Dragon Lords Books 1 - 4 Box Set: Anniversary Edition

by Michelle M. Pillow

  When they arrived back to the house, the carpenter was finishing up. Nadja was very pleased with what the man had accomplished in one day—and a little surprised since he walked so very slow. She was even more amazed that he’d built her new shelving in the sun room for the additional plants she’d collected. He’d also made her a potting table with places to hang spades and hand rakes. She realized Olek had not only ordered the additional construction, but he’d bought her a cushioned stool.

  She smiled and thanked the carpenter as he left. Olek walked the older man outside, murmuring to him in their shared tongue. When he came back, Nadja managed a weak nod of thanks as she disappeared inside her room to unpack her boxes and leaf through the books.

  Chapter 14

  Olek couldn’t get anything done. Nadja was in his head. Everywhere he looked in his home, she was there. She was in the throw pillows she added to his couch, in the tablecloth and vase of flowers on his dining room table, in the endless line of feminine toiletries laying siege to his bathroom counters and cabinets. He never realized a woman would need so much stuff.

  The rest of the evening, he stayed in his office, listening for movement from the atrium on the other side of the wall. As a shifter, his hearing was very sensitive and he detected the swish of turning pages and the raining of dirt into a pot. He wanted her so badly, longed for her with every fiber of his being but she wouldn’t have him. He’d seen her desire that night in the tent. What had happened? Why was being a princess such a big deal to her? Would she really have been happier with a poor farmer?

  None of her prejudices against his station make sense, especially in light of her expensive jewels. It wasn’t as if his refined beauty grew up poor on a farm and was used to such a life. In fact, he would bet she wouldn’t last a month of constant, hard, manual labor. Everything about her indicated she came from money and affluence. It was in the way she carried herself, the way she instructed servants with ease and kindness, the way she commanded respect without even knowing it. These were traits bred into a person from birth, not mimicked or learned.

  Unable to suppress his curiosity any longer, Olek stealthily moved toward the atrium door. It wasn’t closed all the way. A stream of light filtered through the narrow opening. The evening dusk brought with it a chill and he quietly murmured for fire.

  Knocking softly, he caused the sun room door to swing open. It wasn’t the garden he’d expected. Instead, the potting table was filled with glass jars bubbling with mysterious liquids. A stack of writing papers carried strange symbols and notations. Books were scattered on a clean bench, several opened to different pages. In the middle of it all was his wife.

  Nadja’s brow furrowed in concentration as she lifted her translator to the book. She mumbled something under her breath, made a notation, and turned to lift one of the jars of green liquid. Still muttering to herself, she wrote her observations down on the paper.

  “Nadja?” Olek asked, realizing she didn’t hear him come in.

  Nadja jumped, nearly spilling the green liquid down her shirt. She froze and took several deep breaths. Setting the glass down carefully, she backed her hands away as if the liquid would somehow jump off the table on its own. Then, suddenly whirling to face him, she demanded, “What are you doing sneaking up on me like that? Didn’t you ever hear of knocking?”

  “I did knock,” Olek answered, seeing she was shaken. He ignored her usual ire, and stepped into her new office.

  Nadja twisted her fingers together as he looked down at her notes. She quickly covered them to hide them from view. It was pointless because he couldn’t read the notations anyway.

  “What exactly are you doing?” Olek asked. “This doesn’t look like gardening.”

  “I’m…” She hesitated, a frown marring her brow. “It’s none of your business. I don’t bother you about what you do all day, or last night for that matter. You could afford me the same courtesy.”

  “All day I work on matters of the House of Draig—rather boring but important tasks. Last night, I was in the royal office going over papers with the king and I fell asleep on the couch.” To his surprise, the admission actually seemed to relieve her. Olek lifted the green jar. “Is this a kind of fertilizer?”

  Nadja tensed as he recklessly swirled it. “Don’t!”

  A splash of liquid came out over the edge and dotted onto one of the plants. Instantly, the leaf began to bubble and melt. Olek frowned, his eyes turning to her suspiciously.

  “It’s not what you think,” Nadja said, holding up her hands in defense of any unspoken words. When he didn’t lower the jar, she eased it out of his fingers and gingerly set it on the table. “It could have taken off your skin.”

  “How do you know what I am thinking?” he asked, still wary.

  “It was a simple mistake. The translator was reading your word for poison as potion and the word for hydrochloric acid as happiness cream and I just now figured out what it was trying to say. The combination of these elements make acid, not…” Nadja paused looking at him. “I’m sorry. It’s all really very boring.”

  “No, please, go on,” Olek said, liking the sound of her low siren’s voice. He could listen to it forever, it didn’t matter what she talked about.

  “No, it gets really…scientific. You couldn’t possibly be interested.” Nadja slowly urged him back to the door. When she got him outside, she shut the atrium-turned-laboratory door. “I would just appreciate if you didn’t touch anything in there until I can figure out how to write on my labels in Qurilixian.”

  “I can easily read seven languages and speak nearly thirty fluently. Label them however you like.”

  Nadja looked surprised by the admission. “You have an uploader unit at the palace?”

  “No.” He chuckled.

  She stopped near the fireplace. Orange light glowed over her skin, contrasting her features.

  “We don’t use uploads,” he said. “Sometimes the material doesn’t process correctly when you need it to.”

  “Too bad. It would really help the brides learn the basics of your language. The phonetics alone can give a non-native a headache.”

  Nadja stiffened, as if she hadn’t planned on revealing so much.

  Too late. Olek caught it. Smiling in pleasure, he asked, “You’re trying to learn my language?”

  “I…” Nadja hesitated and looked away. “It would only be prudent. Since I am here, I should be able to speak to people.”

  “Why didn’t you ask me for help?” His voice deepened, as he closed the distance between them. He reached to stroke her cheek, casting a spell between them as his touch moved over her throat to brush over her collarbone. “I will gladly teach you.”

  “I don’t need your help.” Though she denied him with words, her eyes drifted closed as his mouth hovered near. Olek was surprised at how sincerely she softened into his arms. For all her refined defiance, her defenses crumbled easily.

  “I would give it,” he whispered, leaning in to close the distance between their lips.

  Olek’s mouth conquered hers with tenderness before trailing to her neck. His movements became urgent as his hand found a hold on her breast. He began walking her backward to the water fountain in the front hall, as he whispered hoarsely against her throat, “Tell me you want me.”

  Nadja didn’t answer. Her cheeks flushed with red.

  Olek growled at her silence. Her body said everything her lips refused to. Her hands found his shoulders, his back. Her fingers tangled into his hair, urging him onward.

  He lifted her up on the edge of the fountain. Climbing to join her, he forced her into the water. Her feet splashed as she landed. Water rushed over her shoulders, wetting her tight cotton shirt and budding her dark nipples to straining.

  Olek didn’t ask her permission as he tore the shirt from her body. His gaze burned into hers, daring her to deny him, as the water caressed her naked flesh. He stepped closer, causing her to lean against the hollow in the rocks. Ripping a long strip fro
m her shirt, he studied her face for a reaction as he grabbed one of her wrists in his large palm. Lifting her arm with deliberate slowness, he raised it above her head. He looped the shirt around the peak and easily tied her to the fountain. His gaze dark and serious, he lifted her other hand and bound it in the same fashion. Her lips parted, but it wasn’t a sound of protest that whispered past her throat.

  Olek eyed his handiwork, very pleased. He glided his hands over her flesh with the aid of the water. She was beautiful, writhing in her innocent passion for him. With her restrained, it would be so easy to claim her. But Olek needed answers first and this might be the only way he could get them. This was the only time she let down her guard, mindlessly responding to him.

  * * *

  Nadja was too far gone to resist him. Her heart hammered in her chest. The sound of his moans rolled over her soft and low. No matter how much Nadja tried to tell herself that she would deny him when this moment came, she couldn’t. His warmth drew her in and caused the stirring of emotions she couldn’t control or fight. Her body sought the feel of his, just as it sought air and food for survival.

  She had almost been convinced that he had spent the night with another woman, as most men of power would have done. Different scenarios had played endlessly in her head. But, when she looked at him and he spoke of sleeping in the royal office, she detected the truth in his eyes.

  The masculine smell of him overwhelmed her and she leaned naturally into him, ready for more of his kisses. Suddenly, it was as if she could feel him inside of her. If she closed her eyes she could almost detect his heart beating next to her chest, though his body was several inches away.

  Lightly, he touched the sides of her breasts, denying their straining centers. Pleasure coursed through her racing blood, heating her even as the water cooled. Her mind followed the delectable movements of his fingers.

  Nadja trembled before him. His hands glided everywhere, touching everything but her most heated parts. It was pure torture. Kneeling before her in the water, Olek slid his hands over her slender hips. He pulled at the waistband of her soaked pants and dropped them into the water, unveiling her naked body to his hungry gaze.

  Her arms strained weakly as she tried to free herself, to be able to touch him in return. The fountain sprayed over his body, dampening his shirt and hair, soaking into his cotton pants. The material molded delectably to his firm body. She yanked harder against her restraints as she gasped for air.

  Olek worked his way up her, massaging and caressing. Her hips jerked, searching desperately for his fingers. Her nipples arched for him. She was no longer in control of her own body. He drew nearer, letting her feel his warmth against her wet flesh. Her breasts thrust toward him, only able to rub the aching tips lightly to his shirt.

  “Olek,” Nadja begged mindlessly. “Please.”

  Olek grinned, a devilishly handsome look of pleasure. He placed his hand on the rock over her head, towering over her. The very domination of his presence excited her.

  “Oh, please,” she moaned, her eyes closing as if that could counteract her aching need.

  “Please?” Olek asked against her skin. Her body jerked in response.

  “Yes, please,” she pleaded, desperate. She lifted her leg to touch his as she hung helplessly before him. Her calf rubbed insistently against his hip, trying to free him of his clothes. She managed to work her knee along the flesh of his waist. Nadja groaned loudly in gratification of the small triumph.

  “What do you want?” he demanded hotly.

  “Olek, please, don’t, just, oh!”

  “Tell me,” he commanded. “Tell me what you want, Nadja.”

  “I want you,” Nadja admitted softly. Her cheeks heated with a blush, though her body didn’t stop its aching search for more.

  “What do you want from me? Tell me what you want.”

  “I want…this.” She moaned, thinking she felt him move a little closer. Her leg pulled at him, wrapping around his firm ass as she tried to force him against her burning center. Every nerve in her screamed his name. Her blood raced, pumped faster by a heart that nearly leapt from her chest.

  “Who do you want, Nadja?” Olek’s strong voice dipped low, almost to a growl.

  “You.” She grew exceedingly desperate. This was a torturous game, but she wouldn’t have stopped it for anything. “I want you, Olek.”

  “Who am I to you?” Olek persisted.

  “You’re my…husband?” she answered, confused.

  “And who is your husband?”

  “A prince,” she said, even more so. Why was he talking when he should be kissing her? Her mouth strained for the feel of his, throbbing with need. Her body yearned for him to end this torture.

  “That’s right, and you are my princess, aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” she growled before begging, “I’m your princess. Please, no more.”

  Olek didn’t deny the soft request. Dropping his questioning, he let her pull him into her body. The rough material of his pants separated their heat as he fitted his arousal next to her.

  Nadja gasped in the pleasure of it. She panted wildly, moaning and gasping with delight as he moved himself against her. Finally. “Oh, yes.”

  “Do you want me inside of you, Nadja? Do you want me to claim you?”

  “Yes, oh, yes, Olek,” she cried, growing louder. “Claim me. Come inside me. Please end this torture.”

  Her arms tightened, wrenching against her restraints as she tried to force him closer. He leaned over to kiss her breast, sucking the water from the delicate bud, lapping into it with his rough tongue. She gasped with pleasure at the sensations his mouth caused. She felt like her body was falling off the side of a mountain. His hand moved down her flat stomach, stopping to test her wetness for him as he dipped a finger inside her tight sex.

  “Olek, yes!” she breathed. Her hips jerked. Her pussy convulsed pleasurably as he stroked the clit. She was so close. He felt so good, and knew just the right way to touch her. The rough rocks ground into the tender flesh of her back. She didn’t care. “Ah, there, right there, mmm, don’t stop. Please, don’t stop.”

  “Tell me why you are so unhappy being my princess?” he murmured against her throat. He licked her racing pulse firmly with his caressing tongue as he drank the sweetness from her skin. “What are you running from?”

  “I am not running from anything,” Nadja lied, breathless. Olek froze.

  Nadja was too mindless to notice at first. Her body kept moving against his, rubbing herself to his hand. A moan came from her lips. Slowly, as she realized Olek no longer kissed her, she opened her eyes to look at him. To her utter horror and disappointment, he deliberately pulled away.

  “A-ah, no,” she gasped.

  Setting his hand over her head once more, he leaned so that her leg slid off his hip. Her foot splashed into the water. Staring deep into her troubled gaze, he frowned. Her chest heaved for air. “You said you would be honest and loyal.”

  “Olek,” Nadja pleaded. “Come back. Don’t do this now. Please, just kiss me.”

  “You said you would be honest,” he repeated, harder, as if fighting to gain his control.

  Her body writhed in anguish. Nadja’s voice snapped in anger. “Olek!”

  * * *

  “Honesty,” Olek yelled, knowing that his tactics weren’t fair. But, in battle and in desire, nothing was fair. Her unreasonable feelings about his station weren’t fair. The fire in his denied body raged, making his words harsh, hollow. “You promised honesty.”

  Her body called out to him, causing his loins to tighten even more with delectably sinful desires. The scent of her ready pussy was in his head, trying to fog his brain. It would be so easy to just finish his game.

  “And you said you were a working man,” Nadja stated in return, her tone deadly in its softness. She struggled to be free, though this time it was clearly to punch him. She tried to kick him. Her voice never rising to a yell, she proclaimed, “You lie, I lie. I think it
’s only just.”

  “I didn’t lie,” Olek growled in mounting frustration. His voice rose, daring her to do the same. He wanted to see her explode, to show anything but this frighteningly emotionless calm that was reclaiming her eyes. Even her passion was being swallowed up into her hardening gaze.

  “Untie me, Royal Highness,” Nadja ordered evenly. Only the puffing breaths lifting her chest in rapid succession gave away that she still desired him. Her blue eyes shot daggers in his direction from the porcelain depths of her face. “I am through talking to you. I’m going back to work.”

  “Untie yourself,” he growled, tossing his hand into the air at her. His body hurt too badly at the moment to stop and think. “You said you didn’t need my help.”

  Olek left her there, alone, afraid that if he touched her again, it would be to strangle her.

  * * *

  Nadja watched in amazement as Olek stormed off to the bathroom. The door slammed shut behind him. She waited a long moment for him to come back and say he was joking. He didn’t. He really wasn’t going to help her down. She glanced around the room, realizing where they were. What if someone walked in? The queen never knocked. Or a servant? The very idea of such humiliation was almost too much to bear.

  Nadja’s expression hardened in outrage, but she kept silent, swallowing her angry words deep inside until they burned as hotly as her passion. Her body aching, she braced her feet on the wet rocks. Their coarse surface gave her a hold as she inched up. Flinging her wrist several times, she managed to loosen one hand from the bonds. It came flying forward at the jerking movement. The second was much easier as she managed to get herself down. She glared bitterly at the bathroom door as she crawled over the ledge and out of the fountain.

  Nadja left her clothes behind as she stumbled naked to their bedroom. Her thoughts were black as she cursed him in every way she knew how. She even invented a few new curses when she ran out.