Page 36 of Princess of Draga

Without thought she struggled to free herself. There was no finesse, no beauty or grace. Adelina simply had to get away from his intoxicating scent before she did somethingstupid.

“You’ve got fire, little cat!” Nash exclaimed. “I am glad you proved me wrong, but I am still stronger than you are. The gravity on my planet isdenser.”

“Fire,” she muttered, thinking of the roaring inferno he’d lit inside her. “You could call it that.” Her heel came down hard on his instep and he yelped, releasing her in surprise and pain. Once she was a safe distance from him she glared at Nash. “I do not know what cats you have on your planet, but they are not littlehere.”

“Will you ride with me?” Prince Nash asked, taking a step towards her. The smile on his face was gone and his eyessparkled.

“You wish to ride thegalinas?” she asked, stepping back. “Do you remember what happened the last time you tried? One nearly guttedyou.”

Nash followed her step for step until her back was against a column and Adelina had nowhere else to run. “I want to see you ride,” he said, voice deep andguttural.

An image of her riding him flashed across her mind and the tingling was back in full force. Oh how she wanted to play. How Adelina wanted to tell him he could see her ride his cock only if he begged forit.

Her fingernails bit the flesh of her palms again. Nash’s eyes flashed green and his nostrils flared. He grabbed her wrist and inspected the welling blood in her palm. “I thought I smelled the blood of a royal. Explain this to me,” he demanded, shaking her hand. His whole body was tensed, ready forwar.

“Explain what, PrinceNash?”

His aapoak eyes sparked fire at her and he brought her hand up to his mouth and she watched with wide eyes, too shocked to stop him. Nash licked the blood from her palm slowly, gently, and with enough passion in his eyes to make her wonder how his tongue might feel on herelsewhere.

“Don’t play games with me little princess. I do not appreciate you hurting yourself. Tell me what is wrong or this sparring session isover.”

Adelina’s mouth dropped open. Never had she had someone quite so aware of her before. She shook her head. “I can’t.” There was no way to explain to him what was wrong without bringing up speculations about hergenetics.

Was she even her mother’schild?

If Nadyah was right and her genes were those of a courtesan’s the only sensible explanation was Elara. If Elara was her mother, why would they keep it a secret when Ian was still a legitimate heir? She shook her head again as his eyes hardened into cold gems. Adelina could tell no one until she knew the truth for herself. Then she would have to decide what she would do with thattruth.

Prince Nash turned and left the gymnasium without another word and Adelina couldn’t look away from his strong back. When he was out of sight she could finally breatheagain.

Her hands trembled and she looked at the palm of her left hand, the one he had caressed so gently with his tongue. Adelina’s eyes widened and she brought her hand closer to her face, inspecting the perfectly smoothskin.

She turned both hands palms up. They shook harder as she held them side by side. The left was completely healed, no trace of the damage she’d done with her nails. The right bled freely. Adelina looked up searching for Prince Nash, but he was nowhere to beseen.

Chapter Ten

Adelina

Stella diDraga

Planet DragaTerra

Adelina liftedthe hood up on her cloak and made her way to the hatch inside the gymnasium showers. She and Giselle had found the entrance to the tunnels cycles ago. The hatch opened without a sound. The first time had been loud enough to wake the dead before she and her sister could oil the ancienthinges.

Adelina jumped the short distance down, ignoring the ladder. Even in the pitch-dark she remembered where everything was. The two of them had practiced enough it was secondnature.

Tugging on her gloves she moved out of Giselle’s way. Adelina had needed this, this stolen freedom from her life as a princess. It had been too long since the last time she’d escaped into the city. The last time she had gone alone…until Alpha had found her. She had promised to warn him the next time she escaped, but after their temporary falling out she wasn’t so sure she wanted him tagging along; especially when she had a very specific reason for going to theLadrole.

Giselle landed nimbly – more graceful strength than Adelina could ever manage. “You locked your rooms and warned your guard off?” Giselle whispered in the darkness. Since Alpha had walked away from Adelina her sister refused to say his name despite their familiarity, he had grown up with them and she had reduced him to his rankonly.

“I told him Nadyah and I would be practicing thecamerraletoand not to disturb us,” she whisperedback.

They were so far from prying eyes and ears they had no need to whisper, but the fear and adrenaline made them both cautious. For almost five cycles the two of them had been sneaking out of the palace and not once had anyone suspectedanything.

“And Nadyah will be meetingus?”

Adelina grabbed her sister’s hand in the pitch-black and placed her other on the wall of the tunnel. “She’s going to meet us at the palace wall. I had her take the tunnel we opened under thekitchens.”

They walked quickly. Adelina counted steps in the back of her mind. Giselle had gone through and marked the tunnels one night with a bioluminescent paint. The symbols told them which part of the city they were in and the directions to different landmarks and areas. In the dark everything looked the same. Her boots splashed through a puddle and despite knowing the sewage tunnels were long unused, the concept still made Adelina uncomfortable. She wrinkled her nose and reminded herself it was onlyrainwater.

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