Dragon's Promise. Denise Lynn

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ your father is marrying you off as quickly as he can is because he knows that dragons mate for life.”

      “Mate?” She jumped up from the bed and glanced toward the door. “You talk like an animal.”

      “Of course I do.” If she thought she was going to make a break for it and get out of this room, she was sadly mistaken. He stepped close enough that he could feel her confusion. “Do you forget what I am?”

      Before she could answer, the wispy form of his dragon rose up from him, surrounding him. He stood in the center of the smoky creature and stared at her as his beast leaned forward to capture her gaze.

      Spellbound by the glittering stare holding her captive, Caitlin shivered at the display of control and power before her.

      Sean crossed his arms against his chest and asked, “Are you afraid, Caitlin?”

      The beast lowered its head, sniffing her, chuffing her scent, and then rose up, its mouth open, fangs bared, growling in obvious displeasure.

      “You should be afraid. Far more afraid of me than you are of your parents.”

      Caitlin respected her parents, didn’t want to disappoint them any more than she already had and yes, to a certain extent, she did fear their wrath. However, her fear of him had the added element of possible death—hers. Summoning as much bravado as she could, Caitlin stared at him, asking, “You plan on terrifying me to prove that point?”

      “No. But you need to understand there are no options for you.”

      “There are always options.” There had to be.

      “No.” He circled her slowly, his beast moving with him. “Any option was lost when you carried the child to term. Had we not been mated, it’s doubtful you would have been pregnant in the first place and even if by some chance you had, you would have lost the baby long before it was born. It’s the nature of the beast—a way to prevent unwanted changelings.”

      A tiny part of her mind wondered if that was the reason her parents had essentially locked her away during her pregnancy. Since she had been ravenous the entire time, they’d said it was to protect the human population. Had they lied? Had it been done in hope that the baby would perish? No. She swatted down the thought. Even though they had withheld this mating information, she was certain they would never stoop so low. “Even if that’s true, and we are...mated...it doesn’t mean we have to have anything to do with each other once Sean is rescued.”

      “True. You’re right.” He agreed with her but then added, “However, there are two problems with having no contact. No matter what happens, you will never marry another man. Ever.” The smooth curve of a talon traced her spine, making her shiver with fear and unexpected longing. “Do you understand me?”

      “No. I don’t. That doesn’t make any sense. We aren’t in love. We have no intentions of marrying each other.”

      “Perhaps not. But dragons mate for life.”

      He’d already said that. “And?”

      “I can never take another mate while you live.”

      She closed her eyes. This was too much. She heard his words, but they made little sense. Pinning her gaze back on his, she asked, “So, if I don’t stay with you, you’ll spend the rest of your life alone?”

      “Since I have no intention of raising a son without a mother, no, I would not live alone.”

      That meant— Her mind screamed. Wait a minute! No. He couldn’t be serious. Could he? She felt as if she were choking on her own breath. “You would kill me?”

      He lifted one eyebrow. “How dark is that cave where your mind goes?” He shook his head. “No, I have no intention of killing you. But you are my mate. You are my child’s mother. And that’s where the second problem comes into play. If you want to see the child grow up, you’ll need to live here and trust me, you aren’t doing so with a husband in tow.”

      Her stomach knotted at the implication. “Are you planning to take him away from me?”

      “Absolutely. He is mine.” A low, menacing growl raced hot against her ear. “What do you care? You were going to give him to strangers.”

      She trembled with dread. Her heart ached at the idea of losing her son forever. “That wasn’t my idea.”

      “I didn’t hear you argue with your mother about it.”

      Argue with her mother? That would have been a fine waste of time, since the woman would have simply ignored her. Never, for one second, had she worried about giving her son away—she’d had every intention of escaping with him and disappearing for good. “You don’t understand.”

      “What don’t I understand? That you were going to give my child to another family in the St. George clan?” His voice was tight with what she recognized as anger. “What were they going to do with him?” He grasped her arms and threw her mother’s words in her face. “Run a sword through him and roast him on a spit like a pig?”

      “No!” She tried to jerk free. “It’s not like that.”

      “Then tell me what it is like.” His hold on her arms tightened. “Tell me how much love and affection the child would have received from a clan who so obviously despises what he might become.”

      “Stop it. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

      “It does make me wonder, though. Would you have attended the child’s funeral wearing black? Would you have mourned his death? Or would you have avoided the event altogether?”

      Her heart beat hard and fast, making breathing difficult. The smooth huskiness of his voice, more beast now than man, frightened her more than she ever thought possible. She kicked at him, twisted her arms to claw at him.

      He threw her onto the bed, landing on top of her. She swung her fists. When he did nothing more than laugh, she bared her fangs and hissed.

      Sean nearly laughed in her face. “You want fangs?” He turned her head with the palm of his hand, shoving her cheek into the pillow, holding her still, and sank the tip of his fangs into the tender curve where her neck met her shoulder.

      His bite laced anger through Caitlin’s growing horror. She struggled to shove him away, but he tightened his hold, sending a wave of pain shooting across her shoulder.

      “Let me go.”

      His beast only growled, making her wonder who was in control—the man or the dragon.

      Immortality had been her birthright from her father. She’d always taken comfort knowing that outside of having her heart, or head, ripped from her body, or starving to death, nothing would end her life.

      However, with Sean’s deadly fangs lodged so close to her neck, her immortality was in grave danger. The sticky warmth of her own blood soaking into her clothes only served to confirm the danger.

       Submit.

      The deep raspy voice of the beast flowed into her mind. But submitting to him wasn’t an option. While the Drakes and St. Georges СКАЧАТЬ