Bonus Scene
“Shadow,” a deep voice rumbles from the doorway.
I jerk upright in bed and instinctively cover myself with my blanket, only to relax when I realize who is it.
Augustine. Wait. He’s in my bedroom. In the Skaldrathian castle.
Where he should be explicitly forbidden from entering…
if Sylas knew he was alive, that is. Thankfully, he doesn’t know yet, and I’d like to keep it that way. For all of our sakes.
“Augustine,” I rasp, my throat raw. He softly shuts the door behind him as I continue, “You’re not supposed to be here.”
“I had to see you.” His golden eyes pierce through the room’s darkness.
He strolls toward me like a haunting angel of night, garbed in sleek leather armor that clings to his chiseled chest, and a black cape that billows out around him like tucked-back wings.
He’s walking perfection, and he’s mine. And he’s seriously not supposed to be here right now.
Literally, this is quite possibly the worst idea he’s ever had.
“Sylas is going to kill you,” I say, closing my book with a little thud.
The candle flickers on my bedside table, as if coaxing me to read one more page.
Lately, that’s all I’ve been doing… reading.
Spending my days tucked away in the library with Bella, and my nights lying awake in bed, pouring myself into books.
Tonight, I was reading about the history of Skaldrathia, mostly to occupy my mind on something other than him.
Augustine. The same man who drops down to his knees at my bedside, his sunburst gaze lifting to meet mine.
My lips part, and a silent breath escapes me.
He’s supposed to be hiding in the Meadowlark Forest with the Valenorian refugees right now, far away from the Skaldrathian castle.
Not here… in my bedroom. “I’m serious,” I say.
“He’s going to obliterate you once he finds out that you’re here… ” I give him a pointed look.
“I’d like to see him try,” he quips with a grin.
“Ugh!” I cast aside my blanket and book, and swing my legs over the side of the bed to stand. “You are a fool for coming here, Augustine. I was going to visit you, it’s just—”
“Then I’m a fool in love.” His grin widens as he looks up at me.
I stare down at him speechlessly as I cup his face in my hands.
The candlelight sweeps through his hair, which is half pulled-up in a bun.
I reach out to run my fingers through it, sighing at how soft it feels.
“A fool, nonetheless,” I say, softer this time, searching his features for any hint of fear and finding none, which only makes my heart ache.
He’s going to get himself killed. Goddamnit.
“You have no magic,” I remind him. “You’re a mortal now.
Which means you must be careful. Especially when it comes to vengeful dragon kings who are in the throes of their wedding preparations.
” The last sentence makes my heart sink, but it’s true.
I must marry the Dragon King. The fate of the realm depends on it.
And Augustine is going to royally fuck everything up.
“I don’t need magic to fend off the Dragon King,” Augustine says, shrugging off his scabbard and setting it on the floor with a heavy clunk. He unties his cape next and folds it on the floor beside the weapon, then peels off his gloves and casts them aside too.
“What are you doing?” I ask, watching him undress with intrigue.
He unbuttons his shirt and pulls it over his head next, revealing a toned chest made of chiseled, rock-hard muscle.
Then he stands. As he scans my confused expression, he takes my hands in his and sets them over his heart.
“What I mean is that I don’t need magic to fend off the Dragon King. Not when I have this,” he says softly.
“Not when you have what?” I ask, confused, but also consumed by the pectoral muscles flexing underneath my fingertips.
I bite down on my tongue to keep myself focused.
Now is not the time to encourage him. Or fuck him.
There will be absolutely no fucking him, Shay.
Not under the Dragon King’s watch. No. Absolutely not. It’s too risky.
“My heart,” he declares, looking proud of himself.
It takes me a moment to realize what he means.
A hysterical sound escapes my throat. “Your heart isn’t going to protect you from the wrath of a Dragon King. Especially not after he finds you in my bedroom.” I eye him up and down and add with a cough, “Shirtless.”
“You are my heart, Raven,” he replies with cordial ease, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “And as long as I have you, I can do anything. Including fight a dragon.”
My mouth falls open.
Well, I hadn’t been expecting for him to say that.
He sits down on the bed and tugs me onto his lap.
I go willingly, still reeling from his quiet admission, my body falling against his arms. Heart fluttering, I run my hands over both of his biceps, pausing over his spellmarks and studying them closely.
They’re still there, once as bright and golden as all the stars, now reduced to nothing but faint outlines of what once was.
Proof that he’s no longer a god.
My heart twists in my throat.
“You should go…” I murmur, preparing to chastise him with my next breath. But instead, I end up exhaling deeply as his lips trail down the length of my neck.
Ohh, fuck. That feels nice.
“I promised I’d never leave you again,” he whispers, running his lips across my collarbone, “and I’m not about to break that promise now.
Especially not with that snake holding you up in this castle like a prisoner.
” His golden eyes flint with protective sparks, and my heart soars like I’m flying.
I tip my head back, granting him easier access to my neck, only to mull over his words with a pause.
“I’m a prisoner again,” I say in realization, snapping my head up.
He pulls away and studies me quietly, looking forlorn.
“The guards… they’re always watching,” I continue, my brows pinching in thought.
“I tried visiting you sooner. But ever since that wraith sighting, Sylas has had me on strict lockdown protocol.” I recall the way one of the guards flung me over his shoulder just yesterday, in my attempt to sneak away into the forest. Maxine almost lit his ass to a crisp, but I told her it wasn’t worth starting a fight with a dragon over.
Who knows where that might lead.
“I’ll tear them apart for you if you ask it of me,” Augustine says, lightly brushing his thumb over my bottom lip. It’s only then that I realize I’m straddling him, and I flush from the hardness pressing up against my leg.
“No, Augustine. If you meddle with the dragons, there will be war. In fact, you need to leave here at once. I command you.” But instead of pushing him away, I run my hands over his forearms, my fingertips buzzing against the warmth of his skin.
He threads his fingers into my hair and kisses my collarbone in response.
Ugh, he never listens.
“Being here is too risky,” I choke out. “And I won’t lose you. Not again. I can’t.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Raven,” he murmurs, his hands roaming over my body and settling on my waist, just as the bulge between us grows larger. “I made you a vow, and I intend on following it.” He presses his lips against the shell of my ear to confirm this vow.
I groan at how hard he is.
“I need you to see reason,” I rasp as he pulls me into a kiss.
A deep kiss. And gods, his lips taste sweeter than sin.
Our mouths collide in a frenzy of hot desire, and my lips puff from the exhilaration of it.
I pull away, even though I wish desperately that I could spend all night drinking him in.
But that would be irresponsible. Especially after what I heard earlier at dinner.
“Sylas boasted over his venison that if he ever found you, he’d murder you,” I recall.
“You must promise me that you’ll hide away in the forest with the others.
You must swear that you’ll let the wedding festivities go as planned.
That you won’t intervene. Augustine, he must not know that you’re alive.
I need you to fucking listen to me.” I set both hands on his face and look him dead in the eye.
Augustine only smiles in response, his gaze roaming over my body, eyes twinkling.
“Augustine—” I start again, adopting a sterner voice this time. But my next words falter as he reaches up and cups my breasts on the outside of my silky nightshirt, his movements eliciting a deep groan from my throat. Fuck.
“You are a goddess, Raven,” he growls as he dips both hands underneath my shirt and cups my breasts.
A shiver overtakes me, and I buckle against his chest with another moan, this one more enthusiastic than the first. “A literal goddess walking this realm. You do not obey the whims of any man, the Dragon King included. You may be with whoever you wish, whenever you choose. So if you truly wish for me to leave, I will do as you ask. But something tells me that you don’t.
” He nips at my bottom lip with his teeth.
“Tell me all your desires, and I will make them come true. What do you really need?”
“I need…” My voice cracks. He kneads my breasts, rolling my nipples between his fingertips.
“I need…” I drift off, desperate for another kiss, desperate for him to pinch my nipple harder, desperate for him to stay and breathe the goddamn life back into me before I spontaneously combust from being locked in a castle again, this one colder.
“I need you…” I manage to get out as our lips collide, and my mind unravels at the seams.
What was I saying again?