g anything else underneath that white nightgown. Panties or no panties, he could tell her pussy was soaked, and there was nothing he wanted more than to taste her. “Crap,” he thought. “Being a shape-shifter sucks so much sometimes.” What did it mean, though? That her body gave off so many pheromones…? Was she attracted to him?
“So… good night, I guess?” She dared break the silence. If he didn’t go soon, she would surely do something stupid. And irreversible.
“Yes. You’re tired, of course.” He wanted to turn around, hesitated, clenched and unclenched his fists, then stepped closer to her, slipped a hand behind her neck, and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.
Delyse didn’t know how to react. What was happening? What was he doing? This was insane! His lips touched her skin ever so slightly, and her whole body tingled with desire. Her eyes grew as big as saucers, and her fingers ached to rest against his bulky chest, but she managed to control herself. It didn’t last long. Less than a second, and Viggo was by the door. He had used his shifter speed to put much needed distance between them.
“Good night, Delyse. Sleep well,” he said. “Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.”
“Good night,” she whispered.
And he was out. Closing the door behind him, he cursed under his breath: “Damn it! What was I thinking?” But he knew what he had been thinking. He knew why he had come to her room this late. It was the last time he would see her like this: free, innocent, untouched. Tomorrow, she would belong to Eric. Tomorrow, Delyse would be another woman, a woman he would have to force himself to forget one way or another.
CHAPTER THREE
Marked by the Dragon
Delyse had barely been able to sleep that night. She had tossed and turned, woken up to drink water and pace the room, then tried to read until sleep finally took her around 5 in the morning. Her mind had been the battlefield of a thousand thoughts and questions. What did Viggo’s gesture mean? Did he feel the same? Maybe he was just treating her like a little sister… Then Eric. What would happen the next day? What if she failed? Did she want to fail? No, no way. She liked it here. She didn’t want to go back to Alma Venus. She wanted to build a life here, be friends with Astrid and Finn. There was nothing waiting for her at the boarding school, except for Claudia. But Claudia would soon be bought too, and she’d have no more friends there. Everything had worked so well in the end for Avelyn and Amelia, so why wouldn’t it be the same in her case? Avelyn had hated her husband, Max Blackmane, at first. Now, they were the perfect couple, and they had three wolf pups. Amelia had fallen in love with the Beta and discovered the Alpha who had bought her was actually a woman. In the end, Amelia had become the Alpha of her clan, married the Beta, and stayed best friends with her fake husband, who was now the first woman councilor. Every time Delyse thought about her friends, she couldn’t help but burst out laughing. It was all too surreal. What were the odds? But if they had managed to deal with the strange situations they had been faced with and make them work for them, then surely Delyse could do the same.
“Why can’t things ever be simple?” she asked herself as she was adding extra layers of clothes over the long, cute dress she had chosen for Eric.
Oh, and she had also worried about the journey to the glacier. When her mind had gotten tired of thinking about Viggo and her friends, it had wandered to the most insignificant details of her meeting with her future husband. It would be really cold outside, and even colder inside the glacier. With so many layers of clothes on her, Eric would be lucky if he could see her face. Maybe she would freeze to death before she and Viggo reached their destination, and then this whole mess would be over and she wouldn’t have to worry about a thing ever again, because she would be oh-so-conveniently dead.
She huffed and started looking for something to cover her head with. Someone knocked on the door and she told them to come in without even bothering to ask who it was. Astrid closed the door behind her and immediately burst out in laughter.
“What in heaven’s name are you wearing?! Oh my God, you look… you look like a big, fat, overstuffed turkey!”
Delyse turned around in anger, ready to give the blonde dragon girl a piece of her mind, but when she saw Astrid laughing so hard that she had to hold her tummy, she couldn’t help but be amused at the situation.
“Well, thanks! Best compliment I ever got. So charming you are…”
“I just…” Astrid coughed when she lost her breath for a second. “I’m sorry, but this is too good. I have to take a picture before you change.”
She took out her smartphone and snapped three photos before Delyse even had time to blink, much less catch up with what was happening. Dragon-shifters and their supernatural speed…
“What are you talking about? No way am I going to change. In three hours, I’ll be inside a friggin’ glacier!”
“Yeah! Just in time to scare Eric back into hibernation. He might like stuffed turkey, my dear, but on his plate, not in his bed.”
Delyse folded her arms over her chest in defiance.
“And what do you suggest? If I wear anything else, I’m gonna freeze to death the second I step out of the palace.”
Astrid chuckled. “No, you won’t. What? Did you think Viggo was going to make you walk all the way to Eric’s lair?”
Confusion flickered in Delyse’s blue eyes.
“Oh, you poor, adorable soul,” Astrid cooed. “You did, didn’t you? My stupid brother didn’t tell you he’s going to take you there on his back…”
Delyse’s eyes grew wide. “On his back? Like, he’s going to…”
“Turn into his dragon form, yeah. Lucky girl you are!” Astrid closed the distance between them and started helping Delyse out of her heavy clothes. “It’s not often he agrees to let someone ride him. And a dragon’s skin and scales are so hot that you’d better wear the lightest summer dress you have. Oh! This works!” She had gotten to the last layer, which was a long, white dress. The chest was covered in lace, and the long, bell sleeves were also made of lace. “Great choice! Eric will love it!”
Delyse blushed a little. It was silly, but it felt good to get compliments from a beautiful woman like Astrid. Viggo’s sister fiddled a bit with her hair, arranging it so it would cover her shoulders and breasts, then took a step back to admire her work.
“Perfect. Now, all you need is a big scarf to protect you from the wind, although I talked to Viggo and made him promise he wouldn’t fly too fast. When you get there, just make sure you wrap the scarf loosely around your shoulders and rearrange your hair just like it is now. The wind will ruffle it a bit, but hopefully it won’t be such a big deal.”
“Wow,” muttered Delyse. “You really pay attention to details.”