Page 25 of Don't Fae With Dragons

He just shakes his head. “We can talk about Ethelinda later, but for now, you’re not to leave my sights. You’re in my domain now, which means I am responsible for you and you respond to what I say. Here, I am in charge. In the meanwhile, you can relieve yourself of my dragon saliva - go bathe, then come to the hall for dinner. One of the volcano’s guardians will lead you to the bathing chambers then to your room. This ismybedroom after all.”

With that, he simply turns and begins to walk out of the room.

I call after him, “Where are you going?” feeling an urge to run to him overcome me, pulling me to him. Probably those pheromones again. He turns back to me, resting a hand briefly on the obsidian door frame, and I stare again into his deep hazel eyes. After a moment, though, he knocks his knuckles on the door, face unreadable. I open my mouth to speak again, but he rings a bell hanging at the door and it sounds throughout the room. I close my eyes, wincing at the sudden sound; when I open them again, he is gone.

CHAPTER 17: MILI

As promised, one of the volcano’s guardians walks me to the bathing rooms. She’s quiet, but she looks at me with some skepticism.

She walks beside me, matching my pace, and I feel somehow caught in some strange power game. I slow down to give her time to go ahead, but she stays right beside me. Odd. I glance sidelong at her and see her with a mean glint in her eyes, although she’s nearly smiling. Her hair is shiny and brown, like polished bronze, and her eyes are cold blue. Her eyes flick to mine, and I swear her smile twitches a little higher.

“What’s your name?” I ask, uncomfortable with the silence.

“Kallichor,” she replies.

After pausing awkwardly, and waiting in silence for her to ask for my name in return, I just say politely, “I’m Milica, the healer of Ethelinda, but please call me Mili. Do you like living here?”

She nods. “Yes. I like serving Cory, too. He’s brave, wise and ... very handsome,” she remarks with a cutting grin.

I frown quietly. Is she ... jealous? Yes, he’s very handsome but that’s not why I’m here. I wouldn’t have come unless I absolutely had to, and Icertainlydidn’t plan on injuring myselfand having Cory’s mouth juice all over me. It was his choice to help me by engaging in full service first aid on my body - tongue and lips edition ... though I know I should be grateful ... for more than just the healing. Perhaps she can tell that I have no intention of leaving the volcano until Cory agrees to help me – some feeling that I’ve encroached upon her territory, maybe? I need Cory to help me save Ethelinda, though, so I don’t have a choice but to stay. He helped me heal, anyway, so he must not entirely begrudge me for coming unannounced and unwelcomed. But what about his guardians?

“You should know,” she interrupts cheerfully, “that Cory submits to no one, andcommitsto no one. I’m sure you think he’s very handsome and everything, but he doesn’t let himself get ‘tied down.’”

“I don’t know what you mean,” I lie.

The girl turns to me with a bright smile, though her eyes are cold. “No, I suppose not.” She looks me up and down, and I realize I’m half naked in torn clothes and glistening with Cory’s saliva.

The memory of him licking me overcomes me all of a sudden, then, and my breath hitches. He felt warm, but dangerous, too – it was completely erotic, in a way I’ve never experienced before. Then I look to the guardian girl, and my mind begins to reel with the thought of Cory and her together. At the thought of them both, touching and moaning, my frown deepens.

She stops in front of a door and opens it with a flourish of her hand – magick, so she must be a wizard. My heart suddenlyaches with the memory of Chrysthinia, but I steel myself so as not to appear weak in front of this girl.

Steam billows out from the doorway immediately, along with the smell of eucalyptus and lye. There’s a whiff of fresh apple and green leaves, too; reminds me of the crisp air and clean feel of the rain.

“Goodbye,” Kallichor says without ceremony. “By the way, Cory asked that a silken robe and linen towels be brought to you, they should be inside.”

Then, just like that, she’s off down the hall, quickly turning a corner and vanishing from my sight. I shake my head at the strange encounter, then make my way into the bathing chamber.

The smell of fresh rain grows stronger, and it’s clearly a masculine essence but I don’t see yet who’s causing it.

Maybe there was a man and he left. Since I’m here, and the man is nowhere to be seen, I suppose I have to bathe. I sigh wearily and wince as I remove what’s left of my clothes and put on the robe, the lovely, silken thing Cory left for me. It’s a soft, muted shade of purple, and it makes me think of a lavender field in a late summer day.

I wonder where he got such a delicate garment from, and why he even has it when he lives in such a brutal place. I’d always heard that the volcano’s dragons were fierce, violent, and merciless – it seems strange they’d leave room for such small beauties as this. He licked me so tenderly, too, almost like a healer. Very strange.

Suddenly, a quiet voice calls to me, “Milica?”

I whirl around with a start, crying out from the pain of the sudden movement, and see one of the would-be assassins in a kimono-style robe behind me. The refreshing scent of apple and green leaves is strong, radiating from him like a summer rain, and I marvel how I was so deep in thought as to not better sense his presence.

“Don’t be afraid,” he says softly raising his hands towards me to signal he’s not a threat. “I’m so sorry we met on such ... questionable terms. I’m Porthos, but please, call me Port. Everyone does.”

I press the unfurled silk robe to my body, trying in vain to cover my exposed skin. He doesn’t so much as glance down, though; he maintains intent eye contact with me, hooded dark blue eyes like the sea, vibrant but serene.

He’s handsome, like Cory, but in a much different way. Port has a smooth, fair-to-light complexion. His skin appears luminous, with a natural glow leaning toward a clear, porcelain finish. Where Cory has a rugged look, with messy, tousled hair, Port has a fresh and polished look. His hair is dark with a blue shine to it, long enough for his subtle layers to reach below his shoulders. I have the sudden urge to wrap my fingers in it and pull him into me. His lips are full and round – he looks like he’d be an excellent kisser.

Something about him automatically draws me in, but not with the tantalizing force of Cory. This man is sensual in a subtle way, like tendrils of steam you can twine your fingers warmly in. He feels like an equal, almost; like we could tangle up together and never leave the bed, just taking turns loving each other gently.

The thought of it makes me blush, and he cocks his head to the side sweetly.

“Are you nervous?” he asks. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to make you worried. Please, let’s get in the water.” Then, without a hint of self-consciousness, he removes his robe and hangs it on a silvery rack. My eyes go wide at the size of him, and I quickly avert my eyes as my cheeks redden more.

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