“What?” she asked, standing her ground, her eyes ablaze with excitement.
Without noticing, her hands balled into fists, and her breath caught as he came ever closer and stood right in front of her, so close that she could feel the intense heat emanating off of his body. God, that body. The way the rain made his black shirt cling to his carved muscles and how the drops of water lurked down his chin, disappearing into rivers along his neck…
For a split second, she forgot where she was and was content to just stare at him in all his rugged perfection, until he shook her from the reverie she had so carefully crafted.
“No. I won’t get out of your way.” His voice was smooth and calm now, the growl swept out of it. She knew he wasn’t as calm as he let on, though – the golden eyes were sign enough of the contrary.
For a moment, she was speechless, and then, she tried to dodge past him. He caught her easily, spinning her back to face him, now tucked safely in his arms. The thunder seemed to roar louder all around them, deafening in its fury. His expression was almost stoic, with only his eyes shifting with that eternal fire that burned within him. It should have frightened her, but if anything, she felt safe and secure under the scrutiny of both the dragon and the man.
Her skin burned where his arms encircled her, and her chest rose and fell quickly, the sensation of his body so close to hers doing things to her she wasn’t completely prepared for.
“Listen, Gem,” he started, commanding her full attention. “When I said I chose you, I was not kidding, or making light, or offering it up for your review. I was telling you. From that moment onward, you were mine, and it is best if you get used to that knowledge sooner rather than later. You say I’ve picked and chosen what traditions I want to follow, and that may very well be, but these are my choices to make, not yours.
I’m sure you have your opinions on all of this, and how I am treating you unfairly, but I think you know as well as I do that when your family chose to live in Gold Valley, you gave up any pretense of free choice when it came to agreeing with the will of the dragons. Simply put, this was decided long before you were even a spec in the collective consciousness, and if you think that’s unfair, well, too bad, princess.”
He spoke with the certainty of a man, who had never been wrong. The sheer gall of him knocked the wind out of her sails. Gemma’s mouth fell slightly agape, and she stared at him in abject horror. She knew from ample personal experience that he was a cocky bastard, but she hadn’t quite grasped how bad he could be. Standing there in the darkness of a rainstorm, holding onto her while she had just been in the midst of an escape, he was still as cool and calm as ever in the knowledge that he could never be wrong.
Gemma saw red, easily ignoring the bit in her that relished being a princess to be pushed and pulled by his whims, and smacked him hard across the face.
“I’m not your princess!” she hissed, shaking with anger as he caught her wrist in his hand before she could try again.
His eyes flashed back to her, now blue and clear as day, and he smirked like she’d just given him the greatest treat she could have. Without missing a beat, he forced her hand down, and ignoring her surprised gasp, kissed her hard on the lips. Gemma’s eyes went wide with surprise, but as soon as his tongue dipped into her mouth, everything seemed to drift into the background. Suddenly, there was just Devon and his lips on hers and his arms around her.
Against better judgment, her body molded against his, and her lips met his eagerly, tasting him with the kind of passion she’d thought reserved for sappy romance tales. His hand was pressed flat against her lower back, and he released her wrist, bringing his other hand to snake through her hair, pulling her closer to him. The kiss made a roaring burst of heat uncoil within her, reaching to the very bottoms of her feet and the tips of her fingers before concentrating back together in a tight, hungry ball of desire at the pit of her stomach.
It didn’t seem cold anymore, and she could hardly tell that there was a storm raging around them. All she knew was that she was in Devon’s arms, and he held her like he was never prepared to let go. And that she liked it, even though she should have wanted to push him down a cliff. Truth be told, she wasn’t completely over the idea of shoving him down a ravine, but at the time being, she had more pressing issues – like distilling this moment and taking what she could from it before it ended. Because she knew it had to end.
Finally, he pulled away, and the storm seemed to stop at the very instant. One single drop of rain hit the ground next to them as she looked at the man, the impossible, infuriating, sexy as sin man that had made her life hell for the past two days. He smirked, and she just wanted to smack him again.