Page 25 of Tempting Her Dragons

“It looks so good,” I say, smiling as I pick up the fork.

“It’s nothing elaborate, but we are simple men,” King says.

“I don’t like fancy,” I assure him. I haven’t had a man cook for me for a long time. Micah used to all the time, but we haven’t spent as much time together lately. I dig in, groaning at the first taste, realizing I haven’t been eating like I should. Shifters need more food than humans; we need the fuel to run our bodies. Using so much energy last night caused my energy to dump.

“Good?” Mav asks.

“Delicious,” I say, licking the egg off my fork. “Your mom was a great teacher. She must have started your lessons early,” I tease.

“We were thirteen when she had us take turns cooking with her,” Mav says.

“Did you just watch before that?” I ask, scooping up some potatoes.

“We didn’t live with her yet,” Mav says.

“You didn’t?” They share an intense look.

“She didn’t kidnap us until we were twelve,” King says.

“What?” Holy shit.

Chapter Seven

Kingston

Her fork dropping to her plate is the only sound after my statement. I have a problem. Being blunt comes easy to me. Sometimes, people don’t appreciate the trait. I’ve tried to go easy with her. I wanted to tell her what we do, but she brushed it off. Our lives have changed overnight, and it’s going to take time to reveal all our secrets. I have a burning in my chest, urging me to stay by her side, ease her in whatever way she wants, and gain her trust.

“King, maybe you should expand,” Mav says. He likes to say he is the more easygoing of the two of us, but he can be just as honest.

“Sorry,” I say, watching her shocked face ease. “I can sense your unease with our bond. You don’t know us. We are two rough, antisocial men who were lucky enough to find you. I’m going to tell you a bit about our lives. It may help you open up.” She pushes her plate away and folds her arms across the counter. “We are brothers by choice, not blood. Our parents were friendsand spent almost every day together. So we have been friends for a long time.

“Dragons have been hunted since the beginning of our time in existence. Mostly by humans, but shifters also want our power to study us or just to have the bragging rights from taking down a dragon. We just want to be left the fuck alone. Our parents felt we were better off in a pack. They didn’t use their powers often, fearing someone would see or sense us. As you know, when you don’t use them, they become dormant, and you can’t call on them easily.” I take a few steps back, leaning on the counter, my hands gripping the edge. I haven’t spoken about that time of our lives in many years.

“Someone did,” she guesses.

“Yes.” I grind my jaw, trying to find the words. “We were eight when they came. Men with hatred, knives, and greed. It was the middle of the night, and we were asleep. I slept over many nights with Mav. Our parents would stay up, but on this night, our moms went to bed early. While drifting off, I heard them settling in one of the rooms together.” I close my eyes, picturing their faces. “I don’t know how they knew about us or how they overpowered our dads.” I open my eyes and look into hers, and she cringes from the rage she sees. “We woke up to screams I heard in my dreams for a long time. We were terrified and didn’t know what was happening, but we knew we had to get to our moms.” My stomach rolls.

“We saw them how a son should never see them,” I whisper. “They were violated in every way a woman could be.”

“No,” Saphira cries.

“One of the men was still on top of my mom. He looked into my eyes as he slashed her throat. I won’t tell you the things he did while he smiled at my helplessness. He enjoyed abusing her, killing her. He thrived on our fear. Mav crawled to his mom, but she was gone. Her body couldn’t heal from what they did.”Mav stares at his plate, and I know he is back there with me. “Everything was destroyed in the room that our dads were in. They tried to fight, but there were too many of them, and some were shifters. We thought we would be next; for many years, I thought it would have been a mercy if they would have killed us.”

“They took you?” Saph asks, tears glistening.

“They wanted to use us,” I snarl. “There are many who want to use us for their own gain. There are rumors that if you capture a dragon, you will get their treasure, and good luck will come to you. Our parents must have put up too much of a fight; it was easier to capture us.”

“Fucking assholes thought we would bring them riches,” Mav grits out but doesn’t lift his head.

“They kept us locked in a closet. Once a day, they would throw food inside. Twice a day, we would be let out to use the bathroom. Three times a day, they would take us out separately and demand we shift; when we wouldn’t, they would beat us bloody.” Saphira covers her mouth. “I should leave the rest for another time,” I say. I don’t want to disgust her or make her live with our nightmares.

“No,” she says. “Tell me all of it.” I stare into her eyes for a beat to test her seriousness. She doesn’t like hearing it, but is willing to. Her scent is covered in sympathy.

“That was how we lived for four years. I wondered why they didn’t give up. We didn’t give them what they wanted, and as the years went by, we must have served as entertainment if nothing else.” I stare at Mav’s bent head. “We saw things a young child should never witness. They lived as if no one was watching. They stole, cheated, lied, killed, and abused everyone who wasn’t in their little group. We fought every time we were let out, trying to run.”

“I gave up,” Mav whispers.

“You fucking didn’t,” I growl harshly. “After four years of hell, we decided to stop. We had to stop. They didn’t give us clothes or blankets. We slept on the hard floor of an empty closet when we could. Instead of resisting, we played nice in some ways. Despite their best efforts, we refused to shift. Our dragons hadn’t been free for four years, and we made a pact we wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing our animals.” I cross my arms, my fingers digging into my skin. “If we didn’t give them pushback, maybe they would give us more freedom and more chances to escape. Our energy was next to nothing; our muscles had deteriorated, and we hadn’t been in the sun since they took us.

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