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She took a step back to cool her head. “This wouldn’t be your home. This would be your prison.” Her chin rose in defiance. “I couldn’t just leave knowing that I could simply assure your freedom.”

“This is anything but simple, Rowan. Assuring my freedom takes yours away.” He tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear.

“I’ve lived a long life. There’s very little I haven’t done or accomplished.

You have yet to experience anything real.

You've been busy hiding in the shadows because of the Coven. You deserve to flourish.”

It might not be simple for him. But to Rowan, her freedom included the stubborn man.

She still hadn't gone toe to toe with him.

She had years before she would be strong enough to even dream about challenging him to a proper duel.

And her bluster about the feeding frenzy?

That was a straight lie. She would rather face demon poison again than go through that hell once more.

Terra asked her to listen to her succubus, and her succubus was screaming in her head

Take. Take. Take.

As frantic as she has been in that bathtub. But with her recouped strength Rowan had a choice.

“Let me flourish with you by my side!” She hissed and exposed her neck. “Come on, sink your teeth in.”

His breathing deepened. A growl emerged from the back of his throat as his head descended. But he didn’t open his mouth, merely laid a soft kiss at the juncture. “You must go.”

Panic filled her as the words rolled through her head. She knew what he would attempt before he did it, and she tore away the chain that held back the power she needed to stop him.

Magic tore through every pore in her body in a rush so painful, she fell to her knees as she tried to control it.

They had been right to be concerned. If she’d been asleep, it would have been impossible for her to reinforce the annihilated gates that allowed everything inside.

But she was awake now. And though magic was a temperamental wave, she had the skill and strength to hone and control every particle, including the portion of Alessandro’s that tried to send her away.

Alessandro knelt in front of her, silver eyes flashing red as he looked her over for any obvious wounds.

“ Fuck ! Why did it have to be someone like you?” He asked, sounding defeated as he dragged her back into his chest once more when he realized she was okay.

“I need you.” She dug her face into his bare chest. “Please, Alessandro.”

In her mouth, she felt her teeth lengthen.

Alessandro closed his throbbing silver eyes as if trying to gather his thoughts, but she felt the magic he was trying to pull together again.

She let out a frustrated growl. “This is my choice.”

“It is the wrong one.” He spoke with his eyes still closed.

“ My choice .” She sunk her hands into his curls and tugged.

When his eyes opened to stare down at her, they were so bright when she blinked, she saw stars.

“Give me your neck, San.” She whispered.

His breath hitched and he squeezed her tighter. “You can still run, little elf.”

She cocked her head to the side. “I thought I informed you of my preferred form of cardio.”

He let out a laugh as he tipped his own head to the side, revealing the roiling scales on the expanse of his neck. “Fine. Your choice. You go first.”

Her vision swam with red and pink hues, her succubus so eager her heartbeat pulsed on her tongue.

Hoping her demon side knew what it was doing, she lowered her head, opened her mouth and bit down hard.

Blood rushed into her mouth, oddly cold. She sucked and sucked until she felt him go limp in her arms.

It was only when she was the only thing that kept him from crashing into the dirt floor that she knew it was time to pull away.

He was unbelievably heavy, and so her struggle to place his mouth on the juncture of her own neck took her by surprise.

“Graceful” He teased as he extended his own fangs.

“You did this on pur-” A sharp slice of pain that erupted from the bite mark cut her words off. Pain morphed into unbearable heat, as if every vein in her body was boiling.

Relief came as ice took the place of the heat, followed by a buzz of electricity that she could see arching off her body in blue lightning. It smelled like him, mint and honey.

“It should ease some of the discomfort.” He whispered, extending his hand out to touch the arcs, and in it she could see frost where it touched him. “This is how I see your magic. Bright, clean, electric.”

She smiled as he replaced the nulling necklace around her neck. It was for the best. She couldn’t concentrate on keeping her gates up while she allowed the most intrusive bond she’d ever experienced to take root.

Chapter 28

Visions flashed in her head. Places and faces she didn’t recognize mixed with an odd assortment of stimuli so strong on her senses that she believed for a second she was there.

“They’re my core memories. Parts of the past that have established the Alessandro, you know.”

The first big moment of the Dragon King’s life lay at the loss of his parents.

“It was rage lust.” He said, as if watching the memories alongside her.

His father had been as rugged and handsome as his son, though in the memories before the loss of control he seemed sulky, pouting as his wife played with their son. Had he been envious of the attention Alessandro was receiving?

His eyes were slate gray, darker than the shining silver Alessandro had taken to staring at her with, but the same as the ones the child’s, which peered shyly between his parents.

His mother had his full-bodied curls, clumps and clumps of it cascading around her shoulders, though they differed in color as she was a vibrant red head.

A vibrant red that matched the blood seeping around her body when Alessandro saw her fall after his father had snapped.

The handsome man had lost any hint of gray in his eyes. They had been black orbs that swept past his son, too weak and young to be a target for the rage that took him over as he fled from the home.

“He moved on and killed the neighbors. We lived in a village then, full of all kinds of mystics and humans. He took out half of the town before a group of shifters dedicated to taking care of the issue got a hold of him. At that point, I had been seven years old and, as the son of the man who had caused so much damage, the village turned its back on me. The shifters hadn’t been aware of my existence before they left.

With nowhere left to go, I began walking. ”

Rowan clenched her hands. How could they have failed him so hard as a child?

Her indignation fizzled out as a blanket fell around her shoulders.

In between reality and the visions, Alessandro had at some point phased them from the hoard into a neat, but lackluster bedroom with a bed covered in soft white sheets and an even softer comforter. Outside of the window, she could see the low skyline of Black Cove. Was it his bedroom?

He had also summoned and changed into a pair of sweats, much to her disappointment, and he sat cross-legged across from her.

She shifted the blanket over his shoulders before settling into his lap.

There had been tension in his body that melted as he wrapped his arms around her midsection, pulling her closer, his lips gently resting where her shoulder met her neck.

“Where did you go?” She asked, her fingers tracing the cords of muscle along his arms.

“Into the forest.” His breath was warm, sending goosebumps down her back.

“I was terrified. My mother spent years warning me about the monsters in the forest. I expected to be gobbled up by something much bigger than me in mere days, but in the end, I feared the villagers more. Anytime I went into town, they would chase me out with curses and beatings. Leaving was my only option. So one day I did, and it was months before I ran into another living soul. In that time, I had learned how to survive, learned through trial and error what I could eat. Time in the forest sharpened my hunting skills, and I was stronger than I’d ever imagined myself being.

I liked the physical challenges I put myself through, jumping off cliffs and barely letting my wings out at the last second.

” She could feel his muscles twitching underneath her and she gave an appreciative mewl.

He chuckled. “I also became friends with some of the wildlife. My best friend was a moose I met my second day in. We spent months walking the forest together until one day, when we were walking into one of the few clearings of that forest, a giant red and blue dragon swooped up and swallowed him whole.”

Rowan gasped as the vision overtook her senses. The moose had been grand, a massive beast that put into perspective how big the dragon was, though as far as Rowan could tell, he wasn’t as large as Alessandro had become in modern times.

Alessandro chuckled. “My reaction as well, right before I lost my cool. I attacked the dragon in my fury. He hadn’t expected me to defend my territory.

I was a small child who lacked proper nutrition and proper dragon upbringing, but I gave him a run for his money.

I interested him even more by using more than one element.

He was so shocked when I cast a water and earth spell.

It gave me the chance to sink my teeth into his hide. ”

Rowan grinned. “So you’ve always been a badass.”

His laughter rumbled against her back. “You got the biggest and baddest dragon in the world, little elf.” A fireplace she hadn’t noticed until then roared to life at the foot of the bed. Flames of every color danced within the grate and she rolled her eyes. What a showoff.

“So after you pissed him off, what happened?”