Page 7 of Mated

“Say it,” he demanded, his voice slithering around me.

I stared into his eyes, took a deep breath, and said what he wanted to hear. “I’m the queen of Blood Ash. I'm your mate.” I leaned in until our faces were close together. “And together we’ll rule.”

I’d never be a prisoner again. I’d never have a man control over me again.

Iwas the one who ruled now.

4

PRINCESS ELOWEN

The entire castlethrummedafter Draxus spoke those words., the energy shifting all around me.

A deep, resonating vibration moved through the stone walls and the floors, rising my legs until I braced my hands on the edge of the table to steady myself.

The flames in the hearth blazed into a frenzy, and the lava veins glowed so bright I had to close my eyes from the flare.

I gasped and snapped my eyes open when my wrist felt hot and painful and looked down at the mark on my wrist. The brand seemed to glow like the rest of the room, reminding me why I was here and who I belonged to.

Draxus’s tail wrapped around the leg of my chair and pulled me close to him. He leaned closer, his nostrils flaring, his inhuman pupils dilating into thin, dangerous slits, reminiscent of a lizard’s.

And then he inhaled deeply, taking in scent and purring in approval.

“My queen,” he rumbled, his voice thick and primal, “how pleased you make me.”

I should’ve been afraid. I should have looked at his unusual, inhuman being and only seen something grotesque. Perhaps a part of mewas. But a bigger part—the one buried deep, hidden away—was turned on by the darkness.

It made me feel powerful.

Draxus rose slowly to his terrifying height, towering over me, eclipsing the firelight with his muscular body and powerful shell covering his back.

His massive, clawed hand came to the back of my hair. He gripped a fistful of the strands and forced me to look up at him.

Before I could speak, Draxus lifted me effortlessly from the chair and cradled me against his massive chest. I clutched at him instinctively, feeling the rough, scaled texture of his body through the thin remains of my ruined dress and against my fingertips.

I let my hand run along his cold, hard, yet surprisingly smooth shell that covered his back.

“Now,” he seemed to purr like a feline instead of the lizard-like creature he appeared to be, “ it’s time to get cleaned up.”

I felt my body stiffen because I knew where he was taking me. He carried me across the dining hall, his gait powerful, unstoppable.

The ghoulish servants melted out of the shadows again, bowing low until their grotesque bodies were parallel with the floor so close they could kiss the stone.

Before long, we were moving down a long, barren hallway, his claws scraping along the stone, seeming to make this situation even more ominous.

Finally, we stopped in front of a set of heavy, twin doors. As if he mentally willed them, they swung open inward with a groaning screech. I held my breath as I took in the room before us.

Just inside the chamber, shrouded in shadow and a frightening chill, was his bedroom. I knew it without the words being said. The only light came from a large pit in the center of the room, the steel basin filled with… lava. Veins of it forked outward from the center, creeping toward a massive bed before it.

I involuntarily inhaled when he stepped inside, the doors shutting on their own, sealing us in. The room smelled of incense, a musky and smoky aroma that wasn't unpleasant.

Draxus set me on my feet but didn’t release me entirely. One massive, clawed hand stayed firmly at my waist, his possessiveness grounding me.

“My sweet queen,” his voice rumbled in my ear. “How much will you submit?”

I started breathing rapid, short pants. “This is the life I decided upon.” I felt his smile, as if it were a living entity touching me.

“Face me,” he growled, almost reverently.

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