Page 32 of The Lost Princess

“Thirty. Thirty-one. Thirty-two.”

Everything burned. My body screamed and started to shake again, the muscles threatening to bunch up and spasm like last time. I wanted to stop. It was going to hurt.

I kept going. I’d break my wings to hear him call me a good girl again.

Oh gods. I had a problem.

“Forty!”

My wings flopped down against my back, and my body collapsed. My chest heaved as I panted, trying to get my thoughts and body in order. Nasi made to move toward me, but I held out a hand. I didn’t want him pretending to be nice if I was bothering him. I hated it when people lied to me. The nobles did it all the time.

“Wouldn’t want you to be bothered by my pheromones,” I snarled at him, more out of frustration than anger.

His face twisted in confusion at my sudden aggression. “I’m not bothered by them,” he insisted, kneeling down next to me. He opened his mouth, then hesitated.

No. None of that.

“What?” I demanded, trying to grab one of my wings and rub out the tightness myself.

Nasi sighed, and gently pushed my hands away, taking the delicate membrane between his fingers.

I almost purred at the sensation.

“I simply don’t want to push you into something you do not choose for yourself,” he lectured. “You are young and do not understand your instincts or what they could be pushing you toward.”

Damn, it was hard to stay angry at him and his magic fingers. My body went boneless, slumping back against his broad chest.

“And what exactly are they pushing me toward?” I asked.

He kept his eyes on my wings. “Mateship,” he said seriously.

The word was unfamiliar to my ears, but resonated with something deep within me. An inner hunger … an inner drive.

“How is mateship for drakens different from marriage for humans?” I asked innocently, closing my eyes as he attacked a particularly stubborn knot. Pain assaulted me, then I breathed out as the knot was smoothed away.

Nasi huffed. “Draken courtships are serious. There is a marking, and an exchange of blood. Drakens mate for life.”

A marking. Is that what I had accidentally done to his neck? He’d thought I was trying the draken equivalent of a proposal? No wonder he’d fled the cave in terror. Embarrassment flooded my cheeks.

“Doesn’t sound much different than human marriage, then. Minus the … biting.” I glanced up at him from beneath my eyelashes. “Sorry, by the way.”

Nasi exhaled a heavy breath, his eyes kind. “It is fine. You did not know what it meant. As for human marriages, I would disagree they are similar. Humans are unfaithful all the time. Drakens—”

I shook my head, wanting him to understand me completely. “I’m apologizing for the bite wound. Not for the reason behind it.”

My heart pounded heavily in my chest as his eyes widened in realization.

“Kaida,” he whined, putting his head in his hands.

A flare of irritation welled in me. I was tired of being treated like a child who didn’t know anything. Tired of people keeping me ignorant.

“You kissed me tons when you were feral,” I argued, not sorry even when he flinched away from me. “That’s right! You pushed me up against that cave wall and pressed yourself against me.”

His face twisted in agony, but I wouldn’t let him indulge in any self-pity.

“And you know what?” I hissed. “I liked it. I kissed you back. You took my clothes off, and ran your hands against my skin. You flipped me over, and put your—”

“Kaida!” Nasi cried out, covering his ears with his hands. I paused, taken aback by the honest distress on his face.

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