Page 35 of Song of the Shadow Prince
“That’s none of your concern,” he gritted, his shoulders bunching up to his ears.
I chuckled. “Okay, if you say so.” I tied the pants as tight as possible and gave a sharp whistle. “You can turn around now.”
Tentatively, Damien turned. His shoulders sagged in relief once he saw me covered up, my shredded dress pooled at my ankles. “What happened to your dress?”
“A fight.” I shrugged one shoulder before falling onto his very large, very comfortable bed. I sighed contentedly and ran my fingers through the fur blankets.
He raised a skeptical brow. “I watched you fight the vampires, and they didn’t shred your dress. Your cloak covered you the whole time,” he said dryly.
I snorted. “That’s because it happened at thefirstfight. The one at The Broken Tankard.”
“You got intotwofights tonight?” he gasped and stepped toward me. “Whoareyou?” He narrowed his gaze on me, a look of bewilderment plastered on his face.
I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is how the hell I’m going to get home tomorrow. From my understanding, you being a dragon is your big secret, which means the only reason you flew tonight was because your dragon is black and it was night.” No wonder they called him the Shadow Prince.
Narrowing his gaze further, Damien prowled toward me until he stood in front of me, then leaned down and placed a hand on either side of me on the bed, blocking me in. I felt the heat of his body, but I refused to cower. “You’re smart, Arya. Maybe a little too smart. You’re right; my secret is that I have my dragon. I might come from a bloodline of dragons, but I’m not supposed to be one. You don’t need to know the reasons behind that, but I need to trust that you won’t tell a soul.”
I scoffed and leaned back on the bed, pushing my chest out toward him as he leaned toward me. “Oh, yeah?” I raised a brow, itching to wrap my arms around his neck and pull him on top of me. “And why do I need to keep this secret? What’s in it for me?”
Damien smirked and leaned even closer until he was nearly on top of me. My heart galloped and I felt the first twinge of nervousness. I licked my lips and kept still, unwilling to become prey to his predator, even though the thought sent a thrill through me.
He quirked a brow. “Well, Arya, if you haven’t noticed, you’re inmyroom, onmybed, inmyhome, in the middle of the night. What’s a lady like yourself doing in such a situation?”
I laughed. “Dude, if you’re trying to threaten my reputation, you can stop right now because I honestly don’t care. And from what I hear, I don’t have a great reputation anyway.” I wasn’t worried about this girl’s reputation. She’d tarnished it a long-ass time ago. Besides, I didn’t plan on being here long enough to care. If I got called a slut, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
Even so, something in Damien’s dark eyes told me he wasn’t done with me yet.
Damien laughed. He actually laughed. “You’re worried about yourreputation? No, Lady Arya, you should be worried about who you might be forced tomarry,” he countered.
My blood ran cold. Whoa! Hold the freakin’ press. No one said anything about marriage. “Marry?” I placed my palm on his very sturdy chest and pushed him back hard enough to move him just a tad, but he still hovered over me like a dark cloud. “Who said anything about marrying you?”
I didn’t care about this Arya girl, but I didn’t want to bind her life to this nutcase, either. I wasn’t that cruel. He might be the most beautiful man I’d ever seen, but he was the epitome of danger and I knew better than to stick my hand in the fire. I didn’t care how good the sex might be, he seemed like the type who played with his food. A predator through and through.
“Ah,” he smirked knowingly. “I see I have your attention now.” He grabbed my chin and pulled me toward him roughly,until our lips were practically brushing. “So, it’s inbothour interests if we keep each other’s secrets. Don’t you think,LadyArya?” he whispered, his breath fanning my cheeks.
I smacked his hand away and glared. “I don’t like being threatened,” I gritted between my teeth. I held very still to avoid kissing him.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you threaten me first?” he said with a cruel smile, his white teeth gleaming in the dim light.
I placed a hand on his chest again and pushed him away. “You’re suffocating me,” I grumbled. “I get it, okay? I’ll keep your secret. Now go away.”
Damien chuckled and paused to stare at me for a moment before stepping away and walking to the other side of the room, finally giving me a chance to breathe. As Damien moved away, I sat up and noticed a small alcove on one side of the room filled with books and scrolls. A sturdy wooden desk sat there, cluttered with parchment and ink. It seemed like a private study area.
“Nice setup you’ve got here,” I said, trying to lighten the tension. “Doesn’t feel much like a prison.”
Damien glanced over his shoulder and his expression softened just a fraction. “Make no mistake. It’s a cage, Arya.”
I sighed and felt a pang of sympathy for the dragon despite my instincts. “Well, at least the cage is warm.” I rubbed my hand through the luxurious bundle of furs.
“Don’t let the warmth fool you.” He grabbed the chair from the desk and dragged it toward where I perched at the edge of his bed. He sat down facing me and clasped his hands. “I think it’s time we have a little talk about tonight.”
I snorted. “I sense an interrogation coming, but let me stop you right now. I don’t know a thing.”
He quirked a brow. “You don’t even know what I’m going to ask.”
“Oh? Aren’t you about to ask about the vampires?”
He grinned. “Smart girl. Yes, I am. I’m curious as to why they would attackyou, of all people. A noblewoman from the Northern District. They even knew you by name.”
