Page 74 of The Mating Claim

No one had ever cooked for her before. Evie had once in a while, but Evie’s talents were not in the kitchen. Her dear, sweet sister could burn water. So she’d ended up preparing all the meals, trying to make cuts of beef last and giving the best portions to Evie, who had a malformed wing and needed to consume more meat to shift intodragon.

Lacey curled her legs beneath her, watching him turn the steaks with the expertise of a master chef. He was good at everything hedid.

Bet a guy like that would be amazing in bed as well. A flush ignited herface.

Seeing him turn down the heat under the steaks she called out, “Want me to set thetable?”

“I’ve got it.” Drust slid the steaks onto two china plates and when she turned around, the outdoor table was covered with a blue and white checked cloth. Silverware sat before two chairs, along with a bottle of red wine and two sparkling glass goblets. The setting was casual, and yet there was something deeply intimate about dining out here alone withhim.

When they were seated and he’d poured the wine, Lacey dug in. She ate in small, dainty bites, but no use in pretending she wasn’thungry.

She was starving, even after that picnic at the swamp. It was as if her body realized there was food, and her dragon roared formore.

“Did you find anything out yet?” Best to keep the conversation to business. You know, the business of me notdying.

“No.” He played with his fork, twirling it in his fingers. Lacey had the feeling he wasn’t even aware of doing it. “It’s a frustrating and academic read. The language is somewhat challenging. But I have plenty of pages yet to decipher, so I am confident there is an answer in there,somewhere.”

“Like a needle in a haystack. Or a diamond on a sandybeach.”

Drust set down the fork and picked up his goblet, sipping the wine. “Try the wine. It’s an excellentvintage.”

Lacey tried it and found it to her taste. “You always did have good taste in wine,” she murmured, swirling the liquid in herglass.

Glancing up she saw him staring at her, a little frown denting his dark brows. “What?”

“Nothing. At least, I believe it is nothing. Or it could be something.” He set down his glass. “Lacey, you said you feel as if we have known each other previously, when I was mortal and you clearly… had anotherlife.”

The excellent steak turned to cardboard in her stomach. She set down her fork. “Considering I’m only in my twenties and not ancient like you, it would have to be anotherlife.”

But her prickly joke did not make him frown, or drop the topic. “Yes, a past life. One you would not recall, of course. But I should. Sofrustrating.”

“I don’t know about my past life, if I had one.” She sipped the wine, nodded in pleasure. “This is wonderful. A little tangy and yetsweet.”

“Likeyou.”

His smile made her tingle all over. “I think I’m more tart than sweet.” A shrug. “Regarding a past life, I’m more concerned with this present one. Maybe I have lived in the past. But I want to spend every moment now living in thepresent.”

“Very wise. I have only my past to guide me, and like most of our people, my instincts. We dragons live a long time, but unfortunately, some of us let our passions and tempers rule over logic, and get into battles that end our lives far toosoon.”

The conversation turned serious. She wanted something lighter, yet now was a good time to fulfill her curiosity abouthim.

“How did you die,Drust?”

Watching his expression tighten, she realized maybe she’d been too blunt. But he took a large swig of wine andnodded.

“Others have asked me the same, though you’re the first to not couch it in polite terms.Refreshing.”

He set down his glass. “I’ve always told them it was a carriage accident. A simpleexplanation.”

Lacey watched the shadows in his eyes. “You didn’t. It was… much worse. I cantell.”

For a moment he was silent. Then his troubled gaze met hers, the blue of his eyespenetrating.

“It was during the last battle of the great Drakon Wars between Fae and shifters. Together with my generals, I organized a plot to finally kill Fae King Emer, and end his reign of cruelty. But to do so, I had to sacrifice… the only way to get close to him was to swoop down through enemy fire, distract his troops, and draw fire away from those who finally did killhim.”

“You were the sacrifice,” sherealized.

Drust traced a line on the tablecloth. “It was not…nice.”