Page 19 of Queens Ride Horny Dragons
I took his hand just to feel the dragon fire roar to life again, and it left me more than a little breathless. "Somewhat tamed, you mean."
He groaned as he skimmed his tongue across his lower lip. "Hold that thought. Damn.” He reached down and adjusted the growing bulge in his jeans, and it took everything I had to keep from saying to hell with it, going to my knees in front of him, and taking him into my mouth right there. “What was I saying?”
“Something about dragon fire and poison?” I said with a smile.
“Right. Our body's natural reaction to poison is to purge itself or fight the effects off, but dragon fire does that for you. You'll feel yourself run hot for about thirty seconds while the dragon fire works to destroy it."
"And then?"
He shrugged. "You can keep eating if you want, but it would probably be better to go see who's trying to poison the queen. Which of course we would if anyone tried."
"And you? This works for you too?"
"Unless our dragon fire is totally extinguished, yes. At least for now, it works for us. But without a power surge?” Worry pulled at his mouth. “Who knows."
He could die, no poison needed. Already, the effects of no power surge were weakening them. Killing them slowly, like the evilest form of torture imaginable, and all because Léas had vanished. Kidnapped by the fae. I was sure of it.
I curled my hands into fists. I’d sure like to deal with the fae threat at some point instead of handling the one presented by the very shifters who needed help. Their sole focus seemed to be on their hatred of me, however, which made zero sense.
"Ready to try some?" Tavis asked, picking up a pancake sandwich.
I blew out a slow breath. It wasn't every day that I willingly ate poison just to see what would happen. But despite Calhoun's wish for me to be more trusting of his species as a whole, I wasn't. Not yet. Maybe not ever, even as queen.
"Ready." I took the pancake sandwich between my fingers, and after several hard swallows, I forced myself to place it on my tongue.
Tavis nodded, his silent encouragement giving me strength, and I focused on the brilliant blue in his eyes, how honest and pure he was, and how much I trusted him.I bit down, the fluffy pancakes exploding with flavors over my tongue including whipped cream and chocolate chips. No trace of poison. It tasted like heaven, and I wanted to gobble down the whole tray. I started to reach for it to do just that when a curl of heat sparked inside me. Not the good kind either.
"Oh…" I touched my sternum, since that seemed to be where it had started.
"Thirty seconds, Yara," Tavis said, his voice soft. "That's all."
He sounded like he was assuring me, but this wasn't bad at—
"Oh!" The fire brightened until it felt like it was scorching my organs. I tipped but Tavis held me upright by my shoulders. Then I screamed.
Pain. So much pain burning into a fiery ball surrounding the poison. Like lava boiling up inside of me and destroying…everything.
"Ten more seconds!" Tavis shouted over my screams.
I would never make it. Something had gone very wrong. This was a horrible death, being burned to a crisp from the inside out.My vision began to char, like my whole world was being eaten alive by a post-apocalyptic fire.
Then, a sudden absence of heat, like someone had blown out the inferno inside of me. I swayed on my feet as I blinked everything back into place.
Tavis squeezed my shoulders and dipped his head to look me in the eyes. "Yara? How do you feel?"
"Done, in every sense of the word," I breathed, and felt myself up to see if I was still whole. "How am I not dead?"
He grinned. "Dragon fire."
"That was horrible. Let’s not do that again, okay?"
“Fair enough.” He wrapped me up in his arms and held me to him, his touch surging the dragon fire to life again, only this time, I liked it. "I know I just asked you this, but how do you feel now?"
I took a breath and thought about it as I melted against him. "Fine."
"Not dead?"
"Not dead." I curled deeper into his arms, feeling his blue hair slide across my face like a silky kiss. "How do you know so much about poison?"
