Chapter 9

Killian

Ihad no business hoarding Barbie. I couldn't offer her a future, but neither my dragon nor I could stay away from her, or allow anyone else to have her, especially after we'd just gotten her back.

I was living on borrowed time with her, but while I could still see her, feel her, and cherish her, I'd give her what I could, at least offering her my protection. My dragon and I longed to see her all the time and make sure she was all right. So, before I knew it, I was prowling the hallway outside her room.

I heard her sob and charged into her room. When she threw herself into my arms as if I was her haven, I was more than happy to hold her, cherishing this vulnerable side of her.

The "mating bond" Queen Lilith had forced on me functioned like a magical chastity belt. Should I touch any woman other than the Queen of the Underworld, agony would burn in my veins. It was a lot worse for the other woman who dared to touch me, if she survived.

Only Barbie lived outside any rules. She could touch me as much as she wanted and how she wanted, not because she was more powerful than Queen Lilith, but because she was my true mate.

While Barbie sobbed in my arms, joy and euphoria filled me at holding my mate. When she shivered, I had to fight not to kiss her again.

I wanted to fuck her, stretching her pussy with my cock and impaling her over and over until she screamed my name and begged. My dragon growled his approval, urging me to take our mate and fuck her from behind, his favorite position.

I fought my urge. There should be more man than beast in me. With an arm tightly around Barbie's slender waist, I inhaled her intoxicating scent.

Then she explained to me the reason for her weeping. I couldn't help but laugh. My gorgeous little mate was hilarious and her emotions raw. She hadn't dropped a tear when she'd been gang-beaten, kidnapped, and maimed, but she cried over star-crossed lovers in a romance book.

Before I could rein back my amusement and comfort her, Pucker, the ghost guardian, popped out. He had a penchant for showing up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Barbie was the one who had revealed his true identity. That ghost was a trickster, but he'd proven useful in helping me find and rescue Barbie. So I didn't kick him out of my house. Instead, I'd made a pact with him. He was now not only my errand boy but also Barbie's undercover bodyguard. I needed to put an extra security detail on my little scorpion. When those fuckers took her, it'd shaken me. I wouldn't allow that to happen again.

Pucker rubbed his ghost hands together giddily, grinning at Barbie and me. "They won't leave until Barbie is delivered. We're going to have a fantastic party!"