A Pet for the Dragons

82.

ZORGE

I was anxious about tonight. All of us were.

It just didn't feel right to me. I never thought I'd have to mark Arika this way. I wanted something much more...in the flow. After sorting everything out with her, I wanted the marking to take place, but the situation was acting against us, forcing us to do this.

I could sense this displeasure in others, too, especially Radrox. He was still unsure about Arika because she had lied about him. If I were him, I'd have found it hard to trust her again.

I found it hard to trust her now, and there were other things about her, too, which we were all unsure of. But despite all this, all of us were sure about one thing— Arika was ours, and she wasn't going anywhere anymore. She was going to be staying with us forever now. No one had any doubts regarding this.

But... none of us wanted the marking to be like this— forced and just... not right.

As the day progressed, I grew more and more anxious. I'd considered going to Arika's room and checking on her, but I avoided her because I was highly nervous. I wasn't sure how I would act around her and if things would turn messier.

However, I couldn't avoid her for long. I had to deliver her food because Ivret was still busy preparing spells, and Radrox had headed out to gather some news to figure out the reason behind our summoning.

It was early in the evening when I went to deliver her dinner. I found her standing by the window, studying the city below. I couldn't help but notice that she seemed somewhat distant. I couldn't help but sense something off about her. Her body looked tensed.

"You can have a better view from the balcony," I said, trying to talk to her.

"I miss Princella," She muttered.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"My ship... my home," She answered. "I wish I could go back," Her words struck me odd.

"You don't like it here?" I asked.

"Does it matter to you?" She asked, turning to face me. "What would you do if I told you no?" She asked me.

"We'll leave as soon as we're done with whatever the Empress summoned us for," I told her, but somewhere in my mind, I knew that this wasn't going to be easy, and it would be months before we'd be able to go back to the Gallow Castle. I knew we'd be spending a while here, which made me sad for Arika.

"Come eat," I told her. She crossed her arms over her chest and eyed the food with narrowed eyes. She seems suspicious of it. Her dinner was simple: grilled chicken with some vegetables. Ivret had prepared it for as usual.

"Is it in the food?" She asked.

"What?" I asked, closely studying her face. The tension in her body seemed to be growing gradually.

"The poison," She replied. "You all are poisoning me," she claimed, tipping her chin up boldly and meeting my eyes. I didn't know what it was about her eyes, but they looked slightly odd.

"Why would we do that?" I asked, puzzled. I couldn't guess where she got it from.

"So that the Empress wouldn't take me away from you! I heard everything, Zorge! You all are trying to poison me. I know it's in the food. You said you'll do it tonight. I heard everything!" She yelled at me.

My eyes widened when I realized what she was talking about.

"No, that's not..."

"I know I lied about your brother, but is this how you want to punish me for it!" She cried, glaring at me. It was when I noticed her eyes looked slightly off because they were red as if she'd been crying.

It seemed like she'd been crying after hearing our conversation in Ivret's old study. She must've understood wrong.

"No, that's not about—"

"It's a pet thing, isn't it?" She sniffed, crying more. "You want to do this to show me you own me, right? You want to poison me to show the Empress that you own me!" She continued crying, leaving me more and more speechless.

I'd have laughed at her claims if she weren't crying. I couldn't begin to think how she'd have come to such a conclusion. I'd have loved to know her thought process, but I kept my laughter at bay and focused on her.

"You've misunderstood everything, Arika," I told her calmly, setting the food aside and nearing her. But she dashed away from me as if she were scared of me. I didn't have to read her emotions to know she was afraid of me.

"No, I haven't! I know this is the plot. I will not eat that food and will not fall for this!" She screamed and hopped on the bed to get away from me. I leapt after her and caught her ankle before dragging her towards me. She fell on the bed and yelped and kicked her feet, but I pulled her under me and pressed her down on the bed with the total weight of my body, trapping her.

"Listen to me, Arika." I began. "We were talking about giving you our venom. Dragons exchange venom while marking to secure their bonds. Since you're not a dragon, we're afraid you wouldn't be able to bear our venom," I explained to her. She stopped struggling under me for a moment, and her eyes widened.

I almost thought she understood everything, but then she said, "I know a lie when I hear one."

"Why would I lie to you?" I asked her, staring at her vibrant blue eyes. I was trying not to think how her body felt pressed against mine. It reminded me of our last time together when I'd almost fucked her, but then I left her at the last moment because... I was unsure. But now, being so close to her was making me want to fuck her. It resulted from how things had ended last time and my denying myself to be around her. My dragon wanted to mate and bond with her soon.

"Why wouldn't you lie to me? I know it's a game, just like last time. You're doing this to test me... to punish me, to make me submit to you as our pet," She hissed, wiggling under me, but it made everything worse for me because my cock was starting to get hard and my knot was starting to swell with my seed for her.

I clenched my jaw and wielded my control. This wasn't heading the right way.

"This isn't what you think it to be, Arika. Eat, and I will clarify everything to you," I offered. I realized she acted like this because we hadn't informed her much about the issue. We'd been so caught up dealing with external factors that we forgot about this. Also, we were deliberately avoiding her because of the tense situation. It all added up into this terrible misdernstanding.

"I'm not touching the food," Arika hissed as she wiggled under me. I was rock hard by now, and I was sure that she could feel it, too. She was mostly doing it to tease me. I was sure about this.

"You have to eat Arika. All you had for lunch was some mere fruits," I told her.

"I'm not going to eat," She said, rubbing against my hardness.

"You have to," I gritted. Usually, I could control myself well and play it off, but lately, I hadn't been taking care of my needs. To make matters worse, I had unfinished business with Arika, which made me so close to snapping and giving in.

The heated look in her eyes told me clearly and well that she was thinking about the same. This was all deliberate, this fight. She knew what she was doing. She was clear what she wanted from me.

This female... I could see why my brother was so wary of her. She had the potential to ruin anybody.

"Make me," She said, making my dragon take over.

~

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