Page 64 of Consumed By Fire
Fuck!
This is him. It’s Igor, Trinity’s ex and the father of her baby.
No! It can’t be. How?
I feel everything in me bristle. Adrenaline courses through my body. My dragon wants me to fight. He jostles inside me, trying to get me to shift.
“Let me remind you that we were no longer together. I’m not interested in you, Igor,” Trinity says in a hard, clipped tone.
“That’s a pity, Trin,” he says. “Is it because you’re fucking the Draiger?” His gaze moves back to me, hardening. Those muscles on either side of his neck pop out. I’m sure I see a vein appear on his forehead.
Trinity moves to stand in front of me.
What the fuck!
“The Draiger has nothing to do with it,” she says in a placating voice.
“Are you in love with him?” Igor’s eyes narrow on me. His jaw tightens.
“No! We were just saying goodbye,” Trinity says.
“Is that how you say goodbye?” He snort-laughs. “Perhaps you and I need to talk about appropriate goodbyes. Come to think of it, you have a lot of explaining to do, Trin. What are you doing on Draig?”
“I could ask the same of you,” she says. “Followed by how is it that you are still alive?”
“Did you miss me?” he smirks.
Trinity doesn’t say anything. I think she has just realized the predicament we are in. One wrong move, and we’re dead. Hopefully, he’ll stop at me. I’m praying he will stop short of killing his own unborn baby. I’m praying that he will let Trinity live. I will do anything to save her.
“Do you love him?” Igor asks again.
“What?” Trinity huffs.
“You heard me. Do you love the Draiger? Or is it just lust?”
“It’s self-preservation. That’s all. I needed a lifeline after I was captured. This male is that lifeline. It’s nothing more and nothing less.”
Good!
This is good.
“So, you won’t mind if we tear him limb from limb?” He laughs. It’s evil and sounds a little deranged. I’m not sure what Trinity saw in his male.
“I would mind. He has helped me. He was about to let me go when you arrived.”
“He was about to fuck you. That didn’t look much like letting you go. Sorry, Trin! Try again. I thought you said that you don’t care about him. That he was a means to an end. Perhaps he means something to you, after all. Why can’t I kill him?”
“B-because I like him. He’s helped me. He saved me. He’s my friend and I wouldn’t want to see anything happen to him.”
“How fucking sweet. You hear that, Draiger? My female. She is mine, by the way. You might have touched her, but make no fucking mistake, she’s mine. Mine!” he growls like the animal he is. “Turns out that the mother of my unborn child likes you. She doesn’t want to see you hurt. I don’t like that one bit, Draiger. It makes me hate you more. Makes me want to see your blood. To taste your still-beating heart. What do you think about that?”
I don’t say anything. What would be the point?
“Don’t talk like that.” Trinity takes a step toward Igor. I want to yank her back, but I don’t. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll come with you if you leave him alone.”
“You’ll come with us?” Igor laughs with abandon. “That’s so sweet, my angel. So seriously fucking sweet that it makes my heart ache just a little hearing you say it, but, you see, you are coming with us whether you like it or not. I pandered to your bullshit for far too damned long. No more!” he bellows. “No fucking more,” he adds, quieter this time. “You’re coming with me. You are mating me, and we are going to be together, whether you like it or not. One big, happy family.”
“Or you could let the Draiger go, and I’ll come willingly. I will mate you willingly and be yours. I’ll spend every day being grateful that you let my friend live.” She puts emphasis on the word “friend.” “Or it can go the opposite way, where I never forget that you killed him. Where I hold a grudge. We could have a good life together, Igor. It could be great, or it could be miserable. You can’t make someone be happy no matter how hard you try. It won’t work.”