Page 88 of Wrath of the Dragons (Fear the Flames #2)

Finnian snorts, kissing Elowen’s forehead as he disappears into the darkness with the princes.

I thread my fingers through Elowen’s to tug her to her feet and drape my arm around her shoulders, tucking her against my body.

Soldiers cease sharpening weapons and conversing with each other to dip their heads in our direction as we stride through rows of tents to get back to ours.

I part the heavy fabric for her and let it fall behind me after ducking inside.

There’s nothing in here aside from a pallet of furs and a low-burning lantern, but that’s really all we need for one night.

Elowen unclasps the buckle on her coat with shaky fingers, letting the fur-lined mass of dark blue fabric slide to the floor followed by her leathers and tunic.

I mirror her actions, as she slips under the furs without a stitch of clothing.

I’d probably be panting like a dog if I weren’t so worried about her.

“El.”

“Hmm?” she hums, staring blankly at the canvas wall.

“Angel.” I sit beside her, gathering her in my arms, and tap the side of her head. “Don’t leave me stranded while you’re braving the storm alone.”

She sighs, tracing the markings down my neck and over my shoulder. “You’ll get tired of my ramblings one day.”

“You could read off dry political texts for hours and I’ll still be interested because I’d be watching you and listening to your voice.”

She smiles, but it’s weighed down by too many emotions.

“I’m going to war against my father because of what he did to me and my dragons when I was a child, but I can’t stop thinking about the soldiers who will never go home and the grief their loved ones will suffer all because I couldn’t move on like Ailliard expected me to do. ”

I quell my rage at the mention of that sick bastard and focus on her.

What she needs is not a rant about how much I hated the man.

“Imirath has pushed against Vareveth since before we were even born, and before I became commander, they used to regularly raid Ladislava. Many of the soldiers fighting with us now have lost immensely at the hands of Imirath.”

She nods and sucks in a deep breath. Thank the gods I’m getting better at using my words. “Maybe in another life we won’t have to fight wars. Maybe we’ll be happy and unburdened and simple.”

“I don’t want a different life with you.” I press my lips to hers. “I want this one, and after tomorrow we will be happy and unburdened and simple. I swear it. I’ll give you whatever you want.”

“What do you want?” she asks, still tracing my markings. “What do you think of when you picture the future?”

I lick my lips, tucking a hand behind my head. “I told you that I’ve never let myself think all that much about it. I never really thought I’d have one.”

“Think,” she insists. “I know that’s a hard concept for you to grasp but I trust your capability.”

I lightly yank one of her curls. I always thought I’d die young, like I was living on borrowed time, so I never bothered thinking of a future beyond getting revenge.

“All I see is you happy at home surrounded by books, pastries, and dragons, while wearing little to no clothing, but I’m open to negotiating how covered you are.

” She tilts her head, looking at me like she wants me to say more.

I run my tongue over my teeth and loose a sigh.

“Why don’t you tell me these grand plans that you have, to give me some inspiration. ”

She bites her lip again. “We never talked about”—she swallows—“children. Everyone keeps throwing the term heir at us, but we’ve never spoken of it.”

My gaze darts away from her, and I clear my throat. “You want them?”

“I don’t know,” she answers quietly. “When the dragons were taken away from me…their screams…I can still hear them, and they sounded so much like children. I can’t go through that again.”

“I don’t think I’d be a good father, but I’d never let that happen,” I say, a wave of protectiveness flaring up within me.

There are some people in this world who would make it a better place by not procreating, and I truly believe I’m one of them, but what I do know is that I’d never let harm come to my children. “I won’t be him.”

“Him?” Her gaze softens. “Your father.”

I fixate my eyes on the canopy above me. The walls in my first apartment were paper thin and I heard the screams of women as they gave birth, heard the sobs of their husbands when they bled out on the bed. Thinking of Elowen in that position…I can’t.

She presses her lips to my heart. “You’ll never be anything like your father.

” The urge to refute her statement rises in my throat.

I look just like him. I’m wretched and selfish like him.

I’m incapable of loving nearly anything in this world aside from the woman in my arms. “You stood beside me when it would’ve been easier for you to hand me over to my captors.

You fought for me, and since we met not a day has gone by when I didn’t know I was safe with you. ”

“I love the very bones of you.” I force my eyes back to hers, a desperation clawing at my chest. “You know that, right?”

“I do.”

“The world could be caving in right now, and I’d still stay right here with you, Elowen Veles.” I press my lips to hers again, sitting up to switch our positions. “If this is my last night in this world, I need you to know that meeting you has been the most wonderful part of my life.”

A tear leaks from her eye, but I place my lips to hers before she has the chance to respond.

I need to feel her. I need to take care of her.

I wrap my arm around her waist, pushing her chest into mine as she arches off the furs.

I want to keep her like a secret, hidden from the world and all to myself.

Gliding my knuckles up her cheek and sliding my fingers through her curls like we have all the time in the world instead of being on the brink of battle.

With one arm, she tightens her grip around my shoulders and trails her other hand down my chest to grip my length. Her hand languidly slides up and down, sending blood rushing to my cock. I dip my fingers inside of her as she strokes me, pumping and curling them as her moans press against my mouth.

“Please,” she pants. “I need you.”

“I know, love.”

I line myself up with her entrance, slowly pushing inside.

Normally I’d spend more time teasing her, but I need her, too, like I’ve never needed anything, never allowed myself to.

It’s terrifying, but I wouldn’t give her up for anything.

All my life I warded myself against vulnerability, but I’d strip off every piece of armor and hand her a blade.

Her legs tighten around me as I thrust into her, taking her in long, unhurried strokes.

Making love not only to her body, but to her soul.

I press my signet ring to her clit, and she whimpers against my lips as her thighs begin to shake.

Circling it, I increase my pace, parting our faces just enough to watch her eyes roll back in her head as she calls out my name.

I wrap my hand around her jaw, forcing her gaze back to mine and fuck her through her peaks of pleasure, not letting myself finish just yet. I want her limp by the time we’re done.

I turn her on her side and lay behind her, hooking one of her thighs over my arm and sliding back into her.

She arches her back, and I fist her curls to bring her lips back to mine as I snap my hips forward.

I force anything beyond this woman out of my mind, losing myself in her.

She wraps her arm around my neck to keep us close and bites her lip.

Her eyes are heavy with desire as she shoves her hips back into mine.

Maybe the people were right. Perhaps she is an enchantress.

I taste divinity when our lips meet and between her thighs, and with every moan and hitch of breath I fall more into her thrall.

When her skin is pressed against mine and she lets me into her body, I feel like a born-again believer performing a sacred ritual to a goddess.

I release her curls and slide my arm beneath her, needing to run my hands along her body.

“You make me mindless for you,” I say like an accusation, and roll her peaked nipple between my fingers.

“Do you know how hard it is to be surrounded by people, knowing what it feels like to have you wrapped around me, and have to pretend like I don’t want to pin you down and do exactly this? ”

“Would you?” she gasps.

“Needy girl, you’d like that.” I smile against her lips.

“I’d never let anyone who’s seen you naked leave with air in their lungs, but what a beautiful sight to keep with them in the underworld.

But yes, Elowen”—I thrust hard—“if you let me, I’ll come up behind you and slide my cock into you.

In the garden, the library, the kitchen…

all hells, I’d stop a meeting just to sit you on my desk and spread your thighs. ”

My hand seeks her clit once more, crooking my fingers upward to crest her pleasure.

She pants and squirms in my hold, burying her head in the crook of my neck.

But I force her out and glide my tongue from her shoulder and up her throat, biting down on the spot that she loves just below her ear.

She arches against me again as I suck, wanting to mark her.

“Give me another, beautiful. You’re almost there. ”

She comes undone, calling out my name and pulling me over the edge with her.

Fucking gods, this woman. I’m ruined, have been since the day I met her, and I am irrevocably damned with every breath I take.

She doesn’t even have to be in my presence because she’s in my mind, enchanting me like a temptress, and when I think of the legends of sailors who threw themselves to the tides when they heard a siren’s song, I understand why.

I’d follow Elowen anywhere, even to death.

I ease myself out of her and pull her onto my chest, running my hands through her messy curls. “Sleep, mia sirantia. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“I love you,” she murmurs, passing her thumb over her wedding ring and draping her leg over mine. Her blinks grow heavier, and I dust my fingers over every inch of her.

“I love you more than you’ll ever know,” I whisper after she falls asleep.

I’m wide awake, and I don’t plan on sleeping a wink, not wanting to miss a second of savoring the feeling of Elowen’s heart pulsing against mine.

Tomorrow I’ll become the worst version of myself to fight for our future.

But tonight, all I am is hers.