Feel the Burn by G. A. Aiken

Author:G. A. Aiken [Aiken, G. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Romance
ISBN: 9781420131611
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2015-11-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Gaius awoke under that tree, his arms around Kachka, and looked up into the faces of the Riders surrounding him.

He tapped Kachka’s shoulder.

“What?”

“We are not alone.”

She opened her eyes, focused on her fellow tribeswomen. “What?”

“Tatyana has something,” Marina announced. “A temple. About three to four days’ ride from here. It might be at risk.”

Kachka was out of his arms. She grabbed the clothes they’d tossed aside the night before and, naked, started to walk off with her team.

Before she could get anywhere, though, Gaius reached out and caught hold of her ankle.

Zoya grinned. “He is going to beg!”

Gaius smirked. “I’m a king, Zoya Kolesova—ruler of an empire. I don’t beg. Now piss off.”

Zoya and Marina looked to Kachka, and she jerked her head to the side. With a nod, the women walked away, leaving the pair alone.

“Did you think I was just going to let you walk away?” he asked.

“Did you think that because you are king, I would stay?”

Gaius slowly ran his hand up the back of Kachka’s bare leg. “I thought you’d stay because you’re madly in love with me.”

Kachka crouched down in front of Gaius and, grinning, he slid his hand between her thighs, which Kachka quickly caught and held.

“I have to go.”

“You don’t have to go. You choose to go.”

“I have name to make. Honor to obtain. I do not have time to let a man get in my way.”

“I’m not a man. I’m a dragon. And I want what I want.” He let out a truly regretful sigh, pulling his hand back so he could take hold of her hand. “But I also understand your need to earn a name.” He kissed the back of her knuckles. “So go. Get your name.”

“And you will wait for me like loyal puppy?”

“That I can’t promise. But if death finds you well, Kachka Shestakova, I’m sure I’ll be around. Somewhere.”

She smiled. It stunned him how . . . sweet it was. Her true smile.

Kachka leaned in and kissed him, one hand pressed against his cheek, the other digging into his hair.

When she finally pulled back, she gave him one more soft kiss on his nose. Then she picked up her clothes again and walked off. Never once looking back.

Gaius stood and pulled on his clothes. He returned to the Great Hall, finding that a few, who had avoided the drink of the Riders, had managed to make it downstairs to get something to eat. But many servants were carrying tea and very dry bread up the stairs to those who couldn’t handle more.

Dagmar, sitting at the table surrounded by missives and parchments filled with figures, smiled at him as he entered. “King Gaius.”

“Lady Dagmar. I’m heading home,” he told her flatly.

Dagmar’s eyes narrowed the slightest bit behind those spectacles she wore. “Is everything all right?”

“Everything’s fine,” he promised, since it was. He and Kachka had no commitment beyond what they’d done the night before. In fact, he doubted that woman would make a commitment to any male if she could avoid it.

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