Her body melted against his, her head tipping so he had better access to her neck. “Aye. I understand.”
“Good.” He slapped her ass. “Now you should go to bed.”
It took her a moment, but suddenly she pulled away from him. “What?”
“To bed, love. You look exhausted. I’ve fixed a place for you down the cavern and to the left. It has a bed and everything. Until you can shift back to dragon, no floors for you.”
As hard as it was, he pushed her away and stood up, dragging her with him. “Besides, tomorrow we travel into Kerezik.”
A bit dazed, she pulled herself up. “Why?”
He didn’t want to answer that, at least not honestly, so he dragged his hand along her cheek. “Are you all right? You look a bit . . . ow!”
She punched him. Right in the face. And the female had a right hook that could destroy the jaw of a strong human male.
“What the hell was that for?”
“You play games with the wrong female, Low Born,” she snarled. She walked away from him, her robes swirling around her. “Do you think I’m like one of those stupid whores you had here before? Do you think you can toy with me?”
Rubbing his jaw, he looked at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Liar. You know exactly what I’m talking about. You hope to leave me wet and wanting so that I’ll come begging for your affections like some dog looking for food.”
Damn. She was right on that. He was.
He stepped toward her. “Rhiannon . . .”
“No. Say nothing,” she growled.
His eyes narrowed. Why was she so angry? Angrier than he’d expect since she figured him out quick enough.
Of course, it could be . . .
“Are you already wet for me, Rhiannon?” She turned on him like a coiled snake. “What?”
“You heard me, Princess.” He walked toward her and immediately she stumbled back away from him. “If I put my hand on your pussy right this second, will it be dry like the deserts of Alsandair or wet and desperate like the Kennis River?”
She slammed into the far wall and immediately Bercelak placed his hands on either side of her head, caging her in. She looked caged in, too. Like a wild animal about to snap.
“Perhaps I should find out.”
“Get away from me, Low Born!”
“Now, Rhiannon,” he gently admonished as he used one hand to yank off the belt holding her robe together, “you know those aren’t the right words.”
She was gorgeously naked underneath. Bercelak placed his hand against her breast and squeezed before moving down her body, past her hips, only to slip his fingers between her trembling thighs.
“Wait.”
“Still not right,” he muttered low, unable to turn away from the sight of his hand disappearing between her legs. As soon as two of his fingers slid inside her they both let out a low moan.
So wet and hot. Like a volcano. Just thinking of having his cock buried there for several days or years was making him shake like a young one.
He started shafting her with his fingers and she groaned in response, her eyes shut and her teeth biting into her bottom lip. Leaning in close he kissed her cheek and couldn’t help but mutter, “Mine, Rhiannon. You’re mine.”
And that’s when he felt her claws slash across his face.
Yanking his hand out of her and away, he stumbled back. He could feel and smell the blood dripping down his jaw.
“I belong to no one, Low Born. And if you hope to trap me with this game, you are sadly mistaken.”
He didn’t even wipe the blood away as he stared at her. As they stared at each other. Their eyes locked in silent battle.
“What are you talking about?”
“You force me into a Claiming, and I can fight you with the Elders. And we both know it.” Aye. He did know that. “But if I let you willingly take me . . . fuck me . . . I have very little room to argue, now do I?”
She pulled her robe together and knotted the tie around it. “You’ll have to work a little harder than that, Bercelak the Vengeful, to ever hope of Claiming me.”
Rhiannon walked past him, her shoulder brushing his as she stalked out. “I will be Claimed by no one, Low Born,” she said over her shoulder. “But especially not by you.”
She disappeared around the corner and although his cock was so hard it hurt, he couldn’t help but smile. Because she didn’t even realize . . . she still never said the word, “No.”
* * *
Once a good distance away from him, Rhiannon stopped and slid down the wall. She glanced at her hand. For several seconds it had returned to claw. Promising. She may be able to reverse this spell yet. But she couldn’t worry about it at the moment. Not when thoughts of a black-eyed dragon kept playing through her head. Just with his fingers he’d managed to make her feel . . . full. For those few seconds she was his.
Gods, could she be any weaker? What kind of queen would she be if she couldn’t keep the local riffraff from her pussy?
But was it really that simple? She’d let Bercelak get away with more in the few hours she’d been with him than with any other dragon she’d ever met. And, she had to admit, it wasn’t merely because her mother had trapped her in this weak, human body. No, it was worse than that. She liked Bercelak’s touch. She liked having his hands on her. She was, in fact, beginning to like him.
And she absolutely hated him for it.
Chapter 4
Rhiannon spent the hour before dawn trying to undo whatever her mother had done to her so she could shift back to dragon. But to no avail.
She missed her dragon self. She missed her wings and her talons. She missed being able to take a horse for a quick meal.
But most importantly, she felt unsafe in this human body. She poked at her skin and it hurt. She dug her nail into her forearm and it bled. By the gods! How do these humans live like this?
And then there was Bercelak. She thought for sure he’d come to her last night. He’d come to Claim her. And she’d been prepared, too. Ready to challenge him as human. Ready to die if he’d come as dragon. But he didn’t come at all. And, in the end, neither did she.
Damn him! She’d never had a male, any male, make her feel so . . . so . . . needy. And not for food or safety or any of those important things. But for sex. She wanted a lusty ride from that bastard and she hated him for making her feel this way. Especially when she’d been so comfortable with not feeling anything at all.
“Are you ready?”
She looked away from the early-morning two suns to the dragon standing beside her. They stood at the mouth of his den, leagues above the earth. If she fell from here now, she’d die. Perhaps that was what her mother had hoped for. That her human form would crumple and Bercelak would be forced to deal with the remains.
“I’m still waiting for you to explain to me why we are going to Kerezik.”
She pulled at the collar of the dress she wore. It wasn’t in any way high. In fact, it scooped dangerously low across her breasts. Much more and her nipples would show. She hated wearing clothes, but she felt terribly bare without them, and felt suffocated when she had them on.