3. Insufferable

(Mateo)

The moment she pressed her lips against mine, I knew it was a game. The same one she had played once, but this time... well, this time I was a little bit less distracted than before.

"Oh, you are still very much distracted."

Okay, I admit Shade was right. I was already aroused and aware of her softness pressing against me... deliciously teasing and tempting me to forget who the hell she was and to take her against the wall... but I knew I couldn't let her distract me again. I just couldn't.

"You can let her distract you, I mean look at her." My dragon was a horny little shit.

"Can you blame me?"

I was going crazy. She was so beautiful and she made me feel things I had never felt, not for anyone. She did it the first time, too, even when there was no freaking bond to pull me to her, she pulled me in.

Her lips were soft and masterful as she kissed me with everything she had and oh, she would destroy me.

My heart was thundering, my breath was coming out in a sharp gasp and my arousal was begging to be touched. My c*ck twitched inside my pants, sending pleasure to every nerve end. And I was losing this war.

I knew if I lost this war... the little thief would probably run away, just like she did the first time. Oh no. Not this time.

I caressed her body, soft and lush, and smiled a little when my hand met with the cold metal sting of Styrodian and magic.

Same trick!

I took in a deep breath, trying to control my anger, and instead... I smelled something that made my whole body ache. The warm, musky scent of her arousal.

And the punch of her scent was staggering. My dragon was craving her, craving to make a mark on her.

And I- I was not extremely averse to that idea.

I wanted to lick the sweet honey of her arousal and taste her, all of her.

But the moment must come to an end. This wouldn't last.

"You must have practiced it a lot..." she said with a glint in her eyes when I handcuffed her to the window. She stood there, not a hint of fear in her eyes. No, her eyes were speaking a different language right now, the one my c*ck had no objection to hearing.

"Well, I definitely had time, and I was waiting for this day all my life." And it was true, too.

I glared at her, my eyes narrowing in anger and irritation. Everything about her enticed me, but it also irritated me. I didn't know what to do with this knowledge that the girl who stole from me was my mate or that she had this unbreakable hold on me and my body.

Even when I felt angry, I also felt the need inside me. Like a powerful storm. She was deliciously tempting and when she opened that snarky mouth, and the lips that were now bruised, I had this urge to bite her again. And again. It was primal, violent. The most basic of an instinct. Mate bond.

The Sun God must be truly playing a tricky joke on me.

"So, it looks like you haven't forgotten me!" she said to me with a twinkle in her eyes.

Of course, I hadn't. How could I?! I had had dreams of her, asleep and awake. Five years and I had never forgotten the way her lips tasted. Or how she smelled, or how she felt pressed against me. And the reality was so much better than the dreams.

Now that I had tasted her again, I knew it would be so hard to let that go, let her go.

"So don't let her go." Shade was ready with his answer.

"You stole my first kiss."

"Oh, you couldn't have found a better person than me to steal your first kiss, Prince Mateo. You should thank me," the little thief said in a voice that reeked of superiority. I didn't know how she was completely arrogant even now, even after she got caught.

"Yes. I will thank you in a second," I said as I took a step closer to her, trying hard not to breathe in any of her dizzying scent.

"Go on. Kiss her," my dragon whispered. "Kiss those pretty lips."

I leaned closer to her, and pulled the mask off and I was bowled over. It was like someone had just punched me straight through my heart.

She was the most gorgeous, most deceptive creature I had ever seen.

I didn't know what came over me... I leaned closer to her, and kissed her, hard, my mouth possessive and hungry, and then I bit her... She yelped a little. "It is payback," I said to her and she licked her lips with an appreciative smile on her face.

I was getting addicted to this game.

"Now that that is done, what should I do with you? Send you to the dungeon?" I leaned back, my eyes softly tracing her features. She c*cked her head to the side and looked at me with a predatory glint in her violet verbena eyes.

"If you are in that dungeon, naked, I am all for it," she licked her lips and I choked on air.

"Oh, she is perfect. And God, the way she talks..." Shade was already besotted with the little thief and her shenanigans.

"Could you be anymore pathetic, Shade?" But I was just as pathetic as him. At least, he had an excuse. His primal senses were attuned to her scent, her animal. Me, I had a brain... I had, just before I saw her in the crowd, talking with my cousin. And then the brain disappeared.

"You know you want her. I know I want her. Why pretend?" My dragon winked, looking intoxicated by this creature in front of him.

"And this is your only chance to get rid of that blasted virginity!"

"Do you listen to yourself when you talk?" I whispered, completely at a loss right now.

"Well, prince, I do, and I like everything that is coming out of my pretty mouth. A mouth that can do more than just talk." Her eyes were full of innuendos which I didn't need a dictionary to translate.

"You think you can play your game, once again? You think I am going to let you go just because you say the most obscene things?" I stared at her and she gave me a shrug. Her mouth was pressed arrogantly.

"Don't tell me you are not tempted, prince? I can see how much you want to take me up on my offer." Her eyes fell to the bulge in my pants and my breathing stuck. She licked her lips, and I wanted... I wanted that tongue to lick other things.

"Well, don't hold your breath."

I flushed.

I had grown out of my inherent shyness, but... I still hadn't fully grown out of the boy I once was. I had kissed after her, but none of those kisses came anywhere close. And people might now see this confident, secure prince... but the reason I was still a virgin... yes, that should tell you how I hadn't changed much.

I wasn't a player like her. Even at seventeen, she knew what she wanted and she took it. The Eye of the Sabius.

At twenty-two, I was still not sure of what exactly I wanted. Except maybe, yes, taking her up on her offer.

"I can hold my breath for a long, long time...." she licked her lips, looking at me, her eyes obscene.

What the f*ck is wrong with this woman?

Should I send her to the dungeon? Should I arrest her and force her in front of the royal court?

Now that she was here and cuffed, I had no idea what I was going to do with her. But the only thing I knew was that I wouldn't let her steal anything from us, not again.

"I can think the cogs in your head spinning, prince. You don't know what to do with me, now do you? You don't want to let me go, but you don't want to keep me here, either."

"Shut up."

"Or what? Will you make me shut up?"

She said the most insane things and it was making me crazy.

"Is this some kind of game for you?"

"I am good at games," she said as she took the hand that wasn't cuffed and traced her throat with a finger, as she pierced me with her smoldering violet eyes that seemed to suck the air out of my lungs.

I felt dizzy. Dangerously close to fainting.

"I am very good at games, I love playing and winning," she said as she hooked her finger to the front of her gown and tugged it a little. "You can have it all, prince. You just have to be brave to take it."

"You are mad. Bonkers. Your head is filled with the most idiotic, crazy-" I couldn't even form a proper response right now. My eyes were glued to the soft swell of her breasts.

My dragon licked his lips.

"Mateo, what are you going to do with me? I know you are not sending me to the dungeon! So?" she winked.

"Stay right there. I will be back," I said as I slammed the door shut. I needed to think. And for that, I needed to get the heck away from the crazy, unhinged girl.

If I stood there one more second, breathing in her scent, she would make me go insane. With her body displayed to me, like the most tempting desserts in the whole of the Euretya, I knew... my willpower and self-control were not that strong, unfortunately.

"So, we are really dying as virgins, huh? I was optimistic that this curse will end when we find our mate, at the very least, but now... not sure!" Shade said with a mocking sigh.

"Stop whining, Shade. I need to think."

I closed my eyes and leaned against the wall.

"Hey Mat, where did you disappear? Dad and Mom are looking for you," a sweet voice said. I looked up to see my sister, Amyra, walking towards me.

"You know I hate to spend too much time in the crowd," I whispered to her. I knew I was lying, but what the heck was I supposed to say to her now? That I found my mate and she was the one who stole the eye of Sabius!

I heard a thud coming from inside the room, and the crack of the glasses.

"What the hell is that? Did you hear it?"

I knew what the hell it was.

"Amyra, I need you to keep a secret," I said as I pushed the door open.

Of course, the thief was out of her handcuffs. I should have expected that. I was distracted.

My sister gasped.

"Who the hell is it?" Amyra shouted. The thief looked at her and ignored her.

"You know, prince, I am also good at picking locks. Any and every lock. Maybe one day, I will pick the lock to your bedroom," she whispered as she shifted into a magnificent red and black dragon.

I expected her to fly away. But instead, the dragon walked towards me... and her searing violet eyes peered curiously at me, before she wrapped her tail around my back, in a kind of embrace.

Oh. Shit.

My heart fell to my stomach.

No way in hell could I fight this.

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