Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 120974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
“Coming!” she moans and at first I think she means that she’s coming just from me biting her—maybe she is a Bite Lover. But then she says, “The guards…I think they’re coming!”
Fuck.
I pull my fangs from her flesh and hastily lick the wounds I made to close them. I can see the bobbing lights of torches in the meadow beyond the copse of trees where we’re hiding.
Damn it—we’re out of time!
I push her leg off my shoulder and rise but she stumbles and falls to her knees. Fuck—now what? Did I take too much from her?
“Get up, Princess!” I hiss. Taking her by the arm, I drag her to her feet, only to find that she’s trembling and half-fainting. Fuck, I did take too much! Her blood was so sweet and I was so fucking thirsty, but I should have stopped earlier.
There’s only one thing to do and I fucking hate to do it. But the torches are getting closer and I can hear the guards calling to each other.
Lifting my hand to my mouth, I sink one of my fangs into the pad of my thumb and then press it to her mouth.
“Drink!” I hiss. “And make it fucking quick!”
11
IRENA
“Drink!” he demands and presses his big, dirty thumb right into my mouth!
I sputter at first, trying to push his hand away, but he’s too strong for me. I taste a few salty drops of what must be his blood, coating my tongue and going down my throat.
I want to spit and curse—though both activities are considered extremely improper for a well-bred young lady. But I can do neither with his thumb in my mouth. Instead, I swallow reflexively.
As soon as I swallow, Valen pulls away. He takes me by the shoulders and peers down into my face.
“There—feeling stronger?” he demands in a harsh whisper.
“I…I think so.”
Actually, I do feel stronger. I was nearly fainting before, overcome with shame and weakness, because why did his bite feel so good? But now I feel as though someone has given me a strong shot of spirits. Is that what Dragon blood is like?
“Good. Hopefully I gave you enough to bring you back but not enough to form a fucking bond,” he mutters. “Now come on—climb on my back.”
“What?” I look at him, uncomprehending. “Why would I get on your back now?”
“Because you won’t be able to get on my Drake form once I Shift—not in that ridiculous dress,” he growls. “Which means you need to get on me before I change.”
I have to be on him while he’s changing into a dragon? The thought is both horrifying and fascinating.
“I don’t—” I begin.
“Come on,” he says again, impatiently. He kneels before me in the grass. “Get on—like I’m giving you a piggy-back ride.”
I would never dare to ask for a Nobleman of the court to give me such a ride. Besides how improper such a request would be, I’d probably break the poor man’s back. The men of the Court are nearly as frail and slender as the women.
But that’s not an issue with Valen. He only grunts when I clamber clumsily onto his broad back, putting my arms around his thick neck and locking my ankles around his waist.
Once I’m on, he rises easily and, hands under my thighs for support, jogs to the middle of the clearing. I wonder briefly why that’s necessary but before I can ask, he drops to all fours, and I feel his body changing beneath me.
If you’ve never been astride a huge male who is changing into a dragon, well, I cannot recommend it. It’s extremely unsettling.
First, I just feel ridiculous—as though I am riding him like a pony. But then his body begins to get hotter…I feel his bare skin heat against my thighs. And then he begins to get bigger—so much bigger that I soon find myself on my knees because his back is too broad for my legs to hang off on either side anymore.
By the light of the full moon, I see that his head and neck are changing too. His neck is growing longer and his head is growing bigger and elongating until it almost looks like the head of a horse, only more reptilian. Red scales the size of my palm began to flow over him, covering his skin with armored protection.
And while all this is going on, I am getting farther and farther from the ground as the dragon beneath me gets bigger and bigger. First, he is the size of a horse…then an ox…then he grows larger than a cottage!
By the time he’s finished growing, I am sitting twenty feet above the ground. I feel like I’m looking out one of the stone battlements at the sides of the castle. Only this is no hard, cold stone—the creature below me is living and the smooth, crimson scales that have covered him are hot to the touch.