I look between them. Something is off here. I wish I had more time to get to the bottom of what it is. “Was it magic?” I ask. “Did you really use magic to cheat in the contest?”
Kaelun’s eyes widen. “Look, I can explain…”
My mouth drops open. “Then it’s true!”
“It’s not like that.”
I throw up my hands. “I cannot believe you sometimes!” And I cannot believe I just bargained myself away to win anti-venom from Aurelion for someone who would cheat to win me. Anti-venom it turns out he did not even need.
“Yalina, I’m sorry—”
“Forget it. I must go now to spend the night with Aurelion and give him whatever he wants. I have promised, and unlike you I keep my promises. Just know that I did it because I thought I was saving you.”
“You do not know the full story,” says Jah’ruud.
This makes me pause. “The next time I am alone with you—both of you—I’d very much like for you to tell me the full story and leave nothing out. And Kaelun?”
“Mmm?”
“This is your last chance!”
I spin and storm out of the room to dress myself for dinner, leaving him staring at me. I cannot seem to stick with whatever decision I make for more than a few hours before something new changes my mind. Is it just that I do not wish to decide? Am I looking for excuses?
What kind of monarch will I make if I cannot put aside my feelings to care for my people? But the honest truth is that it is not that simple. I must live with whomever I choose for the rest of my life. So why are they both making it so hard to choose them?
I may as well see what it would be like to be with Aurelion. If I felt any guilt about it, the fact that Kaelun is still holding back secrets erases it.
With this in mind, I select a thin dress with a simple belted waist and two slits up the front of each thigh reaching all the way to the belt. The dress is low cut, and the overall effect bares almost as much skin as it covers. That suits my purpose tonight. I am through with holding back and doubting myself. Tonight I will be the one taking what I want, starting with my pleasure.
Aurelion answers the door to his suite himself, and when he ushers me inside, it is clear he has dismissed all his servants totheir quarters on the floor below. “Congratulations on your win today,” I tell him, though it comes out stiff.
“You are angry with me still.”
I open my mouth to reply, but I’m not certain how much to say. I sigh.
He chuckles. “Go on, chide me for breaking your rules like I would not break every rule and every person in my path to get to you.” He steps closer, and despite myself a shiver runs through me at his words. “You will be mine.”
Taking advantage of my silence, he cups my cheek and leans in, dipping his head.
Blinking, I break away and move to the sofa, sitting and brushing a hand over my skirts to cover the way I’m flustered at his words and his touch. Unfortunately, that draws attention to the way the splits in the dress leave both my thighs completely bare.
Aurelion’s gaze flickers to my naked skin. “Prince Noreth will recover. I will not if you reject me,” he says.
I shake my head. I hadn’t picked Aurelion as the overly dramatic type. “Well you have me all to yourself for now. How would you like to spend our time? For now I am all yours.”
He smiles and the motion extends far enough to make his mouth wider and more dangerous than any human mouth. “Not all mine yet, Yalina. Not bitten and claimed, but you could be if you so choose.”
My heart presses high against my collarbone, and I sit forward a little, unable to help myself. “Dragons bite their spouses, then? That seems like a strange custom. How is a human to survive?”
“We do. Not like the bite you saw today, though. That was done in aggression. A mating bite contains a different makeup of venom. I’ve heard the experience is quite euphoric.”
I’m curious despite myself. “Really?”
He grins. “You may tell me when you have experienced it for yourself.” He sits beside me, slinging an arm around my shoulders and drawing close. I think he is about to kiss me, but when he leans in, it’s to push aside my hair and run his lips along my neck in a way that sends a shock of awareness straight to my core.
I gasp.
I feel the hint of his teeth. “Right here,” he purrs against my skin. “This is where I will bite you.”
