CHAPTER 21

"You asked me some questions when we were bringing you in here, and I never answered," he said quietly. "I will now, while we have a moment." He paused as Jandri was ordered to exit the cell. "I knew you were thinking about killing me because I know dragons. I've learned to read their subtleties. I've learned to understand what each small movement means. That's why I'm the only captain who hasn't been killed in this job."

"Yet."

"Correct. Yet." He paused. "It's clear that you barely know you're a dragon. You don't act like the rest of them, as I said. You've never shifted, and yet you are going to be the most dangerous of them all. I can see it in you. I can see the danger lurking. See it, not smell it. This doesn't have to do with the golden prince. You're trouble, Fino."

"That must be why they whip me with such gusto."

"I hear you exude more power than any Stiven who's ever been in this dungeon. Only one of the faeries gives them the same dose, and that is when her sister is beside her."

So there was a powerful faerie in the dungeons. Interesting to know. I wondered if the demons were suppressing her power. Most likely. I figured it was how Daniel kept everyone in line. What handy magic for a sleazeball to have.

"The officers here love power above all else," Gio continued, his words barely above a whisper. "They're relentless. And they can be. They supply party favors and his highness's twisted creatures, but otherwise they're left alone. What happens down here remains here, for the most part, unless they need help in some way. They are not checked on by the rest of the castle."

I blinked a few times, letting that sink in. I lifted my head as much as I could, trying to study him a little more closely.

They weren't checked on? Meaning that if I timed my rebellion and escape just right, no one would be the wiser until Daniel wanted his party favors?

Why the fuck would the captain of the guard tell me this? Me, the dragon he thought was more dangerous than the others.

I narrowed my eyes.

"Don't go anywhere," I said as I dragged my arms up and braced my hands beside my shoulders. "I need to get up." I sucked in a breath. "This is going to suck."

Pain vibrated through me as I pushed my upper body off the ground. The skin on my back stretched, ripping at the fresh slashes and pulling open any scabs that had formed. I pushed back and then worked my knees under me, my legs aching, before trying to twist and plop onto my butt.

The pain was interrupted by a blast of delicious pleasure that soaked through my core and started to pound. It curled through my body, ripping a decadent moan from my lips.

Shit. Bad timing, I thought. Better hurry this up before I climax in front of all these people.

I twisted and sat, searing pain spreading across my skin. A feeling like a lazy tongue dragging across my taut nipple met the pain and conquered it, drenching my core with heat.

"Holy fuck," I said, my body pounding, not much pain this time to hinder the flow of pleasure. The feel of Neff shuddered through me, like he was shoving my legs wide and driving his cock into me.

"One sec," I managed, scooting to the wall, gasping with pleasure. "Maybe two seconds…"

My heat fanned higher. My ecstasy increased. My embarrassment was out of control.

My back hit the wall. I could barely think over the pulsing in my body as I imagined him between my legs. His hands on me. His cock pumping hard.

His pleasure poured through the bond, along with other feelings. His love. His devotion. His rage at what was happening to me.

The mark on my neck tingled as though a hot, wet tongue had slid across it. My legs straightened of their own accord, and pain ate at me, lending to the memory of when he'd bitten me and claimed me as his.

The orgasm forced out a strangled cry, tightening my jaw and stealing my breath. I shuddered, a wave of power blasting through me as sensation consumed me.

Shaking, breathing heavily, I rested my head against the wall for a moment. The silence of the room was deafening.

"Sorry." I gulped down air. "Sorry about that…"

Gio was staring at me with wide eyes in a blank face. He clearly hadn't processed what had happened in front of the demon king, and no one had told him how I'd been handling the officers' whipping. Well, he knew now. He'd just gotten a front-row seat to exactly how that golden dragon was helping me through the pain.

Donal had stopped to look back, and Jandri was scowling for all he was worth.

"Sorry about that," I said again with a flaming face. I probably still had spit dribbling off my chin, and I definitely had dirt and dried blood caked on every inch of me. I was not the epitome of sexy right now but…well, I just came in front of a bunch of people in the middle of a conversation. That wasn't something a person just shrugged off. Not outside of Neff's castle, anyway.

"You were saying?" I prompted when Gio continued to stare.

A guffaw trailed down the middle of the cells, Vian finding great delight in all of this.

"What the fuck just happened?" I was pretty sure that was Tina.

"Did she just…" A female's voice drifted away. Jade, I thought, her eyes as green as her name.

Silence settled again. Shocked silence. Silence no one could figure out how to fill.

"That was just my bond mate, helping me deal with the pain of moving around," I said with a grimace.

Gio held up his hand, his eyes shrinking back to normal size, and something new glimmering in them that I couldn't read. "I don't need to know."

"I kinda want to know," Vian called. "It is fantastically filthy, Strange Lady, and I'm here for it."

"Thanks, Vian," I said dryly as Gio went to stand. "No, wait—" I held out a hand and lowered my voice, nothing but a soft hum so no one but the two of us could hear. "Why did you tell me that? About the castle?"