The Dragon's Bride by Katee Robert

Author:Katee Robert [Robert, Katee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Trinkets and Tales LLC

Chapter 15

Sol

My bride suffers from nightmares.

I already resigned myself to a sleepless night. The cost is more than worth the reward of resting beside Briar. I’m a ruthless bastard, because I will take every inch she gives me and then push for more. I like my little redheaded bride. She’s the strangest mix of brittle and strong, of afraid and more courageous than a beast four times her size. And when pleasure makes her forget to think so hard?

I have to focus on breathing to control my body’s response. She’ll need the balm the bargainer demons keep on hand for their humans. Something I should have considered when I was last in Azazel’s presence.

That’s when she whimpers.

It’s a sound filled with absolute terror. I tense, immediately searching the room for a threat, but of course there’s nothing. I would have noticed the moment something trespassed into my immediate territory. Not even the incubi or succubi with their smoke forms would be able to fool my senses. Not here.

Briar whimpers again. Her lips form into a near-soundless word. “No.”

I reach for her but stop short. Nightmares are strange creatures. Sometimes waking is the answer, but sometimes it makes things worse. I don’t know which side of things Briar falls into. I hadn’t thought to ask.

Helpless frustration rises with every twitch, with every wounded-animal sound she makes. Haunted. That’s what she called herself. It’s easy to forget during our waking hours when she’s doing her best to charge forward in a way that’s so sweet, it makes my teeth ache.

She found my presence comforting before. Perhaps it’s enough to ward off the worst of her nightmares. At this point, lying here and waiting her out is all but impossible. If I were one of the incubi, I could slip into her dreams and fight whatever threatens her there. Even bargainer demons have more power in this kind of situation than I do, though they can only dream-hop if they have some incubi in their family history. Unfortunately, I’m constrained to the physical.

I turn onto my side, facing her, allowing my weight to dip the bedding between us. She slides closer. Another shift, and she’s pressed against my chest. That should be enough, but I can’t stop myself from shifting my tail over her thighs and against her back, urging her closer yet. Wrapping her up in me. Briar gives one last exhausted little sigh, and then she appears to fall into a dreamless slumber.

I don’t sleep at all.

It’s only when dawn creeps across the sky outside the window that I slip from the bed. I pause to tuck the blankets more firmly around her and get dressed. Then I duck out of the room and stride down the hall. There isn’t a permanent portal open between the keep and Azazel’s castle, but we have an open correspondence, courtesy of my previous visits.

Hopefully I can get this errand finished and be back before Briar wakes.

My study is exactly as I left it…except for the giant pile of paperwork that seems to have bred overnight.

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