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She cocked her head to the side and shrugged. Would it really hurt to try?

Chapter 16

The morning was warm in the desert oasis the cabin had landed Rowan in.

Though Alessandro could enter, as he had the cabin’s permission, his fight with his dragon to stay standing there until she woke up was costing more than half of his concentration.

If he went inside, he might as well shed his clothes to save them time.

It was a dangerous thing for the Dragon King to have so much of his concentration focused on one thing, especially as he was on high alert for intruders on his land.

Fucking pathetic.

It was what she had driven him to. He should have killed her as soon as he realized she had him acting in contradiction to his sane side. But he’d been weak.

He crossed his arms, gaze steady on the front door, waiting for her to exit. She could phase out within the confines of the house, but as long as he could still feel her magic present in the house, he would stay planted on the beach.

Except, he only could contain himself for another two minutes before he phased into her room. Cursing as he gathered his magic, he swore to tell her what he needed to, give her the material he’d gathered from Draconis’ library and then leave.

His plans flew out the window as he came upon the mass of vines and black and orange flowers that erupted from the pot he had given her.

The woman herself was curled in bed around the vines, reminding him of how she had clung onto him and he had to shake that image away before temptation could send his plans to the endless hells.

He cleared his throat and watched with amusement as she shot to her feet, a dagger he hadn’t seen nearby in her grip. She stopped mid swing once she realized who it was and her eyes lit up with recognition.

“Alessandro.” She fell back to bed. “Give me like five more hours, okay?”

An unbidden smile pulled at the corner of his lips.

She wasn’t showing any signs of trauma or fear after he had revealed a portion of his true face.

The smile fell off as soon as he remembered what his objectives were, and he stiffened again.

“Princess Rowan, I have some things we need to discuss.” He tried to use his commanding voice, but she was busy pushing the vines away from where she slept and curling back into a nest of blankets and pillows to pay it any mind.

“Princess Rowan? Discuss?” Her head poked out of the blanket cocoon she had made for herself.

“Yes. I’ve brought you this. Obviously, you’ve figured most of it out yourself, but there are a few more tips and tricks inside.”

Her eyes were heavy with sleep, but she seemed attentive enough for him to present her with a binder he had stayed up all night working on.

She reached out and traced her name on the cover, a soft smile playing at her lips. “Are you breaking up with me before we even really start?”

He raised an eyebrow, unsure if she was just messing with him or if that was how she really felt. “I know I owe you a favor for you stepping in to help us, but this is the best I can do under the current circumstances.”

“Yeah. I understand.” She turned her gaze up to him. “Are they okay, your dragons?”

Startled by the question, he said, “Yes, a bit concerned about the future, but we will persevere.”

Rowan nodded and held her finger up before she took off into another section of the cabin. Alessandro waited in his designated spot, afraid that if he moved he would do something foolish like give into the desire to chase her down and mark her there and then.

How had he missed this sign of longing before Aqua gave it a name?

She hadn’t needed to use a single ounce of her succubus magic to ensnare him as he’d suspected. His dragon had done all of that work for her.

She came back with a small well-worn children’s book, one that had a picture of an angry child at the front. He cocked his head to the side.

“For the fire-dragon that was with you yesterday. If you guys are going to work on your image issue, he’s going to have to learn how to at least pretend to be in a better mood.

He damn near ruined the effect of your heartbroken moment.

This helped me deal with my rage over the Coven butting into my life. It’s great.”

He couldn’t help the chuckle. “I’m sure he will appreciate it.”

Blaise wouldn’t, but it amused Alessandro.

Silence fell as they stared at each other. Her blue eyes showed her disappointment. Unlike her open seduction, she didn’t voice it.

“Oh!” She grabbed his arm before he phased out. “Before you go, can you tell me about the bear shifter attack? Was there some sort of priceless treasure at the heart of it?”

Alessandro narrowed his eyes. “Yes.” He said softly, “But one that had been with the Sleuth for a long time. It was their totem. The carnage stopped when we found it and repaired it.”

Rowan bit her lip and asked. “Do you mind showing me?”

“This is a shifter issue. Outsiders like yourself shouldn’t be so quick to become involved.”

She looked mildly offended at the comment.

“Outsider? Soon, this is going to be a problem for absolutely everyone. One of my best friends is a shifter. Should I wait for whoever is behind this to come after him to be involved?” She scoffed.

“One incident is just an incident, but five of them are a planned attack. I fear that there are more waiting on the horizon.”

He thought so too. However, with the injuries that seemed to be common for her, he didn’t want her anywhere near the issue, even if it wasn’t his place to say so.

It was infuriating.

He growled at himself, “There were no signs of an intruder. The bear who broke the totem was under some kind of hypnosis and I found him amongst one of the fallen. Their alpha informed me he kept shouting that he could hear voices from it. He said the voice of his dead mother pleaded with him to break it. The others tried to stop him, but he had a special ability; he could make anyone combust into flame without requiring physical touch. They weren’t able to stop him. ”

Rowan frowned and put a hand on her chin. “Did you feel any foreign magical signature?”

“No. I raked the compound over. But unlike the attack on Draconis, there was no lingering magic.”

“I couldn’t find anything with the wolves either. Could whoever set Elaine on Draconis have learned their lesson about that?”

Alessandro felt the hair on the back of his neck stand.

If this reasoning stood, it meant someone had infiltrated Draconis and seen Alessandro find the signature or witnessed Naseem complete his investigation.

The barrier that had kept out Japhet, one of the most formidable witches of modern times, had failed to detect an intruder.

Yet, it was only speculation. The turn around time of the attacks had been so small that it didn’t leave room for improvement if all the other attacks were to follow the same trajectory as the first.

“I’ll review the camera footage at Draconis.” He bowed his head and said, “Take care of yourself, Princess Rowan. If you continue down this path, you are in more danger than you have ever faced before.” He almost phased away with those as his last words until she touched his arm to stop him.

“Hey. This feels a lot like goodbye for good.” She whispered.

He remained silent.

“Not an ‘I’ll see you later after I settle my dragons and the world into peace’.” Her eyes searched his, willing him to say more.

He forced himself to shake his head.

She was absolutely unabashed when she asked, “Why?”

He hadn’t expected the question, or for her to actually expect an answer from him.

“Where exactly will continuing this lead us?” He leaned against her dresser.

“A very fulfilling sex life?” Her eyes flashed violet.

Alessandro crossed his arms and set a stony stare her way.

“What?” She asked, leaning against her pillow. “Are you insinuating I haven’t delivered the best orgasms of your life?”

“My dragon wants to mark you.” He grit out.

This made her sit up straight. She knew what it meant. If the sliding of her eyes to the doorway wasn’t a big enough clue of her fear of it, the sharp increase in her heart rate was.

“So yes, you’ve given me orgasms I hadn’t even dreamed of one day experiencing. But that is no longer enough.”

It was only a moment of sadness that passed through her eyes before it turned to fierce rage.

“If you think the only thing I can offer is amazing sex, you’re mistaken about who I am, Dragon King.

” She invaded his space and wrapped a piece of his hair around her finger.

He growled when she tugged at it with a force meant to hurt.

“But you’re right, it’s probably too much to ask for you to express any control over your beast.”

Her eyes locked around his hand, which had encircled her wrist with a grip that would bruise.

“You’re playing with fire.”

“I don't mind a little heat.” She snarled and used his forearm as leverage to reach his lips.

Her warmth pressed against his front, clearly as desperate as he was. Did she not realize she was in this as deep as he was? Or did she just not care?

He spun them so it was her back against the dresser as he fell deeper and deeper into the kiss. His promise to keep his distance was a memory from another lifetime.

Their tongues fought for dominance, as if the unruly specimen known as Rowan Dahl could ever truly be dominated.

“What do you say, then? One more for the road?” She backed away long enough to ask.

“Only one?” His hands were already pulling her shorts off as he backed her to her bed, her wings providing space for her to nestle into.

“How greedy.”

“Ever known a dragon to be anything less?”

Unlike their first forays into the land of lust, he was moving languidly and slow. She bucked against him with her impatience, but he gripped her hips firmly in fair warning. “Patience, little elf. It doesn’t have to be fast and hard for it to be pleasurable.”