Chapter 12

Chapter

Twelve

Magnus

As I stepped from her bedroom and closed the door behind me, I gulped for air while simultaneously cursing fate for tempting me like this. I grabbed the wood frame surrounding the door and gripped it until I felt it begin giving way, the wood crumbling under my fingers. Only then did I release my hold.

My entire body had gone rock hard the instant I got my first taste of her. In fact, my head still swam with the deliciousness of her I now craved. We’d be lucky if I didn’t tear down her door and spend the entire night making her scream my name.

I leaned against the wall and banged my head against it in the hopes of getting it back on straight. It had been a long time since I'd felt anything remotely like this. I paused, lifting my head. No scratch that. There'd been nothing quite like this. No one who made me want to throw caution to the wind.

To let go…

Fuck the consequences.

Back home, there had been nothing but users. Women who feared me for what I was but wanted me anyway because of my status as the heir apparent. Although the joke had ultimately been on them.

My uncle had never intended to allow me anywhere near his throne.

A quiet moan from the other side of the door caught my attention making me want nothing more than to be back in that room with her. She'd been soft and pliant, and oh so eager.

No. I shook my head violently against those thoughts. No way in hell I would get in that bed with her. We had enough trouble brewing between us without me stealing more. She'd nearly killed me, and I still didn't know if or when I would return to normal.

I should be furious and ready to punish her for what she'd done.

Yet, my feet remained planted in place and my hand gripped the doorknob so tight my knuckles were white. If I wasn't careful, I really would rip it from its hinges.

Only the burning under my skin stopped me. My dragon had remained quiet for too long, but I could feel him trying to break free. He probably wanted her more than I did. That thought brought me up short.

No way in hell.

There would be no touching her again. That had just become my new mantra and I was going to repeat it as many times as it took to get it hammered into my stubborn skull.

But I had to do something or I feared risking the loss of my mind. This is where I’d normally let the dragon out and we’d hit the sky and hunt. But that still wasn’t an option. My skin rippled painfully for a moment, and I chose that as a hopeful sign that it wouldn't be long before he broke free.

And then I would be relegated to the back of his mind. Again.

My skin bristled against that thought. There had to be a solution to all of this. A compromise that would allow us to co-exist once again. Because I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take.

Revenge .

The simple word whispered through my mind. As if it were that easy.

He was right though. It would be the only way to make everything right again. Tomorrow I would begin my quest again to find my way home. No more brooding or violent outbursts.

I needed this moment of clarity to think straight and I couldn't squander it before it disappeared.

“Magnus.”

I jerked at the desperate whisper of my name on her tongue. Before I realized what I was doing, I’d reentered her room and stood in the doorway watching over her. My only thought was to make sure she was okay. Only what I'd found rooted me in my spot and struck desperation through my mind.

She'd removed most of her clothing and was now splayed out on her bed, her bra barely containing her full tits. Dear Goddess, I was going to lose my mind trying to keep my hands off her. Not only was this insane, but it was also an egregious violation of her privacy.

I needed to leave—now.

It was a solid thought. One I knew I shouldn’t ignore.

"Magnus," she cried out again. The scent of her room had changed, but without the enhanced senses of the dragon I was unable to identify the full extent of the multitude of layers of her deliciousness. In fact, I could do little more than breathe deep and take as much of it in as my entire body shuddered under the rush.

All the clever rules I'd created in my head instantly dissolved under the onslaught of her. As far as I was concerned, the battle was lost before it had even begun. I'd been drawn to her since that moment I'd first followed her in the cemetery.

Even my natural wariness towards humans and other creatures in general, honed over centuries of life in the fae realm, seemed to evaporate in her presence. My usual caution, my hard-earned suspicion of others' motives, all of it crumbled when faced with her allure. It was as if she'd cast a spell over me, bypassing every defense I'd ever built.

What did still confuse me was her seeming concern for me. I'd initially chalked it up to curiosity. She was a woman of science, of course she'd want more information about me and my kind.

But this was more than that.

I only had to look at her, and despite the darkness, I could see her face had desire written all over it. My cock was instantly hard. My heart beat harder, pounding against my chest as if it thought it could escape and survive without me.

I took another step towards her putting one foot in front of the other with no thought other than the need arcing between us. She was pulling me toward her on an invisible tether that I couldn't break. The whole situation was a mess.

"Rose," her name tumbled through my tight throat unbidden. Maybe if she woke, she would somehow make this stop.

"Yes. Yes. Yes," she cried out.

For a moment I thought she was still in the throes of a dream, but when her eyes met mine they seemed clear. Not at all sleepy or unsure. She was fully awake.

"Stay with me," she pleaded, her voice low and breathy. "I don't want to be?—"

"Alone," I finished for her.

She panted, sweat beading on her skin.

"I don't think you understand what you are asking for. I'm not like the men you are used to. It won't be the same. It could get—complicated."

Her brow furrowed slightly, but the expression on her face seemed no less desperate. How could I resist that raw power of need holding her in its thrall? Or was it me in thrall? It was getting hard to tell as my skin continued to touch hers. I trailed my fingers down the side of her face until they reached her throat. For a moment I hesitated before I gave in and wrapped my hand around her throat, reveling in her softness.

The idea of pinning her to the bed like this as I entered the tight clutch of her body sent me spiraling. In that moment, it was all I could think of. All I wanted.

"Would it really be so bad?"

I blinked at her question. "What?" I choked. Had she read my mind?

"To be with me?" Her question came out so quietly I barely heard her. Although she could have mouthed the words, and I would have understood them. I could read lips as easily as I could hear words. Living in the King's castle had taught me many skills. Especially in my quest to spy on my uncle's too numerous to count enemies.

My skin bristled with the irritation that my thoughts roused. He'd used me for as many years as I could remember. I'd lived under the ruse of freedom, when in fact I'd had none. The thirst for revenge roared forward, consuming me like the force of a flash fire raging out of control.

"Magnus, what's wrong?" she asked, her voice rougher than before. Her hands grabbed my face and pulled me closer, and it was only then I realized I'd tightened my grip on her throat and nearly cut off her airway. I loosened my fingers without letting go and shook my head, averting my eyes.

"I'm sorry. But this is exactly what I mean. I am not like your human males. It's too easy to forget just how fragile you truly are."

Her lips pursed into a frown, which did nothing to deter me or my racing thoughts. I only wanted to kiss her more.

"I'm not fragile. I'm what we call hardy stock. I won't break as easy as you might think."

I scoffed at her words. "Humans are stupid AND fragile. They shouldn't call you anything but perfect." I reached up to brush a piece of hair out of her eyes and rubbed my fingers across the soft strands before pushing it out of the way. When I met her gaze again, her eyes had gone wide and she looked—surprised. "What?" I asked.

"You think I'm perfect?"

I frowned down at her. "Of course I do. Haven't you looked in a mirror?"

She laughed, a quiet, throaty sound that tickled along the length of my spine. "You really say the strangest things. And I'm not even talking about the dragon thing this time."

I jostled her to the side as I released my hold and sank down onto the bed next to her. If we were going to talk, I might as well get comfortable. She must have agreed because she twisted and turned repeatedly against my side until her head had found the perfect spot in the crook of my arm. As if she was made to fit there...

"I only say what I mean," I finally said as I tried to clear my thoughts. Although those words came out roughly as I tried not to think about my cock and what having her this close was doing to it.

"If that's true, then you are a refreshing change. I find people rarely say exactly what they mean. And for someone like me it can be difficult to grasp the nuances of someone trying to say something while using a filter. It's annoying."

"Someone like you?"

She nodded, another slight laugh jerking her against my side. "I am a woman of science. I have always preferred facts and figures. Things I can touch. See. Prove. That's what makes my brain happy. Figuring out context and nuance is hard work, not to mention exhausting.”

"You would hate fae politics then. No one speaks plainly or with clear intent. They like games and trickery and will spend all their time coming up with new ways to get their way. When they cast their confusion spells, you won't know what hit you. That said, they are terrible liars. If you are careful you will know. But you do have to be cautious. They get around the lying thing by being very good at misleading. They truly cannot be trusted."

"So I've heard," she mumbled sleepily, prompting me to caress her arm in a soothing motion.

"I thought you didn't believe in such things. They certainly don't fit the facts and figures thing you've got going in your head. They defy logic. Although trust me, they are as real as your science."

She shrugged. "My parents are big believers. For better or worse, I was raised on so many fairytales I could almost believe they were history lessons. I guess at least some of it rubbed off on me. Why else am I brewing potions with herbs from my garden to help solve people's problems instead of working on some research grant at the University?"

It was my turn to laugh. Her knowledge of fae, despite her disbelief, might be more than I could have expected from a human.

I leaned into her and pressed my face into her hair, taking in the sweet scent of strawberries and mint. I had a feeling I would never look at those two items quite the same again.

"Are you sniffing me?" She pulled back enough to meet my gaze, her eyes a little more vibrant than they were before.

"Aye." There was no point in pretending. "I like the way you smell."

She scrunched up her nose and the smattering of freckles looked like they were going to pop off her face. "That's pretty freaking weird."

"Not among our kind. Dragons are ruled by all our senses, and even with mine not working like they should, they still work better than yours. And it so happens that I really like strawberries. Mint, on the other hand, that's normally not my thing. But on you I might have to make an exception."

"Huh. You don't like mint? That's weird. Have you ever tried a crunchy mint cookie coated in chocolate? Like the ones from American Girl Scouts? Especially right out of the freezer? Those are insanely good and I thought everyone loved them."

I shook my head. "I have no clue what a crunchy mint cookie is, let alone why girls scout for them. Are you still speaking English? Or is this some overtired delirium taking over?"

She slapped at my chest as a weird pressure built. Suddenly, my entire body wanted more from her, and none of it seemed logical.

"That's insulting. I'm tired but not delirious. Keep that up and I'll have to add some more valerian into your food tomorrow."

A cloud settled over me. I had no business making jokes or laying in a bed with this woman. My suspicions of her were far from cleared. And while there was such a thing as keeping your enemies close, this would be ridiculous overkill.

"Oh for God's sake. I was kidding. You take things too literally. Now that I know how harmful valerian is to you, I have no intention of getting any of it near you."

"I'm going to burn it." I moved to do just that, but she grabbed me with a surprisingly strong grip.

"No." The panicked edge in her voice grabbed my attention and forced me to turn back.

"I must. We can't take a chance that any of that poison is airborne at this point."

"It's not." She pushed up, craning her head in my direction.

I lifted my brow, making my doubt as clear as if I'd said the words.

"Believe me. If there is one thing I know, it's my own plants." She dropped back into the crook of my arm. "In that you can trust."

"Trust is a dangerous word. And I have little evidence to this point about your trustworthiness."

"That goes both ways, you know."

I cringed a little at the resignation in her tone.

"You may think to imply that you don't trust me. But your body curled up against mine tells a very different story. Do you wish to deny it?"

She snorted. "Nope. In fact, I only have one other question for you and then we can settle this once and for all."

I couldn’t wait to hear this. "And what's that?"

"Are you going to have sex with me or not?"