Page 34 of The Forbidden Dragon King (Shadow Kings #1)

Daire presses himself against the back wall, putting as much space between himself and me as possible. He may be a bandit and not a trained solider but he’s not a fool; he knows when he’s in danger.

I give a cruel smile, enjoying his fear. “I brought your meal.”

Daire’s gaze darts down to the tray. “Nay, you brought me your meal. Treats. I’m fed only porridge, when I’m locked down here.”

My smile fades. “Well, if you don’t want it…”

I bend to pick up the tray, but Daire’s hunger overtakes his fear, and he darts to throw himself onto the floor and drag the meal away from me.

He stuffs a chunk of cheese, alongside a handful of dates, into his mouth.

“Too late,” he mumbles around his mouthful.

“Don’t choke. Remember to chew.”

Daire munches with a happy sigh, finally swallowing. “What do you want? Why have I earned this feast, boss?”

I wince at every boss .

How is Daire able to mock me so thoroughly, while pretending to be respectable?

I lean against the wall, watching the Shadow Fae as he carefully and with hyperfocus collects every chestnut like they’re as precious as gems.

I look away.

Daire is thinner than he was a month ago.

I won’t have the guards starve my pet .

I should have been watching what happened in these dungeons more closely, but it has been difficult enough to protect myself, the featherglass, and the Guilds from court politics that are much more complicated than the wars I have been fighting.

Yet if Daire is one of the triad of Golden fated Alphas, then he is my responsibility too, even if he’s a psychopathic one.

Can he learn to serve in the Draca Kingdom? To acknowledge me as his king?

I steady my breathing and then straighten my shoulders.

“Kneel,” I command.

Daire pauses in his squirrel like hoarding of nuts. Then he sighs, carefully placing the nuts back on the tray, which he hauls to the far corner of the cell like he’s more scared of the food being spoiled or taken away than anything else.

He quirks his brow at me. “Really?”

I stare at him, impassively. “Didn’t you promise to obey?”

Daire’s expression becomes icy, but he pulls himself up onto his knees. “Do you think obedience is the hardest thing that I’ve endured?”

Doesn’t he understand that I’ve played this game in my own life? To Maximinus, Tarquin, Caligo and every other academy instructor?

I trust the fae’s obedience less than his rebellion, just like anyone with any sense shouldn’t trust mine .

When our sparking gazes meet, I feel certain that he sees that truth in my eyes.

I need to push him further.

I lean over Daire, lazily drawing my fingers down the pale skin of his cheek. He stiffens but doesn’t pull away.

Interesting.

It looks like Daire is determined to win this game by not flinching first.

He won’t win. Dragons are as competitive as they’re possessive.

I draw my fingers lower to grip his chin. Then satisfied, I lean to stroke with my other hand over his plush lower lip.

Daire’s eyes widen in shock, before he can school his expression in time.

I pull open Daire’s mouth with my thumb, pressing on his tongue. Just for a moment, he’s beautifully pliant, and I wonder if he’s going to let me push in further, until I’m gagging him.

I could control his breathing. See if he obeys me, when I control each of his sucked in breaths.

Instead, Daire furiously pulls his head back, batting my hand away from his mouth.

“I’m flattered because you’re an objectively handsome dragon, but I’m a one woman fae.

Now I know why you enjoy seeing me on my knees.

Go get that pretty courtier who follows you around like a puppy to suck your cock if you’re horny. ”

I win.

I keep my expression blank, however, as I grip Daire hard by the chin and yank him back into position .

He snarls, hissing in rage.

Fae were once worshiped across the realms as gods. What does it make me then that a god is now kneeling for me?

I smile, darkly. “Behave, Kit.”

Daire’s eyes are as sharp and cold as chips of ice. “What’s next? Do you want me to lick your boots clean?”

He swipes his pink tongue provocatively across his lower lip.

I suck in a sharp breath.

He’s challenging me, just like Freya does. He has to take everything one step further.

I can’t back down.

“Do it,” I order, letting go of Daire’s chin.

Daire doesn’t hesitate.

He fluidly prostrates himself before me with his wings spread wide like glittering treasures, even though I’ve seen them drip with his enemies’ blood during battle.

He looks up at me through his dark, butterfly eyelashes, no doubt calculating the impact this gambit of his is having on me. His lavender eyes are bright in the dark.

He thinks that he can play me as a fool in the same way that he has charmed half the court already.

As he’s charmed Freya.

But I’m not his fae dazzled fool.

Daire’s ethereal hair trails in the floor’s dirt. His wings extend even further like black blades.

I swallow, unable to look away .

Slowly, Daire extends his kitten tongue to lap at the polished, gleaming surface of my boot.

He’s truly going to do it.

Then my cheeks flame, as Daire sprawls back, revealing the long column of his throat and laughs, as if he’s not humiliated at all.

As if it this has been a joke to him, and I’m the one who has been dominated, rather than him.

“Did that make your knot swell? I’ve always wanted to try that myself. It’s hot. But my tongue’s too dry. Bring me some wine next time, aye? Then I may try again, if you ask nicely.”

I growl, attempting to kick Daire in the stomach.

He moves faster than I was expecting, rolling out of the way to the back of the cell. Wisps of shadows flutter from him like ragged feathers. He’s still laughing somehow, although he elegantly slides into a crouch, watching me like a devilish cat.

“Today your lips have kissed the leather of my boot,” I say. “But my lips kissed the other pet’s sweet pussy, until she screamed.”

“Freya?” Daire stops laughing, which is satisfying.

I nod.

“Bring her pleasure. She deserves it.” Daire’s expression steels. “But you’ll be doing it, while looking at my soulmate mark on her wrist.”

When I move to kick Daire again, I notice that he moves in front of the tray of food to protect it.

The sight twists something in me that I don’t like. I stop myself mid-kick, pulling back .

“Bully,” Daire mutters.

“Rogue,” I reply.

“Tyrant.”

“Rebel.”

Daire casts me a final, wary look, before dropping to sprawl next to the tray and tear off a hunk of chicken. He stuffs it into his mouth like he wants to eat as much as he can, in case his meal is ruined.

My stomach churns with guilt.

I deliberately relax my shoulders, leaning against the wall. “I’ll make sure that you’re fed better, while you’re down here.”

“Why?”

“You can’t work, if you starve away to nothing now, can you?”

Daire nods like that’s a valid reason.

He selects a date and munches on it with a moan of delight. “Add these to my meals. They’re delicious.”

“You’re daring to command me now…?”

“By the holy fae, dragons are daft. When wasn’t I?”

I narrow my eyes. “Show me respect or you’ll never leave this dungeon.

” When Daire shivers, I realize just how freezing it must be in here for him dressed in only the linen tunic and breeches.

I’ll have a blanket sent down and a cloak.

“Do you wish me to thrash you as a misbehaving pet deserves, Kit?”

Daire’s lips twitch. “You should stop making empty threats, or I’ll never learn.”

Then he frustratingly winks at me.

I stare at him .

How does he manage to make me feel like this? As if I’m the one in the cage?

As if the more I attempt to take his power, the more he takes mine?

Shadow Fae turn the world on its head. Tarquin warned me about that.

I adjust my tunic, smoothing it down.

Daire throws another date into his mouth, savoring it. “Aren’t you at little bit fond of me yet? Most people say I’m a lovable rogue.”

“Who are these most people ? They’re fools.” I glower at him. “We’ve fought each other for years.”

“What’s the point of holding a grudge?”

“You’ve tried to assassinate me twelve times.”

“Thirteen. You’re forgetting about that time when you were bathing and I?—"

I cough, blushing. “I thought we agreed not to talk about that time.”

“You’re lucky that your bare skin is so hard to grip when you’re all soapy like that. Anyway, murder attempts are my love language.”

Daire flashes his long canines in what I hope is meant to be a smile.

“Dragons and fae have been enemies for over a decade.”

“I’m not talking about our people. I’m talking about whether you still hate me .”

I’m silent for an awkward moment, unable to answer.

Then I ask, more softly, “Do you love Spark?”

Daire looks at me surprised, before his eyes narrow into a glare. “May you melt off the earth like the snow off the ditch.”

“Is that a yes or a no?”

“It’s a fuck off and die.”

To my shock, Daire turns his back on me, pulling his knees up to his chest. He wraps his wings around himself tightly.

Confused, I’m unsure what has distressed him. I’m even more unsure about why I don’t like this side to him.

He should be fighting back. It’s how we are with each other. I would never talk to another servant or prisoner the way that I do to him.

He’s a king…ex-king…like I am.

He’s one of the very few people in the realms, apart from Lanlin, who I can truly be myself with, allowing out my wicked side.

I reach out, as if to squeeze Daire’s shoulder. But then, I have the memory of my uncle’s reassuring hand on my shoulder and hurriedly pull back.

“Do you love her?” I repeat, attempting for firm, rather than concerned.

Some of my concern, however, must have bled through because Daire glances over his shoulder at me.

“May the devil break your bones , she’s my soulmate ,” Daire replies. “Are you mocking my pain at being separated from my Omega? You don’t understand how much this hurts because you’re not fated.”

And that hurts.