Maddox Drakencrest had been prepared to double the gold.
Seven hundred and fifty million was the number that made a room full of Alpha Kings stop pretending they were still in the running. But he would have gone to one and a half billion without blinking, because the number was never the point. It was the girl for him. Only her.
The girl who was currently walking beside him through the Lunaris forest with perfect posture and a pulse he could hear hammering. Her fingers were intertwined in his, and she hadn't said a word.
His men flanked them in formation. Ryker to his right, already radiating an energy that said he had opinions and was going to share them shortly. Sterling to his left. The remaining four guards held the perimeter without instruction.
He caught the scent and rustle in the leaves at the same moment she did. He knew wolf senses were stronger than human, but he wasn't aware of the extent until now.
A dagger flew so quickly it didn't have shape.
To his surprise, she moved in front of him in a blur, catching it at a speed he'd never seen a wolf move in human form. He would have intercepted it, dragons were faster than wolves. What froze him was, for the second time, this girl had put herself in between him and danger.
Cute. Adorable. She really had no clue what she was working with.
The six men flanking him were equally as stunned by the fact that she moved that quickly. Even high-blood women from pure dragon blood lines don't do that.
She dropped the dagger without a word and scanned. More rustling came from the leaves. He understood. More than one.
Maddox snapped out of whatever daze she'd managed to put him in.
He pulled her into his chest in a blur, quicker than probably anything she'd seen. Which might have been a tactical error, because it was harder than he meant and she jolted.
His arms locked around her, while his six guards moved. Anyone within a five mile radius would be killed. No mercy in dragon law for an attack on the king.
Thankfully his men killed silently this time, so there were no screams for her to hear. Not the ideal first impression.
"You realize I'm a literal dragon, right?" His lips brushed her hair, mouth at her ear. "I am the most dangerous thing in this forest. The second most dangerous thing in this forest is standing behind us in formation."
He could feel her heartbeat syncing with his.
He had read about it in scrolls older than his grandfather. He had not believed it until it happened to him right now. Her scent engulfed his senses, and his arms tightened around her more.
"New rule. Stop stepping in front of me. You are going to give my men an aneurysm."
She swallowed against him. "Understood."
Maddox's dragon pushed against the surface. Hard. It had been surging since he'd accidentally pushed flame to her the first time, the night prior. Since the dreams that led him to a continent with no dragons.
His dragon especially pushed when her brother laid hands on her and bound her with rope. Rage. Pure and undiluted. The only reason Cassian was alive, was because Maddox didn't want to start things off on the wrong foot by killing her family.
The brother would be addressed eventually. There was no timeline on that promise. But dragons are patient the way wildfires are. They wait until the wind is right.
One of the guards came back through the tree line wiping his blade on a strip of fabric Maddox did not recognize. He held it up.
Guinevere stiffened momentarily. He heard her heartbeat increase, and their matebond carried the rest into him like a confession he had not asked for.
An image. Brief. Half-formed. A throne room. Chains. A man's knuckles under her chin.
His vision went white at the edges.
Maddox: Burn the bodies. Leave nothing for that pack of wolves to find.
Ryker: Copy.
"Rough day for them," Maddox said aloud lightly. "Six dragons, a king, and a princess who catches knives. Worst career decision since whoever taught Ryker to mindlink."
Ryker: I heard that.
Maddox turned his head into her hair and inhaled once, slow, the way a man does when he is reminding himself the woman in his arms is real and warm and breathing. His thumb stroked once across her ribs through the silk and stilled.
"Clear, Your Highness," Ryker announced after a moment.
Maddox let go of the girl, who he'd much preferred to carry and put a helmet on at this point. But he held off.
They began walking again.
Sterling: Interesting wife you've selected, Maddox.
Maddox: I saw it.
Sterling: No. You saw the catch. I saw the rotation. She caught a thrown blade by the handle, between the second and third revolution. Wolves and dragon high-bloods don't do that.
Maddox: Correction. You've never seen a female do that.
Ryker: I'd put coin down that the Lunaris court doesn't know what they just handed over.
Sterling: Definitely not. We have a problem or an asset. I haven't decided yet.
Maddox: She put herself in front of me twice now. That's the only problem.
At that moment, her emotions bled through to him.
Fear. Quiet, controlled, suffocating fear wrapped in so many layers of composure that anyone else would have missed it entirely. She was terrified and spending every ounce of energy she had, making sure it didn't show.
The matebond carried it into him like a blade slipped between ribs, and it hit so deep that it broke him out of his own head.
He glanced at her. Spine straight. Chin level. Hands steady at her sides. If he couldn't feel what was underneath, he would have believed the mask completely.
He grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. She looked at him, expression neutral, but he could feel her surprise through their matebond.
Interesting. Affection surprises her. Noted.
He mindlinked his men.
Maddox: We'll ride on you, Ryker.
Ryker: Copy that. Should I do a big dramatic roar?
Maddox: Absolutely not. Subtle. She's had enough theater for one evening.
Ryker: Subtle. Got it. I'll try to only be enormous.
Sterling's gaze drifted to Guinevere. Analytical. Measured. The way he looked at everything, like the world was a series of variables he was solving for.
Maddox: Stop staring. You're scaring her.
Sterling: She doesn't appear frightened in the slightest. That level of composure after her day means she's either insane or broken.
Maddox: Neither. Calm under pressure is a skill. She's been doing this her whole life.
That quieted his second and third in command. Briefly.
Ryker: I caught her looking surprised a few times tonight.
Sterling: I caught her trying to not laugh too. Two expressions outside of this one. That's what you have to work with.
Maddox rolled his eyes at that.
His thumb stroked her hand on autopilot. Not intentional. His hand just did it, and he didn't mind.
She glanced down, and blinked in bewildered confusion.
"You catch daggers but a thumb on your knuckle is the line."
Without breaking stride, he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.
He could feel her blush through their matebond, and her pulse picked up.
"And now you blush. You'll make me think you like me."
They kept walking. She didn't respond to that.
"You're quiet."
"Is this how you normally court women?"
"You tell me. Is it working?"
"I don't know. I was distracted by the auction."
"I won the auction."
"I'm aware. I was there."
"You don't seem sad about it."
He flashed her a grin. She kept her gaze forward and face neutral.
Ryker: Smooth.
Maddox: Right where I want her.
Ryker: I can see the love blooming from here.