The Dragon King's Substitute Bride

Chapter 32

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Morgan

Panic surged through me as I clawed at the unseen assailant, gasping for breath.

"Wha..." I croaked, the sound strangled in my throat. I fumbled for my sword, but the arm tightened around my throat. The scent of leather and something metallic filled my nostrils, a sickening cocktail that did little to alleviate the terror gripping me.

I jammed my elbow back, trying to get free before my vision started to go blurry. The angle was wrong for my sword. I slammed my head back but the assailant avoided it.

I clawed at the arm. The man tightened his hold, the world blurring at the edges as darkness threatened to claim me. I jumped, trying to throw him off balance as he dragged me away from the portal and down the hallway, but it was no good. I had no purchase, and the guy was huge, lifting me off my feet with ease. The last thing I registered before succumbing to unconsciousness was the shimmering distressed air that shifted around me like a warning from the palace before. everything was swallowed by the suffocating darkness. Tsuneo

Relief, a sweet and unfamiliar sensation, washed over me as the heavy oak doors of the library clicked shut behind Morgan. The air, thick with tension moments ago, felt lighter, almost breathable again. Watching her leave had filled me with a curious mix of emotions - pride, a possessiveness that surprised even me, and a deep sense of gratitude. She had stayed with me without judgment, willingly and compassionate to my plight.

It felt as though everything about her was drawing me in more and more by the day. With a sigh, I pushed myself to my feet, the dull ache in my shoulder felt lesser. I pressed on it, finding the

wounds closed and smiled.

She really was the one, wasn't she?

on a hot bath. As I stripped off my sweat dampened clothes, a jolt of surprise ran through me. The darkness that

that had nothing to do with the steam rising from the bathwater. The memory of her touch, the concern in her eyes when she

within me, a sound that resonated with a primal

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except when the poison threatened

posion taking over again, or was he just waking up

her touch, and the fire in her eyes sparked a primal possessiveness in me. I lowered myself into the

its

heat easing the tension

gaze drifted down to the bandages on my arm,

feeling that had nothing to do

shiver down my spine. I closed my eyes, letting the memory wash over me. Perhaps, I mused, the exhaustion of the past few days was finally catching up to me. The vulnerability I felt, the unexpected yearning for

back of my mind refused to agree with that. The weakness still lingered. The poison wasn't fully eradicated. Usually, as the poison waned, it would drag me under into a fitful sleep plagued by nightmares. My muscles would tense, my breath would hitch, and the world would dissolve into a horrifying kaleidoscope of pain and distortion. But last night had been peaceful. The prickle of unease morphed into a strange anticipation. My heartbeat quickened, not from fear but from a different kind of urgency. I closed my eyes tighter, willing

might find you here," she murmured, her

her nightgown, revealing the soft curves of her body. My breath hitched in my throat. In my fantasy, I reached

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