Valentine wet his lips, his mouth too dry in the face of her anger and his own raging hunger to bathe in all that fury. "You still didn't write back to me. You didn't try to make me understand why you would make up Caelan. You didn't even try to make me understand all of this about Midir at dinner just now. You just walked away and let me assume the worst both times. Of course I'm going to overreact!"
Yelena's eyes flashed with that deep fury again. "You didn't give me a choice but to create Caelan," she hissed. "I was in England for months, and you wouldn't talk to me at all."
"You didn't try to talk to me! You acted like I was an evil, dark mage the whole time. Fuck, Yelena, you almost cut my throat the first time we met!" Valentine shouted. He pulled the collar of his shirt down to reveal the scar. "I still have the mark to prove it."
Yelena's eyes dropped to the scar, and something shifted inthem. Her rage disappeared into something dark and...hungry.A thrill swept through him. He wanted to provoke her just to see what she would do. He had always had a death wish in that way.
"Your blood tasted good," she admitted in a whisper. "Like magic and…"
Valentine's breath caught as she took a step forward. He thought she was going to bite him, and his whole body was suddenly very much on board with that idea. Gods, what was happening right now?
Yelena stopped herself before she got too close to him. "When we met, I didn't know who you were, and your power confused me, Valentine. Once I realized what you were doing to your dragon, it made more sense. That was when I wanted to talk to you, but every time I tried, you had a look of such disgust on your face, I didn't know how to approach you. You wouldn't evenlookat me."
Valentine ran his hands through his hair. "Because it hurts to look at you. You were always so perfect, and you have all this..." he gestured helplessly at her. "I don't know…light about you. You were so innocent and sweet-looking and..."
"And like a Baby Girl Galadriel?" she said, the snarl back in her voice.
Valentine flushed. "I'll have you know, Galadriel is a very powerful queen."
"I know she is. Layla showed me." Yelena hugged her hand around her waist again. "She was all light but had a dark power in her. When I found that out, I thought maybe you could see me. Not what I have been forced to show everyone else since Taranis found me. Butme."
She shook her head, a frustrated sigh breaking free from her lips. "I was wrong. You didn't see me until I became Caelan, and you thought I could help you with your dragon and perfect yourother spells. You used me far more than I ever used you. You hate that, so you pretend I hurt your feelings." Yelena stepped forward again, the predator rising. "But we both know the truth, don't we?"
"And what is that?" Valentine replied, getting further into her space.
Yelena tilted her head and whispered mockingly, "You are losing control of your magic and your dragon. The magic is fighting all those pretty sigils you have bound it with, using ink, blood, and pain. You don't know what to do about it. It's why you are really here, trying to get me to be your friend again. You're doing a terrible job of it, but I see this for what it is.I see you, even if you have never really seen me."
Valentine fought the urge to touch the braid draped over her shoulder, to wrap it around his hand and tug hard enough to force her to bare her throat to him. His mouth watered, and his dick hardened just thinking about making her submit.
"I'm seeing you now, aren't I? You haven't exactly revealed who you are to me until now. You are just as manipulative as I am with your sweetness and light bullshit," he sneered.
She asked, "You want to know the truth?"
"If you're capable of it."
Yelena leaned in until her breath burned against his lips. "You can't even handle facing what is inside yourself. There's no way you will ever be able to handle what's inside me, Valentine Greatdrakes."
Silvery power hit him like a punch, and Valentine flew backward, through the now open door, and hit the brick wall out in the hall. Her eyes were burning white with magic as she made a backward wave with her hand, and the door slammed shut and bolted.
Valentine rested his head against the cold stone and laughed softly in the darkness. His dragon was puffed up and eager to make the female submit. Valentine's body hummed with a lustthat he thought himself incapable of feeling. And didn't that make her even more intriguing? He knew a challenge when one was thrown down in front of him, and he had seen the gleam of desire in her eyes.
Valentine rested his hand on the dragon painted on the door. "Challenge accepted, baby girl."
15
Yelena spent the following two days angry. Her magic wasn't working properly with the loss of her hand, no matter how much she practiced. She was furious at the way Valentine had provoked her, but most of all the way she had reacted to him.
Since Taranis had brought her to the mountain city, she had done everything she could to be calm and in control. Being around Valentine made her feel like she was losing that fight.
Something had shifted between them since he had rescued her. Having him in her chambers had made the air feel volatile, like one stray spark would set everything on fire. She could still smell his scent, taste his blood in her mouth. She didn't know if she wanted to kiss him or tear him apart or both.
Yelena had thought it best to stay away from everyone until she could learn to stabilize her power again. Taranis had warded this part of the palace to ensure whatever magic she did wouldn't leak out into the rest of the city. She had placed her own protections over them, and none of it had stopped Valentine. He shouldn'thave made it to her stairs. The wards had just let him pass without a fight. It worried her that the magic recognized him.
Mate, her dragon growled.
"He's not our mate. We don't have mates," Yelena snapped at it. The dragon sent a wave of yearning and images of the way he had looked at her, so angry, but his eyes burning with desire. The dragon wanted to climb inside his skin and live there. It wanted to fly into the high mountains and fuck him with nothing but stars and snow around them.
"You're imagining things," she muttered under her breath.
