Page 40 of The Death King

I’m not one of your whores, Talon.

I know. I apologize, Khazmuda. I’m just…frustrated.

With Calista, I assume?

Yes. I took another drink.

Why does she frustrate you?

Because she’s fucking stubborn. I set the glass on the table and stared at the flames. I hadn’t left the castle since I’d returned from the Arid Sands. It was nice to be home, but I missed the skies, I missed the wind in my face as I rode upon my powerful dragon.

And you aren’t?

I smirked at his taunt. It’s not the same.

How has she been stubborn?

I didn’t talk about this sort of thing with Khazmuda. We discussed everything, but my private life had always been off the table. As close as we were, a conversation like that would be awkward. I want her…but she refuses me.

Why does that bother you? Move on.

It bothers me because I still want her.

Why want a woman who doesn’t want you? I would never desire a dragon if she didn’t desire me too.

Because I think she does desire me…but won’t allow herself to have me.

If that were true, then there would be no reason for her to reject you. Khazmuda understood my words, understood my emotions, but since he was a dragon, he only understood the world in a literal sense. Some of my thoughts were inexplicable to him because he was a different species.

It’s complicated… She’s scared.

She’s the most fearless woman I’ve ever met.

I’d felt no pity for her when I’d discovered her year-long enslavement to General Titan. I didn’t care that she’d been a prisoner for seven years in the desert. But that changed once I saw the depth of her scar tissue. She’s scared after what General Titan did to her.

Now, Khazmuda seemed to understand because there was a long pause. I understand now.

It’s an obstacle I can’t climb. It’s a foe I can’t defeat.

Khazmuda was quiet for a long time. You said she’s scared.

Yes.

Then make her feel safe.

I don’t know how to do that. I had no idea how to comfort a woman who’d suffered such a horrible fate, who’d been imprisoned to a vicious man with no escape.

You do, Talon.

I stared at the fire.

Because you made me feel safe.

I walked into her bedroom the following night, seeing the boards over the windows she hadn’t tried to remove. It seemed like she’d learned her lesson after she’d almost died in her last escape attempt, but I’d doubled the guards in this sector just in case she was stupid enough to try.

She was asleep on the couch, the book she was reading flat on her chest.

I stood there and stared, seeing how pretty she looked when her eyes were closed. Her face was relaxed, her lips were slightly parted, and her cheeks were a little rosy from the low-burning fire. The flames were about to burn down to simmering coals, so I placed another log on top, watching the hot ash erupt into the air.