Page 78 of The Dragon King

I tugged her underwear to the side because I was too anxious to wait for her to get them off. I wanted to be surrounded by her slick tightness because I was a man with a beautiful woman on my lap. But I also wanted to be inside her because it was medicine in my veins. It healed my broken heart. It brought peace to my chaos. It slowed down time, made me forget the future and the past. It made me live in the moment…and cherish every second.

Chapter 14

Calista

When Talon and I arrived at the royal chambers, Queen Eldinar still hadn’t returned from her conversation with Macabre. My uncle sat at the dining table with a cup of coffee in front of him, wearing his regular clothes because he seemed to have dropped his guard while on the island.

He was quiet and uninterested in our company. Didn’t offer us anything and hardly looked at either of us. It seemed like we weren’t there at all.

It made me feel guilty.

Before I could address the tension in the room, Talon spoke. “I tried to talk her out of it.”

My uncle slowly turned his head to look at Talon. The stare said everything his lips didn’t.

“Multiple times.”

Uncle Ezra looked away, and the conversation seemed over before it started.

“He’s not mad at you,” I said. “He’s mad at me.” He wouldn’t hesitate to snap at Talon if he were angry, especially when Queen Eldinar was absent. So his anger must be directed at me instead.

When my uncle didn’t speak, I knew it was true.

“I’m sorry?—”

“You’re sorry?” He turned to me, eyebrows raised. “My wife has done enough for the dragons. She’s done enough for Riviana Star. She’s the one who stood in front of the Great Tree before the Death King joined the battle. And now you want her to travel across the world to raise her sword once again? How dare you ask this of her.”

My eyes dropped in guilt.

“I can’t protect her from this. I would beg her to stay behind, but I know she won’t.”

Talon intervened. “With all due respect?—”

“This conversation does not include you.” He said it without taking his eyes off me. “This is my wife. I’m supposed to die in the next few decades, but she’s supposed to live on for a very, very long time. I will never forgive you if she perishes?—”

“General.” Talon not only raised his voice but added his ire. “That was uncalled-for, and you know it.”

I couldn’t lift my gaze. I felt like shit. I wanted to help Talon, but I’d betrayed the only family I had left.

My uncle didn’t apologize. “I pity those dragons. Of course I do. But I care about my wife a lot more than anyone else on this earth, and now she’s involved in another war that doesn’t include us?—”

“ProtegoNia.”

We all stilled when we heard her voice behind us.

My uncle turned to regard her, and the sight of her instantly loosened his tight expression.

She approached the table, her white gown trailing behind her. “General, you’re excused.”

He remained in his chair, looking up at his wife as if he didn’t know how to obey an order he’d never received before. His anger slowly softened into unspoken remorse. “Your Majesty?—”

“I said, you’re excused.”

He stilled in the chair, emotion entering his face.

She waited for him to leave.

I felt responsible for all this turmoil.

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