Page 40

The sudden retreat sent confusion rocketing through him. He had seen it—the desire in her eyes, the heat that had licked up her throat, the sharp inhale when their breath had tangled. So why had she run? What had changed?

Kai's lips parted, a question forming, but before he could speak, she turned, her voice cutting through the thick air like a blade.

‘Hurry, I want to show you the dragon nests.’

And she was gone. Moving quickly, putting space between them, retreating towards the crater up ahead as if nothing had happened.

Kai remained where he stood, the tension still wrapped around him like iron chains. He had been so sure. Had he read her wrong?

Jaw tightening, he grabbed his discarded jacket and strode after her.

The dragon nests stretched along the crater’s rim, massive and ancient, their edges lined with charred stone and scattered embers. Above them, wild dragons stirred, lifting their heads, nostrils flaring. They would not attack. They could smell his blood and what it meant.

Alina stood at the edge, watching, her expression softened by something reverent.

‘It is breathtaking, is it not?’ she murmured, her voice filled with something close to longing.

Kai’s gaze didn’t stray towards the dragons.

Instead, he watched her . Her golden hair caught in the wind, strands lifting in the heated breeze, glowing like spun sunlight.

The curve of her jaw, the sharp angles of her cheekbones, the way her dragon horns framed her face like a crown—she was a vision of fire and fury.

And he wanted her. Oh, how he wanted her.

‘Yes,’ he whispered. ‘Beautiful indeed.’

But he was not speaking of the view.

They stood in silence, watching as one of the dragon eggs cracked open, a new life pushing its way into the world. A sound—soft, raw, and beastly—shattered the stillness, and the mother dragon turned, alert to the hatchling’s cry.

More dragons came, young ones the size of warhorses, their scales shimmering as they approached, sniffing the air, curious. Kai and Alina mounted them with ease, the creatures accepting their presence without hesitation.

‘They respond naturally to you,’ Kai observed.

Alina smiled. ‘I know. I come up here often, ever since I was a teenager. They know me by now.’ Something about that admission stirred something in him.

‘It was hard growing up in a male land where I was not permitted to do everything my brother was. He would go dragon riding with Hagan, and I was always left behind. So I’d come up here. ’

Kai frowned. ‘You walked the entire way?’

Alina rolled her eyes. ‘You know, for a warrior prince, you sound rather lazy.’

Kai laughed. ‘I prefer to exercise in a different way.’

Her gaze shifted. It was so fast, so brief, but he saw it. Saw the way her eyes darkened, how her body stilled with lust, hot and blazing.

Kai smirked.

‘I can show you these ways, princess.’

Alina scoffed.

‘Must you poke fun at everything?’

Ah. So that was the problem. She thought he was teasing her.

Kai’s smile faded. ‘I was not making fun, princess.’

But she had already turned away, clearly not believing him.

Something in him snapped.

She was wrong.

And in that moment, nothing else mattered. He had to prove it. Had to make her see. Had to make her feel .

Kai grabbed her arm, spinning her towards him.

Alina gasped, startled. Her hands slammed against his chest in protest, but he held firm.

‘What do you think you are doing?’ she spat, her voice sharp, furious. But she did not pull away when his hands rose to her face, cupping her cheeks, forcing her to look at him. The air between them crackled .

The volcano beneath them was nothing compared to the inferno swelling in his chest. His voice was a murmur, a warning, a promise.

‘I’m proving a point.’

And then—

He kissed her.

And it was fire.

The moment his lips met hers, a scorching heat surged through him, licking up his spine, racing through his veins.

She was fire.

And he—he was burning .

He wanted more. More of her, more of the warmth that seared through him, more of the way her lips trembled, parting slightly beneath his.

But he needed to know. Needed to be sure. So he pulled away—just barely. And he waited. Waited to see if she would burn with him.

‘Did you only kiss me to prove a point?’ she muttered, frowning.

‘That is what I said, yes.’

He smiled naughtily.

‘I hate you, wyverian.’

Kai chuckled.

‘No, you do not, princess.’

He waited for her to encourage him, to give him permission to kiss her again. He had only brushed his lips softly against hers and the way his body had responded had left him wondering what would happen if he did more. He was eager to find out.

‘Well?’ She scrunched her nose.

‘Well what?’

‘Is that it? ’

Kai laughed, his hands sliding down her arms, rubbing them sweetly.

‘Tell me to kiss you,’ he purred.

‘I will not do such a thing.’

‘Command me to do it, princess.’

His black eyes deepened, turning into something feral. Alina licked her lips— his attention observing the movement with interest. Neither of them spoke; the dragons nearby were the only sound that could be heard as they watched each other. Alina gulped.

And then the drakonian princess began to unbutton his shirt. Kai turned into a statue, frozen in place. His attention on those golden hands working their way down to his stomach and pulling the shirt off, letting it fall, made him grunt, deep and low.

‘You said you were hot,’ she said.

‘Trust me, princess, it isn’t the atmosphere that’s making me feel hot.’

‘Wyverians do not do well in hot climates.’ She glanced at his strong arms and chest, tracing the tip of her finger along the skin. She was torturing him at this point.

‘What idiot said such a thing?’

‘Wyverians are cold creatures…’ She continued to trace her finger down towards the edge of his belt. ‘And drakonians are warm. Such a combination…’

‘Sounds perfect to me.’

Alina peered up at him, her head slightly tilted. A strand of blonde hair fell over her eye with the movement and Kai tucked it behind her ear, cupping the back of her head.

‘What do you want, Kai?’ It was the first time she had said his name. ‘What do you want from me?’

He wanted a great many things in that very moment and they were far too away from his room to make them happen.

Kai traced his thumb along the curve of her lower lip, his breath shallow, his mind consumed by unholy thoughts.

Alina—on his bed.

Alina—golden and bare, sprawled beneath him, her flushed skin fever-hot against his own.

It would be a sin to touch her. A sacrilege to let her go. But he would worry about consequences later. Because there would be consequences if he crossed that line—if he allowed himself even a single taste of her—it would ruin everything.

His sister was days away from wedding the Fire Prince.

Their kingdoms stood at the edge of a fragile alliance.

And he—he would have to return home soon after.

He had no choice. As secondborn, it was his duty to protect his land, to stand beside his future queen.

There was no option of staying. No option of spending his days on the shores of the Fire Kingdom, Alina at his side, golden-skinned and laughing beneath the sun.

No option of touching her in the ways he wanted to, knowing he would have to leave her behind.

And if someone found out… If they knew he had taken her to his bed only to abandon her—

The thought made him ill.

Alina Acheron’s reputation would be ruined.

He would not be the reason for it.

So he allowed his hands to fall away from her as if burnt and stepped back.

Confusion flared in her eyes, golden and molten, before something colder settled over her expression—anger. And betrayal.

She shoved past him, her shoulder slamming into his chest before she strode away, her arms wrapping around her body as though she were suddenly cold .

‘Princess, it’s not what you think.’

‘Is it not?’ She twisted around to spit the words at him. ‘You were mocking me from the beginning, pretending to want this. To want me.’ Her voice broke, tears appearing in the corner of those eyes he had been drawn to.

‘Of course I want you.’

Alina rolled her eyes.

‘Well, I do not want you , wyverian. Go find someone else to mock.’

‘Princess.’

‘Do not follow me. That is a command.’

Kai’s jaw clenched.

He could go after her. Could do the very thing he had nearly done moments ago and take her face between his hands. Kiss her senseless.

Every fiber in his body screamed at him to do it. But he stood still, rooted to the stone beneath his feet, watching her disappear down the winding path of the mountain. Because he couldn’t. He wouldn’t. Not unless he knew, without a doubt, that he could ravage her without destroying her.

Not unless he knew ruin would not come for her because of it.

With a breath that did little to steady the storm inside him, Kai called for his wyvern, ignoring the way his blackened heart twisted, as if something inside it had just been torn apart.