Page 18 of The Dragon Warlord

I don’t know why that should rankle as much as it does. I’m military. I’ve spent my whole life deferring to someone. And yet it does.

“How shall Iacquirehis permission?” I don’t mean to be snarky, but I am. The dragon lord inspires it.

“I assume you would just ask him.”

“Just ask him? He refuses to see me.”

River shrugs and yawns again for the second time in a row.

“Do I bore you? Or are you tired?” I tease. With how often he tells me I’m fascinating, there’s no way it’s the former.

He smiles. “Tired, Warlord. But I’m okay.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. Early to bed for you tonight.” I might be a terrible alpha in too many ways to count, but I know how to take care of someone.

He winces and shifts his gaze to his hands before returning it to me. “Yes, Warlord.”

I might leave it at that for anyone else, but unfortunately for him, he’s mine. Just because I don’t like how it happened, that doesn’t make it less true. I guess I’m also the meddling sort of alpha because there’s no way I could live the rest of my day with that between us. I’m volatile on my best days, and thinking that there could be something the matter with River doesn’t help to that end.

“You’re hiding something from me.” My voice is a dangerous hiss.

“N-Not hiding, Warlord. It’s not a big deal.”

“It’s costing you sleep. You still haven’t told me. I’m waiting.”

Tears glass over his eyes and he wipes them away as my insides shatter. “I’m sorry, Warlord, but the nights haven’t been pleasant for me. We were doing so well; I knew it would disappoint you if you knew.”

“In pain? Disappointed?” It’s as if my dragon brain is having a hard time digesting those things. Which will it land on first?

I’m a mix of emotions because his tears tell me to take him in my arms and soothe him, but there’s another side of the gold coin that needs to make sure he’s not going to hide something like this from me again. Protection wins out.

Yanking him over my lap, I pin his arms behind his back. I may not be familiar with dragon ways, but this feels right. Plus, I’ve figured a few things out. “Are you supposed to keep information like that from me, Omega?”

“No, Alpha,” he says and it’s clear he’s mad at himself. “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”

“You won’t.” I lay down several crisp smacks on his cotton-clad bottom. I’ve been spanked enough that I know how much each spank I’m giving him smarts. I don’t go through the whole gamut, giving him a break since we’re in public, which is a kind of chastising on its own, but he’ll feel it. “What is going on with you at night?”

“Aching. Extreme temperature fluctuations. All things that keep me up until I pass out from exhaustion.”

“I don’t understand. Shouldn’t I have felt that? I definitely feel your distress now.”

His eyes squeeze with each smack. “I think you’re still learning to decipher my feelings from yours, Warlord. Plus, if you’re asleep, you might not detect my emotions at all.”

“How does your bottom feel now?”

“Unpleasant, Alpha, but it pales in comparison to your disappointment.”

“That’s about right.” I smack his arse ten more times—five a cheek—and work a few cries out of him before I let him up, pulling him into my side to squeeze him tightly. “Please don’t do that again.”

“Never,” he says, catching his breath.

I peer down and spin his face so that I can see his eyes. His lips are flush crimson and he’s smiling ear to ear. “Did that please you, Omega?”

“I didn’t like that I’d earned your ire or a chastisement, but it’s an important part of dragon life and I think…” He clutches his chest. “Warlord, something inside me released. A knot. I feel lighter. Thank you for taking the time to discipline me. I think that’s what I needed from you.”

As he says it, I realize I needed this to happen between us too. “Were you going to tell me about the discipline part?”

“I wasn’tnotgoing to tell you,” he says, voice quaking, probably expecting another trip over my knee. “The timing didn’t seem right. You have so much you’re dealing with.”