Page 30 of A Drop of Venom

Instead, it had led me into the forest, where my path converged with Terolon’s. And now, neither of us needed to walk alone again.

When Terolon appeared in the winter cave some time later, he found me without my shoes and stockings but still dressed, sitting on a thick cushion atop a flat rock where I often sat to sew.

“My light, what’s wrong?” He crossed the cavern with a few whip-like movements of his body that brought him to me in almost a blink. My mate sank on his coils until his face was even with mine, cupped my face with both hands, and gazed at me, his expression full of dismay. “You’ve been weeping.”

“Just a little.” I sniffled and wiped my eyes. “Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s right.”

“These are happy tears?” He gathered me in his arms and tucked me under his chin. “You don’t scent of happiness, shelshi.”

“I am happy, I promise. I was just thinking about everything we each went through before we found one another.” I nestled against his chest, which was much cooler than it should be. “You stayed in the summer cave too long talking to Aluc,” I scolded. “And you were accusing me of taking chances with my health by going out into the cold. You’re half frozen!”

“I am not,” he said with a huff, his lips against my hair. “But we both require warmth, I think. Will you join me in the pool, my beautiful mate?”

“I promised I would.” I curled my fingers against his chest scales, soothed—as always—by their texture and his scent. “Thank you for helping Aluc.”

“It was my pleasure. I also updated the inventory book. I know keeping it helps you worry less.” He kissed my temple. “I’ve wintered many years here. We’ll be safe and warm and we are well-prepared. We could live for at least two months on what we have now, even if Aluc couldn’t return for all that time.” He moved so he could look into my eyes. “I swore you would never again go hungry or lack for shelter or safety, my love, and I keep my word.”

“I know you do.” I kissed his jaw. “I feel safe, Terolon. In my heart, I know I’m safe.” I put his hand on my wool-covered chest over my heart. “That’s the best gift you’ve given me, or could ever give me.”

“I’m more glad than you can imagine to hear you say that.” He kissed me gently and tugged my fur-lined cloak off my shoulders. “Let me warm you up properly, sweet Hazel. Winter has come, we are alone, and I feel a very strong urge to keep another promise I made to you.”

“Which promise is that?” I asked as I unlaced my gown.

His tongue flicked against my ear. The fleeting touch made me shiver, and not with cold. “My promise to satisfy you,” he murmured. “Do you remember? I made that promise on the night of our first mating.”

“Of course I remember,” I said, sliding the sleeves of my gown down over my shoulders. “You’ve certainly always kept that one too.”

He kissed the back of my neck and then ran his lips along the scales on my shoulder, tasting them with flicks of his tongue.

I gasped and shivered again. My gown slipped further down, baring my breasts—but only for a moment, before he cupped them reverently and squeezed them in his cool hands. I moaned and arched my back, demanding more.

“And I will continue to satisfy you, my shelshi,” he said softly. “Today and forever, you will be safe and satisfied and mine.”

“And you’re mine.” I took one of his hands from my breasts and slid it down inside my dress and between my legs, to where I needed his touch the most. His tail quivered and he hissed softly when he felt how wet I was for him already.

“Warm me up, mate,” I pleaded. “Make me scream.”

And with his fangs pricking my shoulder and his coils wrapped tightly around me until I was utterly at his mercy, my beautiful shelshan obliged.

EPILOGUE PART ONE

HAZEL

Two Years Later

The cottage at the end of the footpath was surprisingly large—much larger than any other in the village of Allhurn. Which was why the man inside had apparently declared it his and used a royal decree to evict the family who’d lived there for many years.

The fact it was hidden from the village road by thick trees and out of earshot of neighbors was also likely to be a factor in his actions, if the rumors in the village were to be believed.

And I believed them.

I adjusted my hooded cloak one last time, making sure it hid my face and hands and draped loosely in the front. According to the tavern owner, the women who were summoned to this cottage at night often arrived in similar garb, so the man whose shadow I saw in the curtained front window shouldn’t suspect anything. Still, I had to be cautious, or the very tense male keeping watch nearby would intervene before I had a chance to do what I’d come here to do.

My mate loved me so much that he’d agreed to let me do this, and I was grateful to him beyond words.

As I walked up the path, I noticed signs that this had once been a pleasant, well-tended home: window boxes full of flowers, a large garden, a set of benches under a shady tree. But the flowers in the boxes had died of neglect, the garden was overgrown, and the benches were covered in branches and leaves and one had tipped over and been left where it had fallen.

At the thick wooden door, I stopped and took a deep breath. If any place could be said to have an aura of foreboding and evil, this cottage did.