A/N: Let's see how this goes, ahem.
After finalizing everything, they started on a journey out of the cave.
Zarek had his own residence, back in the tribe village. Apparently, Dragon Kings didn't just sleep anywhere. They had a winter home and a summer home. The crystal cave was the equivalent of a panic room, full of shiny things to keep a dormant dragon happy.
His actual home, however, was something else entirely.
"Behold, My Queen," Malcor announced with so much pride, sweeping his clawed hand forward as the massive stone doors groaned open. "The King's Abode."
Roxy stepped inside and blinked.
"It's... big," she managed to say, not knowing the beauty of which they were trying to insinuate.
This place was essentially a hollowed-out mountain peak. Natural vents allowed sunlight to stream in, illuminating a space large enough to park a Boeing 747.
And it was empty.
Completely, utterly, and tragically empty. And she didn't like it one bit.
There was no furniture. No Carpets. No tables. No art. Just acres of smooth, cold, black stone floor. In the very center of the room, raised on a dais like a sacrificial altar, was a single, gigantic slab of flat rock covered in furs.
"That's it?" Roxy asked, her voice echoing. "That's the furniture? One bed?"
Zarek puffed out his chest, looking proud. "It is spacious. A Dragon needs room to stretch his wings."
"It looks like a warehouse for giants," Roxy muttered, not that she cared.
But as she walked further in, her instinct, fueled by the pregnancy hormone and her own energy, kicked into overdrive.
Her eyes lit up as she scanned the emptiness, and she saw the potential.
Okay, system shop, don't fail me now.
I can put the kitchen over there, near the vent, for better ventilation. I can build a partition here for the nursery. We need rugs, lots of them, to cover this freezing floor. Can I buy a Sofa?
God, I would kill for a Sofa.
She turned to Malcor and the other Elders, who were looking at her awkwardly.
"Alright, show's over," Roxy announced, clapping her hands. "You have your orders. Go find the weakest females. Get the seeds. Prepare a plot of land in the valley with the most sun. I want a report by tomorrow morning."
Malcor looked like he wanted to argue, but Zarek let out a low growl of warning from his chest.
"The Queen speaks," Zerek growled, his eyes not leaving Roxy.
"We obey," Malcor grumbled, bowing stiffly before retreating with the other Elders. The stone doors boomed shut, sealing them in.
Silence enveloped the whole place after that.
"Okay, Zarek," Roxy clapped, turning around with her hands on her hips, ready to discuss the lack of interior design." First things first, we need to talk about–"
She stopped.
Zarek looked at her in a way that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. He moved towards her, his golden eyes dilated until they were almost entirely black.
"Uh... Z?" Roxy took a step back. "You okay there, big guy?"
He didn't answer. He just closed the distance between them in two long strides. Before Roxy could run, Zarek arrived in time.
He slammed his hands against the wall on either side of her head, caging her in.
Roxy gasped, pressing her back flush against the stone wall. He was looming over her, his breathing heavy that fanned across her face, like he was going in a frenzy over something.
Roxy could see it, the only thing that could make a man go crazy and double over inside a beast.
Lust.
"You sent them away," Zarek murmured, his voice a low vibration that sent a jolt to her lower belly.
"Yeah..." Roxy squeaked.
"Good," Zarek mumbled. "I do not like them looking at you. You are mine."
He pressed his hips forward, pinning her against the wall. Roxy's eyes went wide. There was something hard and hot pressing against her stomach.
Something very hard and very large.
"Oh," Roxy breathed.
Shit, this dragon is horny. She didn't even do anything.
In the crystal cave, he was in deep sleep when she was moving her hips on him, using him to survive the system.
She had forgotten that the man standing in front of her wasn't just any beast. But a predator that wanted to burn her to ashes the moment he opened his eyes.
He continued to press his hips against her, vibrating at the sensation that shot through his body as the tunic rubbed against his engorged arousal.
"Zarek," she warned, though her voice lacked any real bite. "I'm pregnant. You can't just–"
"I know," he cut her off. He lowered his head, burying his face in the crook of her neck as he continued to rub his arousal against her. He inhaled deeply, sniffing her scent, his nose brushing against her sensitive skin. "You smell of me. It... maddens me."
His hips ground against hers, a slow, deliberate friction that made Roxy's knees weak.
Holy Hell.
She was also feeling the heat; her throat felt dry, and in between her legs, she felt that familiar ache, that need.
System, is it quite safe to be doing this?
[It's very safe.]
Roxy Bell was a risk-taker. She was shameless. But for the first time, she felt genuine danger. Not like he would hurt her, but that he would wreck her.
"You..." Roxy swallowed hard, trying to regain her composure. "You don't usually... play with treasures."
Zarek pulled back slightly, looking down at her. His expression was intense, his jaw clenched tight as if he was holding back.
"I collected a treasure," he growled. "But this treasure... creates fire."
He moved his hand from the wall, bringing it down to trace the line of her jaw, then her throat, resting heavy and hot on her breast.
His thumb brushed the peak through the thin tiger-skin tunic, and he let out a small whimper, her body shuddering from the sensation that tripped through her.
Zarek's eyes darkened.
Roxy expected him to rip the dress off. She expected him to take what he wanted, the way she did. That was what beasts did, right? That was what the novel said. He was a possessive, arrogant Alpha who took what was his.
She braced herself for the assault, her body tensing, fully aroused despite the building fear.
But nothing came.
He leaned his forehead against hers, his breathing ragged as he continued to press his hips against hers. His hand on her breasts, palming them, causing Roxy's cheeks to go pink.
"May I?" he whispered.
Roxy blinked, stunned. The question was completely unexpected.
"What?" She breathed.
"May I... have you?" Zarek asked, his voice straining with effort, trying to control himself. "I want to take you. But you..." he pulled back to look her in the eyes, his gaze burning with intensity. "You are small. So soft, and I don't want to break you."
Roxy's heart raced as she stared at him.
This was the first time she was asked for permission to do anything.
He was trembling as he grinded against her. The Dragon King was shaking because he was trying hard not to hurt her.
He wasn't asking for permission because he was a gentleman. He was asking because he knew exactly how dangerous he was.
It was surprisingly... hot.
Roxy's fear melted away, replaced with thrill. She reached up, tangling her fingers in his long, black hair.
"You may..." She let out.
Zarek let out a grunt as he swept her up into his arms as if she weighed nothing more than a feather. He reached the stone dais in the center in less than a second and placed her gently on the bed.
Roxy thought he was going to be gentle, but she forgot one thing.
Zarek was a beast.