Читать книгу Dragon Actually - G.A. Aiken - Страница 9

Annwyl dreamed again. Ever since that bastard’s sword impaled her, the same dream returned to her over and over again. Of a beautiful man with long black hair and dark brown eyes. Tall, powerful, and strong of body. Standing over her, he would wipe her brow and softly whisper that she would live. And once, in her favorite dream, he’d kissed her. The softest, sweetest kiss she’d ever received.

And every time she woke up and found him not there, the same twinge of regret tightened her chest and made her body ache. The same twinge of longing racked her waking hours.

Long ago Annwyl gave up hope that she’d ever find a man she could love and respect. The warriors at her brother’s castle were brutish, rude, and often brainless. By the time she escaped and went on to lead her army, she’d become almost dead inside. Over the two years she led the rebellion a few of her men showed her some interest…until something made her angry. Then they all seemed to drift away. Unlike the dragon. He didn’t shrink from her rage. He appeared to enjoy it. Greatly.

The strange way of man and beast. It never failed to confuse her.

She wondered where she’d created this dream lover from. Had she ever seen the man before? Perhaps in one of the towns or villages that aided her troops? Or perhaps she created him from her own imagination. She knew not. But lately she’d begun to regret having to wake up.

He sat on the edge of the bed and stared at her, as he always did. He stroked her face with his large, strong hand. She sighed contentedly and smiled. He returned it with a smile of his own. Annwyl felt bold in this dream world. Brazen. She reached out a hand and slid it around the back of his neck, drawing him down for a kiss. She liked this dream lover, he didn’t resist her. Instead he let her lead him. When their lips met, her whole body responded. Intense heat from his body licked over her flesh. Her nipples tightened and grew hard, begging for the touch of those strong hands of his. Heat and moisture pulsed between her legs. She experienced things she never felt before. And she wanted more.

His tongue licked across her lips and she instinctively opened her mouth to let him in. She moaned as his tongue slid across and around hers, and her body arched as she tried to get closer to him. She wanted her dream lover. In her bed. In her.

But he pulled away from her. She grasped for him…and found herself face down on the floor. Again.

“By all that’s…” She pushed herself up as Morfyd hurried to her side.

“By the gods, lass. Are you all right?”

“Yes. Yes.” She took Morfyd’s arm and allowed the woman to help her sit back on the bed. “I’m fine.” She couldn’t keep ending up on the floor. Now it was just getting embarrassing.

“You should leave her there. She looks adorable. Like a puppy.”

Annwyl turned narrowed eyes on her dragon rescuer as he sat by the entrance to this part of his lair. “Quiet, dragon,” she warned playfully. She’d become used to the dragon lingering near her. Teasing her. In fact, she found she started to like it. To like him.

Morfyd examined her wound, already less painful then it was the previous day. “Why do I keep finding you on the floor,” Morfyd asked with a slight mixture of annoyance and humor.

“I keep having this dream about a man….” Remembering they were not alone, Annwyl stopped. She cleared her throat. “Uh…it’s nothing though.” Morfyd only glanced at her, then she turned two suddenly angry eyes on the dragon. Annwyl watched as the dragon looked up at the ceiling. Perhaps examining it for cracks.

“So, how long before I can return to my men?”

“Well—” was all Morfyd got out before the dragon cut her off.

“We need to make sure you’re well first. Wouldn’t want you to get caught in a battle still weak.”

Annwyl shrugged. “That’s fine. I just worry about my men. They need to know I’m alive. I don’t want them to…”

“Give up hope?” Morfyd gently asked as she cleaned off the wound and placed another bandage over it.

“Aye. I can’t desert them now.”

“You’re not. And I doubt they will give up hope.” Morfyd straightened up. “But I will see what I can do.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll bring you some food.” Morfyd left, punching the dragon in his side as she walked past him. Had the witch gone mad? Did she not see his fangs?

“Tell me, dragon, do you have anything to read?”

“Read?”

“Yes. Does your kind read?”

“Of course we read!”

“Don’t yell.”

The dragon growled at her and she fought her smile.

“Come on then.” He headed off deep into his lair. Annwyl wrapped the fur covering tight around her naked body and followed.

Definitely one of the stupidest things he’d ever done. He really couldn’t believe he was doing it. He turned a corner and led her to the right. He could have just brought her some books. Dropped them right into her lap. Instead he led her here. He led a human to his treasure. What the hell am I thinking?

He reached the entrance and stepped in. She stopped dead in her tracks and waited.

Fearghus didn’t say anything. He wanted to see her reaction. She didn’t speak for several moments. Then, “I’m freezing me tits off. Where are the books?”

Fearghus blinked. “‘I’m freezing me tits off,’” he mimicked back to her.

Annwyl shrugged. “I’ve been with my troops for over two years now,” she muttered as if that explained everything.

Fearghus motioned to a corner of the room. “The books are over there.” He watched her clamber over gold, jewels, and the other riches he’d claimed over many, many years. She reached the books and examined them closely.

“So do you like to read or are you desperately bored?”

“No. I’m not bored at all. I’m actually enjoying myself quite a bit. It’s nice and quiet here.” She grabbed two books. “And I love to read. To learn. I should have been a scholar.”

“Why aren’t you?”

She shrugged as she walked back over the riches as if she stepped on old stones. “My father had other plans for me. He thought I’d make a fine noble’s bride.”

Fearghus couldn’t stop the laugh that burst from his snout. Annwyl glared at him. “Well thank you very much!”

“I mean no offense. I simply don’t see you worrying about the supplies for the kitchens or whether you’ll breed a son to carry on the family line.”

“Really? And what do you see for me?”

“Exactly what you’re doing now. Protecting your people from a tyrant.”

She smiled and he felt pride for causing it. She began to head back toward where she slept.

“Wait.”

“Yes?”

“Wouldn’t you like some clothes?”

“You have clothes?” He motioned to several chests buried in a corner. She handed the two books to him and descended on the wooden boxes. She dug through the clothes quickly. She ignored the beautiful and richly made gowns, tossing them aside like a wench’s bar dress. But when she discovered a chest filled with men’s clothes, she began to take several articles for herself. Several pairs of breeches, shirts, and leather boots that she held up against her rather sizable feet to make sure they would fit.

Once she had what she needed, she took her new clothes and books, and headed out of the cave.

“Well, come on then,” she barked lightly at him.

And, like some idiot human, he followed her back to her room. Once there she dropped the clothes and books on her bed and the fur covering to her feet.

Fearghus tried his best not to watch her naked body. But he sadly failed in the attempt. He couldn’t help himself. She was beautiful and strong. A fierce warrior with the scars to show it. He desperately wanted to lick every one of those marks.

She pulled on a pair of breeches that were the right length for her, but a little big. When she turned around, showing her beautiful large breasts, he barely bit back his groan in time. She ripped one of the shirts into long, wide strips, her chest moving seductively in time with her actions. When done, she used the strips to wrap around her breasts, binding them in place. She pulled another plain shirt on over her head, pulled on the boots and stood before the dragon.

“Well? What do you think?”

I think you’re the most amazing female I’ve ever met. And I would like to fuck you all night long. Bend over. “What do I think about what?”

She sighed. “Typical male.”

Annwyl sat on her bed and rubbed her eyes. Her side ached. Her body cold. But she finally had clothes.

“What’s wrong?” She looked up long enough to see the dragon settle down in the chamber, watching her. She found him doing that often.

“Just thinking about my men.”

“You are truly worried about them?”

Annwyl nodded. She closed her eyes again and rubbed her palms against them. It helped to relieve the ache that started in her head when she fell to the floor. “They are all good, strong men. But my brother’s troops…”

“Outnumber you?”

“Aye. Even with the help from the other kingdoms, my brother still has more troops. More supplies. More everything.” She lowered her hands. “And we have….” She turned her eyes to the dragon and stopped.

Then she smiled.

If Fearghus were human, he would have run from the room simply from the expression on her beautiful face. He knew what she was thinking. So he decided to end this now. “No.”

“I haven’t asked you anything yet.”

“But you’re going to, and the answer is no.”

She released a frustrated little growl. “Why?”

“I don’t involve myself in the petty problems of men.”

“But I’m a woman.” She smiled again, and he would have laughed if he weren’t so annoyed.

“That you are. And the answer is still no.”

She pushed herself off the bed. “We could help each other.”

“Wouldn’t you rather just take all my gold and jewels, kill me in my sleep, and be done with it?”

She dismissed the riches he offered with a wave of her hand. “Gold I have. I need your power, dragon.”

“No.” He watched her walk around the cave floor, impressed with how quickly her body was healing. She already appeared stronger, which only seemed to make her more determined.

What have I gotten myself into?

“There must be something we can offer you. Something you want or need.”

He sighed dramatically and fell silent for a moment. “Well, I’m always in need of fresh virgin sacrifices.”

She rolled her eyes. “Very funny.”

“Annwyl, there is nothing that a human can offer me. I have everything I need. There’s a reason no one has seen me in nearly seventy years.”

She became so agitated he feared she might come out of her skin. “I’m not asking you to give up your life here. Help me defeat Lorcan, and then it can be like we never met. I’ll leave you to your solitude.”

For some reason that was the last thing he ever wanted to hear from her, but he ignored the pang of regret her statement caused.

“I can’t help you defeat your brother. You must do it yourself. And you must do it alone.”

“Why?”

“If you do not kill Lorcan yourself, your reign will always be in question. The other kingdoms will rise up against you and kill you and your precious troops. Is that what you want?”

“Of course not.”

“Then you best take his head yourself.”

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him. “But you don’t think I can.” She walked toward him. “Do you?”

“No. Not really.”

There went that rage. “Why not?”

“Because you don’t think you can.”

Her rage came and went so quickly, it was quite the sight to behold. Her whole body seemed to deflate, her hand going to her wounded side. “You’re right. I don’t think I can.” She sat on her bed. “He’s so fast. His skill with a blade…I couldn’t even touch him.”

“You give up too easily. You just need training.”

“From whom? I know of no warrior as skilled as my brother.”

“I do.”

Annwyl looked up. “You know someone?”

“Uh…” Things just kept getting more and more complicated. “Yes. I do.”

“Do you trust him?”

Only as much as he trusted himself. “Aye. I do.”

“And he will help me prepare to kill Lorcan?” Fearghus nodded. “Then, perhaps, you could help my army against my brother’s troops?”

“Annwyl…”

She leaned forward, wincing from the pain she caused her side. “Please, Fearghus. I know I already owe you my life. But if there’s anything…It’s just to have the power of a dragon behind us—”

“So I help you defeat your brother,” he cut in churlishly. “And then what are your plans?”

Annwyl frowned. “My plans?”

“Yes. Your plans. You take your brother’s head, your troops are waiting. What is the next thing that you do?”

Annwyl just stared at him. He realized in that instant that the girl had no plans. None. No grand schemes of controlling the world. No plots to destroy any other empires. Not even the plan to have a celebratory dinner.

“Annwyl, you’ll be queen. You’ll have to do something.”

“But I don’t want to be queen.” Her body shook with panic, and he could hear it in her voice.

“You take his head, you’ll have little choice.”

“What the hell am I supposed to do as queen?”

“Well…you could try ruling.”

“That sounds awfully complicated.”

“I don’t understand you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You command the largest rebellion known to this land. From what I understand, your troops are blindingly loyal to you. And other kingdoms send you reinforcements and gold.”

“Your point?”

“You’re already queen, Annwyl. You just need to take the crown.”

She shook her head. “My father didn’t believe in crowns. There’s a throne, though.”

“Then take your throne. Take it and become queen.”

“I will. If you fight with me, dragon.”

“Will I get any peace if I don’t?”

“Sometimes queens have to do things they’re not always proud of,” she teased. “Including the torturing of handsome dragons, such as yourself. I could have people traipsing in and out of here all the time. Talkative people.” She smiled as she spoke—and called him “handsome”—but he wouldn’t put anything past her.

“Then you don’t give me much choice, do you?”

“No. I don’t.”

“Then I will fight with you, Annwyl.”

She grinned, and he felt pride for causing it.