Oh, My Dragon (I Like Big Dragons 3)

Twenty minutes passed, and I was just deciding that I would indeed have to pee on myself, when I felt the sudden change.

It was subtle, yes, but I felt it nonetheless.

At first I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but the longer I sat there, the longer it took me to realize that someone was in the room with me.

A man.

Nikolai.

The touch of his hand against mine had me automatically closing my eyes and trying to read the traces of DNA that he’d left on my skin when he’d touched me.

I’d opened my eyes and looked across the room at Robert, who was still pacing the room.

“Robert, please,” I begged. “I don’t want to pee on myself. Please.”

He looked over at me.

“Please,” I persisted.

He sighed and walked toward me.

“I’m going to untie you from the bed, but you’re going to leave the ropes tied to your wrist. There will be absolutely no fooling around. If I even think that something is going wrong, I’ll crush you.” He proved his fact by holding the foot up that he’d been holding since I got here, and giving it a little shake.

The moment he shook it, my entire body convulsed as if I’d been electrocuted.

I stared numbly at the stupid foot, and realized then why he was holding it, and had never let it go in over forty-eight hours. It was tied to me.

Like a fucking voodoo doll.

“Do you understand me?” he asked viciously.

I nodded my head, not wanting him any closer than he already was.

The man scared me.

He was a freakin’ psycho.

How I could have ever slept with this man, I didn’t know.

Though I hadn’t told Ian that little tidbit.

I hadn’t been able to work up the courage.

He’d been so understanding about knowing about the child that wasn’t his.

If he’d realized just who the man was to me that’d gotten me pregnant, then he’d have had a shit fit. I still couldn’t believe my freakin’ luck.

How could you have been so stupid? How could you have done this to yourself and Ian? You’ve doomed yourself and your baby!

The words in my head wouldn’t stop, and it was getting to the point where if I wasn’t careful, Ian would hear every stray thought that I had.

Shut up! I snapped at myself. I know I need to. But he doesn’t need to know right now. Not when we’ve spent the last forty-eight hours apart and he’s trying to figure out how the hell to get me out of this.

Something’s wrong. Ian’s tense voice filled my mind. What is it?

He’s untying me and letting me go to the bathroom. He has this foot of some sort in his hand that’s somehow controls my every action if he wills it to…kind of like a voodoo doll. Whatever he does to the token, happens to me. The moment I get out of hand, or do something he doesn’t like, he could hurt me. Greatly.

Ian’s curse was loud in the forefront of my mind, but I didn’t let that deter me. I would be leaving.

I didn’t care if he broke me the moment he realized I was gone. It didn’t matter anyway. If I didn’t get next to Ian soon, I’d die.

That was what I’d read in the book he’d so kindly provided for me. The book that was written by the previous king, for his sons, who would one day find their chosen mates.

The female is fed by the male’s connection to the dragon. The two mates will forever have to be within the vicinity of the other, or they start to grow weak and eventually die if the separation goes on too long. Never stay apart for more than twenty-four hours. Trust me, it doesn’t go away. I know.

That was it, word for word, from the book. Those were the words that kept repeating in my mind the entire time we’d been separated. Each moment we’d been apart, the weaker I grew.

I never had a chance at leaving Ian. Even if I’d wanted to—which I didn’t. We were meant to be together, and would be for the rest of our lives…or we’d be dead.

Which was a scary notion. We were still in Dallas. Ian’s shop was in Dallas. We were in the same freakin’ city!

Should it really have been that bad?

Yes. Mace’s clear understanding of the matter filled my head. Because if you’re not together, then the bond is not as strong as it needs to be.

What do you mean? I asked him, freezing at the sink where I’d begun to slowly and methodically wash my hands.

The entire point of destined mates is to have them feed off of each other. To make them stronger when they’re together. They’re meant to ride into battle together, not apart.

My brows rose.

That would be the total opposite of what I’ve witnessed between all the mated pairs so far. Keifer, Nikolai and Ian would never allow their wives to ride into battle with them.