Chapter Seven

“My crew is probably gossiping about us,” Aras said.

“Sailors gossip?” I stroked my hand down his silken stomach.

“Sailors are the worst gossips. They take gossip from one shore to another. It's usually worth at least a drink or two.”

“A drink or two?” I sat up.

“In a tavern.” He sat up too. “People want to know what's going on in other kingdoms and sailors are the best way to find out, especially if you're interested in scandals.”

“Well, they're welcome to talk about us.” I started getting dressed.

“You don't have to leave.”

I grinned at Aras. “Now who's the one with a wild libido?”

“I wasn't asking for more sex.” He got out of bed and waved at the secured bottles of liquor on a shelf near the dining table. “Would you like a drink?”

“Actually, I didn't come to be a possessive beast,” I said, fastening my pants.

“No?” Aras smirked. “Then why are you here, Ly?”

“To invite you to the theater. Tonight.” I glanced at his clock, then said, “In three hours.”

“Three hours?” He gaped at me.

“Yes, I know it's last minute. I'm sorry. I was meeting with the theater managers today, and they reminded me that I have a private box. They were so excited when I said I might attend tonight's performance. I'd hate to disappoint them.”

“Oh, no, we can't disappoint a bunch of actors. The weeping would be terrible.”

I chuckled. “Indeed. Then you will go with me?”

Aras's grin went lopsided. He leaned against the table and crossed his arms. Nonchalant, despite his nudity. “Is this a date?”

I grimaced. “What else would it be?”

“I just . . .” He dropped his arms, his expression breaking to show me some adorable vulnerability beneath. “I've never been asked on a date before.”

“What?” I scowled at him. “Never?”

“No.” He flung open a trunk and started pulling out clothing. “Uh, what does a man wear to the theater? Is this all right?” He held up a pair of leather pants and a black velvet coat with gold braid on the shoulders.

I finished getting my boots on, then went over to inspect the garments. “These are fine.” I looked up at him. “Have you only been with betas?”

“Why do you ask that?”

“Because your ex, the one I almost killed, is obviously a beta personality, and now you say that you've never been asked on a date. Generally, alphas do the asking.”

“Ah.” He smoothed his hair and cleared his throat. “Yes. That could be why I've never been asked. I am usually the one doing the asking.”

“Are you uncomfortable with my aggression?”

With a jerk, Aras lifted his head and stared at me with wide eyes. “What? No.”

“Are you sure? I didn't realize until today how different I am from your usual lovers.”

He snorted a laugh, then rolled into full laughter when he saw my irritated expression. “You're the King of Gavemor. Of course, you're different.”

I grimaced at him.

Aras settled into a soft smile. “I like you. You. It doesn't matter that you're an alpha bottom. Has my performance been lacking, Your Majesty?”

“No. You're a fantastic lover.”

He blinked. Then he grabbed my shoulders and hauled me into a kiss.

I kissed him back. Couldn't be helped. But then, laughing, I pulled away. “Stop trying to have sex with me, you insatiable beast.”

Aras blinked. Then he burst out laughing. I joined him again. I couldn't recall ever laughing so much with anyone, much less a lover.

When our laughter settled, he said, “I never would have guessed.”

“Guessed what?”

“That you're funny. That you're—” He waved a hand at me. “So much more than this.”

“What does that mean?”

“You look savage. There's always a vicious expression on your face. Your muscles constantly tighten as if you're on the verge of attacking anyone who gets too close. My first look of you confirmed all the rumors I heard. But now, I'm having second thoughts.”

My good mood vanished. “What rumors?”

“Ly, they're just rumors. Every king is talked about.”

“Yes, but what do they say about me , Captain?” I snapped his title.

Perfect! The Eye cried. Work this. Get that fear back in him.

Shut up! I hissed in my head.

“They say you're more dragon than man. That you have a short temper and riling it can be fatal. You kill without thought. You have no mercy. They say . . .” Aras grimaced, then started again. “They say you're a monster.”

I had heard a few of those rumors. Some of them made me grin. After what I'd gone through to become King, I felt it best to rule with a touch of fear. If you can't earn their respect, earn their fear. But hearing those things from Aras was different. They were poison, puffed through the air. I breathed them in and choked on them. Maybe because I knew they were true and he would find that truth repulsive. Or maybe it was because I knew I had to make Aras believe that he was not immune to my monstrosity.

“Ly?” Aras asked.

But I couldn't do it. Not when he stared at me like that, so full of trust and hope. Not with the mating bond so new and pulsing vibrantly between us. I could feel his anxiety and it cut at me. No, I couldn't be a monster with him. Not my Aras.

You must! the Eye shouted.

Later, I replied as I reached for my mate. Aloud, I said, “They're all true. All those terrible things they say.”

Aras frowned. “No, they're not.”

“I've become a monster to keep the crown,” I confessed. “I have killed without mercy. I have tortured men. I have—”

“Stop.” Aras put a leathery fingertip on my lips. “I don't care.”

“You don't?”

“Do you think I am a paradigm of honor? I am a sea captain.” He swept his hand toward the door. “The sea has her own laws.” He swallowed visibly, his furred throat working. “A captain must sometimes do terrible things for the good of his crew and cargo. That pirate we're hunting—the Sea King's mate. I tortured him. I even enjoyed it. I tasted his blood, and it excited me.”

I'd been softening toward Aras with every confession, but the last one had me twitching. “His blood excited you? In what way?”

Aras's jaw dropped. Then a laugh burst from him. “That's what you focus on?”

I blinked. Processed. Realized my ridiculousness. Then I confessed, “I've done far worse than you. None of what you've just said bothers me. Just the fact that you tasted another man's blood.”

Aras's grin widened. “I think I like you jealous.”

I growled and leaned my face into his. “Be careful, Captain. Just because I kiss you and hold you tenderly, it doesn't make you exempt from my ferocity.”

Instead of being cowed, Aras licked his lips and said, “I like that too.”

I leaned back in shock, taking in his parted lips and dilated pupils. He was aroused. I could smell it as well. Sense it. My mate enjoyed blood play. I knew that much, but now I suspected that he enjoyed other vicious things. How interesting.

“So, you like it rough?” I asked.

His breath caught. “Sometimes.”

I grabbed my mate by the throat and shoved him against the door again. But this time, it wouldn't end in laughter. “You're always the aggressor, aren't you? You're the one who claws and bites.” I snapped my teeth at him. “Not in my bed, Aras. I do the biting.” I bit his lower lip hard enough to sting, but not draw blood.

Aras shuddered, his eyelids fluttering with it, and arched into me. His cock rose between us, already growing slick with his arousal.

“You do like that,” I whispered in delight. “You have some unfulfilled desires. That's why you want me. You've always had to play the alpha, and alphas take control. We set the tone for sex. But you long for someone to dominate you. You want someone to make you bleed. To lick your wounds for once.”

His breath went rapid. His hands pressed against the door, claws withdrawn. My mate was going submissive for me, and my dragon couldn't have been happier. This was what it wanted earlier and, surprisingly, it was also what Aras wanted. I did a partial shift for him, a little display of power to sweeten his submission. Aras went still, his stare locked on the claw that extended from my pointer finger. I laid it against his throat. He swallowed, pushing his skin against it, but I moved my finger back so it wouldn't hurt him. Not there. The throat was too much to begin with.

Holding my mate's stare, I slid my claw down his chest—a light tease. A twist and my claw was backward, tip facing me so I could slide it safely around his nipple. Aras shuddered.

Like a snake, I struck, latching onto his dusky, pert nipple with my mouth and sucking hard enough to stretch it. Aras groaned and pumped against my thigh. His hands finally came off the door to slide through my hair and cup the back of my head. Pull me closer. I sucked harder, then bit, but only to knead his flesh. Claim it.

“Oh, fuck!” Aras cried.

I drew my head away, leaving his nipple glistening and long. Flushed with blood. With the back of my claw, I flicked it. Then I sliced him just above it. Aras roared, but as he bucked, I slammed a palm against his sternum and pinned him in place. Blood dripped over his nipple. I watched it, my dragon rolling inside me, eager to taste.

“Please,” Aras whimpered.

It was the word I'd been waiting for and his nudity while I wore pants made it even sweeter. I bent my head and sucked at him again. The flavor of the sea and land burst into my mouth—salt and minerals. This was the taste of my mate. A man pulled in two directions by two elements. Just like me. We had water in common, and I did rule the land. But it was time to add fire to the mix.

I drew back and blew a stream of fire over Aras's nipple, careful not to burn his flesh, just heat it and singe his fur. Aras went into erotic convulsions and then grabbed my hips and pulled me against him. Locked together, he roared once more and came. I felt the heat of his release soak into my pants.

And it pleased me greatly.

Shuddering through the end of his climax, Aras looked up at me. Adoration was evident, but there was more there. I hoped it was the start of something deeper. For both of us.

Then he slid to his knees.

I smiled as Aras undid my pants to free my shaft. I was still hard. Weeping. He licked the liquid bead from my tip, groaned as he closed his eyes, then wrapped his lips around my cock. So beautiful—those thin lips stretched around my flesh. Moving up and down my length. Sending zings into my sacs and back to my channel. Up my spine. I shifted my claw back into a finger and set my palm on the door to steady myself.

“Suck me good and I'll give you more of what you need tonight, Aras,” I said. “I'll tie you to my bed and draw your climax from you with claws and teeth as I milk your cock with my channel.”

Aras moaned around me. Then he looked up, met my stare, and started sucking me like a dock whore.