Page 4 of Her Two Dragons

TRAPS AND REVELATIONS

Darius

This might’ve been the break Darius and Khalid were waiting for.

As soon as the Lapis Lazuli Clan heard about the dig near Alexandria, Darius’s father, King Marcus, insisted they both ingratiate themselves with the crew.

Marcus didn’t reveal why, or what he was afraid the humans would find if the ruins were uncovered. He issued orders, and it wasn’t for Darius to ask for more information.

Of course, neither dragon could’ve expected Michelle. The curvy blonde with blue eyes that almost rivaled the vibrant lapis stones of the clan and more sass and attitude than the fiercest warrior had caught both their eye. Although neither wanted to risk mating a human enough to get close enough to touch, Darius couldn’t deny the pull from the woman.

He also couldn’t deny that every day he watched her was one more day that he got closer to giving into temptation and risking following the Tourmaline and Garnet Clans into exile.

“What do you think? Should we go in?” Darius looked over his shoulder at Michelle, intent on going in whether she agreed or not.

“This is my discovery. No way in hell I’m letting you go in there first.” She pushed past him, leaning forward into the abyss. “In fact, I’m not sure you should go in there at all. It’s my grid, it’s my doorway. It’s my find.”

“I’m not trying to steal this from you. But the rest of the camp’s going to hear about this soon enough, and I want to see inside before everyone else gets down in there.” Darius smirked as he pulled a flashlight from his pack. “Now, are you going to lead the way, or should I?”

She snatched the flashlight from his hand and grinned.

Darius shook his head as she turned on the light before heading into the dark.

He’d let her lead, let her have her moment of discovery. But if she got close to anything that could lead to dragons being exposed in the human world, he would do whatever it took to keep her from seeing it first.

Even if it meant ending her, leaving her to be ravaged by the sands once the excavation was done. His orders were clear—keep dragonkind hidden. Whatever it took.

“Oh, Darius, this is incredible.” She shone her light around the cavern they’d entered, looking around like a kid who just found a candy store for the first time. “Can you believe it? We’re the first ones to see any of this in thousands of years.”

“And it’s all because of you.” He smiled as she twirled around. “It’s a great find. But you should really get Dr. Brighton before we go any further.”

“Just a little while longer. I don’t want to leave.” Michelle grinned. “I feel like we just stepped through time. Nothing’s changed, after all these years.”

Darius watched as she wandered deeper into the dark, following her with the help of his dragon sight and her scent. He couldn’t tell how she was navigating the dark, since her flashlight was pointed everywhere but the floor. It was almost as if she had a sense beyond her own, something guiding her.

“Where are you headed?” Alone, in this mostly enclosed space, with nothing but Michelle and the past, Darius was more and more aware of the effect she had on him. She wasn’t just an intriguing human, a feisty woman who got riled up easily. He didn’t like how much he wanted to grab her and pull her back against him, just to feel how that full ass, those curvy hips, would fit against him.

Michelle looked over her shoulder, her blonde hair almost looking like moonlight cascading down her back in the near-dark. “Wherever my feet take me, I guess. What’s wrong? Afraid of a little adventure?”

“Never.” He grinned at her, but his eyes flicked up to the paintings on the wall behind her. These weren’t just ordinary hieroglyphs. These ones referenced the dragons of old, the ones who originally brought lapis lazuli into Egypt.

These must’ve been the ruins his father didn’t want found.

And of course, it had to be Michelle who stumbled on them.

“Come on, we really should get out of here.” He reached forward, careful to grab her arm where her sleeve covered her bare skin.

As his fingers wrapped around her bicep, the floor gave way.

Michelle let out a shriek as her arms groped out to hold onto him tight.

Fuck, did she feel good pressed against him even in the midst of falling.

The fall wasn’t long, and as soon as they landed, the hole they fell through closed again, trapping them inside.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Michelle got up, pushing away from Darius like this was somehow his fault.

Darius looked her over, enhancing the beam from the flashlight with his own dragon’s sight, to make sure she hadn’t gotten hurt in the fall. It seemed the only thing bruised on the blonde was her pride. “There has to be a way out.”