Page 28 of Dragon Flames
It’s all I can do not to snatch her to my chest, throw her over my shoulder, and haul her off to my room until she no longer has any more doubts who she belongs to.
She blinks, her eyes clouding with confusion, and she looks down and away, slowly lowering her knife, and I’m barely able to suppress a pleased rumble at her submission.
* * *
FELICIA
Magnificent.
I’ve been called many things over the years, but never anything so complimentary, and never in that tone of voice. Heat creeps up my neck, and I duck my head, uncomfortable with the attention, embarrassed by the weak, girlish feelings.
Even my beast goes quiet under his regard, and I hate that my fierce protector has turned into such a fucking pussy at the least bit of attention from a man. I lift my chin and glare at him, more furious with him than I ever was about the guards’ taunts over the years.
At least they were honest.
“Just say what you mean instead of trying to be nice.” Because he must want something. Nothing else makes sense. Then my breath hiccups in my chest, and I narrow my eyes, my grip tightening on the knife against the need to stab the fucking bastard. “And why do you keep mentioning my beast? Everyone knows I failed to present.”
He searches my eyes, his dark gaze a soulless pit that tempts me to fall into the bottomless depths.
“You don’t know…” he murmurs more to himself than anyone else. Then his attention sharpens, his expression turning fierce. “You presented at the ceremony. You’re a dragon. The last female dragon known in existence.”
I blink at him a few times, my mind going completely blank, then a snort of laughter escapes. Once I start, I can’t seem to stop, and I throw my head back and cackle.
The fucker is even crazier than I am.
My amusement trails off, and my lungs seize when I realize no one else is laughing.
“You’re serious?!” My incredulous tone turns my voice squeaky. “You really are fucking crazy if you believe that.”
I calculate the distance to the door, but before I bolt and leave their crazy asses behind, he latches onto my wrist with an iron grip. I glare at him, then nearly swallow my tongue when I notice his beast is in complete control.
He raises his free hand in the air, and a massive ball of fire ignites, the flames reflecting back at me from deep within his black eyes. Not once does he take his gaze from mine as he pulls me closer, until the blade hovers between us…then he forces the tip of my knife into the flames.
I bite back a gasp when the metal immediately melts and drips onto the plate, the dish cracking and shattering from the heat.
Flames creep up the metal, melting it faster, the heated liquid inching ever closer to my unprotected skin. My fingers instinctively flex to release the blade, but the fucker clamps his hand tighter over mine.
“What are you doing?” I yank back, struggling to peel his hand off mine, but he’s too damn strong. I shove my feet against the table, desperate to escape the blisteringly hot metal as it oozes toward my flesh, but he keeps me pinned.
The flames lick at the pommel…then the heated metal spills over my fingers and coats my hand.
I wait for the agonizing pain, wait for my skin to whiten and bubble, wait for my flesh to melt away from my bones.
And nothing.
While I can sense the intense heat, the liquid metal feels delicious against my skin. The flame dances over my fist, and I open my hand, watching in awe as it weaves almost playfully over and under my fingers.
Then Darius curls his hand into a fist, extinguishing the fire.
Whatever hypnosis held me in thrall vanishes, and I jerk away from him, hating that I only escape because he allows it.
I cradle my hand to my chest, peeling off the metal while it cools, then glare at the asshole. “What the fuck is wrong with you?! You could’ve injured me and done serious harm with that stupid stunt!”
I don’t know why I’m surprised. Maybe I thought he was different from the guards, but the betrayal wounds a defenseless place deep within me.
“Never,” he vows, glaring at me for even suggesting such a thing. Then he sits back in his seat like nothing ever happened, still pissed, too, if the way he’s glaring at me is any indication.
Well, fuck you too, buddy.
