The Dragon’s Appraiser: Part Two by Viola Rivard Read Free Book Online

of the light.
    His nostrils flared and in the next instant, his face hardened and his garnet eyes snapped open.
    “Where have you been?” It was more a demand than a question.
    “A lot of places,” she said, a little breathless. She had never known him to wake before dawn, no matter how much noise she made or how much she moved around. “I had quite the adventure tonight.”
    “I have not been sleeping long enough for you to have any adventures.” He sat up, his eyes narrowing. “Why do you smell like men?”
    Madja stood, preparing to return to her side of the bed. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you all about it tom—”
    Without warning, his hand closed around one of her wrists. With too much force, he jerked her back, all but throwing her onto the bed. In one swift, predatory motion, he was on top of her, his large body caging her in.
    “You will tell me now.”
    She sighed, trying not to let on how much his display of aggression unnerved her. “I saw two little girls wandering around by the docks. I took them back to their father and the four of us went to watch fireworks. On the way back, a group of drunks mistook me for a prostitute. Nothing bad happened. It was actually kind of funny.”
    Sevrrn didn’t seem to find any part of that funny. He tilted his head, his eyes becoming shadowed. When he spoke, his voice was harsh.
    “They touched you.”
    She squirmed uncomfortably. “It was nothing I couldn’t handle.”
    His head lowered to sniff her neck, and then, her breasts. Madja stiffened.
    “What are you—it wasn’t like that . Those men couldn’t have raped me if they wanted to.”
    ‘Raped’ had been a poor choice of words. The moment it left her lips, his grip tightened to the point of pain. It wasn’t the hurts-so-good type of pain she normally associated with the dragon, but a level of pain that threatened injury.
    “You will not leave my sight again.” A warning.
    “Will you let go of me?” she asked, but even in her wholly subdued state, she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. “And technically, I didn’t leave your sight. You were sleeping.”
    Sevrrn swiftly countered, “You are never to go where I am not.”
    Never . The word cut her to the bone.
    “What am I, your slave ?”
    “You are mine .”
    With her free hand, she grabbed his wrist, squeezing as tightly as she could. Her nails bit into his flesh in a vain attempt to cause him pain, because there was nothing she could say to hurt him as much as he was hurting her.
    “I told you before, I am not one of your trinkets.”
    She hadn’t realized that they were shouting at one another until there was a soft knock at the door. They both froze as they heard the nervous voice of the innkeeper’s daughter.
    “Is everything all right in there?”
    No, nothing is all right .
    “We’re fine,” Madja said weakly. “Thank you.”
    The young woman excused herself, but lingered at the door for another moment. When they could hear the sound of her footsteps heading down the hallway, Sevrrn released Madja’s wrist. Appearing to come back to his senses, he rolled off her.
    “We will be returning to the mountain at first light. I have had enough of this town.”
    Not willing to start another fight, Madja turned on her side to face away from him. Tears stung her eyes, but she refused to cry. What would be the point?
    Never before had she felt so unbearably human.

7
    S evrrn was already awake the next morning and Madja sensed that he hadn’t slept. Remarkably, exhaustion had claimed her quickly. But despite a few hours of rest, she felt hollow inside and out.
    They ate a quick breakfast and bid the innkeeper goodbye. The pier was littered with garbage and the remains of the fireworks. Fireworks for a dragon who had been sleeping the whole time.
    Only the fishermen were awake as they set out, and Madja could still hear them laughing and singing in the distance as she and Sevrrn passed through the town gates. She followed a few paces