Page 35 of Born of Blood and Thorns

His hand grasped my arm before I could pull away, and his gaze flitted open to reveal crimson eyes. With a deep voice that resonated with his dragon's power, he claimed, "Mine."

Before I could even respond, he swiftly flipped me onto my back, positioning me on the chair beneath him. His intense gaze locked onto mine as he lowered his head, resting it gently on the flat expanse of my belly. Inhaling deeply, he seemed to imprint my scent into his memory, marking me as his own.

“You smell exactly as I imagined you would,” he murmured from above my thighs.

“How do I smell?” I asked through quickened breaths.

His nearness to my center was doing wild things to me. I was again in another nightshirt, having run down here in the morning light to check on him like a fool. For a moment, I thought perhaps this was another dream. I'd had a few lately that left me sweaty, needy, and unsatisfied as I longed for something only he could give me.

"I want to know if you taste like you smell," he murmured before trailing soft kisses down my body.

I didn't stop him as I moaned and arched into him. I was tired of fighting this attraction that pulled me to him. His hands lifted the fabric of my gown, finding me bare underneath, and a growl escaped his lips. I gasped when his tongue touched my center and pressed myself closer into him, begging him to feast on me, to take me. I was wanton in my desire and no longer cared to fight him.

"Like sweet nectar." He murmured against my thighs.

Goddess, did he feast like a man starved, rolling his tongue between my thighs until I was thrashing and bucking. Pleasure built inside me, taking me higher and higher until it crested, and I fell over a cliff of intense feeling that rocked my body. My cries became louder and as animalistic as the noises of approval Lore's dragon made against my center.

My body began to loosen as I melted into the chair. As Lore lifted his gaze to mine, red eyes no longer stared back at me. Instead, the cerulean blue of a winter's cloudless day stared into my soul. As I drifted back down, panting and spent, Lore, not the dragon, stared back at me, his gaze awash in wonder and horror. At that moment, I knew things between us had irrevocably changed. For better or worse, our fates were now entwined.

Lore ran his hands down his face and quickly moved back.

"I…" he began, opening and closing his mouth as if at a loss for words. "I'm sorry. That has never happened before. He hasn't appeared in my body in…" He stopped, shutting his mouth quickly. As if a dawning understanding washed over him, his body went rigid, his face closed off as he took one look at me, turned, and stormed off again, running away.

I tore after him, closing my robe angrily as I went.

"Don't you dare run away!" I bellowed at his back, anger hitting me like a searing pan. "We need to talk."

"Forgive me," he gasped. "I cannot...we should not…"

He turned from me then, muscles rigid with restraint. Disappointment pierced me, quickly followed by doubt. Did he not want me after all? Or did he fear where this dangerous pull between us led?

I watched the rigid set of his shoulders as he retreated, mourning the loss of what we had almost shared. Yet a tiny, traitorous part of me thrilled at having glimpsed desire in those crimson eyes. However, Lore fought it. That hunger yet burned for me. Next time, I vowed I would set it free.

I pursued him as he stalked through the rows of bookcases into the library, stopping briefly to look at my discarded blanket and half-read book. I grabbed his arm, holding him with all my might. As if I let up just a fraction, he would slip between my fingers. That he would leave me.

"Did you want to do that?" I demanded, refusing to let him go. I planted my feet in place.

He turned, his gaze tortured. "Did you?" he demanded as his features fell into horror as if he had done some unspeakable deed with me, the evil vampire.

I stilled, thinking about his question, and realized I had. I had wanted it. I didn't understand why. I planned to kill him, and yet, standing this close to him even now, I wanted him. His rejection was a deep cut, and I glared.

"I did want you, but now I'm having instant regret!" I snapped as I locked my legs in place and lifted my chin, my muscles quivering as I held the emotions in a tightly contained box.

Lore turned, staring at me. Everything changed. The horror and fear evident in his gaze changed, and I realized then that it wasn't disgust I'd seen or even regret. He felt he had done something wrong—to me. It was in the tense set of his shoulders and how his eyebrows drew together in a pained expression. "I am not a good man. You should run from me."

I regarded him for a moment. "No, you're not a good man, but you aren't evil either. I've seen evil. I've stared into it. You are not it.”

"You're wrong," he breathed, moving closer to me. "Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not there." He stopped, his eyes going hard as he considered me.

I didn't know why I did it, why I pushed the beast and tested the man. Some driving force within me screamed against my common sense; some creature had taken me over, and it purred, my chest rattling as I pressed up against him. That thought entered my mind once again: MINE.

It was a declaration, a claim that reminded me so much of what the dragon had said to me. This came from me, deep inside me, as if I, too, had a creature stretching out and unfurling her claws, testing the shell that was me as she scratched along the edges of my mind.

It was then I questioned whether I was indeed descending into madness.

Lore grabbed me roughly, pulling me toward him, his hands going to my face, cupping it, searching my gaze as if searching for answers. I had none.

There was a clash of teeth born of desperation as he pulled me toward him, and our lips molded together. This intense desire was created through a deep-seated loneliness that matched my own. Our souls tuned to each other as they sang together in perfect harmony. Our bodies craved the other's touch. A touch that burned our desires into a raging inferno. I could no longer deny it.

---