Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
“Why don’t you go do that, stud muffin?” she growled at him. Rimi took her eyes off him to glance down at the hand she rubbed furiously against her jeans. “What did you do to my hand?”
“Stud muffin? Thanks,” Keres answered cheerfully. He felt better than he had in months. The darkness had eliminated all joy and playfulness. This crystal dragon illuminated the shadows inside him. “What’s wrong with your hand?”
When he reached for her wrist, she snatched her arm away. Of course, he had to reclaim it. This time, she gave up after a few seconds of struggle. He really was going to have to get her some food.
Her palm was unhurt. Keres turned her hand over and stared. There, on the back of her hand, as plain as day, lay an outline of a dragon. The sign of a mate bond. He’d felt the jolt as well when they’d touched. Keres looked at his hand. The skin was red but free of any distinguishable mark.
“We’re mated,” he said, incredulous.
“You have lost your mind. Dragons mate with humans—not other dragons. Well, that’s how it goes for male dragons. Females are just screwed. Literally and figuratively.”
“How many female dragons have you met?”
“My mother, obviously.”
“What happened to her? Oldrik never said.”
“She’s gone now. I felt her pass from this life several centuries ago. We had a close connection.”
“Why didn’t you stay together?” Keres studied her beautiful face, unable to tear his gaze from her.
“As soon as Oldrik and I could survive, she left. Supposedly, we were safer without her. Dragons would soon search for her again. You know, the ones losing their grip on reality like you. Most would simply eliminate those competing for a mother’s attention.”
“Do you remember? Did she have a mark on her hand?” He brushed his fingers over the raised shape on her hand. A rush of arousal flooded through him. Keres stiffened his spine to keep from drawing her close.
“Stop touching me. It’s making me crazy.”
Keres stared at her before demanding, “How?”
“None of your business. Let go.” Rimi tugged at her hand before giving up and glaring at him. “Fine. Hold my hand.” She muttered, “Big bully” under her breath.
To Keres’ surprise, he wanted her to like him. Mentally, he shook himself. He never felt bad about doing what he wanted. Well, at least when he was mateless. He’d cared about a lot of things in the past when he’d had someone who needed his care.
“Me too,” burst from his lips. “It makes me crazy too.”
Rimi stared at him. “It turns you on when you touch my hand?”
“Yes.”
Keres moved closer, holding her gaze. He backed her up against the rocky wall and lowered his lips to hers. Instant heat flared between them—hot and erotic. His shaft hardened and pressed against the suddenly too tight fabric.
The enticing scent that had drawn him in wrapped around him as her body flooded with arousal. Keres wrapped his hand around the back of her neck, holding her close as he devoured her lips. He couldn’t get close enough. Under his fingertips, he could detect her pulse racing as fast as his own.
Her lips softened, and she returned his kiss eagerly. Rimi wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to Keres. She hummed with excitement and arousal.
Yet underneath all the passion, her body’s dangerous status reverberated inside him as well. Keres ripped his mouth from hers and fought to regain control. Each of his senses screamed at him to ignore his concern and bask in the treasure he had discovered.
Unfortunately, they also told him she was dangerously weak. Her muscles trembled against him. Under her potent scent lay the hint of low blood sugar from lack of food. He needed to feed her before taxing her system anymore.
“Let’s go hunt together. You need nourishment,” he told her.
“I can’t. I’m too weak,” she admitted.
“I won’t be able to leave you here. The mate bond won’t allow it.” Keres stepped a few feet away from her to test it, and she cried out in distress.
“Keres!” she cried and rushed forward to press herself into his arms.
“You’ll have to ride me in human form. Can you hold on?”
“You’re really going to take me for food?”
“Yes. If you die from hunger, you’ll do me no good.”
Shaking her head, Rimi snarled, “Of course. And here I thought you might be a nice guy. I should have known better. I’ll hold on, because I have to.”
Keres stifled a laugh at the thought that he, the black dragon, was Mr. Nice Guy. “Stay close as I change. Then you can climb on my back.”
In a few moments, Keres launched himself into the air. Rimi slipped to the left and then regained her balance. He suspected pure determination kept her in place. She was dangerously close to being too weak to ride. He could carry her in his claws, but that would diminish his ability to fend off an attack. Keres sent her energy through their fledgling bond. The channel between them wouldn’t snap fully into effect until they mated.