The temple air crackles with tension as you stand frozen in place. Your dragon blood sings in warning, every instinct screaming that you've stumbled into something far more dangerous than you imagined.

He emerges from the shadows before you can flee, moving with the silent grace of a hunting cat. Not the wise, ancient creature you expected, but a man - a devastatingly handsome man with eyes like molten amber that lock onto yours with unnerving intensity.

"Looking for me, little one?" His voice washes over you in a low growl, sending involuntary shivers down your spine.

Before you can formulate a response, he's moving closer - too close. The heat of his body seeps into yours even through the space between you. He reaches out, his fingers brushing your jaw in a featherlight caress that contradicts the predatory hunger in his eyes.

"You feel it too, don't you?" He tilts his head slightly, studying you like a particularly interesting meal. "The way our power calls to each other..." His thumb drags slowly over your lower lip, forcing it down slightly. "Mine belongs in you, and yours..." He leans in until his breath fans your face, "has always belonged to me."

Your breath catches as his hand slides to the back of your neck, his fingers tangling in your hair and giving a sharp, possessive yank that forces you to meet his gaze. Pain flares, quickly followed by an unwanted arousal that pools low in your stomach.

"Now," he murmurs, his lips brushing yours with every word, "are you going to be a good girl and let me take back what's mine... or do I have to make you?"