The green whipped its spiked tail toward the red, earning a deep score through its scales.
Remy stiffened. “That’s all right. He’ll be fine. Whoever that is, he was a fool to antagonize Zane.”
Something inside me went still. “Zane?”
“The red dragon. He’s been worried about telling you. Being bound to a dragon is … a lot.”
Zane was a mythical beast. I mean, why not? The fates were meddling. My mother was still alive. I was Destiny’s champion. And, according to visions I most definitely did not want, I was meant for six men. One of whom held me now. I couldn’t help it; I laughed. And once I started, I couldn’t stop.
“Haven?” Remy sounded alarmed.
I took a quick breath, but the laughter kept bubbling from abottomless well. Tears rolled freely down my cheeks. My mouth stretched into a rictus grin. My stomach actually hurt with each fresh guffaw. “A dragon?”
He nodded, his face serious.
“What are you? A griffin?”
“Just a prince.”
A prince was holding me in his arms. And I didn’t hate it. The laughter finally died, leaving me hollow and wrung out. I’d almost died. Again. How many times could I tempt death before my luck ran out? My chest felt tight, and each breath seemed harder to draw than the last.
“Haven?” Remy’s voice seemed to come from very far away. I looked at him—really looked—and something cracked inside me. He was here. Solid. Real. He’d saved me when I couldn’t save myself.
A violent screech returned my attention to the sky.
The limp green dragon plunged toward the ground.
“Will it survive?”
He shrugged. “Dragons are tough.”
Its enormous body thudded into the earth, shaking the ground beneath our feet.
“It survived that?”
Above us, Zane trumpeted his triumph.
Remy allowed himself a grin. Brutal, nearly feral, his grin launched an army of butterflies in my stomach. Then he shrugged. “Probably not.”
For a long moment, neither of us said a word. I was processing that I was still alive. He was holding me like I might disappear. The solid warmth of his arms around me was the only thing that felt real after the surreal terror of being airborne.
“You saved me,” I whispered.
“Always,” he said, and the rough promise in his voice made my breath catch.
That was when I became aware of how close we were. His arms were still around me. And the adrenaline coursing through my veins was transforming into something else entirely. “You can put me down now.” Somehow, I kept my voice steady.
The expression in his eyes was … heated. “And if I don’t want to?”
My heart stuttered. It had been so much easier to keep Remy at arm’s length when he was an asshole. I stared into his eyes, and our breaths mingled. I should insist that he put me down. I didn’t. Instead, I lifted my head until our lips brushed.
He caught the back of my head and took control.
A slow, honeyed warmth enveloped my body. I liked his kisses. I wanted more.
My lips parted, and his tongue tangled with mine. Challenging. Claiming. Demanding.
The slow warmth morphed into blistering heat, and my hands closed on his shoulders.
