Page 37 of Kingdom of Flames & Flowers
Hands seized me and dragged me back down against a warm body, snuggling me like I was a giant pillow.
“Uh, Zariah?”
He growled, irritable in his sleep, and squeezed me tighter. I would have laughed at how adorable it was, but there was the fact that he was still naked.
“Let me go. Please.”
I pushed him away again, and his eyes opened. Seeing the tension on my face, he immediately dropped me, pushing away and turning his back to me at an attempt at modesty.
“Sorry, I—”
“You’re apologizing to me?” His voice rose with incredulity as he craned his neck over his shoulder to look at me.
I blinked. So he was sane now? Good to know. “Well, you got hurt saving me from falling. I feel bad about that.”
Zariah rolled his eyes. “There’s a basket behind you with some pants. If you don’t mind?”
I narrowed my eyes, then reached behind me. Sure enough, there was a basket with some old clothes. I snatched a pair of pants and threw them at his head. He snatched them out of the air before they hit.
“Unless you prefer I keep them off?”
I choked as he gave me a smoldering look, and throwing my hands in the air in surrender, I turned around. I was dying to ask about him and his twin, Zion. Now that I knew they were two separate people, it made so much more sense. Who had I actually met that night in the corridor of the palace? My sinking heart told me it hadn’t been Zariah, had it? It was Zion. At least that explained why he’d seemed so confused to see me.
“So … twins,” I said in the empty silence of the cave. I snuck a peek over my shoulder and saw Zariah had put the pants on. It did nothing to hide the chiseled abdominal muscles and or his shapely arms and calves, but that was alright.
Don’t drool, Mari.Men are bad … remember?
Zariah’s silver eyes flashed gold, his face twisting with anger. “Zion has touched you. I can smell him on you.”
Oh. Uh.
“To be fair, I thought he was you,” I countered irritably, hoping it was enough to soothe him.
It wasn’t. In fact, it enraged him more.
“He took advantage of you? I’ll kill him! I’ll—”
I put a hand on his arm to calm him as scales rippled underneath his skin. He didn’t need to go all dragon on me just yet. “Calm down. He didn’t know I thought he was you. How could he know? Fucking twins …”
His skin heated under my fingertips, to where I could barely stand it. He wasn’t calming down. I was so confused. Where was my kind fireguard?
“Oh, for the sake of the gods,” I muttered and wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him.
He went ramrod still, then relaxed against me. He’d barely gotten to press his lips to mine on the roof, and I’d been unprepared.
But now?
Zariah took his time, deepening the kiss and pulling me tight against his body. His tongue slid in between my lips and I let it, curious how he differed from his brother. Zion’s kisses had been teasing and possessive; Zariah’s were tender yet deep. It was as though our very souls were rising to meet each other for the first time.
Need built in my core and sent my stomach flipping. I pressed myself tighter against him, feeling his need as well. His hands cupped my face, one sliding south down my body as the other held me in place by my jaw.
I snaked my hand down to grip his length, and his entire body went taut. “Why does the entire kingdom think there is only one prince when there are clearly two?”
His hand went around my throat, squeezing just as hard as I was around his cock. “You just saw me transform into a dragon and back, and that’s your first question?”
I squeezed harder. So did he.
We were at a stalemate.
