Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
With a growled, “Kiss,” Taron agreed, whipping one hand to my nape and the other to my hip.
For a heartbeat, his grip loosened, as if he fought something unseen. The enchantment? Me? Both?
Then whatever restraint he clung to shattered, and he yanked me closer, dipping his head to mine.
Chapter
Nine
Let them think they’re leading. It’s adorable.
-Humaning for Beginners: A Dragon’s Tale of Human Management
The possessive claim of Taron’s mouth swept me into a whirlwind. I poured myself into him. My every curve molded to the carved granite of his body, as if I were made to fit into those spaces. As our tongues danced, the kiss merged into a breaking. A binding. A ruinous tether spun from breath and need.
He tasted of honeyed venom, and the sugared sweetness proved lethal to my strongest defenses. But oh, I drank deep. A thousand sips wouldn’t be enough. Clinging to him wasn’t a choice but survival, the world sure to end the second we stopped.
“More,” I breathed. More, more, morrrrrre.
Our lips tangled in a rhythm too rough to be innocent, too honest to be anything but real. It was too much, too soon, yet not enough, and I would both regret and savor this for the rest of my existence.
I might play hostess to a dragon, but it was Taron who made me burn. Soft, keening whimpers escaped, sounds torn from the young woman I’d once been, before my heart was shredded. Each acted as an echoing confession and eternal plea.
He drove me back until hot stone pressed against a hotter spine, and I arched into him, needing grounding. Wanting him closer. Eager to take everything he had to give.
But.
An icy sting registered in my calves. And there it was again, stronger. I gripped Taron and looked at the ground over my shoulder. Confusion set in, and I frowned. In the darkness I saw nothing. Nein, an ember flickered. I breathed upon it, fanning it, and new flames crackled, revealing…
How odd. The stone had grown spikes, the tips now pricking my legs.
“Lyssa,” Taron rasped, cupping my cheeks to return my mouth to his.
Lyssa, Lyssa, Lysssssssa.
Mmm. Stone forgotten, I nipped at his bottom lip.
He lowered his grip to the sides of my neck and lifted his head the slightest bit. He was panting, each breath hard yet broken. “Good?”
“So good.” I glided my palms up his muscular chest, toyed with the ends of his hair. “More.” Kiss.
Another icy sting. My frown returned.
As if he noticed my upset—and cared—Taron spun me, putting his back to the stone. “More,” he whispered in agreement. Then he kissed me, slow and lazy, savoring.
The change of tempo cracked my calm, freeing a thought. Something is wrong.
I broke from the kiss and blinked. Shook my head to shoo away a thick mental fog. Our surroundings cleared, but hmm. The wall. Its spikes. In the languid firelight, I could see they pricked Taron from shoulder to heel.
He alternated between kissing my jawline and flinching with pain.
He hurts.
Anger flickered, an ember, then a flame, then a blaze. The cavern caused his pain. The cavern must pay.
I unfurled my wings and snapped them forward and back, once, only once, but I created a wind so powerful, the spikes cracked. Not good enough. I rammed my fist into the stone. Punch, punch, punch. My skin split, and my knuckles splintered, but the wall cracks widened. Whenever a crack breached one of those glowing gold veins, a cluster of crystals grew, translucent on the outside, with that molten gold glittering on the inside.
The Sunsong Crystal.
Little pops of energy flickered around it. I traced my fingertips along the vibrating surface. Zing! The tingling pulse of power wrenched a startled laugh from me. The crystal blazed brighter, but no echo sounded.
Realizations hit like punches.
We were here on a mission. Uppercut!
Taron didn’t want me, didn’t even want me breathing. Body blow!
We’d fallen prey to the cavern’s spell and kissed, anyway. Knockout!
Dismay hit next, reverberating in my bones. Now, there was no undoing what we’d done.
I witnessed the exact moment the light of reality dawned in Taron’s irises. He released me as if I’d started leaking toxic waste. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and I withered.
“The crystal must have dulled the mesmerizing effect,” he said, harsh and obviously of regret. He focused on a spot behind my head, as if trying to erase what had happened from his mind.
“Glad it worked,” I replied, and I meant it. No telling what I would have done if it hadn’t.
“Time to get what we came for.” He dug inside his pack and removed a hammer and a chisel. With quick efficiency and single-minded concentration, he worked to free our prize. With a brittle crack followed by a whispering scrape, he succeeded.
I withdrew the cashmere scarf I’d brought, ignoring the slight pangs in my hands, and wound the material around the delicate cluster, then stored the cargo in a zippered, cushioned pouch.