Page 16 of To Ignite a Dragon's Desire

My eyes dropped to Lucan’s crotch.

He’d put on pants at least.

There’d been too many tears in my eyes to get a decent look at his manhood when he’d marched naked through the garden to get me.

So embarrassing.

“My apologies for the confusion with my cousin,” Kieran said as I dragged my gaze up to meet his. “I was fortunate to already be living on my mate’s property when we met. Dragons are very territorial and I shouldn’t have sent Lucan away like I did. If I’d known you were mates, I would’ve been less hostile.”

Ember squeezed his arm.

“This is exciting. Isn’t it?” She winked at me. “What are the odds of you meeting your mate too?”

“I wouldn’t have bet on it.” I glanced at Lucan. He stood there stoically, like a statue in the garden, listening to the conversation.

His expression softened as our eyes met and I quickly looked away.

“Once Willow calmed down, and I stopped screaming at Kieran, we figured this wouldn’t be so bad for you. Apparently, Lucan is a good guy,” Ember said as she left Kieran and pulled me to the side. Her walk was a little bowlegged.

“Are you okay?” I chuckled, wondering if her funny walk was from riding the dragon over here orridingthe dragon like she’d been doing non-stop over the past few weeks.

“I’m perfect.” Her eyes were wide as she motioned to Kieran with an appreciative look and mouthed, “Oh-my-freaking-God-I-love-him.”

A real smile teased my lips.

She was happy.

If anyone deserved that, it was Ember. She’d been through life’s wringer and hadn’t let it harden her—even when she thought it did. Ember was tough around the edges, but she had a heart of gold and always made sure we were okay. She was the glue that kept us together. The ride-or-die friend who picked us both up time and time again.

I suddenly felt awful for ruining her romance story and messing up her special day.

It wasn’t fair of me to be this upset and cause a big commotion, demanding she take me back to the cabin. There were bigger things at play here. I could suck it up and make the best of the situation.

Find your gratitude.

It could always be worse.

At least I wasn’t dragon food.

“Are you hungry?” Lucan asked, breaking his brooding silence and I realized he’d been watching me intently.

Not a great feeling.

I nodded, hoping for a chance to escape. “I can go make us lunch.”

“Sit with your friend.” His brow furrowed as he pulled out a wrought iron chair from the patio set. “I’ll bring you some food.”

Out of principal, I wanted to refuse his order. But Ember let out a dramatic sigh as she took a seat.

“They have a big thing about feeding their mates,” she said, as if that explained everything. “Did he mark you yet?”

“No.” My face flushed as I dropped down beside her.

Lucan was already heading toward the house and I had to keep my eyes on Ember so I didn’t turn to watch him walk away.

I’d forgotten about Ember’s mark and the whole apocalyptic prophecy thing, which might’ve said something about my mental health at the moment.

But I’d just been kidnapped by a dragon, so I decided to give myself a break.

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