To Tame a Dragon - Tiffany Roberts Page 0,32

their mutual yearning. But when he did finally move his hips, it was to slowly withdraw from her sex—and he did not push back in. His hand fell away from her throat, the other away from her pelvis, and the sudden absence of his heat against her back left her cold.

The dragon’s seed spilled from Elliya, running down her inner thighs. She turned, watching him stalk back toward the ox. His tail swayed with his steps, granting her glimpses of his taut ass, and his wings stretched slightly before drawing tight against his back. His movements were noticeably smoother than they’d been the night before, accenting the grace and power of his body.

He snapped his head back, flipping strands of his long, pale hair out of his face before crouching beside the dead animal and tearing into it with his claws.

Elliya stepped away from the wall but did not approach him. Not yet. “I was not spurning your food.”

He paused his work to glance at her over his shoulder, but he said nothing.

“You told me to eat, and I refused because the meat is raw, not because you offered it,” Elliya continued. “Humans do not usually eat raw meat, not like other beasts…or dragons. It can make us ill. Sometimes even kill us.”

His brows lowered over those intense eyes. “Is there anything that does not kill your kind?”

Elliya crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. “We might appear weak to you, but we are far stronger than you think.”

He looked her over from head to toe and back again, gaze moving at the unhurried pace of a creature that had lived for longer than she could fathom. Despite what they had just done, despite him having pulled away from her, there was undisguised heat in his eyes—and Elliya’s body responded to it.

“If the matter was so simple, why did you not say so?” he asked when their gazes met again.

Elliya cocked an eyebrow. “Because you lost your temper.”

He released a frustrated huff and turned his head toward the sandstone ox, cutting another chunk from its side. “And if one of your slothful males rejected the food you hunted for him, how would you react, little huntress?”

She rolled her eyes. “Dragon, I told you I did not reject your food. I rejected your command.”

“And I fail to see how that is any better.” The dragon stood up and turned to face her. The orange glow in his chest flared as he lifted the meat in his hand. Holding her gaze, he rounded his lips and blew out a stream of fire that engulfed the meat and his entire hand.

Even from several paces away, Elliya felt the intense heat, and the flames were bright enough that she had to momentarily shield her eyes. She’d known he could breathe fire, but that knowledge did not make the sight any less incredible. Build, kindling, and maintaining a fire had been amongst the earliest skills she’d learned in her childhood. Even in the desert heat, fire was life, often as much a necessity as water.

How much easier might things have been for Elliya and her people if they could summon fire at will?

The flames ceased abruptly when the dragon closed his lips, but the ember glow of his chest faded far slower. He walked up to Elliya in a few easy strides, his eyes locked with hers. “You would do well not to disobey me again. Now eat.”

He thrust his hand forward, offering her a piece of sizzling, golden brown meat.

The savory smell of the meat beckoned her attention, making her mouth water and her stomach cramp with hunger, but she held his gaze, brows falling low. “You are not my master, dragon.”

“Nor you mine, human. But the difference is that I can force you, should I so choose.”

Elliya gritted her teeth. “I can leave here. I can leave you.”

See how well he does without my body to sate his lust, the arrogant beast.

The dragon stepped closer and loomed over her, restless energy pulsing from his body. “You are no less bound than I.”

“But the difference is that I am not suffering the Heat,” she countered.

“You will suffer my heat if you do not cease this babbling and eat,” he growled.

She leaned toward him. “Offer it to me nicely and say please.”

“Perhaps you did not hear me correctly.” He raised the meat, pinching it between the claws of forefinger and thumb, and dangled it in front of her face. “You will eat