Page 22 of Vex
The beast wanted to take her so thoroughly that no other male would dare look in her direction. Sitting there pretending to be indifferent while his entire body ached with the need to touch her was torture.
"You're sitting too far away," he said quietly.
Luisa's gaze snapped to his. "What?"
"We're supposed to be lovers. You're sitting like I have a communicable disease."
Heat flashed in her dark eyes. "Maybe I'm just giving you space to breathe."
Before he could respond, Maera's voice cut through the tension.
"So this is where you escaped to. There's more than one man back there eager for his money back. If you can pull yourself away." She gave a pointed look to the space between them.
Maera was standing beside another woman. The stranger was tall, elegant, with platinum hair swept into an elaborate style and harsh blue eyes. Everything about her screamed nobility. She carried herself with the particular arrogance that came from generations of inherited power, the kind that looked at everyone else as either useful or disposable.
Though it might have been a bit hypocritical of Vex to judge someone for being an aristocrat.
"Lord Vex," Maera said, "I'd like you to meet Lady Eleyna Sordin. Eleyna, this is the dragon lord I was telling you about."
Lady Eleyna's smile was sharp as a blade. "A pleasure." She slid onto the couch beside him without invitation, close enough that her perfume, expensive and cloying, filled his nostrils. "I've heard so much about dragons. Such … impressive creatures."
The way she said it made his skin crawl.
Luisa's posture went rigid. Her shoulders squared, her chin lifted, and something dangerous flickered in her eyes.
"Eleyna has such fascinating stories about court life on Volia," Maera continued, settling beside Luisa. "She knows everyone who's anyone across the galaxy."
"How wonderful," Luisa said sweetly. Too sweetly.
Lady Eleyna leaned closer to Vex, her hand coming to rest on his arm. "I watched you play out there. You're so … commanding. I do admire a man who knows how to take risks."
He didn't want this woman touching him. The asshole lord he was playing would love to have multiple women draped over him, even in front of his mistress. But the real Vex was too close to the surface.
Luisa was the only woman he wanted touching him.
That's when she moved.
Luisa rose from her seat with fluid grace and crossed to where Vex sat, settling herself directly in his lap with possessive certainty. Her arm slid around his neck, fingers playing with the hair at his nape in a gesture that was pure territorial claim.
"Baby," she said, her voice carrying just enough edge to make it clear she wasn't asking, "remember what you promised me." She nuzzled against his neck, her breath hot and claiming.
The contact sent fire racing through his veins, her weight settling against him in a way that felt devastatingly right. The scent of her skin filled his senses and made his head spin.
His body responded instantly, heat pooling low in his gut as his cock hardened beneath her. She was pressed so close against him that there was no way she could miss his reaction, no way to hide how desperately he wanted her.
Lady Eleyna's hand fell away from his arm as if burned.
The display should have been pure performance, but the fierce satisfaction that roared through him was entirely real. His dragon rumbled with approval.
Mine, the beast whispered, and for once, Vex didn't argue with the certainty.
Luisa's jealousy was a revelation. The way she staked her claim, fearless and territorial, made him want to carry her out of there and show her exactly what belonging to a dragon really meant.
Lady Eleyna's expression had shifted from interest to cold calculation, her blue eyes narrow with annoyance. She clearly wasn't used to being dismissed so thoroughly, especially not by someone she probably considered a nonentity. But Luisa had made her position crystal clear, and even the most entitled noble recognized a battle they couldn't win.
"How … quaint," Eleyna said, her voice dripping with disdain. But she shifted away from him, finally giving him the space his dragon demanded.
As if two unwanted companions weren't enough, the pit boss, Brant Tallyer, came up beside Maera.
