Boom! Boom! Boom! The thuds came louder. It was knocking. Very aggressive knocking. Someone was at the shop door.
“I'm coming!” I shouted as I dashed through my apartment.
But they couldn't hear me and kept pounding. Boom! Boom! Boom!
I dashed downstairs, shouting again, “I'm coming!” When I reached the front door, I exclaimed, “For the love of Fulgark,enough!” I threw the lock and yanked open the door. “What do you want?!” Then I gaped at my visitor. “Your Majesty.”
King Rianvar's suit was askew, his vest riding up and his cravat missing. No top hat in sight. A cloak barely held onto his vast shoulders, and then only because it was clasped with a gold, rose broach. It billowed as he moved forward, eyes alight with a pale green, sinister fire that finally made his scar seem appropriate. I backed up under and tripped.
The Dragon King caught me with an arm around my waist. My back arched over his strong arm, and I lifted my head to stare at him.
Leaning down he said, “I've been knocking for several minutes, Galin.”
“I'm . . .” I pushed on his shoulders until he let me up. On my feet again, my heartbeat started to slow. I pulled my gaping shirt together, then smoothed back my hair. “I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I didn't think you'd come. I had the doors shut so I must not have heard you.”
His breath audible and rough, King Rianvar slid his stare down my body, trailing over my half-braided hair, then the V of my shirt, to my hips. “I have a feeling you're worth the wait.”
Dear Gods. I always thought you had to give a king what he wanted to hold his interest. Was it the opposite? Was this king so used to getting what he wanted that my little rebellion had caught his interest? How fascinating.
“I am,” I said. “But I'm afraid it's too late for an evening out. I must get up early in the morning to open the shop. I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but—”
The Dragon King grabbed my hip and yanked me forward by it. I fell against his chest, my hands flattening on his hard pectorals. I could feel his rapid heartbeat through the material of his vest and shirt; it was pounding that savagely. Looking up slowly, I met his wild stare. He'd been all elegance and refinement earlier, but that was gone now. Even his fine clothes couldn't hide the beast that lived inside him.
“You demanded that I come to you, and I'm here, my little inventor,” King Rianvar drawled. “You will not turn me away now.”
His head lowered, his stare going to my lips. I was entranced. Enchanted. Utterly under his spell. His scent wafted around me, adding to the magic. Sweet resin, moss, and man. King Rianvar smelled like a dark forest. Something that could offer sanctuary or peril. Which was he? I just didn't know. And he was about to take more than I was ready to give.
“No!” I shoved him away just before our lips met.
The Dragon King jerked back, his stare going wide and his lips—those stern lips that had softened for me—going slack.
I held up my hands as if to ward him off. “You send your lackey to fetch me like I'm a trollop, then you show up over an hour later and practically break down my door!” With every word, strength and reason returned. I pointed at him. “And now you think you can bully your way into stealing a kiss? Before we've even had a full conversation?” I shook my head at him. “At least King Dhrostan had the decency to invite me to dine with him at the high table before he summoned me to his chambers.”
Rapid blinking. Falling shoulders. The Dragon King's mouth snapped shut. “King Dhrostan? You were his lover?”
“In my experience, Dragon Kings don't take lovers. They simply take. You are not the first king to pursue me. And I've learned my lesson. I will not allow you to treat me as he did. I've had enough of you royal Dragons with your arrogance and your expectations. I took a chance on you, that you would be different. I was wrong. Now, with all due respectto your station, get the fuck out, Your Majesty.”
King Rianvar started to say something, thought better of it, then inclined his head to me and left, closing the door quietly behind him.
I stared at the door for several long minutes after he left, arms at my sides and hands shaking. If only I could take comfort in my evolution. I wanted to. I should have rejoiced that I had stood firm in my resolve. I should have celebrated how I had kept my promise to Rontor. No man would take from me. Not anything that I wasn't willing or ready to give. Love would be on my terms and at my pace from now on.
Yes, I should be happy.
But something ached in my chest. A beautiful vision played in my mind—the scene I had rejected. King Rianvar's stern lips on mine, coaxing passion from me. His arms supporting me, holding me above the ground. His scent invading me along with his demanding tongue. It would have been amazing. So wondrous that I might have let him lower me to the floor. Half dressed as I was, it wouldn't take long for him to undress me. For him to have me writhing until I gave up all of my resolve just to have him inside me. I would have sunk back into my old self.
“And it would have been glorious,” I whispered.
Chapter Six
I slept poorly that night. Transforming into a new man could be traumatic, it seemed. My stomach ate me since I hadn't bothered to feed it, churning out hot shivers that ran up and over my shoulders. Fear. I was afraid, but I wasn't sure what of. I knew this change was necessary. Standing up for myself was a good thing. But leaving behind the old me was scary. There was comfort in who I'd been. Becoming someone new was a step into uncertainty.
I did fall asleep at last, and when I woke in the morning, things seemed better. I'd passed my first test. A spectacular man had tried to kiss me, and I had stopped him. I refused to be pushed around, even if it was something I wanted. And I sensed that it was important to be strong with that man, in particular. If I had let King Rianvar take from me, he would have kept taking until there was nothing left. And then he would have moved on.
“Better to not start anything with him at all,” I muttered as I headed downstairs.
Thankfully, it was Raef's day, so he was waiting outside the shop when I opened the door instead of Arena.
“Good morning, Boss!” Raef said cheerfully as he came in. He slipped off his wing scarf and sighed. “It's nippy out there today. Damn, I love this scarf. Thank you again for it.”
