“Answer my question,” I demanded.
He leaned away to meet my eyes. An amused grin lit up his features. “Your sister is Madam Shadow.”
His words sank in, and I buried my face in my hand. My sister, the same girl who screams at the sight of snakes, married a dragon and helped kill a goddess. “Which means Boohail already has protection?” He nodded. “Son of a bitch.”
Dante barked out a laugh.
“This whole time!”
“This whole time,” he said. “I had just left Boohail the morning I met you. We could have been back before the evening if you had simply told me.”
“Unbelievable.” I closed my eyes, a long-suffering sigh escaping. Yet, in the same breath, relief flooded through me. Boohail was fine. I didn’t need to worry about anyone’s safety or how to get home. I had a dragon more than willing to take me there, or anywhere. “Guess that means I’m free to do as I like.”
“And what would that be, Princess?”
“Hmm. Got any ideas?”
His eyes flashed with something dark and hungry. “Careful, Princess. Leave the decision-making up to me and you’ll end up bent over my throne with a pretty collar around your throat.”
Oh my filé powder, yes.
“How pretty are we talking?”
The speed at which he tossed one Hearthstone to the ground and pulled out the other was almost comical.
A gust of wind and rush of movement was all it took before I was standing in the middle of Dante’s hoard. Gold and precious gems pitted their shine against one another. Each of them failed to garner my attention for more than a passing glance. Not when my dragon’s eyes bled from their calm gray to feral amethyst. Flecks of silver dotted his eyes, like stars in the night sky. A hand lifted my chin, drawing me further into the hypnotizing smolder. So deep, it took a second to register the click around my neck.
I touched my throat and was greeted by cool metal. My fingers snagged on a divot, and I raised them up to see a thin gold chain running from the collar. Dante released his hold on me to chain the other end to his throne.
Wow. Doesn’t waste time, does he?
I gave the chain a small tug and eyed him with suspicion. “Did… did you just have this in your pocket?”
He turned back to me with a grin that could send any woman to her knees. “Is it so wrong for a man to hope?”
I raised a brow. “I guess not. Unless this is the part where you tell me the unicorn was a ruse to trap me here forever?”
Dante always had a regal air about him. From the masculine cut of his jaw to the deepness in his voice. He moved in a way that commanded obedience better than any king. A light tug on my chain and my feet drew me to him of their own accord. The intoxicating scent of rain and man that was so uniquely him, unleashed a hot tide of lust within me, a need so sharp and aching it stole my breath away.
“You may be the one chained, Princess, but make no mistake, I am always at your mercy.” Voice smooth and dark as night, he gripped the back of my neck and dragged me closer until he could run his lips along my temple. “Nevertheless, I am a dragon through and through. I want to take the treasures I hold dearest and hide them away, deep where no one else could dare lay eyes on them. You most of all. Just for a night, let me covet you in a way only one of my kind could understand.”
Sweet dancing coyotes in the moonlight, just fuck me up, you beautiful bastard—
“Say yes, my treasure.”
“Yes.” The word came out in a broken whisper, but I was too needy for him to care.
Still keeping me firmly in place by the back of my neck, his free hand trailed down to the hem of my blouse. “How attached are you to these clothes?”
“They were quite expensive,” I murmured. “Good thing my husband is rich.”
His lips curved against my ear. “That’s my girl.” With a tug, I just was free of cumbersome things, like anything blocking Dante’s impossibly warm hands. My breath hitched when the cool air hit my skin, only to be chased away by searing kisses. My trousers were next, putting up little resistance to Dante’s crusade.
He knelt in front of me, groaning when he ran his hands along the thin fabric of my panties. That, he took his time with. Slowly sliding the fabric down from my ass, trailing the skin with his lips, before he slid it down my legs to toss away. Rough hands skimmed the curve of my ass as he placed a kiss against it. His fingers moved up my spine and trailed back down a tantalizing pattern that had me panting. He squeezed, not hard enough to hurt, but enough to make me gasp before he nipped at my hip.
The barest kiss on my stomach caused me to shiver. Large hands roamed up my sides, memorizing each dip and curve. He glanced up, eyes pleading as if begging me to let him continue. I stroked a hand through his hair and smiled in approval. Another small touch of his lips and he guided me to sit on his throne.
“Come here,” he whispered, pulling me in for a soft kiss. His hands cupped my breasts as his tongue slipped against my lips. Moaning into him, I slid my hands down the waist of his pants, unbuckling them to feel the weight of his cock against my fingers. His hard length twitched beneath my touch. I traced my thumb along the vein protruding from the bottom. “Fuck.” His hand came around my throat, squeezing gently as he whispered in my ear, “You don’t know how many times I’ve imagined you reaching your hands down my fucking trousers.”
