Page 4

Lucan

Dragon Promises

She liked her eggs over-medium, but only if she was ordering from a restaurant, and that shouldn’t have been so hard to tell me.

I sipped my black coffee, watching Riley eat like she’d never enjoyed a meal in her life.

She was beautiful.

Not that I expected anything less.

The simple dress she wore left nothing to the imagination as it clung to her form. Her bony shoulders folded in on themselves, making her appear smaller, but I’d put her at about five-foot-ten.

The perfect height.

Everything about her was perfect.

Her honey-brown eyes darted around the room. They were large and expressive and I already knew one blink of those long lashes would have me rushing to do her bidding. Darker brown hair, rich like chocolate, barely brushed her collarbone.

Her beauty was classic, but there was something haunting about it. As if her cheeks had been rounded once and now sat sharply hollow. Or that the brightness in her eyes had dimmed.

“Where did you find bacon?” She eyed the last piece on the plate between us.

I pushed it over.

She shook her head.

“I’m full,” I insisted, trying to control the rage of my internal beast. “And there is plenty more.”

I will kill whoever put this fear in her.

“Okay.” She tentatively grabbed the bacon. Then she made that little moan again as she took a bite.

I adjusted myself under the table, mentally adding bacon to the grocery list. I’d feed it to her every day if she kept making those sounds.

Silence stretched between us as she chewed and I realized I hadn’t answered her question.

“I employ a butcher,” I said.

The color drained from her face as she looked up from her plate.

“For the bacon,” I explained. “All my meat comes from the ranch in the next valley. I keep them well stocked with supplies they need and they, in turn, keep my freezer full when I’m not in the mood to hunt.”

“So… You have… Lots of meat.” Riley nodded as she reached for her napkin. Her gaze nervously darted around the room. Skittish. Worried.

I swallowed the sound of my dragon’s growl.

Shell shock. Battle fatigue. PTSD.

They’d used many terms for it throughout the centuries and I was no stranger to the aftermath of war. There wasn’t a major fight on this soil or overseas that I hadn’t played some part in.

When you lived as long as I had with a beast as strong as mine, you learned to put that strength to use.

Over thousands of battles, I’d chosen a side. Giving aid and coming to the warrior’s call. I’d lost count of the times I’d been labeled as an “unidentified flying object” or a strange miracle, explained away by human governments keeping supernatural secrets.

I was numb to violence in a way most weren’t.

But it killed me to know my sweet Riley had demons I wouldn’t be able to fight for her.

But I’ll try.

I nodded as I sipped my coffee.

“Do you have a car?” Riley asked softly.

“I have motorized transportation,” I said. “And whatever else you need. I figure you’ll want a phone charger. I’ll see if I have the right one after breakfast. There’s a signal booster and Wi-Fi here in the house I’ll connect you to. You’ll have access to whatever shows you like on the TV in the living room. If you want a certain kind of food, let me know and I’ll make a grocery run. Anything you want, I can get.”

Her shoulders relaxed a bit and pride rushed through my beast.

“You can take me home, then,” she said.

“You are home.” I cocked my head to the side, looking around the kitchen. “If there’s something about this house you’d like to change, we’ll do it.”

Her shoulders tensed again.

My beast roared in anger at seeing her fear.

I beat my fist against my chest, coughing to cover the sound. “What else do you need?”

“I have a cat,” she said.

That didn’t answer my question. “I’ll get the critter.”

“He doesn’t travel well.” Riley looked at me like that would explain the reason she couldn’t sit still or relax in her seat.

“I’m taking care of it,” I assured her.

“I have to go back,” she whispered. “My friends need me.”

I finished off my coffee and began to gather the dirty plates. “Are these the same friends that allowed whatever abuse you’ve endured to continue as long as it must’ve gone on?”

I wasn’t Kieran. Not even on a good day. Diplomacy wasn’t my strength and my tongue was as sharp as my fangs.

My beast knew that and still he berated me for being as blunt as I was with Riley.

But he stopped complaining when he saw the warrior flash in her eyes.

“Don’t you ever disrespect them again,” Riley said sharply. “Willow and Ember are my family. They’ve done more for me than I deserve.”

I doubted that.

My mate deserved the world.

But if what she said was true, “Then they’ll understand your need to rest and heal somewhere safe with your fated mate.”

“Of course they will…” Her voice trailed off as she pieced together her words. “Wait. That’s not… I’m safe with them.”

I stood with all the plates in my hands.

“There’s nowhere safer than with me.” It was a matter of fact, and my beast didn’t like the doubt in her eyes.

“Because you think…” She swallowed hard as she stood, reaching for the plates as if I’d let her do the dishes and lowered her voice to a whisper, “You think I’m your mate.”

There it was again—the doubt laced with fear.

My beast growled his frustration and Riley took a step backward, pausing before she followed me to the kitchen sink.

“I’m not angry at you,” I was quick to reassure her. “My dragon is angry at the world for putting that fear in your eyes.”

“I’m not afraid.” There was a small spark of defiance even as her heart beat faster.

“Good. You can get settled in while I do the dishes.” I put the plates in the sink.

“I’ll do the dishes.” She stood behind me.

I turned, folding my arms over my chest and blocking her view of the dirty plates. “You’ll do no such thing.”

“Is this a part of the mate stuff?” Panicked, she took another step back.

I’d have to be cautious about discussing fate if she was so skittish about the topic. Though there was much to explore.

She didn’t realize how special she was. Not just to me, but to our entire species. It’d been years since we’d seen any other fated pairs. Centuries without a new dragon birth.

I wasn’t sure if Riley’s body could carry our young, but the thought of fattening her with child had my balls aching in a primal response.

If it was meant to be, it would happen.

But I wouldn’t test that yet.

Not until she’d gotten more color in her face and accepted my presence in her life.

“No, this is a ‘you’ve had a hard time’ thing,” I said. “Go relax and take a bath while I clean up in here.”

“Things wouldn’t be so hard if you hadn’t kidnapped me.” She glared from under those long eyelashes.

Down, boy, I scolded my dragon as he unfurled his wings. “My apologies for the shocking flight. It was an effort to rein in the protective urges of my beast, knowing my mate was out there without me. I promise you, I’ll keep the dragon on a leash now.”

For a while.

“And I’m supposed to trust you,” she said.

I shook my head. “Kieran must be failing as a scholar if he didn’t teach you the first thing about dragons yet.”

“And that is…”

“A dragon always keeps his promises.” I smiled, loving the way the corner of her lips quirked in response automatically, as if she couldn’t help but be drawn in by our bond.

My dragon sighed as a deep-rooted happiness settled in my chest. Fate has done us well.

Everything would work out perfectly.