15. Talon
15
TALON
I was alone in my bedchambers, in my usual spot in front of the fireplace. Raindrops pelted the windowpane across the room, the drops tapping against the glass because of the rage of the wind.
My hips ached to be between the soft thighs of the woman down the hall, but my mind was too shrouded in anger to desire company. My whores had been neglected and ignored. They’d come to visit more than once, but I sent them away. Told them to service the guards who protected me night and day instead.
The men were very appreciative.
“Do you ever do anything else?”
My eyes shifted to the armchair that had been empty a moment ago.
There he sat, in his midnight-blue armor, arrogance in his stare. “Kings are too busy slaying to sit in front of the fire like an old man.”
“A king who slays without a plan is a dead king.”
“A king who sits on his ass is no king at all.”
I stared at my adversary, the monster who had access to me whenever he wished, who had a grip on me that would never slacken. “I have one chance at this. It needs to be done right. When I march on those gates, it must end in victory. If not, then everything I’ve done will be in vain.” It’ll mean Calista suffered at the hands of General Titan in the Arid Sands needlessly. That the dead were pulled from their crypts unnecessarily. That the people who are about to die will die for no reason.”
Bahamut listened, his fingers brushing across his chin.
“The legends say there’s a secret society of dragon defenders somewhere in these lands. I’ve had scouts searching the wilds for the last decade. If they exist, they must reside in the most inhospitable locations to avoid detection. But I’ll find them.”
“If you’ve been searching ten years to no avail, your scouts suck or the dragons don’t exist.”
“I believe they do.”
He sank into the chair and crossed his ankle over the opposite knee. “You don’t have that much time, Talon. Find that second dragon and take your fleet of ships to enemy lines. Win the war. I’ve handed you the victory.”
“When a king falls upon his own sword, he’s always pierced by his own arrogance.”
Bahamut stared, his fingers moving to the wooden armrest. “It’s been ten years, Talon. A lot can change. He may already be dead. Or he may be getting stronger with every passing year. You can’t sit around waiting for the perfect time because there is no perfect time. It seems like you’re stalling.”
My eyes narrowed. “You have a lot of fucking balls to say that to me.”
“Maybe you’re subconsciously stalling.”
“It’s all I think about—night and day. Hatred is the air in my lungs. Fire is the blood in my veins. Time has not weakened my resolve. It hasn’t dulled my rage. It’s made it infinitely worse. Doubt my commitment again, and see what happens.”
“I don’t doubt your commitment, Talon. I just think you’re afraid.”
“Afraid?” My jaw clenched at the insult.
“Afraid you’ll lose. Afraid you won’t avenge those you love. Afraid that your entire purpose in staying alive will be for nothing. Afraid that you’ll not only fail them once—but twice.”
A knock sounded on the door.
I was in the armchair in the sitting room, staring at the bookshelf as I considered my next move. “Enter.” I expected it to be my servant with dinner, dinner that wouldn’t get eaten because I had no appetite.
But it was Calista.
She walked inside, wearing one of her nightdresses, her hair slightly damp like she’d recently taken a shower. Her arms were discolored by bruises from our training the other day. She was in much better shape than the last time we trained, but she couldn’t escape my hits. She studied me as she moved to the other armchair. “Still mad at me?”
My temple was propped against my closed knuckles. “I’m always mad.”
“Well, is that anger directed at me, specifically?”
I dropped my hand and straightened. “No.”
“Then why haven’t I seen you?”
“Busy.” Busy thinking about my shortcomings and inadequacies.
Her eyes tried to cut my veil and catch the lie.
I’d thought about her several times, but my mood was always too sour to pursue it. I chose to spend my time brooding in front of warm fireplaces.
“You…you want to talk about it?”
I didn’t even bother responding to that.
“You want me to leave?”
“Did I ask you to leave?”
“No.”
“If I didn’t want you here, you would know.”
She held my gaze for a second longer before she looked at the fire.
I assumed she’d come here because she wanted me, but she was either too shy to say it or lacked the confidence to show it. It was an interesting contradiction with the rest of her personality, which ran hotter than Khazmuda’s fire. I left the armchair and approached hers, watching her eyes move to me, the pulse quickening in her throat. My hand slid into her hair, fisted it at the back, and forced her head back so I could kiss her hard on the mouth.
She reciprocated it immediately, her fingers wrapping around my wrist, her breath filling my lungs.
I lowered myself to my knees and scooped my hands under her ass, tugging her to the edge of the armchair so she was up against me. My mouth devoured hers, feeling that scorching heat between our bodies the second they came into contact. She was the match that lit my logs ablaze. I didn’t kiss my whores. I didn’t warm them up the way I did with her. I gave my commands and watched them be obeyed.
But I didn’t mind this.
My hands scooped under her ass and lifted her into the air.
Her ankles immediately crossed at my back.
She kissed me as I carried her to the bed, her fingers deep in the back of my hair, her touches too sincere to be manipulative. When she said she hated me, she meant it. But when she kissed me, she meant it even more.
I laid her on the bed as I rolled on top of her, her hands immediately moving down to the waist of my trousers. Her fingers slid underneath the band and yanked them down, taking my boxers too, and then my cock was free. Once her lack of confidence disappeared and her true nature shone through, she slipped her fingers into her own panties and pulled them over her ass. She was in such a rush that it seemed as if she’d been thinking about me long before she’d walked through the door.
I pushed her dress up to her tits and guided myself inside her, fitting in without resistance for the first time. The pool of wetness that greeted me was so substantial, it pulled a moan out of my clenched jaw. “Damn.” I sank inside her in a smooth glide until I hit her limit. “You’ve been thinking about me for a while.”
Her eyes lost their confidence, a wave of shame moving over her face.
That turned me on even more. My hand slid underneath her lower back, and I tilted her farther, deepening the angle and bringing our bodies close together. I started to thrust inside her, my face directly above hers, claiming her land as my own. It took her a moment to get lost with me, too ashamed that I’d discovered her secret to thrive. My hand gripped her neck, and my thumb rested in the corner of her mouth, forcing her stare to latch on to mine. “You’re all I ever think about, baby.”
Her eyes locked on mine for a few breaths before her hands made contact with my chest. Her sexy legs circled my waist, and her ankles rested together just at the top of my ass. Her hips started to work as she rocked with me, as she let the embarrassment leave and the desire enter.
My lips closed down on hers, and I kissed her, hearing her moan inside my mouth. Her hands went to my back, and her nails clawed into my flesh, slowly dragging down over the muscles on either side of my spine. She clung to me tighter and tighter, like she was already on the verge of euphoria, when we’d barely started.
I raised myself above her and rocked my hips harder, in an elongated motion to grind against her, to give her the release she’d come here for. She was anxious for it. I could feel it in her tightness.
Her breathing changed right away when she felt me grind into her nub, her breaths growing shaky and unpredictable. She clawed down my arms as she rocked back into me, the skin of her chest and neck tinted red from the heat between our bodies. We’d been together enough times for me to know her tells, and I knew when her nails went a little deeper, she became a little tighter, and she held her breath, she’d hit her threshold.
She moaned right in my face, her hips jerking uncontrollably, eyes glistening with happy tears. She became so wet, so tight, and it was so good it was practically torture.
Because I had to be a gentleman and let her finish.
I hadn’t been aroused when she’d walked into the room, just brooding and angry, but she brought me to the threshold instantly, turning me on with her wetness and desperation. I gave my final pump then released inside her, dumping all my seed into her tightness, the cords in my neck so tight they were about to pop.
Fuck, it felt good.
Her legs squeezed me close like she wanted to catch every last drop.
It passed in a whirlwind, and then I was left with the sweat against the back of my neck. I dipped my head and kissed the corner of her mouth before I pulled out and stepped away, the draft moving over my sweaty skin. I headed straight for the shower and stood under the warm water and let it wash away the sweat. The tension and despair were still deep in my muscles, but her touch had brushed it out of my mind—at least for the time being.
When I was done, I dried off and returned to the bedroom, expecting to see her asleep in my bed like last time. I would sit in the armchair by the fire or return to the sitting room until she woke up or morning arrived—whatever came first.
But the bed was empty.
Her clothes were gone.
She’d already left.
I was sitting in my study when Commander Navarrese entered my chambers. “Your Highness, scouts from the northeast say they’ve spotted the dragon you seek. Blood-red like the sunset.”
I looked up from the missive I was writing, the quill going steady in my hand. “When?”
Commander Navarrese didn’t glance at the note. “The note is dated a week ago.” He brought it to my desk and set it down for me to examine.
I unrolled the scroll and scanned through the message and description. It sounded like the dragon I’d encountered years ago. In the mountains adjacent to the Lonely Forest. It was lonely because no one lived there due to the marshes. They looked harmless at a glance, but they were bottomless. That was what the locals had told me. A perfect place for a dragon to thrive in peace.
What is it? Khazmuda must have felt my excitement.
Inferno .
The mighty dragon has been spotted?
The description matches my memory.
You think it’s wise to approach him again?
Doesn’t matter whether it is or isn’t. We leave at first light.
I’ll make sure to hunt. Is Pretty coming with us?
Yes.
Good. I miss her.
I left my study and headed down the hallway until I approached her bedchambers. The guards were still posted outside even though she didn’t seem like a flight risk to me anymore. She was far too intrigued by my agenda to walk away, too enamored of the way I made her feel.
I let myself inside and found her practicing with her sword, trying to spin it around her wrist the way I did but losing the balance in the hilt and making it topple over. She dropped it to the floor when she realized I was there.
My instinct was to tease her, but I didn’t want to sabotage her confidence.
She quickly picked up the sword and returned it to the scabbard. “What?” Her tone was cold to mask her embarrassment.
I walked up to her, watching her keep her eyes down and avoid my gaze, focusing on her sword like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
I took it from her, and she reluctantly let go. “Let me show you.” I pulled the blade out of the scabbard and gripped it by the hilt. It was so light, it felt like a dagger to me, so I was careful not to put too much of a flick in my wrist. “Let it fall first—and then flick.” I showed her, letting the previous momentum launch it before I gave it a spin. “It’s not just in the wrist but the fingers too. Try it.”
Her eyes smoldered in anger, but she didn’t release it. Her desire to learn was greater than her wounded pride. She took the blade and copied the motion, missing it the first time but grasping it the second.
“You got it.”
She spun it again before she returned the sword to the scabbard. “So, what do you want?”
“You’re still going to greet me that way?”
She finally looked up to meet my gaze. “How else am I supposed to greet you?”
My eyes flicked back and forth between hers, seeing the distant fires in her gaze. She always ran hot, always sent out sparks at the most unexpected times. Her fire had burned me so many times, but I was still addicted to her flames, the way she wore her emotions right on her sleeve. I never had to guess what she was thinking. “Like this.” My hand slid into her hair, and I kissed her, a soft kiss that defied that hardness between us.
She immediately relaxed at my touch, her anger sheathed like my kiss was the scabbard. Her lips softened against mine, and she closed her eyes, my mouth the antidote to her venom. She kissed me back, her gentle lips loving when they’d been angry just seconds before.
I pulled away and looked at her, my hand still deep in her hair. “The dragon has been spotted. We leave at dawn.”
The shock spread across her face. “What?”
“It took a week for this information to get to me, so Inferno may have already moved on, but maybe he hasn’t.”
“Inferno?”
“That’s his name.”
“Oh. That doesn’t sound terrifying.”
“Khazmuda means silent killer in Dragon.”
“Dragons have their own language?”
“Yes. Dragons have been isolated for so long that the language has become archaic and dead. Not sure how many of them still use it. But Khazmuda remembers.”
“How old is Khazmuda?”
“Ancient.”
“So dragons are immortal?”
“Their hearts will beat forever—unless they’re pierced.”
She gave a nod.
“And those who are fused with dragons are blessed with that same immortality as long as the bond is in place.”
Her eyes shifted away for a moment before they widened, like understanding had kicked in. “That’s why you don’t age.”
So, we had met, and our interaction had been significant enough that she remembered my face. She had to have been a child at the time, but I struggled to place her after the many kingdoms I’d conquered in my campaign. I stared at her face as I tried to piece it together. She was beautiful and unforgettable, but her innocence as a child must have made her unremarkable to me.
She seemed to realize what she’d said because her eyes were guarded once they looked at me again.
I wanted the truth, but she would never tell me. “Prepare for departure. And sleep well. It’s the last time you’ll have a bed for a while.”