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Or tried to. It was like wrestling with a mountain.

In a flash, he pinned my hands behind my back in one of his. The position thrust my breasts against his chest, making my fear-stiffened nipples poke into his pecs.

“Let me go!” My heart raced so fast it was difficult to speak.

“Not a chance.” He gripped my chin with his free hand. “Are there others?” When I gaped at him, he scowled and gave me a little shake. “Who’s with you?”

“N-No one! I swear!”

“As if I’d trust the word of a—” He cut himself off, his expression frozen in something akin to shock.

I froze, too. It seemed safer than continuing to struggle and possibly provoking his ire.

“I dinnae believe it,” he murmured, his accent so thick it took me a second to unravel his words. But I couldn’t unravel his sudden shift in demeanor. He stared, his gaze so transfixed the fine hairs on my arms lifted. His nostrils flared, as if he tested my scent. The silvery eyes searched my face, and his blond brows pulled together. The color matched his wavy hair, which was pushed back from a wide forehead.

He was handsome, I realized with a start. Gorgeous, actually, with long, thick eyelashes and a firm but sensual mouth. His cheekbones were high, and golden stubble covered his jaw, giving him a roguish air.

Wait. What was wrong with me? A dragon—because he couldn’t be anything else—had me in his grasp and I was admiring his looks?

I struggled again, but he didn’t seem to notice. With a flex of his muscles, he hauled me more tightly against him. Then he plunged his face to my neck and inhaled.

All the breath left my lungs. Shivers coursed over my skin, as if every nerve ending had been jolted awake.

His body went rigid. At the same moment, something very hard and very big nudged my thigh.

I began to shake.

Slowly, he lifted his head. “Of all things, a vampire.” A smile curved his lips, and then his chest shook as he began to laugh. “Oh, Bram is going to love this.”

Bram?

The other one. Of course. Somewhere nearby, there was another male just like him. Another muscular giant who may or may not be wearing clothes.

“Please,” I said through a throat gone dry. “Let me go.”

His smile held, but the amusement in his eyes turned to something softer. If I hadn’t known better, I might have thought it was…tenderness. “Ah, little leech, that is the one thing I cannae do. Fate gave you to me, and I mean to keep you.”

Fate… What was he talking about?

Overcome with nerves, I licked my lips.

The flames flared back to life in his pupils, and the bulge against my thigh swelled larger.

My head spun. He’d gone from angry to…turned on?

Against my will, my gaze drifted down.

I felt my eyes go wide. I’d seen my father’s warriors in various states of undress, but none of them compared to the male who held me. His shaft was impossibly long and thick, with prominent veins running along the length. He could split a female in two.

Could split me in two—and there was nothing I could do about it.

And he wouldn’t care how the act felt for me. My uncle’s voice flooded my head. “The dragons aren’t picky about females. They’ll rut with any woman they find, if only to determine whether she’s theirs.”

Tremors raced over my skin, until my bones threatened to shake apart. My heart pounded so quickly I felt lightheaded. Black huddled at the edges of my vision. I’d had no dinner, and the few sips of blood wine hadn’t been enough to sate me.

Can’t pass out. I absolutely could not lose consciousness in the arms of a dragon.

The giant frowned. “Yer breathin’ too fast, lassie.”