Chapter Ten
Vil
It was not going how I’d expected it to. What, in the name of the God-King, had Cruce been thinking, organizing this ridiculous display and crowd? He knew better. There had to be a reason, but right then, I had to focus on Vanessa, who looked ready to blow her top.
“Are you telling me,” she ground out, ice forming around the blue of her eyes, “that you let a mirror decide who you wanted to fall in love with?”
“No. The mirror simply showed me what fate had decided for me,” I told her. “It made no decisions on its own. Those had already been made. You were born a human but with the soul of a dragon.”
“A mirror …”
“It worked for two of the princes of other clans,” I pointed out. “Why wouldn’t it work for me?”
That didn’t help.
“This is insane,” she said, rubbing her face. “Can we get out of here at least? I’m still in my clothes from the accident. I smell terrible. I feel nasty. I’m exhausted.”
“Of course. Come with me. I shall show you the Watching Mirror as well. Perhaps that will make it easier.”
“Like how showing me you’re a dragon made it easier?”
“You’re taking that surprisingly well,” I said, gesturing for the crowd to part and escorting Vanessa toward the fortress's interior.
“I’m screaming on the inside,” she countered, though she followed me without hesitation.
She trusted me, whether she knew it or not. That was good because nothing was going how I’d wanted or hoped it would. Not from the very start. I didn’t know what I’d expected her reaction to be, but things were absolutely astray, and I needed to put it back onto course sooner rather than later.
Before the Nine got involved.
“I’m sorry for all this,” I said as I closed the door behind us, cutting off the crowd, so it was just the two of us.
“I’d intended to bring you here, and let you rest, show you around, and generally recover before I introduced you to anyone.
I’d hoped this would be wild and fun and freeing for you. ”
“Well, it’s been wild. So one out of three ain’t bad, I guess.”
She surprised me —and I was fairly sure herself—by flashing a smile at the weak joke.
“I’m glad you’re, um, adjusting quickly.”
“Adjusting? Vil, you kidnapped me. I’m just trying to make the best of it because I know I can’t get back on my own.”
“I didn’t kidnap you,” I said. “I simply brought you to where you belong. To give you what you deserve.”
I tried not to grind my teeth together. Why was she having such a hard time?
The logic was impeccable. Fate had shown that we were destined to be together.
I’d simply taken the next step. She was my mate.
I felt the connection every time we touched, however innocuous.
I could barely control my instincts around her.
Even now, in the hallway, I wanted to push her up against the wall, rip the clothes from her body, and explore every inch of it, putting her at ease, relaxing her tension with my fingers, my tongue, my c—
“Vil. Bringing someone somewhere against their will? That’s called kidnapping.”
Shaking my head, I led her deeper into the Iron Fortress. She had to see the mirror. The Watching Mirror would show her the truth, then she would understand. It was her destiny. There was no point in denying it.
“In here,” I said, opening a door and leading her inside.
Crossing the room, I stood in front of a mirror. It was six feet tall and perhaps two and a half wide. A solid steel frame held it in place, suspended an inch from the floor so that any user could adjust the angle. I stared into it.
Instead of seeing a reflection of myself, however, I found myself looking at an image of Vanessa near the entrance, looking around the room. Just like the first time, when it had shown me images of her working, there was no sign of myself. Just her.
“All I see is you over at the door,” I said. “Come, you try.”
I stepped aside, moving completely out of reflection range as she approached, glancing warily between the mirror and me.
“How do I know this won’t, like, suck me into it and trap me?” she asked.
“I’ve never heard of any mirror being able to do that.”
“You should read more,” she said, biting her lower lip while hovering just out of view of the mirror.
“I promise you that nothing bad will happen to you by looking in it.”
“You’ve done a lot of promising tonight,” she pointed out.
“And I’ve broken none of them,” I countered.
Vanessa didn’t have a reply. She pondered it, all the while chewing on her lip, driving me wild. The bed was so close, just behind the set of double doors to my right. I could have her. Show her everything she’d been missing in a partner.
No. You will not force that on her. She must come willingly, or it is not right.
“Fine,” she said abruptly and stepped into the mirror, staring deep into it. “What the hell,” she muttered. “That’s impossible.”
“What do you see?” I asked, pacing back and forth.
“You,” she whispered, stunned. “I see you.”
I paused, looking over at her. “See?”
“How do I know it’s not, like, some fancy TV using a feed from a video camera?”
It was a fair point. Without saying a word, I turned and strode out into the hallway, walking around a corner and then spun back around, walking past the door in the other direction and then back inside.
She was glued to the mirror still.
“Impossible. This is some kind of trick. It must be.”
I shook my head. “It’s no trick, Vanessa. The God-King has put the soul of a dragon in you, and the mirror led me to you.”
She crossed her arms. “So you were spying on me.”
“Argh!” I exclaimed, throwing my arms up in frustration. “You twist all my words and motives. Spying has such a bad connotation. That is not what I was doing. I looked in the mirror. I did not know what it would show me. I didn’t choose you.”
“Exactly!” she said, pouncing on my words. “And I didn’t choose you, Vil. I’m not letting some hunk of glass do it, either. God-King, whatever that is, or no God-King. Now, can you please take me home?”
“Why can’t you just use logic and see the truth!” I said. “We are meant to be together. This is the way it should go. You can’t tell me that your body doesn’t react when I’m close. When we touch.”
I took a step closer, noting how her pupils expanded until she stared wide-eyed at me.
“When I find my soulmate,” she said, swallowing nervously, though she didn’t back away, “they will win me over. They won’t scoop me up and kidnap me to a different realm.”
“I am your soulmate,” I told her. “And your body knows it, even if your mind does not.”
“How can you be sure of that?” she asked. “You don’t even know me.”
“Because mine knows it,” I said in a softer tone. “I feel it every time our skin brushes or I carry you. And you felt it, too. That warm feeling that spreads out, covering you, making you feel …”
“Vil …” she said throatily. “I …”
“I know,” I said and kissed her.
She jerked in surprise but didn’t try to pull away.
My lips pressed against hers, melding and parting as the moment lingered, the heat between us reaching a boiling point.
A soft whimper escaped her throat, a wordless recognition that she was as turned on as I was at that moment, our bodies responding to one another, eager for more.
I stepped a little closer, and she inhaled sharply through her nose as my hard cock pressed against her lower stomach, her hips grinding slightly against it. Her hands came up around my neck, and I ran my fingers along the small of her back.
Lust filled the air, hers and mine, rising together like a helix.
I could have her, I knew, right then and there.
She was putty in my hands, and I could show her a world of pleasure and passion she’d only imagined.
Making love to my mate would be unlike anything either of us had experienced before, and I nearly crossed that line in the heat of the moment.
A knock at the door caused us to break apart, both of us breathing harder, our eyes dripping with unrealized arousal and need.
Regardless of her feelings, I knew then and there that it would not be the last kiss we ever shared. We were meant to be, and I would fight tooth and nail against anyone who tried to get in the way.
Including the Nine.
“One moment,” I said, caressing her cheek with the back of my hand, admiring the strong lines of her face.
She turned away as I went to the door, likely trying to regain her composure. With a swift motion that I hoped went unseen, I tucked my absolutely raging hard cock up under my belt to hide it from whoever was at the door.
I took a deep breath to compose myself and then pulled it open.
It was Ferra. The redheaded dragon looked concerned.
“What is it?” I asked sharply, instantly on guard.
“It’s the Nine,” she said tightly. “They’ve summoned you.”