Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 161615 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 539(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 161615 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 539(@300wpm)
“I will still write that book. You will just be with me the whole time I’m gathering my research. After this war, you’re going to be my personal tour guide.”
Deepening my frown, I dipped the cloth back in the bowl to clean it. “You said that like it was an order.”
“Because it was.”
“The Tiger orders the Dragon?”
“Yes. At times she does.”
I wrung out the cloth and brought it back to her body, taking extra time around her breasts. I surely wasn’t going to argue with her about that damn book on the sex industry.
She was too powerful over me now and too fucking important.
If she wanted to walk into every damn soapland I owned and interview every damn person from clients to staff. . .I would make that happen just to make her smile.
She yawned again, exhaustion was clearly seeping into her bones too. “I think catching the spy will be dangerous, but I also know you will keep men that you trust around to protect me.”
I gritted my teeth.
“But we have to make sure we can trust those men to protect me.”
I sneered. “We are not talking about this right now.”
“I think you should either give me your Claws or your Fangs to help me.”
“Reo and I already figured it will be my Claws.”
“Oh.” She widened her eyes. “Why?”
“I trust Hiro and my men with you. None of them would ever secretly work with my father.” Satisfied that the job was done, I put the cloth in the bowl, went to turn off the bedroom lights, and then returned to bed.
“Wait. Now I’m supposed to clean you.” She began to rise.
I brought her back down. “No. I want your scent all over my cock while I sleep.”
She chuckled, but I wasn’t playing at all.
Soon she was back in my arms and my hands traced the curve of her waist, the slope of her ribs, the swell of her breasts. I kissed each nipple softly, soothing where I’d bitten, sucking just enough to ease the sting.
Her fingers threaded weakly through my hair, pulling me closer. “Kenji. . .”
“Tora. . .” I wrapped her in my arms and pulled the blanket over us. Her body curled into mine instinctively. Her head rested against my chest. My heart was still hammering like a war drum, but I let her hear it, let her feel the rhythm she had created.
“Thank you, Tora.”
“Thank you for what?”
“Thank you for this.” I stroked her back slowly, from her damp nape down to the curve of her spine, memorizing every shiver. My hand lingered at the dip above her ass, savoring the heat there, the way her body molded into mine like it had been waiting all its life for this fit.
Her breathing slowed, soft, uneven.
She was drifting.
But before she slipped under, she whispered, “I really mean it. I love you.”
Tears pricked again, unwanted, feral.
I closed my eyes and was glad the darkness would hide the weakness she didn’t need to see.
My throat closed around the words I should’ve said back.
My Tiger had already taken everything from me—my control, my hunger, my sanity. I couldn’t let her strip me of my dignity too.
So, I just held her tighter, breathing her in like salvation.
Inside, the Dragon howled in aching, violent hunger.
Inside, the man wept and knelt in a need so fragile it could barely speak her name.
Soft snores left her.
Still with my eyes closed, I smiled.
Sleep now, Tiger. Get your rest. Soon, the hunt for my father’s spy begins.
Currently, the Fox still believed he was at war with the Dragon.
He didn’t realize he would be stepping into battle against a man already lost to love—one who would wage a war more ruthless than any general, because surrender was no longer possible.
Chapter nine
The Dragon’s Reach
Nyomi
The next morning, I woke, pinned beneath Kenji's arm. His huge, muscular body curved around me like I was something precious he'd die defending.
For one disorienting second, I forgot my own name and only knew the soothing warmth of Kenji's chest against my spine, the possessive weight of his arm across my waist, and his breath painting heat down the curve of my neck.
This was it. The scene in the fantasy novel where Sol woke in the dragon's protective embrace.
Sol had been terrified—naked, confused, surrounded by treasure in Korin's lair with no memory of how her clothes disappeared. She'd tried to slip away while he slept, tiptoeing through mountains of gold and jewels, desperate for escape.
I understood her panic now, but our situations were opposite in the way that mattered most.
She didn't know why she was there, but I knew exactly how I had ended up in my dragon's bed, and I was quite pleased.
She'd woken to find herself claimed without choosing it.
I walked into this claiming with my eyes wide open.
Still, some things were exactly the same.