Page 13 of Owen

“I’m fine,” I said, wishing to save it for her.

I watched her uncap a bottle and tilt it back, watched her throat work as she swallowed gulp after gulp. For some reason, even that simple act stirred something deep within me, where the dragon waited. I was hyper-aware of every move she made.

When she’d had enough, for the time being, she capped the bottle and turned an expectant gaze my way. “So? What happened to you that reminded you of me?”

I turned away, poking at the fire before feeding it more wood. I’d never spoken of it with anyone outside the clan. Not that there was any reason to, not to mention my limited contact with the outside world. The coven was aware of what had been done to us. There’d been no one else to tell.

Until now, when I wished like hell I’d kept my mouth shut. She wouldn’t let it go. Not her. A dog with a bone, she would refuse to release until I’d satisfied her curiosity.

But how to phrase it? That was key. I could hardly explain the kidnapping, the testing, the fact that we were flown to a remote island and held prisoner. That so many of my clan had died in the process.

“My home was robbed,” I explained, somewhat clumsily as I searched for the right words. “My family were held at gunpoint.”

“My God,” she gasped. “I’m so sorry.”

“We were… in the midst of an extended family gathering at the time.” There I went again, digging myself deeper with every word. “And several of my family members… they didn’t make it, I’m afraid.”

“Jesus, Owen.”

I glanced over my shoulder to find her stricken expression.

“The people who did it. Were they caught?”

A grim smile of satisfaction touched my mouth, though I kept my face turned away so she wouldn’t see. “Aye, they got what was coming to them.” Including firsthand knowledge of what it meant to face down a full-grown dragon. They deserved so much worse.

“I’m glad of that. But I’m sorry this happened to you. That’s… I don’t know how I would make it through, honestly.”

I shrugged, tossing the stick I’d been using to stir the fire onto the pile of wood waiting to burn. The flames caught it, licking along its length before consuming it.

“One day at a time. Isn’t that what they say? It truly takes one day at a time. But what made me think of it was your reluctance to reenter the cave. I went through the same hesitation. I ought to have been pleased to return home, but it only held unhappy memories. I could still smell the blood, though it had all been long since washed away.”

We were both silent for a long time, with only the sounds of the night filling the air. Leaves rustled, the fire crackled, owls called out in the darkness.

Then, a sniffle. And another.

I turned to her, distraught to find her weeping. “Molly, lass. Forgive me. I did not mean to upset you.”

She shook her head. “I feel like such an idiot. Getting panicky over what? Walking into a cave? While your family was killed and you still managed to get through it. What’s wrong with me? I’m ashamed of myself.”

“There’s no call to be.”

I went to her because there was no staying away. She drew me to her like a magnet, pulling me in the way the moon controlled the tide. I was powerless. Me, an ancient dragon of the highlands, powerless before a mere mortal woman.

Dropping to one knee, I took her hands from her face as gently as I could. “You have no reason to shame yourself, and I do not wish for you to do so. I did not tell my story that you might compare it with yours. There is no comparing the two, because we’re completely different people with different lives. And those were different circumstances. Right?”

She nodded, sniffling, her head lowered.

“We both believed we might die, and we had no desire to return to the place where we questioned whether we’d live to see another day. That’s the common thread running between us, isn’t it? Just because I looked down the barrel of a gun and you stared down a hurricane—all on your own, I might add—doesn’t mean we weren’t both terribly frightened.”

“I’m just so sorry for you.” She chuckled a bit, shaking her head. “I don’t know why that hit me the way it did. I shouldn’t care like I do. I mean, empathy is one thing, but you broke my heart just now.”

“Forgive me, for I would never wittingly break your heart—or any part of you.”

Another chuckle as she lifted her gaze and met mine. “Somehow, I believe that. I don’t understand it, but I believe you.”

My dragon stirred, intrigued. No. More than intrigued. No one had ever caught his interest this way. No one had ever made him long for more—more time, more touch, more of simply being in her presence. More of her.

I had the feeling more would never be enough.

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