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“Oh, I’m never letting you live this down.”

I growl, but it lacks bite. Her fingers move again, her palms smoothing down my back, her nails just barely grazing my skin through the thin fabric of my nightclothes.

The tension I’ve been holding for days slowly begins to slip away beneath her touch.

I close my eyes, inhaling deeply.

She shifts again, closer, her legs pressing against my sides. “See?” she murmurs, voice dropping lower. “Not so bad, is it?”

Her thumbs slide up my spine, tracing along the edges of my shoulder blades.

I swallow hard.

Goddess help me.

I let my head tip back slightly, exhaling.

And for the first time in a very, very long time…

I allow myself to relax.

Chapter

Nine

VAELA

The almighty Dragon Queen is in my bed.

Inmybed.

I lean against the doorframe, arms crossed, watching the Dragon Queen sprawled across the silk sheets, her dark hair tangled over my pillows, her body half-covered in the thin blanket. The robe she’d been wearing last night has slipped from her shoulder, exposing the pale curve of her collarbone, the dip between her breasts.

She looks soft like this.

Peaceful.

Relaxed in a way I’ve never seen her before.

Not that I blame her.

After all, I was the one who worked those knots from her shoulders, coaxed those low, sinful noises from her lips, felt the tension unravel from her body beneath my hands. And now, here she is, utterly lost to sleep, her breath even, her body lax.

I grin.

Dragons purr.

Oh, I willneverlet her forget that.

But for now, I have other matters to tend to.

With one last lingering glance at the slumbering queen, I turn, padding silently toward the center of my room.

A large stone bowl rests atop the war table, filled to the brim with water—a necessity for someone like me, kept in a land of fire. The castle’s servants had placed it there at some point in the night, likely assuming I’d want it to drink or bathe.

Fools.

They had no idea what a gift they had given me.