Dragons Don't Love Read Free Page B

where I will end his miserable life. I look around and see a
door about eight feet away. The heat from his laughing fire heats
my skin. I run for the door. With all the bad luck I’ve had it’s a
miracle that the door opens and I can slip inside.
    “ What are you doing,
female?” he sing-songs into my head.
    I slam the heavy door just as I see a
goliath foot slamming to the ground in front of the
door.
    “ You are testing my patience
with your stupidity. You think to hide from me? You are exactly
where I want you.” He sniffs loudly along the door. “You will find
what you need and I expect you dressed and ready to attend me in an
hour. Bathe and use the perfumes. I fear you stink and I prefer my
human sacrifice to smell palatable.”
    A heavy thud sounds against the door.
Before I even try to open it, I know I’m caught. I push against the
wood with no luck. He’s blocked the door, so I’m trapped inside. I
pound my fists against the wood in consternation. Something pokes
against one of my feet and I glance down. The diabolical dragon is
sliding my blade beneath the door. I grab it quickly and back up
while my heart pounds in bewilderment.
    The dragon returned my
weapon.

Chapter Six
     
    Laryn
     
    “ Foolish woman,” I mutter as
I fly up to the perch that overlooks the inside of my tower. New
brides always make things difficult. This one believes she is some
type of warrior woman with her acrobatic moves. My inner eyelid
barely closed before her foot connected. Not that her puny blow
would cause harm.
    Hmm. At least she’s entertaining and
not wailing at the top of her lungs like most brides.
    She doesn’t actually stink. I said
that so maybe she’ll relax in a bath and accept her fate. I know
the first mating for a bride is difficult. I shake my great head in
annoyance as I remember Maleah’s gentle reprimand. Maleah, my last
bride, hated me for years for what I did to her on the day of her
claiming. She made me promise I would woo my future bride first.
Just the thought of Maleah made my heart ache. I suddenly closed
down the part of me that remembered her. Wooing is not something a
magnificent creature like me will ever do. It’s best to get the
deed over with and get on with the years of fear and crying before
a bride finally settles into her life.
    “ Uncle Laryn, Uncle Laryn is
she here?”
    Oh hell.
    A pint-sized red dragon swoops into my
tower.
    “ Ashrac, you aren’t allowed
here and you know it. I’m sick of threats from your parents because
you refuse to obey them.”
    He doesn’t even look ashamed and my
demand affects him not at all. “Oh, Uncle Laryn, you know I could
not stay away today. So did you claim her and bring her back to
your castle?” He makes me dizzy as he buzzes around my
head.
    I puff out my chest and cock my head.
“She’s in her room preparing herself,” I say with great pride as
his wings flutter against my scales and soften my heart. He does
this to me all the time. I call him an irritant, but really he’s
kept me sane during the long years of waiting for a bride. His
parents haven’t changed, though. Him refusing to follow their
orders doesn’t help. I think his visits would end if I ever showed
true ire. I can’t. I need him, or at least I did before claiming my
new bride.
    I was able to visit once a month
during his incubation year. Before that, he spent a year within
Acasia’s belly. That was truly a lonely time because Bastian hated
me… still hates me. Acasia is little better with all her rules and
pompous ways that drive me crazy. To think I wanted her as my own
is truly repellent now.
    And then there’s Ashrac. He’s
twenty-five in human years but only about eight in a dragon’s
childhood cycle. He won’t mature fully until he reaches his
one-hundredth dragon year. I sigh internally. Ninety-two more years
of sneaking behind his parents’ backs so he can visit me is
ridiculous. I’ve gotten over my need to steal him. It would cause
too much harm