Page 22 of Dance with the Dragon Duke

He stopped her then, just for a moment. His hand cupped her face, tilting it upward. His palm was dragon hot and gentle.

“You were right,” he said, trapping the drop of snow that landed on her cheek with the pad of his thumb. “Snow makes everything even more beautiful.”

Tomorrow blushed so fiercely she no longer felt the cold on her face at all. Before responding, she craned her neck to confirm her suspicion. None of the guests in the courtyard were close enough to have heard him say that, not the mother and daughter and not the group by the gates.

“You need not pretend now.” She wet her lips, thinking of that kiss again. “Why are you being so sweet to me?”

His mouth quirked. “Because I’m your—”

A great howl rent the air. More wolves joined the chorus, and Tomorrow leapt from the duke, startled by the unexpected noise.

“Everything is fine,” Dark soothed. “The King of Night keeps wolves as pets. They must be feeding them.”

“Not unless we’re their food,” Tomorrow whimpered as a short, wood-paneled door opened in the stone wall.

A pack of massive Lunar beasts rushed out, filling the courtyard in a frenzy of beating paws and gnashing teeth.

Chapter 6

Dark

The wolves charged toward the fae woman and her young daughter first, and Dark’s hands made fists. Huddled together under the great stone oak tree, the woman and child were the closest feast. The gaggle of guests near the gates sprinted inside the main house, screaming for help as more wolves filled the lawn.

“Not the child!” Tomorrow gathered up her skirts.

He reached for her. “Tomorrow, don’t—”

But she was already running. She’d said the poison had taken her grace, but she was still surprisingly quick-footed when fueled by panic. She sped out of Dark’s reach, kicking up snow, slipping momentarily in the powder before barreling through the nearest drift.

Dark was at her heels, terrified to his marrow for her. Images of razor-sharp claws and snapping wolf teeth tearing through all her soft flesh flooded his mind. The bond pounded to life in his chest, heating him from the inside out. Ash billowed from his nostrils.

She was younger than he was and mostly mortal, not likely capable of battling giant wolves. As immortals aged, their muscles hardened and thickened. It made them stronger but slower than those who had seen fewer centuries. He was slower than Tomorrow.

The fae mother grabbed up her daughter, pushing the child behind her the way Dark desperately wanted to shove himself between his delicate mate and all those wild wolves.

The beasts circled their prey.

“Look here!” Tomorrow shouted, waving her arms over her head.

The wolves hunkered down, showing their teeth, but as Tomorrow continued her racket, they turned their attention away from the mother and child and sharpened their eyes on her instead.

Tomorrow slowed. “Dark, stop,” she said, her voice strong and sure.

Caught off-guard, Dark listened, halting in the snow feet away from her. “Come here,” he hissed at her back.

“I’m Seelie,” she reminded him calmly, spreading her hands wide for the beasts in a pacifying gesture. “Ferocious things tend to like me.”

Thinking of the fairies and his own fondness for her, he could confirm her words were true, but that didn’t make him any more comfortable with her getting closer to those furry monsters. The nearest wolf snarled and snapped at her.

“Oh, hush you,” Tomorrow said sternly.

The wolf licked his muzzle and whined.

“Jonas!” the mother cried.

From the balcony above, the Lunar fae with brown skin and bracketed horns leapt over the stone rim. He landed hard on the ground, crashing into a snowbank. Stumbling to his feet, he recovered in a way only a full-blooded immortal could.

“Keep looking at me, you silly beasts,” Tomorrow clapped her hands together as father joined mother and child beneath the white tree.

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