My thoughts are interrupted as I hear him push his chair back, the legs scraping across the floor.
I feel a lock of my hair lifted gently, twirled around Rainier’s finger. “Did you miss me, dragon heart?”
“Anna,” I say, irritated that I have to keep repeating it. That it’s all I am to these men.
Suddenly, I’m angry. At being brought here because of what I can offer them. At realizing I won’t know if any of them want me for me or because I’m of use to them. Maybe of use to them.
“You’re useful,” Rainier says, releasing my hair and then brushing it away from my shoulder as his hand plays under my robe. Before I can protest, he pulls it off of me, leaving me only in my gray hoodie and jeans as I was before.
He looks me over, then reaches up to push my hair behind my ears so he can study my face.
Then he grabs my hips, pulling me in against him.
I gasp, and he takes the opportunity to cover my mouth with his, sweeping his tongue in before I can protest.
And then instantly, I’m melting because the connection is so strong.
I haven’t made promises to anyone, so I shouldn’t feel guilty, but I do.
Because despite what I feel for Griffin, what I’m beginning to feel for Seth, I also feel something for Rainier.
For his cold eyes and warm touch.
I lose myself in the kiss, in the way his hands lightly hold me, the way his tongue is precise in finding all of my spots.
The way he pulls back and comes in at the right moment, the way my whole body is beginning to light up.
We’re pressed together, hip to hip, thigh to thigh, chest to chest, my breasts pushing against his hard muscles.
Finally, he pulls back from me, leaving our lips only an inch apart. “Don’t you want me, Anna?”
I realize that even though I only met him once, a part of me did miss him. Miss his kiss. Miss seeing him.
I don’t even know why.
“Because you were made to be with me,” he says urgently, and for once, his words seem real. Then again, he fools everybody. He brushes my hair back, and I wince at how sensitive I am to his touch.
To any of these dragons, though they are each so distinct.
“No,” I say, trying to move my hair out of his hand. “I can’t. It’s not—”
But then his finger trails down to my zipper, slowly opening my hoodie, and I can’t think.
Those intelligent eyes bore into mine as he slowly opens my jacket and then slides it off my arms.
“Like unwrapping a present,” he says, tossing it on the chair behind him. “I do like human clothes.”
I’m only wearing a black tank top now, and his eyes fix on my breasts.
“It has been hard to wait for you,” he says, running a long finger down and over my arm.
I gasp lightly, then hold my breath, trying to ignore the sensation as he clasps my hand and raises it to his mouth.
He lightly kisses the knuckles. “I had hoped that those idiots would get you here safely. I’m glad they did.”
I pull my hand back. “Those idiots are my friends. And they’re brave and—”
“They’re criminals,” he says, grabbing my hand again.
He turns it over to kiss the palm, and I shudder because it’s sensitive. Then his kisses continue as he moves in closer, kissing my wrist, my forearm, my upper arm, and finally my shoulder as he once again pulls me in close.
He breathes me in deeply, and I take a moment to notice his scent. Icy and cold with a burnt metal edge.
“So what was the point of all of this?” I ask. “You just want me to mate with you and Lee or something?”
“I’m not sure,” Rainier says. “I’m still awaiting instructions of my own. But in the meantime, I’d love to taste you.”
I back up until my back hits the window and turn to see if anyone is in sight.
“No one will see you,” he says softly, reaching for the strap of my tank top. “I could bare you to the world, and only my eyes would drink you in.” He moves his hand to the glass, and I watch, mesmerized, as a small silver claw extends from his nail and scratches the glass.
I can see some kind of metallic coating now that he has scratched a line in it.
“One-way,” he says. “Do you think the smartest dragon in the world would want to be spied on?”
I gape at his words, wondering how anyone can be so full of himself.
Then he takes my face in his hands and kisses me, and I understand once again why.
God, he’s good at this.
For such a stuffy intellectual, it’s oddly passionate and possessive, just how I like to be held.
One of his hands guides my lower back to the window while the other caresses my cheek.
“Yes, give in to me, Anna,” he whispers, flicking his tongue out against my lower lip again. He pulls it into his mouth and sucks hard just as his finger curls into my belt loop, jerking my hips forward as my back stays pinned to the window.
His hands slam down on the glass on either side of me, but he doesn’t look worried at all about it breaking.
“I want to make love to you here with the whole world beneath us.”
I look down and feel dizzy and alone for a moment. A figure in blue flannel is barely visible across the square.
Griffin.
Slowly, despite what my own body wants, I push Rainier away.
“You want him?” Rainier’s face goes slightly pale, and his eyes are angry.
“I don’t know,” I say. “But I owe him a lot. And—”
“I see,” Rainier says, stepping back from me. He picks my jacket up off the chair and hands it over. “Well, if you two are together, there isn’t much I can do.”
“I don’t know if I want to be with Griffin,” I say. “But I do know I don’t feel right about doing this while he’s out there helping Seth. I should be helping too.”
“You don’t owe him anything, dragon heart.” He stares at me for a moment. “He was going to sell you at first, wasn’t he?”
I bite my lip. “He changed his mind.”
“Because he touched you, didn’t he? He realized you were worth more than that as a dragon heart.”
“As a friend,” I say. “Griffin’s my friend.” When Rainier is acting like this, I’m pissed at myself for being turned on by him. “And I should wait for him to get back. I should check on Seth.”
Rainier stares at me for a long moment and then composes himself, brushing a lock of stray silver hair back into his ponytail.
He grabs his robe but simply puts it over his arm.
“You would still be wise not to trust anyone, dragon heart. Seth, Griffin, or me. We all want something, and some of us will take it at any cost. Don’t get confused about this being romantic.”
I snort. “You said I was made for you.”
“You were,” he says. “To bring me back to power.” He clenches a fist, then releases it. Then he walks over to me, clearing the space between us in a second and making me gasp.
The ability difference between me and these dragons is stupefying.
He brushes my chin gently. “Don’t get me wrong. I think you’re luscious. I want you as badly as any of them. We’d be awfully good in bed. But I’m not some soft human. I’m never going to be. None of them will be either.”
But I’m not sure. I’ve seen soft spots in all of them.
Even the supposedly terrifying black dragon.
“You are woefully naive, human,” Rainier says.
“It’s Anna,” I retort. “And I’m naive because you and Lee wanted me that way.”
“Maybe,” Rainier says. “Still, it doesn’t benefit you. You should try to be a little more… discerning.”
“About what?”
Rainer glares at me, silver eyes glinting like the edge of a knife. “If you want to survive in this world, you will have to choose one or more of the dragons. Perhaps you should be careful before you decide on someone as disappoi
nting as the red.”
He wasn’t disappointing in bed, I think vindictively.
Regardless, I haven’t made any choices, and if Rainier’s going to be an asshole, I don’t feel like talking to him about it.
I try to pass him to leave the observatory, not even sure where I’m going to go, when he puts out a hand to stop me.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “I shouldn’t have been so bold. But just know that, like any of the other dragons, I want you. Consider me as an option?”
I look up at him suspiciously, but once again, I’m caught off guard by the sheer beauty of his face.
And the memory of being held by him.
“Fine,” I say, avoiding his eyes as I try to reach for the door again.
He swings it open for me. “Let’s go downstairs, then. Griffin should be getting home soon.”
Chapter 23
Rainier shows me to a guest room where I can clean up and rest a bit, and by the time I head downstairs again, I can smell something delicious from the direction of the kitchen.
I walk through the living room, glancing up at the large, iron-wrought chandelier that looks like an odd planet as I pass by.
Then I walk into what seems like the dining room because I can hear someone moving around inside.
I peek in to see Rainier, talking to someone in a robe and telling them to place something on the table. A few other figures in robes place things on the table and then disappear.
I guess Rainier doesn’t have to do his own cooking or his own anything else.
“Why would I when I can hire someone else to do it for me?” Rainier says, turning to smile at me as he pulls out a chair.
I hesitate, not wanting to sit down without Seth and Griffin, but just then, I hear a loud knock on the door.
“Your friend must be back,” he says, sneering slightly at the word friend.
“Griffin?” I call out.
“I’ll get it,” Rainier says. “You take your seat.”
I do, though it rankles to take orders.
Griffin and Seth have both been difficult in some ways, but at least I can always read them. With Rainier, it’s hard.
I can hear the door open a couple rooms away and then Griffin’s loud voice, asking where I am.
I blush as I hear his footsteps pounding forward, and when he stands in the doorway and lays eyes on me, he breathes a sigh of relief.
I feel relieved as well to see him, especially since a small brown pouch in his hand hopefully contains Seth’s serum.
“It looks like your trip was successful,” Rainier says. “Seth will be glad.”
“Has he been up?” Griffin asks, sitting down at the table without being invited. “How is he doing?”
“The serum I gave him is very concentrated,” Rainier says. “He’s probably getting much-needed rest while his body heals.”
“Do you have more of it?” Griffin says. “I wasn’t able to find that much in town.”
Rainier shakes his head. “That was the last of it.”
“I have a few weeks’ worth maybe,” Griffin says. “If he doesn’t worsen.”
Rainier lifts one shoulder in a careless shrug. “Who can say?” He lifts the lid off the big pot in the center. “In the meantime, should we eat? You must be starving after so much traveling and fighting.”
“I am,” Griffin says. “Damn, that smells good.”
Rainier smiles mildly. “Serve yourself.”
Griffin reaches for my bowl, which I hand over for him to serve. After filling it with some thick brown soup, he sets it in front of me.
Then he serves some for himself.
He looks around. “Can we get water?”
“Of course,” Rainier says, waving a hand at someone in another room. “Bring water!”
A man with his face hidden by a large hood brings out three large crystal goblets and sets one in front of each of us.
Crystal-clear water.
I gulp mine down because I’m thirsty from all the excitement and my throat is a bit dry.
Griffin watches me over his cup as he drinks. Was he worried about me while I was gone?
“Anna and I were talking about you,” Rainier says. “While you were out shopping.”
“Oh? About what?” Griffin asks, taking another bite of his soup.
“Do you have a claim on her?”
Griffin goes a bit red, flicking his eyes to me as I eat my soup. “No. But if possible, I would like to help her get home.”
Rainier’s eyes narrow on him as if he doesn’t like that answer at all. “You really are an idiot.”
“I’m tired of that,” Griffin says, standing and making the table rock as he slams his hands down on it. “Tired of being called the stupid dragon. Tired of feeling lower because I’m red.” He glares at Rainier. “I would have been paired with you.”
Rainier scoffs. “That’s right, but you fucked up. I mean, it would have been possible. I’ll have a better partner now, not that you’ll know about it.”
Griffin’s eyebrows shoot up. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing,” Rainier says, relaxing back in his seat. He runs his finger along the lip of the goblet thoughtfully. It makes a quiet, high whistle that makes both Griffin and me cover our ears. “Just that who I pair with is no longer your business. Though, I have to admit I’m glad it’s not the stupid red dragon.”
A vein bulges at Griffin’s temple, and he’s still standing as he glares at Rainier. “Call me stupid one more time.”
Rainier stops running his finger over the glass and looks up at Griffin. “You’re stupid.” But before Griffin can fly over the table at him, Rainier smiles. “Especially for drinking from my cup.”
Griffin’s eyes dart to the goblet just as he wobbles slightly, about to lose balance. He falls forward, catching himself on the table, but looks about ready to drop at any moment.
I push myself out of my chair to run over to him but am stopped by Rainier’s arm wrapping around my waist like a band of iron.
“No so fast, Anna,” he says. “Look at him. Would you want to mate with someone so stupid?”
Griffin sways, but his eyes are pinned on Rainier and then me, and he lurches to the side, clearly hoping to make it around the table.
“What did you do to him?” I shriek, trying to fight Rainier’s arm off of me, though it’s futile.
“Just a sleeping potion,” Rainier said. “So easy.” He starts to drag me away from the table, ignoring my flailing attempts to get away.
“Anna!” Griffin trips on the edge of the table but somehow catches himself, swaying dizzily. His lids are heavy, but I can see him trying to fight the poison that is already inside. “No…”
He falls to the ground and is still for a second but then pulls himself and starts trying to crawl toward me.
Rainier keeps dragging me backward out of the room. “I’m helping her, you know. Saving her from such stupid dragons until she can see straight.”
“No,” I scream, as Griffin falls forward onto the carpet, not moving. “No! Griffin!”
“He’s fine. Be quiet,” Rainier says, pulling me out of the room with him like I weigh nothing.
I want to go back to Griffin. I don’t understand what is happening now, but I want to make sure he’s okay.
“Griffin!” I scream out again.
I should have told him about Rainier. I should have—
“Hush,” Rainier says, putting a hand over my mouth. “The black dragon is knocked out also. I tainted his serum, and no one even expected it. Sometimes I really do wonder if I’m smart or if everyone else is just stupid.”
I want to roll my eyes at him, but I need them to watch Griffin as men walk over to crouch next to him.
“Put him in the dungeon with the other,” he says to the men. “Make sure the chains are dragon safe and keep them drugged. I need time with the dragon heart.”
My fingernails bite into his arm because after he drugged my friends, there’s no way I
’m listening to him.
He lifts me in both arms, carrying me against his chest like I weigh nothing, ignoring my struggles as the feeble things they are.
When we’re up in the observatory, he takes a turn toward a door I didn’t see before.
“No,” I say, trying to fight again, trying to hit his face and head. “No, no, no!”
He kicks the door open, and I realize it’s his bedroom at the same time he tosses me on the bed.
I try to get off, but he immediately pins me, crawling over me on the bed as he pushes my hair back.
I cringe away, and his gaze softens. He twirls a lock of hair around his finger.
“Don’t be angry,” he says. “I’m not going to hurt them.” He releases my hair and strokes my face. “Or you.”
He presses one of my hands back, and I hear a click as something cool wraps around my wrist.
Then he gets off of me and stands at the end of the bed, staring.
I wonder what the catch is for a second before I try to make a run for it, but as I swing my legs off the bed, something catches me by the hand.
My eyes move in slow motion to the shiny silver cuff that is keeping me locked to the bedpost.
Oh my God.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to do anything to you, dragon heart.” He puts his hand on the doorknob and opens the door. For a second, I can glimpse the observatory and all the windows. “At least not until you have time to get to know me and see that I’m the best choice.”
I slump back against the bed, hating the shackle.
My heart hurts that Griffin and Seth are captured, and I’m not sure how we could have avoided this at all.
“I’m not going to change my mind,” I say. “I’m not going to like someone who hurts those close to me.”
“I’m not going to hurt your friends,” Rainier says. “I’m not evil.”
“Then why did you put them in a dungeon?”
He stays in the doorway and stares at me for a second with those unnerving silver eyes. “I mean, don’t they belong in a prison? I have to protect myself. I don’t know if you know this, but they’re very bad dragons.”
“You piece of—”
But before I can finish my retort, he gives me an insincere smile and closes the door with a quiet, final click.
Kiss of the Dragons (Bad Dragons Reverse Harem Book 1) Page 16
