Commander Cullen Rutherford
Cullen knew which chamber she slept in and not just because he had spent many nights there. He knew her so well - he could sense her. He dived through the cold, night atmosphere and arrowed straight for her open window, changing back into a man at the last possible moment. He landed gently with a soft thud.
Aurora's dark hair curled around her heart-shaped face. He watched her as she slept, like he had done so many times in the past. Her astonishing beauty left him completely cold. A decade ago, his dragon had seen the darkness in her heart and now Cullen was older and more experienced he could feel it all around her. He shifted out a talon, opened the door to the stairway, stuck it in the guard's neck and laid him out in the corridor. Minutes later, Cullen was dressed in the man's clothes and held his weapon. The Snow Queen was a great warrior and Cullen knew better than to underestimate her abilities.
He sat on her bed. 'Aurora. It's Cullen.'
She opened her eyes and bounced up holding the white sheet to her chest. She stared at him for a few seconds. 'Am I dreaming?'
He shook his head.
She looked at his clothes. 'You killed my guard.'
'My dragon drew his blood. The venom will have left his body in a few hours.'
'What do you want, Cullen?' He saw her hand snake below her pillow.
Cullen's hand shot out and he grabbed her wrist as she withdrew a dagger. He squeezed until she dropped it. He threw it on the floor. He pushed her back down on the pillow and bent over her. 'I want to come and go in your country without being attacked. I have business here,' he growled at her.
Aurora's gaze flicked towards the closed door and back up at him. Then she used her feet to pull down the sheet to her stomach, leaving her breasts exposed and Cullen's hand pressed between them.
He withdrew his hand and smiled, conceding a point to her.
She smiled back and arched her back. Her breasts were full and round. He'd adored them once. He'd adored her and her fearless ways.
'Offer still stands, Cullen,' she said in her low, sultry way. 'Wed me. The dragons can return. You can come and go as you please.'
'Cover yourself,' he replied.
'Or kill me. That's the only other way you'll ever be allowed back into Eden.'
'If I kill you, your poisonous cousin will take over. And he's the most dangerous idiot I've ever met. And if I kill him, your other cousin will become King and his heart is blacker than yours.'
She pinched her eyes closed at his words like he'd punched her. She stood and walked, naked, to her wardrobe. She pulled out a nightdress. Aurora had never understood. When they were lovers she could not fathom what his dragon saw. Back then she only had potential for darkness. She'd been sweetness and light while they were together. She'd been so sweet he'd thought himself in love with her. The separation had gutted them both emotionally. Now he knew what real love felt like, he knew Aurora's love would never have lasted. At least not on his side and especially with his dragon fighting it.
She didn't look at him. She kept her back towards him and said, 'You still hate me.'
'I hate that you followed your father into persecuting all the angel-touched.'
'Then reform me. Make it your life's mission. Rule with me,' she said. She ran fingers through her short ringlets. 'You said yourself once that there is no certainty you'll ever find a mate. We were happy for years.' She turned to him and walked towards him. 'Are you living in Thedas? Or Circle Mountain?'
'You don't know what I'm doing?' he said.
'I thought the dragons were happy there. I made enquiries recently through an intermediary but your dragon friends were very tight-lipped about you.'
'Have you had any reports about demon activity on The Mount?'
'No.'
'Anywhere in Eden?'
'No, Cullen. That is the point. We have no tolerance for anything supernatural which is why we have no blight. The only angel-touched permitted to stay here are the magemen who are now on every street corner. I've tripled their presence in the last three years. Magemen can sense magic. If they sense demons, the army immediately suppresses it. If I let dragons and mages walk around or allow the elves back in, the magemen would sense their magic and be distracted from any real threats. I've cleaned up Eden.'
'Got any magemen up The Mount?'
'Go see for yourself. A big strong dragon like you doesn't need my permission to go anywhere. What do you really want?'
'I'm looking for a mage that would have tried to enter Eden at some point in the last few weeks. I imagine she didn't get very far.'
She blinked twice. It was her tell. Whatever came next would be a lie. 'No. No mage would be stupid enough.'
Cullen leapt forward and gripped her under her chin. He pushed out a talon and scraped her neck. 'Tell me the truth or you'll be out like your guard and I will go and find her myself.
She brushed his hand away and showed her teeth. 'Yes. We're holding her. Have you claimed her? Is that why you're here?
'I've never met the mage before. I have never claimed anyone. What is this obsession about my mating? You were there, Rora. My dragon wouldn't claim you. Leave it at that.'
'Maker curse your dragon.'
'I am my dragon. How many more times do you want me to say I'm sorry?'
She laid a hand on his chest. Her bright blue eyes shone with tears. 'If you never find your mate, Cullen, you will regret your decision to leave me. You will be alone forever. You could change history at my side. You're born to rule.'
Cullen closed his eyes. She'd made him the offer of a marriage of convenience countless times when they'd first separated. He'd considered it, almost like another war strategy, but it went against every dragon bone in his body. Recently, with the prospect of losing his kitten heavy on his mind he had seen it as an option. If he could find Cat a way back to Inger Land, life without her, the promise of her, would feel so empty. If Cat stayed, he would put all his energy into winning her love and claiming her, but if she left...Cullen would never want another mate so was there any point looking for one?
'You would reverse all the policies you and your father fought so hard for, just to have me bed you again?' he said.
'I rule a divided country. I have as many enemies as loyal subjects. I have been wondering for a while now about how to change that. So yes, to be able to call you husband, I would be guided by you because you, Cullen Stanton Montlake are a just man and a noble man.' She looked up at him and smiled. 'And I would have you share a bed with me again. What is your interest in the mage?'
'She's connected to the new wave of demon attacks in Thedas. I need to take her tonight.'
'I can't release her from prison before her trial. I may be queen but this isn't the dark ages.'
'Just let me to talk her, Aurora. I'll take it from there.'
'And why would I agree to that?'
'I'll take under consideration your offer to become King of Eden.'
YOU ARE READING
Dragon Knight-Commander (A Cullen Rutherford Shapeshifter Romance)
Fiksi PenggemarWhen Cat suddenly lands in Thedas from present day England, she is rescued by the powerful Commander Cullen Rutherford and taken to Skyhold to serve the Inquisition. She longs for the hottest man in Thedas to notice her, but unless he is commanding...