Page 27 of A Kingdom of Shadows

His fingers trace up my arm, warmth radiating from them, making me slightly arch my back. It's comforting, yet a flutter of goosebumps invades my skin, and I hold back a sigh, trying to think of other things, normal things.

I can't.

"Tell me something." Anything to rid these feelings.

"Like what, Goldie?"

"Something that will annoy me."

His low sensuous laugh doesn't help. "It's not fun when you ask me to do it."

I shift my body even closer to him; the creak echoes the hut like a broken ship. I'm confused with myself, but I can't help it. And he can't either. His hand brushes my cheek, and I turn my head as the pad of his thumb collides with my bottom lip.

He traces it, and the tickle of his faint touch makes me tremble. It's too short for him to notice but not short enough for him not to feel it.

Between the slits of moonlight from the walls, I see his eyes glaze with something unknown. "I hate these," he murmurs, dragging my lip down with his index finger.

Warmth unfurls inside me, triggering a realization within.

His voice says he hates my lips, but his eyes say he doesn't.

"What else do you hate?" I ask. My voice is hardly my own as he looks at me.

"Your hair."

He loves my hair.

"Your stubbornness."

He loves my stubbornness.

"Your strength."

He loves... my strength. Something I don't believe I ever have anymore.

"Your laugh," he whispers, and it goes straight to my heart.

It annoys me that I start smiling, but it's inevitable, causing a wide one to bloom on his lips. My hand reaches out to his chest, and I press it flat against his skin, feeling how taut he goes. It’s not long before his breeches stretch and grow hard around my lower abdomen.

I close my eyes, breathing harder than one would. I'm suddenly dizzy, hot, and flushed all at once. Think of something else, think of something else, think of— "Why do you carry a coin everywhere you go and leave others behind after you've committed a theft?"

My eyes pry open over my random question. Darius's brow lifts, amusement tinging the edges of his lips.

"That's something I can't answer you right now, Goldie."

"Why not?"

He has this cocky smile as he answers in mock confidentiality, "It's a secret I hold dear to my heart."

My nose scrunches as I smile at him. "You're the worst."

He grins. "And you, Goldie."

Tipping my chin back, I hum. "Fine, answer me this. What is it with a dragon that gold fascinates them so much?" I had always known about a dragon's fascination with gold, but I was never interested in the good parts of it before my bond with the Ardenti dragon.

Darius thinks carefully for a few moments. "Gold to dragons is like how humans need sun. Without it—" His fingers drag down the length of my arm and goosebumps attack my skin. "—There is no life to live."

I lick my lips as though they are dry and clear my throat. "In other words, it's an obsession."

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