Page 16 of Captured By the Dragon Warlord (Fated Mates of the Sarkarnii Warlords #2)

W e’ve gone from growly Dexx who wants me to cure his clan to dancing Dexx who is in rut for me to a confused Dexx who wants to find a date and give it to me.

A laugh chokes up from deep inside. It’s verging on hysteria, and I hold it down as hard as I can.

“A date is spending time together, either doing something you both enjoy or having a meal or a drink,” I force out.

I’d rather be anywhere than here, explaining dating to a beast with a long, lashing tail who tried to dance out his desire to do things to me and make me comply.

“I enjoy fighting, digging, and flying.” Dexx looks me up and down.

“Yeah, well, I don’t like any of those things,” I respond.

“But I took you to the celebration, which is a meal,” he points out, an expression I’ve not seen before stealing across his face.

He doesn’t know what to do. Confident Dexx is failing.

“You ordered me to attend the celebration. I didn’t have any choice,” I retort. “It doesn’t count.”

Dexx huffs out a long stream of smoke. He edges forward on his knees, still towering over me. I tense, not sure what he’s going to do next.

And he rolls to the left, coming to rest on his behind, his back to the wall, mirroring my pose. He leans his arms on his knees and drops his head back with a thump. For a while, all he does is smoke.

I usually hate silences, but I’m not breaking this one. Dexx got himself into this the moment he thought he could take me without even asking. I don’t care he didn’t ask Darax, but I do care he didn’t ask me.

I’m not sure where we go from here. It’s not like I hate him. He’s easy to look at, and dating a hot dragon, even if it wasn’t on my bucket list, is not something I’d pass on. Everyone wants to bang the dragon, whether they admit it or not.

But he has to see the imbalance. He has to see this from my point of view or he is simply the warlord, taking what he wants, giving nothing in return.

And it doesn’t work for me.

The silence stretches out agonizingly, but I’m not prepared to break it.

“I can hear thoughts,” Dexx says finally.

Oh shit.

“But I cannot hear yours.”

“ Oh ?” Oh .

“It is a relief you cannot believe.” He blows out a long stream of smoke. “But it means I do not know what you want, Scarlett.”

“You don’t want to hear my thoughts?”

“I hear those of my warriors constantly,” Dexx growls. “They’re hungry, they’re tired, they’re fighting each other. It’s exhausting and constant.” He turns his head to look at me. “But not here, with you. I hear nothing.”

Which is absolutely a good thing, given I was thinking about his bum earlier.

“And you like it?”

“It is strange. I think it is good, but it might have made our connection harder.”

“Our connection?” Dexx thinks we have a connection? I guess he’s more confused than I thought.

“Sarkarnii males are supposed to connect with their mates when they find them. It helps avoid envenomation and helps with the mating process.”

“What is this connection?” I ask, wondering why Kerra never mentioned anything about the Sarkarnii being able to hear thoughts. “How does it work?”

“I’m not sure,” Dexx growls. “I have not rutted before.”

Okay, so there’s something I’m going to have to unpack very carefully, but perhaps not today.

It’s clear Dexx hasn’t a clue about how the whole mating thing works, and neither do I.

He’s a warlord, he’s just lost two warriors to what was, essentially, an industrial accident, and he thinks he’s got to do things with me in order to cure his entire crew from the need to be dragons for twelve hours a day.

None of it is my problem.

Except…

“Perhaps if I did things the hoo-man way?” he suggests, sliding out his legs and allowing his arms to drop by his side. He rolls his head to look at me. “Get you a date?” he suggests. “I can’t stop my rut, but I can do what you want me to do.”

The rut. Whatever he thinks it is, I know from what Kerra told us, an unrequited rut can result in a Sarkarnii male going mad. It happened to Darax’s brother, Deus, who has disappeared entirely.

No pressure then.

Thing is, even after what he did, I don’t dislike Dexx. Not now I sort of know him a little.

Maybe this is worth a shot. And it’s not like I have anywhere else I need to be. And given he decided to steal me, use me, and lie to me, perhaps I can also have a bit of fun.

“Fine,” I say, and Dexx visibly relaxes. “But let’s get the rules clear.”

“Rules?” he rasps. “There are rules?”

“I’m sure you’ve never followed a rule in your life, but if you want to rut for me, then you’re going to have to follow them.”