Page 8 of Reigning
“Was it blow job? Did you understand blow job? Because I relate. Smutty words are probably what would trigger me out of a magic-infused coma, too.”
He lowers his head like I’m just distracting him from an important task.
Dammit.
I close my eyes. I breathe out the frustrations of the day. Rime’s here. He isn’t talking or even glancing at me, but he’s here, and that’s enough. He’s taking care of me like he loves me.
I’ll pretend like it’s real love as long as it takes to keep me going through all of this.
Three
Distorted Love
I slowly crackmy eyes open to the dark room. For a few seconds, I don’t know where I am.
And then my head spins with the memory of the past few days, and I almost wish I could go back to sleep to find some escape for just a few more hours.
I flex my fingers, and my wrist hits chilled metal. I glance down at my palm that’s between two of the cell bars to find his big hand holding mine, fingers threaded sweetly between mine.
Rime’s bright eyes watch me quietly like he hasn’t taken his attention off of me the entire night.
Maybe it’s just a pattern for him. A memory of us that shadows his mind that he’s not even aware of. Or maybe—just maybe—Rime’s still in there. Honestly, the barbaric man before me isn’tthatterribly different from the barbaric man I first met.
The sweet glint in his eyes captures my attention. I lean closer, needing to feel his body against mine as much as the cell will allow. He follows my every move like I’m the sole reason for his existence. His gaze dips to my lips. My heartbeat flutters as the space between us dissolves.
And then he jars my arm so hard my head rattles into the steely metal bar. I wince in pain but I’m forced up against the cell. Slow breaths fan along my cheek. His nose skims down my jaw, along my neck. Ever so slowly, his tongue slips between his lips and laps a long, gentle stroke from my jaw to my collarbone.
He tastes me in the most basic, animalistic way possible.
Okay…he might be just slightly more barbaric than I remember.
The harsh hold he has on my wrist loosens, and I pull back from him to see him lick his lips, his gaze now drifting even lower on my body, his Adam’s apple bobbing as if he’s remembering the way my orgasm felt against his lips.
“I. Need. Space.” I shift back from him, scooting awkwardly over the cold floor until the span of the cell is between us.
His pale brows lower over his beautiful eyes.
“It’s just, I love you, Rime. And I want you. I’ll always want you. And that puts me in a weird, slightly uncomfortable situation when you’re a man-dragon who doesn’t have a human thought in his head, and I’m a super-vulnerable, dare I say innocent woman, who can’t say no to you. I…I’m not okay with fucking a dragon. That’s where the line is drawn. Those are my super-high moral standards in life. It’s not negotiable, sorry.” Being a shifter’s mate is hard sometimes, I swear.
I fold my arms across my chest and cling to the appearance of unwavering confidence. He lowers his head in confusion with the sweetest look of hurt.
“Are you done discussing your bizarre sexual standards or do you and my son need a few more minutes?” Ellise lounges against the dark wall. In the dim lighting, she’s the image of an angel of death looming in the shadows.
The half-smile tipping her lips never falters when she glides toward me, eyes locked on her favorite little prisoner, it seems. Metal scrapes metal, and the door swings open after a twist of a key. She slides that key into an unseen pocket in her dress.
Dress pockets. Color me jealous.
With as much dignity as I can find on the wet floor, I stand. When I pass her, her hand runs through my dark hair, catching on a knot at the ends.
“I have clean clothes and a bath waiting for you upstairs.”
She looks at me so strangely. The way she studies me makes my skin crawl.
I’m a pawn to her, just like everyone else in her life. And I know she’s preparing to use me today.
* * *
Warm water slides across my skin, and my attention keeps flicking toward the shifter leaning casually against the door. With one ankle crossed over the other, his arms folded, emphasizing his chest and arms, he’s completely sexy.
