Stepping close, Layla took his hand and Adrian gazed down at their twined fingers, then up at her. “We should make some new memories here.”
“I’d like that.” A true smile curled Adrian’s lips at last, his aqua eyes shining in the luminous dark. “As per the terms of your Debut Assignation, I do have you for the next twenty-four hours, you know. Plenty of time to make new memories. If you want.”
Layla laughed at Adrian’s devious quip, and suddenly the night didn’t seem so dark. Tonight, it was just her and Adrian. For the first time, they would have no interruptions, no intrigue, and no games. Just two people able to truly be together for the first time. The thought suddenly made Layla heat as her Dragon turned over in her veins with a wash of spiced bourbon scent. Lifting a mantle of golden spikes inside Layla, the drakaina shifted her coils eagerly. Layla’s Dragon was done sifting through old memories like the wandering sands of time. She wanted what she had been denied these many months.
And so did Layla.
“Idowant.” Layla breathed as she stepped close, and Adrian wound her in his arms. “Did you really give old Valdo Chermourcarte blancheto win my auction tonight?”
“It was Dusk who arranged it, but I told him no sum was too high to win you.” Adrian gazed down at her soberly, cradling her close to his strong, lean body. “I told Dusk I would spend my entire worth to claim you tonight. Because you are worth more to me than any sum.”
“My renegade Royal billionaire.” Layla’s lips quirked, teasing him lightly.
Adrian laughed at last. It was a soft laugh, nowhere near his sudden guffaws Layla loved so much, but it was a start. He was moving away from dire things as he wound her in his arms, corralling her close to his strong chest. Layla felt the coils of his magic rise once more in a scintillating wind, curling around her as he held her, slipping up her ankles and caressing her thighs. Lowering his head, Adrian nuzzled her nose as he let out a sensual breath, his magics stealing from his lips and kissing hers as he gave a slow grin.
“My tempestuous, ball-busting Bind.”
It was Layla’s turn to laugh. Lifting up, she closed the distance between them, giving him a deep, solid kiss before she pulled back. Tension heated between them now, simmering with power and passion as Layla felt their Dragons slide against each other with a sensual press of scales and etheric heat. It gripped things deep inside Layla, making her clench deliciously and shiver with anticipation. As Adrian’s incredible aqua eyes burned into hers, her breath was stolen. He was amazing, he was powerful, he was beautiful.
And he was all hers tonight.
“Come on, you.” Layla murmured, her heart hammering as her body surged with need. “It’s high time I saw your bedroom. Because Iamfucking you tonight and I will not take no for an answer.”
“As my lady commands.” Adrian was truly grinning now, his eyes bright with gold. With a masculine chuckle, he escorted her out of the Blue Courtyard and back into the kitchens, grinning like a sexy devil.
A sexy devil that was hers tonight – all night long.
CHAPTER 7 – DRAGON
Layla didn’t know what she expected Adrian’s bedroom to be like, but as they stepped through a set of enormous ebony doors carven with dragons, what she saw was not what she’d anticipated. They had entered a circular hall with two sets of doors at the far end. All around, smooth white agate-stone created the floor, the curved walls and stout columns, arching in vaults to a dome far above. The alabaster walls were entirely carved into ornate filigree, a delicate lattice that let in the soothing midnight air. As Layla gazed through the walls, she saw a dense garden ringing the hall. Choked with jasmine vines, fireflies moved lazily through the greenery and in through the walls, swirling up into the vaulted dome.
Niches had been carven into the walls, each decorated with ornate lanterns of Moroccan silver and colorful glass. Candles burned in the lanterns, casting vivid color through the space in the midnight hour. High above where the ribs of the dome came together, an enormous silver chandelier of votives was suspended from the ceiling by a stout chain. Below that was the only furniture in the room – an enormous canopied bed that could have slept ten. Carved of luscious ebony like the room’s doors, the bed had a soft white duvet with thin white netting tied up at each towering bedpost. The entire room breathed with peace and pleasure, and as Layla inhaled the cool air, she drowned in the scent of night-blooming jasmine.
Opulent and elegant yet simple, the room held every aspect of Adrian’s personality. The blue-green color of his eyes was in the glass votives and Moroccan lanterns. The depth of his intrigue showed in the ornately filigreed stone walls leading out to the dense chaos of foliage. The passion of his nature was in the enormity of the bold bed, solidly dominating the center of the room. As Layla gazed around, she had only one word to sum it all up.
“Wow.”
“You like it?” Adrian glanced at her, hesitant – the same glance he’d given her when he’d first taken her to his apartment in the Hotel. It was his look of vulnerability, as if he’d suddenly showed too much of himself.
“It’s amazing.” Layla spoke, feeling strangely reverent in the airy, elegant space. “Is this hall supposed to be a bedroom?”
“Not originally.” Adrian shook his head as he led her into the hall. “It was a meditation space, a place where any Desert Dragon who was having trouble with their shift could come and relax. There are three of them on the palace’s grounds. They’re all unique.”
“Why did you take it for your bedroom?” Looking up, Layla did a slow turn, examining the opulent room from all angles.
“Because it’s fireproof.”
“Excuse me?” She stopped, glancing at him with a frown.
“The agate-stone is fireproof.” Adrian nodded at the floor, the walls, and dome far above. “It won’t catch fire, crack, or shatter under high heat. It’s a specially smelted stone that Desert Dragons have built with for eons. It was sand, sculpted and carved, then blasted by Dragon-fire until it burnished into an indestructible glass, rather than a stone exactly. Some people call it desert-glass.”
“Why do you need your bedroom to be fireproof?” Layla raised an eyebrow at him.
“There was a time when my dreams were not as pleasant as they are now.” Adrian spoke quietly to her. “I’ve been able to spontaneously change into my Dragon since I was in my teens, Layla. But I’ve had a hard life, and with it came nightmares from a young age. Sometimes, if I had a particularly bad one…”
“You’d shift into your Dragon in the middle of sleep and blast your surroundings with fire.” Layla gave a long, slow blink. “Does that still happen?”
“It hasn’t happened for about two years.” Adrian went still.
