Page 50 of Aria's Ascension

Chapter 28

Aria barely had time to brace before he once again spun her around and shoved her against the wall, but that time he had his back to her. He was using his body to shield her.

The rough rock felt like daggers against her unreasonably sensitive skin. She bit back her gasp of pain, knowing he hadn’t meant to hurt her, and knowing it would only encourage her men to attack, but if he pushed her against the wall any harder, her skin was going to tear.

All she could see was the wide, muscular, scarred expanse of his back as he stood in front of her, but she didn’t have to look to know it was her men coming back in that set him off.

Gently laying her hands on his sides, she held onto him lightly, but she was ready to restrain him if he lept at them.

She kept her voice calm as she said, “Easy. They’re not here to hurt you or me. They’re my mates.” He went taut under her hands, but she kept going, hoping that if he could identify them he’d relax. “The one that smells like electricity is Kix, and the one with the smokey scent is Tirox.”

“Aria, tell me you are well. Now,” came Kix’s voice, tight with worry and aggression.

“I’m fine, babe. He’s just being protective.”

A dark chuckle preceded Tirox’s voice as he called out, “I smell your cunt, my heart. Did he eat you after all?”

The bald statement had her eyes widening and her cheeks feeling hot.

Suddenly thankful she was hidden from view behind the dragon man so they couldn’t see her blush, she snorted a short laugh and answered, “Don’t worry, Red. Nothing serious happened, which is what you were asking.”

The dragon man had been very still up to that point, but he turned to look over his shoulder, his eyes blindly searching for her face.

His expression was very, very blank, and that worried her.

“Mates?” he growled.

“Aessa, do not—”

She heard the warning in Kix’s tone, but she was already speaking.

“Yes, they’re my mates. Just like yo—”

He snarled viciously, cutting her off mid-word, and reached back to grab her thigh.

“Mine!”

Her eyes widened at the unexpected show of aggression before her stomach sank. All the progress she’d made was gone in an instant. He was retreating from her. Not physically. He was still poised to protect her from the non-existent threat of her men. No—he was retreating mentally. She could see the feral haze sliding back over his sightless eyes.

Trying to decide how best to handle his possessiveness without starting a fight or pushing him further away, she hesitated before answering.

Unfortunately, she must have hesitated too long, because he stiffened further, and his hand flexed, causing his sharp claws to bite into her skin.

It wasn’t intentional. She knew that. But, it fucking hurt. That time, she couldn’t stop her hiss of pain.

The sound seemed to shoot through her dragon like an electric prod. He jerked his hand away and reeled around, utter shock replacing his aggression.

“No,” he breathed, curling his hand into a fist.

He took a stumbling step away from her, horror spreading across his features when he felt the slickness on his claws.

Aria cursed under her breath and started to take a step toward him, but just then, the scent of her blood reached her barbarian.

A low, furious growl had her whipping her head around in time to see Tirox draw his gun and aim it at the dragon.

Darting forward, she moved to stand in front of him and pointed a warning finger. “Don’t even fucking think about it, Red!”

He narrowed his eyes at her and bared his teeth, but his tone was deceptively sweet when he spoke. “Aria, my beautiful little mate, I need you to move away from the moons-damned bastard so I can shoot him.”

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