Page 24 of Claimed By the Dragon

He didn’t reply for a long while, and she didn’t push. If he truly couldn’t handle it, she’d back off.

However, Grace suspected Trahern occasionally needed encouragement to try different things. The experience today should help her better understand how the dragonman interacted outside the clinic or their cottage.

Although she didn’t think too closely about why she wanted to know more about him.

“Okay. I trust you, Grace.”

His words made her smile. “Thank you, Trahern. I hope I don’t fail your trust.”

They arrived at a shop that was almost like a newsagent’s, but not quite. It had sweets, magazines, a post office counter, and even the latest areas where clan members in their dragon forms could hunt, if they wanted.

However, the small section toward the back was her goal.

The female dragon-shifter running everything smiled at them, her English accented, sounding as if she might be originally from France. “Hello, Dr. Lewis. And this must be Grace. I’m Delphine, and who are these fine young boys?”

The woman’s warm smile made Grace want to trust her. Not that she could completely, but she needed to stop treating every greeting as some underhanded scheme to hurt her. “This is Eddie, and this is Eli.”

Delphine leaned closer to the boys. “Hello, little ones. When you’re a little older, you can come over and play with my grandbabies, Louisa and Lucy.”

As Grace tried to weave through the clan in her brain to place them, Trahern stated, “They are the daughters of Nikki Gray-Hartley and Rafe Hartley.”

Delphine nodded. “Nikki is technically my stepdaughter, but she insists the girls call me Granny. But enough of my chattering. What can I help you with?”

Grace watched Trahern carefully as she answered, “Some ice cream, please. Do you have strawberry?”

“Yes, of course.”

Trahern, who had been staring at the twins, glanced up at Grace. Since she couldn’t read his expression, she murmured, “Did you want some?”

As her mate shifted his gaze back to the twins, her heart thudded inside her chest. She wasn’t good with botany or medicine, but she was good at remembering little details about what people liked.

However, the longer he remained silent, the more Grace wondered if she’d made a mistake. Trahern liked things ordered and on a schedule, or at least as much as they could be, with the babies. This was outside of that.

Then he nodded, and she couldn’t help but smile. “Brilliant. Then we’ll have some ice cream, please. Although I need to see what you have so I can decide what to get.”

She walked toward the back, and Trahern followed with the pram, looking pensive.

Her first instinct was to ask what he was thinking. However, he was a private person, and she didn’t want to push him in public more than he could handle.

So Grace focused on the flavors in the case, adding more questions to her mental list of things to ask Trahern about later.

Even though Trahern had only mentioned liking strawberry ice cream once, Grace had remembered. More than remembered—on their first outing from the house together, she’d taken him to get some.

But why? He didn’t understand.

His dragon spoke up.She wants to know us better.

Why? I’ve already vowed to protect her and the boys.

I think you need time to figure it out by yourself.

His beast fell silent, leaving him hanging. His dragon understanding things which eluded Trahern was part of the reason they’d struggled to get along from the beginning.

Which had led to his dragon all but falling silent for years, when Trahern had fled from the naked female.

His beast said softly,We think differently. I had trouble understanding you, and vice versa. Now, I know not to push or expect you to understand what I want easily. We must work together, just as you must work with Grace, and be honest.

Trahern lifted his gaze to watch his mate, who smiled and chatted with Delphine Gray. In just over a month,Grace had made remarkable progress, her breakdown yesterday notwithstanding. She still wouldn’t tell anyone exactly what had gone on before being brought to Stonefire, beyond the bare details necessary to treat her. However, she smiled more, and sometimes laughed, which was usually a sign of improvement.