Page 23 of Taken By the Dragon Prince (Dragon Lords 4)

He shot her a cynical look. “Yeah, and you could also betray. The second I let you go, you’ll sift away.” He reached up to grip the collar around his neck. “I’m sure there is another way to remove this. One that does no’ involve bloody witches. I just have to find it.”

“Best of luck with that.”

He glowered.

“Here’s a thought,” she said with brightly colored sarcasm. “We could remove your head from your neck. That ought to do it.”

Wait, was that a twitch in his lips?

He reached over and tugged her soggy hood over her head. She squealed as small rivulets of muddy water that had been trapped in the hood rolled down her face. He laughed. “Do as I say, or I’ll toss you in the next bog we come across and leave you there.”

“You wouldn’t do that,” she told him confidently, wiping her face. He simply grunted in response. Leaving the hood in place, she adjusted it slightly so that she didn’t feel so visually confined. “How are you able to tell where the bogs are?”

“The smell,” he replied curtly.

Great.That wouldn’t help her and he knew it. A witch’s sense of smell wasn’t anywhere near as sharp as a dragons. “That’s it?”

He hesitated for several long moments as if he wasn’t planning to answer, but then surprised her by revealing, “There’s a subtle discoloration.” He pointed a few feet to his right. “You see that shadowy patch?”

She instinctively stepped away from it—and closer to him.

He went rigid and stared at her for several beats, his expression inscrutable. “It’s slightly darker because of the added moisture.”

“Avoid dark spots. Gotcha.” Was he actually helping her? Or did he just not want to lose his prisoner to a watery grave? “What else should I be wary of in this deathtrap of a forest?”

He met her gaze with a hard stare. “Me.”

Noted.

At that moment, her tummy let out a loud grumble. She tried to recall the last time she ate. His gaze turned dark and accusatory as if her stomach’s intention was simply to annoy him. “So do prisoners get fed in your world?”

Surly, he walked on, surveying their surroundings. Finally, he spotted a large shrub with small yellow berries. The closer they got, the sweeter the air grew, making her mouth water and tummy twist in anticipation. She hadn’t had fresh fruit in years.

Curtly, he plucked berry after berry and dropped them into her cupped hands, not stopping until the pile nearly overflowed. “There,” he said as though he’d just performed a small miracle. “Eat up.”

She hesitated. She was starving, however, holding them like this meant she’d have to eat from her hands like an animal to a trough. Deciding she didn’t care, she raised the berries to her mouth, jostling and sending a volley of them tumbling down. Plop, plop, plop into the mud they went.

Sighing with impatience, he said, “Here.” He snatched a berry from her remaining pile and held it up to her mouth. She stared in bemusement, slammed with the painfully sweet memory of a time when they’d been in bed together, kissing and making love and feeding each other sweets.

Expression warming, he was suddenly enthralled by her mouth. Was he remembering too?

The moment felt oddly intimate.

When her stomach growled again, her gaze darted between him and the berry resting between his strong fingers. Her mouth watered. She leaned forward, parting her lips; his gaze was rapt. But then she hesitated. What if the berries were poisoned? How would she know?

As if reading her thoughts, he rolled his eyes. “They’re safe to eat.” To prove it, he popped the berry into his own mouth. “Mm, perfectly ripe.” He swallowed, then held another up for her. “Here, try.”

She sensed anticipation in him. Was he holding his breath? For the first time, his gaze was soft and kind and . . . was that a hint of lust she spotted? There was an opportunity here. If she stopped fighting him at every turn, perhaps he’d be more open when she tried to convince him that his belief in her guilt was unfounded. She could remind him that he had once cared for her.

Holding his gaze, she leaned forward and took the berry into her mouth. His lids lowered to half-mast. As she bit into the flesh, savory juice filled her mouth. “Mmm.”

“Good?”

She nodded.

Appearing pleased, he held up another for her. And this time she didn’t hesitate.

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