Page 96 of The Forbidden Dragon King
Aurelius’ lips quirk in response, before he turns and buries his nose on my neck, breathing in eagerly.
He loops his arms around me, while wrapping his wings to cocoon us both.
He’s like a black cat who has finally dropped their cool act and is desperate for strokes.
Aurelius clings to me, nuzzling up and down my neck. I shiver at the brush of his nose and then the graze of his lips and fangs.
My scent gland is sensitive. I push my thighs together, whining.
“You smell amazing,” Aurelius murmurs. “I could live forever in your scent alone. Roses and sunshine and nothing else for the rest of eternity.”
His wings tremble, before closing tightly around me, as if I will pull away at the confession.
I don’t.
“Are you feeling stronger?” I ask.
Aurelius’ breathing has steadied out. He’s sitting straighter again.
He rubs his wings down my back, then his cheek against my cheek.
I realize thathe’sscentingmepossessively.
“Enough that you should reevaluate whether you’re the one with the power,” he replies. “I apologize, however, for my weakness.”
“It’s not weakness. You’re an Alpha dragon. You should know better than me that you can’t suffer ruts alone without consequence. This is serious.”
He doesn’t answer for a long moment. “I don’t have achoice. I won’t take up the offers of the court Omegas to be rut mates.”
I bet the offers were from that pretty, silver winged flirt, Liviana, who is always waltzing into his bedroom.
I grin in vicious triumph that he’s turned her down.
So much for my view that Aurelius has been merrily rutting half the court Omegas.
“You’re the fucking king. You could have anyone you want. What if you’d been out of it on the floor like this and someone else had found you? Do you know how vulnerable that would make you?” Bile rushes up my throat at the thought. “How about this? Take this as my open offer. Come tomewhen you feel unable to hold on. We can just lie side by side in your nest, and you can breathe my pheromones and scent me. Would that help?”
Aurelius looks agonized but nods.
When he clasps the front of my tunic, holding me in place even more firmly, I notice that his extended claws are sparkling gold.
They’re deadly butgorgeous.
When Aurelius’ claws rip my tunic’s fabric accidentally, he hisses and tries to pull back. “Sorry. I’m still not in control.”
“Who wants to always be in control? Anyway, those claws are incredible.”
I could have done with them when I was escaping during the Mate Hunt.
Aurelius hesitates, still gripping my tunic. “You like them? They’re ugly.”
Whoever has called them ugly had better watch their fucking balls because I’m going to bite them fucking off.
“They’re beautiful,” I insist.
When Aurelius’ gaze raises to meet mine, it holds a desperate question, and mine answers: yes, yes,yes.
Aurelius kisses me then, deep and hard.
