BOOKS

Talmior is already approaching. He glances at me the way men look at things they're deciding how to break.

"Do you plan on sharing her?"

Athanmir looks at him.

"I don't want to fuck her. "Talmior's upper lip curls. Give her to the others. "I want to watch them split her open, and not only her cunt."

Athanmir touches me.

It's so unexpected I jerk. And yet so familiar I lean into it. His hand rests on top of my head. Trails through my hair.

Then his fingers tighten at the nape of my neck and he yanks my head back, examining my face. A small noise leaves my throat.

"Why," he says, chill voice matching the subtle, controlled violence in his hand, "would I allow another to touch what I have yet to break?"

My heart beats a little faster. My thighs clench. How many times have I imagined this male breaking me.

The evening could have been worse.

I’m...walking home, not into Renaud’s bedroom, or his dungeon. But that’s only because I’m already leashed and he doesn’t need to keep me locked in a tower to control me.

All the leverage he needed was at his banquet, and I handed him more. But this is what I do, who I am. I survive. My family survives.

-You,- Darkan says, -have an interesting definition of survival. You offered yourself to him—not how one rejects a courtship.-

-I rejected his advances, threatened to kill him, then stabbed him through the hand at dinner.-

-That,- he replies in his patronizing—though surprisingly mellow all things considered—voice, -is light-hearted Temthrennes foreplay.-

"It won't be much of a fight," he says. "This is your second warning, Maralyn. I rarely offer a second, so you should be impressed by your value to me. The next time tonight you open your mouth, I will fill it."

Sitting up, I stand and glance down at Lord Khallan, then turn to leave the hut. If I don't, I'll take one of two unadvisable actions, probably both.

He grabs my ankle, staring up at me with grayish, slightly narrowed eyes. "Where are you going?"

I playact sealing my lips shut, as his touch sears my skin.

Those gray eyes gleam. "Poor manners, overtalking despite multiple warnings, and now mockery. I'd suggest you make the attempt to be a little less of a Rashkaran, but I'd be wasting breath. You deserve the response you've asked for, and I deserve a treat."

But somehow I end on my back, staring up at the sky with the shouts of terrified males squeaking in my ears.

And then the Dragon.

A Dragon does not squeak. When displeased, his roar rattles the very skies.

"No more, Aiwah Temsurah," Daoudanneth says, the words a hiss.

He has yet to truly lose his temper with me, but there will be a first time. The strain between us grows, though mostly on my side.

"I would become heat sick when I was a child," I say. It's true enough. "Though I haven’t fainted in some time. Perhaps a restorative and an early night."

I say all of this swiftly to appease him, and head off the hissing arguments I know he's about to make — to eat, to rest, but not shut up in my bedchamber — to take a walk with Ainurah or Liafa.

"Too little, too late." The cold finality warns me, and when his face comes into focus his eyes are pure gold. "I told you I would take steps if you did not begin to take care of yourself. I do not speak because I love the sound of my voice."

I dispute.

But now I understand his patience. He expected, and was waiting, for me to fall. To give him an excuse for an ambush.

I sigh. "Well? What is the consequence."

"Ah, General, how I love your straightforward mind." The gold eyes darken to sapphire until the brighter hue is only a thin rim around his irises. He smiles, slightly sharp teeth gleaming at me. "It's only a consequence, and you used the negative inflection, if you dislike flying."

"I see."

Daoudanneth scoops me up into his arms though it's not necessary, and it's embarrassing besides. I'm a warrior, not a court flower. I settle my head onto his shoulder anyway. The display of acquiescence will soothe him and I'll need every advantage to talk him out of what I know is coming next.

"We leave for Alethanndrea. My brother is right. You will not recover without a change in your environment."