For the umpteenth time that day, he urged himself to calm, fighting with the desire to just burst into her room and take her right there on her wide bed until she wouldn’t resist him anymore. That may have been the way of the old dragons, and as much as Devon had turned into a traditionalist lately, even he couldn’t bring himself to sink that low.
She would have to want him as much as he did her, only then would the joining be as sweet as he imagined. Devon’s hands balled into fists, and he let out a hissing breath, a small sliver of smoke wafting out of his nostrils. When he caught sight of the plume of smoke, he snorted derisively and turned around on his heel, heading out of the room of jade. The woman was getting to him, and it was becoming more than just a nuisance now.
If he didn’t have her soon, he would go mad with lust, and a frustrated dragon was not something Gold Valley could handle.
Suddenly, all of the serenity that had settled upon him after walking into the caverns disappeared in a flash, shaken from him by that insurmountable aggravation growing within him, threatening to rip mind from flesh.
If she keeps toying with you like this, she will drive you mad, Devon told himself darkly. At that very moment, he felt the unmistakable pull that told his dragon that he had to find Gemma. Outwardly, he groaned, but broke into a hurried run towards the exit nonetheless. Inwardly, his dragon roared and thrashed, always on the brink of insanity when there was even the slightest chance that his mate may be in danger.
The dragon stone. Not again. She must be okay…
CHAPTER NINE
Devon
He was fuming. Devon stood at the doorway to the roof, both hands gripping the wooden frame, his eyes blazing with gold. Gemma stood in the middle of the roof, her arms crossed over her chest and a devilish grin on her lips. Even through his anger, Devon couldn’t help but want to kiss those ruby lips again. He gritted his teeth, and his dragon, though much calmer than the man now was, murmured in irritation deep within him.
She’s safe, he noted, the dragon needing no more than that to settle back down and wait until he was needed. But the man, oh that wasn’t enough for him. Not by a long shot. His knuckles were turning white from holding onto the doorframe so hard, and it was only through sheer force of will that he kept a very targeted raincloud forming right above Gemma’s head.
“I thought we agreed we would stop doing that,” Devon said grimly, prying his fingers loose one by one. He had run through the entire building, yelling her name, his powerful muscles carrying him right to her. All the while, his heart had been beating out of his chest, worry choking him and threatening to break him in half, like it had done more than a dozen times over the last few days. He’d lost count of how many times he’d got stark raving mad at his princess, but there was little he could do about it other than try and make her stop. Enough was enough.
“No, you agreed that I should stop. I didn’t agree to anything,” Gemma said, dangling the dragon stone on a long chain. It seemed to suck the light out of the air around it, and when Gemma palmed it again, Devon was almost relieved to see it put away. The magic it held was dark and ancient, but truthfully, given the choice of running around because she wanted to irritate him versus not having her keep the dragon stone and potentially be in danger without him knowing about it, he’d take the former every time.
Devon walked across the stone floor, his footsteps heavy. A bead of sweat that he didn’t bother wiping away glistened on his brow. Let her see how she made him worry. Perhaps it would do her good, since she obviously wasn’t going to pay heed to anything else.
“And why is that?” he queried, quirking a brow at his princess. She was dressed in black pants and a form-fitting blue blouse that plunged low on her ample cleavage. It made his mouth water, and he could see himself peeling those layers of clothes off of her and finally tasting her in earnest. All the more pity that he had decided to try and behave.
“Well, if you’re going to keep me hostage here, I might as well amuse myself somehow,” Gemma said, twirling the chain and the dragon stone around her fingers. He cringed and caught her hand, placing the dragon stone back in her palm and closing it around the pendant. The little gasp she let out as he touched her skin didn’t go unnoticed by him.
“This is not a toy, princess. I gave it to you to protect you until I can…”
“Until you can what?” she asked, a little bit breathless. He liked hearing that little tremor in her voice that told him that she was reacting to him just as he was to her.
“Until I don’t need it any more to know when you’re in danger.”