Page 37 of To Ignite a Dragon's Desire

Little twitching shakes rocked Shawn’s human body and I realized he was laughing silently when I turned him to face me.

But that wasn’t why I threw him down as if he was diseased. Dark, angry magic poured from his nostrils and tried to wrap itself around my wrists.

I closed my fists, allowing the protective ward magic I carried in my soul to pulse around me, cleansing the taint from my skin and pushing away whatever evil he carried.

He hadn’t been a magic wielder before. This was new. It was weak enough that I knew he couldn’t contain it or be any real threat, but I had to wonder what the MacAlisters had gotten into this time.

“Don’t worry.” Shawn’s eyes were still blood-fueled and feral even as a smile curled his bruising mouth. “You can tell your guardian that my brothers will be coming for him again, soon.”

15

Riley

Brotherly Love

Okay, Riley. He’s a dragon-human-male-changing-thingy. It’s believable that he also heals abnormally fast.

I stared in shock at the long gash in Malachy’s side as the bone retracted and his skin knit itself together. I had a strong stomach, but it still rolled a bit.

Totally believable.

It’d only taken me a minute to find the first aid kit under the bathroom sink, but that was long enough for most of the bleeding on his other gashes to stop and the big one to start this magic healing process.

“As I’ve said, I don’t need your assistance.” Malachy dwarfed the stool he sat on as he leaned over the kitchen counter.

His tattoos on the unmarred side of his body were hidden from view and he was wearing sweatpants he’d gotten from the closet in the hallway. Scars crisscrossed his back, but I pretended I didn’t see them. The man was a beast, just as big and domineering as his brother.

And I thought Kieran was huge.

“Thank you, though, Miss…” His bluish-green eyes searched me, looking for a name. The color was so much like Lucan’s but the difference was subtle.

Where Lucan’s eyes burned bright with intensity, Malachy’s were muted. Older somehow. The color fractured into pieces like broken glass instead of blazing into a beautiful mosaic.

But Lucan didn’t scare me, so I decided Malachy wouldn’t either.

“Riley, just Riley,” I said before he did something silly like call me ‘Miss.’

I went to the fridge and grabbed a beer, offering one to Malachy. He nodded his thanks and I dug around for a bottle opener like this was my kitchen or something.

I was getting too comfortable here.

“Is it your venom that makes you heal so fast?” I slid over the open beer bottle.

Malachy frowned as he stared at me. “Did Lucan tell you about dragon venom?”

His tone sounded too light and breezy for his injuries, like he was used to keeping it at a certain level and could do it on command.

But the pleasant voice didn’t hide the fact that he was fishing for information.

“Nope,” I popped thePas I raised the bottle to my lips.

“I see.” He was still watching me, but there was something amused about his expression. “You’re a nurse, I assume.” Malachy motioned to the sorry excuse for a first aid kit that sat unopened on the counter. It’d probably come with the house.

“I’m a CNA.” I shrugged.

“Not your first choice of career?” He guessed, trying to read me.

Good luck with that, dude. I barely know myself.

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