Chapter 4
Sevrin
I hold Harper tighter, breathing in her flowery scent as the wind rushes around me.
It’s hard to decide what’s more incredible: being with this woman, or being on the back of a dragon.
I’ve spent my entire life dreaming of riding a dragon, of knowing what it’s like to be truly close to one of the beasts, and now that dream has come true.
But I’ve also dreamed of finding my mate.
Of imprinting on a woman. And now I’ve done that too.
Somehow, in my mind, both things are equally as incredible…
until, of course, I look at Harper, and then one stands high above the other.
When I squeeze her tighter, she smiles back at me, and my heart skips a beat. My chest swells with pride, and I’m overwhelmed by the knowledge that this incredible woman is actually mine. She’s clever, beautiful, kind, and drawn to dragons the way I am. What better fit could I find?
I’m supposed to be focusing on meeting with the Dravari, making certain that the deal they’re offering me is fair, and that I’m not stepping into some kind of trap.
I need to ensure that I’m not making a poor decision that will hurt my people even more.
I’ve got my face paint back on, my weapons sharpened and ready, but my mind clings to Harper, and the way she responded to me this morning. To the way she said my name.
To the way she touched me back.
The moment I imprinted on her I’d felt happy, but that happiness had fled, knowing that she was one of my enemies.
Knowing that I could never have her. And then when she offered herself as a peace bride, I couldn’t believe my luck, but I also worried.
What if she didn’t want to be with one of my kind?
What if she could never return my feelings?
Last night proved I had nothing to worry about.
A smile twists my lips. Nothing at all. Women may be good at faking it, but no one could ever fake it that well. She enjoyed what I was doing to her. She enjoyed me.
Just the thought has me hardening painfully. She shifts in front of me, as if aware of my growing interest, and I pull her back harder against my erection, grinding into her. Her breath starts coming in and out faster and faster, and she looks back at me with wide eyes.
“I want you again.”
Her cheeks turn scarlet in an endearing way. How does this warrior, who faced the Hollowborn alone, blush at just the implication of what I want to do to her again?
“We have to get back to the king.”
“We can make a stop.”
“I’m sure Ebron would rather not just stop so we can have a quick fuck in the woods.”
I grin. “He’s a male dragon. I’m sure he understands more than you think.”
She shakes her head of beautiful blonde hair, her hazel eyes uncertain even as she says, “We should stay focused.”
“I am focused,” I growl low, and I love the look of arousal that flashes across her face.
“King Sevrin–”
“Sevrin. Always Sevrin to you.”
She bites her lip. “Sevrin. When we get to Stormwrath Academy, we should probably not make it obvious that we slept together already.”
I feel my brows rise. “Why? You’re my wife. My bride. They should have expected that I’d have you already.”
“It’s… complicated.”
“Complicated how?”
Is she embarrassed to be with me? I hold my breath, waiting for her answer, stomach turning. I’m the King of the Hollowborn. Any of my kind would be proud to be with me, but I’m aware her people are my enemies, and that I might not be much of a prize to them.
She releases a deep breath and leans back against me, making me instinctually hold her closer.
If that’s even possible. “The king’s sons, Prince Alaric, Prince Gareth, and Prince Lucien, have been other dragon riders at the academy since I became a dragon rider just a few weeks ago.
We’ve had… a strained relationship. They weren’t exactly happy about a female dragon rider.
Especially not one who wasn’t nobility and who was riding the only male dragon at the academy. And they made sure I knew that–”
“They weren’t kind to you?” My chest starts to feel heavy. Tight.
“Not exactly.”
Anger courses through my blood. “I’ll handle them.”
She turns to look at me, eyes wide. “No. No, that’s not what I meant at all. Yes, it’s true that they weren’t always kind to me, but it’s more that our relationship is complicated. I, well, I care about them. And they care about me too, I think.”
“You think?” My emotions bounce from anger to confusion. “They knew about this arrangement before I did. Didn’t they make their feelings toward you clear?”
“Not exactly. We are, apparently, destined to be together because Ebron chose their dragons as his mates, but that truly doesn’t seem to mean much.
We don’t feel like we’re supposed to be together in most ways.
I don’t have a clue how they actually feel about me, but I know they feel possessive of me. ”
I shake my head. “It takes a certain type of man to think he possesses a woman while offering her nothing in return.”
She cocks her head at me, studying me. “You think so?”
Leaning forward, I kiss her until she pulls back, dragging in a ragged breath. “I know so. You deserve better than them, and I’ll make certain to give you, not just my heart, but the whole world. They’ll hardly be able to compete with me when their offering is nothing but boyish jealousy.”
She surprises me by smiling. “You’re completely unexpected. You know that?”
I gather her in my arms, pressing her against me. “If you like that, I’ll continue to be unexpected. All our days.”
She laughs, but then worry creeps across her face again. “I really want this to go well. Marriage is forever. You, me, and them, we’ll be linked forever. Not only do I need to get along with all of you, you have to learn to get along with each other too.”
Perhaps. Or perhaps these boys will act like fools, and I’ll have the beautiful Harper all to myself.
“I think it’d go better if we dialed down our affection and didn’t make it so clear that we’d been intimate.”
I sigh. “But I want to shout from the rooftops that you’re mine.”
She touches my cheek. “Sevrin. I know, but that will only make them angry. The last thing I want is to make things worse. Two enemies are coming together in peace. That’s something that will help both our people. That needs to be the focus.”
She’s right, my wise mate. “Alright, I will do what I can to stay true to myself and ease the little boys’ jealousy, but I will not lie about the nature of our relationship.”
“Okay,” she says, rewarding me with a light kiss.
This woman. She is my everything. She is the sky, the stars, the sun, and the moon. When I look at her, I see forever. Her in my bed. Her swollen with my child. Her holding my hand when we’re old. I would fight for her. I would die for her.
I will even attempt to placate three princely babies who don’t deserve to get within ten feet of this incredible woman.
“Do I have your heart, Harper?”
She glances down, her long lashes covering her eyes. “I think you do.”
It’s the best I can hope for right now. “And do the princes have your heart?”
“A part of it,” she admits.
It hurts, like a knife to the gut, but I try to breathe through my pain. My people rarely share females, so I’m not built to share my woman, nor did I envision a future as such, but this is what I’ve agreed to. A deal that will change my people's lives.
Not just change our lives, save them. Because the truth is, the deep, dark, dirty truth that I can never tell her people, is that the Hollowborn are dying out, just like their dragons.
We need this deal, or else we face extinction.
Our rough lands simply cannot keep providing the things we need to survive.
So even if it pains my soul to share this beautiful creature with fucking Dravari princes, I’ll do it, for my people.
Even though I already don’t like the pricks. Not just because they’re Dravari, but because they had this woman in their orbit and didn’t appreciate what they had.
I’ll never make that mistake.
“As long as they don’t have all of it.”
Kissing her fiercely, I try to mark her with my kiss. To reach down to her very soul and make her feel me, like I'm an extension of her, a part of her very heartbeat. When I pull back, I’m hard and aching.
“We really can’t stop?”
“Well…” She hesitates, then shakes her head. “The storm already delayed us. They’ll be worried.”
“Fuck,” I mutter, trying to calm my desire for her.
She pulls back. “When we get there, I imagine the princes will be… protective. The deal will be signed, and they’ll want to have our own marriage ceremony, probably as quickly as possible.”
“I don’t care for their ceremony—the only one that matters has been done—but I’ll do what I must for this deal to be made. For us five to be binded together.”
My thoughts move to what I can expect there. I trust Harper, but I do not trust King Stormvale to keep his word. I do not trust that this isn’t a trap. If we hadn’t been so desperate, I would’ve never put myself in such a vulnerable position.
Not that I can let them know that.
Right now, they think we’re equals. Everything will change if they smell desperation on me, so I won’t let them. Luckily, I’m good at hiding my emotions.
“We’ll be there today?” I ask, even though I know the answer.
She releases an anxious breath. “Soon.”
I snuggle against her. “I guess we’ll have a little more time just the two of us. Luckily for me.”
She rewards me with another smile that makes my heart feel like it’s full of sunshine, but I keep that stupid thought to myself. I want her to know that she is my beloved mate, but she doesn’t need to know just how lame I am in my head.
There’s time enough for her to learn that.
But first, we have to survive this deal…
In the back of my mind, I feel my bone wyrm faintly in the distance, heading back to Volcaris with my men.
I debate about letting him go, pulling my powers back from him and letting him crumble into nothing but a pile of bones once more, but the instant the thought occurs to me, I push it away.
Finding the body of a dragon to raise is almost impossible.
I can’t let go of my bone wyrm unless I’m certain that I’ll never need him again.
And right now? Well, there’s nothing but uncertainty about my future. So, I’ll keep my bone wyrm until I’m certain I’ll never be returning to Volcaris.