Page 43 of Beautiful Beast

Longing swirled through me. Stars, whatever this was, I needed it to take action or stop completely.

Sinking into a curtsey, I kept my eyes on the ground. “My lords.”

Nothing but silence was returned. After what felt like an eternity, I dared to lift my gaze. Endre stared at me, leaning on the table, chest heaving, eyes filled with endless rage.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

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ENDRE

Lena stood there like the embodiment of fire incarnate. Her red hair shone along with her skin and the markings painted on her arms, beside the shimmer of a dress that hid absolutely nothing at all. Even her cheeks were tinged with red, another form of fire.

The wood of the table creaked under my hands. My entire being was focused on not launching myself across the table and pinning her to the floor.

I would fucking ruin her.

I would ruin her and savor every moment and make sure she did, too.

Rage followed desperate arousal. It clouded thick in the room. Because there was no possible way for Lena to have chosen that gown or understand what it meant.

“Why the fuck are you dressed like that?” Sirrus growled, taking the words out of my mouth.

Lena went pale. She rose from her curtsey and pressed her hands to her stomach. Not looking at us. The sweetness of her scent permeated the room, but not just that. Nerves and embarrassment and fear. Not emotions associated with the image in front of me.

“Erryn thought I might want something else to wear to dinner,” she murmured, eyes cast toward the ground. “She sent someone to help. It is… not what I’m used to. I apologize if I’m not abiding by the correct customs. I asked—” Her voice cut off, like she didn’t know what else to say. Then, quieter. “They said you would like it.”

I looked at my brothers and Idroal, who’d come to give us a message and hadn’t planned to stay. Now? We would have need of them.

My anger warred with my lust. Zovai stood nearby, spellbound and unable to move. I sensed the closeness of his dragon, and mine wasn’t far behind. Even Sirrus was shifting his weight like he struggled with control.

I stalked around the table toward her, stopping when she flinched. What I wanted was to take her and press her into the wall once more, but this time I would not stop. Taste all the creamy skin currently on display and take my time doing it. Fuck every other possible consequence.

“You said Erryn suggested this?”

“Erryn had nothing to do with it,” Idroal said. I turned and found their eyes unfocused. Then they locked on mine. “I heard, but I did not understand. This was not Erryn.”

“Who?” Zovai ground out.

“Soza and her cohort.”

Fire curled in my gut. Of course it was. I shook my head. Anger shook my limbs.

Emerald eyes flicked upward, meeting mine. The scent of her terror was bitter in my nose. “I’m sorry, my lord. What have I done?”

“You have done nothing.” Sirrus was dangerously close to breathing fire.

Idroal took a step toward Lena, and she eased toward them. Just as well. They were the safest one in this room for the fragile, stunning human. They inclined their head. “The clothes you have been given have meaning in our culture, Your Highness. You would have no reason to know. They are the clothes traditionally worn when the female approaches the male on the night of their mating. When worn outside of that, it is to offer oneself as a concubine, as the male should see fit.”

Lena gasped. Her arms came up to cover herself, and she looked down at the floor. More heat was in her cheeks, her scent shifting to one laced with the deepest shame. “I am so sorry. I did not know.”

I could not keep myself in check, finally crossing the distance and lifting her face too roughly. The green in her eyes was so clear up close. Like sunlight shifting through the broken glass of a bottle, or pouring down through the ancient trees around Doro Eche. But nothing in her eyes said she lied.

This human woman had begged me to ruin her. Fuck her so she would be viewed as worthless to the spineless rot of a man meant to marry her. But it had been an offer of desperation. This wasn’t her action. Though the trace of scent through her fear told me shame wasn’t the only thing she felt. Lena was drawn to us as we were to her. Wanted us. My dragon crowed with victory and satisfaction.

I couldn’t even think about the possibilities while such treachery and defiance existed in my city.

“Do not apologize or feel shame. You look like the heart of flame itself.”

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