The Queen's Flight (Emerging Queens) by Jamie K. Schmidt Read Free Book Online

training kicking in. It couldn’t be because when he looked at her all he thought about was sex.
    He glared at the road, his fingers tightening hard enough to put hairline cracks in the handlebars.
    He didn’t want to serve another Queen, no matter how tame she’d be. It did surprise him that he still had courtly manners. He’d figured Cassandra had beaten all formality out of him. One of these days, he’d have to stop letting her define him.
    It didn’t matter. Sooner or later these new Queens would turn bitchy, once they realized their power, and he planned to be long gone before that happened. He’d escort Viola to the safe house in Upstate New York and then continue on to Vermont.
    As he revved the bike to gain speed, he let his senses expand. He didn’t smell any other dragons—which was the only reason he’d left her alone. Reed would have his head, anyway, or at least he’d try. Sergei smiled to himself. It might be worth it to see whose poison was more virulent. Reed had a breath weapon that spat a corrosive poison at his enemy, but Sergei’s tail held a sting that rivaled a fat tail scorpion.
    A human would be paralyzed instantly and suffocate as their lungs and heart stopped. A dragon, depending on where the sting landed, would also be impaired. Multiple strikes and the dragon would stop moving, allowing him to perform a coup de grace.
    Not that he wanted to kill Reed. He and Jack were do-gooders, and while Sergei didn’t have time in his life for that nonsense, the world could use all the help it could get.
    He signaled and tore up the entrance ramp, pushing the speed up past ninety.
    Speed equaled freedom. He’d been chained because he was so fast he could beat any pursuer. He held the record for most escape attempts and bore the whip marks on his body to prove it. Of course, in hindsight, if he hadn’t been such a rebel he wouldn’t even had popped up on Cassandra’s radar.
    One stud among the harem .
    He opened the bike up full throttle and pinned it at one-hundred-and-ninety miles an hour. Using his dragon reflexes, he ran up the middle line, dodging passing cars as if they were standing still. One of these days he’d outrun the memories.
    But not today.
    He saw the Fat Bob Harley in the fast lane, harassing a Prius to get out of her way. Sergei blew both their doors off, passing on the right. He eased off the throttle and let the new Queen catch up. Viola ducked her head down and passed him, glancing over her shoulder with a little smirk. Sergei had to look away. He liked human women. They were easy. They smelled nice and they didn’t expect anything long-term. Dragon Queens, on the other hand, ruled over men. And as pretty as Viola’s brown eyes were, he wasn’t going to be commanded ever again.
    They rode side by side; sometimes he let her pull up ahead and take the lead, and he ogled her lush backside. Man, if they’d only met a few weeks ago, what fun they could have had. He bet she smelled like the wind and would taste like honey wine. He had a weakness for curvy blonds.
    Sergei blinked. Where the hell did that thought come from? Get your head in the game and stop thinking with your dick. There will be plenty of Vermont cuties waiting for you once you begin your exile.
    A few hours later, they pulled into a gas station to rest.
    “You seem tired,” he said as they filled up. He batted her credit card away. “I have an expense account.”
    “Does that include dinner?” she asked, stretching.
    He tried not to stare at the sweet band of flesh showing as her sweater pulled up. “It includes anything I want. You hungry?”
    “For anything except lamb,” Viola smiled at him and he grunted. “Although it’s got to be way past midnight.”
    Sergei nodded. “We did the right thing, leaving when we did. It didn’t give the press a chance to regroup. Plus, any studs in the area will be two hours south of us.”
    “I don’t know if I can drive all night.” She rubbed her temples