Page 19 of Caress of Fire
“If you will not have your freedom, then I will fulfill the contract myself.” Lord Fedryc straightened, studying her reaction as she understood the meaning of his words.
Marielle blinked. A sudden burn spread over her cheeks and she thanked the shadows for their gray blanket. Lord Fedryc would fulfill the mating contract? Her heart was suddenly beating so hard it hurt, and her throat felt like sandpaper.
“You?”
His lips pursed into a cruel line, and his surreal eyes shone with cold intensity.
“Yes, yes, of course.” The words left her lips, but it was a remote fact. Something of little importance. “He was your father, so it only makes sense that I would be compatible with you…”
Her voice faltered as Lord Fedryc’s chest stopped moving. He looked at her with an intensity that was hot enough to melt rocks.
Finally, he nodded, but it was a single motion, controlled and elegant.
She watched him as he studied her, this man made of power and fire, who could wipe out her entire future with a single word. She shivered from a place deep inside her belly, from somewhere forgotten, but now awakened and female inside her. A hidden place that now screamed to life and pushed forbidden thoughts into her head—of hard flesh and male demands. Of Fedryc on top of her.
Inside her.
“I accept.” Somewhere from far away, she heard her own voice. Small and powerless, but steady. “I will enter the contract with you.”
Lord Fedryc inhaled like he had been hanging on her words, unable to breathe.
And she knew she had sealed her fate.
Chapter 7
It’s done.
Lord Fedryc’s eyes trailed over her body with an owner’s appreciation, and Marielle was suddenly aware that they were alone. He could decide to take her, here and now, if he wanted to. The thought sent a rush of arousal and fear all the way to her core.
Then the dragon moved its large head to come right beside Lord Fedryc’s side. Her primitive fear of the predator returned, and Marielle took an involuntary step back. Sapphire eyes locked on her with sharp intensity, and suddenly all she could think of was to run.
“Don’t. She won’t hurt you.”
Lord Fedryc stepped closer to the beast, then flattened his palm against the dragon’s snout. He bent his head, touching his forehead to the dragon’s scales, and Marielle could have sworn something passed between man and beast. The dragon’s vertical pupils shrank to fine lines and those reptilian eyes settled on her again, only this time, there was no hatred or anger in them.
“This is Marielle Jansen.” Lord Fedryc spoke almost tenderly to the dragon, his hand gliding over its scales with warmth.
The dragon made its way around the Draekon, who turned slightly to give it more space but didn’t take his hand away from its skin.
“Don’t scream, and don’t move.”
It was unnecessary advice. Marielle couldn’t have moved even if she’d wanted to. She was paralyzed with fear, but also with a strange, almost mystical fascination. It was like the beast could see inside her soul and she was unable to stop it.
The dragon inhaled loudly, closing its eyes at the same time, and Marielle had the strong impression it was sniffing her to decide if it would accept or reject her. Then the dragon opened its eyes again and that gaze settled on her.
There was intelligence in those eyes, something that felt too much like a soul.
“This is Nyra.” Lord Fedryc’s voice came from beside the dragon’s head. “She and I are bound together.”
“She’s beautiful,” Marielle said in a small voice, not wanting to startle the beast. Those sapphire blue eyes shone with animation as the creature studied her intensely. Staring into her eyes, Marielle couldn’t help but think that the dragoness was listening to her. No, more than that. “Can she understand us?”
“Every word.” Lord Fedryc was caressing the dragon’s cheek in an almost sensual motion. “And more. She is as intelligent as you and I. Most of the time, more than I am.”
There was so much affection in the way Lord Fedryc spoke, it changed his entire being. When he chuckled, his silver gaze locked with the dragoness’ and Marielle understood that the dragon was not merely an animal. It wasn’t the monster her people thought it to be but a sentient being. A sentient being capable of reducing entire cities to rubble.
“She agreed,” Lord Fedryc told Nyra in a low, intimate voice. A voice that made Marielle wish he would talk to her that way, too. “Marielle will stay with us.”
Nyra looked at her again with those jewel-like eyes. This time, her gaze was filled with some strange curiosity—curiosity and no small measure of possessiveness. Nyra inhaled loudly again, then her pupils dilated until there were only tiny rings of blue around the black and she closed the distance between Marielle and herself. The large snout brushed Marielle’s dress, then went to her hair as she stood frozen, too scared to do anything but hope not to die slowly and painfully.
