Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
I flung the last beast aside and dropped to my knees beside him, cupping his face. His skin was too pale. Too cold. “Be alive,” I whispered. “Just be alive.”
His gaze met mine, glassed over, unfocused. “Make me hate you again,” he pleaded, teeth chattering.
Relief bloomed, swift and aching. He wasn’t dead. And he wanted me more than he liked.
Hatred was armor. It was how we’d survive this. How I’d survive him. But also, how he would survive me. Wanting left us vulnerable, something we both dared not do. So, I happily obliged.
“For starters, I plan to punish you for endangering yourself like this. Second, I killed my own father, multiple times,” I admitted softly. “I’ve never felt guilty about it. I’m only sad the killings didn’t take.”
No flinch. No judgment. Just a weak nod. “Read about that. Bad man. Right move. Lorik thinks… your father is phoenix.” A rough, almost-laugh escaped him. “Dad hoped I would be the one in the legends, if he wasn’t.”
There was no stopping my ragged cry. Taron’s understanding gutted me. His admission about his father poured salt all over the wound. I yanked the healing tonic from my bag, set the mouth of the bottle at his lips, and tipped.
“This won’t stop the frostwarg poison,” I warned, “but it’ll close the wounds.”
He gagged, coughing. “Tastes like soot.”
“Ja, well, it’s usually used for dragons, and we are partial to such flavoring. But this is what you get for hogging all the battle glory.”
A hoarse snort escaped him, and it nearly drew a smile from me. “Blame the bond. I couldn’t stand the thought of you injured.”
He’d said that before. Now, my chest clenched. “You better survive, professor.” I turned, clawed a pit into the ground, stacked wood and kindled it with the hottest flame I could rally. Pink sparks crackled to blazing life. “We have an agreement to fulfill and a bond to break.”
“Don’t worry, majesty. Been bitten before.” A strong, full-body shiver rocked him on the ground. His lips peeled back from his teeth, a testament to his pain. “No… big… deal.”
Yeah. Right. But I appreciated the baffling attempt to comfort me. “When you’re better,” I said, “I’m gonna need some hate fuel, too.”
“I’ll tell you something truly dastardly as soon as I can think straight. Wait, I’ve got it. I often drink out of your teacup.”
Um. That wasn’t a bad thing. It was kind of…endearing.
As the fire’s warmth crept outward, he dragged himself closer. His wounds were sealed, but his skin had turned a worrying shade of blue. Fighting a rise of panic, I stretched out beside him and hissed. Cold.
He hissed in unison. “Hot.”
I jerked back, thinking I’d hurt him, but he snagged my nape and hauled me down. “Don’t leave. Good,” he mumbled, fitting me on top of him. When he had me where he wanted, he banded his arms around me, tight. Tighter. His shivers came constantly now, but his scent—that heavenly mixture of pine and cedar—cocooned me. “Very good.”
My chest clenched again, only tighter. “Careful, professor. You don’t want me thinking you’re into me.”
“Never,” he muttered. Then, after a beat, “You smell amazing.”
I chuckled, the sound catching in my throat. Heaven’s blaze, the feel of him. The hard lines, and the leashed power. I’d never fit even Leopold like this.
Guilt surged, but I couldn’t bring myself to cut short this moment with Taron. My fingers petted through his silken hair and across his chest of their own accord. His heartbeat thumped beneath my ear, reminding me of our kiss.
“If anything can get your blood pumping and kickstart your healing, it’s a discussion of what occurred in the cave,” I said, brushing my fingers against the ring and its chain.
Instant ice bath, his features freezing over. Yanking the necklace from my vicinity, he snapped, “Nothing happened. We were drugged.”
The abrupt change in him sobered me up. And yet, I didn’t move away. “You’re currently cuddling me as if I’m precious to you. You think I smell amazing. Excuse me if I don’t believe our kiss can be blamed solely on an enchantment.”
“The bond…” he said, voice barely audible. He didn’t let me go either, but clung tighter.
My dragon stirred, spewing fire into my veins. Blood heated. Hunger rose. The need to prove our connection real choked me. Burn him!
I couldn’t help but wonder… What if I’d gotten it wrong? I’d loved Leopold, but I’d never raged in front of him, as I’d done before Taron. Would my sweet Leo have calmed me?
What if Taron survived my fire?
What if he rose as the phoenix?
What are you doing? My hope was a double-edged sword as dangerous as my flame. As the council was fond of telling me, we received no second chances.
Taron wouldn’t survive, and that was that.
Besides, I didn’t want forever with him. Though he might make an excellent (temporary) consort. He was strong and fearless, and if he held me just like this every night...