"Yes?"
I raised my eyebrows, staring at the man standing a few steps away, clutching a crystal pad in both hands like it was so kind of offering. He smiled... nervously, the way people do when they’re about to make a terrible decision.
"I’m sorry if I’m disturbing you..." he began.
’Oh, you are. You really, really are.’
If I were in a real hurry to use the bathroom, I would’ve let my inner phoenix out and turned this corridor into a personal barbeque pit. But instead, I just smiled awkwardly and waited for him to finish whatever nonsense he’d started.
"I just—uh—I noticed you earlier," he stamred, his voice cracking slightly. "And I really wanted to ask if I could, um, get your contact?" He lifted the crystal pad a little, its golden glow flickering nervously between his fingers.
"Sorry?" I blinked, trying to make sure I heard that right.
He noticed earlier. Wonderful. That ans he also noticed the tall, six-foot ice dragon beside . The sa ice dragon who could probably freeze his entire bloodline with one glare.
’Is he calling for his death?’
Of course, I only muttered all that inside my head. Out loud, I smiled politely and lifted my hand, specifically, the one that wore the ring... Lucian bought yesterday. The light from the crystal pad caught the gem, making it shimr like frost and fire.
"I’m sorry," I said proudly, "but I’m married."
The man froze, blinking rapidly. "Oh... I didn’t know."
"You wouldn’t have," I replied sweetly. "My husband’s not the jealous type... unless soone tries to flirt with . Then it gets... icy."
He blinked again, clearly confused.
I smiled wider. "Just kidding."
Mostly.
He smiled and nodded weakly, "Then, I will take my leave, Lady Celeste..."
I froze, ’Did he just call my na?’ I blinked hard. "Sorry?"
He chuckled softly, rubbing the back of his neck as if embarrassed. "You probably get that a lot, Lady Celeste."
The mont he said it, my body went cold.
My lips parted, but no sound ca out. ’He knows who I am?’
For a second, confusion clouded my thoughts... Then it hit . Of course he knew. Everyone probably did. I’d just been too naive to realize how well-known Lucian Drake actually was.
He wasn’t just my husband. He was the heir to the Frost Line, the kind of na that carried weight even in the farthest reaches of this world. And if word had spread that the Ice Dragon had taken a phoenix as his bride... people will for sure whisper.
I forced a small, awkward laugh. "Ah, not really."
The man smiled, and sothing about it imdiately put on edge. "It must be fascinating," he said lightly, "to be married to such a powerful man. I imagine... it cos with a few privileges."
There it was. The tone beneath the politeness, the one that made my instincts flare.
I straightened slowly. "I’m sorry, what’s that supposed to an?"
He leaned in just slightly, lowering his voice. "Just saying, Lady Celeste... Dragons are generous to those who treat them kindly. And I believe kindness should always be... rewarded."
My stomach twisted. His words dripped with sothing uncomfortably familiar—greed.
Before I could respond, his smile shifted. The fake charm vanished from his face, replaced by sothing feral.
"And usually," he murmured, voice dropping into a growl, "dragons are very protective of their mates, aren’t they?"
I froze.
The change was instant. His pupils thinned, and I caught the faint glint of gold bleeding into his irises. A low, animal sound rumbled in his throat as his hand shot out faster than I could blink.
His fingers caught my wrist, hard and I gasped in pain.
That’s when I saw it.
The nails on his hand had lengthened, black and curved like claws, pressing dangerously close against my skin. His grip was too strong, his breath hot and uneven.
"You must feel safe," he hissed, his voice distorting, carrying that half-growl edge of sothing not human. "Thinking the dragon will always be there to protect you."
Every instinct in scread. Heat flickered under my skin, a pulse of fla begging to ignite, but before I could try to summon even a spark...
The air shattered.
The temperature around us dropped so fast it stole the breath from my lungs. Frost began crawling along the walls, the floor, even up the rogue’s arm. His expression shifted from smug to terrified in less than a heartbeat.
Lucian’s voice ca from behind, quiet but edged in ice.
"Touch her again," he said, every word asured, "and I’ll show you what happens when a dragon protects his mate."
The rogue’s hand jerked away from instantly, skin already paling from frostbite. His claws retracted, his breathing shallow, eyes wide with pure animal panic.
"L-Lord Drake—"
Lucian stepped forward once, just once and the floor beneath him cracked with frost. His eyes glowed with that dangerous, glacial blue light that sent a shiver down my spine. "You won’t get to say my na again."
He reached for the rogue in one swift motion. It wasn’t even humanly fast, just a blur of cold and air pressure. The man tried to leap back, but Lucian’s hand still caught his shoulder for a fraction of a second.
A sickening crack sounded as frost blood across the rogue’s sleeve, crawling up his neck in jagged veins of ice. He gasped, a sharp sound of pain breaking through the silence and then, in a desperate burst of movent, he slashed his own clawed hand across the frozen patch, shattering the ice and slipping free before Lucian could tighten his grip.
Lucian’s expression didn’t even flicker. He exhaled once, and the air itself roared.
The rogue stumbled backward, hitting the wall, then turned and fled down the corridor in a blur of motion.
Lucian’s voice followed him, low but echoing like thunder.
"Call Auren Lysander!" he roared, his voice laced with fury that rattled through the air. "How could he let a rogue run loose in his airport?!"
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