Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 120974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
I jog over the meadow surrounding the back of the castle with the princess bouncing on my shoulder. She’s still shouting for me to put her down and I can feel her tiny fists beating against my back but it doesn’t bother me a bit. She might have strong magic, but physically she’s no match for me—she can hit me all day long if she wants to. Feels like a massage.
At last we get past the meadow and into a small copse of trees. I wait until I get to a broad clearing, big enough to Shift in, before I put her down.
“You…how dare you do that?” she rages at me as she sweeps her hair back from her face. A lot of it came loose from the expensive golden hairpins she’s wearing and her face is flushed from being carried upside down.
Her full breasts have nearly fallen out of the top of her low-cut dress too. I can see one ripe nipple poking out at me and a curve of dusky areola on the other side. Fuck! I’d be so fucking hard if I had enough blood in my system—which is the next order of business.
“We had to get moving,” I say, shrugging. “You weren’t going fast enough, sweetheart.”
“My name is not ‘sweetheart’ or ‘Princess,’” she snaps at me. Then she sees where I’m looking and her cheeks go scarlet as she quickly shoves her breasts back into her dress. “I am Princess Irena of the Royal House of Trelain of the kingdom of Therevan!” she exclaims, clearly trying to salvage her dignity.
“Oh, so we’re making formal introductions now?” I ask, raising my eyebrows. “Very well, your Highness, I’m Valen, Red Drake of the Clan of the Crimson Dragon of the Sky Lands.” I narrow my eyes at her. “But you can just call me ‘beast’—isn’t that what your people think of mine? That we’re all just mindless beasts?”
The guilty flush on her softly rounded cheeks lets me know I’m right.
“I…I never said—” she begins.
“Never mind,” I snap.
I’m still fucking angry for what I went through at the hands of her brother—angry enough to Shift right now and fly away from here and let her mother die. Why should I care if the queen of the Magic people draws another breath or not? My clan would be better off if they all died out!
Two things keep me from taking wing—no, make that three things. First and most obvious, the fucking collar around my neck. Second, I gave her my word—we made a bargain. And even if her people have no honor, mine do. A Drake’s word is sacred—never to be broken. And third I’m too fucking thirsty—I can’t Shift until I drink from her.
Which is a situation I’m going to fix right now.
“All right, Princess Irena,” I say, pronouncing her name with elaborate politeness. “It’s time—I need your blood.”
8
IRENA
“I need your blood,” he says, and I feel my heart freeze within me.
I knew this was coming—I told myself I was prepared. But that was before I saw his fangs up-close. They’re so long and sharp they remind me of daggers! And I’m supposed to let him drink from me?
“You…you have to have it now?” I ask and hate myself for the way my voice goes high and uncertain on the last word.
He frowns and crosses his arms over his broad chest.
“If you want me to be able to Shift and fly us out of here before the guards come searching for us both, then yes—I need your blood now. It’s been almost a year since I’ve drunk from a female—I don’t have the power to take my Drake form until I do.”
I said I would do anything to save my mother and I meant it.
“Very well,” I say. Pulling back the long sleeve of my dress, I step up to him and offer him the fragile blue bracelet of veins that trace the underside of my wrist.
But to my surprise, the beast—or perhaps I ought to start calling him “Valen”—shakes his head.
“No. Not there—I can’t drink from your wrist,” he says, frowning.
Goddess above! I feel faint but I know what that means.
“Very well,” I say, trying to keep my voice cool and unbothered, though my heart is pounding like it’s trying to get out of my chest.
I sweep my long hair to one side, baring the side of my throat for him. My skin is quite pale—he should have no trouble finding a vein.
He takes me by the shoulders and I can’t help flinching as he leans closer.
He’s so big. I feel like a child in an evil fairytale caught in a giant’s grip. His bonfire-and-male-musk scent fills my nose and makes me dizzy as he presses his face close to the vulnerable side of my neck. He inhales deeply—as though he’s a beast scenting me before he bites.