Fire of Stars and Dragons Read Free Page B

sees fit.” He looks to Cait, offering encouragement, then meets my eyes again, and I can see his intentions unveiled. For dragons, the eyes truly are the window into the soul in the way we may read it, determining its darkness, its worth, its innocence. I stand motionless, and he knows. “This is for the best, Theo. It’s the way she will be most safe.”
    Always dragons at heart regardless of the human form we take, the magick making us everything we are spreads throughout from there, giving us the desire to shift, to destroy, lay to waste any threat against our wards. I inhale, deep, slow, following Cedric’s gaze as he turns away from me, looking across the table to his elder son. Continuing to fight what has gone beyond a desire, becoming a need to shift, I want to remove my hand from Cait’s shoulder, fearing I may harm her inadvertently; but I feel her worry, her own fear, and cannot release my hold.
    Corrin pushes his chair back, standing. The vampire is doing his best to ignore me and directs his gaze to Cait. “As your king, I intend to ensure your safety, Cait. I will take you as my wife, resolving this issue myself.”
    Glancing to Oliver’s face, I see a rather unsettled expression yet am overwhelmed by a sudden jolt, as though a massive electrical shock ran through my veins, and I realize Cait’s hand is on mine, her skin touching mine. She initiated contact, the honor bond of dragon and ward now formed, but it felt unlike any other. Everything inside me hums, electrified by her touch, making my hand grip her shoulder as anxiety, fear, and repulsion from Cait hit me in crashing waves.
    Emitting a menacing, low, territorial growl, I glare at the king in dark warning. “No. She. Is. Mine.”
     

Chapter 2
     
     
    *Cait*
     
     
    The ‘whose growl is scarier’ contest going on between Theo and the king, which Theo is winning hands-down, ceases. I’ll have to remember never to anger a dragon. I thought vampires could growl, but no, dragons are deafening when infuriated. Even in human form.
    No offense to the vampire as our monarch, but King Corrin behaves like a pompous womanizer, treating them as his personal playthings from everything I’ve heard. It’s disgusting the way he uses them, the way he uses anyone to his advantage, and I want no part of it, to be another conquest.
    I’m not denying he’s gorgeous, but beauty is only skin-deep. Twisted sycophant goes to the bone.
    Pretty packaging doesn’t make a bad gift any better. Brussels sprouts are Brussels sprouts no matter how you prepare them. Bunny rabbits may not look like New York City sewer rats, but they’re still rodents.
    Take me as his wife? Holy hopping hell-bunnies. I think if I’d have managed to eat anything before court today I’d vomit at his half-baked resolution.
    But then my mind whirls, recalling incredible, unusual green eyes gazing down at me, the way his raven hair fell against the golden armor on his shoulder as he smiled, watching me peeking from behind him in the courtroom. Theo.
    “No. She. Is. Mine.”
    Those words ring in my ears. I want them and fear them. He’s a dragon. What that means in this situation, I’m not even sure. Do dragons marry? I can’t say with certainty his claim implied marriage. He did promise to protect me. It occurs to me my hand is still on his, contact I initiated just before his declaration. I move it to my lap, and his retreats to the back of my chair, but there’s a definitive sense of disconnection, touching him appealing to my body with as much natural ease as breathing.
    For the first time, Dante speaks, his voice smooth, a softened Scottish lilt dripping off his every word. “Perhaps this would be an excellent time to offer a relatively neutral solution to our conundrum over Caitriona’s situation.” He said nothing during court, sitting, absorbing everything, a picturesque view on the dais with flawless fair complexion, dark-as-night hair, and striking blue eyes.
    Dante is