Page 34 of Captured By the Dragon Warlord (Fated Mates of the Sarkarnii Warlords #2)

T he ability to capture the thoughts of others was something I didn’t want to burden my sweet mate with, despite the rules she has laid down.

Rules which will allow me to mate her often, and it’s something my body wants more than ever, especially as she has taken me the way she has.

It needs her more than anything. Beneath me, Scarlett holds my gaze.

I want to put my lips on her mouth like before, her tongue and my tongue together.

My wings shift out as I capture her, tasting her, enjoying her.

Scarlett yields, despite the fact I didn’t follow the rules she set for me. I know I’ll pay for it later. My mate isn’t going to let me off lightly, even if she does allow my mouth on hers.

I am very sure this is because she wants it, and should she change her mind, I will no longer be able to sheath myself in her heat.

I resolve to follow the rules from now on.

“Heartsfire,” I murmur as her body melts under me.

I press myself against her, my wings surrounding us both. The planet may turn, but at this moment, it turns around us.

The explosion blasts us both off our feet. I wrap myself around her, making sure she is protected as the wave rolls over us, sharp points of metal searing over my scales. Debris falls all around us as I lift away from Scarlett, my hands running over her to check her for injury.

“I’m okay, Dexx,” she says, her eyes wide. “What was that?”

“If it wasn’t for the fact Dante wouldn’t dare, I’d have said it was one of his explosions, the scaly nevver,” I growl. “Are you sure you’re uninjured?”

Scarlett looks down at herself.

“Yes,” she breathes. “It was another one of those tubes, wasn’t it?”

“I don’t know.” I shake out my wings, feeling the metal falling from them as the sound and sense of my warriors approaching reaches me.

“Lord Dexx?”

I clutch Scarlett to me and stride out of the debris with a roar of anger. “Get me a scanner and get me Dalsor,” I snarl.

“I don’t care. Get him here.”

Scarlett coughs. Her long hair is filled with dust from the disintegrated bulkhead where the explosion came from, and her clothing is in tatters, despite my attempts to shield her.

Two warriors race back with the scanners.

“Pull as much information as you need, full sweep, all spectrums. Get everything you can before you start clearing up,” I order. “I need to make sure my mate is well. Send Dalsor to me once he arrives.”

Scarlett coughs out something about being fine again, but I choose not to believe her or follow rule one on this occasion. Instead I toss her into my arms and pound a path to the nearest aquium.

It is empty, as expected, given my warriors, those not in the mines, have responded to the explosion. I strip away her ruined clothing and take her to the water.

“Get in,” I suggest, sliding into the aquium. “I’ve got you.” I span my hands around her waist and gently pull her in.

“I’m sorry, Dexx. I think I’m a little shocked,” she says quietly as I dip us both under the water up to her neck. “To be so close to an explosion like that.”

I scoop up liquid to bathe her hair and she leans back against me.

“You have been through so much, little mate.” My purr starts up involuntarily. “I should make sure you don’t suffer anything more.”

“This is hardly your fault,” Scarlett says.

“The Sarkarnii have enemies. I am part of that.”

“Yeah, well, humans, it appears, are easy prey, so I’m part of that.”

“You certainly are a pleasant little snack, I agree.” I attempt to keep my face in a severe expression.

“Dexx!” Scarlett shakes her head and smiles.

I love her smile. I’d be exploded a thousand times or more if it stayed on her face forever.

“I enjoyed eating you very much, mate,” I purr.

“When you put it like that…” She leans into me a little more and I luxuriate in her skin against mine.

I might have hooked this little female, but this is the moment I feel the most intimate with her.

I gently float us over to the cleansing area. My scales could do with a clean as much as her skin could. The water in the second pool foams around the edges.

“What is this?”

“Where we cleanse, should we wish, in our Sarkarnii forms, or not, as it may be.”

“I didn’t get the impression your warriors washed much,” Scarlett says, thoughtfully. “They always seem covered in dirt.”

“At any one time, I will have a significant cohort of warriors in shifted form, working in the mines. Those who have finished usually eat first because being shifted for a long time is a hungry business. I will most likely have more dirty warriors around than clean ones.”

Scarlett snorts. “I guess they follow your lead.”

My wings have stayed stubbornly shifted, although, given they took the brunt of the explosion, being shifted is helping them heal. Scarlett dips her head back, running her hands through her hair and filling it with foam.

“Let me.” I pull her against me and slide my hands around her head.

The groan my little mate releases pushes my cock from its pouch in an instant.