Page 32 of The Forbidden Dragon King (Shadow Kings #1)

Aurelius’ cock is even harder in his breeches.

“Is this okay?” I check in.

“Perfect,” Aurelius murmurs. “No one has touched my wings with this type of intimacy before, gently rather than to cause pain. More, please .”

“I knew that you could be polite. And beg. So pretty,” I tease, throwing his own words back at him.

Aurelius’ eyes slide open, and he gives me a baleful glare.

I only laugh, delighting in the sensual closeness of petting his wings. Aurelius’ breathing picks up. He writhes, as if I’m stroking his cock.

“You’re beautiful like this,” I say.

“I didn’t dream,” Aurelius glows with happiness, “that you would propose to me .”

What…?

My hands falter, at the same time that Aurelius clutches at my lower back, and his hips stutter.

“Freya…” He gasps against my neck.

Did I just make a king come in his pants without even touching his cock? Are a Golden Dragon’s wings that sensitive? Is it because he hasn’t had them touched before ?

I smile, kissing Aurelius. “It looks like I did just make you say my name as you came.”

He kisses me back, lazy and blissed out. “But I didn’t scream it.”

Happy as I am, I feel like I’m missing something important.

How is a wing job a proposal?

I draw back reluctantly from his gorgeous kisses. “Just so we’re both clear. Is touching your wings the same as claiming you?”

“Of course, and allowing you to touch them is the same as saying yes.” Aurelius’ expression closes off in a way that makes my stomach drop. “Wasn’t that your intention? Don’t you want to be my Queen?”

I hesitate.

I know that it feels like having your heart shredded to be rejected. After what Bard did to me in the Winter Caves, how can I do the same to Aurelius?

Carefully, I disentangle myself from him, pushing myself off the desk. My tunic hangs open, as well as my breeches. I feel more exposed than if I was naked.

I’m a fucking mess.

Aurelius watches me with wary eyes, pushing himself off the desk as well and pointedly settling his wings behind himself and away from me.

“How would Maximinus react to that?” I ask, carefully.

“Fuck my uncle,” Aurelius snarls. His hand drops to the hilt of his dagger.

“Do you know what I found, when I got back from this campaign as the victor of the Second Fae war? I wasn’t the powerful leader, returning in triumph like I expected.

I’d bled for this kingdom. Sacrificed my body, pain, and emotions.

Yet I returned to a Shadow Court where my only living family member had used my absence to strengthen his position, while poisoning the Council against me, along with borderland praetors who act like warlords in their own right. ”

My skin goosebumps. I clutch at my tattered tunic with trembling fingers.

“Is this you giving me the heads up that Maximinus will be out to…?” I mime being strangled by enchanted chains.

“It is his favorite hobby.” Aurelius’ lips thin. “War and her guards will be even more on the alert to protect me after this spectacle by Uncle Max. I shall ensure that you’re also under the surveillance of Wraith and Vicious to keep you safe from his men.”

“Just what I always dreamed about: constant monitoring by my Alpha.”

Aurelius doesn’t look repentant. “They’ll be discrete when they follow you.”

“Stalk me.”

“ Protect you. Did you think that I wouldn’t keep an eye on my new treasure?

Especially with my uncle making a display of his power over me.

He probably believes that he has made his point, but I have made mine.

I have played the obedient boy in his shadow, the role that he demands.

Now, however, I know that it will never be enough to satisfy him or save myself.

Never be enough to allow me to bond. I have lived by Draca Kingdom’s rules and laws for too long.

To survive the whispers and intrigues of this court, I must become smarter. ”

My heart is racing. “How?”

“By making you my secret Queen.”

“No one will know…?”

“Not until I have all the pieces in place.”

I study him.

Daire and Aurelius really should become friends. They’re more alike than they realize.

I run my hand through my tangled hair, before noticing the way that the snowflake is tingling.

I brush my fingers across the mark, concentrating in order to sense my connection through it to Daire.

Cold and agony.

I flinch.

My poor, roguish soulmate.

My expression steels. “Thanks for the day off, but future queen or not, a current servant’s work is never done.”

I turn on my heel to walk to my own room to wash off the worst of the dried wine and honey, then change into a fresh uniform, when I’m stopped by Aurelius’ low voice behind me.

“You’re going to him , aren’t you?” Aurelius’ voice thrums with a tightly controlled fury. “You touch my fucking wings, then you touch his bond mark.”

I hurriedly drop my fingers away from the snowflake, before twisting back to Aurelius.

“This may be hard for a lonely, broody dragon like you to understand, but that’s called being part of a pack.

And one of our members is hungry right now and has missed his meals because I was here taking care of you. ”

“He’s not vacationing in the dungeons. He did try to murder me.”

“Not very hard. You’re not dead.”

“Apparently we have a low bar for loyalty in our pack.”

“Why do you hate Daire?” I burst out. “Why do you both hate each other, when this war isn’t something either of you wanted? You said as much. You’re only punishing him to save everyone else.”

I’m sure that I’ve read Aurelius right.

Haven’t I?

I’m surprised that Aurelius’ expression becomes thoughtful. “Why do I hate him? Why do you love him?”

Love?

Who’s talking about love?

My mouth drops open. I shift from foot to foot.

“Nothing to say, Little Wolf?” Aurelius’ cruel lips twitch. “You were powerful in Kitten’s defense a moment ago, when you clawed me.”

“His name is Daire.” I tilt up my chin.

“Daire is dead. Kit is frustratingly, annoyingly alive and a pain in my scaly backside.”

I cross my arms. “And would you accept the fae pain in the ass into our nest? Can you accept the fae who was once your enemy as your new mate? I’ll never break my bond with him.”

“I don’t want you to,” Aurelius bursts out, shocking me. “You can’t. If you did, it may kill you both. He’s your fated mate, tied to you by the golden threads of fate, as much as I am.”

He stares at me with a sudden intensity at the same time that he appears to have stopped breathing in fear of what I’ll say next.

Golden threads of fate…? Aren’t they a myth?

“Nobody believes that people can truly see how fate binds them,” I reply.

“It’s my secret gift. Maybe it’s more of a curse. The threads sparked years ago, when I first met Daire on the battlefield, showing how connected we were by fate: we would love the same Omega. Then the first time I saw you…”

My heart leaps. “That’s why you saved me.”

He doesn’t reply.

“Why didn’t you fucking tell me?” I demand.

Aurelius is avoiding my gaze. “Would you rather love someone because you grew to know and like them or because they announce that golden threads bind you together and fate dictates it?”

Does he believe that I love him?

Does he love me ?

“So, does that mean you and I were always as fated as Daire and I are?” I ask, filled with a sudden contentment. “Can you see these threads now?”

Aurelius nods. “They’re beautiful but fraying because I haven’t made the bond official.”

My eyes widen. “What happens if you never do?”

“I don’t know. Nothing good. They’re why the fae is still breathing.” Aurelius’ expression becomes stony. “The question is whether he’s truly worthy to become my Queen’s mate, if I never can openly take that role.”

“That’s my decision.”

When Aurelius bares his fangs, I can’t believe that I trusted such a dangerous dragon to not only run those fangs up and down my neck as he breathed in my pheromones and then sleep next to me, but also to use that mouth on my pussy.

“Rest in our nest today,” Aurelius commands. “I’ll take your duty to feed the prisoner myself. Isn’t that what pack does? Supports each other? Then I’ll decide whether to hold back from breaking Kit.”