The Dragon King’s Substitute Bride
Chapter 18

MIDAS

The first time Midas flew, his parents had been dead for 3 years.

He was still in denial, still hurting and still very angry.

The anger would remain the longest.

The dragon realm had and still has a lot of enemies and everyone knew why.

Take the dragon realm and you were one step closer to the realm of the gods.

So the dragonkin had always lived with the knowledge that they could be attacked at any moment.

But in the years following his parents' demise, Midas found out just how bad the situation was.

The king, his late father had been lenient with the surrounding realms, using treaties and blood bonds to keep war at bay.

It had been his greatest mistake, a mistake that took his life and the life of his queen.

A mistake Midas was determined not to make.

In the year following his family's... death, all portals to the dragon realm were not just heavily guarded, trespassers from other realms were killed on sight. Dragonkin found lurking around portals were branded traitors and sent to the cellars.

Messengers were sent to all the realms bearing a simple direct warning; Attempt to enter the dragon realm and meet with dire consequences. Attempt to attack and die.

But not all the creatures in the 7 realms had taken the warnings seriously.

The giants from the 3rd realm had thought they could take advantage of the seemingly inexperienced new dragon king and attack the dragon realm. Claim it's territories for themselves.

They had snuck in through the forbidden portal in the Elder forest, let in by the traitors who made its darkness their home.

The result of another mistake his father had made.

The giants had intended to march straight to the castle and take the throne from the young King.

They had not even bothered to bring an army. They would come to regret that decision terribly.

Midas and his Ryders rode out to meet them halfway.

It was there, in the vast stretch of land between the forest and dragon's mount that Midas had learned that not only could Er'gan take over his body without transforming into his true dragon form, Midas himself could take on Er'gan's form in any way he wished without having to transform completely.

And he had soared over the giant warriors. Black luminescent, nearly transparent dragon wings protruding out his back, glowing with a wash of multiple colors in the sunlight. He was an Angel of death.

Slashing off heads with furious, reckless abandon and incarcerating the towering enemy fighters where they stood to blackened bones and ash.

The battle had begun at the break of dawn and lasted till the sun was high in the sky.

And when it was over, the head of the giant clan was hanging on the end of Midas' sword.

Summons were sent to the neighboring realms.

And when the rulers came, they saw Midas on his throne; eyes blazing a fierce red and the giant's head, lay bloody and unseeing below the heel of his armored feet. The message had now changed..

The dragon realm would attack before it could be attacked.

And they would show no mercy.

The rulers went back to their realms in ominous silence.

None would dare undermine him ever again.

His father had chosen peace to rule his kingdom and protect his realm and it had killed him.

So Midas chose fear instead.

And as he holds her in mid air, he knows if he looks, it is that fear he will see in her eyes.

But for the first time in his long... long life since the death of his parents, Midas does not wish to see it.

So he does not look at her even though he can feel her staring wide eyed at him, even though he wants nothing more.

It is almost torture.

Her arms wrap tightly around his neck.

Her scent, that faint alluring sweetness is now everywhere and he has the strangest urge to bury his face in the soft hollow of her neck.

He wants to flood his senses with the deliciousness of her and send the blood rushing in his ears till he feels nearly drunk with it.

Her voice breaks through the fog of his thoughts "My...my Lord...are those...?"

He still does not look at her and instead drifts them both gently through the dark trees and to the ground.

She falters when he sets her down on her feet letting out a low, stifled cry of pain and clinging to him in a way that makes him feel needed.

Her right ankle is slightly swollen and he feels anger rise in him again. A low growl escapes his lips.

Midas realizes he isn't just angry at her disobedience, he is angry because she got hurt and realizing this causes his brow to furrow and annoys him even more.

He welcomes the rage because the other emotions are a confusing mess he neither understands nor wishes to deal with.

He lowers her down to a sitting position, her back resting against a tree.

When he lifts the hem of her torn dress and takes her feet in one hand, the other cradling and brushing against the softness of her calf, trailing gently down to her ankle, a sharp startled gasp escapes her lips at his touch and he hears her swallow. Midas does not think it is pain that caused that sound and its sends the wanting in his chest into acute overdrive.

"Does it hurt?" His voice is gruff with what he hopes is irritation.

She doesn't respond and he is forced to finally look at her.

And when his eyes meet hers it isn't fear he sees.

She inches closer to him, lips parted and this time it is the dragon king whose breath hitches in his throat and he swallows, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down. "Your heart beats faster dragon king..."

But Midas can barely hear the dragon inside of him. All of his attention is fixed on the tiny red haired slave inching closer to him.

She brushes her hands along the tips of the dark wings and there is no disguising the awe in that low, sultry voice. "You can fly."

He feels the touch as acutely as he would have had she brushed up against an actual sensitive part of his body.

Delicious shivers run down his spine, leaving behind tingling sparks of pure liquid desire.

Desire so strong he can hear nothing else.

By Hades he wants to kiss her...

More than anything he has ever wanted in the hundred years of his life.

He frowns and takes a step back and it is like stepping out of a fog. "Can you walk?"

Bracing a hand on the tree trunk, she gets up shakily to her feet and Midas has to fight the urge to simply take her in his arms again and fly them both home.

But maintaining Er'gan's wings while in his normal form is a daunting task that requires a lot of his concentration and abilities.

The longer he sustains it, the weaker he becomes and he can not afford to become weak, not with the warnings Er'gan is growling in his ear.

"How far out are they?"

"Not very far dragon king."

He can smell them himself now, that rank miasma of evil that corrupted the elder forest at night and it is getting stronger every second.

Midas turns away from her, ignoring the way she looks at him seemingly talking himself.

Add that to the growling and killing and dragon wings even now slowly receding back into his body and she must think him partially unhinged.

He walks up to the dead cat that had fallen at the base of the tree when he hurled his sword at it and retrieves his weapons. Sheathing them back into place behind his back, he steps towards her. "You have not answered my question."

"I'm sorry my lord, I must have been distracted by the giant dark things sticking out of your back."

Gods she tested his control.

He clenches his jaw and speaks through his teeth. "I asked if you can walk."

She gingerly tests her feet on the floor and when she raises her head to look at him he sees that fire in her crystal blue eyes.

A fire that means she is about to defy him.

A fire he is beginning to both loathe and desire in equal measure.

"Yes I can." she announces.

"But..."

"But I am not going anywhere with you."

"You seem to think this matter is up for some sort of discussion or that you have a choice."

She tilts her chin in deliberate defiance and damn it if he doesn't feel that part of him that wants to take her against that tree this very second stir.

"I am not going anywhere with you until you tell me what you want to do to me."

He can think of a hundred things he wants to do to her, a lot of them involving her pined below him, considerably less dressed, shaking with need and calling out his name but he doubts that is what she means. He folds his arms across his broad chest and feels a perverse sense of satisfaction when her eyes linger on his bunching muscles.

"You flaunted my direct instructions, disobeyed me and ran away from the castle to hide in a forest that is very... very much forbidden after dark. What do you think I am going to do to you?"

Her gaze lowers to his feet and she chews nervously on her lip. "Will you...will you send me back to the cellars?"

Maybe it's the frigid air of the forest, maybe it's the rush of adrenaline or maybe it's the way her lower lip quivers and her voice unintentionally cracks with fear and pain.

But Midas feels a tightening in the region of his chest.

He walks up to her and when he tilts her chin up to look at him, her eyes are brimming with barely restrained tears.

He brushes his thumb across her cheeks, catching the salty wetness before it can drip to the ground.

"I swear on my honor as immortal king of the fifth realm that I will never again send you to that place. I give you my word."

And as she gazes up into his eyes, he knows he would die before he breaks a promise to her.