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She wasn’t against the idea of being intimate with him in his Dragon form, although it was something she’d never considered, even in her wildest dreams. The idea didn’t send dread through her. With the way her family worshipped Dragons, held them sacred, it would be considered an honour.

She knew it was possible, that he could shift his size to something she could accommodate.

No, the reason she thought he was unhinged was because he wanted to be that open, in that form, with a Witch. Her, no less! Someone who had cast dark magic and deceived him.

“Wait.” He grabbed her hips and pulled her back to him, and her arse accidentally ground against his erection, making him groan. “You did not answer my question.”

“No, I do not wish to.”

She didn’t want to give him more ammunition to manipulate her.

He released her again. Since she’d still been trying to climb away, she lunged forward and quickly turned to her side. She was surprised he’d let her go.

‘No’ works for other things as well?

She blinked, realising Geryon held the word dearly, not just sexually, but within other boundaries as well.

His gaze was averted while he looked around the room. He appeared frustrated but not angered from her rejection, and maybe... even a little hurt. Why did the aftermath of this, his firm reactions to that single word, the way he was looking now, betray her by making warmth spread through her chest?

The problem Valerie faced was although he released her when she uttered the word ‘no’, Geryon would eventually return to try again. That in itself wasn’t the problem; she knew he would. He’d done so in the palace to coax her desire out, and she knew she could stop him whenever she pleased.

No, the problem was the more he tried, the further Valerie let him go. And just like in the palace, her resolve was faltering.

She couldn’t hide it from him either, especially when it was made obvious when she let him get close enough, let him kiss her, touch her.

I want him. I want Geryon inside me.She wanted him to take her how he once did, when they’d been alone in that private room.

She didn’t care what he was. He was the same man as before, the one who would touch her gently with his hands, causing her to arch into his touch rather than away, but his mouth would be like fire, leaving tingling traces in its wake.

His mouth was like poison, and whenever he kissed her, she would lose herself to it. She knew it spurred him on if she stopped pushing him away and started to hold onto him, like her hands were desperate to reach for him. Even her nails dug in like she didn’t want him to escape, as though he were prey she wanted to keep her claws in.

A desperate ache rose inside Valerie as time slowly dragged on.

It didn’t help that he would be kind to her between his attempts.

He cooked for her, always carefully noting her preferences. If she didn’t eat a certain item on the plate, she would never see it on one again. He was making sure he fed her things she liked; he was being attentive.

He takes me outside.She was a prisoner, and yet he offered to occasionally take walks so she could sit in the sun. It was like he understood that because she was a Witch, she needed to feel the outside world, even if she could no longer draw energy from it.

She’d seen more of his lair, but she noticed he never had a ward at the front to keep her in, or other Witches out.

When she asked him about it, he refused to answer her. It made her wonder if he could.

Not all Dragons were adept at magic, in the same way not all Witches were. He never warded the room holding her sister caged, either.

Because he’d seen her read at the palace, he brought her books. There was a pile steadily growing, offerings to try and keep her happy. He even tried to gift her jewels and gold, like she was a hoarding Dragoness sitting on pretty, sparkling treasures.

It would be easier to deny him if he didn’t show her such consideration or kindness.He is acting as though he cares for me.

She didn’t hope to believe it.

“You do these things in the hopes of softening me so I will cave to you,” is what she told him the third time he allowed her to go outside.

His answer surprised her.

“You will cave regardless,” he laughed, his eyes full of mirth. “I do them because I want to. Do they not bring you comfort or joy?”

They did. They also furthered her uncertainty. It was easy to deny a man who only came to her in an attempt to bed her. Geryon didn’t.