Page 44 of To Ignite a Dragon's Desire

The thought was sobering, but a stray laugh slipped out. I shrugged, raising my bare shoulders above the bubbles. “I can be loud here.”

Tears filled Willow’s eyes. Like always, she wore her heart on her sleeve. “I want to kill him for hurting you. I’m so, so sorry. I should’ve forced you to come live with us sooner.”

“I wouldn’t have listened.” I took a deep breath to calm my nerves before saying what I needed to say. The excuses and not wanting to talk about it hadn’t done me enough good. “I was embarrassed and didn’t want you or Ember to see how bad it’d gotten.”

By the look on her face, I could tell she’d known that, but Willow wasn’t an asshole. She’d take her ‘I told you so’s’ to the grave. Really, she was the best of us. If anyone didn’t deserve our screwed-up luck, it was her.

“Have you heard from him?” Willow tried to keep her smile pleasant, but she couldn’t hide the murder in her eyes.

Dang it.She’d know if I was lying.

I glanced at the door, silently willing no super-sonic dragon ears to be listening. “Actually, I have. He keeps blowing up my phone, apologizing and asking to meet up.”

Willow hissed through her teeth. “You know it’s bullshit, right?”

“I do,” I said. “And I’ll probably just change my number somehow. But enough about me, please. How are you?”

She wanted to keep pressing, but Willow let it drop. “We’re great. Harper and I are working on her schooling. We’ve been visiting Kieran’s hoard. Everyone loves her around there. Sometimes we have dinners at the compound.”

I could hear what she wasn’t saying and it just about broke my heart. “You’re lonely.”

Willow blinked her bright green eyes dry, plastering on a big smile. “We’re safe. That’s all that matters. It’s been nice and quiet. I like the extra time alone. I actually finished reading a few books.”

“Any good ones?” I asked.

Willow looked past the phone, checking to see if Harper was listening.

“Ember gave me her Kindle,” she said. “I have access to the whole eBook library.”

“Uh oh.” I started laughing again, trying to keep it quiet so I wouldn’t alert Harper. Ember’s choice of reading material was basically porn. “I’m sure that’s been a good time.”

“It’s been… interesting.” Willow’s face couldn’t get any redder.

And my skin was starting to wrinkle as the bath water cooled. “I’m going to come visit you, soon,” I promised as I pulled the plug for the drain.

“You don’t have to do that,” Willow said, too quickly to be believable. “That’s a beautiful bathroom. I wouldn’t want to leave either.”

I smiled because it really was a gorgeous bathroom. “I want to come. Give me some time to talk to Lucan and work out the details.”

“No rush.” Relief relaxed her face. “But I’d love that.”

“Me too.” The past few weeks had been a blur, but I was feeling better—stronger—than I had in years. I think I was starting to accept this whole dragon mating thing because Lucan made it easy, but it was about time to rejoin the real world. I missed my friends. It’d be good to see them in person. “I’ll call you back soon.”

“Okay. Oh, and Riley,” Willow said before I hung up the phone, “make sure to change your number. I have a bad feeling about this.”

“I will,” I swore, hoping to ease her fears.

They’d been worried about me enough for one lifetime. I didn’t want to stress them out anymore.

18

Lucan

Dinner Party

I’d aired out and set the table in the formal dining room. The second bedroom containing my hoard remained closed off—though I planned to introduce Riley to it soon—but this part of the house also saw little use.

It was time to remedy that.

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