Page 58 of To Match A Dragon's Fire

“No need. I’m coming to you.” His breathy whisper sounded louder than he intended.

Kieran pushed back his chair and gathered up his napkin and dinnerware. He’d rolled up his sleeves and I tried not to drool over his biceps or the soup I kept eating as he made his way over to the chair nearest me.

He set down his bowl and place settings, giving me a crooked grin. “This is too much, isn’t it?”

I looked around the vast room.

Shadows gathered in the corners, becoming something real—like monsters watching—and a natural breeze drifted overhead, causing the candle flames to sway.

But it felt intimate with Kieran sitting down next to me. The amber light was more romantic, putting us in a glow of our own, and the heat of his leg mere inches from mine made the room much warmer.

“Not at all.” I reached for my wine, swallowing a little painfully as I watched Kieran lean back on his seat and drop his napkin over his lap.

The rough edges of his body and mannerisms coupled with this environment gave me all sorts of delicious chills.

I had a feeling he liked the finer things in life and he knew how to handle them.

Before I realized it, half my wine was gone. I put the glass back on the table so I didn’t do something stupid like climb onto his lap along with the napkin.

“You’ll have to forgive me. It’s been a while since I’ve done this.” Kieran returned to his soup.

Something like jealousy flared within me, and I touched my chest, wondering what that strange sensation was. Probably heartburn from the red wine.

“It’s been a while since you’ve eaten dinner?” I teased, trying to keep my tone light. I really didn’t want to hear about his past lovers. But I was curious enough to ask.

“In this room, yes.” He smiled again. “But it’s been a while since I’ve had any sort of date at all.”

I couldn’t imagine he’d struggle to find women who’d want to date him. Maybe way out here where the pickings were slim, but he was definitely easy on the eyes.

Heck, I wanted to climb him like a tree even though I’d hated the guy last week.

Crazy to think how fast that’d turned around.

It’s amazing what a pair of wings, a little kindness, and a dangerous smile could do for a woman’s libido.

Not like I was into wings or anything.

Is it getting hotter in here?

“How long has it been?” I blurted out, reaching for my wine before I started asking more questions I didn’t really want answered.

Kieran held his spoon poised over his bowl, turning it slowly as if lost in thought. “I’d imagine it was long before you were even born.”

I put down the wine before I choked on it.

“How old are you exactly?”

He leaned back in his chair, watching me with an amused expression. “I’ll be four-hundred and thirty-seven this fall.”

My eyes widened as I tried to un-math the math. English was my specialty, not numbers. “You’re likefour hundred years my senior. Wait, how long do you live?”

“Around a millennium. A thousand years give or take.” His face fell.

I didn’t know why he was complaining. It must’ve had something to do with a midlife crisis.

Considering he still had like five-hundred years left to live and I only had fifty—if I was lucky—I didn’t see why he had reason to be upset.

But we all had our issues.

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