Series: Charmaine Pauls
Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
I’ll make her submit to me now and win her heart later.
We have time.
With that goal in mind, I give in to the urges driving me, letting them dictate my actions, which are to bunch her skirt in a fist and dip my hand beneath the fabric to brush my fingertips up the inside of her leg. The skin of her thigh is like the silky threads of the rarest spun textile. The heat between her legs is an unbearable torment to my senses.
Having left the trunk in my room empty of undergarments, I find her bare by conscious design. Yet nothing will ever prepare me for the way she feels when I touch the most secret, most intimate part of her body. Nor can I get used to the burning need that fires through my veins at the simple sweep of my knuckles over the petal-like folds hidden beneath soft coppery curls.
Her gasp slips into our kiss, encouraging me to take my exploration deeper. I curl a finger and part her gently, only to find her soaking wet for me. I nearly combust when I bridge her narrow opening and sink the tip of my finger into her tightness.
Dragons.
A drop of sweat rolls down my temple, the effort of holding back taking its toll.
So tight. Almost too tight.
Warning bells go off in my mind. Elsie is small, especially for an Alit. I have to take care not to hurt her.
I part her a bit more, push a little deeper, and by dragon, my self-control almost snaps.
“Aruan,” Elsie exclaims with a breathless gasp, tearing her mouth from mine.
I seal my lips over hers again, swallowing her sounds for fear she may utter them in protest as I tease her with shallow pumps.
Her breathing turns more labored. She’s going to make me lose my head.
I’m about to sink my finger knuckle-deep inside her when the air starts to ripple with subtle waves.
For the everlasting dragons.
A growl tears from my chest. I loathe to stop what I’ve started. However, I don’t have a choice but to pull my hand from its warm, seductive nest and set her lips free as a portal opens in front of us.
Elsie clings to my shoulders, her gaze dazed and her eyes hazy. I barely have time to offer her an apologetic smile for leaving her hanging so cruelly when Gaia steps through the portal.
The look of terror on my sister’s face washes away the intoxicating heat coursing through me in an instant. Alarm takes its place.
Wrapping my hand around Elsie’s firmly, I pull her under the safety of my arm. “What’s the matter, Gaia?”
“Come quickly!” My sister grabs my wrist and pulls me toward the open portal. “The palace is under attack.”
Chapter 12
Elsie
Like another big sneeze, we’re sucked through the portal and spat out in the Great Hall of the palace. Aruan’s family is gathered in front of the waterfall that acts as a barrier for the main entrance.
I hear the trouble long before I can see it. War cries rise over the roar of the waterfall, enemies gathering beyond it.
My pulse spikes. I’ve had plenty of near-death experiences but none of them due to being attacked—at least not by threatening forces other than diseases or my own body. And I have to say, when danger comes in the form of a weapon, it’s fucking scary. If Gaia hadn’t warned us, whoever is ambushing Aruan’s people would’ve cut the two of us off before we reached the palace. We would’ve been trapped and exposed like sitting ducks. Unless Aruan can create a portal?
“What’s going on?” I ask with my heart beating in my throat.
“Phaelix,” Aruan says through gritted teeth, clasping my hand in an iron grip.
He’s positioned himself in front of me like a massive boulder of muscles and is scouting our surroundings with fierce silver eyes. I catch sight of those steely pools, now narrowed to angry slits, as he turns his head from one side of the hall to the other.
I follow his gaze. All I see are stone walls and statues on both sides. The big arched window is at the front. “What are you looking at?”
“The Phaelix who are stupid enough to think they can creep up on us.”
“But they’re outside.”
“I can see through the walls.”
He makes the statement matter-of-factly, but it takes the wind out of my sails. Not that anything about Aruan should surprise me.
He’s focused and collected, the quietness overtaking him the dangerous kind. This is the Aruan who’s ready to kill. It’s his single-minded goal, his only objective. It’s an awesome and terrifying sight.
The king faces the waterfall, his palms stretched out as if he’s holding the liquid particles together. Kian stands next to him with a sword in one hand and a stoic expression on his face. Vitai flanks his mother in the center of the hall.