Page 27 of Ancient Promises

The climax struck hard, locking her up in a spiral of pleasure, her wolf and lion roaring and howling together. He followed her, his dragon letting out a call as his cock thickened and the heat of his come filled her. He grasped the headboard as he shuddered, kissing the place on his shoulder where he bruised her.

He tilted her head and kissed her lips, then down her neck to the juncture of her shoulder, before dropping to the bed with a satisfied groan. He tugged her hand and gave her a dreamy, satisfied smile that made her feel warm from the inside out.

Settling in his embrace, she rested her head over his heart and listened to the mixture of his pounding heart and dragon trill, a sound she didn’t think she’d ever get tired of.

In the silence that followed, she said what had been on her mind since his blunt teeth had bruised her shoulder.

“You didn’t mark me,” she said softly.

“I wouldn’t without talking to you about it first,” he said, rubbing his hand up and down her back. “I had to do something, so I bit your shoulder without letting my fangs out. Does it hurt? I didn’t want to hurt you.”

She assured him it didn’t hurt, and with her fast healing, it would likely be gone in a few hours.

“We need to talk anyway,” he said.

She tilted her head up and watched as he hooked an arm behind his head and looked first at the ceiling and then at her.

“I know,” she said. She closed her eyes, lulled by the sound of his beating heart, and then she drifted off to sleep, feeling, for the first time in her life, entirely safe and cared for.

Chapter Eleven

Eivross woke slowly, disoriented. He opened his eyes and found the room dark. It took only a moment for him to recall that he and Diem had made love and fallen asleep tangled together.

They’d both clearly been exhausted from keeping each other at arm’s length since he’d arrived in town. It was only now, that he’d been with her, that he realized what an idiot he’d been.

Even though they’d made love, he hadn’t mated her fully, which involved marking her arm with one of his dragon’s claws. He didn’t want to do that without telling her first, because he was pretty sure that wolves bit on the neck, which was a far cry from a deep cut on the arm.

Plus, he needed to tell her everything.

Why he’d kept his distance, and why he worried—even now—that he wouldn’t be able to keep her safe.

The others in town believed Cider Falls was a safe haven, and it appeared to be. But if his brother came for him and Diem was hurt in the process?

He mentally shook himself out of that train of thought.

He was the eldest son of a fierce dragon, who’d been taken out by a madman. But Eivross had only toed the line with his brother to save the nest and those who’d been with his father for decades. He would forever regret not challenging Zihndyr in the beginning and taking him out, but he knew that his brother would never have fought fair. Considering he and his allies had attacked their father out of the blue while Eivross had been away from the nest.

Perhaps Rehlik and the others were right, that it was safe in Cider Falls and Eivross could rest easy with Diem and find peace. But he couldn’t stop the worry that crept at the corners of his mind.

He rubbed his eyes with his free hand, recalling that the last thing he’d said to Diem was they needed to talk, and then he didn’t remember anything else. Except feeling the happiness that being with her had brought to him and his dragon.

His dragon made a distressed sound in his head, and he realized the reason he’d woke: something had pulled him from sleep. But what?

He eased his arm from underneath Diem and sat up slowly so he didn’t wake her. Swinging his legs around, he yawned and looked for his phone, which he didn’t see, meaning he’d left it in his pocket. He grabbed his jeans and found his phone.

And then he heard it.

In the distance, the echo of a dragon’s call.

It wasn’t the mating call of a female, like the ones who’d appeared earlier, but the warning call of a male.

And he knew exactly who the male was.

Shit.

* * *

Diem woke suddenly, her heart pounding and her gaze pinging wildly around the dark room. She pressed her hand to her chest, wondering what had woken her so suddenly. It was a bad-dream sort of vibe, but she didn’t actually remember dreaming about anything, good or bad.