Hour of the Dragon - Heather Killough-Walden Page 0,145

or that school.

In the days that followed, Anna had fully expected him to branch off, find other friends, and possibly even transfer to some other school someplace bigger, busier, more worldly. Like New York or LA or even Milan, Italy. But rather than branch out or leave, he showed up at her locker the next Monday. The day after, he was there in the morning by the school’s entrance waiting for her when she arrived. He asked if he could buy her lunch.

And he never moved away, never transferred.

In that, he shocked her again. He remained very much in her life, and every day she realized that her attraction to him hadn’t waned. Not at all. It grew stronger. Every time he deftly made sure he was at a door before her so he could hold it open for her, she fell a little more in love. And when he would suddenly be there behind her to reach over her and open her locker for her – he knew her combination – and take out her books so he could carry them without even having to ask what she needed, she felt cherished. He paid attention to her, cared for her, and she fell even more in love.

Even when he became irate with her, it was always over something that had placed her at risk. Or it was because of another guy. And she had to admit she didn’t completely mind that jealousy. She loved the flash of dogged tenacity in his eyes and the way that even in anger, he would still lock gazes with her as if he wanted to tie her up and strip her down and worship every inch of her. She could feel that he wanted her.

And she wanted him. From day one, she had wanted him. She was vulnerable to him in so many ways, and because of that, at the very core of her, in her heart, she submitted to him. Every man did to every woman, and every woman to every man when they were in love.

And so from the day she had met Antares Mace, Annaleia Faith had been vulnerable to the black dragon. But this… what was happening to her here in his den, under his amplified dragon’s sway, beneath the effects of Sterling’s incubus-tainted transformative spell…. It wasn’t fucking fair. She felt weak in far too many ways. And that really pissed her off.

Ares knew. He could always read her so well, and hell now he could even literally read her mind. It was no doubt why after the first of the three bites he had to give her, he had told her that she would decide when the second would come. She would decide when they would continue with the spell.

It was a little bit of power he was trying to give her. And in all fairness, it was the only amount he could give her. He was the one who had initiated this spell, and they were in his home and couldn’t leave until it was complete. Anna knew he was unable to pull back anymore on his influence over her. Not only because of the spell and the den, but because of who and what he was and the fact that he wanted her just as badly as she wanted him.

Anna pushed off the tree and gritted her teeth, running barefoot the remainder of the distance to the cavern’s main living areas. She could feel his eyes on her at once, burning hot little holes through her as she rounded the corner to the hallway that led to the guest room that she’d claimed as her own.

Feeling better now that you’ve laid waste to the gardener’s hard work? He asked, his mental voice amused if anything.

Fuck you, she told him. As if he had a gardener.

Low laughter followed her into her room, only dissipating after she had run straight to the bathroom and started up the water in the shower.

Anna tried to console herself, tried to tell herself to be strong.

Remember why you’re angry, Anna, she told herself firmly. She hoped that by remembering why she was forcing Ares to wait, it would help her not crave him so damn badly. You didn’t ask to be dominated, damn it! That should be consensual! Not that Ares was at fault. Or even Sterling really, since he was an incubus and he’d created the spell for his own personal use, and she was damn lucky he’d created it