Page 28 of Kidnapped Plus-Size Mate

Safe?

How am I safe in a dragon’s lair?

I’ve seen what he’s capable of when he fought his nemesis on the mountaintop.

He’d snap my neck in the blink of an eye.

I have to remain cautious.

“Don’t come closer!” I warn when he’s about to sit on the bed, my voice skittish as I scramble in the opposite direction. Close to the edge of the bed, I slide my feet off to prepare to make a run for it if I need to.

He remains calm and collected, sighing as he hangs his head.

“There’s no need for you to be afraid of me, Camilla,” he urges. “You’re safe now.”

I shake my head, unconvinced. He’s probably just trying to seduce me into trusting him, so I’m a willing candidate for his next meal.

“I don’t… I don’t trust you.”

“I understand,” he sighs despondently, lifting only his eyes to meet mine. He seems so remorseful, but it must be part of the act. “But I swear, you’re safe now.”

“Where am I?” I demand, feeling the ground under my feet. “Tell me where I am!”

Sterling stares at me as his eyes turn soft. “You’re on an island outside of the States.”

Panic erupts like fire in my chest, which fuels my need to escape. I’m on my feet, rushing toward the closest glass door I can find. My survival instincts kick in when he mentions an island as if I know that I’m about to be the dragon’s next meal, and I need to find a way out to save myself and spare my life.

I throw open the sliding door, hit by a cool breeze that does nothing to cool my frenzy. I bolt for the railings, gasping when I clench my hands over the wooden bar and find the ground a lethal distance away. If I jump, I’ll plummet to my death, according to basic instinct.

There must be another way.

I only catch a fleeting glimpse of the supposed island below, with all its beautifully woven details, as if it sprouted from my dreams. The flowers, the trees, the lush land. But I have no time to appreciate any of it.

It must be another trick the dragon man used to fool me into thinking that I’m safe here. He’s capable of the impossible.

The existence of dragons was impossible until today.

“Camilla…” he calls from behind, and I keep my body pressed to the rails as I turn around abruptly.

“I told you not to come any closer!” I yell, my mind turning into an incomprehensible abyss of dark thoughts.

Only one thought stands out from the rest, and I gasp when my grandmother’s voice grows louder.

Abuela…

She warned me against danger, against the “respirador de fuego.” The fire-breathing dragon.

I didn’t take heed of her warning or the instructions she gave me to protect myself against the dragon man. Her instincts were right, and I dismissed her warning as the ramblings of an old lady.

“I have to go!” I cry out with exasperation in my voice, spreading from the throes of the fears curling in the pit of my belly. “Please let me go,” I plead.

That’s all I have left—a desperate plea to the dragon man to set me free with tears welling in my eyes.

“I can’t, Camilla,” he refuses with a brisk shake of his head.

Half-expecting him to shift into dragon form and do the inevitable, I shut my eyes and turned my face aside.

“Just do it, then,” I murmur, shoulders slouching defeatedly.

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