Page 19 of Secrets of the Dragon's Heart

“You’ve told a lot of lies since we met, Kennedy,” he said. “Can you blame me?”

“I told you I was just doing my job,” she said, her heart sinking. “And after…well, we started getting closer I never lied to you, everything I told you was the truth.”

“What about us?” he asked. “Were you faking that?”

She shook her head, “My attraction to you is what got me in this trouble to begin with,” she said, then looked over at him. “I saw you at a fundraiser I was covering for the paper, and I got that tingly feeling I always get when a good story falls in my lap. I was curious about you so I did some research, and let’s just say I read a lot of things wrong. As soon as I met you, I knew it, but I had put my entire career on the line for this story, I couldn’t just give up.”

“Why didn’t you just talk to me?” he asked. “It would have made everything so much easier.”

“In my experience, the bad guys don’t usually give themselves away,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “What exactly are you doing in that locked room behind the lab?”

CHAPTER 12

***CAMERON***

Cameron burst out laughing, “Oh, sweetheart, you don’t give up, do you?” he asked, then gave her a quick kiss. “That’s a long and complicated story, maybe you should rest a while before we talk about it.”

“Oh, Cameron, I’m sorry, I get carried away. I just can’t help myself sometimes,” she said. “You don’t have to tell me, I’ve already snooped on you enough.”

“And I forgive you,” he said, unable to resist giving her another kiss. “But this is something we have to talk about, it affects us both, at least I hope it does. I would feel better if you rested for a while first though, it doesn’t look like the rain is going to quit for a while, so we have plenty of time.”

“Only if you’ll lie down with me,” Kennedy said. “I need to be near you right now.”

After putting a few more logs on the fire, he gathered her into his arms and lay down with Kennedy, a feeling of peace finally settling over him. She was asleep in only a few seconds, her breath warm on his chest, and he closed his eyes, wondering if he was crazy to even be considering throwing everything away for a woman. Kennedy sighed inher sleep, and a wave of protectiveness rolled over him. He pulled her just a little closer, the answer clear to him.

He'd never felt this way about anyone in his life, never understood what it meant to truly love someone, but it had all become so clear as they stood there facing the tiger. His life would be empty without Kennedy. She’d woken something inside him, something that would never be silenced again and he would be forever grateful. No matter what it cost, he was going to be with her; nothing else mattered, not the pack, not his family. The dragon inside him had made that clear over and over, but he’d been too stubborn to listen.

He was listening now; the message had been delivered, and he wasn’t going to ignore it this time. He’d learned his lesson the hard way with the tiger. Just thinking how close the animal had come to Kennedy made his protective instincts come to life, and he wasn’t about to chance another encounter like that one. He couldn’t help but wonder where the animal had come from. Matt had made it clear that there were no big animals on the island; it was strange and unexplainable.

When he realized that there was only one explanation, although not a very logical one, he found himself looking around the cave as a shiver ran through him. The island could not have made a tiger appear. It wasn’t possible, things don’t just materialize out of thin air, but deep down he knew the truth. Closing his eyes with a sigh, he wondered how he was ever going to admit to Max that he might have been wrong. His friend would never let him live it down.

The only alternative was to lie to him, and Cameron wasn’t about to do that. He’d just have to take the I told you so’s and hope that his friend would forget how stubborn he’d been. That was really the least of his worries. Now that he was committed to keeping Kennedy in his life, there weregoing to be bigger challenges, larger problems to solve, and a life to plan together.

Aware that he was getting ahead of himself, as Kennedy hadn’t even fully accepted him and his abilities yet, he closed his eyes again. Instead of thinking about the future, he needed to enjoy this moment. He’d waited so long to hold Kennedy in his arms, he was ruining it with his incessant worrying. He fell asleep listening to her even breathing and slept soundly for the first time since she’d jumped onto the boat on the way to the island, a smile on his face.

Kennedy was the first one to stir, and he opened his eyes to find her leaning on one hand, looking down at him. “You snore,” she said, then sat up all the way and looked outside. “It’s still raining. I guess we’re stuck here for a while longer.”

Unable to resist, he sat up and pulled her into his arms. “Are you feeling better?” he asked. “Maybe we should eat something.”

Kennedy’s stomach began to growl. “I guess that’s your answer,” she said, putting her hand over her stomach. “It has been a long time since lunch.”

“Let’s see what we’ve got to eat,” he said, pulling both backpacks over to them. “I finished all my lunch, but I think you said something about emergency supplies.”

“Still think I overdid it?” she asked. “Or would you like to admit now that I’m a genius?”

“I don’t know about a genius, that might be pushing it,” he said, grinning at her. “Let’s see what you brought first. I bet it’s some of those nasty energy bars or something.”

“You’re close,” she said, pulling out a dehydrated meal in a silver package. “But we’ll have a hot meal, and Matt threw in a couple of desserts, so we can indulge our sweet tooth.”

“Spaghetti and meatballs, sounds delightful,” he said, then read the package. “It says all we need is hot water.”

“You can make them work with cold water too, it justtakes a long time, and it’s a bit disgusting,” Kennedy said. “That’s why I made sure we had that little water pot.”

“I’ll build up the fire and heat some water,” he said. “I don’t think I want to try the cold-water version, thank you very much.”

“I’ll do it, I need to stretch my legs,” Kennedy said. “And it’s my turn to take care of you.”

“I like the sound of that,” he said, grinning at her. “What exactly did you have in mind?”

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