Page 38 of The Dragon King

We have to assume he’s prepared—and be prepared in kind.

I returned to Riviana Star, walking through the patches of shade made by the tall trees, feeling the warmth through my armor and clothing when the sun hit me. The music was distant up ahead, but the birds sang their own song in the branches above me.

It was a long walk, but it was a peaceful one.

The elves who patrolled the border didn’t halt my passage. Didn’t ask me to abandon my sword and daggers. They just let me pass—like I was one of them.

Hours later, I arrived in Riviana Star, and the second I stepped in its vicinity, I could feel the sorrow. This place didn’t feel the same as when I’d arrived. It was no longer full of silent tranquility—but death.

I continued down the path and found Calista’s tree house. The springy vines were an odd staircase to have, and I worried she would fall over if she carried goods from the market to the top. But soon, we would be leaving, and I wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.

I let myself inside without knocking because this place felt like mine as much as it was hers. My eyes immediately went to the dining table where she sat, having dinner alone, probably a bowl of rabbit food with a green tea.

Her eyes widened at the sight of me, and a burst of affection exploded in her gaze.

I wished I could feel her emotions the way I felt Khazmuda’s, but I would have to settle for the sight of her heart on her sleeve. It was hard not to smirk at her joy, how visibly happy she was that I’d returned, how much she wanted me and was unafraid to show it.

She left the table and moved straight into me, her soft body hitting my armor, rising on her tiptoes as she hooked her arms around my neck to kiss me.

I gave her a boost, scooping my arm under her ass to bring her to eye level with me so I wouldn’t have to angle my neck down to kiss her. She felt light in my arms, feeling smaller than the two-handed sword I wielded in battle.

Her fingers dug into my hair as she kissed me, showing me how much she’d missed me in the brief time we’d been apart. It had been less than two days, but it felt a lot longer than that. Her hand cupped my face, and she looked at me as her thumb brushed over my cheek, regarding me with a love so powerful it was like looking straight into the sun. “I missed you.” Her words were barely above a whisper.

“And I you.”

“Did you eat?”

“Yes.” Khazmuda had hunted for us both, and we’d shared a meal like old times.

“Do you feel better?”

“I do, but I think it’s because of you.” A pain had weighed on my heart ever since I’d spoken with Khazmuda. The pain was always there, a permanent part of me like my beating heart, butwhenever I was with her, it dimmed considerably. In our most peaceful moments, I didn’t notice it at all.

Her thumb rested in the corner of my mouth, and she paused to stare at me, her eyes descending into the depths of emotion. “Take me to bed.”

“What about your dinner?”

Her lips came back to mine. “You’re my dinner.”

A flush of heat ripped through me when I heard the desire in her voice. Women had always wanted me, but the longing felt different when it came from Calista. It hit me deeper, burned me hotter.

I carried her to the rumpled bed she hadn’t made and dropped all the pieces of my armor and my uniform, stripping down to my bare skin and hard dick.

She was naked on the bed underneath me, hard nipples aimed at the ceiling, her hair in a beautiful disarray behind her. Her sex was already glistening, like she was desperate for me the second I walked through the door.

I took her invitation and slid between her soft thighs, feeling the warmth of her flesh, and sank inside her as our eyes locked. It had taken a lifetime of patience to have this moment with her, to fix everything that asshole had broken, and now the connection between us was pure fire. It was both physical and emotional, no barriers between us at all, no walls around her heart.

I felt my breath escape when I felt how fucking slick she was, how her body responded to me with a flood of enthusiasm. My dick twitched inside the place I called home as I folded her legs underneath me. Her eyes were already dazed with pleasure, andher lips were already pursed for the moans she knew she would release.

I started to rock into her slowly, not for her benefit, but mine. Because…damn.

Her hands were all over me, sometimes on my chest, sometimes in my hair. She would cup the back of my neck and bring my lips to hers, kissing me as I continued to rock into her, showing me a confidence that was so fucking sexy.

I wouldn’t last, not when she was the sexiest damn thing in the world.

“Come inside me,” she whispered against my lips, her fingers still in my hair. “It feels so good.”

My entire body halted as I closed my eyes. It had taken a lifetime to earn her trust, and now she was a better lover than all my favorite courtesans. But it was also better because it was more than physical. It had the kind of depth I hadn’t known in a long time. It was beyond the flesh, deeper than a heated moment between two strangers in a pub. It was so real it fucking hurt. I filled her with a moan I couldn’t suppress, feeling the glow of the afterlife my cursed shadow couldn’t defeat. Everything turned golden, like sunshine on a summer morning, chasing away the winter weeds.

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