Page 41 of Terragnata and the Heir of the Earth

“And feel free to beg,Bellatori.” His whispered words tickled my skin, sending a shiver down my spine. “It will only serve to delight me more.”

He kissed me on top of the head, like that was that.

But of course, that wasnotthat—I was fuming with desire and mortified at the denial. In no world was I going to beghim, but I had a better idea. I almost lost the nerve to lack of experience, but I looked back at Ezren, eyes closed with a stupid smirk pasted to his face.

If you tease, I tease, Dragon shifter.

I unbuttoned the top of my trousers, noting the twitch in his ears. I slipped my first two fingers into my mouth, wetting them. And then, I ran them down the opening of my pants, making small circles on my point of pleasure, like Leiya had instructed me so many days before. A bolt of something foreign ran through me, and my body jerked. The feeling seemed to coil through my abdomen, all the way to a heat in my throat. I continued for longer than I’d planned—delighted by the unexpected lightness the new sensation conjured—before I remembered why I’d begun in the first place. I looked back at Ezren to find him staring at me with what I could only describe as murderous lust.

He rose, slipping underneath my blanket in the blink of an eye. He towered over me and drew my hand from my trousers. “Do not move a muscle,” he growled into my ear.

Before he replaced my hand with his own, Parson appeared out of nowhere.

“Oh good, you’re up,” he said to Ezren. “We have to wake everyone. Fayzien is almost here.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

NAMELESS VALLEY

Not much could have killed my desire then, given how my new Fae body seemed to have needs I wascompletelyunprepared to control. But at the mention of Fayzien, the heat in my veins turned to ice, and I leapt to my feet faster than I was used to, buttoning my trousers.

Ezren laid a steadying hand on my back. “Where?”

He’s here, he’s here, he’s here.A primal charge surged through my veins—activating my every nerve.

“I saw some movement in the valley, so I shifted to get a closer look. It was Fayzien; I’d know those blue eyes anywhere. He has a full Viri company with him.” Parson grimaced.

“Shit,” Ezren muttered.

I forced air through my nostrils, blowing out the fear churning with a dizzying need for revenge. “What’s a company?”

“A Viri company? Oh, maybe five hundred warriors at best, a thousand at worst,” Dane answered from behind us. “Don’t worry, sweet Terra, your lover here can probably kill a hundred Fae foot soldiers with a single fiery exhale.”

My jaw loosened at the word lover.

“I will not slaughter Viri warriors, as I’ve told Jana numerous times. Nor will I expose my shift to a thousand witnesses. Butthank you for the clear admiration of my skill in battle,” Ezren shot back.

The blurring fury Fayzien’s name dredged up in me ebbed for a moment. Viribrum was a Fae kingdom at odds with the Witches of Drakkar. So at odds, Jana thought them set to invade. My return was supposed to quell that tension.

“Why would Fayzien have the support of Viri warriors?” He had supposedly acted for the Nebbiolon Witch Queen in kidnapping me—and killing my sire—due to believing I threatened his position.Why would he have thousands of Fae soldiers at his disposal?

“I have no idea.” For the first time, Dane was without an answer.

He’s here.My blood sang for action, to demand why he murdered them, to gift him with the same fear he’d forced on my mother when he stole her life.

We woke the remaining slumberers. Under Jana’s direction, we packed up and headed for higher ground. She wanted a full picture of Fayzien and the company before we made a move.

We crept through the brush. I did my part, thickening the wood for additional cover and parting the foliage when we advanced off-trail. And as I did, I inhaled every ounce of magic I could. Storing—building.

Today will be the last day he draws breath.

Eventually, we came to a clearing with a small rock overhang. We left the horses and a few soldiers under tree cover. Jana, Ezren, Parson, Dane, and I approached the edge, and I let the bushes stretch a little so that we could crouch behind them.

The sky wore a hazy bronze color, indicating the hour before dawn. Even from a mile out with no sunlight, I could tell it was Fayzien. I suppose the combination of my improved range of vision and intuition solidified the recognition, for a female canalways sense the wrongness of a male who transgressed against her.

“Can we maneuver around them?” Dane asked. “Portal, perhaps?”

“Dane, you know how dangerous it would be to split up. And don’t think for a minute Fayzien wouldn’t sense the portal and intercept you. We have to be strategic,” Jana replied.

---