Page 7 of The Fire Dragon's Mate
I’d frightened him. I could see his fear in the widening of his eyes and how his lips parted. He glanced at the other man, and when I looked as well, it felt again like I was on stormy seas. I closed my eyes and tried to breathe steadily, the pain in my head still throbbing with my heartbeat.
“Oh, what a liar you are,” the other man said with a chuckle.
“Reynard,” Phineas said, “it could?—”
“Why? Hmm? Why would any one of the kingdoms send a second ship when they never have before? And can you even imagine all the kingdoms coming together to decideanything? They would sooner destroy each other in open water than combine their efforts.”
There had once been a Prince Reynard of Igreniel. A third son of the second queen, he’d taken up the mission to kill the dragon and never been seen again. Was this him?
“Is every man here a traitor prince?” I asked.
“Damn you,” Phineas cursed. “Why arewethe traitors? Did you volunteer for this quest, Declan?”
“No, but I was honored to?—”
“Or did Father assign it to you while Stanton learns to rule, and Kezia waits in the wings should she be needed? But no oneneeds a second son and certainly not a third, right? Will young Rankin be sent here someday as well? Or will they sacrifice baby Andromeda instead?” He stood up to glare down at me. “It’s our kings and queens who’ve betrayed each and every one of us.”
I hadn’t thought of it like that. I’d been honored when Father had suggested I come here. He’d talked about avenging Phineas and becoming the hero of Besia.
But might he have been cleansing the court of a prince who would never be able to continue the family line? If everyone on the ship had known about me, had Father known as well? Was I here as a convenient way to remove me, like her parents had removed Princess Gilda?
“I’mhappyhere,” Phineas said with a smile. “I have a wife and a daughter and another child on the way. I tend crops and raisechickens, Declan.” He laughed like it was absurd but also delightful. “And all that our protector asks of us is to return his love.”
“What?” He’d almost had me believing in his fairytale when he’d talked about his simple life, but their protector? Love?
Phineas sat again and rested his hand on my chest. “Every man inside this mountain is a member of the dragon’s hoard. He protects us, loves us, and occasionally asks for the pleasure of our bodies. It’s an easy thing to give once you accept?—”
“But it’s forbidden!” I lunged upward into a sitting position and immediately regretted that move. Vomit surged out of me and splashed onto my fucking brother’s very surprised face.
Four
THE WICKED DRINK
Ididn’t know if it had been hours or days since I had been smacked into a wall by a dragon. The nausea ebbed and flowed like the worst ocean voyage. No concoction from Zelig or Reynard eased my pain, and I couldn’t sleep a wink. Both men checked on me—I knew they tried to help—but nothing eased me, and I lay on that cot in misery. Phineas had returned at least once to ask about me, but I had dared to turn onto my side and couldn’t speak to him for trying to keep my head from imploding.
I longed for unconsciousness so I might stop wishing the dragon had killed me outright. A swift blow into oblivion would’ve been a relief when compared to this endless suffering. I couldn’t even be certain that I was seeing reality because there were glowing eyes that watched me and shadowy hands that petted me.
At one point, I couldn’t stop my tears.
“Relief is possible.”
I wiped my face with a shaky hand. “What? Who’s here?”
I saw his wings first and recoiled only to wince from themovement. He stepped closer, and I got my first real look at him.
Cighyss, the dragon in human form, was leanly muscular and tall, his skin a warm honey shade in the candlelight, his hair wavy and dark. His chest was without hair and well-defined but oddly lacking nipples. His face was also hairless, and his eyes reflected the light in the room with a golden gleam. If I didn’t know what he was, I would’ve called him beautiful.
From his waist down, he had black scales that reflected red or blue as he walked closer to me. He was naked, but I saw nothing of his endowments except a nondescript bulge. Was he so animalistic even in this form that his assets could retract into his body? I didn’t want to be so curious, but I was.
“Let me give you something for your injuries.”
I refocused on his face. “Injuries caused byyou.”
“Darling, you attacked me with a sword.”
“Don’tcall me that.”
He cocked his head at me. “What should I call you then?”
