Page 82 of The Death King

Her eyes locked on mine for a few breaths before her hands made contact with my chest. Her sexy legs circled my waist, and her ankles rested together just at the top of my ass. Her hips started to work as she rocked with me, as she let the embarrassment leave and the desire enter.

My lips closed down on hers, and I kissed her, hearing her moan inside my mouth. Her hands went to my back, and her nails clawed into my flesh, slowly dragging down over the muscles on either side of my spine. She clung to me tighter and tighter, like she was already on the verge of euphoria, when we’d barely started.

I raised myself above her and rocked my hips harder, in an elongated motion to grind against her, to give her the release she’d come here for. She was anxious for it. I could feel it in her tightness.

Her breathing changed right away when she felt me grind into her nub, her breaths growing shaky and unpredictable. She clawed down my arms as she rocked back into me, the skin of her chest and neck tinted red from the heat between our bodies. We’d been together enough times for me to know her tells, and I knew when her nails went a little deeper, she became a little tighter, and she held her breath, she’d hit her threshold.

She moaned right in my face, her hips jerking uncontrollably, eyes glistening with happy tears. She became so wet, so tight, and it was so good it was practically torture.

Because I had to be a gentleman and let her finish.

I hadn’t been aroused when she’d walked into the room, just brooding and angry, but she brought me to the threshold instantly, turning me on with her wetness and desperation. I gave my final pump then released inside her, dumping all my seed into her tightness, the cords in my neck so tight they were about to pop.

Fuck, it felt good.

Her legs squeezed me close like she wanted to catch every last drop.

It passed in a whirlwind, and then I was left with the sweat against the back of my neck. I dipped my head and kissed the corner of her mouth before I pulled out and stepped away, the draft moving over my sweaty skin. I headed straight for the shower and stood under the warm water and let it wash away the sweat. The tension and despair were still deep in my muscles, but her touch had brushed it out of my mind—at least for the time being.

When I was done, I dried off and returned to the bedroom, expecting to see her asleep in my bed like last time. I would sit in the armchair by the fire or return to the sitting room until she woke up or morning arrived—whatever came first.

But the bed was empty.

Her clothes were gone.

She’d already left.

I was sitting in my study when Commander Navarrese entered my chambers. “Your Highness, scouts from the northeast say they’ve spotted the dragon you seek. Blood-red like the sunset.”

I looked up from the missive I was writing, the quill going steady in my hand. “When?”

Commander Navarrese didn’t glance at the note. “The note is dated a week ago.” He brought it to my desk and set it down for me to examine.

I unrolled the scroll and scanned through the message and description. It sounded like the dragon I’d encountered years ago. In the mountains adjacent to the Lonely Forest. It was lonely because no one lived there due to the marshes. They looked harmless at a glance, but they were bottomless. That was what the locals had told me. A perfect place for a dragon to thrive in peace.

What is it? Khazmuda must have felt my excitement.

Inferno.

The mighty dragon has been spotted?

The description matches my memory.

You think it’s wise to approach him again?

Doesn’t matter whether it is or isn’t. We leave at first light.

I’ll make sure to hunt. Is Pretty coming with us?

Yes.

Good. I miss her.

I left my study and headed down the hallway until I approached her bedchambers. The guards were still posted outside even though she didn’t seem like a flight risk to me anymore. She was far too intrigued by my agenda to walk away, too enamored of the way I made her feel.

I let myself inside and found her practicing with her sword, trying to spin it around her wrist the way I did but losing the balance in the hilt and making it topple over. She dropped it to the floor when she realized I was there.

My instinct was to tease her, but I didn’t want to sabotage her confidence.