Queen of Dragons: Steamy Fantasy Erotic Romance (Dragon nights Book 1) by Tasha Bell
Authors: Tasha Bell
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left Loxley Hall early the next morning
before the sun had broken over the jagged ridges of the Borset Mountains, in
the cold, dawn light of the square she could see Matt Tindall overseeing the
building of the scaffold on which the two captured men were to be hung later
that day. She shivered as she passed, imagining Christian’s boots swinging from
those dark gallows, and pulled her cloak tight over her face so the men would
not recognise her. It was vital that she found her childhood friend before
captain Bates did. She had no idea where he had gone, but she headed for the
place where she knew the young Christian would have felt most secure, an old
wooden cabin by the stream at the top of the heavily wooded valley. She and
Christian had sometimes camped there before he went away, they had swam in the
clear waters and caught fish, cooking them over an open fire while sitting on
the mossy rocks. He had once told it was his favourite place in the whole
world.
Viviana had decided that she would find Christian
and then decide what she would do with herself. She knew that being highborn
wouldn’t be enough to protect her once Captain Bates had sent his report to the
capital. The bodies of the Dukes of the North lying in the moat at Castle
Ranchester attested to how King John dealt with noble traitors.
As she approached the cabin she saw a thin trail
of smoke rising from the top of the valley. When she reached the old hut, more
tumble-down and ruined than she remembered, there was no sign of Christian. But
there were still embers warm in the fire, and the remains of last night’s fish
summer on a rock. She decided to sit and wait for him. The day grew hotter as
it drew on, there was still some power in the late autumn sun, though the old
men in the village had been saying for some time now that a change in the
weather was on its way, they could feel it in their arthritic bones. She sat
and daydreamed about the happier times they had shared in the mossy valley, she
had hoped that they would return here under happier circumstances. Viviana felt
she could not search the woods - calling out for Christian would just alert the
others who might be looking for him.
Eventually the heat and the boredom became
unbearable and she stripped off to swim in the crystal clear pool. She dived in
from the overhanging bluff and gasped as the cold water closed over her head,
it had been years since she’d swum here and she’d forgotten how deceptively
deep the pool was. She ducked under the water and struck out, trying to reach
the bottom. It got darker and colder as she went further down, and the weight
of the water on her eardrums became unbearable. She’d never been able to touch
the bottom of the pool all the times she’d tried. Christian had once, Viviana
remembered panicking at the amount of time he’d been underwater, but then he’d
burst to the surface, grinning and clutching a pebble as proof of his feat. She
rose again, unsuccessful as always, and felt a shadow fall over her. Christian
was standing on the bluff, his hands on his hips, staring down at her.
“Have you come to claim me back?” He called down.
Viviana felt suddenly aware of her nakedness as she trod water looking up at
him, she remembered the hungry look he had given her in the square when she
first saw him again, and she felt gooseflesh breaking out across her skin, not
entirely to do with the cold water.
“No.” She replied, swimming to the edge of the
pool and climbing out, Christian’s eyes were on her back and she had to remind
herself that this man was not the innocent boy who she had known all those
years ago but a powerful man. “I’ve come to warn you, you’re in danger
Christian.”
“Why, have you informed the magistrates of my
deserting the estate?” He said, his voice dripping with cruel sarcasm.
Viviana let out an exasperated sigh. “Christian,
you know I’d never do that,” she said. “I’ve told you everyone who works for me
is free
before the sun had broken over the jagged ridges of the Borset Mountains, in
the cold, dawn light of the square she could see Matt Tindall overseeing the
building of the scaffold on which the two captured men were to be hung later
that day. She shivered as she passed, imagining Christian’s boots swinging from
those dark gallows, and pulled her cloak tight over her face so the men would
not recognise her. It was vital that she found her childhood friend before
captain Bates did. She had no idea where he had gone, but she headed for the
place where she knew the young Christian would have felt most secure, an old
wooden cabin by the stream at the top of the heavily wooded valley. She and
Christian had sometimes camped there before he went away, they had swam in the
clear waters and caught fish, cooking them over an open fire while sitting on
the mossy rocks. He had once told it was his favourite place in the whole
world.
Viviana had decided that she would find Christian
and then decide what she would do with herself. She knew that being highborn
wouldn’t be enough to protect her once Captain Bates had sent his report to the
capital. The bodies of the Dukes of the North lying in the moat at Castle
Ranchester attested to how King John dealt with noble traitors.
As she approached the cabin she saw a thin trail
of smoke rising from the top of the valley. When she reached the old hut, more
tumble-down and ruined than she remembered, there was no sign of Christian. But
there were still embers warm in the fire, and the remains of last night’s fish
summer on a rock. She decided to sit and wait for him. The day grew hotter as
it drew on, there was still some power in the late autumn sun, though the old
men in the village had been saying for some time now that a change in the
weather was on its way, they could feel it in their arthritic bones. She sat
and daydreamed about the happier times they had shared in the mossy valley, she
had hoped that they would return here under happier circumstances. Viviana felt
she could not search the woods - calling out for Christian would just alert the
others who might be looking for him.
Eventually the heat and the boredom became
unbearable and she stripped off to swim in the crystal clear pool. She dived in
from the overhanging bluff and gasped as the cold water closed over her head,
it had been years since she’d swum here and she’d forgotten how deceptively
deep the pool was. She ducked under the water and struck out, trying to reach
the bottom. It got darker and colder as she went further down, and the weight
of the water on her eardrums became unbearable. She’d never been able to touch
the bottom of the pool all the times she’d tried. Christian had once, Viviana
remembered panicking at the amount of time he’d been underwater, but then he’d
burst to the surface, grinning and clutching a pebble as proof of his feat. She
rose again, unsuccessful as always, and felt a shadow fall over her. Christian
was standing on the bluff, his hands on his hips, staring down at her.
“Have you come to claim me back?” He called down.
Viviana felt suddenly aware of her nakedness as she trod water looking up at
him, she remembered the hungry look he had given her in the square when she
first saw him again, and she felt gooseflesh breaking out across her skin, not
entirely to do with the cold water.
“No.” She replied, swimming to the edge of the
pool and climbing out, Christian’s eyes were on her back and she had to remind
herself that this man was not the innocent boy who she had known all those
years ago but a powerful man. “I’ve come to warn you, you’re in danger
Christian.”
“Why, have you informed the magistrates of my
deserting the estate?” He said, his voice dripping with cruel sarcasm.
Viviana let out an exasperated sigh. “Christian,
you know I’d never do that,” she said. “I’ve told you everyone who works for me
is free
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