Darkblood Prison - G.K. DeRosa Page 0,2
elusive smile would’ve usually had my knees wobbling, but tonight it only annoyed me. This hot and cold thing was grating on my last nerve.
“Whatever,” I grunted. I was really jonesing to hit something now. “Are we fighting or not?” I raised my fists and widened my stance.
He stretched his arms over his head again and leisurely leaned to the left, then the right. His abs rippled beneath the halogen lights, the silver dragon tattooed across his torso writhing along his perfectly muscled flesh.
I swallowed down the sudden dryness in my throat. A swirl of heat ignited in my core, and I shifted uncomfortably. The ghost of a smile lifted the bastard dragon’s lips. He was totally doing this on purpose.
“What are you doing?” I shrieked.
His brows furrowed, and he threw me an innocent smile. “Stretching, what does it look like?”
I chased away the lusty thoughts, cursing myself for even having them. This damned blood bond was going to be the death of me—or him.
He moved closer, his steel irises smoldering as they locked on mine. “Something the matter, inmate?”
“Yes!” I spun on my heel and marched toward the punching bag. If I didn’t get my release soon, I was going to punch him in the throat.
Before I made it to the swinging black canvas, rough fingers closed around my bicep. I swung around and met his dark gaze. His tongue darted out and slid over his bottom lip as his hold on my arm tightened. He inched closer and instinctively, my head tipped forward.
No! I jerked back before our lips touched. A new wave of anger pummeled my insides, and this time it was my own. “You can’t keep doing that, Talon,” I hissed.
The flirty smile hitching up the corners of his lips twisted into a scowl, and he dragged his hands over his face.
I waited for an answer, an explanation, anything. He just stood there, staring straight ahead completely mute. When I couldn’t take the silence a minute longer, I waved my hand in front of his face. “Hello? Are you going to tell me what’s going on with you? You can’t keep trying to kiss me and then turn around and insult me the next minute. Gods, I thought that now that we discovered Vander was alive, things would change between us. Stupid, I know.”
Silver flames flashed across his brilliant orbs, chasing away the vacant look from a second earlier. “You don’t think I want to control this? You don’t think I am? You have no idea how difficult it is for me not to throw you on the mat and claim you as mine right now.”
My breath hitched.
“You don’t understand any of this. You have no idea of the burning need that surges through me each and every moment since I gave you my blood. It’s driving me insane! To want the one person that I should hate? It’s torture, Azara—never ending torture. It’s getting more and more difficult by the day.”
All the words stuck at the back of my throat as Talon’s blazing irises seared mine. A million thoughts skittered through my mind, but I couldn’t pluck an individual one out for the life of me. How could I? I never knew how he really felt. “I’m sorry,” I finally choked out.
He loosed an exasperated breath, and all the fire drained out of him. “This isn’t your fault. It’s mine.”
“Because you gave me your blood to save my life.”
“It’s what I do.” A rueful grin relaxed his frown. “Save lives, not give my blood away.”
“You certainly are good at your job.”
“Not with you I’m not.” He pressed his arms across his chest, showcasing his bulging biceps and carved pecs. “Now I know why Vander—” He cut himself off with a shake of his head.
Why Vander what?
He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I will try harder to control my dragon. I know none of this is fair to you either.”
I nodded. “Yeah, keep that beast on a tighter leash. I’m tired of fighting you off all the time.” Lie.
He tugged at the waistband of his shorts, readjusting. “Maybe we should skip the combat training?”
“Probably a good idea.”
“I’ll walk you back to our cell and hit the showers instead.”
I nodded, numbly, not trusting myself to speak. For the hundredth time I told myself it was only the bond igniting my feelings for him. Then why did walking away from him feel like someone bored a gaping hole in my gut?
Chapter Two
I glanced across the mess hall at the