Page 31 of Sanctuary with Kings

A tear dripped from my jaw and slid quickly over Hywel's polished scales.

"But part of me thought…alwaysthought that my mother would interfere. That someone would come. And not two hundred years later," I gasped out, pulling my hands away, clenching my fists against the rising tide of pressure that rose up in my chest, threatening to crack me open. I pressed my tight hands into my thighs and arched my chest, waiting for the need for air to force me to draw a breath. It came gusting into my lungs, swaying me, chest heaving.

We will have vengeance, pretty morsel.

My hand slapped against Hywel's side, the weight of the words a great pound in my head that nearly toppled me. But his voice wasn't painful. It was stone and silk. It swarmed me, cradling me even as it bore down. I blinked and found one opalescent eye open and gazing back at me.

"Hywel?" I whispered, shocked by the sight of his stare, slow to realize how much he had heard, what he had answered with just a handful of words.

Vengeance. It sounded tender and deadly at the same time.

A pink film of flesh covered the gleaming gaze, narrow black pupil shrinking to a slit, and then a heavy red leathery lid slid shut, Hywel sighing heavily. Behind me, steps echoed on stone, gold coins skidding down the steps.

"Evie," Conall called, his voice unexpectedly loud and boisterous in this massive space I'd come to find almost reverent and holy. "Come up to dinner. We have…surprise guests."

Hywel had woken. Only for a moment, or he simply didn't want Conall to see him so. He'd heard my confessions. He'd made a vow.

We will have vengeance.

"Evie?" Conall said, gentler, closer.

I didn't want him to touch Hywel, to come admire the dragon I had no right to feel so possessive over. Not when I knew perfectly well he did not belong to me.

I rose up, swaying and lurching away from Hywel, and Conall caught me by my elbows, his gaze studying the dragon over my shoulder.

"Are you all right?" he asked, frowning and glancing between us.

I pressed my hands to his chest, pushing him back toward the steps, his gaze sharpening on me at my force.

"Fine. Just…just lost track of time down here."

Beyond Hywel's long leg, out over the dreaming sea, the sun was setting.

Conall relaxed slightly, moving his arm to slide around my waist, to turn his back on Hywel and guide me to the stairs. "Meanwhile, I suffered every minute without you," Conall said, drawling the words, clearly teasing. I flinched. He was joking, but the notion of him suffering was…bitterly laughable, made me want to snarl at him.

He stopped suddenly, turning to me, the joke falling dead between us. "Forgive me, that was a stupid thing to say. I wasboredtoday. And I missed running with you."

I understood Conall when he was flirting, joking. I wasoverwhelmedby him when he was earnest. I was potently aware of the dragon still spilling across the room. Of what Conall might've heard me say as he came down the stairs. Of Hywel perhaps still being awake.

"You…you mentioned guests?"

Conall's frown flickered briefly, and then he smoothed his expression into an easy smile. My heart heaved in my chest, the false smile unsettling me, past and present, nightmare and reality swirling together.

"Sort of. Come up with me?"

I nodded, but Conall remained still for a moment. His gaze slid back to Hywel, and his arm tightened around my waist, tugging me against his chest.

"When Hywel wakes, Birsha will have real cause to fear this battle he's been so eager to wage," Conall said, voice low and growling gently. His arm around my waist sank low on my hips, hand barely squeezing at my ass, his hips pressing into mine.

Vengeance.

"And you,mo chroí, will have a world at your feet."

I shivered at the words, not understanding the way they touched my skin, sank low in my belly, throbbed in my core. Conall grinned at last, sharp and a little hungry, honest too. He leaned in, pressing us explicitly together. His hair swarmed my vision, blocking out my view of Hywel, my heart racing at the idea of the dragon seeing Conall hold me so close.

"I can't wait to see what you claim for yourself," he snarled in my ear.

I gasped, my breasts brushing against his chest, and his fingers tightened on my ass. I wanted to shift in place, open my thighs to him, wanted him to take us down to the floor and rut me, sudden and rough. I wanted Hywel to watch, to wake.

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