Page 37 of The Dragon Warlord

“Your sentiments weren’t far off from hers earlier,” I point out.

“It was shocking to see you without a sword or your armor. A bit wrong maybe. I agree with you, forgetting about war while you figure this place out is a good idea.”

Yeah. I wasn’t planning to do too much of that either. I’ve already had my fill of dragon land. In the spirit of being honest with myself, I’ll admit it, I’m pouting. It’s something a Warlord hasn’t any business doing, but all of this is inconvenient, and I’m stuck. I don’t see any way out of this other than to submit to the dragon lord and it’s the last thing I want to do.

“I’m sorry, Warlord,” River says.

“I suppose you can feel how morose I am. I’ve royally fucked up everything in my life. I’ve hurt everyone I care about. You don’t know it yet because you’re bond-stricken, but I’ve ruined your life too.” I don’t deserve to be the Warlord of a houseplant let alone an entire race of the largest beasts in existence. “Tonight, during discipline, I’m giving up my title.”

His reaction is just as I’d suspect. Utter disbelief. “You’re upset, Warlor—”

“NotWarlord.”

I may have finally succeeded in frustrating him. He’s quiet and so am I so we have nothing to do but watch the changing sky. It’s pink and purple and orange today.

“Sir? W-Would you like me to go?”

His hesitant voice startles me. We haven’t spoken for a while, but that’s not unusual, we’ve had many comfortable silences since we spend so much time together. He senses my discontent and probably thinks I’m upset with him too.

I’m not. If I’m upset over anything remotely to do with him, it’s how badly I want to touch him more than just a little knee-on-knee action. No, not just want.Need. A constant craving that never ends. Then, when I can’t stand it anymore, I claim him again by biting his neck.

I should be banished to the Underworld for that alone.

I suspect it’s why I’m so ornery. Sure, I’m not thrilled about my predicament, but I’m not usually filled with so much agitation. I just need … I need some relief from it.

Giving in, I pull him into my side. He takes the opportunity to nuzzle into my neck. Is that also a dragon thing? When our skin touches, all my agitation recedes, oozing away, replaced with deep content. Right now, I could give a fuck if the world burned down.

Closing my eyes, I breathe him in until I’ve calmed down, running my thumb over the bones in his hand. “You can call me Warlord if you want to.”

He nods, but his spark doesn’t return. Great. I’ve dimmed the brightest light in The Tower. That’s got to be a feat. Warm wetness drips down my arm. Fuck. I’ve made him cry too. That’s unforgivable. I squeeze him tighter.

“Tell me, Omega, do dragons scent each other?”

A shiver races through him and he presses himself closer, instinctually. “They do, Alpha,” he says quietly.

“Is that what you do when you nuzzle my neck so sweetly, hmm?”

“I’m sorry, Alpha. I didn’t mean to. I won’t do it again.”

He makes to rise, but I stop him by wrapping my free hand around the back of his head. “No. Don’t stop. Not unless you want to. It’s soothing as fuck.” And Gods, I need to be soothed or I will bite someone’s head off. Literally.

“It is?”

He perks up and that emboldens me. “It is. You’ve succeeded in calming me down. I might require your services again if I’m foolish enough to suggest that I turn my sword in to the dragon lord again.”

My arse has been sore enough lately, if I did something like that, I’d be getting a new meaning of sore strapped into it.

“It calms me too, Alpha.”

“You haven’t failed to tell me that you’re hurting again, have you?”

“No, Alpha. I remember your discipline. I would tell you. It is a kind of throb, but it doesn’t hurt like before. It’s more like the way muscles get sore after a long day of training.”

I nod into the top of his head. “Same for me.”

“What if we didn’t resist … Warlord? The touches don’t have to be big and meaningful. They can be small and often, and they’d go a long way to soothing the bond, I wager.”

This little experience alone proves that, and I can think of many, many others. “Well then, if you sense that I’m agitated you have permission to help me.” Maybe it’ll allow me to think. Currently, there’s only one prevailing thought and that’s him. If my mind is clear, I could move on to the other things I need to take care of like getting out of here. “I would be happy to do the same for you. You could teach me about scenting.”