Page 66 of To Match A Dragon's Fire

“Put me down.” I struggled against Kieran’s hold.

“Did you want to kill her?” He cocked an eyebrow, calmly setting me on my feet.

“I’m not going to…” I huffed, dragging my hands down my face as I tried to get control of my emotions. “I was just going to talk to her a bit.”

“My apologies.” Fredrick rolled himself back to the door. “Did I send our guests away prematurely?”

“Stop,” I said, watching the headlights flash through the window. They must’ve been scared of Kieran because I couldn’t believe they’d leave that easily without getting what they came here for.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

I nodded, blowing out a breath so long it vibrated my lips. “I need a minute.”

I started to pace. “That woman. How could she? After everything he did.”

Tears burned my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Not anymore. I wasn’t that hurt young girl picking up the pieces of my life.

“The worst part was that I paid off everything. All his debt. The apartment. The loans he took out in both our names. How could they do this?” I stopped pacing to look at Kieran, hating that he had to see this dark spot on my history.

Kieran had murder in his eyes but a gentle hand as he drew me toward him. “You weren’t supposed to find out this way.”

“You knew?” I pushed against his chest.

The sense of betrayal cut deeper than it should’ve. I barely knew this… dragon. He didn’t owe me anything.

It was so stupid of me to come back here.

Even though this was my home, those people weren’t my family. I’d always be the laughing-stock. The girl who’d been dumb enough to believe in love.

“Not until the other day.” Kieran caught me by the chin, forcing me to focus on the intensity of his eyes and the way it burned hotter than any other look I’d ever experienced. “I was going to tell you tonight at dinner, but I got pleasantly sidetracked.”

Mentioning dinner had heat rushing to my cheeks and softened the edges of the moment. “Oh.”

That made sense. I couldn’t fault him for being distracted. Especially when I’d been the one to instigate things.

“Let’s get you home and then I have something for you,” he said. “I’ll give it to you soon.”

My brow furrowed. “Something for me?”

Kieran’s smile was full of mischief, further pushing the chaos of the last few minutes out of my mind as the headlights from the trucks in the yard turned around, heading back to town.

But he wasn’t sparing them another glance. His attention was focused on me. “I promised you a gift and a dragon always keeps his word.”

20

Kieran

Never Let a Woman Go Hungry

The clock was ticking.

I felt it in each breath and through the path of the sun as it tracked across the sky. A day was but a moment when you’d lived as long as I had, but the minutes were slipping through my fingers now faster than I could catch them.

Ember was my mate.

And we were running out of time.

A frantic sort of energy vibrated through my being as I headed to the caves. I couldn’t remember the last time my heart beat this fast or when I’d been so tense before.

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