Page 9 of To Ignite a Dragon's Desire

But I’ll try.

I nodded as I sipped my coffee.

“Do you have a car?” Riley asked softly.

“I have motorized transportation,” I said. “And whatever else you need. I figure you’ll want a phone charger. I’ll see if I have the right one after breakfast. There’s a signal booster and Wi-Fi here in the house I’ll connect you to. You’ll have access to whatever shows you like on the TV in the living room. If you want a certain kind of food, let me know and I’ll make a grocery run. Anything you want, I can get.”

Her shoulders relaxed a bit and pride rushed through my beast.

“You can take me home, then,” she said.

“You are home.” I cocked my head to the side, looking around the kitchen. “If there’s something about this house you’d like to change, we’ll do it.”

Her shoulders tensed again.

My beast roared in anger at seeing her fear.

I beat my fist against my chest, coughing to cover the sound. “What else do you need?”

“I have a cat,” she said.

That didn’t answer my question. “I’ll get the critter.”

“He doesn’t travel well.” Riley looked at me like that would explain the reason she couldn’t sit still or relax in her seat.

“I’m taking care of it,” I assured her.

“I have to go back,” she whispered. “My friends need me.”

I finished off my coffee and began to gather the dirty plates. “Are these the same friends that allowed whatever abuse you’ve endured to continue as long as it must’ve gone on?”

I wasn’t Kieran. Not even on a good day. Diplomacy wasn’t my strength and my tongue was as sharp as my fangs.

My beast knew that and still he berated me for being as blunt as I was with Riley.

But he stopped complaining when he saw the warrior flash in her eyes.

“Don’t you ever disrespect them again,” Riley said sharply. “Willow and Ember are my family. They’ve done more for me than I deserve.”

I doubted that.

My mate deserved the world.

But if what she said was true, “Then they’ll understand your need to rest and heal somewhere safe with your fated mate.”

“Of course they will…” Her voice trailed off as she pieced together her words. “Wait. That’s not… I’m safe with them.”

I stood with all the plates in my hands.

“There’s nowhere safer than with me.” It was a matter of fact, and my beast didn’t like the doubt in her eyes.

“Because you think…” She swallowed hard as she stood, reaching for the plates as if I’d let her do the dishes and lowered her voice to a whisper, “You think I’m your mate.”

There it was again—the doubt laced with fear.

My beast growled his frustration and Riley took a step backward, pausing before she followed me to the kitchen sink.

“I’m not angry at you,” I was quick to reassure her. “My dragon is angry at the world for putting that fear in your eyes.”

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