What a Dragon Should Know (Dragon Kin #3)(59)

“Not an ounce.” He held his arm out, hand open for her to take. “Now come here.”

Putting her spectacles back on, she rose from the chair and moved across the room. She placed her hand in his, and he tugged her close until she crouched beside him.

“Are you all right?” And he was no longer teasing, because be needed a straight answer to his question.

“I’m fine.”

“Good.” He kissed her knuckles. “Where are we?”

“The Outerplains between the Southland and Northland territories. By the Aatsa Mountains.”

“How the hell did we get here?”

“You brought us here.”

“I did? I don’t remember.”

“What do you remember?”

“Kissing you.” He grinned. “In the library stacks.”

“That, of course, you couldn’t be kind enough to forget.”

“Not ever. But do tell me, Lady Dagmar, why do I hurt? Did you try to skin me alive with your hidden passion?”

“My hidden … oh. Forget it. You’ve been through hell the last few hours is what happened. Kidnapped and tortured and a pitch battle with Horde dragons.”

“Really?” He lowered his head and his voice. “Am I fiercer to you now that you’ve seen me in battle? Do you want me more than you ever thought possible? Are you ready to take me at this moment?”

“Perhaps when the scabs fall off.”

Not knowing what she meant, Gwenvael looked down at his body. Horrified, he sat up. “What is this? What’s happened to me?”

“Calm down. It’ll heal quick enough, I’m sure.”

“Heal? I’m hideous!”

“You’re alive.”

“Hideously alive!” He covered her face with his hands. “Don’t look at me! Look away!”

“Stop it!” She pulled at his hands. “Have you lost your mind?”

Gwenvael dropped back to the bed, turned his face toward the wall. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

“Gwenvael—”

“I’ll have to live alone, at the top of a castle somewhere. I’ll hide from the daylight and only come out at night.”

“Please stop this.”

“I’ll be alone but not for long because you’ll all want me more. You’ll lust for the beautiful warrior I once was and pity the hideous creature I’ve become. Most importantly, you’ll want to soothe my pain.” He looked at her again. “Don’t you want to soothe my pain? Right now? Without that dress on?”

“No. I do not.”

Dagmar tried to stand, and Gwenvael caught her hand, pulling her back down. “You can’t leave me. I’m tortured and brooding. You need to show me how much you adore me so I can learn to love myself again.”

“You’ve never stopped loving yourself.”

“Because I’m amazing.”

She yanked her hand away, but Gwenvael simply caught it again and dragged her until she was on top of him.

“Let me go!”

“Not until you kiss away my torturous brooding.”

“I’m not kissing anything away.” Dagmar froze. “And move your hands, sir.”

“But they are warm and comfortable where they are.”

* * *

He was impossible! To think she was actually worried about him. Why? What was the point of worrying about someone who was insane?

“Get your hands off my rear.”

“Not until you kiss me.”

“I’m not kissing you.”

“It’s because I’m hideous!”

“You’re not …” Why was she arguing with him? Didn’t that make her more insane than he was? “Release me.”

“Kiss me, and I will.”

“Fine.” She leaned down and planted a quick, closed-mouth kiss on his lips. “There.”

“You can do better than that.”

“No. I can’t. So just—” Dagmar gasped when his hands squeezed her rear through all her layers of gown and undergarments. And with her mouth open, he swooped in, rising up and kissing her hard. In seconds his tongue had invaded her mouth and swirled insistently around hers.

That was all it took. She melted against him, her hands reaching up to frame his face. Her stomach tensed, and everything went wet and warm between her legs.

She wanted him. Beyond reason, she wanted him. No matter how strange, demanding, or annoying he seemed to be.

His grip on her rear tightened almost to the point of pain, but she didn’t mind. Nor did she mind when he pulled her so close she could feel the hardness he had for her between his legs. Taking his time, he rocked her sex against his groin, the hands on her ass not only moving her but squeezing her cheeks each time.

She began to groan, the power of a climax beginning to grow inside her.

“What are you doing?” Strong hands grabbed Dagmar’s arm and yanked her off Gwenvael.

Stunned, panting, and incredibly aroused, she could only stare at Esyld, unable to speak.

“He’s still healing!” the dragoness chastised. “He doesn’t have the energy for all that sort of thing.”

“She was all over me,” Gwenvael chimed in, causing Dagmar’s mouth to drop open in shock. “I couldn’t stop her.”