Page 12 of Her Two Dragons

It was one thing to imagine what the curvy blonde would feel like pressed against his body, or to wonder what her plump, berry-colored lips would taste like. But to actively pursue a human, to purposefully touch her to see if she lit up his heartstone…was going too far.

“You say that like you would deny your mate if your heartstone were to light up for a human.” Darius’s eyes shifted back to Khalid, but his entire body was pointed toward Michelle.

“I’m not the prince of a clan. I’m not likely to risk excommunication if the fates chose a human for my mate.” Khalid picked up his trays. “And if I had a woman like Michelle for my mate, I wouldn’t give her up for the world.”

He didn’t wait for Darius to respond. He knew the prince could just as easily interject his opinion at any time, thanks to their ability to communicate telepathically. But he didn’t expect a response. If anything, he imagined that Darius was a mess of emotions, trying to decide what to do.

“Took you long enough. What did you and Darius talk about?”

“Political quandaries, nothing more. Tell me what you found.”

Michelle grinned as she took her tray. “It’s incredible, Khalid. I can’t wait to get back down there. There are hieroglyphs I’ve never seen before, arranged in ways that beg to be studied. I just know that this structure, those rooms, are going to lead to everything I so desperately want to find.” She ate intermittently between exciting bits of story, almost as if she felt like she had to, but she hardly looked like she was even tasting the food. Her eyes were bright, and her excitement seemed contagious.

“Word around camp is that you’ve made the discovery of the dig. No one else has even gotten close to getting inside anywhere.” Khal wanted to reach out, to touch her, to see if maybe he could ease his prince’s concerns over the woman by mating her himself.

All right, he knew that was a beyond selfish thought. As tempting as she was, as engaging and enticing, he didn’t really care. He would’ve betrayed his friend in an instant, for just a taste of the woman.

“Come to dinner with me tonight in Alexandria.” The words tumbled out of his mouth before he had a chance to really think about what he was asking.

Her eyes grew wide for a second before a pink flush crept into her cheeks and chest. “I can’t do that.” She shook her head harder than he felt was necessary. “I mean, I want to. But I didn’t pack clothes to go out in. I would need somewhere I could get a real shower, not just a quick rinse down in the tents set up here. If I were going to do a date, I’d want to do it right.”

Khal smiled softly. “Maybe before you head home. One night, out on the town?”

She sighed wistfully. “God, I don’t even want to think about going home yet. This whole trip is more than I could’ve possibly hoped for. I don’t want it to end.”

Khalid picked up his water bottle and took a long, slow sip, watching the blonde over the top edge. He didn’t want to think about her leaving either. If anything, he wanted to make sure she stayed here with him, wearing his heartstone. He ached for her, for the chance to touch her, to run his fingers through her long, blonde hair. To grip her curves as he kissed her, as he made her wet with desire just for him.

Darius’s voice in his head was like ice as he said, For her, I’d give up everything.

Fuck.

As much as he wanted to go against his prince, to claim the woman who had haunted his dreams for days, his loyalty above all else was to Darius. If the prince thought he had a claim, he couldn’t stand in the way.

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