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)
I sit at the small table and help myself. As soon as Valen finishes drying and pulls on the trousers Maud brought him, he joins me. He hasn’t put on the shirt yet and there are beads of water on his broad, bare shoulders. I think about telling him to dress before he sits at the table, but really—what are the odds he’d listen to me? I have to choose my battles and besides, he’s not exactly hard to look at—though I hate to admit it.
He eats with the appetite of, well, a dragon. I’m glad I started first and got what I wanted because it’s clear he’s starving. I suppose changing into a dragon and then back to human again, not to mention flying all night over the Poison Desert, must work up an appetite.
Despite his obvious hunger, he has fairly good table manners. He doesn’t slurp or chew with his mouth open and he uses the crude silverware the innkeeper has provided instead of eating with his fingers. He also doesn’t belch—though he does sigh contentedly as he leans back in his chair after he finishes the meal.
“You want the last piece of bread?” he asks, nodding at the final piece, already slathered in butter and fig jam.
I shake my head. I’m quite full, though I’ve eaten less than a fourth as much as he has. Not surprising, I suppose, considering how big he is.
“Well,” he says, after polishing off the bread. “It looks like you’re going to have a harder time getting to the Sorceress than you thought, Princess.”
I stiffen in my chair.
“This wouldn’t be a problem if you’d flown me right to her stronghold, like you promised.”
“I did the best I fucking could—I barely got us past the fucking desert,” he growls, narrowing his eyes at me. “Your brother kept me half starved in that dungeon—you’re lucky I didn’t fall out of the fucking sky in mid-flight.”
His words make me uncomfortable, and I don’t dispute them. But I’m still not sure how I’m supposed to get to the Sorceress now.
“Anyway,” Valen continues, “It doesn’t seem to me that we’ll be able to find her from the air. It sounds like she’s got a spell on her stronghold—if Maud is right, we can only reach it by following the path.”
I try to suppress the relief I feel when I hear him say “we.”
“So…you’re coming with me?” I ask casually, taking a sip of ale to cover my anxiety.
He raises his eyebrows.
“Do I have a choice? You’re still wearing the ring, and I still have on this fucking collar. Besides, I swore I’d get you to the Sorceress and back again and we Drakes keep our word.”
“Then I guess we’re going on foot,” I say. “Taking the path through the forest.”
He shrugs, his broad shoulders rolling.
“Doesn’t seem to be any other way.”
“No, I guess not.” I look down at my empty plate, not sure what else to say. I feel suddenly shy around him, though I don’t know why. Maybe because of what I saw him doing in the bathtub and the way I had to touch him to wash him clean. All of that was most improper and I hate him for it—or so I tell myself. But still, I can’t get the picture of his huge shaft jerking and painting his bare, muscular chest with white cream out of my head.
Valen doesn’t seem to have the same worries I do, though. He gives a bone-cracking yawn and rises from the table.
“I’m beat, Princess. Time to bed down for the night. Or at least catch a few hours sleep.”
“It’s the middle of the morning,” I point out.
“The sun is too high—you’re right. Let’s draw the curtains.”
He gets up and does exactly that. Then he goes to the large four-poster bed and sits heavily on one side.
“What are you doing?” I protest. “It’s not proper for you to take the bed. You should sleep on the floor—it’s the only gentlemanly thing to do.”
“Good thing I’m not a fucking gentleman, then,” he growls. “Besides, we have to sleep in the same bed—it’s part of the rules of the ring and collar.”
“We do not!” I protest indignantly. But then I remember again the words of the old, ragged manuscript—“Be ye aware that the one who controls the beast must also clean him and rest with him nightly.”
A very unladylike curse rises to my lips. What am I going to do?
“Come on, Princess—if you don’t lie down beside me, neither of us will be able to sleep,” Valen growls crossly. “I’m fucking tired, get your luscious ass over here!”
“I…I cannot sleep in the same bed as a man I’m not married to,” I protest. “My reputation would be ruined if anyone found out!”
“Well, there’s no one from your precious Court here to see you,” he points out irritably. “Besides, I know you’re a virgin. I won’t touch you.”