Page 102 of Destined By Dragonblood
Lantern in hand, I followed the curved wall, my fingertips trailing over dust-free spines and shelves. I didn’t know what I sought—other than escape. Iron stairs led to the balcony overlooking the cavern, that one, too, lined by shelves packed full of books.
Thinking to tire my mind by reading the ancient language would work to distract me, I pulled a tome off the far shelf and made my way back to the floor and old couches arranged in a square below.
Lantern on an end table and massive book spread open on my lap, I forced my eyes to focus as the language of old filtered through my memory.
A history of the dragonblood downfall.
No—choose another.
Lips pursed, I considered returning the book but kept on reading about how mankind had found a means of defeating the dragons long before we learned how to cloak our true forms.
My anger brewed, and while my inner beast begged me to shut the book, I continued on, feeding the racist thoughts inside my head, the ones filled with disdain for those lesser than Blood Born.
Chapter 29
Ashley
Vanni held me in my arms and fucked me against the shower wall, driving into me with such force I expected my back would bruise from where I pressed against stone. He had a vise grip on my waist, his fingertips digging into my flesh with a delicious burn, which combined with his deep-seated thrusts into me, sent me over the edge in a matter of seconds.
Although he fucked hard and enjoyed giving me the pain I craved, Vanni was gentle afterward, washing my body and hair with homemade products smelling of herbs.
I wondered over Primrose and her solitary life in the cavern and also what her plans were since the three of us had shown up. There was no question in my mind that Vanni and I would be staying with Dolyn for however long we needed to finish the bonding process and make a decision of where we would reside together.
Would the three of us being in the space she’d had all to herself for years bother her?
Did our humanness unsettle her as it still seemed to do with Dolyn?
Although he longed for us, his hesitation, his distaste for our lesser blood, festered inside me. I fought to keep my hurt contained, for I didn’t want him to change his mind toward us out of pity.
I knew we weren’t worthy of a full-blooded one such as himself, but I also felt he shouldn’t simply toss aside what fate had destined for him—a life beyond loneliness and longing he’d experienced before meeting us.
We needed to sit and talk things through, the three of us communicating what we felt, what we wanted, and how to create the bond we all longed for. We also needed to discuss the rental SUV down the mountain, the lack of clothing other than the old T-shirt I wore that fell to my thighs, and the matching one Vanni had pulled on along with an old pair of jeans so outdated I wondered how they didn’t fall apart at the seams.
Squeezing tightly to Vanni’s fingers, I followed him down a hallway, the lantern in his other hand. Remnants of Dolyn’s energy emanated from the light of the cavern opening ahead, and Primrose hadn’t been joking about his grumpiness I could feel in rolling waves of tumultuous emotions the closer we drew.
My heart fell at the thought of a fight before the calm.
He seemed up in arms, ready to rip into someone—but the sense wasn’t as potent as I’d expected when we walked into the cavernous room. I realized he’d gone deeper, down into the depths of this place rather than outside. Still, the fact he’d chosen to hide away from us caused my eyes to well.
I blinked away tears, and Vanni kissed the back of my hand while setting the lantern down on the counter and extinguishing it as natural light flooding through the many windows set in the far wall illuminated the living area generously. A gorgeous sight lay beyond the glass, but I was too caught up in my thoughts to appreciate the beauty of a white-covered Wyoming spreading out before us.
“We’ll make this right,” Vanni murmured, the soothing emotion I swore had to be love shimmering through the energy between us.
Nodding my trust in him, I attempted a smile.
He wiped his thumb under my eye, swiping off the droplet of moisture that fell. “None of that, or I’ll have to beat his ass extra hard when I finally get him strung up.”
A shot of lust licked at my clit, and I squeezed my thighs together.
“Hmm.” One of Vanni’s eyebrows rose as he studied my face. “You’d like to watch me punish our beta, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes.” I dropped my gaze from the heat in his eyes.
“Flogger, whip, or cane?”
I breathed an unsteady breath past my twitching lips. “Yes.”
Vanni chuckled. “Naughty girl. What would Dolyn think, I wonder?”
