Lorran scrambled to standing. “It’s just the door,” she muttered, hurrying past him. She tugged at the edges of her ripped bodice, trying to cover her breasts. She had no intention of baring her body the Castle guard. She grabbed the note she’d written last night and opened the door, staying safely behind it.
“Good morrow, Mistress,” the guard greeted. He was a different man than the other two days. The uniform was more ornate but clearly he was from the Castle. He looked over her shoulder as if trying to see into her cabin.
“Good morrow.” She handed him the parchment and started to close the door.
“I’ve been ordered to see the King myself.”
“No,” she answered instinctively. There was something about this guard she didn’t trust. And the need to protect Kei was strong after three days. Even though he was a King, Kei was at risk now. The sword on the guard’s hip could be quickly bared and Kei would be unarmed. “It agitates him if anyone comes near.”
She heard another growl echo across the room. “I really can’t be away long. Tell them I’ll have news tomorrow.” She snapped the door shut before the guard could protest.
Then she waited. Kei stood silently behind her. It was time to face him. She took a deep breath and slowly turned around.
His eyes glowed with anger.
“What in the Dark Hells is going on?”
* * * * *
Kei’s mind cleared of the strange dark haze that had invaded it as he watched the woman hurry toward the door. Who is she? He licked his lips and felt his cock harden even farther. He knew her taste, knew her scent, but he didn’t know her name.
A quick check of the cabin told him he wasn’t any place familiar.
So he had three questions: where was he, how had he gotten there, and who was the delicious woman who was here to entertain him?
She wasn’t his usual style. He tended toward tall, slim women. She was tall enough but her rounded curves were a little beyond his usual preferences. But he had reveled in the taste of her. And wanted more.
She spoke quietly to the person on the doorstep then closed the door with a quick snap. Was she hiding? Or was she hiding him?
Kei folded his arms and waited for her to turn around. She seemed to be hesitating, as if she didn’t want to face him.
Who is she? Why did she seem so familiar yet so foreign?
Mine.
The thought lifted his cock. He hadn’t fucked her upon waking—too intent on licking her pussy—now, his body felt the deprivation. He wanted her. This was more than a morning erection. He needed to put his cock in this woman, to come inside her.
Kei inhaled deeply and willed his thoughts back into his control. He’d been trained as a warrior from childhood. He knew how to live with pain. A little sexual discomfort should be nothing. But that didn’t stop his desire.
Finally, the woman straightened her back and slowly turned.
“What in the Dark Hells is going on?” he demanded. He didn’t have the time or patience for courtesy. Something was very wrong. Whoever had been at the door had known he was here but she hadn’t let him in.
He ignored the fact that he was naked and his cock was so hard he was ready to drive nails into stone and drew himself to his full height. The woman seemed to recognize the change and dropped into a low curtsy.
“Your Majesty,” she whispered.
Kei almost smiled. It was ludicrous. He was naked. He’d just been licking her cunt, and now she bowed before him with the elegance of a Peer. He stayed away from women of the Peer Class. They wanted too much. By the Gods, had he somehow gotten drunk and ended up married to the wench? He intended to marry eventually, but he’d hoped to be sober at the event.
She stayed in the low curtsy, her head bowed, waiting for his release.
“Arise,” he commanded. She straightened and raised her eyes. Kei was stunned by what he saw there—this was no humble servant. She was staring at him with barely disguised disdain, even some irritation. And maybe a trace of fear.
Hells, what had he done to deserve that?
“May I get you something to wear?” she offered. Her eyes remained locked on his face.
“I’d prefer a few answers first.”
“Then may I request that you cover yourself?” She paused as if realizing how demanding she’d sounded. “If it please Your Majesty.” She said the right words but they were clearly wrenched from her as an obligation.
“I’m comfortable as I am,” he replied, just to be perverse. He widened his stance and propped his hands on his hips so there was no implication that he was hiding. Red tinged her cheeks giving her a delightfully innocent look. She could still blush? Unusual. “Who are you?”
“I’m Lorran, Your Majesty. You’re in my cabin, outside of Memph.”
Kei took the information and tried to remember arriving. There was nothing. His last memory was entering the dragon’s lair. He’d yelled to Riker to be aware and then the world went black—and red. Red filled with pain, blood and burning.
“What’s happened? Why am I here?”
The woman took a deep breath and Kei found himself momentarily distracted by the rise and fall of her breasts and the bare skin beneath her gown. He’d torn the front of her nightgown. He’d tasted those nipples, sucked them into his mouth. The need to do so again pushed him, but he clenched his fists and held steady. So, he was attracted to her—that wouldn’t stop him from finding out the truth.
“You and your brother went after Effron.”
“I remember that.”
She took another deep breath as if preparing to give bad news. The hair along his neck stood up.
“Is Riker hurt?” Kei stalked forward and grabbed the woman by her upper arms.
“Oh, no. He’s fine,” she quickly assured him.
“Well?” He gave her a slight shake, his already stretched patience ready to snap.
She pressed her lips together then nodded. “The dragon attacked. He bit you.”
He released her and stepped back. The center of his stomach fell away. “No.” He rejected the idea as he had the Demons of the Dark Hells. “No,” he repeated.
All his dreams for the Kingdom evaporated in the steady gaze from Lorran’s brown eyes. She didn’t flinch under his fierce stare. How did this happen? As soon as the question came to mind, he realized it no longer mattered.
“How long do I have?” The isolation in his voice startled even him.
She glanced away. “It depends. Sometimes it’s months.”
She was lying and doing a pitifully poor job of it. “How long?” he demanded. He had things to do before his death.
The steel in her spine returned and she looked back at him. “Three weeks. About three weeks.”
Kei nodded. He needed clothes. If they were outside of Memph, they were only half a day’s hard riding from the Castle.
“Thank you for your care. I assume you nursed me back to health?”
She nodded, a vague look of confusion marring her serene face.
“I’ll make sure you’re compensated, of course.” He somehow knew that idea would piss her off. She hadn’t helped him out of the hope for money. But why had she? Any other woman would have run screaming from a man bitten by a dragon. The dragon’s reputation was well deserved. But he couldn’t think about any of that right now. He needed to get home. “Where are my clothes?”
“Destroyed.”
He spun around and stared at her. She’d gone too far.
“You destroyed my clothes?!”
“No, the dragon did that. I just took the tattered pieces off your body and burned them.” She planted her hands on her hips and the bodice of her gown gaped showing the sweet curve of her full breasts. She’d forgotten the tear he’d made. His palms itched to cup those soft mounds, hold them for his mouth. He licked his lips and stared, amazed at the urge to touch her.
A sweet scent wafted toward him, luring him forward. Now that his mind was clear, it took him a moment to ide
ntify it. It was her, her pussy. She was sending him that delicious sun-warmed scent. He licked his lips, the taste of her cunt still on his mouth. An uncomfortable tightening permeated his groin. By the Gods, he was hard, and needed relief. Inside her body. He wanted her. He wanted to fuck her until he was dry and she ached with his pounding.
The stern, disapproving glare in her eyes should have shut down his desires but all Kei could think about was turning her hard eyes soft, making her scream with pleasure, not disapproval. She looked cold, even frigid, but the memory of her response—her wetness as he fingered her, the sweet way she’d moaned as he’d slipped his tongue inside her—told a different story. She wasn’t cold. She’d burned him with her fire. He wanted to feel her pussy clinging to his cock as he pushed inside her.
He shook his head to clear it of the image. The urge to take her stayed with him but he gathered the strength that had led him to the throne and focused on what he had to do.
“I need clothes and I need my horse.”
“No.”
Kei stopped in mid-step across the cabin. Gone were the slightly reluctant tones of respect.
“What?” He was raised as a warrior. Now, crowned a King. People didn’t say “no” to him. Not more than once.
“You can’t go.”
He folded his arms across his chest and kicked his lips up into a half-smile.
“Darling, I appreciate the invitation, but as delectable as you are, I have things to do.”
He’d never seen anyone bristle before. She seemed to swell before his eyes and the suppressed look of disdain was freed.
“Your Majesty, while I might have endured your pawings while you were in the trance, trust me, it would give me no greater pleasure than to see you walking out my door.”
He felt the edge of his lips pull up into a smile. She was a fierce little thing when she got riled.
“Unfortunately, it’s a matter of life and death, and while I don’t particularly want you here, it’s not safe for you to return.”
“Why?” he mocked. “Because they’ll kill me?” It didn’t matter. Death would follow. Better an honorable death than one as—he crushed the thought before it could form.
“No. Because you’ll kill them.”
* * * * *
Lorran braced herself for his reaction. He was a different creature now that he was free of the trance. Any semblance of vulnerability was gone.
Having cared for his body for three days, she’d known he was large but he towered over her, filling her cabin and making the tiny space seem even smaller. Even the strength she’d observed in his sleep was nothing to the internal power he exuded now. This was a frighteningly strong man—physically and mentally.
And she’d just shocked him. But she had to make him understand. Over the next three weeks, the dragon’s awareness would grow inside him, slowly overtaking the human mind. And then, in an instant, the dragon would appear in corporeal form and the human would disappear forever.
“Explain that.” It was a true command, spoken by one used to giving orders and expecting them to be filled.
Irritation pricked her. She’d spent three days watching him, soothing him, and allowing him to touch her—though she would admit that had been a pleasure for her—and now he presumed to give her orders like some serf. She was tempted to snap at him but she wanted his help, so she clamped down on the annoyance.
“The change happens more quickly if the man returns home. No one knows why exactly, but it’s believed to be the emotional upheaval.”
“Emotional upheaval?”
He was obviously a warrior who didn’t believe emotions would or could affect him. She took all emotion out of her voice.
“Yes. As the creature begins to awaken, the human is lost more and more. The challenge of trying to maintain the previous personality seems to make the dragon more fierce. More desperate to appear. And more angry when he does appear.”
Kei squinted and watched her for a moment. “How do you know so much?” Suspicion laced his voice.
“I study dragons.”
And the light of recognition flared in his eyes. “Of course. You’re the dragon who—” He stopped and had the grace to look ashamed.
“Don’t worry, Your Majesty. I know what they call me.”
“And it doesn’t bother you?”
Because he sounded truly curious, and not mocking, she answered honestly. “No. Because I have to be near the dragons to study them.”
“For what purpose?” The King stared at her in amazement. “The only reason to study them is to find more efficient ways to kill them. The only good dragon is a dead dragon.”
Lorran knew most people held that opinion, but still, it was hard to hear the words. She’d come to respect if not understand these creatures.
“I’ll be curious to see if you hold that same opinion in three weeks time when you turn into one of those creatures. Will death be your choice?”
“Yes,” he answered without pausing. “But I’ll never make the final transition. I won’t do that to my family or to my people.”
Lorran felt her eyes widen. He couldn’t be serious. “You’d suicide?” The idea was so foreign she couldn’t imagine it. The depth of his determination was beyond her comprehension.
“If that’s the only way the transition can be stopped then, yes. You’ve seen what happens to the villages where these creatures nest. You’ve seen the destruction, the devastation. Crops burned, entire herds of livestock eliminated. And then, there’s the lovely tradition of sacrificing virgins.” Kei began to pace the room and for the first time, Lorran saw him as a leader, not merely as a King. He wasn’t blind with hatred. He hated with reason. “No matter how many times we tell people that sacrificing virgins doesn’t help, they still do it. And the dragon still takes them.” He spun around and stalked toward her. “Have you seen what happens to these women when the dragon is done with them?” He stopped in front of her. “Have you?”
“Yes,” she whispered, the memories still haunted her dreams. She’d never been able to save them. Their screams of terror had eventually ended in death.
“And still you defend them?”
Lorran didn’t know how to respond. “I have my reasons.” Reasons a warrior like Kei the Dragon Slayer wouldn’t understand.
He cocked his head to the side and stared at her.
“You look familiar.” It was a question spoken without asking.
Lorran looked away, choosing not to answer.
“Why do I know you?” he asked more directly.
“How would I know what you know, Your Majesty? May I find you something to wear?” She didn’t wait for an answer, simply walked by him, her head held high, her eyes averted from his nakedness. Not that it helped. She knew intimately what the man looked like, felt like. The image of his form was burned into her memory and it would take years if not a lifetime to blur them beyond recognition. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t act like she wasn’t aware.
She opened the closet door. A few of Brennek’s clothes remained. She’d carried them around instead of getting rid of them despite the fact that they held little sentimental value. Now, she was glad. They would be tight on Kei but at least he’d be clothed and she could begin her campaign to forget his naked body.
She pulled a pair of leather trousers and a linen shirt off the shelf and placed them on the bed near Kei.
“Whose clothes are they?”
Lorran tensed at the strange tone of his voice. A low growl hummed beneath his words.
“My husband’s.” She calmly raised her gaze to his and had to suppress a gasp. His eyes glowed like cold, green stones.
“You’re married?” He sounded shocked, stunned, almost angry at the thought.
“I’m widowed,” she said.
“Who was your husband? You’re obviously of the Peer Class. Who was he?” Kei asked, his voice and eyes losing that hardness.
Lorran pushed her shoulders back and stared the King do
wn. “Lord Brennek. My husband was Lord Brennek.” She expected him to show some sort of response. Instead he stared at her as if the memory was so minor he couldn’t recall it at the moment. Then after long seconds, he nodded.
“I remember him. He decided to fight dragons and got himself bit, first try.” Kei slipped on the shirt. “Cronan. Wasn’t that the name of the dragon he became?” Kei stopped dressing and looked up. “That’s it. That’s where I know you. You were in the cave when we went after Cronan.” The skin around his eyes tightened as he stared at her. “You stayed with him. Even after the transition, you stayed with him.”
“Right until you killed him, yes.”
Lorran could hardly believe the words had come from her mouth. Anger, even after five years, still lurked beneath her skin. Anger at this man for killing Brennek before they could save him. Anger at herself for never being able to rescue him.
Kei willed himself not to tense under her fierce gaze. He inserted deliberate casualness into his stance as he stared back at her. This, at least, explained her anger. It didn’t, however, explain his response to her. She was pissed and obviously didn’t like him much and still the thought of fucking her, of licking her pussy until she whimpered with pleasure, lurked at the edge of all his thoughts. His erection grew and he quickly pulled on the borrowed trousers. It was ironic—here he was a King, ruler of a warrior nation, and he was borrowing the clothes of a man he’d killed.
No, he corrected in his mind. He hadn’t killed the man. He’d killed the dragon. He’d have been more than willing to let the man live, annoying though Brennek had been. But not the dragon.
“Cronan was a particularly nasty beast, if I remember correctly. How many women had he captured? Did you keep count?”
Lorran shook her head but kept her lips tightly pressed together.
He was watching her, pushing her. She was angry but still holding back. And he wanted to know why.
“We lost track as well. You say you’ve studied these creatures. Does it appear that the character of the human is directly related to the irrationality of the beast? I’ve always wondered if particularly weak-willed humans make better or worse dragons. I’m sure you’d have experience with that.”
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