Page 39 of Awaken the Dragon
She tilted her chin up and squared her shoulders before meeting his gaze. “I am Shola N’Gara of the River Tribe. I come from Mobo and was selected to marry Warrick Camden.”
“Selected by whom?”
When she didn’t answer right away, he stepped closer to her. In this space, he seemed so much taller than her, wider, more dominant. He almost stepped back at the thought. His intent was not to intimidate her; it never had been. He just didn’t know how to stay away from her, not when she was engaged, and not now after he’d decided to kill her fiancé.
“You may not believe me,” she said.
“Why would I not believe you?”
“Because nobody ever did. When I was younger and I went to school, I told my friends, or those I thought were my friends, what I had seen and been told, and they laughed at me. They said I was making up stories.”
She didn’t look away from him as she spoke, because she was fearless. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t vulnerable. Her shoulders had dropped only slightly, and he reached out to place his hands on them. “Tell me the story.”
She stared up at him and something in her gaze eased into his chest and squeezed. He remained steady, deciding to examine that feeling later. For now, he needed to know who she was even though he’d already decided to help her.
“I am the daughter of Oya,” she announced in a voice that had immediately grown stronger.
“Before I was born, my father thought my mother was dying. He took her to the river and baptized her in the cool water, praying and hoping that Oya would hear his cries. But the great Orisha was not the only one to hear his prayers. A Dark One—that is what he was called—appeared and offered his help. In exchange, he wanted my father’s first born.”
She looked away and then began again. “My mother had been injured during her years with the Ono Guard. She was told she would never have a child.”
“So your father thought it was a safe bargain,” he finished for her, hating the direction he thought this was going.
Her gaze returned to his, shock clear in her eyes.
“Yes,” she replied. “He made the agreement and the Dark One went away. My father carried my mother back to our house. Oya heard, and she intervened.”
“By giving your mother a child?” It didn’t sound right on the surface but a part of Theo knew it to be true.
“It was said that the Dark One needed human souls to gain power, but he could not just possess those souls; they had to come to him willingly, or in my case, be given to him. But instead of just using me to gain a minimal amount of power, the Dark One had a bigger plan. By marrying me to a soul he already owned, he would gain unfettered access to Mobo and the River Tribe, access that was only granted to members born into the tribe and linked to us by blood. With that connection the Dark One, through the union he orchestrated, could use my people and our resources to build a dark army or worse, he could kill the people of the River Tribe and use our land to settle his own demonic force. My father did not know all of this. He was desperate and thought the payment to the Dark One would never come into existence. Oya knew.
“She gave me to Joku and Ejaita N’Gara to stop the Dark One when the time came. But I was always hers. I will always be a part of her.”
Theo let his hands slide down from her shoulders until he could lace her fingers with his own. “You are not just magickal; you are a demigoddess.”
She blinked but didn’t hesitate. “I am Shola N’Gara of the River Tribe and I came here to save my people.”
Chapter Fourteen
Theo wasn’t sure if it was the combined lethal and proud tone of her voice, or the way that loose-fitting dress brushed the higher portion of her thighs, but he was tired of talking, tired of resisting.
This time when he touched her, he cupped her face in his hands and tilted her head up so it would be easier to kiss her. And so he could stare directly into her eyes when he asked his next question.
“Are you here to kill Warrick Camden?”
“Yes, I—”
Her next words were cut off as he slammed his mouth down over hers, his tongue immediately pressing into her mouth in search of hers. She grabbed hold of his biceps and pressed her body against his. With a hunger that had the beast growling inside, he took the kiss deeper. She tilted her head and he stroked his tongue over hers before sucking it into his mouth. The blunt tip of her nails pressed into his skin, and he pulled back only slightly, letting her nip his bottom lip and then suck it the same way he’d just sucked her tongue.
He moved his hands up from her face to her hair, pushing through the tightly coiled strands until the tie holding it up snapped off. Then his fingers were deep in the plush mass, loving the feel of its luxuriant texture against his skin. He liked it better free and surrounding her face the way her soul identity wore it.
She moved her hands up to his shoulders and then to loop around his neck, pulling him in closer. This was it right here. Just having her in his arms this way, feeling her, touching her, inhaling everything about her. This was everything.
When she planted her palms on the back of his head, he groaned. He let his hands fall from her hair to move down her back until he could palm the delectable globes of her ass. Pressing her into him almost took his breath away, and he pulled his mouth from hers to scrape his teeth along the line of her jaw. She arched into his embrace, and he continued to kiss down her neck until his tongue was sliding lavishly over her collarbone.
“Fuck!” he groaned and lifted her into his arms.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, clasping them at his back.
