Scorched by Darkness (7 page)

He didn’t understand his intense reaction.

He’d never worried about Rya before she’d left the harem. Of course, there was no safer place in the world than a dragon’s lair, a voice whispered in the back of his mind.

But now…

Shit. He was suddenly terrified that something might happen to her.

Instinctively his arms tightened around her delicate form, his gaze locked on the steady pulse that beat at the base of her throat.

Her warm, exotic scent teased at his nose, stirring something deep inside him.

Not lust. Or at least not entirely. It was raw and profound and unnamed.

Keeping them both wrapped in a bubble of heat, he grimly waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Just when he feared his dragon might go apeshit crazy and do something desperate to try and get them out of the prison, Rya softly stirred against him.

“Torque?” she breathed.

“I have you.” His hand gently cupped her cheek. “Are you hurt?”

Her lashes fluttered upward, her amber eyes still dazed as she tried to make sense of where she was.

“No, I’m fine.” Her brows tugged together. “There must have been something in the portal that made me pass out.” She studied his concerned expression. “It didn’t affect you?”

Torque shook his head. “I’ve traveled through a void before.”

“Void?” She blinked in confusion. “What does that mean?”

“It’s a portal used during battle,” he explained. “When it opens it sucks in any creature who happens to be in its path.”

“Oh.” Her gaze flicked toward the towering ice walls that surrounded them. “Where are we?”

He grimaced. That was a question he’d been trying to answer since he stepped out of the portal.

Even without being able to see anything beyond their frozen prison, he could sense the flux beneath his feet. It was like standing on quicksand that was threatening to suck them under at any moment.

“I would guess that we’re somewhere between worlds,” he admitted. “Our surroundings feel fluid. As if it’s moving around us.”

“Yeah, I can feel it.” She wrinkled her nose. “It’s weird.”

“More than weird,” he muttered.

“What do you mean?”

He grimaced. “We’re trapped.”

Without warning she was wiggling out of his grip so she could scramble to her feet. Instantly his arms felt empty. As if he missed the sensation of her slender curves snuggled against him.

The knowledge had him slowly rising, his hands clenching to keep from reaching out and jerking her back into his embrace.

What the hell was wrong with him?

She was standing fewer than three feet away. How could he possibly be convinced that she was in danger if he wasn’t physically holding her?

It was ridiculous.

Still, he couldn’t halt his need to follow her as she moved to place her palm flat against the frozen wall.

“This is ice.” She turned her head to send him a puzzled frown. “Can’t you use your dragon-fire?”

Standing at her side, he reached to place his hand next to hers on the wall.

“I tried, but the walls must be spelled,” he told her. “As soon as it starts to melt, it refreezes.”

He released a burst of fire, allowing her to watch as the heat seared through the first layers of ice before it was rapidly re-forming.

Her eyes widened. Dragon-fire could melt through pure steel. The fact that it couldn’t dissolve the ice meant it had to be protected by a powerful magic.

“Amazing,” she breathed.

“That’s not the word I’d use.”

Lowering her arm, she turned to inspect their cramped cell.

“I don’t understand.” She shivered at the brutal chill in the air. “The portal should have taken us to Finn and your gargoyle.”

“Levet is not my gargoyle.” Torque protested any connection to the aggravating pest, releasing enough heat to keep her warm.

Despite having Synge as her father, it was growingly obvious she’d inherited far more of her mother’s fey blood. Which meant she was more fragile than most dragon half-breeds.

He would have to take great care to ensure that the unnatural cold didn’t cause her harm.

She moved around the cramped space before turning back to face him. “Did you try to contact him?”

“I haven’t been able to contact anyone,” he said, not about to admit he’d made no effort to locate the missing gargoyle. Instead he’d reached out to try and link his mind with Baine.

When that had failed, he’d tried to contact his father. Their shared blood and magic meant that nothing should be able to block their connection.

But he’d been unable to reach out telepathically.

He didn’t know if there was some sort of buffering spell around their cell. Or if the instability of the space around them was interfering.

She bit her lower lip, slowly beginning to realize they were truly stuck.

“What about another portal?” she demanded.

He shrugged. “Whoever constructed the cell made sure one couldn’t be formed to get out of here.”

Of course she couldn’t simply accept his word. She lifted her hand, her magic prickling through the air. The rich scent of lotus blossoms teased at his nose, making his inner beast rumble in pleasure.

A few minutes later she muttered a curse and allowed her hand to drop.

Torque wisely resisted the urge to point out that he’d told her it couldn’t be done. He even managed to watch her pace the icy floor without giving in to the impulse to scoop her off her feet to make certain she wouldn’t fall.

See. Old dragons could learn new tricks.

“There has to be some way out,” she muttered.

He stood near the wall as she moved from one end of the cell to the other, fascinated by the soft glow of light that shimmered over the glossy ebony of her hair and added a hint of honey to her skin.

She was exquisite.

Desire coursed through his body, the pulses of heat filling the cell with enough warmth to create a mist in the air.

“None that I could discover,” he managed to mutter.

Time passed, but Torque was too distracted by his companion’s graceful movements and the lingering scent of lotus blossoms to realize the looming danger.

Not until Rya abruptly lowered herself to sit cross-legged on the icy floor, her expression determined. “Perhaps I can find something.”

With a sharp motion, Torque was at her side, glaring down at her with concern.

“Wait,” he commanded. “What do you intend to do?”

She laid her hands on her upper thighs, her palms turned up.

“I can use my shadow to search for someone to help us.”

He scowled. “What does that mean?”

“I’ve inherited a few Shinto talents,” she said, her voice edged with impatience. “I can create a shadow.”

“Like the one your mother used before she went missing?” he demanded.

She shrugged. “No one is sure what happened. The sprite who was with her disappeared at the same time.”

He made a sound of disbelief. “And now you want to repeat her mistake?”

“We don’t know if it was a mistake—” She bit off her words, giving a shake of her head. “We have to try something.”

Torque narrowed his gaze. “Explain what happens when you create a shadow.”

“It’s actually a part of my essence that I release to travel through space and—”

“No,” Torque snapped.

He’d heard enough.

There was no part of her…essence that was going anywhere.

Not without him.

She scowled. “Is no your favorite word?”

Squatting down, he leaned forward until their noses were nearly touching.

“I spent the past hour holding you in my arms, unable to wake you,” he growled. “At least give me a few minutes to recover before you try to get yourself killed again.”

Her eyes widened, as if shocked by his accusation. “I’m not trying to get myself killed.”

His gut twisted with…

He didn’t know exactly what it was.

Anger. Betrayal. A terrible dread that he’d nearly lost something infinitely precious.

“Are you sure?” he muttered.

“Why would you think I’d want to die?”

He spoke his darkest fear before he could halt the words. “I assume death is preferable to the horrible fate of becoming my mate.”

She pulled back, genuine confusion darkening her amber eyes.

“That’s insane.”

“Is it?” He reached to cup her chin in his hand, careful to keep his touch light. The last thing he would ever want to do was bruise her smooth, delicate skin. He might be a dragon-shifter, but he wasn’t an animal. Okay, that wasn’t true. He
was
an animal. But he could usually control his beast. “You accused me of not being properly excited about our betrothal, but I didn’t disappear from my home on a reckless mission that put my life in danger.”

She stuck out her chin. Stubborn female.

“I had to find my mother.”

Her explanation only fueled his sense of injustice.

“And you trusted a frost sprite to help you instead of reaching out to me,” he scolded.

“I told you, I didn’t think you would care.”

His fingers drifted down the curve of her throat, lingering on the rapid beat of her pulse.

“But you knew I cared when you insisted on opening a portal and entering it despite my protests,” he muttered.

A part of his brain recognized he wasn’t being entirely fair. But that didn’t stop him. This female stirred the primitive side of him that didn’t care about logic or justice.

With a frown, Rya reached up to smack his hand away. “Are you blaming me for us being trapped here?”

He heaved a rough sigh, grasping her shoulders as she tried to scoot away.

“No, I’m blaming you for scaring the shit out of me,” he rasped.

She blinked, as if startled by his revelation. “Torque.”

“And if you dare claim that I would be happy if you were dead, I’ll…”

“You’ll what?” she demanded.

“This.”

Torque didn’t know what demon prompted him to swoop his head down to claim her lips in a stark kiss. At least not until he felt her mouth soften beneath his fierce demand.

Only then did he acknowledge that he’d been aching for any excuse, no matter how flimsy, to kiss her again.

He’d harbored a precise memory of her sweet taste. And the way her lips parted when he swept his tongue over their lush temptation.

Now he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tugged her tight against his body.

She had heat, but not the scorching heat of his own dragon. Hers was a smoldering, exotic warmth that enticed his beast even as his fey blood bubbled with the intoxicating magic that sizzled between them.

Allowing his fingertips to touch the satiny smoothness of her cheek, he plundered her mouth. He wanted to drown in the sensations that thundered through him.

Why the hell had he been so reluctant to claim this delectable female?

Reluctantly lifting his head, he watched as her fingers fluttered toward her reddened lips, her eyes still dazed.

“Why did you kiss me?”

“Because I can’t stop myself,” he admitted in a gruff voice.

She blinked, her expression oddly wary. “You’re just saying that to try and manipulate me.”

He flinched, guilt blistering over his raw nerves. Of course she didn’t trust him. He’d never given her any reason to believe he cared about her.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his hands smoothing over her fragile shoulders.

He felt her tense, her tongue peeking out to lick her lips.

“For kissing me?”

He scowled. Was that supposed to be a joke? He rarely understood humor.

“Hell, no,” he snapped. “That’s the one thing in my life that I’ll never regret.”

“Then why are you apologizing?”

His skimmed his hands down her arms, grasping her hands in a tight grip.

“I allowed my reluctance to relinquish my life as a warrior to tarnish our betrothal,” he admitted. “I never considered how my lack of attention was affecting you. It was selfish and unnecessarily cruel.”

Something vulnerable flared through the amber eyes. “And now?”

He tilted his head to the side. “Now?”

“How do you feel about our mating?”

He didn’t hesitate. “I’m fully prepared to do my duty.”

The air cooled, her expression suddenly impossible to read.

“Duty?” she demanded.

“Yes.”

“Awesome.”

She tugged her hands free, closing her eyes as she sucked in a deep breath.

“Rya.” Torque frowned, baffled by the scent of singed blossoms that filled the air. Rya was pissed, but he didn’t have a clue why. “What’s wrong?”

“The fact that you even have to ask proves you know nothing about me,” she muttered. “Or any other female.”

Her eyes remained closed, as if she was trying to block him out. The sight made tiny flames dance over his skin.

Dammit. He’d just told her that he regretted not treating her with proper respect as his soon-to-be consort. And even told her that he was ready to complete their mating.

What more did she want?

“I have no talent for reading minds,” he groused.

Her lips twisted. “What is your talent?”

“Killing things,” he informed her in bleak tones, belatedly wondering if she’d hoped for a mate who was artistic or poetic or philosophical. He’d never had time for anything but training to protect his master. “It’s all I’ve ever known.”

She bit her lip, but she still refused to look at him. Instead she squared her shoulders as the feel of her magic swirled around him. “I’ll be back.”

Fear exploded through Torque.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

He grabbed her arms, roughly hauling her into his lap, but he instantly knew he was too late. She lay limp in his arms, her essence already leaving her body to travel beyond the walls of their prison.

CHAPTER FIVE