Page 24 of Burned

Lord turns and pushes forward through the trees, but it takes me a second to catch up. He’s attractive, interesting, and kind. He could’ve killed the would-be robber, but he didn’t even harm him.

I’m reevaluating everything I’ve been raised to believe because of this man, and that scares the hell out of me.

Chapter

Nine

LORD

As I warned Alrick before we landed, it’s a two-hundred-mile journey into the mountains to meet with the dragon mage. Now that I’ve unintentionally exposed myself as a dragon, I could shift and fly us there in under five minutes. But I don’t mention that option and, surprisingly, neither does he.

I estimated that at a typical human walking speed, factoring in the need for rest and the fact that Alrick still isn’t in perfect physical condition, it should take us three or four days to reach our destination. That’s three or four days alone in the unpopulated, rolling green hills and lush forests, just the two of us. Surely, it’s reasonable to at least give my dragon this small consolation prize before severing the bond forever.

My heart lurches and my chest burns fiery hot at the thought, but what choice do I have? Stay mated to a dragon hunter forever? Spend thousands of years blissfully kissing his lush lips and learning all the ways to make him moan my name? Convincehim to fall in love with me and let me make him happy for the rest of our long, long lives?

My throat tightens and the longing in my chest grows so large it has a presence of its own right alongside my dragon. I swallow it all down and pick up my pace to keep up with Alrick. I expected we’d be moving at snail’s pace, especially in the dark with only the light of the half-moon overhead, but the Viking keeps up a slow jog, deftly navigating the hilly landscape.

He slows and looks over his shoulder at me.

“Be honest, Lord, should I be concerned about these strange, heavy feelings in my chest? Is it possible I’m still more wounded than either of us realizes? Or is this nothing more than the effects of the magic that saved me?” He huffs a little with exertion as I fall into step beside him.

“It’s definitely the effects of the magic.” I measure my words carefully. For some reason, I don’t want to lie to him, but I also can’t tell him the truth. We’ve finally found our way into a sort of truce after two days of a tense standoff, and the last thing I want to do is ruin that by confessing exactly how I saved him. “The… magic that saved you is likely causing you to experience some of my emotions secondhand.”

He stumbles over a rock in his path, and my hand shoots out reflexively to steady him, my fingers wrapping around his thick bicep. I can feel the faint flutter of his pulse under his skin, the heat from his body seeping into me even from this minute touch. The whole thing only lasts a moment before I yank my hand back and drag in a deep breath to keep my dragon at bay.

“I’m feelingyouremotions?” he asks. “I thought maybe the potion had caused some kind of connection to form between us, but I wasn’t sure that was truly the cause of these… feelings.” Alrick slows to a walk and rubs his hand over his chest in a slow circle, the same way he’s been doing since he woke up, as ifsimply soothing the feelings away will break our bond. If it were that easy, we wouldn’t have flown all the way to Scotland.

“Yes,” I answer hoarsely.

Through our bond, I can feel an answering tangle of emotions coming from him. Curious, pitying, confused… the list goes on. He’s quiet for a long while and I focus my attention on the stars overhead and the expanse of open wilderness ahead of us, our destination no more than a pinprick in the distance to my dragon eyes.

“You’re sad,” he says eventually, and my heart jumps. Alrick cocks his head, watching me as we walk, the back of his hand brushing against mine inadvertently. “And you’re confused, guilty, horny an excessive amount of the time…”

I huff out a laugh. “I didn’t ask for a full report.”

“Sorry. I think I’m just surprised.”

“Surprised that dragons have all the same emotions humans do? That our hearts can feel heavy with sorrow or light with joy the same as yours?” My voice is low and gruff. I can feel the warmth radiating off his skin and see the blush rising in his cheeks even in the darkness.

“Yes,” he answers softly. His fingers twitch, bumping against mine. I know he can feel the way the barely there touch makes my cock swell and my gut clench with the desire for more. And now he knows those feelings are coming directly from me.

Alrick glances at me out of the corner of his eye, and through our bond I feel a spike of answering desire.

I can also feel the conflict raging inside of him. He didn’t ask for a crash course on the emotional lives of dragons and he’s not sure what any of this will mean once he gets back to his family. This is all more complicated than either of us signed up for.

The feedback loop of lust we’ve accidentally created isn’t complicated at all though. It’s primal. It’s natural. It’s raw, animal need that’s difficult to deny now that we’re bothreasonably sure neither of us are an immediate threat to the other.

Alrick swallows hard and brushes his long hair off of his shoulder.

“Maybe we should find somewhere to rest for the night and continue in the morning,” he suggests in a casual tone that’s completely at odds with the nervous, hopeful, horny feelings crashing around inside of him.

“Yes,” I agree hoarsely. “Perhaps just inside the forest so we have some cover?” I nod towards the expanse of trees a mile to our left.

Alrick turns in that direction and speeds up to his jogging pace again, with me right behind him. When we reach them, I quickly gather some rocks and branches to create a firepit while he clears an area for the tent I packed.

I shrug off my pack and he crouches to unzip it.

“Did you bring matches to light a fire?”

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