Page 37 of Ensnared (The Dragon Captured #1)

I speed up, hopping off the end of the ladder and racing away, ducking under the weird rock wall and then sprinting—because I can hear by the crunch of his feet on the gravel that he’s gaining on me—to the much larger, wavy slide.

I race up it, my shoes squeaking on the hard plastic.

I finally reach the top, but it’s slippery, and I lose my footing and fall backward.

The back of my body crashes into the front of his, and his arms close around my waist, his face pressed against my hair and the side of my face. The weight of my fall should have bowled us both over, but the laws of physics don’t appear to apply to him.

He’s a force of nature.

Instead of falling over backward, he simply stops at the top of the slide, my body curved into his from his shoulder down to our feet. His words are soft against the shell of my ear. “You can run from me, but you’ll never escape, Elizabeth. I only let you run because it entertains me.”

“You wanted to be rid of me,” I whisper. “You spent days searching for a way to dissolve the bond.”

“Even then, I couldn’t bring myself to harm you,” he says. “And now, I don’t even want to let you go.”

The words send shivers through my entire body, and what’s worse is that we’re so close that I know he feels them.

“Are you cold?” he asks.

Ha! Again, my saving grace is that he’s a dragon, not a man, so he has no idea what my body’s reactions really mean. “Uh, yes.”

His arms tighten around me. “Then you’re with the right person.” The air around us heats up, and I realize he’s using his magic to do it.

“You can do that in human form?”

I can feel his smile against my cheek. “Prince of Flame.”

“That’s pretty cool.”

“No, it’s hot,” he says.

I turn toward him just as he’s finally trying to flip me, only we’re working at cross purposes, and my elbow hits his arm and our legs shift, and my feet slip, and this time, we do fall. He hits the slide first, with me landing on his lap, and we slip all the way to the bottom.

“This thing is interesting,” he says. “Is it for mating rituals?”

Mating. That word sends another shiver up my spine, but it also makes me laugh. “It’s made for children.”

He’s smiling, too. “You humans are very odd.”

I turn around to see him better, and with our height difference, while I’m sitting on his lap, our faces are even. “We have our charms.”

His eyes drop to my mouth again. “You do.”

“You do realize that this is where we first met.”

He blinks. “It is?”

“I thought that’s why you brought me here.”

He shakes his head slowly. “I was just flying—I was upset.”

“Why can’t anyone know?” My voice is soft this time, barely audible.

“No blessed have two affinities,” he says.

“The blessed who raised me made me promise never to share my abilities with anyone. She said it was a great gift, but that no one would understand it. She made me guard the secret with my life—and she’s been right.

Father chose me as his successor, even though I’m his youngest child.

He never would have done that if he knew I was. . .strange.”

“Maybe she was wrong,” I say. “Maybe everyone will see it as the miracle it is.”

His smile’s sad. “You’re a human. You don’t understand. Our affinities define us in every single way. We can’t accept something that defies expectations.”

“So your entire life is a lie,” I say.

“Except when I’m with Euphrasia, and now with you,” he says. “But you have to swear to keep the secret from everyone. Your siblings can’t know. No one can.”

My siblings. I can’t help my cringe.

“What?” He stiffens. “Are they in danger?”

I’m a terrible sister. I’m sitting here on Axel’s lap while they could be anywhere. “I’m not sure.”

He blinks. “Even if you left, Rufus would have gone back as soon as the?—”

“Gideon left with them,” I confess. “They were planning to escape when the attack happened.”

Axel’s eyes are hurt, and I feel the pain of betrayal through the bond.

“I’m sorry,” I say, “but I told you about the nuclear warheads, and you didn’t plan to do a thing about it.”

“Because,” he says, “I told you it would be fine.”

That’s technically true, but. . . “Warheads less powerful than those leveled two cities full of humans many years ago. Every man, woman, and child who was anywhere near the blasts died. The ones who survived the explosion sickened from the exposure and died soon after. It was horrific.”

“None of that will happen,” he says. “I took care of it.”

“I didn’t know you could,” I say. “You weren’t very forthcoming about a lot of things.” I arch an eyebrow.

“There’s been a lot I couldn’t tell you,” he admits.

“But not anymore?”

He sighs. “I’m not sure. Do you still want to stab me while I’m sleeping?”

I shrug. “Depends on my mood.”

To my surprise, he laughs. “I’d expect nothing less.”

“You’re ruining my world.” I’m sort of kidding, and I think he knows it.

“You lost my swords,” he says. “Let’s go retrieve them before someone else does. We can talk about what to do with Ocharta on the way.”

“And can Rufus and Gordon check to make sure Sammy, Coral, and Jade escaped?”

“Do you really hope that they did?” Axel sounds curious.

“I’m not sure what I hope anymore,” I say.

That may be the scariest part.