Page 63 of Queen Takes King
His jaws cruncheddown on my bleeding hand and the rest of my left arm below my elbow. Bones snapped and I screamed, but I didn’t pull away or fight. Blood frenzy burned in him. He growled and rumbled and hissed, lapping my blood from my skin, but he could have thrown his head back, ripped my arm off, and gulped me in one big swallow. There was something in him that wasn’t twisted anddark.
Something that I could touch. Call.Love.
If he would onlylisten.
:Shara!:Rik’s rock troll roared in myhead.
:No,:Panting, I breathed through the pain.:Stay.:
Already, I could feel my blood inside Leviathan. My power slid down his long throat, heating his body. With every swallow, he took me deeper into his consciousness. Giving me a foothold in his mind. I needed a good hold in him. Enough to bind him to my will. I had to let him take enough to almost killme.
Almost. That was thetrick.
My head swam, my heart thudding heavily. It wouldn’t take him long to drain me, and if I was too weak, all of this would be for naught. I needed blood. His blood. If I couldfeed…
I lurched up, trying to get my fangs in his leg. His neck.Anything.
He didn’t lift his head, but shifted his paw on me, keeping me pinned to the ground. One slitted eye glared at me. He knew very well what I wanted, even if my fangs hadn’tdescended.
I needed him to bleed. My brainraced.
Fire wouldn’t help. His hide was too thick and protected him against his ownflames.
Rock troll strength wouldn’t make him bleed quickly enough to saveme.
Daire’s claws? Maybe. But I’d never tried to use one of my Blood’s shifters and I had no idea if it would work or not. I didn’t have time for experiments and no plan B if itfailed.
I ran my other hand along the ground, trying to find a sharp bone. Something I could use to stab himwith.
Wait. Of course. I dug into my pocket and found my puny knife. Hiding it alongside my leg, I worked the blade open and eyed his underbelly, looking for the best place to stab him. His scales were lighter and softer on his belly, a deep, emerald green mixed with pearly white. The scales interlocked together, making an impenetrablearmor.
Except where his front leg met his body. That delicate hollow didn’t have anyscales.
Focusing on my target, I took a deep breath and gathered my will. My power. I had to strike fast and hard. His hide would still be tough. My aim had to be true. I wouldn’t get another shot. It had to be deep enough that he’d bleed, and bleed enough to drip down on me. My hand couldn’t shake. My vision couldn’twaver.
With all my power, all my will, I slammed the pocketknife into thatjoint.
He growled against my skin but didn’t lift his mouth. In fact, he winked at me, as if to say,“Good try, honey. I felt your little beesting.”
And yeah, it wouldn’t make him get off me. Let alone killhim.
But his blood poured over my hand. I cupped my fingers, catching as much as possible, and poured his blood over mymouth.
He tasted like the blackest night, the deepest part of the ocean where sun never shines. Cold, empty, forgotten, lost on the mists of time. He’d endured silence and loneliness for centuries, plotting his enemies’ demise. Planning exactly how he’d lure his queen to hisside.
Only to killher.
Yet my blood slid into that cold, empty space. Blood, spreading in the water. Stirring his hunger. Reminding him of all the things he’d beendenied.
Sunshine. Air. Green grass. Bluesky.
A queen’sblood.
A woman’s skin against his humanbody.
The dragon shape was his prison. He couldn’t ever be a managain…
Without me. Hisqueen.
