Chapter 3
Harper
It’s late. I’m lying in bed, exhausted after a day spent running around in the woods, and an evening back at the academy. Even a dinner spent with the irritated dragon riders wasn’t enough to distract me from my thoughts, especially since the princes weren’t there to keep my mind occupied.
Who would have thought I’d miss having them at a meal?
My mind is raging. No matter what I do, my thoughts keep circling to the princes, and the Hollowborn.
I’m not going to pretend to know as much about the Hollowborn as the men who have literally fought them, who have watched their friends die at the hands of our enemies.
But I also think that by being removed from the Hollowborns, I have the ability to put aside the past bloodshed and focus on what’s best for the future.
Unless I’m just being naive.
Sighing, I slip out of bed, put on my slippers, and shrug into my robe before closing it over my short nightgown.
I’m only a little hungry, but right now I feel like snacking is the only thing that’s going to help me finally go to sleep.
I pad out of my room and into the darkened halls.
I pass the occasional guard as I make my way to the academy kitchens.
This place, it’s almost nice at night. You know, without all the testosterone.
I catch a glimpse of the training yard and freeze.
It’s the training yard where Prince Alaric had hit me, where Prince Lucien had exposed me.
It’s the place Prince Gareth had challenged me countless times.
It feels like a battlefield, but for reasons entirely different from the ones I’m meant to see.
“They’re a pack of assholes, the lot of them,” I whisper, leaning against the wall.
Will there ever be a day that I get along with the princes?
Against my will, my thoughts turn to Ebron and the female dragons he seems to be taking an interest in.
The princes’ dragons. If he mates with them, I’m expected to marry the princes.
But even if nature itself dictates this type of relationship, I have no idea if it’ll actually change things for us.
Chances are we’ll be married and hating each other.
I need to talk to Ebron as soon as I can do it without bothering him. Every time I’ve checked in with my dragon, he’s been happily content with the three female dragons. I knew he’d come if I called, but I didn’t want to interrupt him. He’s earned a bit of happiness.
Moving on, I enter the quiet kitchens, find a loaf of bread, and some cheese, and sit on a table against the wall, snacking.
The homey foods bring my troubled thoughts a bit of relief.
Good food, good health, good friends, and good family, that’s all a person really needs.
A pang echoes through my chest as I think of Arthur and my family. I miss them so damn much it hurts.
There’s a slight noise outside the kitchen door. I stiffen, eyes fixed on the sound when Prince Lucien comes striding in wearing an open robe, black shorts, and no shirt. His gaze sweeps the room before it lands on me, and his eyes widen.
“What are you doing here?” he asks, surprised.
“Probably the same thing as you,” I counter, lifting up a piece of bread that I’d stuffed some cheese on. “The nighttime munchies.”
He gives me a funny look, but crosses the room toward me. His gaze moves to the bread and cheese beside me, and he slices off a piece of both and begins eating, a thoughtful expression on his face. Which can only mean trouble for me.
“I didn’t see you or your brothers at dinner tonight.”
My words bring annoyance to his face. “We were lost in the woods for a while.”
I choke on the bread and cheese in my mouth as I start laughing hysterically. “Really? I thought you knew those woods.”
He glowers at me. “We haven’t exactly trampled through the woods very often. Our focus was on the sky.”
I try to get my laughter under control. And fail. “So you three were lost most of the day?” My voice goes up a pitch. “Just walking in circles. The three great princes of the Dravari, completely lost.”
The way he eats his bread and cheese is almost vicious as he moves closer to me. He leans down, eyes narrowed. “It’s not funny. I was hungry all day.”
For some reason, that makes me laugh even harder. “You couldn’t even figure out what to eat in the woods?”
He finishes his food and crosses his arms in front of his chest.
“You’re like tiny little babies,” I wheeze.
“We’re not–”
“If I were to get lost in the woods, I’d be just fine.
I know how to make a fire. How to forage for food.
Even how to trap and kill my prey to eat.
I’d be sleeping peacefully, food in my belly, fresh water nearby.
But you three big, strong princes can’t handle that?
What do they even teach you?” I say, setting my food down next to me. “Just to wipe your princely bottoms?”
He steps forward, so he’s suddenly between my legs. His hands come down on both sides of the table I’m sitting on, and the heat from his body sweeps over mine, sending a chill down my spine that stops my laughter. I don’t know why I’m so warm, or why the room is so small.
“I have a lot of skills. Want to see them?”
My breath hitches. “But, apparently, those skills don’t help you when you’re lost in the woods.”
I don’t know why I goad him. Why I don’t stop myself.
His gaze narrows and sweeps to my lips. “My skills are far more useful than that.”
I swallow around the growing lump in my throat. “I seriously doubt that.”
“Try me,” he says, his voice a low growl.
I don’t know what to say, so I just stare. And stare. His lips slowly lower, closer, closer, until they hover an inch from mine. His breath is warm on my mouth. Energy crackles between us in a way that’s hard to understand. It makes it difficult to think.
Then, giving me all the time in the world, he closes the distance between our lips and kisses me. Lightning splits through my body, and my back goes stiff. His lips are hard and possessive as they kiss me over and over again, all-consuming in a way I’m inexperienced with.
His hands leave the table, grab me, and pull me closer.
A groan slips from his lips, practically vibrating against mine.
I reach up and dig my hands into his wild blond hair, the silky strands falling between my fingertips.
He seems to like that, because his hands slip down my back, to my ass, and jerk me against the hard evidence of his arousal.
I moan, and he slips his tongue against mine. The feeling of his tongue inside of me makes my knees go weak, and heat pools at my core. Every movement of his agile tongue makes me think about what he could do with it between my legs, and the thought has me grinding against him.
He makes a choked sound and, unable to help myself, I reach between us, tugging his shorts so they fall down to his ankles. His entire body stiffens as I curl my hand around him and start stroking.
“Fuck,” he groans. “Fuck.” And then his lips slip down my neck, sucking along the way.
He’s wet. Precum is beading his cock. I rub my hand down him, spreading the liquid, getting him ready. It’s different, touching him. The sheer size of him is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. I’ve had a few partners, but the difference between Lucien and them is night and day.
I picture him inside of me as he sucks on my neck, making my eyes roll back in my head. I bet he’d be able to work me in ways no other man has before. It’d probably be hard to just get myself around him, but once I did, every nerve in my body would be singing with pleasure with his every stroke.
He slips his hand into my underwear, and I jerk in shock as his fingers brush my sensitive nerves. “Fuck,” he whispers. “You’re so damn wet.”
Of course I’m wet. Of course I’m going crazy wanting this terrible, sexy prince. Who could blame me when this man looks like one of the gods? When his cock is such an impressive size that I actually think he deserves to be more cocky than he already is?
His fingers are incredible. He’s stroking me slowly, obviously not in a hurry. He knows exactly how to play me like an instrument, sending tingles through my legs. I grip his shoulder with my free hand and continue to stroke him in time with how he strokes me. He’s breathing hard, gripping onto me.
“Harper,” he groans my name, the sound making the hairs on my neck stand on end.
He rips off my underwear, gripping it in his hand, then takes a step back from me, so I can’t touch him any longer.
Then he steps forward, leaning me back on the table, and slowly pushes my nightgown up before spreading my legs.
His breath hitches, and says, “This is how you’re supposed to be. Legs spread just for me.”
“Prince Lucien…” I murmur.
“Just Lucien,” he tells me, stepping between my thighs and giving a shuddering breath. “I’m just glad you finally figured out your place.”
My eyes were fluttering shut, but I stiffen at his words. Figured out my place? Fuck. What am I doing? I’m ruining any chance I have at being respected here is what I’m doing. I’m making the biggest mistake of my life.
I jerk up and climb off the table, practically racing to the door of the kitchen. Turning back I see him hard, erect, and naked other than his robe, staring after me in confusion, and the sight of him almost destroys my resolve.
“What are you doing?” he asks. “Come back here.”
I shake my head.
“Harper…”
“Just throw me my underwear,” I say.
He lifts up my underwear, glances at it, then back at me. “If you want it, come get it.”
If I get closer, he’s going to pull me back into his arms. And I’m not going to resist.
“Fuck you! You learn your place!”
As I turn, I hear him shout my name again, but I just keep running. I run all the way until I reach my room, then I shut the door, and slide my back down it until I’m on the floor. What the hell did I just do? And was this driven by my dragon? Or did I make this mess all by myself?
Then it hits me. I wasn’t even thinking about sex until he kissed me. Maybe this mess was all me.
“Damn it, Harper,” I scold myself.
He’s going to tell everyone about this. He’s going to use what happened to torture and humiliate me. And, more than that, what I just did suggests I have some kind of feelings for him. Feelings that I can’t have, not if I want to be a dragon rider. Not if I want to be respected here.
“Damn it, Harper,” I say again, then press my face into my hands.
Tonight was a mistake.