Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Emma
T he silence was… deafening.
I could hear this buzz in my head, all the things Azar had told me about being his mate bouncing around as if it was having a hard time catching purchase.
I didn’t know how long we’d sat there, Azar on one side of the cave, me on the other. All the things that changed my life irrevocably in the blink of an eye.
“So,” I said softly and drew my focus to Azar from where I’d been staring at the ground. He sat a few feet in front of me, urging me to drink more water and eat more meat, although food was the last thing on my mind.
He didn’t speak, and neither did I, and it was strange to be able to know how much he wanted to take care of me.
I cleared my throat again. “There’s this thing inside you… this thing called a Cord?” He gave a slow nod. “And it awakens when you find your mate?” He stared at me for a prolonged second before giving another nod. Did he not trust his voice to speak like I hadn't so many times in my life? I licked my lips and stared at the fire, churning all this information over. If the council of elders knew any of this, they sure as hell had never told the citizens of the Pit.
Azar was silent, as if he knew I had to work through all of this on my own and without pressure.
“And a dragon shifter—a Dragao—only has one fated mate for his entire existence?”
Again Azar nodded, his focus solely on me, his expression giving nothing away.
“And if you never find your mate, and this Cord is never awoken, you never form a relationship? You’d never… be with a female?”
He exhaled after I spoke, the sound harsh in the stillness of the cavern. He shook his head slowly, his black eyes looking at the flames, his expression stony, yet I could see the intelligence working in those dark orbs, as if he were mulling all of this around too, maybe even wondering if he shouldn’t have told me anything at all, because I probably sounded freaked out as hell.
Didn’t he think I’d try to escape? The smart part of me should have thought of that, but as I stared at Azar, I realized I’d never once thought about trying to leave, trying to run away.
“We have one female destined to be ours and ours alone.” His deep voice startled me after so much silence from him during all of this. His words, the tone, all of it washed through me, and I felt warm and soft in all the places I shouldn’t. “And although she won’t ever feel the Cord, as that is purely a trait of the Dragao”—he slowly slid his gaze back to me—"she will definitely feel a connection. The connection.”
Oh… I definitely felt something toward him, a sensation that made no sense but was the greatest thing in this world. It was an irrevocable tugging that had everything to do with needing to be near Azar, to be as close as two people physically could, to feel his skin against mine, to breathe in his scent. It scared me—I wouldn’t lie—this intensity with which I desired him, a stranger, a shifter. Not a human .
And I thought about all the crazy things that had happened, all the awful things that happened in the Pit that people just turned a blind eye to. There was corruption and degradation that occurred because people were desperate for anything to make their lives easier. This moment with Azar wasn’t the most outrageous situation I could’ve been put in. It certainly wasn’t the most dangerous.
“And the scent that’s constantly around me?—”
“It’s because of my Cord.” The slow growl that followed his words had a shiver moving up my spine. “That scent is me. That scent is just for you . And the longer we deny the mating, the more the desire will consume us, the more my scent will work as an aphrodisiac.”
I shivered at his response, hating that I loved hearing him say these things.
“So you see, Emma, when I say you’re mine , I mean that down to the very makeup of who I am, of what I am made of.”
I let his words sink in before I responded. “And what if your mate doesn’t want you?” I whispered, unsure why the words spilled from me. If my words shocked him, if he thought I was talking about myself, he didn’t let it show. His big body was still as stone, his expression matching that. “If your mate didn’t want you, would you force yourself upon her? Force the mating?”
I did see a flicker of something now cross his face. His jaw clenched, as if my words were his trigger, as if it was unconscionable to even think of. But then again, if this is what every Dragao yearns for—that one female born to be theirs—I could see how the very thought that they couldn’t have her would be like someone ripping their heart out.
For long moments he said nothing, and I desperately wanted to know what was on his mind. He exhaled again and lifted his hand to run it over his hair, his fingers brushing against the base of his horns.
“If our mate wants nothing to do with us, we would not force her.” His voice was torn, his expression now matching that. “We would hope she would need us as much as we needed her, but if she still denied the mating, then we would just be a silent shadow in her life, ensuring she was always safe and protected, always provided for.”
My throat tightened, this tingling starting in the pit of my gut as I thought about what a lonely existence that was for a species like him, where that one person who made them complete and whole wanted nothing to do with them. According to Azar, he had been looking for me, waiting for me his entire life.
I opened my mouth, though I didn’t know what to say. But before anything could be uttered, there was this echoing, ear-splitting roar that pierced through the cave, and I lifted my hands to cover my ears. Gods, whatever was out there was close .
Another roar came through, and my entire body tightened. I looked over at Azar, feeling my eyes widen, feeling real fear fill me for the first time since I’d left the Pit.
And as easily as blowing out a flame, Azar’s entire composure changed. He was standing and striding toward the tunnel that led to the mouth of the cave, this dangerous sound leaving him. I stared at his back, seeing the muscles clench and relax as I looked at that fearsome dragon tattoo that covered the wide expanse.
I found myself following him, survival telling me to stay close to him, that Azar would protect me. He stopped and turned so suddenly that my body slammed into his, my hands instinctively reaching up and landing on his pecs to steady myself. I tilted my head so I could look up at him. His lips peeled back from his teeth, his fangs elongated and sharp and so very white.
He hissed as if my touch burned him, and I was about to pull my hands away, but faster than I anticipated, he placed his warm palms over the backs of my hands, keeping them right where they were as he stared down into my eyes.
He seemed so serious, all the desire he had reflected on his face completely wiped away as pure territorial aggression covered his expression.
“Stay in the safety of the cave.” His fingers tightened around mine, and I felt my heart skip a beat.
Another ground-shaking roar pierced the night, and I could hear pebbles skittering across the dirt floor. He growled even lower, deeper… fiercer. I snapped my head toward where the cave entrance was, my throat tightening, my mouth going dry. I was breathing so hard now, beads of sweat lining my forehead. What if the dragon came into the cave? What if he killed Azar?
Why did that thought cause pain unlike anything I’d ever felt make a home right in the center of my chest?
We stared at each other for a prolonged moment, the tension high, the emotions wild. And before I knew what was happening, Azar was kissing me, his tongue stroking the seam of my mouth. I was so stunned that I gasped against his lips, and he took that as approval to slip his warm, sweet-tasting tongue into my mouth.
He groaned, and I felt his hands tighten against mine as if reflexively. I was shocked by how good and right the kiss felt—my first kiss. And then it was over almost as quickly as it happened. I stumbled back and reached out for the rocky wall to steady myself, my body humming with pleasure that coupled with fear as I heard another roar.
But Azar was already moving away from me, his body seeming bigger the closer he got to the entrance of the cave. I leaned around the corner just as he cleared the mouth and instantly shifted into his dragon.
And although I’d seen him change from dragon to human before, watching his incredibly powerful beast come forth was still the most beautiful thing I’d ever experienced.
The beast turned his huge head to look at me, his wings unfurling and flapping gently. And then he was in-flight, and I was left wondering if I was going to be smart and stay back or head out there and see if I could help Azar stay safe.
The answer was easy as I started making my way toward the entrance of the cave.