Free Daryk Warrior by Denise A. Agnew Page A

she understood and her words proved it.
“Dragonians are notoriously outward with their meaning. It will take some
getting used to.”
    Finny’s friendly expression eased Mia’s apprehension. “I’ve
spent all my years learning not to tell the truth.” She turned her gaze on the
big, handsome man next to her. “I don’t lie so much as I…adjust the truth to
fit the circumstances.”
    Eryk frowned and she saw disapproval in his dark eyes. He
crossed his arms. “Pretty lying.”
    Anger sparked inside her. “I did it to survive.”
    His eyes softened a little and he nodded. “Of course you
did.”
    For a moment she hoped and cared that he understood. “I was
frank for Magonia.”
    Finny reached over the counter and pressed Mia’s forearm.
“Then you’ll do well here.”
    Doubt, one of her biggest enemies, flooded Mia. What if she
couldn’t learn to fit into the fabric of their society? What if even here, in
this wild and free place, she still didn’t find a place to belong? She drew a
huge breath. She forced back tears. They were a weakness she would never
succumb to, no matter what this world threw at her.
    Mia glanced around the space behind Finny and the counter.
It was barren, the castle wall cold and unwelcoming. The entire place looked as
sterile as anything Mia had encountered. Despite this, the Dragonian world
she’d encountered since she arrived here appealed more than the society she’d
known. It was colorful, varied and dangerous. Magonia could eat up and spit out
anyone but the wounds and cuts, the horrible teeth marks, would be just as
staggering as Dragonia’s.
    Mia’s stomach growled and she smiled. “Food would be good.”
    “You’re not too tired?” he asked.
    “Yes, but I’m more hungry than tired.”
    “We need to find you new clothes,” Eryk said as they head
for the door. “Clothes first. Food second.”
    As they left lodging, he took her upper arm in a proprietary
hold.
    “Is that necessary? The way you’re holding me?” she asked.
    “Until I know you don’t plan to run off.”
    “I won’t run. Where would I go?”
    “Anywhere you could.” His grip tightened a bit on her arm.
“You left the room without telling me.”
    She glared at him as they made their way through a heavy
crowd, dodging around people who didn’t move. “I needed to have some space.”
    “Why?”
    “You were… We did things in that alcove that I’m not ready
for.”
    He stopped and turned her toward him. His touch on her shoulders
felt infinitely gentle, his eyes warmer than she expected. “One thing you must
know about me, about all honorable Daryk Ones. We do not harm children or
women. We guard them with our lives.” He cupped her face between both of his
big hands and the fire she saw in his eyes wasn’t created by a red glow. “Yes,
I want you. Yes, I’d love to thrust deep inside you and fuck until we’re both
exhausted and sweating and can’t remember our names. I want that more than you
know. It scares the shite out of me that I want it so much. But I’m not going
to do anything about it. If you want me, from this point forward you have to
tell me. You have to show me.”
    His touch fell away. She shouldn’t have found his bluntness
surprising. What she did find disconcerting was her own recognition of how much
power this gave her. “Why are you giving me a choice?”
    His head went back a little and his frown turned grim. “You
honestly believe I could rape a woman?”
    She shook her head, mortified. “No, I…” She swallowed hard.
“In my country a man marries a woman and that is it. If he wishes sexual
congress with her she has no recourse but to give it to him. Women have no
rights, especially after marriage.” She gazed around at the number of women who
moved through the courtyard with free will. “Your world is different than mine.
And there is one thing I already enjoy here I never could have in Magonia.”
    His voice dropped, low and inquisitive, his frown