The Dragon's Bride (A Deal With a Demon 1)

Sol moves, a flash of green that appears in front of the demon. He grabs their neck and slams them back against the wall hard enough that I’m surprised the entire keep doesn’t shudder.

“Sol, wait!” I start to rise, but the room goes strangely liquid.

I manage one step before my legs give out and everything goes dark.

Chapter 17

Briar

I come to before I hit the ground, Sol’s arms around me. He lifts me just as carefully as he always seems to touch me when we’re not having sex. The violence that screamed from his body language is gone. Or at least directed outward.

“Leave,” he snarls.

“See you around.”

I blink blearily at Ramanu as they walk out of the kitchen, apparently none the worse for Sol’s attempted strangulation. Then they’re gone and we’re alone again. Strange how I used to see Sol as the threat, but now the tension goes out of my body with Ramanu’s absence. They haven’t done anything, but danger comes off them in waves despite their irreverent attitude.

Maybe my instincts aren’t as fucked up as I believed.

“Briar?”

“I’m fine,” I say automatically and then have to stop and ensure it’s the truth. “I just got a little light-headed when I stood up.”

Sol turns and sets me back on the stool, but he doesn’t move away. “You passed out.”

“I don’t think so.”

He exhales slowly. “You passed out,” he repeats firmly. “Eat the rest of your food, and then I’m taking you back to bed.”

My stomach is twisted in knots, and I’m not hungry anymore, but he’s got an air about him that says he won’t move from this spot until I eat at least a little more. I sigh. “Humans pass out from needles or pain all the time. It’s nothing to be concerned about.”

“I disagree.”

He watches me closely, tension lining his shoulders, and I quickly take a few bites. “I’m fine.”

“You keep saying that, but you’ll forgive me if I don’t believe you.” He watches me eat for several long moments before taking a slow step back. “You would put your needs second to negating conflict.”

I start to argue, but he’s right. Best I can tell, he’s been honest with me since I arrived here. It feels disingenuous to lie to his face in response. I swallow one last piece of fruit and sit back. “Old habits are hard to break. I’ve been here less than a week. I think I can be forgiven for not suddenly becoming a new person.”

“I’m not asking you to. But you’ll forgive me if I take steps to ensure you don’t endanger yourself out of habit.” He eyes the plate. “You’re finished?”

“Yes.”

Sol nods and makes short work of the remaining food, then he cleans and puts the plate away. When he returns to me, he seems even more serious than normal. “I mean it, Briar. I don’t expect you to suddenly be without scars.” He pauses.

I blink, still chewing on his earlier statement. “I’m not endangering myself.”

“All the same.”

I don’t know what to say to that. The easy way we were before Ramanu came in is gone, replaced by tension. Sol is keeping himself tightly leashed, but there’s no missing how tense he is. A frisson of something that isn’t quite fear goes through me. “Would you have killed them?”

“Perhaps.”

In that moment, I wish Sol were a little less honest. “You can’t just go around murdering people who look at me sideways.”

Instead of answering, Sol sweeps me into his arms. He pauses to grab the container Ramanu left on the counter, and then he’s stalking back through the halls. They’re eerily silent, which makes me realize they haven’t been up to this point. “Sol?”

“You have nothing to fear from me.”

I don’t know if that means there’s someone else in this keep that I should fear, or if there’s someone in this keep that should fear him.

He carries me up to our bedroom and kicks the door shut behind us hard enough that, again, I’m glad this place is made of unshakeable stone. Sol stops in front of the bed and takes a long breath. It’s only then that I note the slight tremors in his arms.

He hisses softly. “Do you trust me, Briar?”

With my heart? Most assuredly not. I’m not certain I even trust him with my future, since we are diametrically opposed in a number of ways. But he’s not asking for either. I look up into his dark eyes. “What do you need from me?”

“I am…” He releases another hissing breath. “It’s the mating frenzy. I didn’t expect…”

Ah. I reach up and tentatively press my hand to his broad chest. “You need to reclaim what’s yours.”

“Yes.”

I’m familiar enough with the concept of jealousy pushing someone to this kind of action, even if my past experience always made it feel like I’d somehow done something wrong. It doesn’t feel like that with Sol. But then, nothing feels like I expect with Sol.