To Wake a Dragon - Naomi Lucas Page 0,26

realize my feet are taking me in the direction of the cave-in. I halt.

No, I need to find kindling for the fire. Losing my only source of light wouldn’t be good. I straighten. Fire moss can keep anything burning for days, if there’s enough to burn, but the roots don’t make good kindling, I think. I frown.

How long have we been down here? There’s no way to tell time. I’d been unconscious and asleep for part of it, but for how long? There’s no way of knowing. The only thing I’m certain of is that the dried meat ration barely sated me, and my stomach feels as empty as it’s ever been.

Right now, I need to push myself until Drazak and I are safe. I’ve rested, I don’t have the luxury to do so again. At least not so soon. And I don’t want Drazak to see me weak or in pain. I know the other dragon men are protective of their mates, but I never really imagined how that would be for me if I ever bonded with one. I’d never really thought about it.

Maybe because I gave up on that hope as well. Everyone else had.

But Drazak seems different from them…

Like he’s afraid, afraid I’ll go away.

I have to make him understand I won’t. But will he trust me? He’s been stuck down here for so long I can’t even comprehend it. What would that do to his mind? Being alone. In the dark. Without food or companionship. Without having anyone know you’re gone or missing? What would that do to any being? Dragon or not?

I force myself not to look his way.

I turn away from the direction of the cave-in and make my way around the cavern. Far to my right and in the distance, I see the fire and Drazak beside it. I know he’s watching me. I can feel it.

His eyes burn my skin. He’d be able to see me even without the light from my torch. I’m certain. There’s still disbelief that I’m even bonded at all, that I have a male to call my own.

That I have my own dragon. I have always envied Issa and Aida for their virile men.

I’ve barely had time to process him being mine, so little time has passed since seeing him for the first time, since the taut, sizzling heat in my soul sprang to life and knotted with his. Finding more kindling for the fire was a chore needing done, but it was also an excuse. I need to get away and clear my head. I’ve never needed someone or something as badly as I need him.

Years of lonely nights wishing for a mate did not prepare me for this. Years of overhearing the sounds of bonded pairs mating never heated my blood like this.

I want to consume him. Or maybe I want him to consume me.

Will he?

He’s everything that I imagined. Dark, dizzying, and beautiful—even wicked. I’d never known a human could look wicked, but Drazak does. How is that possible? Drazak resembles a dark, fiendish male that had come from the shadows itself. And hadn’t he? I found him in the darkest place I’d ever been, and I swear it isn’t smoke coming from the jewel on his brow—it is darkness. Like he creates it.

But will he want me like I want him? He’s been erect for as long as I’ve known him… Is it only because of the strings that bind us, or can he want me for me? Making a male erect… It is a symbol of excitement for the females of my tribe. Even the mermaids love priming the few human males they know.

And Drazak is erect—primed—for me. Because of me.

I’m not the youngest or most beautiful female of my tribe. I’m not even the youngest or most beautiful of my two sisters. I may be a better huntress, but I can’t cook, my sewing is atrocious, and my craftwork is wanting. I’m the one sent to gather wild fruit and forage for supplies, not to actually make something with those supplies that betters the tribe.

Will he be ashamed of me if we get out of here and he sees me? Really sees me in comparison to the other females, ones he could have been mated to?

I feel my heart sink.

I want Drazak so badly it hurts. I’m wet and aching for him, but I shouldn’t be. It takes effort not to climb onto his lap and have him. My cheeks