone is grave as she answers me, I cannot help but notice my own body’s reaction to her presence. A reaction I’ve been ignoring since the moment I landed in this strange world. Paige is beautiful with her honey-colored hair and piercing yet innocent eyes. But it’s more than her beauty that stirs my blood—that stirs my dragon.
The very sound of her voice is music to my ears. She calls to me, beckoning to a part of me no female has reached—until now. The beast in my veins desires her. But his need to claim her makes no sense.
This woman is not from my world. Therefore, she cannot bemine.
“What types of creatures were they?” I question, hoping to keep my mind from the very clear mistake my dragon has made. Trapped here in this strange world, the last thing I need is to become distracted by lust.
“I don’t know,” she tells me as she pushes her glasses up her nose and begins to pace. “I was too young to remember, but based on what Mag has told me—”
“Mag.” The anger returns. “The one you feared would harm you?”
She shakes her head, letting out an adorably frustrated sigh. “He won’t hurt me. At least, not on purpose.” Paige turns to face me, her arms crossed, which sends her delicious cleavage nearly spilling from the top of her shirt.
My cock hardens, and I take a seat on her plush couch since these damned pants do nothing to hide my clear arousal. Not that she notices; far too wrapped in her own worries, Paige stands and begins to pace.
Something I am quite grateful for since it gives me ample opportunity to study her flawless, round ass. Its shape is set on perfect display in the tight pants that are apparently custom for females in this land.Damn this temptress.Was she lying? Is she a witch who has enchanted me?
“I was too little to remember the Extrication, but Mag told me that there were dozens of creatures on the loose. Said it took them weeks to track them all through the library.”
The picture she paints yanks me from my distraction, and I glare at her. “Innocent lives taken because they were ripped from their worlds? Were they even a threat? Or simply in the wrong place?” I snarl along with the words. My thoughts instantly shift to the people of my world. To the knowledge that they would be hunted and slaughtered all because they were unknowingly pulled from their homes.
She stares at me blankly. “I—I don’t know. From what I’ve heard, they were all highly combative. A word Mag used,” she adds.
“Not something I can blame them for,” I retort. “In fact, I would almost enjoy seeing this Mag try to—how did you put it?—destroy me. I think I would be rathercombativeif someone were trying to slaughter me as well.”
Paige pales slightly. Whether it’s my challenge or the risk to this Mag that caused it, I don’t know. But I cannot be bothered to find out. Not when I have a home to return to and a kingdom to run.
“He’s not going to get the chance,” she says. “Because he’s never going to know you’re here.” The woman crosses toward me and drops to her knees at my feet.
My blood stirs, lust shooting through me like a punch. How easy it would be to pull her into my lap. To claim those plump lips with my own. Or let her stay where she is, sliding my pants down while she lowered her mouth onto my—
