King of Air (Reign of Dragons #1)

by D.N. Hoxa

I welcomed the pain and smiled as I watched him climbing up the hall stairs, hands loose at his sides, his white mask the same as always, shielding his face completely. He was finally here to end my sixth life, just like he’d ended the other five.

I’m tired, I wanted to say, but the coughing wouldn’t let me. I could barely breathe. I’m tired of trying to figure out who you are. I’m tired of fighting you and losing. I’m tired of trying to get anyone to believe me, to help me put a stop to you before you arrive, to help me escape. I’ve tried it all, and now I’m tired. I just want it to be over. My eyes closed.

We still didn’t even know what Greta was. Her dad was a polar bear and her mom was a fox, so she could be a Water or Air shifter. She didn’t have any affinity to either of those elements yet, but she was still young.

Water shifters—tigers and polar bears—needed to fall in love and mate to unlock both their magic and their animals. When they mated, their bodies and souls connected forever. They became one very powerful whole, but when one died, the other lost almost all of their power, too.

But Air shifters—eagles and foxes—and Earth—wolves and bears—were different from either Water or Fire. About half of them could do basic elemental magic even as kids. Starting from the age of sixteen, most of them—though not all—unlocked their full magic and their animals on their own, without needing to mate.

“Or what?” Barely any voice left me. At that, Lucien met my eyes, and from so close up, I saw every little detail about them, every shade of blue and every silver fleck. “Or when you start begging, it will be too late.” His fingers around my neck squeezed just a little before he let go of me and stepped back.

“He’s Michael Di Laurier’s son.” “Okay?” Who the hell was Michael Di Laurier? “Do you even live with those people?” she said—those people, meaning me and my father—and she was disgusted by the mere mentioning of us, too. “Michael was known as the Blood Blade. He was killed by the dragon king a few years ago.” Every hair on my body stood at attention.

“You don’t scare me, Breezy.” I told him the same earlier, but this time, I meant it. “I’ve gone through worse than you, you know.” If he’d met my father, he’d have known exactly what I was talking about. His brows shot up. “Is that a challenge?” What? No! That was not a challenge. Absolutely not! I swallowed hard. “Maybe.”

“Well, I do like a good challenge. I like it almost as much as I like breaking people.”

“I’ve thought about you all day.” He said the words painfully slowly, and I’ll be damned if he didn’t...

With every new word I said, his smile became wider, and he looked more surprised. Did it even matter? “I will not be accepting your deal, Breezy, but I’ve got a new one to offer you.” His brows raised. “Is that so?” he whispered, so low I barely heard it.

“Good. Because you do not want to be my enemy, Greta Windbaker,” he said, and his warm breath was a caress to my cheek. “I don’t want to be your friend, either.” Just in case he got any ideas in his head. His eyes moved down to my lips once more. “Oh, we’re not going to be friends. Far from it…”

My heart fell all the way to my heels. My father was not a good man, I’d known that in each one of my lives, but he wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t kill people because of whom they chose to mate. Our animals chose our mates, not us. He just…wouldn’t do that…would he?

“What—you’re not gonna try to break me anymore?” I said, fighting the blush that was creeping up my face—in vain. “You’re not going to own me?” The idea had been to mock him, but I just sounded breathless instead. “Not until you want to be owned,” I thought he whispered, but it was so low I couldn’t be sure, and then… “You look…different.”

“That is correct—it’s just you. And until you agree to tell me the truth, you will continue to be my property. I will do with you whatever I please,” he said with a growl. “Fuck you!” I said, poking him in the chest twice, but he didn’t even flinch. “If I wish it, I will.” His hand was suddenly on the back of my neck, and it took all I had not to cry out from surprise. “I am giving you a chance here, little fox. Tell me the truth and live.”

“Maybe not, but I still own you,” he whispered, sending chills down my back. “You’re still mine to do with as I please.” “You can’t—” do shit to me, I was going to say, but he didn’t let me. “How are you going to stop me then?” His smile was like a promise of pain.

Fire burned underneath my skin. Moving was impossible. He had me completely at his mercy. “Why do you resist me?” he whispered, his lips touching my jaw only slightly, sending jolts of electricity down the length of me. The heat of his breath gathered in the pit of my stomach, and the harder he held me against him, the more of his chest I felt against my back. The more of his dick I felt against my ass. Fuck. “How do you resist me?” he continued, moving his head slightly, touching my skin with his lips.

No way could I stop the moan slipping from my lips. His hand kept moving, his thumb grazing the hard bud of my nipple over the shirt, and that was it. That was all it took for me to want to explode into a thousand fucking pieces. Stop! I told myself in my head. I screamed it. I begged my body to move. This wasn’t right. This shouldn’t happen. He was keeping me a damn prisoner in this place! “Don’t lie to me, little fox,” he said, biting my earlobe as he worked his thumb over my nipple still, pressing himself onto my back harder so that I could feel how much he was being affected by me, too. His cock was hard, pressing onto my ass as if he wanted me to feel every inch of him.

“Do not resist me—you can’t. I’ve already dominated your animal. You will be tamed, too—do you hear me?” He stuck his warm tongue in my ear and gripped my boob in his hand, squeezing so hard it would have been painful if it didn’t feel so damn good. “You will obey. You will obey.” I heard his voice, but that wasn’t all. I heard the magic in his words, too. He really was trying to dominate me. I was tempted to laugh. Had he no idea what I was?

He ran his hand through his hair, pushing it back, closing his eyes for a second. “I’m teaching you why it’s not a good idea to come close to me, little fox. I warned you upstairs, but you didn’t listen.” He leaned closer and it was all I could do not to step back. “You get under my skin. You play with my control,” he said, like he was accusing me. Any other day, I’d have laughed, but right now, I just shook my head.

“Just pissed that I have to actually see your face and talk to you,” I spit as hatefully as I could, which wasn’t much. I sounded a bit breathless, but at least I got the words out. That had to count for something, considering how I was feeling. “Would you rather be with your eyes closed and panting for me instead?” he said calmly.

“Well, if you’re planning to take advantage of me again…” His smile vanished, and suddenly he looked like I’d slapped him across the face. “Advantage?” he asked, stepping closer to me, as if he couldn’t tell that I’d stopped three feet away from him on purpose. I apparently couldn’t be trusted with this guy, not if he put his hands on me. “Your body called to me, little fox. You begged to submit to me,” he said, and his eyes fell on my parted lips.

“I’d like to see you try,” I said, but he wasn’t done. “And the next time you slap me, I will put you over my knee and slap you, too, little fox…” The corner of his lips turned up when I sucked in a breath. “I will slap that beautiful ass raw. You won’t be able to sit on it for days.”

hands over my mouth to make sure I didn’t make a single sound. I’d seen that violin before. I’d owned that violin in my last life. It had been a gift from my mother—the exact same one. It had felt like I’d played it before—because I had! Why in the world would it be in Lucien’s house in this life and not in mine?

“I want to tell you to watch your mouth, little fox,” he whispered. “But apparently, I like it dirty.” He leaned closer to me, never blinking those beautiful, stormy eyes.

Lucien closed his eyes for a moment, letting go of a deep breath. “If I find out you’re lying to me, there will be consequences,” he said. I could have laughed. “Why do you even care?!” I demanded again. He had Ezrail come pick me up at his house every single day but he had a problem with him touching me? “Because you’re mine, little fox. And nobody touches what’s mine. Do you understand that?”

“Lucien,” I breathed, so desperate my knees were shaking. If he didn’t kiss me right now, I was never going to let myself get to this point again. “You look so damn delicious,” he whispered. “I want to fucking devour you.” “Then do it.” I had no idea what the hell had gotten into me. “It won’t be gentle,” he said, pulling my bottom lip between his teeth, biting me.

That day, I was way too overwhelmed to suspect anything, but I should have. I should have asked myself one single question: how was he even awake?

“Take me to the bed,” I begged him, arms locked around his neck. I needed all of him. I wanted everything. I wanted it right now. “Are you sure?” he asked, though he was already walking backward into the room, pulling me with. “Yes,” I breathed even before he finished speaking. “Absolutely sure?” he said, a small smile curling his lips. “Because when I take you, when I make you mine, you can never be anybody else’s for as long as you live. Do you understand me?” He lowered me onto the bed and climbed on top of me. The weight of him pressed to my body felt incredible. “You will belong to me forever, little fox. Forever.”

“So soft. So fucking pure,” he said with a growl, trailing kisses down my foot. “I’m going to corrupt you little by little.”

“I suppose she deserves it.” “She’s kind,” Lirian said. “I think the Ether can decide.” “He certainly can,” Leanve said with a nod.

“What…why aren’t they spinning around the tree?” I whispered, unsure whether I even wanted to know. “It’s the Ether,” Leanve said breathlessly. “It sent them for you.” I shook my head. “What does that mean?” “It means you’re a special one, sweet girl,” said Lirian. “The Ether has seen inside your head. There is hope for you.”

“There is hope, but there is also great danger. Beware of the one who takes your life.” “Poor sweet girl,” Lemente whispered.

Even if Lucien really found me in two years, he had already killed me tonight.

“Well, my lady? The crowd is waiting,” Kovak said with that fake laugh of his. I raised my chin, fisting my hands tightly, my eyes never leaving his. “Gabriel St. Revent,” I said, my voice barely louder than a whisper. And the crowd cheered again. Lucien watched me like I’d just ripped his heart right out of his chest. His lips parted and his brows narrowed, and I could have sworn he shook his head. A single tear slipped from my eye—I couldn’t stop it. It hurt too much. I barely breathed because he’d already claimed my breath.

Because even though I would always love him in as many lives as I lived, I would have to do everything in my power to make sure that I would never see him again…and if I did, I would have to die at his hands for the seventh time.