Page 13 of Wrath of the Dragons
I exit the alcove and toss the stack of reports into the fire across from the four-poster bed. There’s nothing of value within the words, so there’s no sense in keeping them. I rest my hands on the mantel and bow my head while listening to the crackling logs and Elowen getting dressed.
She steps back into the room but pauses in the doorway. I feel her eyes burning into my back like a brand and slowly look over my shoulder to take her in. Her cheeks are flushed from the bath and damp, dark curls hang down to her hips. A sage slip with golden embroidery brushes the tops of her thighs and a robe made of white lace drapes behind her and down her arms.
I swallow thickly and avert my gaze to the wall as she climbs intobed, still clutching the same book in a white-knuckled fist. My nails dig into the wood before I push off the mantel and retrieve some medical supplies from an ornate box on a small table. She holds the book against her chest like a shield as I approach and sit beside her.
“I can’t watch you be in pain and do nothing about it,” I state.
“Why?” She whispers the word, and it’s weighed down by exhaustion, but something else lurks beneath the surface. There’s a twinge of desperation, like she needs to hear the answer to quell the doubts in her mind cultivated by my actions.
I run my tongue over my teeth as I contemplate how to articulate my thoughts. “From the moment you stepped into my life I’ve had this incessant need to ensure your well-being, and I’m too much of a jealous prick to watch someone else tend to you.”
She laughs quietly while propping herself on the pillows at her back and bending her knees so I’m able to work.
“Fuck,” I mutter while breathing deeply, though that doesn’t help considering all I’m inhaling is her intoxicating scent of lavender and vanilla. She laughs again because the temptress knows exactly what she’s doing to me. I unroll the heated bandages I’ve used on her before while raking my eyes over her. A small scrap of lace covers the apex of her thighs that I could easily pull aside, and her nipples press against the silk covering her chest as it rises and falls unevenly.
She hums in relief when I get halfway up her thigh, and I pause my actions briefly. “Do you wake up every day and think of new ways to torture me?”
“Yes.”
Her voice.
Her laugh.
It’s like hearing a ballad after stepping off a battlefield.
She sits up once I finish her thigh, but I get no relief from our new position considering all it does is bring her face closer to mine. She shivers beneath my touch as I dip my hands under her slip and gently dust my fingers along her torso. Her eyes don’t leave mine, and she doesn’t back away, doesn’t avoid looking at me as she did in the bath.I press my hand into her back, selfishly bringing us closer and tilting my head down while I begin wrapping the bandages around her. She sucks in a sharp breath as her hands shoot forward and digs her nails into my shoulders.
“I’d raise him from the dead just to kill him again. You know that, right?” I murmur against the side of her head. She nods in the crook of my neck. “Just breathe for me. Once you’re wrapped it’ll feel better, but the injuries will take longer to heal if I don’t do this.” Her exhale fans against me as I continue my movements slowly, no matter how hard it is to be close to her knowing she’ll withdraw in mere seconds. “What other words did you learn while studying Ravarian?”
“I mainly focused on the basics, and some dragon commands, also phrases to insult you successfully.” She relaxes against me and my lips quirk up. “I’m going to continue after you finish. I took a break to read about dragon origins. I want to know if there’s a reason I share a bond with them.”
“What did you find out?”
“Asena, the high priestess, told me I’m blessed by the Goddess of Flames. During the dragon ceremony she said that my soul was forged in the fire of the gods.” She leans back to look at me as she speaks. “Dragons came into the world centuries ago during the Age of Dragons. They first hatched from stars, but the goddess sensed something lurking within the earth’s core. Every day for five years she would place her palms to the ground and let her magic seep from her. She was plagued by dreams that made others think she was mad, but the dragons began clawing their way out. It was said there were so many dragons you could never step outside without seeing one in the sky.”
My brows crease. “Did it say what happened to them all?”
“It didn’t say what caused their downfall, but I’d like to ask Asena about it when I have the chance.” Her eyes come alive in a way I haven’t seen since the night Ailliard died. “If she is correct, the soundest explanation for my bond is that the dragons sensed the fire within me when the eggs were placed around my cradle. My soul summoned them when it came into the world.”
“And do you believe her?” I don’t want to crush her hope, but Asena isn’t the strongest resource. Blind faith is the absence of logic. It may work for some people, but not me.
Elowen’s eyes drift to the window, tracking her dragons’ movements as she contemplates. “I’ve never worshipped the gods, but I’m not opposed to hearing all theories as I continue my research to widen my perspective. There’s always some truth to be found in legends if you read carefully.” She brushes past the topic without giving me the chance to respond, and asks, “Will you tell me about the ring?”
“One day.” The words taste bitter on my tongue. It’s not the answer she wants, but it’s the one she needs. It’ll cause her to pull away, but she’s not ready to hear about the origins. I wish I could be selfish enough to tell her, to be how I am with everyone else, but I can’t. Even in her anger, her heart remains soft, and I want to win it back with my actions, not with a story from my past.
She huffs and flops back onto the pillows, cracking her book open to shield her gaze from mine. “You don’t need to keep up the mysterious façade. You’re nice to look at so I’m sure that’ll keep me interested as the years tick by.”
The ghost of the caress burns my flesh, and I flex my hands to rid them of the emptiness. “Are you implying that you think I’m handsome and would’ve married me had I asked properly?”
She drops the book to her chest. “I never said that.”
I tap a finger against her lips. “You didn’t need to, sirantia.”
Chapter
Seven
Elowen
