Page 41 of Dragon Unhinged

I feel like she’s behind a veil, like she put a wall up, and even though I can feel a breath of her love wrapping around me, I can’t reach her. I can’t hear her thoughts. I can’t tell what emotions she’s feeling. Being cut off from her is by far the worst torture I’ve undergone.

Gods, I hope she’ll still come see me tonight. Or at least gives me some kind of sign she’s all right.

I can’t believe I let my dragon get so out of control. I can’t believe I let the beast roar. I know better. It’s not the first time I’ve been silenced.

I’m still in shock my dragon can still roar.

Declan?

Brianna. Her voice, even small and far away, feels like a thousand soothing balms.

I’m here. Come see me.

I’m drying my hair, and then I’ll be down. Do you need anything?

Just you.I’m not sure if I can do much more than just hold her tonight, but I need to see her. To touch her.

I need to know what was going on at dinner, who she was with and why they scared her.

I need to know that she’s still mine, that she knows I would never hurt her.

I need her.

Give me ten minutes. Then I’m all yours.

Ten minutes. Why not ask for a lifetime?

I feel my dragon scratching away at my mind again, itchy like sand trapped under my scales. Neither one of us like that she’s not rushing down here. Neither of us feel even remotely at peace.

If ten minutes can feel like that, how would I be able to survive if something worse happened? If something kept us apart for longer?

Hurry.

I’d knowher soft footsteps anywhere. I strain to listen to her move across the house getting closer and closer to the door that will bring her to me. The closer she gets the easier it is to feel her inside of me. Then her scent is like a faint whisper, like a dream fading when you wake up, only it’s getting stronger as she draws nearer.

Gods, I need her. I need her touch, her taste, her calming influence on my soul.

When the door handle to my cell turns, I’m on my feet in an instant, clearing the space across the small room to be close to her. “Brianna.”

She looks up at me, and I swear, I can feel the warmth from her grin all the way to my bones. “I’ve missed you.” Her dulcet voice washes over me and I revel in it.

Not wanting a moment more to pass without her body pressed to mine, I reach for her. Wrap my arms around her. Hold her close to me.

The unmistakable scent of a vampire fills my nose, and I draw up all my will to stop from roaring in fury. He touched her, I know he did. Is he the reason I couldn’t reach her?

“Who did you spend dinner with?” I manage to keep the accusation out of my tone, even though my dragon wants to rip something to shreds over the foreign stench.

“Just some family my father thinks he can use to further his political career.” She shrugs before snuggling in closer to my chest. “I just wanted to be down here with you, and it felt like an eternity.”

“They weren’t human. Or at least one of them wasn’t. Whoever was touching you.”

She pulls back, her brow furrowed in confusion. “No, they have to be human. My father wouldn’t allow non-humans at our table. He wouldn’t trust them anywhere near me. He may keep you as his possessions to fight at the coliseum or whatever, but he hates non-humans. Since the dragon made its appearance on national television, my father has been working with lobbyists and other like-minded men to make sure they have no rights.”

The truth in her words cuts, almost as deeply as when she said he was trying to mate her off to the boy. Of course, her asshole father wouldn’t approve of someone like me.

I’ve seen enough presentations of eligible sons trying to win my sister, Krystana’s, favor, I know it’s an unpleasant experience for females. Or at least it was for Krystana and if Brianna’s tone and facial expression is anything to go off, she hates it too.

But it doesn’t negate the fact that one of them, whether it was her potential betrothed, or one of the parents, is a vampire.

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