Page 79 of In the Embrace of Dragons

“She is your wife,” he says miserably. “You have no objection to another dragon loving your wife?”

“Not if it’s you.” I make sure to soap under my tail and put on a show about it. “Because I love you. Why wouldn’t I want you to be happy? And with us?”

Ragnakor’s mouth falls open, and I think I might have fully taken him by surprise.

“You love me?” he asks, sounding strangled.

I sigh as I turn around in the bath to really look at him. My dragon, who has always watched over me, who has been there for me whenever I needed him. Now he wants something for himself but is too afraid of where he stands to take it.

“Yes, though that is not the point.” I scrub under my arms, and then rinse off. “The point is that you have madeourwife feel unloved, and I won’t stand for that.”

“Our...?” He shakes his head. “You are the one who married her. She is royalty, as are you. I am a nobody, a nothing.”

I sigh with exasperation as I step out of the tub and reach for a towel. “Does Nissia seem like a woman who cares about your station? Has she ever treated you as less?”

“N-no, I suppose not. But it’s about what’sright.”

“So what is right, then?” I abandon my towel and stride toward him naked, my cock already having dirty thoughts about what it would like Ragnakor to do to me. “Is it loving someone and then abandoning them when the feelings get too difficult for you?”

He rubs his face with one hand.

“And what about me?” I ask, encroaching on his space. Ragnakor stiffens. “You leftme, too.”

“I...” He opens his mouth to speak, flexing his jaw, but the words won’t come out.

“Speak truth,” I snap, growing tired of this back-and-forth. “Tell me why you really did it, Rag.”

At last, it looks as if the remnants of his control have finally snapped.

“I believe that I’ll be left behind.” Ragnakor’s admission spills out of him in a torrent. “I am afraid that once the two of you are happily married and growing your dragonlings together, that I?—”

He cuts himself off with a choke, his hand gripping the table. It’s as if he’s slammed the words back down.

I caress his horn, then his chin, encouraging him to continue.

“I fear that I will no longer serve a purpose,” he goes on in a hushed voice. “I cannot let my love grow knowing that eventuality.”

My poor captain. Boldly—and when have I never not been bold?—I sit on his lap, causing Ragnakor to inhale sharply. Then I take his face in my hands and stare into the pair of eyes I hold so dear.

“I cannot promise that we won’t change as we grow, as all creatures do. My mother always said that life is constant growth. But you will not be forgotten, Ragnakor. You have always been at my side, and so you will always be.” I take hisclawed hand in mine and bring it to my chest. “You will always be the dragon I love, until the day I die.”

He swallows hard, his throat bobbing, then he turns away from me. But I grab his muzzle and force him to look at me, to see into me and truly feel what I feel.

“I understand,” he finally says, the tension from his brow falling. “And I will never leave your side, my king.”

I lean down and kiss him, and he returns it unsteadily, his big hands landing on my hips. I just had marvelous sex with my wife, and yet I’m already hungry again for my captain.

But no, there’s a bond to be restored and work to be done for the kingdom. I get up off his lap, then head to my closet to pick out a robe for the day.

“Tonight, we will speak with the queen,” I say with finality. “And you will fix what has broken—won’t you, Papa?”

Ragnakor grits his sharp teeth and nods.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

NISSIA

I’m so pathetic. Being snubbed by Ragnakor has turned me into a pitiable mess of a woman, so desperate for a male’s love that sheruns away.