Series: Lords of Rathe Series by Meagan Brandy
Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 95227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
A bratty hum leaves me because no—I do not believe him. I would kick his royal ass in a magicless fight.
Legend smirks and shifts closer, so I push up on my elbows.
“Okay, we had our little kidnapping adventure, fun times, now take me back.”
“Later.” He straightens, eyes sweeping over me, cataloguing every injury and place another’s magic touched my skin. He hates it. His jaw flexes. “You’re bleeding.”
“I’ve bled worse,” I say, but my voice comes out a little thinner than I’d like. The room tilts sideways when I try to sit up.
His hand lands flat on my sternum, gentle but unmovable, pressing me back into the mattress. “You’re staying here until you rest.”
I glare up at him. “You don’t get to decide that.”
“I get to decide everything,” he counters. “I’m your King.”
“I’m going to slap you.”
Legend chuckles, but goes silent a moment later, eyes not leaving my face. “Lie down, Haide.”
Something in his tone, low and edged, slides along a part of me that isn’t interested in arguing.. I sink back, hissing when a bruised patch along my spine protests, and he curses under his breath.
“Stay,” he orders, like I’m a particularly troublesome dragon pup.
“Not a pet,” I grumble.
A basin full of steaming water magically appears. The surface shimmers with the telltale sheen of a healer’s magic.
A bitterness coats my tongue.
If I were a real gifted, I would heal on my own with time.
Legend wrings out a cloth and climbs onto the bed with focus that screams I’m currently the center of his kingdom. I swear I can feel the satisfaction rolling off him and into me. Not because I’m “hurt,” but because he gets to heal me.
It’s way too fucking much.
“Legend,” I warn as he braces one knee by my hip.
“Relax,” he murmurs, leaning over me. “I’m just cleaning you up. No big scheme here.”
The cloth touches my cheek, cool against skin that feels too hot. His hand cups the side of my face, thumb stroking once, slow and soothing, as if he’s taming a skittish creature instead of a girl who can kill like a beast.
“I am not a weak doll that needs caring for. I don’t need you.”
“I need to do this; and you’re going to let me,” he says quietly.
The words land with more weight than they should, and my throat tightens.
He must be bewitching me or something. Slipped some herbal drug into that water or the air because this girl who lies back and lets someone else in—she’s not me.
She can’t be me.
To want is to lose, Haide. To need is to die.
He works in silence, wiping away blood and dirt, following the line of my jaw to my neck, my collarbone, and the exposed stretch of my stomach where my shirt has ridden up.
“Your eyes are turning white,” I mutter, and those eyes, swimming with royal magic, snap up to mine, sending a jolt straight down my spine.
“My mate is in my hands,” he says simply.
“You’re delusional.”
“And you’re beautiful.” He says it with the same quiet certainty he uses when issuing orders, as if it’s an undeniable fact of the universe. As if the sky is violet, dragons breathe fire, and I am beautiful.
Beauty has never meant a damn thing to me. I’d never even seen myself outside of a reflection in the water or a puddle of rain until he locked me up in Rathe. I liked what I saw, but beauty?
Not sure I understand what that is.
He cocks his head. “You don’t believe me?”
“I mean, I’d fuck me.”
Legend throws his head back with a laugh, and my muscles relax instantly.
He finishes with the cloth and tosses it aside, fingers lingering at the edge of my shirt. “Lift.”
I arch a brow. “Did that sound like an invitation?” It totally can be, but I might need the gash on my neck healed first. Could make a real mess if things get too fun.
“Your ribs,” he reminds me, though his mouth curves. “Let me see.”
Rolling my eyes for show, I help him peel the fabric up. Dark bruises bloom across my side, ugly and impressive. I’m not sure I realized magic could even do that.
Legend’s expression goes thunderous at the sight.
“I will kill them,” he says softly, like he’s discussing the change in tide. “Slowly. Painfully. Publicly.”
“Already unconscious, mighty king. Don’t go pissing off more people because of me. I do that enough on my own without your help.”
“It’s non-negotiable, little monster. They will die, but I hear you. I’ll find other ways to make them regret what they’ve done, and just when they start to feel safe again, I will end them. Slowly.” He drags his knuckles lightly along an unmarked patch of skin as if that can erase what’s beneath.
The touch is featherlight, but everything in me goes tight, breath locking in my chest. His eyes catch mine, and something heavy settles between us. It’s thick, electric. It’s familiar.