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He clearly hoped to shock or frighten me. In an effort to deny him any satisfaction on either account, I forced myself to glance over him with what I prayed indicated indifference. ‘‘It’s very nice, as you well know, given the number of women you’ve seduced, enthralled, and damned to eternal torment.’’

‘‘ ‘Torment’ is such a harsh word for it. I prefer ‘enlightenment.’ ’’

My curiosity, always bothersome, got the better of me. ‘‘You said this was your original form . . . did you have to beat the women off you with a stick when you were mortal?’’

His lips quirked. ‘‘From the time I first grew hair between my legs, women have chased me. Few have resisted me when I have set about to charm them. You are one of my failures, but even you are not, I think, immune to me?’’ He gestured toward his bare chest with a wicked glint to his eyes. ‘‘Perhaps you find my body not to your taste? My chest is too broad for you?’’

‘‘It’s fine, although a little hirsute for my tastes,’’ I answered, clearing my throat. He wasn’t turning the full power of his charm on me, but just being this close to him—naked—was reminding me that even a mate to a dragon could be susceptible to his power. The key was to keep him from feeling he had to prove a point. ‘‘I know other women like a furry chest, though.’’

‘‘And my belly. No—abs. That is the current trend, is it not? My abs are rock hard, are they not?’’

‘‘Six-pack,’’ I agreed, nodding at the body part in question.

‘‘I can do things with my cock that would make you faint with pleasure,’’ he said with half-closed eyelids. ‘‘What do you think of it?’’

I bit my lip and gazed upon his privates. His penis was enlarged, bobbing gently in the breeze. ‘‘It looks pretty much like any other male genitalia, although I doubt if many men would tolerate having their penises tattooed.’’

‘‘That was not my choice,’’ he said with a shrug. ‘‘It was the first curse bound to me by a very jealous diviner years before I rose to power. If you trace out the words of the curse, they will glow,’’ he added with a leer.

‘‘I think I’ll pass on the opportunity to see a glowing penis curse. Is that it, or would you like me to admire your legs, as well?’’

He sighed in a highly dramatic fashion. ‘‘I do my best to please you, and still you spurn me. Tell me, did you enjoy the bestial act with your dragon?’’

‘‘Very much so,’’ I said, refusing to rise to the bait. ‘‘But you didn’t summon me here to discuss my love life, did you?’’

He wrapped his fingers around my neck and started pulling me down to his bare chest. ‘‘You wound me with such harsh words. Let us kiss and make up, and then I will discuss just why I have summoned you before me.’’

‘‘Do you really want to invoke Gabriel’s displeasure over something so trivial as a kiss?’’ I asked slowly, hoping he would stop and think before he did something rash.

He paused, his eyes thoughtful. I used the opportunity to slip out of his grip, edging away slightly.

‘‘This dragon of yours . . . he is jealous of you?’’

‘‘He is a dragon. They are extremely possessive.’’

‘‘Interesting.’’ He leaned back again, his thoughts masked as he watched me for a few seconds. ‘‘I wonder how far he would go to reclaim his mate?’’

I shifted slightly, uncomfortable with the thought of Gabriel going up against someone as powerful as Magoth.

‘‘Tell me of this second rumor, sweet May,’’ he continued. ‘‘Did a thief taker finally catch up with you?’’

‘‘Yes. I was arrested, tried, and sentenced to imprisonment in the Akasha.’’

‘‘And yet you are here, in the glorious flesh,’’ he said, his gaze dropping to my breasts.

‘‘Gabriel helped me escape.’’

‘‘Again the dragon,’’ he mused, a little smile playing around his lips. His eyes were as cold as ever, though, coolly calculating. ‘‘I did hear that the thief taker caught you robbing the lair of another dragon. Tell me, minion, what did you take from him?’’

Chapter Seventeen

‘‘I haven’t taken anything from Gabriel,’’ I said, purposely misinterpreting