NocC 029 - Kendra Leigh Castle - Taming the Dragon - Harlequin 2012-12 Read Free Page A

together, and those big blue eyes
narrowed. “Let me go and you can have it.”
    It was only then that her realized how effectively he’d trapped
her. Newly awakened, he’d been rougher than he might have been otherwise. And
still, she’d neither fought nor screamed. He found himself impressed anew at her
fearlessness with him. Kaden regarded her with fresh curiosity.
    “Why are you not afraid of me?”
    “I...” She trailed off, frowning. “I’m not sure. I’m
just... not .”
    He could see she was as puzzled by the truth as he was. Kaden
considered her, trying to clear the cobwebs from his mind. He’d slept a long
time this time, many years. It took a few hours to be fully alert after such a
sleep. But as his focus sharpened, he noted that nothing was as it should be—the
way her body already curved into his rather than tensing, his own strong
reaction to her presence, her scent. What had the witch sent him?
    Rattled, he found himself stepping away before he could think
better of it, though he put little enough distance between them. Just enough for
him to be able to think.
    “If you try to run—”
    “I won’t.” The glance Tess gave him was full of reproach as she
reached behind her neck to unfasten the necklace.
    Kaden kept still, his expression carefully neutral, though his
hands itched to help her, to show her his touch could be gentle. Why should he
care what this human pawn of the witch thought or felt? It was a question he
knew he would ponder later.
    Tess fiddled with the clasp for a moment, then frowned and
tugged harder. “I can’t get it off.”
    The charm, a tiny silver dragon, slipped from the neck of her
shirt. It glowed brightly, and Kaden’s eyes tracked it as it swung. Of all the
things the witch might have stolen, she’d known to take the piece that had far
more value than just the metal that had formed it. This was his dragyn-ka , a symbol of himself that he would one day
give to his chosen dragoness, a magic-infused representation of their bond. In
his world, he could have taken a mate without it, but no she-dragon worth her
treasure would have been pleased—most would have stormed off, refusing to
consider him. It was their way. He had no longer been in his world, though, and
he had already lost nearly everything that mattered. He had thought himself
beyond feeling in those days, cut off from everything but the hunters who
refused to let him be even here, in a world where he was alone. Still, the loss
of the necklace had been a blow. The dragyn-ka was a
part of him.
    And here it was, wound around the neck of a beautiful
woman.
    She could not remove it. He knew what it meant. But...she was human .
    After a full minute of watching Tess fumble, Kaden blew out a
frustrated breath. She went completely still.
    “Did...did that smoke just now come from you? ”
    The incredulity in her voice nearly surprised a laugh out of
him, and laughter was a rare thing for a dragon. Instead, Kaden caught himself
and allowed a slow, lazy smile. The flicker of hunger he saw in Tess’s eyes sent
heat curling through him.
    “Of course it came from me,” he said softly. “Didn’t the witch
tell you what you were getting yourself into?”
    She shook her head slowly. “I don’t believe in witches.” Her
husky voice was barely a whisper.
    Kaden slipped his fingertips beneath the chain around Tess’s
neck, hearing her soft intake of breath as his skin brushed hers. She was
deliciously warm, nearly as warm as the dragon charm he lifted to toy with. It
had given her heat. His heat.
    He leaned in close, so that his nose was nearly touching hers.
Her breath feathered his face, his lips, and he could feel the remnants of his
anger fading. He wanted this Tess. It wasn’t in his nature to deny himself what
he wanted. And his dragyn-ka , by means fair or foul,
had attached itself to her.
    Kaden watched her lips part, her eyes go hazy. Whatever web the
witch had woven for him, there was no denying that his