Lord of Chaos (The Dragon Demigods #7) - Charlene Hartnady Page 0,28
I encountered.”
“They tried to…force you?” Rage asks, his voice soft.
I nod. “Many of them tried. All of them failed.” My voice deepens. My hackles rise.
“You should have stayed in your dog form.” Tri folds his arms, looking serious for once.
“It didn’t matter whether I was in my hellhound skin or my human skin. They tried anyway.”
“That’s fucking sick!” Rage gets up and paces to the other side of the room. He pinches the bridge of his nose.
“I can take care of myself,” I say. “It took me nearly a year to break through the shackle on my arm.” I touch my wrist. “Towards the end of my stay, the pile of rotting bodies was quite high, and I didn’t have to fight all that much anymore.”
He walks back and takes a seat again. “And yet, there are scars.” Rage’s eyes are narrowed in thought. He turns them on me. They’re as black as night. “You don’t want me, Nia. You need to pick someone else. I know that now more than ever.”
I feel disappointed. More than I thought I would. I guess I like Rage. I respect him. Even though it doesn’t really matter who it is. I wanted it to be him.
Tri puts his hand up. “Me…me…pick me!”
“Not you, asshole! Anyone but you.”
I wince. “What happened with Taryn sounded pretty…I don’t know…wild.” I shake my head. “I’m not sure that’s what I would want.” I have no idea what I would want. I don’t want sex. It’s a necessary evil. If I’ve got to do it, then rather with someone I trust. Someone I respect, even if he is the grumpiest person I know.
Tri looks at me like I’m crazy. “Too wild. Sheesh, okay…I get that. It would be your loss, but I get it. I could tone it down, though, Nia. One orgasm instead of three, and it could be more…subdued.”
“No!” Rage growls through clenched teeth. “Not a fuck!” He looks my way. “We’ll find someone else…maybe Jarrod or Samuel. You can’t expect a woman to have sex with you after she just heard you fuck someone else. Don’t be an ass!”
“Why not?” Tri looks bewildered. “Samuel wouldn’t know your ass from your elbow. And Jarrod might just get a vision, even though he doesn’t get them much from non-humans.”
“My worry is if Gaire shows up, neither of those men would be much help,” I say. “They’re too weak. Gaire will destroy them.”
“There’s also Maddox, Zale, and Garrett, but we don’t know them very well yet,” Rage mutters.
“I pick you,” I tell Rage.
He shakes his head. “No, not me!”
“Why not? You find me attractive, don’t you? I know you do. You wanted sex the other night.”
“Not with you.” He narrows his eyes.
“Really?” I lift my brows.
“Okay, fine!” He pulls in a breath. “I wanted to fuck you, but that was then, and this is now. Things change.”
“I’m still me. You’re attracted to me. Don’t even try to deny it.”
“I’m not your guy,” he pushes out, eyes firmly on me.
“You are!” I insist, feeling frustrated. Rage is attracted to me, but he won’t sleep with me.
“I need popcorn,” Trident grins. “I say do it, man!”
“I say, mind your own business. I need to speak to you,” Rage says to me, “in private.” He glares at Tri.
“Use any of the spare rooms.” Tri’s grin widens. “Take as long as you need.” He winks at Rage, who grinds his teeth.
He waits for me to start walking towards the hallway, then follows me. “It’s the first door to the right,” he says.
I can still smell sex coming from the first room to the left. The sheets are a crumpled mess on the large bed.
“Don’t look too hard,” Rage says. “You might see something you can’t unsee.”
A few steps later, and we walk into what looks like one of the spare bedrooms. Rage closes the door. He turns, and it suddenly feels cramped in here, even though the room is plenty spacious. “As much as I want to help you, I can’t.” His eyes are filled with concern. “You need to trust me on that.”
“Why not? It’s not that big of a deal. It’s just sex. It’ll be anything from mildly uncomfortable to somewhat painful, but I can take it. It doesn’t usually last too long.” I give a one-shouldered shrug. “It’s really not that big of a deal,” I repeat, even though it is a big deal. A huge deal.