Page 6 of Dragon Enchanted (Secret Kingdoms: The Draquonir #1)

CHAPTER 5

T he air beneath the castle was damp and heavy, thick with the scent of stone and something darker—something wild. Raven's boots clicked against the uneven stone floor as she followed Erik and his silent, ever-watchful bodyguards deeper into the underground passage. The place looked like a medieval dungeon carved from the bowels of the earth itself. The torches lining the walls flickered, their golden light throwing jagged shadows that clawed at the ancient stone.

Her heart pounded in her chest, a wild, erratic beat she couldn't control. Vector. He was alive. They were keeping him down here? Was he a prisoner?

The last time she'd seen him, he had been bleeding out in her car, his body torn apart by injuries so severe that she had doubted he’d survive the drive to the hospital. And yet, here she was, following Erik into the depths of his fortress, where Vector was being held under lock and key like a dangerous animal.

What was wrong with these people? No wonder Vector wasn’t healing well.

A heavy iron door loomed ahead, its surface scarred and ancient. Erik nodded to one of his men, and the guard unlocked it with a deep, grinding groan.

Raven stepped inside.

The dungeon was cavernous, carved straight into the rock beneath the castle. Chains rattled in the oppressive silence, the only sound she heard other than her own sharp inhale. And then she saw him .

Vector.

He was no longer the broken man she had found on the side of the road. He was something else entirely.

He stood in the center of the cell, his body rigid, his muscles straining against the heavy chains binding his wrists. He was barefoot, a simple pair of black pants, unbuttoned at the waist, taunted her with a wall of solid muscle and a tantalizing glimpse of…

No. She wasn’t going to look.

Thick, golden chains hung in seemingly endless loops around his neck. There had to be dozens of them. The dim light cast hard shadows over his bare upper torso, emphasizing the carved lines of his body, the thick ropes of muscle that twitched beneath his golden skin. Not a single wound remained. No scars. If he wasn’t covered in what looked like dried blood—or maybe that was just dirt—there would be no sign that he had ever been hurt.

But his eyes—God, his eyes?—

They burned.

They almost weren’t human. A swirling crimson churned within his emerald green irises, flecks of gold threading through the unnatural glow. She shook her head, sure it was a trick of the light. Stress. Her imagination gone wild. His breathing was ragged, his chest rising and falling in sharp, shuddering bursts, as if he were barely holding himself together. He looked… insane.

When his gaze snapped to hers, the impact nearly knocked the breath from her lungs.

Heat exploded through her; a violent, unexpected wave of awareness that made her entire body tighten. It was the same feeling she’d had when she first touched him, when she had pressed her hands against his bloodied skin and sworn she felt something move beneath the surface . But this time, her reaction was stronger—more dangerous, not tempered by concern over his wounds. This time, he was powerful. Strong. A bit wild.

And she wanted his hands and lips and mouth all over her. His cock inside her. All that raw strength and power thrusting inside her.

God. She really was losing her mind.

Vector yanked against his chains with a guttural snarl, his body jerking forward as if an unseen force inside him was trying to break free. The thick metal groaned, and for a terrifying second, Raven thought he might actually rip them from the wall.

She stumbled back. Erik’s firm hands caught her shoulders, stopped her fall.

“Don’t touch her.” Vector’s growl deepened, his breath hissing through his teeth, his entire frame trembling with unchecked power.

Erik released her immediately and stepped back.

She glanced at him over her shoulder. "He's dangerous," she whispered, her pulse hammering against her ribs.

“Yes.” Erik’s sigh was deep and full of dread. “Now do you understand why it has to be you?”

Because he didn’t kill you.

Erik’s earlier words came back to her with an entirely new meaning as Vector’s feral gaze locked onto her like she was the only living being in the universe, like he couldn’t look away. Like she was his.

He hadn’t killed her that night. But that was then and this was now. Now, he wasn’t a wounded man barely hanging on to life. He was something else entirely. Something terrifying. Something beautiful.

Something she couldn’t ignore.

Her breath caught as Vector’s gaze darkened, the glowing reflection of torchlight in his eyes pulsing as if he could feel her, as if he knew exactly what kind of carnal, naughty, and totally insane thoughts were creeping into her mind. Of taking off her clothes and offering herself to him. Taking him deep and begging for more. Licking and nuzzling his body until she was drunk on the taste of his skin.

Raven swallowed hard. She was in trouble here. Deep fucking trouble.