Page 60 of A Dance of Water (Moon Song #2)

TRICKERY AND DECEIT

VALE

A zgorath stood so violently that the table cracked as his fists slammed down onto the surface.

Vale barely paid it mind, focused entirely on a shivering Luella. Her hair was slowly drying, hanging in thick, white curls around her shoulders.

His hand shot out, wrapping loosely around Tharen’s neck, not tight enough to kill—never tight enough to kill—but just enough to remind him that he could fucking ruin him if he so willed it.

Take it.

Stolen, stolen.

Steal it back.

They can’t have that .

Mine, the dragon hissed.

Ours. The words echoed throughout Vale’s head.

A long, onyx tail flicked out, wings scraping the bars of his cage. All of ours.

And at that, Vale blanched.

For not the first time, his dragon staked a claim on her for them all.

I do not share, said the dragon, but only for her.

You’d be willing to share her? Vale asked.

The dragon’s tail flicked out, talons clacking along as he paced. Finally, he said, Share her , but not her pleasure. Mine.

Tharen pinned Azgorath to the wall with a crackling circle of fire; the flames licked at the demon’s skin but did not harm—couldn’t harm.

Luella tried to stumble out of Tharen’s lap, but the mage kept her trapped against him. Vale braced his other hand on her shoulder, and she lifted her head, searching for him.

Azgorath bared his teeth, struggling against the fiery chains.

"Godsdammit, Tharen! Let me go. Why would you do this to her? You know she doesn’t know any better.

" Every word was punctuated with the slam of his head against the wall and the battering of his fists as he struggled. "You took advantage of her!"

The drizzle of rain grew louder. In the distance, a faint rumble of thunder.

Luella cried out softly, her words nearly drowned out by the sounds of violence in the room. "It was my choice. He didn’t trick me."

For her to agree to the deal of her own accord… Vale doubted it, but it wasn’t impossible.

His dragon only hissed louder at the thought she would willingly give away her body.

The King found Graves’s eyes, a question lingering between them. Slowly, Graves cocked his head, neither to confirm nor deny Vale’s silent query.

He redirected his focus to Luella, where she struggled on Tharen’s lap. The mage didn’t let her go, uncaring as he kept her pinned against him and her lover pinned to the wall.

Azgorath spat obscenities in her honor.

His dragon roared lowly in his chest, agreeing with the demon.

And Vale snapped.

His fingers flexed on Tharen’s neck, tightening, tightening. The mage gritted his teeth.

Tharen merely laughed. "Go ahead. You want to kill me?" The mage lifted off his seat, still holding onto her so she wouldn’t fall.

"No, I don’t want to kill you. I want to make you pay for stealing her away from me." Vale squeezed harder.

"I didn’t steal her from you." Tharen rolled his eyes .

Smoke filled the room, mingling with the tendrils that emanated from the red circle of fire that kept Azgorath trapped.

"No?" said the King. "Then you didn’t make a bargain with her to be the first to fuck her? Even knowing that I would lie with her in the Temples of Aedis?"

Tharen bared his teeth. "Not quite." His icy eyes quickly flicked to Graves, then settled on Luella, where she still struggled on his lap. "You know, Vale, all this miscommunication could be rectified if you simply asked."

Luella jabbed an elbow in Tharen’s stomach. "I already told him. It was my choice to give t-that away."

"Seeing as you cannot even say the word fuck , I doubt you’d offer up your pleasure so freely," Vale said as he released Tharen.

Her cheeks grew pink, and Vale licked his lips as his dragon rumbled.

"Stop tormenting her," Azgorath hissed.

"Oh, I can assure you, beast," Bastian said lowly, "she’s not being tormented." He paused, resting his chin on his hand. "Not in the way you’re thinking."

The vampire’s words lingered in the room, and Azgorath curled his hand into a fist and punched it back through the wall behind him. A loud thud filled the room as his hand went right through it; dust fell from the hole, and Bastian sighed.

"Do you parasites think of anything besides sex?" the demon snarled.

Bastian’s eyes flashed, emotions flitting over his face before he donned a carefully constructed mask of sensuality and crooned a simple: "No."

Vale knew Bastian was lying. He could see it in his eyes. The vampire was fond of their Vincire. He just didn’t want to admit it aloud.

Graves tapped a long finger against the tabletop, silently drawing Vale’s attention.

"I was there, Vale. I wouldn’t have allowed her to be taken advantage of. Not in that way." Graves held Vale’s eyes as he spoke, and Vale found truth in them.

He nodded once .

That truth hurt more than he was willing to admit: she had freely given away her pleasure to Tharen.

His dragon’s hiss turned to a long, keening rumble.

Mine, mine, mine.

She’s ours.

Don’t touch.

Take her away, claim her, make her ours first.

His fingers tightened on Luella’s shoulder, and he notched a finger under her chin, tilting her head up.

She could not see him, but he could see her.

He watched the way her teeth nibbled on her lower lip, the slight flush to her cheeks, the way her hands curled in Tharen’s shirt as if she didn’t know if she wished to pull him closer or push him away.

In her struggles, Graves’s cloak had pooled to her waist, leaving her upper half, clad only in her silken robe, bare to his eyes.

This creature had slighted him. She deserved to pay just as much as Tharen.

Vale rubbed his finger harshly over her bottom lip, pulling it free from between her teeth. She shuddered under his touch, the bond between them roaring to life, much like the rain that had picked up.

He continued rubbing her mouth as he said, "Tell me, exactly, what you gave him"—he leaned down and let his lips brush over her ear—"darling."

Luella inhaled sharply. "T-Tharen wanted to be the first to…"

She trailed off, and Vale tsked.

"How else would you be able to do what is expected of you, if you cannot even say the words? Say it," Vale demanded.

Her hand shot up to clutch her chest as the Binding mark forced the words past her lips:

"He wanted to be the first to bring me pleasure. He asked if I had ever felt p-pleasure before. I have not. So he wanted to be the first."

Vale’s nostrils flared.

Kill him. He took what first belonged to us.

So, his dragon wasn’t upset with the idea of sharing… Just sharing her first sexual experiences?

Interesting. Perhaps Vale could use this to his advantage.

"And?" Vale prodded. He kept his focus on her, afraid if he looked away, he would burn everyone and everything in the room to a crisp.

"The way he worded his deal, I didn’t know how it would work… but he said anytime I feel desire, I will appear before him." Her mouth curled into a grimace. "Ow," she whimpered.

"Let up," Graves mumbled. "You’re hurting her."

Vale looked down, only to see he was gripping her shoulder so tightly a bruise would most likely form. He allowed his hand to linger, feeling her tender flesh under his fingertips before he realized what he was doing and ripped away from her.

The King ran shaking fingers through his tousled golden hair.

Fuck.

"Are you satisfied?" Vale paused. "With your deal?" He let his words linger in the room. Let her stew in what she had done. She grew quiet, and he grew victorious at forcing her into silence.

The mage should die.

Vale couldn’t tell if the thought was from his dragon or his own burning desire.

He had never planned to force her to lie with him in the Temples of Aedis.

Vale was many things, but he would never force himself on another.

It was important for those watching that he treated her as nothing more than a prisoner of war.

If he allowed her to break tradition, it would become clear that she meant more to him. And that could not happen.

So, she must believe she will be forced to lie with him.

But Tharen had just upended all their plans.

"How can she sacrifice her pleasure to me in the Temples, if she is to appear before you when she feels desire?" Vale did not turn to look at them as he spoke.

There was a silence, and in it, Vale only felt murderous rage. It was taking everything in him not to lash out. His dragon rattled the bars of his cage.

"Exactly as you had originally planned," Bastian announced.

At that, Vale turned and arched a brow. "How do you propose we follow through with our plans?" He was careful with his word choice as she was in the room with them.

His eyes fell to her, small and curled on Tharen’s chest. His dragon demanded he touch, an impulse so strong he had to dig his fingernails into his thigh to stop himself from reaching for her.

A gentle knock on the door of Vale’s mind. He let Bastian in.

She will not give in to Tharen so easily. This could be a good thing.

How so? Vale shot back.

The vampire gave a small smirk, mirth twinkling in his red-tinged eyes. Now you will have an excuse for why you don’t force her to lie with you. You don’t want her to think you’re capable of being good, do you?

Vale exhaled, and smoke filled the room.

But the vampire… wasn’t wrong.

"Luella, answer this for me." Vale rolled his shoulders back and stared her down. Her head turned, searchingly. So soft and innocent, and even more vulnerable now.

He wanted to protect her, steal her away to that dark, warm space of his den.

Soon, said the dragon.

"What is it you wish to know?" she whispered. "I have no choice but to answer, so you may as well demand it of me."

Azgorath strained against his shackles made of fire. The demon’s brutishness would have to be amended.

" Why did you agree to offer your pleasure to him?" He posed it as a question, not a demand. Let her answer as she wished.

"I… I knew I would still have a choice. I don’t have to give in to him. Ever. Not if I never experience that ."