Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 85203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
When it hits, I have the sensation of jumping off a cliff and suddenly learning I can fly.
“Oh…oh, Goddess!” I moan, my hips bucking and twisting as pleasure shoots through me. “Oh Xaren, that feels so good!”
“That’s right,” he growls softly, looking down into my eyes. “That’s right, come for me—want to feel you coming for me, little dove!”
“I am,” I moan, arching against him. “Oh please…please, right there—don’t stop!”
“Won’t stop until you ask me to,” he promises.
He’s as good as his word and guides me through my pleasure until I start shying away from his touch because the sensations are too intense. Then he gathers me to his chest and just holds me.
I snuggle against him, pressing the side of my face to his broad chest, breathing in his warm, spicy scent and listening to his steady heartbeat against my ear.
I’m nearly lulled to sleep by the steady thump-thump, thump-thump, when he speaks again.
“Thank you,” he says, his deep voice so low it’s nearly inaudible. If I wasn’t pressed right against him I would have missed it.
“For what?” I say and yawn—I can’t help it. I feel so sleepy now.
“For letting me…for asking me…” He clears his throat. “I never dreamed a woman would ever want me to touch her. The women of the Court all shudder when I pass too near and I see the way they look at me, with such horror in their eyes…the way they whisper behind their fans.”
“That’s because they’re all idiots who never took the time to get to know you,” I say, frowning. “Truly, I’ve never met a bigger pack of ninnies than the Nobles in the Citadel.”
He laughs ruefully.
“You could be right. I never got on with most of them even before I was kidnapped. And after…well, I was too much changed.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re not like the rest of them,” I say firmly. “Besides my maid, Tanzy, you’re the only friend I have in this Goddess-forsaken place.”
“Friends—is that what we are, little dove?” His deep voice sounds slightly amused.
I shrug and snuggled against him.
“Well, maybe a bit more than friends. I’m not in the habit of doing, er, what we just did with my friends.”
“A bit more then,” he says and pulls me even closer.
I feel something long and hard and hot branding my belly and realize that while I had a release, he did not.
“Oh, er…do you want me to, um, help you with that?” I reach between us, my fingertips skimming the hard ridge of flesh I feel just beneath his sleep trousers.
But Xaren jerks back from my touch as though I’d burned him.
“You’d better not, little dove.” His voice has gone hoarse again. “I don’t think you’re ready to see that part of me. Not yet—maybe not ever.”
“If I never see it, how I am to get it in me?” I ask, feeling exasperated. “Wouldn’t it be better for me to get used to it before you, you know, use it on me?”
“I haven’t said that I will use it on you,” he points out, his voice dipping to a growl. “For now, I think it’s better if you don’t look. I am not…as other men are there.”
“You’re not?” I look up at him, frowning in confusion. “What does that mean?”
“Let’s just say that my eye and the side of my face is not the only place my Drake is coming out,” he says ominously.
Immediately, I begin wondering what he can mean. Is his manhood actually his Drake’s manhood—or dragonhood, I guess? And if so, what does it look like? And is that why it feels so big against my belly when he presses against me? I imagine a beast that’s bigger than a cottage would have equipment on the same scale. But if that’s true, how would it ever fit into me? I felt my inner walls stretching when he just used two fingers on me.
It’s clear, however, that I won’t get answers to my many questions any time soon. Xaren has gone silent for the night and I sense that he’s done talking for now.
I’m sleepy anyway. He hasn’t planted a baby in my belly, but at least I no longer have a maiden barrier, so I don’t have to worry about getting whipped tomorrow. That should hopefully go a long way towards appeasing the Queen and buy me a little time to convince Xaren to take me.
For now, I feel content in his arms. His room is cold, as always, but his big body is warm and I feel safe pressed against him. I sigh contentedly and nuzzle my face against his warm chest.
He says nothing but strokes my hair gently with one big hand. Eventually I drift off and dream of flying on wings made of white and silver feathers.
19
ELAINA
The bathwater is lukewarm by the time I pull myself out of my tub, scrubbed clean, though no amount of rose-scented soap or perfumed oils can wash away the weight of last night.