Page 19 of Dragon Flames
So, why the fuck do my nipples tighten and lust make my body clench with need?
I should be thrilled that I can react in such a way, but I don’t like losing control of my emotions.
For too many years, I’ve had so little control that losing even a fraction of it is terrifying, more terrifying than any fist or blade.
The man stalks toward me like a predator, animal grace giving him a boneless appearance that makes me imagine what he could do with his body, and I glare at him when heat floods my core. “Who the fuck are you?”
Sharp fangs flash when he smiles. “Your mate.”
My breath stops in my lungs at his possessive claim.
He doesn’t stop his advance until he’s once more in my face. Though I wilt back against the headboard, I hike up my chin, refusing to back down. “Not my mate, not yet.”
And maybe not ever, if I have anything to say about it.
Something about these men screams danger, and I’ve experienced enough fear to last me a lifetime.
I’ve barely managed to scratch out a bleak existence over the past ten years, and I’m not the kind of fool who would invite more chaos into my life.
I’m not that stupid.
Besides, it’s a good way to get dead.
I wait for him to blow up, wait for the others to protest. The last thing I expect is his smile, his expression changing from handsome to panty-melting.
“We shall see.” Good mood restored, he straightens with a smug grin that sets my teeth on edge. “Until we can assure your safety, you will remain here as our guest. That should give us time to figure out what Gresky has planned.”
I jerk upright and blink at him, more than a little skeptical. “You believe me?”
Even the air stills, sucked out of the room, while I wait with bated breath for his answer.
Not even when I was young, beaten bloody and broken, has anyone actually believed me.
He pauses by the door, glancing at me over his shoulder with a hawkish expression that misses nothing. “Of course.”
Then he left.
Completely unaware of the dent he just left in the impenetrable armor that had taken me a decade to build.
His faith in me leaves me floundering for a wild second and wondering if they could possibly be the last honorable men on the planet.
Then I snort at the absurdity.
Not with my luck.
I vow then and there not to let down my guard.
Mate or not, no one will look out for me but myself.
Chapter Six
FELICIA
There’s a spot of silence, a vacuum, after Darius left, then I glance at the other two men and raise a brow in challenge. “I don’t suppose either of you has anything for me to wear?”
Because as nice as it is to wear something without the nauseating stink of prison coveralls, I don’t like the way the dress leaves me so vulnerable. If I need to fight, I’ll be trapped in yards of material.
Trying to be something I am not could get me killed.
