Savage Beauty(30)

“I don’t want to hurt you, but I will defend myself. And him.”

She took her claw out of my hair and took a step back. I stood up straight, keeping the broom close to her chest in case she changed her mind. “Phillip,” I said, motioning for him to come close. I knew what the animal was thinking. He ran to the tree and retrieved her egg. The she-dragon’s chest rumbled as he ran to me.

We hopped on the broom and took to the sky just as the dragon let out another fiery roar. The bristles of my broom caught fire, but we were flying so fast, they burned out quickly, leaving tiny smoke trails in our wake. The dragon didn’t follow us into the air, thank the goddess. I flew farther away until I was sure she wasn’t going to find us, and then released my breath and gently handed the egg to Phillip. He took it without question. We would need to take it to the cottage so it wouldn’t break. I steered us there and when his feet hit the ground, Phillip began to pace.

“We need to put that inside,” I said, ticking my head toward the egg.

“You were almost incinerated!” he sputtered.

“You broke my broom,” I deadpanned.

“Your br—… You’re worried about your damned broomstick? It’s a bloody broom! Make another!”

“You’re being dramatic, Prince.”

“Dramatic? Did you see that thing? It could have eaten you! It could have baked you.”

It almost did, but I didn’t tell him that. If I hadn’t been able to soften her scales so she could feel my threat, neither of us would be alive right now. She could have cooked us, or simply crushed me under her foot.

Aura’s life force would have brought me back, but Phillip didn’t have that same assurance. If he had died, I couldn’t have helped him. He would have joined his brother in death, and there would’ve been nothing anyone could do to revive him. Not even Malex had that sort of power.

I smiled, hid my fears from him, and tried to play it off. He truly was being dramatic. We survived and I had my dragon egg. All was well now. “Honestly, can you blame her? Wouldn’t you defend your offspring with the same ferocity?”

He calmed then. Slightly. “I suppose I would. But I’m beginning to think that the fae you’ve been rendezvousing with is trying to kill you. Maybe he’s working with Aura.”

I scoffed. Aura hadn’t been near Malex. He’d hated her since the first time they met. But maybe Malex was trying to kill me, or test my mettle, at the very least. The fact of the matter was that he was one of the most powerful fae in the forest, and the only one willing to help sever the bond. I had no option but to do as he asked. But there was something other than concern in the Prince’s voice. Something interesting.

“Rendezvousing?”

“Yes! You meet him at night, Lord knows where, and then come home bearing his marks.”

“I met him for a few moments, and yes I do wear his marks, but I fail to see why any of that matters to you.”

He growled, gently sat the egg on the grass, and strode toward me. When his eyes met mine, they flashed with raw emotion. “I hate to see this on you,” he said as his thumb brushed over my bottom lip, his other thumb across my cheek.

“Why?” I rasped.

“Because he has had the privilege to do something I’ve wanted to do since I first laid eyes on you.”

I was speechless. But only for a second. “Then do it. Erase his mark and replace it with your own.”





chapter twelve




PHILLIP

I didn’t give her time to think or change her mind. I gathered her into my arms and melded my lips to hers, swiping my tongue across hers. She mewled and fisted the front of my shirt, pulling me closer, then her fingers raked through my hair and over my scalp and it was my turn to growl. Pressed tight against my body, she tasted sweet, dark, and magical. I knew in that moment, I was hers.

I’d been hers since I saw her hovering over her bed, if I was being honest with myself, and I didn’t understand it. I’d been brought up to fear her kind, but she wasn’t anything like father or the priests said. Luna was fierce, brave, and kind, and God, she was beautiful. I didn’t want to ever stop kissing her.

Her lips were sweet. My hands found the curves of her waist and hips, tightening on them possessively. She pulled away slowly, her eyes warily taking me in. Did she already regret the kiss, or did she want another?

I placed a chaste kiss on her cheek to erase the fae’s other mark and the crescent faded away, leaving only pale skin behind.

“We should go inside,” she said breathlessly, pushing her hair behind her ears.

I took up the dragon egg and followed her into the cottage. In the candlelight, Luna was glowing. I reached out my hand to raise her chin. “The marks are gone,” I marveled.

“You erased them,” she said simply.

It was my turn to gloat. “Of course I did.”

Luna smiled and walked back onto the porch. “Will you put the egg in my spell room?”

With those words, the locks slid open and the door parted. I sat the egg on the counter, careful to set things all around it so it didn’t roll away and break on the floor. The last thing I wanted was to go near a dragon ever again.

I joined Luna on the porch. The moonflowers blooming all around it seemed to grow as she outstretched her hands. “One more ingredient before dawn. Think we can do it?” she asked.