A Throne of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales #2)(68)

“No problem,” I said. “Next time you get in trouble, just go ahead and scream again, and I’ll come help.”

“Oh great, yeah. Rub salt in the wound,” he muttered.

Nyfain walked past the onlookers that had pushed to the other side of the hall with wide eyes. Continuing down the hall, he held me tightly. My eyes drifted shut, our combined power still thrumming in my middle. His scent tantalized my senses, calling to me. His heat bled through my flesh.

I grazed my lips from the base of his neck on up, stopping by his ear and doing everything in my power not to run my tongue along the outside of his earlobe. He took the stairs quickly, and anger burned through what was left of his fear. He’d been afraid for my safety, something I hadn’t felt when in the thick of things. And now…

At the tower, he didn’t put me down, but held his hand out. He wanted the key.

“I can do it,” I said, coming to my senses and wriggling in his hold.

His anger fanned higher, burning through the bond. He left his hand out, waiting, not commenting.

“Nyfain, I can do it. Put me down.”

He dropped my legs, and my body swung down after them. He caught me before my feet hit, set me down incredibly gently, and then slammed me against the wall. He grabbed both of my wrists, pinning them above my head in one of his hands, and shoved his hand in my pocket.

“Are you serious right now?” I demanded, struggling to get out.

“When are you going to learn?” He found my pocketknife and moved on to the correct pocket.

He dragged me sideways against the wall so he could reach the lock and open the door. That done, he flung me over his wide shoulder and marched me through the door.

“When am I going to learn that you’re an overbearing prick?” I parroted. “I’ve already learned that lesson, actually.”

He shut the door behind us and then fit the key in the lock. He didn’t turn it, though. He didn’t lock us in. He crossed to the window with me still draped over his shoulder.

“Put. Me. Down,” I commanded through gritted teeth. My power pulsed.

His body froze, and the muscles flared on his large back. His arm came away from me slowly, struggling against my command.

“Now,” I said, adding more power.

His arm continued to peel away. He shook with the effort to ignore my command. I just pumped in more power, receiving an extra boost from his dragon.

Why is his dragon helping me boss him around? I asked my animal.

Probably payback for something Nyfain pissed him off about. Or maybe he thinks it’s hot. I get the feeling alpha dragons like their females strong. This one does, at any rate.

Nyfain’s whole body quivered now, but his arm still pulled away. His body bent to the side, and I slipped off, catching myself on the ground to keep from sliding along my belly and onto my face.

I stood and released my power, squaring off with his big body. He turned as well, his eyes golden furnaces. Rage blistered through the bond.

“What the fuck did you think you were doing leaving this room?” he demanded.

“Oh, nothing, just possibly saving the life of one of your staff.”

“I’m not talking about that. You were out with the everlass, weren’t you? Alone.”

I lifted my chin a bit. “Yes. We need more leaves, and you’re being a dumpty cunt. The job needed to be done, so I did it. I’m not in the habit of men escorting me around like I’m breakable.”

“Finley, your involvement with me has made you a target. Anything could happen to you out there. It’s not safe. I trusted you to stick to your room at night. If you continue to defy that trust…”

“What?” I curled my hands into fists. “You’ll lock me in here? Keep me hostage until your mood improves? Because you’ve been in a terrible fucking mood for sixteen years and counting, and I don’t want to wait another sixteen for you to get your thumb out of your ass.”

A vein throbbed at the side of his jaw. He stared at me with barely contained aggression. His imposing presence hammered into me.

I ignored the fear sparking within my gut. Fuck, he was intense. Instead, I wrapped myself in power and held my ground.

“You will let me escort you out,” he ground out.

“I will do what I want, and you will fuck all the way off. If I hadn’t been out there, Hadriel might be dead. Those demons might have moved on to terrorize someone else. I will not live in fear, Nyfain. I will not cower in my room and wait for you to hover around me like some sort of poltergeist fart. I can handle myself, and you need to step out of the way and let me. If you can’t live with that, tough.”

He leaned toward me a little, invading my space. Rage bled hot through the bond, spicy sweet. Electricity crackled between us, running across my flesh and pooling hot in my core.

“You will do as I say,” he growled, his rough voice tickling me just right. My breathing sped up, and liquid heat throbbed between my thighs.

I leaned a little toward him, our faces now inches apart. Rage and lust pushed its way through the link to me. From me.

“No,” I said through my teeth.

We stared at each other for a solid beat, and then his lips crashed onto mine. He ripped at my shirt desperately, yanking it over my head. With harried, desperate hands, I unbuckled my sheath and let it drop to one side, quickly working at my pants. His tongue swept through my mouth, and I tilted my head, keeping the contact as I bent and pushed my pants and underwear down. He spun me around and worked at the binding around my breasts. It was fashioned after my older set, something I could put on myself, and he got me out of it easily.