Page 12 of A Celtic Vow
“So we are to assume she manipulated you into lying with her more than once to connect with yer dragon somehow?” Liam asked.
“That’s precisely what I think she did.” He nodded hello to Ulrik when he joined them. While he hadn't known the Viking long, he already liked and respected him a great deal. Enough to speak plainly in his presence. “I think intimacy was Siobhán’s way of connecting with my inner beast enough that she was able to take control of me upon Raghnall’s death.”
“’Twould have been the best way to go about it,” Ulrik agreed, blunt. “Especially if yer human half did not indulge in matters of the flesh often enough to satisfy it. For our inner beasts have the same needs as our human halves.”
Aodh merely grunted and drank, not about to share that he rarely took a lass to his bed for fear of hurting her.
“Ah.” Ulrik saw it plainly enough. “I sometimes forget how fortunate I am to come from a place with far more dragons. That I need not worry about my rougher side coming out and hurting a human.” He shrugged. “But even then, humans back home that choose to bring a dragon to bed know what to expect. Usually, enjoy as much.”
“Ta, brother.” Being one of the few people who understood this side of Aodh, Liam clasped him on the shoulder in support. “I know yer inner dragon hasn’t made intimacy easy.”
He was about to reply it had been torture on occasion, but the words died on his lips when he spied Constance and Shannon coming downstairs. His inner dragon roared up, and his vision hazed red at the sight of her in the red dress. Her beauty had been undeniable before, but now she was beyond beautiful. Surreal almost.
And it brought a hush to the room. Drew every male eye.
Her skin was no longer red but a flawless alabaster ivory, making her large, thickly lashed purplish-blue eyes stand out. With full kissable lips and delicate features, it was impossible to look away. Her hair was straight and silky, its eye-catching crimson hue not clashing with her vibrant red dress but somehow perfectly aligned.
Which led his eyes down to her tall, slender body.
While certainly thin from lack of food, she didn’t appear as frail as she had in his arms days before. Rather there was a strength about her now, and curves he hadn’t realized were there. While willowy, she had plump enough breasts and enough flare to her hips to welcome a man comfortably betwixt her thighs.
“She is stunning, is she not?” Ulrik said with enough gruffness to his voice to make Aodh frown. If that weren’t enough, he realized the Viking’s dragon eyes erupted every bit as much as his own. And were locked on her just like everyone else’s.
“And she’s mine until we see through the prophecy,” Aodh growled before he could stop himself. He had never felt so territorial. Never felt anything like this, for that matter. But then, he had never been so attracted to anyone. Someone who was a dragon, no less.
Nor had he ever had to compete with another male dragon.
“Agreed,” Ulrik said readily enough. His gaze never left Constance as she and Shannon made their way toward them. “’Tis important you see the prophecy through.”
Why did that sound like she was fair game after that?
When his vision returned to normal as the women closed in on them, he got the distinct impression it was because his dragon didn’t want to frighten Constance. He’d never felt so awkward or unsure about what to say when the lasses finally joined them. When her eyes met his for the first time in human form. He experienced the same powerful response to her human eyes that he felt seeing her dragon eyes when he saved her.
They hit him like a punch to the gut.
A squeeze to his heart.
He had never, not once, felt his confidence waver like it did now, and he didn’t much like it. Nor did he overly like the delicate cross hanging around her neck. A symbol of a god who sought to destroy his own true gods. Who slowly but surely swept across his country like a plague. If that weren’t enough, Ulrik struck him as far too flirtatious when he smiled and greeted her.
“Ye wear a foul expression, brother,”Liam warned telepathically.“Mayhap not what yer people need to see when meeting their druidess for the first time?”
Though it was hard to admit, his brother was right, so he did his best to rein in his emotions when he nodded hello to Constance with what he hoped was a cordial enough expression. “Welcome to the Kingdom of Ulster, Constance.”
Before she had a chance to reply, he turned to his people and spoke loud enough for all to hear. Gave her more than most would without absolute proof. “She might not wield her dagger yet, but make welcome Constance, our druidess and undoubtedly the Unnamed One sent to help save our kingdom and beloved country.”
Constance’s eyes widened, and her cheeks turned red when everyone knelt and lowered their heads before he urged them to stand, and the chamber exploded in applause.
“I hate to say it, but that was not the best way to have gone about that.”The corners of Shannon’s mouth tugged down.“Not yet.”Her brows furrowed when she looked at him.“Couldn't you feel how unsettled and nervous Constance was coming down here? How hard it was for her after the trauma she’s experienced in the past few days?”Her gaze flickered from Ulrik to Aodh, seeing things a little too clearly and not afraid to speak plainly.“Or were you too consumed by jealousy to see straight, let alone feel anything?”
When he glanced at Liam for support, his brother only shrugged and sighed.“Ye may not like it, but she’s not wrong.”
He didn’t like it. Not one bit.
He had no real practice sensing a lass’s emotions under such circumstances, let alone those of a female dragon. He’d done relatively well with Riona when she traveled back in time, but that sister wasn't half dragon and nothing like this sister. Where Riona had been kind and adventurous, he didn’t get that sense from Constance. If anything, she was uptight and disliked him on sight. Which would make sense considering their religious differences alone.
As it were, he wore the symbols of his gods as much as she did hers.
While tempted to head outside and get some fresh air away from all this,her, he couldn’t seem to leave her alone with Ulrik. Refused to give up so quickly. He flinched the moment he thought it. Give upwhatso quickly? Constance, when she managed to frustrate him without saying a word?
