Kiss of the Dragon (40 page)

Bianca knew she was no longer alone.

She looked up to find Prince Evgenii Sokolov standing next
to her and she was speechless. For a long moment, she watched the flickering
firelight dance across the planes and hollows of his sculpted face, playing
tricks with his features giving his handsome countenance an animalistic look.

Instinctively, Bianca raised her hand to him but before she
could express her gratitude to her rescuer, her assumption was shattered. A
demonic smile slashed white across his feral features as he spoke her name. The
smile of relief froze on her lips as the nobleman gave an exaggerated bow.

“My lady, I am pleased to see that you have somewhat
recovered.” Before her brain could respond to this unexpected threat, his hand
moved with lightning speed, grasping her delicate wrist in a bruising grip that
threatened to break the bone.

“I have waited for this moment for a long time, sweetheart.”
His tone was gentle, contradicting the hold he had on her wrist.

One look into his cold, soulless eyes and Bianca knew his
intent. She fought valiantly to hide her fear. She refused to let him win this
battle. It took great restraint on her part, because from the moment Evgenii
touched her, all Bianca wanted to do was scream.

Opening her mouth to protest his rudeness, her words were
cut short, coming out as a gasp of pain. Evgenii wrenched her around, twisting
her arm cruelly behind her back, pulling her soft body flush against his hard
one. He gazed down into her upturned face and chuckled heartlessly at her pain.
The pain he had purposely inflicted. Holding her thus, he maneuvered her a few
steps until her back pressed against the uneven, cold rock wall. He pinned her
small body there with his much larger one, heedless of the pain that it caused
her, forcing her to his will.

With his free hand, Evgenii fumbled his way up her body,
touching every inch with rough fingers until he reached her throat and
encircled its soft delicate whiteness. With unfaltering precision, he slowly applied
enough pressure to cut off any speech but still allowing just the barest amount
of air to breathe so she would not pass out.

“So soft, so white. Like snow.” His lips lowered to her bare
shoulder and he bit her sharply before his tongue swirled over the offended
flesh. His mouth moved over the satiny skin of her neck and over her cheek.
When he tried to capture her lips, she was ready for his assault. She opened
her mouth and bit his searching lips, drawing blood and a snarled curse from
the villain. He cuffed her sharply across the face drawing a cry from her as
she slumped against the cave wall. He touched his bleeding lip, his heated
glare promising retribution. Before Bianca could evade his hands, he had her
crushed against his hard body.

“So you like it rough, do you?” He grasped her chin in a
cruel hold and forced her face up as his mouth covered hers in a savage brutal
assault, leaving her own mouth bruised and bleeding.

Bianca pushed against his chest with all her might, trying
to free herself, but the brute was too strong. She trembled and shuddered
against his assault, and prayed she could find a way to escape before it was
too late. She fought his hold, twisting and kicking him with all the strength
she could muster. When she finally broke free by cuffing him hard on the side
of his head, he retaliated in kind by clouting her back and when she would have
sank to the ground, he held her up.

“It will do you no good to fight, my beauty. There is no one
to save you from your fate.” A harsh laugh tore from his throat as he looked
down at her. “Where is your Black Dragon to protect you now, Snow White? He
will not come, you know. He has no notion of where you are. I planned this
well. I even outwitted that stepmother of yours.”

Bianca hated that her suspicions were made fact by this
revelation.

At her look of astonishment, Evgenii grinned and continued,
“Yea. She wanted you dead. If I had followed her instructions, you would be
dead even now. You are in her way, my lady. She even now poisons your sire,
feeding him tainted cider. Heloise wants his fortune and you are just a small
obstacle in her way.

“Did you know that she killed her first husband because he
was a penniless peer with no future? When your father came to court after your
mother’s death, she decided to marry him for his fortune. But she had not
reckoned with one small problem. You. She could not have the duke settling all
that money and property on you when you married, now could she? At first, she
thought to marry you off to a weak-willed suitor whom she could manipulate, but
you did not accept any of them. Instead, you chose the mighty Black Dragon. Her
fury was a sight to see. I thought she might swallow her tongue in her ravings.
That was why she hired me to kill you and leave you for the vultures.

“But I want you for myself, my lady.” He drew her ever
closer and loomed over her like the great vulture that he was. “After we spend
a week together, I will return you to your father and demand that he gives you
to me in marriage. If he still lives, he will be too weak to protest, and there
will be little else he can do, for your reputation will be ruined. Marrying me
will be your only choice.”

Bianca shook her head in denial. Everything he said to her
she knew to be true. She was completely helpless, and this monster would do
whatever he wanted to her and she could do nothing to prevent it. Bianca closed
her eyes and fought to keep her mind from shutting down from fear. Even if this
man raped her over and over again, she would never give in without a fight.
With this vow in mind, she readied herself for the first opportunity to escape
his clutches.

Evgenii held the Beauty de Neige close as he raised his hand
to caress her face.

“You can scream all you want, my Beauty, but I warn you—the
rabble out there,” he nodded to the mouth of the cave, “would like nothing
better than to swarm in here and take you for themselves. But worry naught,
sweetheart, there are two reasons why that will not happen. First, I would
never let another man touch you, and secondly, we have no time. We are on the
run at the moment and I can take no chance of being found by that bastard,
D’Ensoleille, if he by chance happened to slip past my men.”

Evgenii was nose to nose with her and Bianca smelled the ale
on his hot breath as he laughed at his own wit. She kicked at him, trying to
dislodge him so she could better defend herself, but her foot missed its
intended target and lashed out at thin air. Evgenii slammed her head back
against the wall stunning her with the force. Bianca saw stars as she struggled
to stay conscious. She gasped for breath as his heavy body crushed her into the
cold rock wall. His calloused hand tightened around her neck. Bianca clawed at
his fingers wildly trying to get loose. She could not make a sound as she
fought for her life. Tears trickled from the corners of her eyes as she
struggled between consciousness and unconsciousness. Her senses dulled and her
struggles stopped altogether as she gave into the blessed blackness that
welcomed her.

Evgenii grinned wolfishly as he felt the fight leave Bianca
and she went limp in his arms. He waited until the last possible moment. Then
he released his hold and life-giving air rushed back into her lungs. He lowered
his head to her shoulder and whispered in her ear, “What difference does it
make which warrior is in your bed? I would have preferred not to be the second.
But I am inclined to overlook your lack of chastity under the circumstances.
But know this, my Beauty, willing or not, I will have you.”

Evgenii let go of her arm as he determined that Bianca was
totally under his control. He moved his open palm over her breasts, kneading
and squeezing them painfully. He wanted her badly and he was not going to wait
to take her. The grip he had on her throat tightened a degree when she moaned
in protest. It was a lesson for her to learn that he was in charge and she was
to keep silent or suffer the consequences.

Bianca closed her eyes tight to block out his terrible guise
as he again released his grip on her throat to let her take in much needed air.
Still she struggled against his cruel touch, shuddering with repulsion at his
nearness.

“Did that bastard give you this much pleasure?” he asked,
his breath hot against her ear, as he grasped the front of her bodice and tore it
open, leaving her full, ripe breasts to spill out for his hungry gaze to feast
on. “I saw you. I saw him with you day after day…walking with you…touching
you…kissing you. Yea, I watched from the shadows as you threw yourself at him.
And he devoured you like the dragon that he is.”

“Na…ay,” was all Bianca could gasp out through her injured
throat.

“Always he watched you with those hungry eyes of his.” In
his mounting fury, Evgenii squeezed her breast bruising the tender flesh. The
hand he held around her throat closed again in his agitation and he waited
until she was nearly blue in the face before he relented.

Bianca coughed and wheezed as she fought for air. She nearly
fell to the floor gasping when Evgenii took a step back to frown down at her.
But before she could think to scramble away, he grabbed her to him and savaged
her exposed neck and breasts with his mouth and teeth. Bianca tried to scream
but it came out as a strangled croak because of the damage done to her throat.
With renewed determination, she fought like a wild thing to get free and, in
her struggles, she brought up her knee striking him hard in his groin. A bellow
of pain tore from his lips as he stumbled back away, clutching himself gasping
deeply for breath.

Wasting no time, Bianca lunged past him. Her goal was to
reach the mouth of the cave. She had no other thought but to get away. The
blaze of the campfire was her guiding light. She stumbled several times but she
forced her shaking legs to carry her on.

But it was not to be. Bianca had not taken into
consideration the unevenness of the ground in the cave. In the flickering
shadows, she missed seeing the jagged rock in her path and she tripped over it.
She fell to the ground, a cry ripped from her throat at the agony as the sharp
edge of the rock ripped open the skin of her lower leg. Even as the pain swept
through her, Bianca scrambled to her feet as fast as she could. She had a
monster at her back and she feared for her life. Unfortunately, as she regained
her feet she swayed uncontrollably and stumbled backward into the shallow pool
of cold water.

Before Bianca could regain her feet, Evgenii was there
looming ominously over her and her blood ran cold, colder than the pool of
water into which she had fallen.

“Ah, my fallen angel, how foolish you are. Do you really
believe that I would let you escape me, especially after knowing what you have
to offer a man like me?” His eyes were focused on her exposed breasts as he
reached down and grasped his crotch, gently caressing his offended manhood. The
action repulsed Bianca as she watched the sadistic villain in wide-eyed
apprehension. She quickly arranged her bodice as best she could.

“Apparently I need instruct you on how to behave toward your
future husband. I will, of course, punish you for the pain you deliberately
caused me.” His tone turned cold matching the ice in his pale blue gaze. “You
will soon learn that I am a hard man to cross. Still, I do not want you broken
and bleeding, not yet anyway.”

The vision that his brutal words brought to Bianca’s mind
caused her to bite her tongue painfully to keep herself from gasping aloud. She
had no doubt that Evgenii would kill her under the right circumstances. A
shiver of dread tickled up her spine and neck as she listened to him.

“I look forward to the enjoyment of breaking you, my little
filly, but that will come later. I would not want your father to think that he
has married off his precious daughter to an unkind man.” The smile he gave her
was not pleasant. If anything, it was triumphantly satanic.

“Perhaps it would be to your best interest, Bianca, to humor
me. I could just as well take you here and now.” Evgenii watched the look of
horror that flickered across her face before she gained control of her
emotions. It pleased him that he had such power over this silly little woman.
“But I am not an unreasonable man. I will in fact make a bargain with you.” He
almost smiled at the spark of hope that lit her eyes. The little chit was so
obvious in her emotions. It made his cruel teasing more entertaining. His next
words dashed that spark of hope as well as if he had blown the flame of a
candle out with a puff of breath.

“You come to me willingly, holding nothing back, and I will
not kill the mighty Black Dragon when next I see him.”

Bianca had never been more terrified in her life. Her fear
was not for herself, but for the man she loved with her whole being. Her heart
beat frantically as she glanced between Evgenii’s legs to determine the
distance to the cave entrance. It was too far and she knew without a doubt that
she would not be leaving this place alive. She was trapped and helpless, but
she would fight this demon with every breath she had left in her body before
she would give in to him.

Evgenii took a step toward her and Bianca’s gaze flew up to
his face, her hand clutching at her torn clothing. She found him smiling almost
pleasantly. Had he guessed her intent? That she would not be used as a pawn to
draw Draco to his death no matter the cost. Slowly, painfully, Bianca regained
her feet and carefully stepped out of the cold water never taking her eyes off
Evgenii. She squared her shoulders, lifted her chin and spoke coldly to the
villain.

“I have no fear that you could ever harm a man as great as
the Black Dragon of Normandy, Prince Evgenii. But I would warn you that you had
better grow eyes in the back of your head if you attempt such a thing. And when
you fail and end up running for your cowardly life, my Lord Draco will come for
you. Maybe not tomorrow or the day after, but he will find you and he will kill
you.” Bianca looked fierce for all of one moment and then she smiled smugly.