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CHAPTER ONE

ROOK

A dragon sleeps in my arms.

My dragon.

She’s still naked after shifting into a woman last night.

Not that I’m complaining. My gaze travels over her gorgeous body.

Careful with my claws, I stroke my knuckles over her red hair.

It feels like silk under my fingers. Her scent intoxicates me—sweet clovers with a hint of smoke like incense, lingering from her dragonfire.

I could hold her like this forever. But Hexfall is nothing but a temporary haven for us, a good place for monsters to hide.

Dawn creeps into the broken tower where we slept. Once, Hexfall was a castle for kings, my ancestors, but this place was cursed long ago and fell into ruin. Enchanted roses choke the abandoned fortress with thorns.

Pyrah yawns, uncurls like a cat, and kisses me on the cheek. She can be unexpectedly sweet when she’s not breathing fire or killing knights.

“Pyrah.” Gravel roughens my voice.

“Good morning.” Her hand drifts down my abdomen. My muscles tense beneath her touch. “Why are you hard already?”

“Always hard in the morning,” I mutter, which is the truth.

“I guess I haven’t learned that yet. We haven’t spent that many mornings together.”

I grunt. “True.”

Five days. That's how long it's been since I captured her from her cave. All of this is uncharted territory, for both of us.

She curls her fingers around my cock and strokes me in one lazy tug. Fuck, that feels good. I suck in a breath and resist the urge to rock my hips. My balls ache, heavy with unspent seed.

“God, woman, you’re relentless.”

“Should I stop?”

Rolling over, I pin her down to the blanket, holding both of her slender wrists above her head in one of my hands. I love the look of my black claws against her pale skin. It feeds the possessive instinct inside me.

“No,” I growl.

“Why not?” she teases.

“Never tempt an incubus.”

She glances at me through her eyelashes, pretending to be coy. “I’m terrified of being trapped by a big, strong demon.” But then she can’t help smirking, as if this idea amuses her.

“You’re bigger and stronger than me,” I point out.

“Only when I’m a dragon.”

I kiss her neck. My fangs graze her skin just hard enough to make her shiver. I bit her there last night, to claim her as my mate, though the marks have already faded to silvery scars. Before long, there will be nothing left. My bite was not enough to mark her.

Unlike the teeth of a dragon, which left her with far deeper scars.

“You have rose petals tangled in your hair,” I say, to distract myself.

“Do I?”

“Such a lovely red.”

With a few words of honest flattery, I have her melting in my arms. She looks into my eyes as if she’s spellbound by me.

“I wish we could stay here forever,” she says.

“We can’t.” As an apology, I kiss her again, this time on her collarbone.

“Why not?”

“You know why. Hexfall isn’t our home.”

We don’t have a home together. Not yet.

She hides her worry behind her smile, but her eyes betray her true feelings. “Should I drag you back to my cave instead?”

I shrug. “And then what?”

“I could think of a few things you might enjoy.” She implies dirty, filthy things with the purr in her voice.

Impossibly, my cock gets even harder. “Oh?”

“Besides, you belong with me.”

“I’m with you right now.”

“No, with me in my cave. You’re my mate.”

My jaw clenches. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I couldn’t be tied down to one place for too long.”

She glowers at me. “What’s wrong with my cave? I spent years collecting treasure and guarding my territory, which has prime hunting grounds. Any self-respecting male would be impressed and more than happy to move into my home.”

That’s enough to kill my erection. “Pyrah. I’m not a dragon.”

“I know. Obviously.”

My stomach lurches unpleasantly. What does she mean by that? Have I disappointed her as her mate? I can never be anything but a demon.

In the distance, thunder rumbles.

No.

Not thunder.

The sky remains blue and cloudless above, and dread clenches my gut when I recognize the sound. It’s the rumbling growl of a dragon, the pitch deep and masculine and far too fucking familiar.

Pyrah tenses beneath me. “Scaldric,” she whispers.

Deep in my gut, I know it has to be him, the golden dragon who claimed her as his mate and bit her without her consent. The fucker even tried to force her to marry him, before I interrupted their wedding. He shouldn’t be breathing after that.

I yank on my trousers, buckle my belt, and lace my boots. “Hide.”

She doesn’t bother getting dressed. “Hell no.”

“Pyrah, it’s too dangerous.”

Her eyes simmer with defiant fire. “You’re sweet when you’re protective, but I can take care of myself.”

Naked, she strides to the window. God, she’s going to jump. At least we’re high enough that she could probably shift before she ever hit the ground.

“Pyrah.” I grab her wrist. I need to keep her safe.

“Let me go.”

“Why do you want to go out there and confront Scaldric?” My heartbeat is pounding. “What good will come from it?”

“You want to let him fly through here unchallenged?”

I shake my head hard. “He’s hunting for you. I don’t want to let him find you.”

She rolls her neck until it cracks, though she’s still clenching her jaw. “Maybe I should have killed Scaldric.”

My thoughts exactly. Out loud, I say, “But you didn’t.”

“I couldn’t kill another dragon. We have already been hunted to the edge of extinction.” She glances into my eyes as if seeking some reassurance from me. She’s obviously troubled by the idea of murdering him.

Me? I’m less conflicted.

“What if Scaldric has come to make amends?” she wonders out loud. “What if he isn’t allied with Queen Dulcamara any longer?”

My fingers tighten around her wrist. “That’s a dangerous assumption.” Especially since Queen Dulcamara is a coldhearted bitch.

“I need to know.”

“Then I’m coming with you.”

My demand takes her by surprise. “You are?”

I dip my head in a curt nod. “Clearly, I can’t stop you.”

Another growl rumbles through the sky and echoes inside my chest. Louder this time. The golden dragon must be flying closer.

She glances at me. “Get your sword.”

Since I can’t stop her, I let her go. She jumps out of the window, falling two stories down, and lands on the ground in a crouch. I wince at the impact to her knees, though she heals fast since she’s a shifter.

I grab my sword and twin daggers. Armed, I descend from the tower.

Pyrah doubles over, her body shuddering into a bigger shape.

Her wings snap open from her shoulder blades and her tail slithers free from her spine.

Red rushes over her skin as if she has been drenched in blood, and then it sharpens into shimmering, crimson scales.

It’s breathtaking, as always, though I don’t have time to appreciate her transformation.

A roar rumbles through the air.

My head snaps up, but there’s no sign of Scaldric yet. Not even a glint of gold.

“Get on,” Pyrah commands.

I vault onto her back and settle between her wings. I bend over her neck and grip one of her spikes in my hand. With her muscles tensing beneath my thighs, she lunges into the sky. Her wings pump as she claws higher into the air.

We abandon Hexfall and fly over the Thornwood, a forest of cursed roses.

Scaldric plunges from the heavens. His wings snap open as he pulls out of a dive and rushes over the forest. Sunlight glitters on his golden scales. Spikes armor the length of his spine, all the way down his tail. My heartbeat thunders at his immense size and power.

He’s a formidable male. It’s impossible to deny his strength.

Scaldric circles around us like a vulture. An ugly scar cuts through the scales on his neck, courtesy of my sword the last time we fought. He could have bled to death, but clearly the healers saved him in time. I should have killed the fucker then and there.

He’s wary of us now. Good.

Pyrah’s wings churn the air as she hovers over the forest, waiting for Scaldric’s next move. When he circles back, the heat of his breath rushes over us like a furnace.

His eyes lock with mine.

The darkness of his blown pupils consumes the yellow of his eyes. They could be dilated from either rage or desire. With Scaldric, it’s impossible to tell. But I know he wants to fight me and fuck Pyrah, that much is clear. He flares his wings to kill his speed, then lands in the Thornwood.

We follow him down to the ground. Pyrah’s claws dig deep into the earth, her muscles tensing, ready to lunge.

“Pyrah,” Scaldric rumbles. “My mate.”

Rage turns the blood in my veins to molten iron. How hard would I need to strike the motherfucker to behead him?

Pyrah bares her teeth. Smoke trickles between her fangs. “I’m not your mate.”

I leap from her back and land on the ground. When I straighten to my full height, I draw my sword, the metal ringing as it leaves its sheath.

“She’s mine.”

The golden dragon towers over me, but I take an easy, relaxed stance. Nothing but a deception, since I’m ready to strike like lightning.

“The demon remains unworthy of you.” Scaldric’s forked tongue flickers through the air, tasting her scent. “You aren’t in heat any longer.”

Pyrah snarls at him and flares her wings. “My body is not your concern.”

“You still wear the bite of a dragon.” Scaldric’s gaze lingers upon her neck. “Mine.”

He’s not wrong. His fangs left scars upon her that will never heal. For a dragon, such a bite means more than a wedding vow, though he marked Pyrah after she refused him—a violation.

My muscles tremble from the effort of holding myself back. I want to slice open his throat and watch him bleed out. “Fuck off, Scaldric. Only the most pathetic of males would keep chasing after a female who didn’t want him.”

The golden dragon bristles, his spikes lifting. “You dare challenge me?”

I would relish the opportunity to kill him. “I defeated you once already, and I will do so again. Pyrah chose me, not you.”