Page 43 of Dragon Eternal (Dragon Kings 4)
Nia checked the hidden compartment of her desk, but the missive was still there. Nothing was out of place or appeared to have been moved. She didn’t usually sleep deeply when someone stayed at her home, but she had never been made love to so thoroughly so many times in a day, either.
Her body hummed from the multiple orgasms. She hadn’t realized she could have so many. She wasn’t even upset that Shaw had used his magic to give her pleasure. The fact that she was able to find release with him was shocking, no matter how he’d achieved it. She had learned to fake a climax before she learned how to seduce.
Nia returned to her bedroom and found her gaze on the bed. She was still sorting through the turbulent feelings that had been swirling within her. She wanted to know what Shaw was doing. And who he was doing it with.
She wrinkled her nose. It made her sound jealous.
“I’m not,” she stated.
Yet a voice inside her head snorted as if to say, “Liar.”
Since becoming a courtesan, Nia had never had reason to be jealous. Not over a person. But the more she tried to deny the emotion within her, the stronger—and louder—it became.
The minutes since Shaw had left were passing with agonizing slowness. She had taken a leisurely bath, washed her hair, dressed for the day, and sat beneath the roses out back. She’d had several cups of tea while attempting to read, and it was still hours before she was to meet Shaw. How would she ever make it?
She walked to the window and looked out over Stonemore. He was somewhere in the first four levels. She had to admit that he looked at home there just as he did in her estate. He didn’t seem to mind the dingy quarters of the pub where he had a room. He was a Dragon King. He could have anything he wanted. And yet, Shaw walked among the poor and the wealthy as if he were one of them.
He was an enigma.
She had spent considerable time with him, but she didn’t know anything about him. The questions she had were forgotten the moment he touched or kissed her. When they weren’t having sex, they were simply enjoying each other’s company in silence. She hadn’t realized how unusual that was until now.
Her targets generally asked dozens of questions in an attempt to get to know her. He hadn’t.
Neither had she.
The Divine didn’t want answers or secrets from Shaw. The Divine merely wanted him. Nia had no idea what Stonemore’s ruler would do with a Dragon King. Shaw hadn’t been aggressive, but she knew he had it in him. She had seen it banked behind his beautiful fern green eyes.
The lethal dragon within could tear them all apart in a matter of seconds. Why would the Divine want to push Shaw or his friend to such a place?
Unless…the Divine had something else planned. But what could that be? If the Divine wanted to speak to the Dragon Kings, then the Kings could be brought to the citadel to do just that. Since that hadn’t happened, Nia believed that the Divine had something else in store for the Kings.
She knew very little about the workings of the citadel or those within it. For all she knew, the Divine could have a weapon to use against the Dragon Kings. But if that were the case, why hadn’t they used it already?
Nia squeezed her eyes closed. She was going round and round and not coming up with an answer. A pain behind her eyes had begun. She rubbed her forehead. How she hated not figuring out a problem. Though, she wasn’t sure why she wanted to. It wasn’t as if she were anything but a pawn in a game that Shaw had no idea he was playing.
Maybe that was what upset her.
She could argue that the Divine needed the advantage because the Dragon Kings had magic. Then again, she could argue that the Kings had done nothing to warrant such a move by the Divine.
The pain intensified behind her eyes.
Bells tolled from the citadel, announcing the noon hour. She opened her eyes. Nia should eat and forget the thoughts that troubled her, but she knew she wouldn’t. Shaw’s magic must need more than a few hours to wear off. She couldn’t stop thinking about him or how it had felt to be in his arms.
He’d made her feel as if she were the only woman in the entire city. He had touched her as if he cherished her. Had kissed her as if his very soul needed to be quenched by her taste. And he had held her in his arms tenderly and securely.
Not once in her life had she felt as safe and protected as she had with him. Even knowing it was due to magic didn’t dampen her yearning to be with him again. It was silly, the need within her to have him beside her.
So what if he could bring her to orgasm easily? She could do that for herself.
Never the way he does it.
So what if he offered her protection? She would get it herself soon enough.
Never like he does it.
Nia wanted to scream at the voice in her head. She was trying to distance herself from Shaw. She had never been in this quandary before, and she didn’t know what she was doing. Normally, she’d be setting up ways to get a target out of her house and life without them realizing it. This all came down to Shaw’s power. If only she could tell him that she knew who he was, then ask him to stop using his magic on her. That way, she could think clearly again.
What if he isn’t using magic?
She frowned at the thought. What else could it be? She had no answer, which meant it was his power. She had earned her position as the favorite courtesan to the Divine because she used her wits as well as her body. She wouldn’t let anyone, not even someone like Shaw, ruin everything simply because she couldn’t control her body around him.
“I can do this,” she declared. She drew in a breath and said in a firmer tone, “I can do this.” Then, a smile turned up her lips. “I will do this. I’m Nia of Stonemore. I went from the streets to living in a grand estate with my freedom close enough to touch. I don’t know the meaning of failure.”
